"Yo—Yokai made this?!"
Seeing the Shadow Clone eating with such gusto, Kagome was just about to put the food into her mouth when she heard his words. Her movements froze instantly, and she quietly placed the yokai jerky back down.
"Isn't this great? Problem solved in one go!" Inuyasha, however, let out a sigh of relief, his face full of satisfaction as he casually tossed the yokai jerky in his hand into his mouth.
"Mmm… the taste is actually not bad!" After chewing a few times, Inuyasha's eyes lit up with surprise.
Kagome watched him eat so heartily and silently handed her portion to him.
"You're not eating? This stuff is pretty good." Inuyasha looked puzzled as he took it.
"Uh… I—I'll pass." Kagome waved her hand awkwardly.
"How strange." Inuyasha scratched his head, unconcerned, and tossed her portion into his mouth as well. "Then I'll eat it all!"
Now that the yokai jerky issue was resolved, Kagome quickly remembered the real problem.
"But there's still an issue with your method, right? I need the wooden plaque to summon you first. If I can't return through the Bone Eater's Well in the future—or if I don't have the plaques—wouldn't it become useless?"
"That's right." The Shadow Clone nodded. "This method requires one of my clones to remain on this side. If the clone disappears and there are no spare plaques, contact between the worlds will be completely cut off."
"I can give the plaques to my mom for safekeeping!" Kagome suggested immediately.
"That works." The Shadow Clone pulled out three Summoning Technique wooden plaques from the Kamui Dimension and handed them to her. "These are the only ones I've made so far. I'll give them all to you."
After Kagome took them, he added with a faint smile, "But I have another idea I want to test."
"What is it?" Kagome asked curiously.
"Teleporting directly using the Flying Thunder God Technique. That would be far more convenient."
Without further explanation, he turned and pressed his palm against the trunk of the Time Tree. A Flying Thunder God Mark appeared briefly on the bark before fading away.
Once finished, he looked at Kagome and Inuyasha.
"I'm going to release the Summoning Technique and see if I can return. If everything works, I'll be back very soon."
"So soon?" Kagome sounded slightly disappointed. "It wasn't easy for you to come here… I wanted to introduce you to my family."
"I'm only a clone right now." A playful smile curved Uchiha Kasage's lips. "If this works, I'll bring Kikyo with me next time. I'm curious… how will your family react when they see someone who looks just like you?"
"Oh, right!" Kagome's eyes lit up instantly, her curiosity sparking.
The thought of her mother, grandfather, and Sota seeing Kikyo made her unexpectedly excited.
"These are the last ones." Uchiha Kasage handed the remaining five or six pieces of yokai jerky to Inuyasha.
"Thanks!" Inuyasha accepted them without hesitation.
"By the way… can this really be eaten?" Kagome looked at the jerky in his hand, curiosity creeping back.
"You'll know once you try it. It's actually pretty good." Inuyasha handed her a piece.
Kagome hesitated, then took a bite and chewed slowly.
A moment later, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Huh? It's actually tasty! It kind of tastes like dried mushrooms!"
"Right?" Uchiha Kasage smiled faintly, then warned, "Just remember—eat it as it is. Never boil or burn it. Otherwise, the yokai mycelium inside will revive and turn back into yokai."
He gave her a slightly amused look. "Of course… if you want to try it fresh, that's your choice."
He recalled how Kagome once brought this to school and nearly caused chaos. Though things were resolved, it had ended with yokai sashimi being served to her classmates.
"Don't worry!" Upon hearing that, Inuyasha immediately stuffed all the remaining yokai jerky into his mouth and swallowed it quickly. "Problem solved!"
Uchiha Kasage watched his crude but effective solution and simply shook his head.
"I'll head back first. I'll bring Kikyo to see you soon."
*Poof!*
With that, his figure dissolved into a cloud of smoke and vanished.
"Do you think he can really bring Kikyo here?" Kagome asked softly, gripping the wooden plaque with anticipation.
"He probably can," Inuyasha replied calmly. "Even if he can't, you still have that plaque. You can come back to the Sengoku period anytime."
"True." Kagome nodded, carefully storing it away. "I'll go give it to Mom!"
She ran toward the shrine's backyard, and Inuyasha glanced once at the Time Tree before following her.
---
**On the other side — the Sengoku period.**
A cloud of smoke suddenly burst beside the Bone Eater's Well, and the Shadow Clone reappeared.
Uchiha Kasage and Kikyo, who had been resting together on the grass, immediately sat up at the sound.
"You're back," Kikyo said softly.
The Shadow Clone nodded before dissolving into white smoke.
As the memories flowed into him, Uchiha Kasage's expression sharpened slightly. He stood, reached out his hand, and helped Kikyo up.
"Come," he said, his voice carrying a quiet excitement. "Let me take you to Kagome's world."
Kikyo studied him as he placed his hand on the Time Tree, her eyes thoughtful.
"You've already found a way?"
"Yes." A faint smile appeared on his lips. "I have."
He closed his eyes briefly, focusing.
"You remember what I told you about the Flying Thunder God Technique? It normally only works within the same space, using a mark."
Kikyo nodded.
"It's not that crossing worlds is impossible… it's that I couldn't sense a mark in another world before."
He opened his eyes, a glint of confidence within them.
"But the Time Tree is different."
He pressed his palm firmly against it.
"There's an identical Time Tree at Kagome's shrine. Though they appear separate, they act as anchors—connecting the two worlds. Their space-time energy is intertwined."
Kikyo's gaze softened slightly as she listened.
"Through this connection… I can sense the mark I left on the other tree."
As he spoke, he placed another Flying Thunder God Mark on the tree beside him.
Then, without hesitation, he pulled Kikyo gently but firmly into his arms.
"Are you ready?" he asked quietly.
For a brief moment, their eyes met.
Kikyo wrapped her arms around his neck, her voice calm but steady.
"I am."
In the next instant—
Space twisted.
The Flying Thunder God Technique activated.
And both of them vanished.