"Long time no see… Kikyo."
Naraku hovered in midair as his shattered body rapidly reassembled under the influence of yokai power.
His gaze locked onto Kikyo, who stood in his path dressed in her red and white miko attire.
"You really are a coward, Naraku."
Kikyo sat calmly atop Blazing Hoof, her longbow resting lightly at her side. Her eyes swept over his regenerating body.
"So you hid your heart elsewhere."
Naraku gave a faint smile.
"As expected of you… you saw through it immediately."
His body fully restored.
"Then you should also understand that you cannot kill me now."
Kikyo didn't hesitate.
"I don't need to kill you."
She drew a Demon-Slaying Arrow and nocked it.
"Stopping you is enough. Kasage will handle the rest."
Naraku's expression instantly darkened.
"That man…"
His voice turned cold.
"Move."
Kikyo said nothing. She simply raised her bow and aimed at his chest. The spiritual power surrounding the arrow steadily intensified.
Naraku moved first.
His arm surged forward as dozens of writhing tentacles tore through the air like a storm.
But they struck nothing.
A blur.
Blazing Hoof had already vanished.
"What?!"
Naraku's eyes widened.
Then a voice came from behind him, cold and precise.
"I'm here, Naraku."
He turned too late.
The Demon-Slaying Arrow pierced straight through his chest.
The explosion of spiritual power shattered his body into fragments once more.
Yet again, the pieces slowly reformed, drawn together by miasma and yokai power.
"You can't escape."
Kikyo lowered her bow slightly and did not attack again.
She simply waited.
Naraku's expression darkened further.
"Damn you…"
He understood now.
She wasn't trying to kill him.
She was trapping him.
His gaze flickered briefly to Blazing Hoof beneath her.
Kikyo's weakness as a human no longer mattered. With the yokai horse, she could intercept him endlessly.
He couldn't touch her.
But she could stop him forever.
And Kasage…
Naraku's thoughts tightened.
He had seen it before.
Even immortals could be sealed.
If that happened to him, it would be no different from death.
Akago. Kagura.
They would betray him instantly.
No hesitation.
Naraku's eyes hardened.
Miasma exploded outward, thick and suffocating, swallowing the sky and blocking Kikyo's vision.
He turned and fled.
But in the next moment—
A streak of light tore through the darkness.
The miasma dissolved instantly like snow under sunlight.
The arrow struck again.
Naraku's body shattered once more.
"Kikyo!"
His voice echoed from the scattered fragments, hoarse with fury.
"You can't escape, Naraku," Kikyo replied calmly.
Naraku snorted coldly, about to speak—
When suddenly a presence appeared behind her.
She paused briefly, then relaxed.
"Kasage."
Uchiha Kasage stood on Blazing Hoof behind her, a faint smile on her lips.
"Everything's handled?" Kikyo asked.
Kasage nodded.
Then he gaze shifted to Naraku.
"Where did you hide the Shikon Jewel shard?"
Neithe he nor Kikyo had sensed it.
Naraku sneered.
"Trying to take it back?"
Kasage shook her head.
"No."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"You're just too slow."
A faint mocking smile appeared.
"At this pace, you're disappointing."
A brief pause.
"Maybe you'll be worth something once you're complete."
Naraku's expression darkened further, but before he could respond—
"Now."
Kasage raised her hand instantly.
Her eyes transformed into the Rinnegan.
"Banshō Ten'in."
A powerful gravitational force erupted.
Naraku's body was violently dragged toward they.
"What?!"
He tried to resist, unleashing his yokai power, but it was useless.
At the same moment, Kikyo drew her bow and released.
The Demon-Slaying Arrow struck him cleanly.
The explosion shattered his body again.
Only his head remained, which Kasage caught in her hand.
"You… your eyes…"
Naraku's pupils shrank at the sight of the Rinnegan.
"Worry about yourself."
Kasage's tone turned cold as her eyes shifted into Mangekyō Sharingan.
They spun slowly.
In an instant, Naraku was dragged into an illusion. His gaze became empty.
Kasage smiled slightly, about to speak—
But suddenly—
Naraku's head exploded.
A massive surge of black-purple miasma erupted, engulfing everything.
In the next moment, Kasage and Kikyo vanished.
They reappeared below in the forest.
Kasage casually pulled a Flying Thunder God kunai from a nearby tree trunk.
Above them, the miasma churned violently.
"He self-destructed."
Kasage exhaled softly.
"I didn't expect him to go that far just to avoid being controlled again."
Kikyo remained calm.
"You used illusion on him before. It's natural he would prepare for it."
Kasage gave a faint smile.
"He planned this from the start."
A brief silence followed.
Then she reached out and lightly wrapped an arm around Kikyo from behind as they stood on Blazing Hoof.
"I wanted to retrieve Kagura's heart from him," she said with a hint of regret. "Now she'll have to find it herself."
Kikyo didn't resist.
"Let's return to the shrine."
She gently patted Blazing Hoof's neck.
"He was already on guard against you. There was no easy way."
Blazing Hoof leapt into the sky, carrying them swiftly toward the shrine.
The battlefield fell silent.
But the struggle between them was far from over.