So, yeah, it has been a really, really long time since I have posted on this story… A lot of it has been where I was super busy over the last almost two years. When I changed jobs back in July of 2014, I thought surely to goodness that change would help me so that I could continue writing again. Only problem was, I neglected to account for my lazy, distracted, and tired mind. I posted last in January of 2015, which was such a long time ago. All I can say is a few things has happened since then to keep me from writing.

Firstly, my son was born back in December of 2014. He is the joy of my life and I wouldn't trade a day with him for anything. Spending time with him has consumed a lot of my life, as well as spending more time with my wife, and I don't regret those choices at all. As I've always said, your personal life is far more important than anything else.

Secondly, I seem to be addicted to a game called Regrowth, which is a mod pack for Minecraft. I've been playing it for what seems like forever, and it has consumed hours of my life. Even before it, modded Minecraft did the same. I have nearly finished with it at this point (down to 4-5 quests, ugh).

Thirdly, I just didn't have a lot of free time to sit down and write. Aside from being at work for 8 hours a day, I had an hour and 20 minute drive to work, and then another hour and 20 minute drive back home. I was literally gone 10-11 hours a day and would come home totally drained. Sure, I had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to write, but actually being able to work on the stories was not quite in the cards.

Fourthly, I just had next to no urge to write. Sure, I continued the plots of my stories in my head, but I never could get myself to sit down and write them out. I would sit for 5-10 minutes, grow bored and give up. It was infuriating to say the least and frustrated me to no end that I couldn't make progress.

Now that the excuses are out of the way, the reason I began writing again is I had the urge to once more and I began finding the time to. Back in February, I changed jobs again and this time it is a remote position, meaning I work from home. Working from home has been great because it gave me an opportunity to spend more time with my wife and son, which I felt I had been neglecting.

With this change in jobs, I started thinking about the things that I really enjoyed doing in the past and writing was at the top of that list. My new job gave me the opportunity to write again like a past one had during breaks, so I found myself being drawn back into writing once again.

This story in particular is one that I have really wanted to complete. Partially because it's been stuck in my head, but mainly because I have really wanted to get it out there for others to look at and read. I have a few other stories that I want to work on as well, but I'm not sure if I will get to them for a while. I may reach out for help on them but we'll see in due time. It really depends on how well this story continues on. I am looking forward to getting more and more of it wrote down and published onto .

I've also decided that I am going to dedicate myself to finishing this story after the people I lost last year. I lost both of my grandfathers last year, which one I knew would not make it much longer but he finally passed last year in the spring. My other grandfather unexpectedly passed away last Fall, just a few days after his birthday. And then there was a special person who was a great friend that died tragically in a car accident in 2014. We met originally here on and had developed a good relationship. She was a great friend and I still can't help but feel a touch of sadness that someone's life was cut so tragically short.

Lastly, I want everyone to know that my plan right now is to publish a chapter for the time being once a month. It will probably be early in the month. If I continue to get back into the swing of writing a good bit, I will try to publish twice a month. We'll see for now how things go. So please, do be patient and know I will do my best to continue this story.

Now then, time for some reviews:

: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked the chapter. Hopefully you'll get to read this one and will enjoy it as well.

So, I have a question to everyone: should I continue using the honorifics and the incorporation of Japanese language into my story? It was something new I was trying and had liked reading it in other stories, but I'm unsure if it is working for mine. Let me know in the reviews or via PM.

Without further ado, let the chapter begin.

Meanings to certain words:

tou-san = father (formal)

ka-san = mother (formal)

ka-chan = mother (endearment)

ba-chan = grandmother (endearment)

oji = uncle

nee = older sister

-chan = endearment (used for females typically but can be used for males)

-kun = endearment (used for males typically by females but can be used by males too)

hai = yes

sumimasen = sorry (formal)

otouto = brother

nakama = friend, comrade, colleague

Chapter 4

"To protect one's pack, one's mate, and one's pups, that is all I want!"

With Inuyasha's declaration spoken, the golden energy shackles that had been restraining him suddenly began dissipating. As the last of their energy vanished, a blast of demonic energy poured out from the silver haired hanyou's body straight up into the air, sending dust and debris scattering across the battlefield. The very ground the pair stood on seemed to shutter from the release of energy.

Watching carefully at the explosion of energy from his younger brother, Iya slowly drew Ketsaiga before himself into a more defensive position.

Letting out a low growl, Inuyasha reached out and took hold of his sword. Drawing it from the ground, he tightened his grip on the katana causing the blade to transform into it's halberd form. All at once, the sword pulsated as if it was responding to the intense power it's master was now releasing. This response seemed to cause the dog hanyou's power to grow a bit more.

At long last, his power seemed to level out, causing the swirl of demonic energy to settle down, though his aura still was in full view of all those watching. Flexing his empty hand a few times, Inuyasha calmly said "Here I come."

That was all the warning Iya had before his brother vanished into thin air. Eyes widening, he instinctively turned one-eighty degrees to parry an attack coming from his brother.

The sound of steel meeting steel rang out across the battlefield from the powerful attack as sparks poured down from the contact between the two sister blades. The sheer power from the swing of the silver haired hanyou sent the Southern Lord flying backwards across the training arena at a furious pace.

Trying to prepare himself for the next attack from his brother, Iya barely managed to raise his sword to once more parry another attack.

"Your senses are as sharp as ever. You no doubt saw through these two attacks, didn't you, Iya?"

The Southern Lord didn't get a chance to respond to his younger brother, as the silver haired hanyou placed his left hand on the back of Tetsusaiga and smoothly said "Let's see what you do with this. WIND SCAR!"

At point blank range, Inuyasha released his most famous attack. The blast shot the black haired hanyou backwards across the battlefield at a breakneck speed towards the other side of the arena.

Riding the beam of energy, the elder hanyou struggled to dislodge himself from the attack. He quickly realized he was rapidly approaching a set of rocks that marked one end of the training grounds as the far side. Gritting his teeth, his eyes widened when the beam suddenly released a mighty explosion.

Rock, dust, and debris went flying through the air and shrouded the fate of the Southern Lord from all those that were looking on.

000

000

"TOU-SAN!" Makoto screamed in panic. Looking to his mother, he frantically yelled "Ka-chan, we have to go help Tou-san!"

Getting no response, the young boy began to speak again but was cut off by his younger of sisters. "Settle down Makoto-baka and use your senses. If you did, you'd realize you're making a fuss over nothing."

Before he could retort, his mother softly said "Makoto-kun, your sister is right. Reach out with your senses and you will find your chichi is fine."

In a bit of a firm tone as Lilly slid her eyes over towards her youngest daughter, the neko hanyou added "Ryoko-chan, you need to stop calling your brother a baka. It isn't good manners."

"I can't help it that he is a baka." Ryoko grunted out.

Tiredly sighing at the flippant attitude of her child, Lilly turned towards her daughter and placed her index and middle fingers together on her left hand and pointed them at Ryoko. In a frustrated tone, she said "Bakudō 1: Sai."

Immediately the dog hanyou child's hands were wretched behind her back. The sudden action caused her to stumble forward before ultimately losing her balance and falling face first into the dirt with her rump sticking up in the air.

"Do be mindful that to disobey and backtalk me earns you punishment, Ryoko-chan."

Managing to get herself back onto her knees, the hanyou child began to shoot back a angered reply but saw a fierce look in her mother's emerald eyes that made her hold her tongue. Looking away, she softly muttered "Hai Ka-san…"

Satisfied, the neko hanyou snapped her fingers. Immediately, the binding spell she had cast on her daughter was released. Returning her gaze to the battle, she focused her senses on her mate.

000

000

"Tou-san, just how strong are you?" Izayoi questioned within her mind. Thinking back over the years, memories of sparring with her father came forth. "I know for certain he was never this strong. He held back all these years and struggled with his own training just for the chance to fight Oji-san? I never knew Tou-san had that kind of determination…"

"Ka-chan, why didn't you ever tell us Oyaji was this awesome!?" Asami excitedly questioned.

Letting a small smile out, Kagome nonchalantly replied "To be honest, I didn't know how strong he had gotten. Your chichi is very prideful and didn't want anyone to know how much progress he had made. Only Sesshomaru knew how strong he had become."

"I guess…" Daiki remarked thoughtfully. "Still, I wish he had shown us how strong he was."

"Well, now you know. Perhaps you can convince him to spar with you, seeing now that his secret is out." the older dog hanyou commented.

Refolding her arms over her chest, Izayoi smoothly said "It should be interesting from here on out to see what Oji-san does."

000

000

Staring at the dust cloud that his attack had created, Inuyasha reached out with his senses in an attempt to locate his brother. Shifting Tetsusaiga up onto his shoulders, he spread his senses out even further, searching out for any hint of the black haired dog hanyou.

"Not long ago, you were scolding me for not fighting you seriously. Now look who is holding back. How long do you honestly think you can hold out by not fighting me seriously, Iya?"

Patience wearing thin, the dog hanyou let his temper get the better of him momentarily and yelled "Get your ass out here and let's go!"

Without warning, a surge of demonic energy burst into the air, sending the dust scattering from the force of the release. As the dust began to clear, a calm voice called out "Wind Slash."

Slicing through the remainder of the cloud of dust was a beam of white demonic energy. The blast was locked onto the younger dog hanyou and rapidly raced towards him.

"That's more like it." Inuyasha said with a satisfied smirk. Moving Tetsusaiga off of his shoulder and raising it up before grasping the hilt with both hands, he swung downwards while crying out "WIND SCAR!"

A golden claw like attack advanced towards the incoming white energy blast. The two collided after a mere second, resulting in a thunderous shockwave that sent rock and smaller debris flying in all directions. Pushing on one another, each attack struggled to gain the upper hand but neither seemed to have the power to do so. At long last, the two finally fizzled out, promptly cancelling out the struggle.

Appearing suddenly in a flash behind his younger brother, Iya was already in mid-swing of Ketsaiga at the back of Inuyasha. On instinct, Inuyasha spun around and parried the attack expertly. Sparks rained down from the collision, along with the sound of steel grinding on steel of the sister blades locked in a fierce struggle. The two swords ground against one another for a few more moments before the pair of brothers separated.

"You got faster. Good, now you're taking this a little more seriously." the silver haired hanyou smartly said.

Taking up a new stance, Iya smoothly replied "I learned long ago you always have to be serious in battle. Aside from that, it is a sound strategy to see what your opponent can do before pressing the attack."

"Oh I'll show you what I can do, Iya. This is going to be fun."

Flashing away, the silver haired hanyou closed the distance immediately so that he was poised to slash his brother. Swinging his sword, he watched it cut straight through an after image. He quickly slid his eyes to his left and swiftly turned to parry a counterattack.

Still grinding his blade against his younger brother's, the black haired hanyou suddenly drew back his halberd and launched a series of high speed slashes. Each was blocked but that did little to slow down the speed of his attacks.

As the slashes continued to increase in speed, the silver haired hanyou found himself being forced to start backing up. Without realizing it, he backed straight into a rock. His eyes widened upon recognizing the situation he had now placed himself into.

Taking advantage of his brother's lack of mobility, Iya drew Ketsaiga up over his head and put all his strength into a power laden downward swing.

With no choice but to block, Inuyasha quickly raised Tetsusaiga horizontally and braced it with the back of his other hand to intercept the attack.

The impact of the attack caused the ground beneath the silver haired hanyou's feet to crumble and made him dig in a few inches. Without warning, the Lord of the South shot a kick forward into his brother's gut with enough force to send the younger hanyou smashing through the rock that had been to his back. Smaller chunks of stone fell about the area as the silver haired hanyou flew backwards over the ground. He quickly recovered and flipped over onto his feet and began skidding backwards.

Reaching up and wiping the corner of his mouth with his sleeve where a tiny bit of blood had trickled down, Inuyasha smirked and shot forward like a rocket.

Watching his younger brother intently, Iya slashed out at his brother, only to find he was now attacking an after image instead. His eyes quickly shot upwards to see his opponent a few stories up in the air with his sword up over his head and demonic wind encircling his blade.

"TAKE THIS! WIND SCAR!" Inuyasha proudly yelled with a might downward swing. The swing caused a blast of golden demonic energy to rush forth in the form of a claw.

Not even flinching at the incoming attack, the Southern Lord called forth his halberd's icy form and swung his sword out to his right side. Faintly smiling, he swung his blade horizontally before himself at an upwards arc while calmly declaring "Shard Storm."

Spears of ice formed instantaneously along the path of the ice blade's arc and sprang forth on a collision course with the oncoming golden energy beam. The two met, with the spears of ice going straight through but not before weakening the golden energy attack.

Gritting his teeth as he eyed the incoming ice attack, Inuyasha turned his body downwards so that he was flying head first towards the ground. A bit of white energy seemed to accumulate beneath his feet momentarily which he used to propel himself downward. This suddenly caused his descent to increase drastically to the point he looked like a red blur racing to the ground.

The red robed hanyou smashed into the ground a moment later just as his previous attack hit the place where the Southern Lord had previously stood. Dust flew into the air from the impact, obscuring the pair for a few moments. Slowly, the dust settled to reveal the older hanyou staring at a small crater where the younger hanyou lay on the ground.

"So, you learned that technique too, eh?" Iya inquired.

Picking himself up quickly, Inuyasha leapt out of the hole he had created to the opposite side of his brother. Knocking the dust off himself, he smirked and replied "Yeah, though I'm not very good at it yet. I picked up on it when I fought Sesshomaru last time."

Slightly growling to himself, he continued on, saying "That bastard always has had the advantage of seemingly floating or flying, but it's not really that, now is it?"

"I suppose it's not." the Southern Lord commented with a faint smile. "It's not really flight, it's the ability to manipulate demonic energy to the point you can use it to seemingly fly. In all reality, you're just using your own energy to hold your body in the air, or to make movements within the air. It's especially useful in dealing with foes that can actually fly."

"Yeah… It's a technique that Sesshomaru loves to employ. Hell, even Ichigo and you use it during your fights." Inuyasha commented. "I had no idea how it worked until my fight with Sesshomaru last time. I was able to at long last figure out what he was doing by watching him closely when he stood in midair. After I saw it a few times, I began figuring out how to use it."

Rubbing the back of his head and sighing slightly, he added "Although, like I said, I'm still not very good at it. I tend to overcompensate on the amount of energy needed for movement, as well as to stand midair, hence why I shot myself into the ground earlier. I've always had that issue of figuring out just how much energy to output for such things and am still fighting with it."

"It gets easier as time passes." Iya encouragingly said. "Eventually, it becomes second nature."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure it does. That doesn't make it any easier right now to use."

Rolling his eyes at his brother, the elder hanyou began to speak when he noted his brother was preparing to resume the fight. Deciding to instead prepare for the attack, he sank back into a ready stance with his sword prepared to defend him again.

Inuyasha suddenly shot forward, blade drawn back ready for a full powered swing. Mirroring his brother's actions, Iya bolted towards his brother. The two clashed blades against one another, resulting in a thunderous sound pouring out from the battlefield once more.

Grinding their blades against one another, the two brothers instantly vanished. The pair reappeared throughout the landscape as they clashed with one another. At times, they even appeared midair with sparks flying and loud cries out of steel singing across the battlefield.

000

000

Watching the battle continue to unfold, the bobcat mage snuggled deeper into her mate's protective arms that were wrapped around her from behind and softly tracing her stomach where their unborn child resided.

"Iya sure is having fun out there." Ichigo commented with a small smile on his face.

Faintly smiling herself, Orihime replied "It certainly seems so. And it looks like Inuyasha is as well."

"Yeah, he is." the quarter bobcat quipped. Remaining silent for a moment, he added "Honestly, I never would have guessed Inuyasha would have improved this much in such a short time."

"Oh?" the bobcat mage questioned with a touch of surprise in her voice. "Why is that? If you recall, you have a history of drastically improving your skills as well."

"Che, that's not what I mean. I knew he would improve somewhat, but never to this level."

A moment of silence passed over the pair before the quarter demon continued on, saying "I didn't think in seventeen years, Inuyasha would get this far. He most certainly had to be driven to get this far. Hell, he wasn't even half as strong back then"

"But now, he's fighting on par with Iya. Iya and I went through the same training with one another over the last seventeen years. Our training was brutal and grueling, to the point we sometimes we had to have you come heal us before we could return to the Southern Keep. We pushed one another beyond our limits and then some. For Inuyasha to have caught up this much in seventeen years is unreal. He had to have had a much more difficult training regimen than the two us had, and the fact that he stuck to it for seventeen years to get to this point, his goal, is a testament to just how important this is to him."

"You almost sound like you're praising him." Orihime smartly challenged.

"Che, it does irk me to do so." Ichigo grumbled. "But the fact is, I can't help but admire Inuyasha for doing it."

Lightly chuckling, the bobcat mage relaxed more into her mate's arms. Feeling the arms around her pull her more protectively up against her mate, she faintly signed in contentment before returning her senses to the continuing battle.

000

000

Watching the fight intently was a set of golden eyes of Izayoi. She stood with her arms crossed and silently tracked the movements of the two fighters.

"So this is what Sesshomaru-oji-san was talking about when he told me that I should watch their fight." the young hanyou mentally commented.

000

000

A few months back

"That is enough for today, Izayoi-san."

Panting heavily on one knee with her head down and one hand clutching her sword that was stabbed into the ground, Izayoi looked up at the owner of the voice.

Standing several feet from her stood a regal silver haired dog demon with a blue crescent moon adorning his forehead and magenta stripes on his cheeks. He wore lavish white silken top that had red hexagon patterns on the sleeves and around his collar, white pants, black boots, a black chest plate, and a yellow obi tying it altogether. His amber eyes were focused on the younger hanyou that appeared mostly cold, but seemed to hold a faint trace of warmness within them.

Slowly, the hanyou forced herself to her feet on shaky legs. With her head bowed low, she apologetically said "Sumimasen, Sesshomaru-oji-san."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Izayoi-san." the Western Lord quipped. A moment passed before he added in a soft tone "You did well today."

Looking away at the ground, the hanyou replied "You do not have to lie, Sesshomaru-oji-san. I still cannot perform Sōryūha without being weakened considerably."

"Do you accuse this Sesshomaru of lying?"

Realizing what she had accidentally insinuated, the hanyou raised her head and shook it adamantly. "No, you would not lie, Sesshomaru-oji-san."

"Then tell this Sesshomaru why you do not believe his words?" the dog demon dryly retorted.

Taking a few moments to piece together her thoughts, Izayoi slowly said "I know you must be disappointed with my progress. I've been training with you for the last two years, Sesshomaru-oji-sama, and it I feel I'm just not progressing to the standard you would expect."

"You believe you are disappointing this Sesshomaru?" the dog demon questioned with a raised eyebrow. A moment passed before the Western Lord smoothly said "This Sesshomaru has not been disappointed by your progress, contrary to what you feel. No, instead this Sesshomaru has instead been impressed by your progress."

"Your progress reminds this Sesshomaru of this Sesshomaru's otouto."

"My progress is not even comparative to Tou-san's…" Izayoi murmured.

"Did this Sesshomaru say he meant your chichi?"

Brow furrowing, the hanyou quietly asked "I remind you of Iya-oji-san?"

"Hn."

"But I'm nowhere near…"

Before the hanyou could finish, the Western Lord spoke up, saying "You say that Izayoi-san, yet you have learned the Sōryūha already. You have as well made variations of it, which are things this Sesshomaru never thought of doing after creating it. As well, you have become much faster and stronger over the last two years of training. This Sesshomaru feels you have progressed tremendously, much like how this Sesshomaru's otouto did and still does."

Absorbing the words of her uncle, Izayoi faintly smiled and humbly said "Arigatō, Sesshomaru-oji-san."

Turning away from his niece, the regal dog demon took several steps before suddenly coming to a stop. "This Sesshomaru wants you to watch the battle between Inuyasha and Iya when you visit the Southern Lands in a few months."

"They are going to fight?" the hanyou asked in surprise.

"Hn. Inuyasha is hell bent on fighting with Iya after his battle with this Sesshomaru. It seems he cannot wait to fight with him." Sesshomaru answered.

A few moments of silence filled the air before Izayoi asked "Sesshomaru-oji-san, did Tou-san do very well against you?"

Silence fell upon the two again before the dog demon replied with a faint chuckle, saying "Yes."

000

000

Present day

"Sesshomaru-oji-san believes that I'm like Iya-oji-san. If he believes that, then perhaps…"

"Nee-chan, what do you think about Oyaji being this strong?"

Izayoi turned her head to her left to see her younger sister, Asami, had come up beside of her. The younger hanyou had her arms behind her head in a relaxed form.

Gathering her thoughts, the elder of the two at last coolly said "Tou-san is most definitely stronger than we all thought. Still, I'm not sure if that is enough to overcome Iya-oji-san."

"I'm not sure Oyaji can beat him either, Nee-chan." Daiki added as he came to the elder hanyou's other side.

Returning her attention back to the battle, Izayoi allowed a small smile to appear on her face as she softly said "Regardless of if Tou-san beats Iya-oji-san or not, I have to admit, Tou-san appears to be enjoying himself."

"Well no duh, Captain Obvious." Asami grunted. Earning herself a bewildered look from her elder sister, the younger hanyou asked "What?"

"Captain Obvious?"

Smacking his hand to his face and shaking it slightly, the male hanyou muttered into this hand "You should remember by now that Izayoi-chan doesn't watch TV at Ba-chan's."

"Oh yeah, sorry about that reference, Nee-chan." the younger female hanyou sheepishly said as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

Shrugging it off, Izayoi simply replied with "Hn."

Letting out a puff of sigh smoke, the brother of the pair of sisters mumbled within his mind "I swear she's turning more and more into Sesshomaru-oji-san."

000

000

Impatiently tapping her elbow as she watched the battle continue to unfold, Ryoko grumbled out to her mother "Why hasn't Oyaji wrapped this fight up yet?"

Faintly annoyed by the impatience of her middle child's behavior, Lilly coolly replied "Ryoko-chan, your chichi and oji are enjoying their fight. Inuyasha-san wants to see how far he's come in comparison to your chichi. You should be watching this to see if you can learn anything from it, not worrying about going back to the Keep."

"Oyaji could have won this if he had started out at full strength." the temperamental hanyou complained.

Sighing at her daughter's words, the neko hanyou began to respond when her eldest daughter spoke up instead.

"Going full strength at first does not guarantee he would have won, Ryoko-chan." Kaia stated smoothly. "If Tou-san had started at full power, Inuyasha-oji-san would have done the same, and we would then have the same stalemate we're watching."

"Besides, Tou-san was getting a feel for Inuyasha-oji-san's fighting style. Even though they weren't fighting at full strength yet, Tou-san was making sure what to expect out of his opponent. It's a basic concept that I know you've learned too that you need to feel out what kind of fighting style and skill set your opponent has."

Throwing a heated glare at her elder sister, the dog eared hanyou began to make a snappy return when she suddenly felt her mother's demonic aura rise slightly as if sending out a warning pulse. Knowing she would be punished again for her sharp tongue, Ryoko backed down her temper and let out an indignant sigh.

Pleased that her youngest daughter kept from making a crude remark, the neko demon returned her attention to the raging battle. A small smile appeared on her face as she watched the two brothers battle continued.

000

000

"WIND SCAR!"

"WIND SLASH!"

The two signature attacks of the Taisho brothers smashed into one another once again, each trying to overpower the other. Like many times before, the two ended up cancelling one another out and vanishing.

With their attacks vanishing, the two brothers flashed across the battlefield and once again clashed in the crater where the attacks had met. Flying away from one another after the clash, the two spun around to face each other with their swords in a ready position before them.

"He's definitely gotten stronger. There is no doubt, Inuyasha has managed to increase his strength and speed beyond what I ever thought he could seventeen years ago. All I seem capable of right now is matching him at this point."

Staring still at his brother with a hardened expression, the Lord of the Southern Lands suddenly softened his look to that of a smile and lowered his blade. "You've grown up, Inuyasha."

"Seventeen years ago, you still acted very much like a pup at times with your temperament, but you always put others ahead of yourself. You've matured since then. Sure, you still have a touch of temperament issues in you yet; however, throughout this battle, you've kept it in check and have battled me on even footing."

Letting out a small chuckle, Iya added "You've definitely given me a run for my money."

Silence filled the air momentarily before the elder hanyou dug his blade into the ground beside of him and offered his right hand in the direction of his brother. "Shall we call this battle a draw and return to the Keep for a bit of refreshments and rest?"

The silver haired hanyou stared at the offered hand for several long moments before lowering his blade and his head so that the shade of his hair covered his golden eyes. Without warning, he vanished in a flash only to reappear directly in front of the Southern Lord with his blade drawn out to his side to attack.

Reacting quickly by retrieving Ketsaiga, the black haired hanyou managed to parry his brother's attack. A light grunt could be heard as the tremendous force from the silver haired hanyou's swing had caused the Southern Lord to put more strength into blocking the blade than he originally thought was needed. The ground beneath the dark haired hanyou's feet gave way somewhat, causing him to dig in to block the attack.

Shoving his brother away, Iya looked up at his brother with a bit of frustration visible on his face. "What was that for?"

"Call it a draw my ass." Inuyasha scoffed while flashing furious golden orbs. "You fucking idiot, I told you before that I wanted to measure the gap between our powers when we began this fight."

Drawing his halberd up onto his shoulder, the silver haired hanyou grunted out "Early on, I didn't use my full power because I wanted to see how you'd react to it. Thankfully, you got pissed off with me and forced me to start fighting more seriously by releasing my Spirit Cuffs."

"Since the release, you have been fighting on even ground with me. I have to admit, that got me pretty excited. Hell, even to the point I thought you may actually show that difference."

With disdain ringing in his voice, Inuyasha pointed his blade at his brother and growled out "But you're still holding back!"

"Inuyasha, I…"

"I don't want you're damn excuses!" the silver hanyou hissed. "You can't convince me that in seventeen years, you haven't gotten stronger than you were back at the end of the Great War. I know better than anyone that you would never stop advancing forward."

Smacking his chest with a closed palm where his heart would lie, Inuyasha firmly said "You and I are no different in how we desire to protect those we love around us. Both of us never stop trying to get stronger so that we can protect our important people, whether they are a part of our pack, a nakama, or a stranger. We strive to continue to be able to protect those people no matter what happens."

"This is something that we both learned over the years and cling to. It is what makes us who we are. So don't give me some bullshit excuse that you haven't gotten any stronger in the last seventeen years, because that isn't who you are. That isn't who you are, Iya!"

Taken aback by his brother's strong words, the Southern Lord lowered his head so that his bangs covered his muddy brown eyes. At last after a minute, he heavily sighed before revealing his eyes once more.

"I am at my limit, Inuyasha. Go ahead and check my scent if you don't believe me."

Growling lowly, the brash hanyou ground out "Fine, if you won't willingly show me your full power, I'll force you to do it. I intentionally held back a bit of my strength earlier because I knew you wouldn't fight me the way I wanted. But that's fine, I'll just use all of my power now and force you into using your full power against me so I can tell how much further I have to go."

Gripping Tetsusaiga slightly tighter than before, the silver haired hanyou brought his blade before his body and let out a low growl. Instantly, demonic energy poured from his body that sent his clothing rustling within it's powerful wind.

Staring intently at his brother's movements, Iya's eyes suddenly widened as his opponent flashed away faster than previously. The Southern Lord barely managed to raise his blade up to parry an attack meant to lop off his head.

"Okay, so he wasn't bluffing about holding back. That speed was definitely greater than what he had used …"

The dark haired hanyou's thoughts were immediately cut off by a knee to his stomach that made him nearly double over. Before he could attempt to adjust from the blow, a powerful fist smashed into his right cheek, sending him flying away until he fell to the ground and skidded a small bit.

Standing up and rubbing the corner of his mouth from the pain he felt, Iya felt something wet slowly sliding down onto his hand. Raising up his hand, he found blood on his hand. Staring at it for a moment, he suddenly faintly chuckled and turned his sight towards his younger brother.

"Are you pleased now that you drew blood, Inuyasha?"

Infuriated even further at his older brother's words, the younger hanyou flashed away again and landed a powerful front kick into his brother's gut, causing the older hanyou to spit up a touch more blood onto the ground. The force of his kick sent the older hanyou skidding backwards.

"ENOUGH TALK! I WARNED YOU, SO LET'S SEE WHAT YOU DO NOW! WIND SCAR!"

Without hesitation, Inuyasha unleashed his most famous attack at his elder brother who was still recovering from the previous blow. Compared to his previous unleashing of this attack, the one he had just released was greater in scale of power and size.

Looking up at the golden energy claw rolling towards him at horrifying speed, the Southern Lord drew up Ketsaiga over his head. Swinging down, he yelled out "Wind Slash!"

The blinding white energy attack of the black haired dog demon erupted to life and charged forward towards his brother's own attack.

The golden and white energy attacks met head on and for a moment like so many throughout the battle seemed to draw even. All at once, the white demonic energy seemed to lose ground as the golden energy seemed to become even more ferocious than before. Without warning, the golden energy attack swallowed up the white energy attack and charged forward at a rapid pace in the direction of the Southern Lord.

Unable to disengage attack quickly enough, Iya was caught up in the golden energy attack. He was quick to use his blade to block the attack but he was unable to keep it from progressing forward.

Without warning, the demonic energy exploded and coated the area in a blinding light. Debris could be heard falling on the battlefield but sight of it was obscured by the huge cloud of dust that had erupted from the explosion.

000

000

"Ka-san…" Makato began to question with uncertainty building in his eyes, "is Tou-san okay?"

Remaining silent, Lilly continued to scan the battlefield quietly. "Rest assured Makato-kun, your chichi is still alive."

Smiling warmly at her youngest, she added "It will take more than that to beat your chichi. Don't worry, he'll be fine."

Seemingly accepting his mother's words, the young hanyou continued to look on with worried eyes for his father's figure.

"So Inuyasha-oji-san is that strong, eh?" Ryoko chimed in. "I never would have thought he'd be able to do that to Oyaji."

"It is impressive, to say the least." Kaia added.

Nodding her head, Lilly coolly said "It is indeed. But don't worry; your chichi isn't done yet."

"He should give up." Ryoko grunted out. "He can't win as things stand."

"Would you in this situation, Ryoko-chan?" the neko hanyou asked her youngest daughter.

Frowning at the question, the young female dog/neko hanyou retorted "Of course not. I wouldn't have ended up in this situation because I would have controlled the tempo of the battle from the start."

"Would you now?" Lilly asked smartly. "You're saying you could force an opponent of equal or greater strength into fighting a battle the way you would want it to unfold?"

"Of course!" Ryoko quipped.

"We'll test that later then, Ryoko-chan." Lilly slyly stated with what sounded like a promise.

Pride faltering a bit, the young dog/neko hanyou retorted "Well, it wouldn't be easy, but I could do it."

000

000

"What now, Iya? Your opponent is stronger and faster than you. Do you hold onto that pride of yours and keep fighting knowing you'll have a real uphill fight on your hands? Or do you breakdown and give him what he wants?" Ichigo questioned within his mind.

"Iya took a pretty good beating from that attack." Orihime stated. "I can sense it definitely inflicted a little bit of damage to him and definitely weakened his overall strength."

"Yeah…" the quarter bobcat passively commented. "He sure did take a decent hit, but nothing he can't rebound from."

Gripping her kimono slightly tight, the bobcat mage lowly asked "Do you think he'll lose?"

Take nearly a minute to answer, the quarter bobcat let out a ragged sigh before saying "It depends on if Iya is willing to let go of his pride."

"Do you think he'll use 'it'?"

Brown eyes focusing on the battle once again, Ichigo smoothly replied to his mate "I'm not sure, but if he wants to win, he may just have to."

"Let's just hope that if he does, he's very careful." Orihime whispered.

000

000

The dust around the battlefield was at last beginning to clear and revealed a large pile of rubble at the base of some large rocks.

Approaching the rocks cautiously, Inuyasha sniffed the air and swiveled his ears for any signs of movement. Detecting none, he cockily asked "How was that, Iya? Did that attack get it through that damn thick skull of yours that I want to fight you for real?"

A few rocks suddenly seemed to fall off of the huge pile. Suddenly the Southern Lord shot out of the rubble and landed several feet away.

Blood dribbled down from his forehead and a little from his mouth. His clothes had a few rips and holes within them. Dust coated his body as well.

Spitting some blood off to the side and wiping the blood away from his forehead and mouth, Iya cracked his neck back and forth a few times before smartly saying "You definitely are serious, I'll say that much for you. Those were some pretty good attacks."

"Then you're ready to show me your true power?" Inuyasha challenged.

Working his left arm in circles to pop his shoulder, the elder hanyou remarked "Against you as things stand, it sure will be difficult to win. I could drag this out as long as need be."

Clearly infuriated by the answer he received, the silver haired demon's body began coating itself in his demonic aura once again.

"Now, now, I didn't say I was going to do that, now did I?" Iya questioned while wagging a single finger in the air. The action immediately caused the younger hanyou's aura to dissipate away into nothingness once more.

Sighing heavily, the black haired hanyou softly said "I did tell you I would fight you at full strength. To be honest, you've advanced so much further than I thought you would have. I thought I could take care of things using only the strength I had used during the Great War to settle this fight."

Again sighing, the Southern Lord's expression hardened as he said "I will show you my full strength, Inuyasha, but only for an instant."

"Feh, you think that's all it will take?" Inuyasha smugly remarked. "Don't take me so lightly."

"I'm not."

The flat statement caught the younger hanyou off guard for a second but he quickly recovered from it with a smirk. "Fine then, show me!"

Closing his eyes and drawing Ketsaiga out before himself, Iya began allowing his demonic aura to build up. It became visible quickly and flowed around his body. His sword seemed to automatically respond to the increase in it's master's power and began adding it's own power it's master's aura.

Watching the buildup, Inuyasha settled back into a ready stance with Tetsusaiga raised and ready to strike. His amber eyes carefully studied his brother's stance, searching for what was to come.

Eyes snapping open, the Southern Lord suddenly drew his blade up over his head and swung downwards with tremendous force. "WIND SLASH!"

A large blast of white demonic energy shot forward towards the red robed hanyou. The normal attack seemed to be double in size from it's typical release and gave off a more menacing air about it.

"Feh, I should have known you wouldn't be serious." Inuyasha growled. "Let's see you deal with this then! BACKLASH WAVE!"

Swinging his blade into the oncoming attack, the silver haired hanyou's sword took control of the attack and twisted and changed it into several white tornados that began racing directly at his opponent.

Watching them coming, the Southern Lord let out a light grunt and stabbed the ground with his sword as it transformed into it's icy form.

"Ice Barrier."

A thick wall of ice swiftly shot up out of the ground that was at least three foot thick, ten foot wide, and fifty feet tall. The wall gave a slight shimmer as the sun glanced off of it's reflective surface.

The spiraling twisters of demonic energy slammed heavily into the ice wall. Flakes of ice chipped off as the powerful attack grinded away at the wall of ice in an attempt to pierce through it.

For nearly a minute, the spiraling attacks did all they could to smash through the thick cut of ice but to no avail. At long last, the attack lost all of it's strength and fizzled out, leaving the wall of ice behind with several chipped out paths etched into it.

The ice wall suddenly let out several loud creaks before shattering and raining down several large chunks of ice. Stepping out from behind the pile, the Southern Lord walked around the pile of ice and slowly towards his younger brother.

Without warning, he suddenly reversed the transformation of his icy blade and then the sword shrank back down to it's katana state.

"That was a most impressive Backlash Wave, Inuyasha." Iya smoothly said.

"What are you doing, Iya!? The fight isn't over!"

Sweeping his blade out to the side, the elder hanyou drew his sword back up so that the tip of the blade was lined up with the sheath in his belt loop.

"But it is over."

Puzzled, the younger hanyou suddenly felt a cold sensation forming over his body. Confused to what was going on, he glanced down at his feet to see ice had slowly began climbing up his body. His mid-section already had ice forming downwards to meet the ice climbing upwards. Ice without warning began sprouting from his shoulders and around his neck as well.

"What the hell is going on!?"

"I told you before, didn't I?"

Seeing his brother look up at him, Iya slowly pushed Ketsaiga back into it's sheath. "Only for an instant."

Faintly smiling, the elder hanyou's sword had but just an inch to return to it's resting place when he stopped suddenly. "You did well, Inuyasha. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the battle we fought here today. I enjoyed getting to fight with you once again. I look forward to our next fight to see how much you have progressed again."

With that said, the Southern Lord pushed the remainder of his sword in with one swift motion while saying "Cold Wave."

The ice covering the silver haired hanyou instantly completed it's coating of his main body and hardened greatly. Inside his icy confines, the dog hanyou began shivering from the extreme cold of the ice covering him from the neck down.

Walking over to his brother with a smile, Iya softly touched the ice with his left hand, saying "I must return to the Southern Keep now. After all, my paperwork is probably going to be reaching the ceiling by the time I get back. We'll talk later."

Removing his hand from his brother's shoulder, the Southern Lord continued walking towards the edge of the battlefield where the wall of the barrier was. Just as he reached it, the ice coating the younger hanyou shattered, allowing him to fall to his knees.

Seeing the battle was at last over, Lilly performed a few hand signs that caused her portion of the barrier to be released. Both Tsunade and Mai quickly mimicked the Lady of the South's actions to release their portions as well, causing the entire barrier that had kept the two competitors trapped to disperse.

Rushing to the battlefield and passing their uncle on the way, all three of the silver haired hanyou's children reached their father to check on him.

"Oyaji, you okay?" Asami asked in a worried tone.

Getting no answer, Izayoi spoke up, asking "Tou-san?"

"Inuyasha?"

All three children turned to see their mother making her way towards them carrying their younger brother.

Snapping out of his daze instantly, Inuyasha faintly chuckled and stood slowly, saying "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little cold and stunned I guess."

"You were amazing Oyaji!" Asami declared as she seemed to be bursting with her usual fun filled energy. "I never knew you were that strong. When did you get that way!? And why haven't you taught us how to do that yet?"

"Asami-chan, give your chichi a moment to recover." Kagome scolded. Faintly smiling, she warmly said "That was a great fight, Inuyasha."

"Feh, it was over so quickly."

"What did Iya-oji-san do to you, Oyaji?" Daiki inquired. "I didn't even see him move."

"Nor did I." Izayoi added. "It's just like when Sesshomaru-oji-san gets serious."

Taking a few moments to piece his words together, the older dog hanyou calmly said "I guess he wasn't lying when he said it would be over in an instant."

"His Wind Slash was a diversion to force me to use the Backlash Wave. He wanted me to do it so he could then use his Ice Barrier and use the two as a means to obscure his presence."

"Once those two things were obscuring everyone's vision and senses, I felt his aura change. It wasn't like a surge of power when I released my Spirit Cuffs. No, it was more subtle, almost undetectable."

Glancing down at Tetsusaiga for a moment, the silver haired hanyou added "After the Backlash Wave cleared out and his Ice Barrier crumbled, I saw no signs of movement and his aura was back to normal. The next thing I knew, I was feeling his ice crawling up and down my body and holding me tightly in place and the fight was over."

Flexing his free clawed hand, Inuyasha let out a faint chuckle, saying "He was true to his word at least. He did let me sense his true power, even if it was for an instant."

"Did it satisfy you?"

Turning to find it was Lilly asking the question with her three children next to her, the older dog hanyou let out another chuckle, saying "I suppose so."

"Glad to hear it." the neko replied with a smile.

000

000

"I'm surprised you went all the way."

Muddy brown eyes slid over to in the direction of Ichigo walking beside of him. On the quarter bobcat's back was Orihime who was looking over at the hanyou with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, well I didn't have much choice after the thrashing I took from his previous attack." Iya retorted moodily. "That last Wind Scar of his didn't tickle. It was far greater in power than I had anticipated him capable of delivering."

"Che, you've been through worse."

"Maybe, but I don't think I could have kept up with him much longer. His speed and power were going to push me pretty hard and one slip up would have landed me in the infirmary for a few days or more."

Smirking, the quarter bobcat smartly replied "And you wouldn't like to get out of work for a few days?"

"As much as I would like to weasel my way out of work, that isn't the way I would prefer." the black haired dog hanyou calmly remarked. Allowing a faint grunt with a smile, he added sarcastically "Besides, the work would have piled up still."

"True."

Silence engulfed the trio for a few moments before Orihime spoke up, asking "Did everything go alright with releasing 'it'?"

"Yeah, as expected like last time. I didn't think I would need to but I did."

With pride in his voice, the dog hanyou added happily "I never would have guessed Inuyasha would progress that fast and push me that hard. He's truly something else."

Silence engulfed the three the remainder of their trip back to the Southern Keep, where the Southern Lord returned to his usual duties.

Thanks everyone for reading the chapter. Now, if you could do me a kind favor and review to let me know what you think of the chapter, I'd appreciate it. Till next time!