"Kasage… what happened to him?"
Looking at Saint Hakushin's suddenly empty expression, Kikyo frowned slightly, her voice carrying a hint of concern.
Inuyasha and the others also looked over, confusion clear in their eyes.
"He's trapped in my Sharingan genjutsu," Uchiha Kasage explained calmly.
"This isn't an ordinary illusion. It's the Mangekyō Sharingan's technique… Tsukuyomi."
Tsukuyomi
"It completely draws his spirit into a world I control."
Kikyo was slightly surprised. She glanced at the motionless Saint Hakushin, then back at Kasage.
"…What did you show him?"
Kasage's voice softened.
"I let him relive the moment before his death."
"I gave him the chance to choose again… so he could understand what he truly regrets… and what he's truly grieving for."
"Will that really help him find peace?" Kagome Higurashi asked, blinking.
"It should," Kasage replied with a faint smile. "And if it doesn't…"
He paused slightly.
"…I have another method."
Kagome leaned forward, curious.
"Another method?"
The others looked at him as well.
Kasage's lips curved into a subtle, almost mischievous smile.
"If the illusion fails, then his attachment is too deep."
"In that case… I'll have to use a more direct approach."
"…Direct?" Kagome repeated.
"…I'll kill him."
Silence.
The group stared at him.
Kagome's expression froze.
Kikyo sighed and lightly hit his arm.
"…You say that too casually."
Fortunately—
it never came to that.
Not long after—
Saint Hakushin slowly regained awareness.
The sorrow on his face hadn't completely vanished—
but his eyes were clear.
Peaceful.
"It seems… you made the same choice," Kasage said quietly.
"Yes."
Saint Hakushin's voice was calm now.
"Even knowing the outcome… I still chose that path."
"I chose to become a Living Buddha."
"Even if I wasn't perfect… even if I felt fear…"
"…I would still choose it."
Kasage watched the faint white light gathering around him.
"…Then you've understood."
"I have."
Saint Hakushin nodded.
"I do not regret my choice."
"I only feared admitting my own weakness."
"What I grieved… was not hatred toward others…"
"…but my own cowardice."
He turned toward Kikyo.
Relief filled his gaze.
"You were right."
"People will always lose their way."
"That is why they seek something greater."
"It is because we are imperfect… that we strive to become better."
"…I was the one who was trapped."
"And now… I am finally free."
As his voice faded—
his body dissolved into gentle light.
His soul rose quietly—
and disappeared into the sky.
The mummified body dissolved as well—
transforming into pure spiritual energy.
It spread across Mount Hakurei—
washing away the remaining corruption and miasma left behind by Naraku.
A calm, purifying presence filled the air.
"…Not bad for an old monk," Inuyasha muttered. "At least he cleaned up before leaving."
Kagome, who had been silently praying, looked at him.
"…Sit."
"Boom!"
The subjugation beads activated instantly—
and Inuyasha slammed face-first into the ground.
"Kagome! What was that for?!" he protested.
No one answered.
Kasage simply looked toward the horizon.
The sun was setting.
"…It's over," he said quietly. "Let's go."
Later—
near the Bone-Eater's Well—
Kagome sat on the grass, looking at Kasage.
"You said you had something to tell me?"
They had returned to Kaede's village.
Since Kagome hadn't gone back to her era in a while, she had come here to return home—
but Kasage had stopped her.
Now—
only the four of them were present.
Kasage, Kikyo, Kagome, and Inuyasha.
Kasage reached into his pouch and took out a small wooden tablet.
"Keep this with you."
He handed it to Kagome.
"Break it when you return home."
Kagome examined it curiously.
The surface was covered in complex black markings, all converging toward a circular seal at the center.
Inside it—
was a single character.
Kasage.
"…What is this?"
Kikyo's eyes sharpened slightly.
"…A summoning formula?"
"Exactly," Kasage nodded.
"It's something I made."
"If you break it… it will activate a Summoning Technique and bring me to your side."
Kagome blinked.
"…To my side?"
"…But my world is five hundred years in the future."
"…Will that even work?"
Kasage smiled faintly.
"I don't know."
"But I want to try."
Then—
his expression grew more serious.
"Kagome… do you really believe your world is simply five hundred years ahead of this one?"
Kagome froze.
"…What do you mean?"
Kasage met her gaze.
"In your time… have you ever seen Inuyasha?"
"Not the one who travels through the well…"
"…but the one who should already exist there."
Before she could respond, he continued.
"Inuyasha is a hanyō."
"His lifespan is far longer than a human's."
"Do you know how old he is now?"
Kagome blinked, stunned.
"…I… never asked."
Kikyo also turned toward Inuyasha, curious.
Inuyasha scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"…I don't really remember."
"…Maybe around two hundred years?"
Silence.
Kagome's eyes widened.
"…Two hundred?!"