"He's dying… not trying to swindle you."
Kikyo glanced at Uchiha Kasage, noticing his instinctive retreat. Her brows lifted slightly, a trace of helpless amusement in her calm voice.
She stepped forward and looked down at the collapsed bandit, then added softly,
"Your reaction was… a bit excessive, wasn't it?"
"…It's nothing," Kasage replied, withdrawing his hand from the hilt of his sword, a hint of embarrassment flickering across his face.
"Just a reflex. People collapsing out of nowhere tends to be suspicious."
"Strange," Kikyo murmured, giving him a brief look before kneeling beside the old man.
She only needed a glance to understand his condition.
After a moment, she shook her head.
"His body is completely worn out. The only reason he's still alive… is the Shikon Jewel shard he's carrying."
Kasage looked down at the man, his expression calm but distant.
"…And you still intend to save him?" he asked. "He doesn't look like a good person."
He already knew exactly who this man was—
Kansuke.
Once a bandit leader, responsible for countless crimes—murder, arson, plunder.
Fifty years ago, he had conspired with Onigumo to seize the Shikon Jewel from Kikyo.
That single act had ultimately led to the birth of Naraku.
In a way… this man stood at the very beginning of everything.
"First, we wake him," Kikyo said quietly. "I want to know why he carries the shard."
She turned slightly toward Kasage.
"…The medicine chest."
Kasage nodded.
"Alright."
With a flicker of space distortion, he retrieved the medicine chest from his Kamui dimension and handed it to her.
---
Kikyo began preparing the medicine with practiced movements.
Kasage stood nearby, watching silently.
He didn't interfere.
He already understood—
This encounter wasn't coincidence.
It was Naraku.
A carefully arranged meeting.
Naraku wanted Kikyo to go to Mount Hakurei… and this man was the key.
So instead of resisting the plan, following it would lead them straight to the truth.
And more than that—
Kikyo needed to hear it.
The truth of fifty years ago.
The truth only this man could tell.
---
Once the medicine was ready, Kikyo looked up.
"Kasage… help me."
He stepped forward, taking the medicine from her.
Water-style chakra gathered at his fingertips, forming a thin stream.
Carefully, he guided the liquid into Kanzuke's mouth.
Moments later—
"Cough—! Cough!"
The old man's body trembled as he began to cough violently, color returning faintly to his pale cheeks.
His eyes slowly opened.
Clouded. Tired.
But aware.
He looked at them… and asked hoarsely,
"…Why… save me?"
"You cannot be saved," Kikyo replied calmly. "I only eased your pain."
Her gaze remained steady.
"You are already dying. The shard is the only thing keeping you alive."
Kansuke froze.
His trembling hand moved to his chest.
With shaking fingers, he reached inside his robe and pulled out—
A fragment of the Shikon Jewel.
He stared at it in silence… then laughed weakly.
"I'll be seventy next year… I've lived too long already."
His voice grew softer.
"…But I can't die yet. Not like this."
Kikyo watched him closely.
"What are you still seeking… carrying that shard?"
Kansuke didn't answer immediately.
Instead, his gaze drifted into the distance.
"…I'm looking for a place to die."
A long pause.
"In my youth… I did everything. Killing, stealing, burning villages…"
A bitter smile formed.
"My name—Kansuke—was feared everywhere."
He exhaled slowly.
"I thought… if I might die at any moment, I might as well live however I pleased."
Another breath.
Ragged. Heavy.
"…But fate has a cruel sense of humor. Even now… I'm still alive."
Kikyo said nothing.
She simply listened.
At this point—
Words of judgment meant nothing.
---
Kansuke's gaze returned to Kikyo.
"…When you get old, you forget many things."
His voice softened.
"But the past… becomes clearer."
A faint smile.
"The first time I saw you… I thought you resembled someone."
Kikyo tilted her head slightly.
"…Who?"
"A shrine maiden," he said slowly. "Long ago."
He frowned, trying to remember.
"…Her name was… Kikyo."
A faint shift passed through Kikyo's eyes.
But her voice remained calm.
"…Perhaps just a resemblance."
"Fifty years have passed," Kanzuke chuckled weakly. "If she were alive… she'd be an old woman by now."
"…Heh."
Kasage couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh, glancing sideways at Kikyo with clear amusement.
Kikyo shot him a sharp look—
And pinched his side.
Lightly.
But firmly.
Before she could pull back, Kasage caught her wrist.
Their eyes met briefly.
A silent exchange—
Before Kikyo pulled her gaze away with a faint frown.
---
"Young people…" Kansuke murmured, watching them.
"…It's a good thing."
He took another strained breath.
"I heard that shrine maiden died… and the Shikon Jewel was buried with her."
His gaze fell to the shard in his hand.
"I never imagined it would return… and end up with me."
Kikyo's eyes sharpened slightly.
"You know about the Shikon Jewel," she said. "Were you trying to obtain it fifty years ago?"
Kanzuke nodded slowly.
"…Back then… I worked with a man named…"
He paused.
"…Onigumo."
Kikyo's eyes widened instantly.
Her calm broke—just slightly.
She stepped closer, lowering herself to meet his gaze directly.
"…Onigumo?"