InuYasha- Chapter 363- The Truth Behind Goryoumaru

"You bastards!" Miroku exclaimed, standing before the bandits.

The leader laughed maniacally again, placing his weapon upon his shoulder. It began to glow again.

"The Goryou-pot!" Miroku yelled, "How did you get it?!"

"Go away!" the bandit commanded, shooting the light from his Goryou-pot.

"Wind Tunnel!" Miroku shouted, opening the void. The bandits looked on in horror as the wind swirled around them. The light got pulled to Miroku's hand, disappearing into the hell-hole beyond. Miroku held his arm steady from the force, grunting at the weight.

Back at the shrine, Kagome leaned against the wall, listening. InuYasha watched hr from a kneeling position, a few feet away.

"It seems to have gotten a lot quieter now," Kagome commented.

"Miroku and Sango have probably finished off the bandits," Shippo suggested.

Kagome agreed, "Probably."

InuYasha listened in, holding Tetsusaiga to his chest. Are they normal bandits though…? We were told they were carrying strange weapons, but…

Outside, Goryoumaru released tentacle-like things from his arm. The tentacles collided into the temple, crashing the door in. Kagome, InuYasha and Shippo gasped in surprise. Kagome screamed, falling to the side.

Goryoumaru was now visible through the open doorway.

"That's-!" InuYasha observed, recognizing the attacker before him.

Goryoumaru controlled his tentacles, forcing them to Kagome. They lifted her from the ground, causing her to scream in surprise. Shippo called out her name in worry.

"Damn it!" InuYasha spat, drawing his rusty sword. He slammed it into the attacker, desperately trying to save Kagome. Feeling enraged, Goryoumaru let his arm glow again. InuYasha and Shippo stared on as it grew larger and larger, exploding out of its confinement. It blasted onto all walls of the shrine, destroying it from the inside out. Goryoumaru pulled Kagome out just in time, bringing her to him. Smaller tentacles began to inch towards her.

Staring back at the destroyed temple, Kagome feared for InuYasha's safety rather than her own.

"I got you," Goryoumaru said, his voice low. Kagome winced at his voice, staring at his face closely.

Eh?! She thought, inspecting him closer. Goryoumaru?!

Back in the village, Sango and Miroku had successfully taken down all the bandits. Miroku placed the beads back over his right wrist, glaring down at the men below. They sat in a circle, scared for their lives.

"Now then," Miroku said.

"Wha…What was that huge wind just now?!" one of the bandits asked, shaking.

Miroku grabbed him by his collar, bringing his face to his. "Speak! Where did you get the pots from?!"

"W-We got them from a woman," the man stuttered. "She told us to use the pots to attack villages, all-out."

"A woman…?" Sango asked.

Kagome and Goryoumaru continued to stare at each other, until he broke the silence, "I thought you lot would come if we made a disturbance with the Goryou-pots."

Kagome looked to her left, Kagura standing beside a tree. "Kagura!" she exclaimed, glaring at her. What in the world was going on? "You lot were in it together?!" she asked, rage building inside her. "Besides! Goryoumaru should be dead, so why…?" She remembered the image of Goryoumaru loosing his head to Hakudoushi's scythe.

Shippo watched the scene from under a fallen board. That damn Goryoumaru, he thought, his face mad, so he was a youkai after all. Wh-what'll I do?! InuYasha's unconscious for a start…He looked down at the unconscious human behind him, black hair sprawled out upon the ground. But even if he wakes up, he won't be able to do anything in human form.

"So why am I alive, huh?" Goryoumaru asked, finishing Kagome's question. "I am no longer Goryoumaru," he informed, causing her eyes to widen. "In the past, there certainly used to exist a human ascetic named Goryoumaru. That man fought a certain youkai…. He consumed the youkai using his spiritual powers, in exchange for his own arm. At least that's what he had decided to do. After all, even if his arm became a youkai, the man's soul would remain alive."

What on Earth is he saying?! Kagome thought, perplexed.

"Let go of Kagome, you bastard!" InuYasha shouted form the side. Kagome turned to see him, revealing his human form to the enemy.

InuYasha, you mustn't! She thought, worried.

"Don't!" Shippo ordered, landing on his shoulder. "You can't let them see!"

"This is hardly the time for that!" InuYasha countered. He turned to Goryoumaru, shaking Shippo from his shoulder. Pointing his sword at the man before him, he shouted, "Let her go, or I'll kill you!"

Goryoumaru smiled. He chucked Kagome at him, knocking him down with the human weapon. He sent another tentacle at them, this one pointed, intending to kill two birds with one stone. Realizing the danger, InuYasha flipped Kagome under him.

"Look out!"

The spear sliced upward upon his back, causing him to clench his teeth in pain.

"InuYasha!" Kagome cried, cradling his head.

"InuYasha you say…?" Goryoumaru inquired. His smile was malicious. Kagome gasped, realizing her mistake. "Kagura? What is the meaning of this?" he asked, turning to her. She did not reply, but instead looked upon the approaching cat-demon.

"Kagome, it's Miroku and Sango!" Shippo pointed at them excitedly.

"Miroku-sama! Sango-chan!" Kagome cried out, relieved. Tears were in her eyes.

Goryoumaru turned to them, catching their eye.

"Goryoumaru…" Sango stared, disbelieving. Miroku hopped off Kirara, ready to defend his companions. Sango followed after.

"He's still alive?" she asked, knowing it wasn't true.

"Who the hell are you?!" Miroku shouted.

Goryoumaru chuckled, bringing his tentacle back to his body. The tip glowed brightly.

Kagome gasped, looking down at her uniform.

"He's taken the Shikon fragment!" she informed the others, hoping they'd rescue her shards. InuYasha would be furious at her.

"That's what I came for," admitted Goryoumaru.

"You've been after it since we met at the temple, huh?!" Miroku asked for the truth.

"When we met before as well," Goryoumaru reminded, shedding his skin. He began to transform, turning slightly white…

He's…?! InuYasha remembered. He couldn't believe it! It was…!