Into the Soul Society

by AnimeMaster24

Kagome was sent home after the destruction of the Sacred Jewel, but the well has disappeared. Depressed and lonely, her mother sends her to Karakura Town to get some time away from home. Will she ever see Inuyasha again. Inuyasha/Bleach Crossover

38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38: The Storm of Destiny

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Bleach.

Naraku's eyes widened in alarm as the gigantic creature opened its jaws above his head and lunged forward. The poisonous bodily fluids smothered him for a second as the monstrous beast lifted him off of his feet and swallowed him whole.

"Filthy degenerate… That's what you get for underestimating me!" The captain of the research department screamed wildly, his yellow eyes dilating with exhilaration. A moment later his lower jaw slid open to reveal an unpleasant grin. "Thought you could defeat me, and now you will join my other experiments…"

Kurotsuchi laughed triumphantly as he waited for his Zanpakuto to finish digesting its prey, but after several moments had elapsed he noticed a strange presence coming from his Bankai. The deformed baby coughed and gagged as its caterpillar body thrashed and squirmed violently. Raising his blade, the captain worked to regain some form of control over his corporeal weapon, but it seemed as though something was causing it great pain from the inside.

The beast reared up and flipped onto its back with a violent crash, as giant series of explosions burst from within. Black clouds of miasma shrouded the surrounding area, dissolving the body of the monster as the poison came into contact with the Bankai creature. Seconds later one of the caterpillar's segments tore open with a sickening squelch, scattering even larger amounts of poison into the surrounding air as the enemy revealed himself once again.

Walking through the toxic smog, Naraku moved away from the remains of his enemy's Bankai with a sickening smile. Although his physical appearance had not altered, a dark tarry substance was now dripping from the side of his own weapon, the tainted glow of the impure Sacred Jewel surrounded his entire body, enveloping the area in its twisted radiance.

"It's not possible!" Kurotsuchi bellowed, his eyes bulging with anger as he attempted to hold his ground against the approaching enemy.

"Quite possible… did you honestly believe that you could defeat me by developing an immunity to a single type of pestilence." The demonic villain continued to move towards him with a satisfied expression. "I must admit that your tactics intrigued me towards the beginning, but the abilities granted to me by the jewel's divine power are nearly endless."

The scientist scowled as he called upon the pieces of his Bankai for a counterattack. "Kill!" he screamed, prompting the destroyed remains of the caterpillar to rise and attack his adversary once more.

Naraku swung his sword in an effortless manner, releasing an enormous wave of black energy from the end of his Zanpakuto. His strange new attack engulfed the captain's ultimate weapon in a fiendish glow, ripping through what was left of the creature's body and grounding it for the second time as the blast dispersed. The monstrous beast howled in agony as it felt the impact of the blow before splitting in half, the mouth of the disfigured baby hanging open slightly as if trapped in a permanent state of shock.

"Since the power resides within me, I can focus the dark energies and manipulate it as I wish… Whether I wish to attack my adversary or defend my body, the jewel will obey my request and do as I wish." the former half-demon explained calmly.

The Shinigami captain held out his blade and recalled the useless remnants of his Bankai, the unfamiliar sensation of fear beginning to worm its way through his heavily altered body. Unsure of his next course of action, the scientist began eyed the demonic entity with great dislike as he threw together another plan.

Leaping into the air with surprising agility, the demented researcher promptly disappeared in a flash of shunpo to move away from the immediate threat. Using a handful of well-placed flash steps, the scientist activated his invisibility device in conjunction with fast movements to create the impression that he had vanished altogether.

A devilish smile graced the villain's dark features for a moment as he attuned his senses to pick up traces of his attacker's presence. All the while, Mayuri circled him and waited for the right moment to strike. Taking advantage of the enemy's pause, the Shinigami tossed a handful of circular objects at his opponent and detonated them with the switch he held in his opposite hand, releasing a powerful poison into the surrounding air.

Naraku reacted with lightning fast reflexes, firing a wave of his own poison in the direction that the enemy's attack had came from while simultaneously nullifying any possible damage that the offending toxins could have done. Using the colliding poisons as a type of smokescreen, the villainous specter forced the wall of smog in the opposite direction and infused more of the jewel's power into the mix. He knew that even if the captain had masked his spiritual presence, there was no hiding from the divine powers of the jewel.

Without warning, Naraku propelled himself through the air towards his attacker and struck swiftly, forcing the invisible man to dodge once again to avoid death. Caught in the middle of a flash step, the former half-demon intercepted him with relative ease and landed a powerful strike to his adversary's mid-section. He smiled again as the blade of his Zanpakuto canceled the scientist's concealment, revealing the ragged form of Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

The insane researcher flipped over in mid-air and touched down several meters away, staggered slightly as the pain of his wound began to intensify. The suffering only served to fuel his anger and after a moment he had taken a battle stance again. "Now die!" Kurotsuchi bellowed, tossing a larger bomb at the enemy.

To his surprise, the enemy had already moved away from the sight of impact and had vanished into the surrounding clouds of miasma. He reached into his robes in an attempt to find his healing drugs, but his arm had been sliced off before he could plant the syringe into his body.

"Damn you! You bastard!" Mayuri said, as he realized the enemy was standing behind him. He turned to flee, but before he could react the captain received a second stab, which narrowly avoided his heart.

He lurched forward as Naraku wrenched his sword out of the scientist's body, bringing the blade down again in an attempt to behead him. Mayuri dodged sideways with a quick display of Shunpo in an attempt to flee, but his injuries had caused his movements to become sloppy, and in a matter of seconds he was caught off guard again.

The former half-demon took the handle of his katana in two hands and channeled a pulse of the Shikon Jewel's dark energy through his Zanpakuto. The powerful blast pursued his target like a malevolent shadow, knocking him off of his feet as it tore through his physical form. Doubling over in pain, the scientist directed one last glare of hatred at his enemy as the attack swept him off of the giant spider's back, and into a terrifying free fall towards the battlefield below.

Kurotsuchi's eyes widened in fear as he watched the rapidly approaching ground, prompting him to use any means necessary to survive the fall. Having been confident in his battle preparation, the mad scientist believed that inventions he had utilized would have given him the upper hand and had thus been unprepared for such an undesirable outcome. He had severely underestimated the power of the jewel.

With little other choice left for survival, the captain unsheathed the broken remains of his defeated Zanpakuto and impaled himself with the blade, reducing his body to a mass of liquid seconds before he hit the ground. Although he was no longer able to fight, his emergency form had granted him the ability to survive the impact even though he was no longer able to continue fighting. Gathering up the remains of his gelatinous form, the captain planned to head back to his laboratory until he was able to regain human form.

"Curses… another valuable subject lost…" a soft voice hissed from within the messy remains of his liquefied body. "What a pity it is to know that such power and knowledge was wasted on filth like him."

The mass slowly began sliding across the surface of the ground, narrowly avoiding the warring combatants as he attempted to vacate the premises. Reaching a small hatch leading into the sewers, he dripped into the underground passages through the opening and vanished from the battlefield. It was a disappointment that he had missed out on such a fascinating specimen, and even worse to know that he had not been able to study the jewel, but at least he would live on to continue his research another day.

As the scientist's gelatinous form sunk into the depths of the sewers beneath the Seretei, the battle above waged on with neither side letting up. Groups of Shinigami from different units of the military held their ground against the enemy lines, clashing violently as they suffered the wrath of the enemy's forces. Countless numbers of masked warriors darted forward with animalistic ferocity, each of them wielding a variety of different weapons as they struck.

However unpredictable their movements, the proud soldiers of the Soul Society fought back with renewed vigor. Members of the Eleventh Division carved a large path through the enemy lines, allowing the other units to follow their lead through the growing mass of enemy fighters. Countless spells of all kinds rained from the sky as the Kido Corps joined forces with the main long-distance fighters, targeting the large mobs of enemies in a futile attempt to destroy them before they were able to join the other mindless puppets. Others aimed their spells at the giant spider floating above the court, but their spells immediately fell short of the desired altitude and dissipated into nothingness before they even reached the creature.

The Commander General watched from his place on the hill, his two former students standing by his side as the fight raged on. They exchanged concerned expressions before turning to the old man, who merely shrugged off the gesture as he struggled to maintain the fiery dome.

Shunsui Kyouraku let out an exasperated breath as he assessed the situation. "Since we can't levitate within the walls of this place, it doesn't look like our main forces will be able to reach the enemy." His glazed eyes wandered towards the floating arachnid and lingered for a moment. "What do you reckon we should do, old man?"

"Not true! Although the clouds distort our view, I sensed the presence of two captains within that general vicinity." Ukitake replied wearily. "From the disappearance of Kurotsuchi's spiritual pressure it appears that he has been defeated, but the second still remains."

The drunken captain of the Eight Division strained his senses for a moment to interpret the situation for himself. "Hmmm… It appears that the other captain present is that new guy from the Fifth Division and his friends." He shrugged. "Either way I guess we should be grateful that someone is capable of trying."

"No… There is another!" the old general announced, his deeply distinguished voice grabbing the attention of his two subordinates.

The ivory-haired captain blinked as he focused for a second and seemed to understand immediately. "If he is planning on assisting the others than we need not worry, but no matter what the scenario I believe that those few individuals able to reach the enemy will require further assistance."

"Unfortunately there is very little more that the rest of us can do." Yamamoto turned back towards the battlefield before speaking again. "Although I wish it were not so, it appears that we have no other choice but to leave the outcome of this battle in the hands of fate. May the gods be merciful to us on this most dismal hour."

Jushiro Ukitake merely inclined his head in thought for the moment, his own gaze lingering on his former master for a moment. "In the end each person is limited by what they can and cannot do. The important thing is that we do what we can with the lives that are granted to us."

"That was rather philosophical of you… especially considering how close we are to oblivion. All it'll take is one mistake, and life as we know it could cease to exist." The drunken captain replied with a tilt of a hat. Although his tone sounded casual, those who knew him best could sense worry behind each note.

The old man relaxed his spirit energy in an attempt to maintain the fiery dome as long as it was possible. He had ignored the last part of his former pupil's statement, silently knowing that what he had said was true. If he faltered for a moment, the protection provided by his wall of fire would cease, and nothing would prevent the jewel's influence from spreading throughout the entirety of the Soul Society.

As long as his powers remained strong there was little to worry about, yet no matter how powerful he was, the old general knew that he could not continue this struggle forever. He had an unwavering faith that those who he had entrusted with the protection of the court would surely find a way to combat this threat, and thus put an end to the villainous fiend who had so boldly stood against the might of the Thirteen Protection Squads.

With Kagome

The young priestess clung to Inuyasha's back as they raced through the skies towards the enormous arachnid ahead, their weapons poised for battle. Although he seemed to be running on air, she immediately noticed his awkward movements and anticipated the effort necessary to fly using the power of the wind as a booster.

Raising her bow, she launched a flurry of arrows towards the baboon-like demons floating towards them in an attempt to neutralize the threat, but her attack only caused them to scatter like flies from a swatter. To her surprise the creatures ran headfirst into four large twisters produced by her partner's blade, each of them getting torn to bits like rag dolls as the spinning currents engulfed them.

She looked up at her beloved for a moment, who merely glanced back encouragingly as he vanished the twisters with a slashing movement of his sword arm. More enemies came from behind, but a few projectiles at such a close range were more than enough to destroy them. It took a moment for her to realize that she had done something different, but the priestess concluded that the speed of her arrows had increased over time.

"Not bad… Your resolve seems stronger than usual." The former half-demon observed with a confident expression.

At that moment the words that Ishida had spoken to her during their early lessons suddenly returned, along with Kikyo's spiritual guidance. In a way, her newfound skills with a bow connected her with her teacher as well as the person she was in a previous life. Strength came into her eyes as she pondered these thoughts, giving her a renewed sense of confidence. No matter what the cost, she felt confident that somehow they would make it though this fight alive, yet the cries of her friends managed to return her attention to the present.

"The enemy's numbers seem even more endless than before…" Sango shouted from her place on Kirara's back. "It's almost as if these demon puppets can anticipate our attacks and create formations to counter them!"

The monk turned Shinigami addressed the others with a shrewd nod, his expression unreadable for the most part. "These incarnations of darkness only seek to disorient us so that we cannot face the one who controls them. They move around erratically and weave around attacks to create a state of confusion."

"That figures…" The former dog hanyou answered with a sneer. "Naraku realized that we found his first weakness since those stupid puppets can't concentrate on more than one move at once, so he probably decided to change his strategy by fusing different tactics in order to mix us up."

"If that's the case, then I'll just have to be a lot faster." Ichigo Kurosaki placed his left hand over the surface of Zangetsu with a smirk.

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow. "So you plan to use it then?" she questioned the unruly teenager with smile of her own.

The Substitute Shinigami fell silent before flaring up his spiritual energy, bringing his other hand up as he took the hilt of his blade with both hands. The power of his condensed reiatsu reached impressive levels as the boy prepared to release his ultimate technique, the sheer intensity of his power creating a visible aura of reishi around his physical body. "Bankai… … Tensa Zangetsu!" he declared. The spinning energies flashed as it began swirling around his sword, transforming his trademark cleaver into a much more manageable form.

Kagome watched in awe as he emerged from the transformation, quickly noting the changes in his appearance. A long tattered jacket trailed behind him, and his large weapon had morphed into an average sized katana. The blade of his new weapon was completely black in color, and gave off an intense power that felt unfamiliar to her, giving it a most striking presence.

Bearing these thoughts in mind she continued to stare, but less than second later she realized that he had gone. "Where did he go?" she asked the others.

"Look ahead!" Miroku proclaimed with a look of surprise. Following the boy's movements with his eyes, the captain-level fighter gestured to the large area of sky directly in front of them.

Moments later the young priestess had realized what was happening, as she watched their orange-haired companion dart around at supersonic speeds. Using a complex array of shunpo, he made short work of an entire squadron of the enemy's airborne unit, and continued onto the next line defending Naraku's spider-like body, quickly repeating the process as more demon puppets left their positions to intercept him from approaching their master.

Although Kagome found herself lost for words, the former demon slayer voiced her question. "How on earth does the boy move so fast? Even a master of Shunpo would find it difficult to keep up with his movements, yet he makes it look so easy."

"Getsuga Tenshou" the Substitute Shinigami called out as a giant wave of black energy exploded from the end of his Zanpakuto and wiped out a group of fleeing drones. The unstable blast of power twisted and shifted like a living entity before expanding to destroy another dozen enemies before vanishing into nothingness.

Miroku stroked his chin as he observed the last attack, quietly analyzing the teenage Shinigami's moves. "It appears that his Bankai compresses his spirit energy and allows his body to store and discharge incredibly high levels of reiatsu. I take it that the qualities of this compression Bankai also grant him an exceptional increase in speed and power."

"Well reasoned…" the former head of the Shihouin Clan replied with a small nod. "It appears that you managed to figure out his technique just by watching the fight. If you ask me, you possess a solid wit comparable to that of Shunsui Kyouraku… and you also seem to have some of perverted habits like him."

Sango spared a brief glance at her husband before expressing her own opinion. "Based on those qualities, I would say that old man Yamamoto was wise to give you the position of captain." He responded by giving her breast a small rub with his right hand, to which she rolled her eyes. "And apparently the rest still applies as well."

"Enough of that static, we have company." Inuyasha warned, his hand pointing towards a much larger wave of attackers that had begun swarming around them like killer bees.

The former demon slayer raised her pair of tridents in order to resume the fight, her face contorting in surprise. "We should have known that it wouldn't be that easy… Apparently Naraku had planned his defense even better than we had anticipated."

The group's attention immediately returned to the battle as they headed back into the fray. Kirara pounced forward and tackled one of the mindless creatures with her claws and fangs, holding it still as her companions took out the others. As Sango dealt with the closest ones, the lecherous spiritualist sitting behind her raised his Shakujo and fired off a large blast of electricity in order to drive off the remaining attackers. The enemies scattered once again as they were pursued by his attack, giving him a moment to breathe.

"Perhaps you should release you Bankai?" the former half-demon snapped irritably. "You have to do something if we want to get through here alive."

Miroku appeared to contemplate this notion. "I was hoping to save this for the battle with Naraku himself, but since we have no other choice than it may be the best course of action." He said with a curt nod.

The monk took his staff in two hands and began focusing his own powers, but a dramatic chance in temperature broke his focus, prompting him to look for source of the change. Tightening the grip on his Zanpakuto, he glanced around carefully and saw snowflakes falling from the sky.

Kagome imitated his gesture, a puzzled expression appearing on her face as an ominous power penetrated the sky. Holding out her hand, she allowed one of the snowflakes to land, instantly confirming that it was real. "What's this? What's going on?" she asked nervously.

It seemed almost impossible since the entire Seretei was trapped inside the commander's dome of fire, but the situation only became stranger as he saw the enemies nearest to him slowly becoming engulfed by layers of ice. Rendered immobile by this swift method of assault, dozens of frozen drones began falling from the sky like oversized hailstones, their bodies shattered on impact as they touched down onto the hard ground below.

The group seemed to find the phenomenon puzzling, but their questions were soon answered as a giant dragon composed entirely of ice tore through a large chunk of the arachnid's defenses, closely followed by a child-like garbed in the white of the Thirteen Court Guard Captains. Large wings made out of the desired element protruded from his back, easily matching his snowy white hair and green eyes, which were particularly striking in contrast with the rest of his appearance.

Toshiro Hitsugaya glided through the skies towards Miroku, who looked over from behind his wife. The younger captain observed them for a moment or two, his eyes settling suspiciously on Kirara, who merely growled in his direction, prompting him to back off slightly in the hopes of avoiding any trouble.

The newly appointed captain shifted so that he could get a better view of the boy. "Squad 10 Captain… To what do I owe this pleasure?" he said in a feeble attempt to introduce some formality into the hectic situation.

Having seen the immediate threat destroyed, Ichigo moved back towards the others and moved in to greet the youngest captain. "Hey Toshiro, good to see that someone else made it to up here to give us a hand." He replied with a gruff expression.

Hitsugaya's expression hardened at once. "You will refer to me only as Captain Hitsugaya, not Toshiro!" he snapped angrily. Turning away from the unruly substitute, he continued moving in the direction of the duo sitting atop Kirara.

"When the battle rose to the skies I set off at once to provide any services that I could muster, only to be intercepted by that formation of monsters." The younger captain explained calmly. He looked over at the rest of his companions before speaking again. "I won't ask you to explain what is going on, but at the very least I ask for your cooperation. If you have something that you wish to say, I suggest you share your strategy now…"

As the two officers spoke, Kagome observed the boy's youthful appearance, slightly taken aback that someone who appeared to be a child could have attained such a high position in the Soul Society's forces. After considering this, her thoughts returned to the lieutenant of Inuyasha's Division, which seemed to answer the question for her. Apparently appearance and age didn't make much of a difference so long as the person in question had the proper skills to hold the designated rank.

Meanwhile Miroku seemed to have come to an understanding with his young colleague, who seemed to agree. "I see, so you want me to clear a path to the enemy so that your forces can defeat him?" he questioned for the second time.

The former monk nodded. "After seeing your abilities up close, I believe you have what it takes to provide this service to us."

His words earned a sigh from the younger captain, who cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "Why not allow me to deal the final attack while you distract the agents? I feel that it would be less risky if I deal with this man myself, and since I have already fought this man once before I know the type of tactics he employs in battle. Surely you will not object to the fact that my experience with this enemy is greater."

"You haven't a clue how long my companions and I have had this man as our enemy!" Miroku answered with a note of aggression him. "As for that notion you presented to me before, I feel compelled to mention that you failed to defeat him before his acquisition of the Shikon Jewel, which is said to embody near infinite power."

Before he could say anything else, the young snowy haired captain shot forward with impressive agility so that they were floating a few yards apart. "Are you suggesting that I am too weak to accomplish this task?" Despite his small stature, the young captain appeared to be outraged by the possible insinuation.

The monk raised a hand in protest. "You needn't jump to conclusions!" he said. "I was merely trying to point out that my nakama and I have fought this enemy many times before. You need not know the details, but the fact remains that we know what we are up against much more than you ever could."

Hitsugaya looked as though he was going to speak out, but the newly appointed captain cut him off. "To us this is a personal matter! Surely you can understand that much!" The young captain froze for a moment and looked at each of them carefully before giving them his answer in the form of a small nod. One look into Kagome's eyes had revealed something that he had rarely seen before in any person… a sense of natural purity that touched the soul and calmed the heart.

"You have my support, but first tell me what exactly you " Toshiro glanced over the enemy lines as they levitated eerily several meters away. "All right then… Now tell me what exactly you know about this enemy before we begin."

"They don't seem to attack unless we attempt to penetrate the defenses around the spider, yet the enemy forces seem relatively content with moving into formations that encircle us so that we cannot escape." Yoruichi Shihouin answered him.

Toshiro turned back to his colleague with a grim expression. "If that is the case than I may have a technique perfect for this. I need the rest of you to watch my back while I prepare this next attack, because even if you say that the enemy won't attack me it is still important to be prepared."

After receiving the confirmation from the rest of the group, the child-like captain began to focus his spiritual powers silently, yet for some reason the enemy forces chose now to act. Whether it be some strange twist or fate or not, the demon puppets seemed to have sensed the possible dangers and reacted accordingly by gravitating all attention towards them. Shooting forward like a pack of wild predators, the enemy creatures released jungles of tentacles from beneath their baboon pelts, each sickening limb shooting off clouds of miasma as the actual bodies began to spin like tops.

Inuyasha responded by creating a trio of cyclones in an attempt to divert the flow of the poison, following up with a series of offensive moves to destroy the threat altogether. Blades of wind danced through the air as he swung his dual bladed weapon, destroying many of his attackers in an instant. A good number of them managed to pass him in an attempt to stop the small captain from releasing his power, but the fire cat moved into position, allowing her owner to fight back.

With a flick of her wrist, the former demon slayer conjured a wall of water, bringing the wave down upon the enemy fighters and destroying a good number of them in one fell swipe. Three more enemies appeared behind them, but were quickly removed by fistful of arrows. A crackle of lightning sounded off seconds later as Miroku made a futile attempt to clear the flying assailants, but his position on Kirara's back made it difficult for him to utilize his full array of abilities without the possibility of harming those around him.

"Good work guys!" Kagome exclaimed as she let another set of projectiles fly.

The older woman smiled from her seat atop her demon companion. "You're not so bad yourself, Kagome! Let's keep it up!" The ex dog hanyou prepared to add something in, but was interrupted by a burst of spiritual power coming from behind them.

"Everyone remain where you are!" the youngest captain warned them, resulting in a series of mixed reactions from his fellow Shinigami.

Although the others seemed hesitant, the former monk complied at once. "Do as he says." He ordered the others in a stern tone that even those closest to him had rarely heard.

The former half-demon remained still for a moment, the priestess on his shoulders making certain to tighten her grip as they waited for the aforementioned technique to activate. Yoruichi exchanged glances with the old lecher and his wife, both of which could sense the temperature dropping rapidly around them. Ichigo seemed much less cooperative than the others due to his sour expression, but seemed to notice the sudden increase in the captain's reiatsu and did not raise any objections.

Toshiro Hitsugaya raised his blade with a deadpan expression, an air of triumph radiating from him as his powers reached their peak. The white-haired youth cocked his blade to the side with a casual gesture, turning the sword over in his hand so that it was facing towards the giant arachnid floating in the distance.

"Sennen Hyoro!" His eyes shot open as he released the attack upon the enemy forces, causing dozens of pillars composed of ice to shoot from the ground and into the air, the speed of the assault instantly encasing them in frozen columns.

A path created by rows of his icy pillars appeared before them in seconds, but the armies of drones flying in to fill the break in line told him that it would not last forever. "Go now while you still have the chance!" Hitsugaya shouted. "There isn't much time!"

"He's right… Let's go!" Sango beckoned Kirara forward, prompting the demon cat the move forward at full speed through the newly opened path in the sky.

The priestess glanced down at her ride, who immediately propelled them towards their friends with a blast of wind. As they bounded forward, Kagome noticed that the remaining members of their makeshift force were not following her group into the fray. "Are the rest of you coming or not?" she addressed the others.

"I shall remain behind and deal with the rest of these creatures so that you may move forward." The Tenth Division Captain replied calmly. "In the mean time I suggest you not delay that which awaits you."

"I believe that this fight is yours to finish, not mine. I will remain behind and to my best to ensure that the enemy's forces do not attempt to interfere with your battle by diverting their attention." The former commander of the Stealth Force floating several meters to the right shook her head firmly before turning to face her disagreeable charge. "What about you, Ichigo?"

The Substitute Shinigami moved so that he was floating beside Inuyasha. "I'll go with them and see if I can help, unless you two can't handle things here."

Yoruichi smiled reassuringly. "We're more than capable of dealing with these weaklings, so by all means do whatever you wish. I will remain behind with Toshiro and distract the enemy forces by any means necessary."

"All right…" Ichigo replied with a similar expression. Turning around he quickly accelerated his movements with his Bankai's special ability and caught up to Kagome's group almost instantaneously. "So are you guys ready for this fight?"

"Oh yeah… I've been itching to finish off this bastard since the moment we learned that he was behind all of the crap that's been going on in the Soul Society." Inuyasha replied bitterly, his lower lip curling into a snarl as they headed in the direction of their mutual enemy.

Miroku nodded in agreement. "We are prepared to do what we must due to the things that this evil man has done to us, but interestingly enough I see that you have chosen to accompany us on this quest." He replied with a note of curiosity.

The Substitute Shinigami ran a hand through his vibrant hair before giving his answer. "What makes you say that?"

"Is there a particular reason why you chose not to stay with the others then? Perhaps you believe this is the best way for you to serve the Soul Society, or maybe you are merely fond of battle like Captain Zaraki?"

Ichigo turned his head to get a better look at the newly appointed captain, his expression suddenly becoming serious. "True nakama stick together, and if one has a problem then the rest of us will do what we can to help. Kagome is our friend, and I'm positive the others would be up here helping out if they could… Rukia, Chad, Inoue, and Ishida all feel the same way that I do." He paused to look at the priestess. "As far as we're concerned, she is one of us!"

"Well then, if that is the case then I shall raise no objection. You and your friends obviously care very much for Kagome, and I am glad to see that she has found such reliable friends in our absence from her life." The former monk smiled inwardly at the notion, sparing a glance at her before turning to face Ichigo. "I warn you that this will be a dangerous fight…"

The orange-haired substitute opened his mouth to answer, but Inuyasha cut him off. "Don't waste your breath on this guy, Miroku." He jerked him thumb over his shoulder. "I'm sure that you heard the stories after coming back from the patrol corps. That stubborn bastard fought his way through the captains just to save that Rukia girl from execution a few months ago. He floored my captain and beat down Byakuya Kuchiki."

Miroku fell silent for a moment. "I see, so that really was you. I must admit that the news did surprise me when I first heard tell of your skills from the other Shinigami." He said to the high school student. "To imagine that one so young could possess such power…"

"If you're done venting about the kid, I recommend you keep your eyes on the destination. If you hadn't noticed, we're almost there!" The former half-demon alerted the others.

Sango's eyes widened in shock as they drew closer to the enemy's main body, each member of the group expressing their own surprise as they realized how large the spider was up close. No matter how surreal it may have seemed, the beast was almost as large as the castle-like structure presiding over the Seretei. Kagome felt herself sweating as they drew closer to the gargantuan arachnid, and even the Shinigami seemed hesitant as they came to a stop above the fur-covered body.

The priestess cringed in fear as the creature's eyes locked onto them, loud crunching noises sounding as its legs began pumping up and down expectantly. "Here we go… Are you guys ready for this?"

Miroku gave her a solemn nod and fell into a trance-like state of mind for a second as he prepared for the oncoming battle. Seizing the handle of his Shakujo in both hands, the monk turned Shinigami leapt into a standing position atop their faithful demon companion, effortlessly balancing on the fire cat's back without any sign that he was struggling to remain in place. His captain's haori fluttered in the wind as he leapt down towards the spider with a fearless expression.

His wife drove her faithful Kirara into a dive as the others followed suit, the two equally stubborn boys following closely behind, with Kagome in tow on Inuyasha's back. She expressed an air of surprise as they came to stop, hovering several meters above the enemy, but as they began their descent she soon learned the reason for their sudden pause. Despite the time they had spent together this day, they had had yet to witness the extent of his new powers, but now they were facing the full force monk's spiritual pressure.

The sheer force of his reiatsu came down upon her like a ton of bricks making it more difficult to breathe, and for the first time since their reunion she realized how truly powerful the old pervert had become in her absence. Now she knew exactly why the old monk had been granted such a prestigious title as a captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, and from the expressions worn by her other friends she deduced that they were thinking the same thing.

"Bankai… Raigeki Furaiken!" With a fierce cry, he raised the golden Shakujo into the air and a brilliant bust of light engulfed his features.

Incredible power radiated from his body as Miroku channeled his power into his staff, the surge of power subsiding slightly as he begun to establish a firm control over the copious amounts of spirit energy leaking from his being.

When the glow subsided, an elegant set of black and gold samurai armor now covered his body with a number of ceremonial symbols engraved into the metallic protection. A metal mask covered the lower half of his face and a black cape now hung from his back, the color complimenting the unearthly glow of his battle armor. He now held a six-foot long handle in his right hand, the blade of a newly formed halberd comparable in size to Tetsaiga was protruding from the end of his weapon.

The others remained in awe of his Zanpakuto's most frightening and destructive form, silently wondering what he was planning on doing next. Unlike his previous time he had released his Bankai against the Izanai clansmen, the monk wasted no time in going all out and immediately took the offensive. Rising with a powerful kick to the spider's back, he leapt so that he was level with his companions who floated several meters above, and then brought the end of his blade down in mid air.

He descended with incredible speed, planting the blade into the spider's flesh with a considerable amount of force. Despite the powers granted by the Shikon Jewel, tar-like blood burst from the monster's back, but the sound of the splatter was quickly overtaken by a loud groaning noise coming from the injured beast.

The monk gasped as jets of poisonous Shouki burst from the wound like a bodily defense forcing him to retreat. Before the cloud reached him, a pair of twisters came down and scattered the gases with relative ease, closely followed by remaining fighters minus the priestess.

"Where's Kagome?" he questioned with a brief glance around.

"I figured she's be safer if we left her with Kirara." Sango explained to him. "Right now she's riding Kirara so that she can work her projectile attacks more easily."

Inuyasha let out a weary breath. "Can't say I'm not worried about her now, but we know that she's smart and so is the cat. Let's just hope that Kirara knows how to avoid danger and can keep Kagome away from danger while allowing her to help out."

Ichigo felt left out as he watched the old friends speak, and chose to take the direct approach by floating into the air and firing off another Getsuga Tensho blast from his blade. The attack caught the attention of his fellow Shinigami as it struck the surface they were standing on, the spider rumbling ominously as the dark energy tore through its skin. Although blunt, the assault seemed to prompt the others.

"Hit it from all sides!" the new captain ordered them.

Kagome nodded from her place above Naraku's body, prompting her to shoot off fistfuls of arrows in an attempt to do as much damage as possible to the creature. Although her attacks did very little in terms of noticeable damage, she continued to aim and fire from different angles as her demonic companion flew in different patterns over the target area. Considering the size of the monster it was not surprising, but she was determined not to be left out of the fight.

"Stand aside!" Sango tapped her two tridents together forcefully, conjuring a giant wave, which came crashing down in a torrential spray.

Leaping into the air again, she repeated the process many more times, forcing her companions to avoid the tides of her attacks as water struck several different areas of the monsters body. Catching hold of the main idea, Inuyasha enhanced the range of her attacks with his wind-based techniques, resulting in a number of watery cyclones.

Their combined assault effectively drenched a large portion of the beast's arachnid form, eliciting an intrigued expression from the monk as they watched the monster thrash in pain. Inuyasha seized hold of the former demon slayer and returned to his place in the air, hovering along side his own girlfriend as they prepared for the next phase of their attack.

"Kurosaki-san, get back!" the monk's wife shouted to their newest ally present. He nodded before kicking off of the surface on which he stood and immediately joined the others with a graceful flip into the air.

To the surprise of everyone present, a large pair of metallic golden wings shot out of Miroku's armor, allowing him to take flight again alongside the others, but he bypassed them and soared to greater heights so that they would not be harmed by his next action. Spinning his halberd in a circular motion, the armored captain released a gigantic bolt of electricity, which split into many smaller ones.

Fusing the attack with a wide array of Kido, he wove the energy into a net-like projection composed entirely of electricity, which collided violently with Naraku's arachnid body before exploding with an unceremonious crackle. The resulting damage was made even worse by the watery strike performed by Sango mere moments ago, causing the spider's fur to blacken considerably from the shocking attack. For a moment the beast fell silent, its hair appendages curling up as if it had been slain as the evil glint within the monster's eyes faded like the light of a withering candle.

Ichigo Kurosaki leaned forward slightly with a curious expression. "Did we win? It couldn't have been that easy!" he muttered to himself more than the others.

The former half-demon moved forward to investigate, but Miroku raised a hand to stop him from proceeding. As by some cruel prank, a strange light enveloped the arthropod's filthy body, bathing the creature in its unnatural glow. The group stared on in horror as the impure light closed all of the monster's wounds, the singed areas of flesh healing as if they had never been fried to begin with as large patches of thick brown fur grew back. The legs uncurled with a loud series of crunches, as a sense of awareness and life returned to the beast's eyes.

"What the hell was that?" the orange-haired boy fumed, his eyes widening in alarm. He turned to Kagome's group wearing an expression of amazement. "Is that really the true power of this so-called Sacred Jewel?"

The former monk inclined his head, although the large helmet created by his Bankai's release made the gesture much less noticeable. "That and more… Skilled Shinigami or not, you have no idea what you are up against." He said to the newcomer.

Before either of them could resume the conversation, the spider's fang's parted and a loud voice echoed from within. "Such insignificant pests… You shall soon learn what it means to challenge the divine might of the Shikon Jewel. I allowed you to attack me so that I could demonstrate the powers of regeneration, but now you shall all bear witness to my offensive capabilities."

A storm of Miasma larger than any other that they had seen before spewed forth from the mouth of the beast, the clouds gravitating towards them as if was their soul purpose to destroy them, but Miroku moved to the head of the group and countered the technique with a blast of wind. The two attacks met, but no matter how much tried to push back the enemy, the poison would not scatter as it had before.

The gases crept around his shield of wind and seconds later it was coming at them from all sides with no sign of escape, but a shot from one of Kagome's arrows penetrated the wall of death. Although the power did not completely purify Naraku's miasma as it once did, they took advantage of the space created and moved away from the deadly fumes. The monk snatched his wife from the ex dog hanyou and carried her to safety.

"Why couldn't my arrow completely purify the poison?" the priestess asked her friends.

"It looks like an unstable mix of spirit energy and demonic energy. Only the power of the jewel could have allowed Naraku to fuse such different powers. Normally a demon could never possess spiritual power like a hollow or Shinigami, yet here he has done this… Blurring the line between the supernatural and the spiritual…" Sango observed with uncertainty.

"The power of the jewel seems demonic, but the fact that Naraku developed Shinigami abilities as well has given his attacks spiritual powers as well." Her husband explained. "Mind you I'm no expert, but as you may well remember spirit energy can only instantly purify a demonic aura. When you and the enemy have spiritual powers, it clashes just as it does when a Shinigami slays a hollow. I bet that it the reason why your powers you could not directly destroy this new type of poison. Most curious…"

A loud tearing noise quickly seized hold of their focus as Naraku burst from the spider body in human form, his body surrounded by the impure glow of the Sacred Jewel. He drew his sword from its sheath and smiled devilishly at his victims. "I figured you would feel more confident if I appeared a bit less overwhelming…"

"Shut up!" Inuyasha snapped, releasing a blast of wind as a distraction, as he broke into a dive with his swords poised for battle.

The villain raised his left hand and seemed to absorb the impact of the wind without flinching catching the blade of his opponent's first weapon without even trying. The stubborn Shinigami scowled in annoyance and made a vertical slice with his dual blade, but Naraku charged up his fist with a small burst of the jewel's energy and booted him in the stomach with his bare fist, sending the boy flying back into the air.

Kagome grabbed her beloved by the back of his clothing as the demon cat dove to catch him, and with all her might she managed to pull him into a reasonably safe position. "Are you all right?" she asked with a silent prayer.

His eyes fluttered open and he turned away from her for a moment as he coughed up a mouthful of his own blood. "It's nothing I can't handle…" He breathed exhaustedly for a few seconds, but nodded as he attempted to ignore the internal bleeding.

Naraku laughed before releasing a wave of the orb's dark energy in the direction of his opposition, who quickly scattered in different directions like flies. Kirara darted away from the attack with her passengers safely on board, but the wave of darkness began to spread like ink on paper, following them all like a relentless hunter determined to catch its prey.

"Hold your ground!" Miroku shouted to the others. With a second loud crackle, he sent a blast of electricity into the core of the pursuing darkness, prompting the woman in his arms to shoot a pulse of water from her own weapon in an attempt to intensify the power of the attack.

The orange-haired substitute raised Zangetsu and fired off his Getsuga Tensho while Kagome met the enemy's poison with a flurry of arrows, causing the cloud of miasma to shrink as the combined force of their attacks began to dull the potency of the shouki. Miroku then joined his wind attacks with Inuyasha's, effectively scattering the poison away from the scene, but their opponent had seemingly vanished.

"Take us down!" Sango told him calmly, prompting her husband to descend once more.

While Kagome remained safely on board the two-tailed cat, her reluctant boyfriend joined the others as they landed gracefully on the back of giant spider. Ichigo Kurosaki followed after them, apparently just as puzzled as they were concerning the sudden disappearance of the enemy's human form, but an ominous groan gave them their answer.

The demonic villain's human body rose through the skin of the spider's hide like a malevolent specter, his eyes filled with amusement rather than fear as he took a fighting stance. "I must admit that this battle has been most entertaining, but all things must come to an end… To think that you believed you could stop me as I am now. You fools are little more than vermin standing atop my great and glorious body!"

"I was assuming that this was your body…" Miroku's eyes moved from the surface on which they stood and back to the person standing across from them.

"Both forms you see before you share a single consciousness." Their archenemy explained. "As long as one survives the other will never be destroyed. No one can possibly defeat me as long as I possess the Shikon Jewel!"

Kagome steered her companion towards the spider and dismounted when she was within a few feet of the ground, her face alive with sense of righteous fury. "I'm through with sitting around and watching this!" she exclaimed.

"You idiot! I thought we told you to stay where it was safe!" Inuyasha fumed. "If anything happens to you, I swear I'll…"

"I'd rather go down fighting with the rest of you!" she said to him.

He reached a hand out to catch a hold of her, but she merely sidestepped him with a flash of Hirenkyaku, swatting his hand away in an uncharacteristically aggressive manner. "Not this time Inuyasha. I care about you more than anyone else, but I don't want to sit by and watch anymore. I want to fight alongside you, and nothing you say will change my mind."

The former half-demon looked at her expression, silently transfixed by the strength of her gaze. Her face bore little sign of hesitation, and her resolve seemed positively unwavering in that one moment of observation. Resting one of his blades against his shoulder, he reluctantly nodded upon the realization that his words would no longer be enough to sway her. There was a time when he would have continued arguing, but the look she gave him spoke for itself. At this point, he knew that raising any objection against her wishes would only waste time.

"You watch my back, and I'll do the same for you." she reiterated, actively expecting an irrational reaction from her beloved.

To her surprise he grinned confidently. "All right… We'll do this together!"

Silence fell again, but as broken by the sound of steady applause. Naraku clapped his hands together in a mocking gesture, a humorless smirk adorning his dark features. "Quite an inspiring moment between the weak and unprotected." He commented sarcastically. "Surely the child doesn't mean what she says. Surely she wants nothing more than to cower behind her friends as she has done in the past."

Cocking her bow sideways, Kagome took a fighting stance that Ishida had taught her during their lessons and fired an arrow at their nemesis. To her surprise, the villain caught her projectile in mid air barely a movement of his wrist, stopping it a few inches above the place where his heart was supposed to be.

"My, it appears that you have improved…" Naraku replied calmly. "The helpless girl that I remember from centuries ago could never have come so close with a first attack. I doubt the rest of you are capable of injuring me either."

Without warning, Ichigo appeared in front of the villain with his weapon raised and brought the blade down upon him, swinging his blade with lightning speed and machine-like precision. "Dumbass… We'll see about that!" he screamed.

The foul specter raised his sword and blocked each consecutive strike with a parry of thrust of his own, making small leaps backward to move out of range. Flaring up his spiritual pressure, Naraku released gushing amounts of the jewel's dark power, but his unruly opponent retaliated by flaring up his own spiritual pressure in an attempt to dull the effectiveness of the attack. The dark energies clashed violently and combined, resulting in a giant explosion.

Although the force of the blast had sent Ichigo flying backwards, the demonic enemy remained completely unharmed. "Impressive, but not strong enough." He replied, sending a wave of energy towards them.

Moving up and out of range, Miroku slashed his giant weapon in a graceful arc, before moving the halberd vertically in the same area, creating a strange shape in the air. The electrical current trailing from his weapon turned bright blue as he infused the attack with his spiritual powers, releasing the gathered energy with another swing of the mighty blade.

The two attacks collided in mid-air, but the devious villain increased the intensity of his own and begun to overpower his adversary. The resulting explosion releases a blinding flash, and when the dust finally began to subside they had gone. Using the explosion as a cover, Inuyasha bounded towards him with a look of pure hatred. Swinging his blades in a fearsome rage, he released many smaller twisters as a diversion and targeted the enemy's blind spot.

Pulling into a flash step he moved forward to strike, but series of monstrous tentacles wormed their way through Naraku's flesh and seized the unruly fighter by the throat. Despite his best efforts to escape the unwelcome embrace, this new set of appendages drilled through Inuyasha's flesh and began draining his spiritual energy like a parasite, prompting him to struggle harder, but his captor had no plan on letting him live.

His tentacles retracted back into the chest of his human form and proceeded to cut down his old adversary, but Naraku's was caught off guard as a pair of arrows shot through his chest. He recoiled in pain for a moment and clutched his wound, silently cursing at having allowed himself to be caught off guard, but before he could retaliate the villain was forced to sidestep a large jet of water that Sango had just sent towards him as she circled round on Kirara's back.

"Interesting, but is that really all you can do?" Raising his hand in her direction, the villain directed a cloud of miasma in her direction, forcing her to flee from the scene at once as the poison pursued her.

After helping Kagome to safety, her reluctant boyfriend raised his own blades and created a much larger twister than before, using it to gather up the remaining liquid from Sango's attack to empower his own assault. The watery cyclone quickly engulfed and diluted Naraku's poison, allowing their companions to take the offensive yet again.

The large end of Miroku's halberd came down again, but the villain merely sidestepped the cut, which instead penetrated the flesh of the titanic-sized spider. The devious warrior smiled as a jungle of rope-like tentacles shit from the inside of the wound and wrapped themselves around the blade of the captain's Bankai, rendering him unable to call back the nine-foot tall weapon.

Naraku followed up this move by flipping into the air, and sent a concentrated pulse of the jewel's energy towards the struggling warrior, who was forced to retreat without his offensive tool as the blast soared through the space he had just been occupying. Before he could react, a second blast of energy slammed directly into his armored body, forcing him into a kneeling position as the attack slowly grounded him.

His Bankai remained strong against the direct attack, but the untapped power of the stroke had left a number of cracks in his protective ceremonial armor. A large rusted crater now covered the surface where the blast has struck, and a throbbing pain had taken hold of his chest, but at least he was relatively unharmed.

The evil man prepared to fire a third attack, but was forced to divert his attention towards another one of the Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho attacks. He blocked the full force of the attack by focusing the jewel's energy into his left hand, but before he could react again, a bolt of lightning shot through his chest from the direction of his previous opponent.

The monk had risen to his feet once more, having shot a blast of electricity from his hand in an attempt to fight back. Seeing the surprised expression on his adversary's face, he quickly explained. "My armor allows me to manipulate wind and lightning, meaning that even without the halberd I can still fight."

"Damn you!" he swore loudly as the pain coursed through him, but after a second the hole had closed up again. "Let's hope you friends are as fortunate!"

Annoyed by the enemy's resistance, the demonic specter used shunpo to appear in front of Inuyasha and Kagome and swung his blade down, but a second sword clashed with his own as Ichigo Kurosaki blocked the murder attempt. Pushing himself out of the blade lock, the Substitute Shinigami increased his speed and accelerated his movements so that it appeared as though he was in multiple places at once.

The boy smiled as he ran circles around him, realizing that his opponent had made no attempt to strike him. "What's the matter? Are you too slow to keep up with my movements?" he boasted to the enemy.

Several seconds passed before he came to a stop directly behind Naraku in an attempt to slice him from behind, but before he could complete the attack another tentacle burst from his back

and wrapped itself around Zangetsu's blade.

"I see you have trouble recognizing a trap." The fiendish adversary replied. "I had a feeling that you would try something like that, so there was no reason for me to place any effort in such a meaningless pursuit."

"Bastard…" Ichigo barely managed to cut free of the enemy's hold, but by the time he had succeeded, the villain was facing him once again and had gone on the offensive.

He attacked the orange-haired youth with yet another cloud of miasma, but a storm of arrows shot through his attack, forcing him to swat away the projectiles as they came. He turned to face the enemy, realizing that the pesky dog and his wench had just jumped back in with Sango circling overhead with her demon companion. While the others distracted the enemy, Miroku made a second attempt to remove his oversized weapon from the arachnid's back.

Unable to free it from the grip of the rope-like appendages with raw strength, he backed away from the flailing limbs and tried a different approach. "Hado 54… Haien!" the monk cried, shooting a burst of fire from his hand.

The rising flames consumed the jungle of tentacles that held his blade in place, displaying an obvious sensitivity to fire. Taking the large weapon back, he silently took some time to consider the fullness of the situation. It was just now that he realized how his blade had adversely affected the spider during an earlier attack by eliciting a series of groans from the beast when it was injured, but for some reason the last strike that he had inflicted did not seem to bother Naraku in the least.

Silently storing away this thought, he turned back towards the fray and took advantage of the surrounded enemy. Lifting his newly reacquired blade into the air, Miroku positioned himself directly above Naraku's head and pointed the Bankai weapon downwards before plunging towards his target with remarkable speed.

Having been flying overhead, his wife was the first to see the attack coming. She silently chanted a Kido spell to broadcast her thoughts to the others. "Jump away from Naraku!" she issued a mental warning to her companions.

Hearing her voice in their minds, Kagome and the two Shinigami leapt backwards into the air just in time to see the attack connect. The villain dodged out of the way at the last minute, but the impact caused by the captain's halberd released an electric current, nailing the enemy with the full force of his assault.

Once the shock had passed, the team landed gracefully on the spider's back, the monk and his wife slowly descending along with them so that they were standing together as a group once more. They each observed Naraku's injured form, and for a moment they believed him finished, but to their intense horror he stood up once again. Although his clothing was torn and his breathing labored, he seemed unharmed.

"Don't you fools understand? I will never die!" the demonic specter cried out maddeningly, his bloodshot eyes flashing dangerously as he raised his sword again. "I admit I toyed with you and experienced pain because of it, but I have grown tired of this farce…"

Miroku swung his giant halberd down towards the enemy, but he saw it coming and sunk back into the spider's flesh like a ghost through the floor. It seemed as if none of them were sure of what to think yet, but a loud groaning answered their questions as quickly as they had risen.

Although badly injured from the fight, Inuyasha seemingly ignored his own injuries. "What's that bastard up to?" he asked no one in particular as he steadied himself atop the now shaking surface on which they stood.

The orange-haired Shinigami to his left looked ragged from the fight, but it did nothing to quell the fierce look in his eyes. "I'm not sure what's going on, but we had better move before this guy decides to attack."

The former demon slayer prompted Kirara to move forward, quickly pulling Kagome on as they increased altitude, closely followed by the three males of the group. They floated above the spider and began to increase the amount of distance, but as they moved the spider began flying towards them at an alarming rate.

"He's following us!" Kagome said unnecessarily, her eyes widening in shock as she turned her head to see.

They increased their speed to escape, but the enemy became even faster. "The chase is part of the fun! Try to escape… Yes… … Make this as interesting as possible or this will be far too easy." monstrous fangs slid aside as Naraku's voice erupted from the mouth, followed by a sadistic laugh which turned the heads of every single person within the Seretei.

"That's it, I'm not giving this guy the pleasure!" Ichigo screamed as he turned to face the monstrous spider. "You want a piece of me, well take this!"

The other members of the group turned to watch as Ichigo raised his sword, but the spider flailed its gigantic front legs, swatting him from the sky like an insect with a single hit. As he fell, the beast sprayed him with a blast of poisonous spider web, rendering him unconscious and binding his entire body like a net.

"That boy was an insolent whelp to think he could contend with my power… Who shall be next!" the spider's voice sounded off again.

"Help him!" the priestess beckoned to anyone capable of doing something.

Sango nodded in acknowledgment. "Kirara… Go!" she cried, driving the two-tailed cat into a dive once more.

Inuyasha seemed to hear her cries as well and followed after them with the wind at his feet, making an attempt to save the boy from oblivion. Looking over, he saw his beloved tighten her grip around the ex demon slayer's waist as they moved faster to catch up to the falling victim, and immediately increased his own speed in order to help them.

As if driven by some unknown strength, Ichigo turned over in mid air, his eyes turning pitch black and his pupils a dark yellow. The others stopped their pursuit to observe him for a moment, each of them sure that he had been unconscious seconds before.

"Kurosaki-san… Are you all right?" the young priestess asked her classmate.

Inuyasha frowned. "What the hell is wrong with you? Kagome just asked you a question." He snapped indignantly.

The orange-haired Shinigami seemed not to hear either of them as a white skull-like mask began to form on his face, and after a moment he spoke up in a voice that they did not completely recognize as his own.

"Ichigo you fool! Did you honestly think that you could attack such a powerful opponent and win without killer instinct, or are you just stupid?" he seemed to be talking to himself. "No matter, because now I'm in control!"

The former half-demon descended a few meters and her glared at the boy. "What are you talking about, you stupid kid? Have you gone completely crazy?" he stated with a curious expression. "Snap out of it?"

Ichigo's sword sliced through the web-like encasing that has been cast upon him, a hand closed around his throat before he could escape, and as he stared into the boy's mask covered face, he saw a hollow leering back at him. "Stay out of my way, or I'll kill you next… No… … I'll just kill you now!" the hollowfied Shinigami screeched insanely.

Struggling against his captor, he managed to break free of Ichigo's grip seconds before the sword made contact with his body, while barely managing to keep from falling himself. The trio of friends watched as the masked Ichigo shot past them at supersonic speeds, ignoring them as he rocketed towards the place where Naraku arachnid body awaited them. Nudging Kirara's side with her foot, the two girls followed after him closely followed by a slightly rattled Inuyasha.

"What's wrong with him?" the priestess asked in concern.

"How the hell would I know?" Her reluctant boyfriend shrugged as they begun their ascent once again, barely managing to keep up with them. "I saw an odd mask appear on his face, the psycho started muttering to himself, and then he tried to kill me. I swear if he lives through this, he's going to be on the end of my sword."

"I don't think it would be right to blame him for this, because it didn't seem like he was in his right mind. That voice didn't sound like Kurosaki at all… It's like he has a split personality that just surfaced now." Kagome observed carefully.

Looking back they had once met a man with two personalities back in the Sengoku period… He was a strange individual named Suikotsu who had distinctly different sides to himself. One was that of a loving doctor who truly loved and cared about other people, yet the other half was a psychotic murderer driven by a constant lust for blood and hatred for humanity. An image of Suikotsu of the Band of Seven flashed through Inuyasha's mind as they finally reached the proper altitude, but the concerned expression on Miroku's face pulled him back to the current situation.

"It's like someone else took over his body!" the monk commented, gesturing towards the battle waging on before their eyes. "I don't know what's going on, but it seems almost unnerving."

The others watched as he squared up to face the monster, only this time his approach was entirely different. "I see you have returned to die…" the spider replied with a clicking of its fangs. "It shall be my pleasure to oblige!"

Since the mask was only covering half of his face, the eerie smile Ichigo wore seemed even more frightening. "You poor misguided fool, that weakling you were fighting before is gone… The king was too weak to play with you again, so I decided to crush your skull in his place!"

"Oh really?" the spider replied calmly.

Without so much as another word, the hollowfied Shinigami let loose a series of black Getsuga Tensho attack, each of them aimed at the head of the beast. Naraku's spider form cringed and thrashed around, but all the action did was entice an insane laugh from the attacker. The spider aimed a few more blasts of poisonous spider webs at him, but the boy's speed appeared to have increased even more under the corrupted influence of his inner hollow, and with one last mad cackle, Ichigo flew directly into the monster's open mouth.

"What's he doing?" Sango exclaimed. "Has the kid gone completely crazy?"

Kagome raised her bow in an attempt to help, but her beloved raised an arm to prevent her from firing. "Save your energy." He scolded.

She looked positively upset. "What about Ichigo? He's a friend of mind, and he's done a lot to help use so far!" She retaliated.

He prepared to answer her, but a series of explosions from within the spider distracted them. Black energy blasts mixed with blood started bursting from within the monster as if someone was wounding the beast from inside the abdomen, and seconds later Kagome noticed that she saw something moving deep within. It didn't take her long to figure out that the tiny round glint was the Sacred Jewel, even though she couldn't see anything else, but still she continued to observe the spectacle.

"The jewel is moving around inside of the spider's belly." She shouted to the others. While her two other friends looked shocked, the monk merely inclined his head as if trapped in a pattern of deep thought, but otherwise displayed no sign that he had heard her.

"Should we help him?" Sango questioned carefully.

She turned to her husband for an answer, but he merely shook his head in response before vocalizing his input. "Based of what we have seen I expect that if we attempt to interfere, that this murderous persona inside of Kagome's friend would likely turn on us…"

After several minutes had elapsed, the jewel began moving upward towards the surface of the flesh, and seconds later Naraku's human form reappeared, being thrown backwards into the air by the force of another one of hollowfied warrior's energy blasts. Despite being forced on the defensive again, Ichigo looked like his body was ready to give out yet the strange personality in control kept him fighting.

The priestess leaned forward slightly with a worried expression. "Wait a minute… I can see the entire jewel inside Naraku's human form!" She gasped.

Even though they could not see, the others quickly looked towards the ensuing battle. A dawning realization hit the monk as he looked down and realized that all signs of life has vanished from the giant spider's levitating body. "It appears that my suspicions were correct!"

"What the hell are you going on about now?" Inuyasha replied fiercely.

Miroku motioned to his friends in order to grab their attention. "I'm sure you guys may have noticed by now that only one of Naraku's forms appears alive at one given time. When he enters the spider it is the arachnid that moves and speaks, but when he surfaces in human form the other body seems to fall dormant."

"So you believe that his two forms share a single consciousness?" the priestess questioned.

"Precisely…" the captain-level Shinigami replied. "It seems like he has too transfer the majority of his consciousness to one body to control it properly, which means that the Sacred Jewel's power must also exist within both vessels."

The same look of realization hit Sango at this time. "Wait a minute! So if the same principle applies to both, then the sudden trauma caused by that kid attacking Naraku from the inside must have forced both him to leave the spider by transferring both the jewel and his mind to his human body!"

"Which means that now may be when he is most vulnerable!" Miroku finished for her.

Inuyasha let out a humorless laugh, gently sliding one of his blades against the surface of the other. "Feh… Which means that now's our chance to kill him…"

The others all seemed to agree, and with a collective nod they sped back towards the scene of the fight as quickly as they could. As they prepared enter the battle again, Ichigo began to struggle against the enemy.

After dodging another attack, Naraku kicked his opponent in the chest and sliced broke the mask on his face with an energy blast at point-blank range, causing the boy to stumble backwards in pain. He watched as his adversary fell to his knees, the strange spiritual pressure that had previously surrounded him quickly ebbing away. The remains of the hollow mask refused to shatter and for a moment it seemed as if two souls existed within one body.

"Leave me alone!" one voice issued him his mouth. "Shut up king, I wasn't done… Don't you understand that I was going to finish him off?" Came the second voice. "I don't need your help!" Ichigo's normal tone answered back. "Now get out of my head!"

Reaching up to his face, Ichigo ripped off the small fragment of hollow mask that still covered his face, but as soon as the mask had gone excruciating pain coursed through his body. The boy doubled over as his wounds burst open, spraying blood everywhere as he struggled to stand again. Unable to hold up his own weight with the intensity of his injuries, he began coughing violently before collapsing onto the ground again.

Naraku smiled as he watched the spectacle unfold and sliced downward to behead his prey, but the end of a giant halberd slammed down in between the, shielding him from further harm. The villain leapt away from the blade, an arrow grazing his neck as he retreated from the scene.

Looking up he saw that the others had returned to the fray, having rescued Ichigo Kurosaki during the confusion, the boy's unconscious form now draped safely over Kirara's where Kagome had been mounted seconds ago. The priestess now stood behind him with her bow poised to fire.

"What a nuisance…" A pair of whip-like tentacles shot out of Naraku's chest and wrapped themselves around Kagome's arms. The priestess let out a scream of pain, but he merely laughed at her turmoil and broke her limbs with a sickening crack. "Now what should I do with you?"

Before he could kill her, Inuyasha severed the appendages and turned on Naraku with an aggressive growl. "You bastard… I'll kill you for that!" His archenemy merely laughed with amusement, as the stubborn Shinigami prepared to attack him again.

"Now!" the monk shouted to the others, having devised a plan to take advantage of the enemy's brief vulnerability.

Sango flew around in circles on the back of her loyal companion, sending torrential rains from the skies as Kirara increased her flying speed. Inuyasha released a tornado of swirling winds, which began circling Naraku and added the full extent of his spiritual energy to maximize its destructive potential.

"I will never die!" the villain repeated. Focusing the full force of the jewel's energy, he created a cyclone with a reverse spin to neutralize the assault, and quickly began to overwhelm them.

Increasing his own powers to their limit, Miroku fused his own abilities into the storm created by his friend in order to enhance the already ferocious assault. The jewel's energy collided with the storm of power that they had produced, but the rain has reduced his visibility and he could smell burning flesh as the monk's lightning began striking him consecutively. No matter how fast he tried to regenerate the damage, he was not able to escape the prison of wind and water that had engulfed him.

Naraku realized his vulnerability as he realized what had happened to him when Ichigo expelled him from the spider body, his hand moved up to the place in his chest where the jewel had gone. Sensing the immediate danger, he attempted to phase back into the spider's body, but the monk was prepared for such a cowardly retreat.

Dropping his halberd, Miroku tore the Buddhist prayer beads from around his neck and tossed them into the air with flick of his wrist. As the rosary few through the air, he muttered a few incantations and began weaving signs with his fingers before folding his hands like a priest. After a second, the beads expanded to the size of chains and wrapped themselves around Naraku's struggling form.

"Divine spiritual seal!" the monk chanted loudly, his eyes closing as he lifted the limitations and released the true power of his talisman.

The oversized necklace shuddered for a moment and released a powerful shock through the victim's body. He attempted to break free or reenter the spider body, but the beads did release him, and seemed to have sealed his powers. "What is this? How is this possible…"

Miroku bowed his head solemnly. "The rosary I cast upon you was an artifact belonging to Lady Midoroku, the priestess of the jewel. It took years for me to find this artifact, but I always knew inside that the jewel would return on day, and as such I purposely sought out a method to stop it. It appears that my theory was correct, as the necklace now binding your powers is resonating with the soul of the ancient priestess within the jewel, granting strength to the seal."

His friends looked surprised, but he ignored them for the moment. "It will not hold forever, but since your regeneration abilities are also bound by this seal, I take it that you will no longer be able to resist the final judgment that awaits you."

The warning only caused him to struggle harder against the binds that held him, but knowing that he was defenseless for the moment only made matters worse. "Lowly monk… You have no idea of the powers you are attempting to contain!" he screamed, thrashing around in a futile attempt to break free.

"I think he does…" Sango had the two-tailed demon descend so that she could get a better view of the situation.

After a few minutes, the villain's wrath intensified and he began to thrash around with greater ferocity in an attempt to escape his bonds. "I'll get out of this, and when I do!" Tainted reiatsu began slipping though the seal, considerably weakening the spell with each passing moment.

Miroku struggled back and began pouring even greater amounts of his own powers into the rosary, large beads of sweat forming on his face as he found the seal more difficult to sustain. "Damn him… I forever." He stammered through gritted teeth. He looked around and spotted the injured priestess lying motionless. "She has to get up! According to Lady Shihouin, only Kagome can use that weapon!"

Inuyasha approached the girl, but the weakened seal had allowed Naraku to regain a certain amount of control over his spider form even though he was no longer able to re-enter the spider body. "You won't get far!" the enemy shouted, causing several tentacles to rise from the ground around her injured form, and preventing the Shinigami from reaching his beloved. "It's useless!"

He hacked away at the rising tentacles, shouting to her as he struck back. "Kagome… Kagome… Wake up!"

"Only you have the power to finish this battle once and for all." The former demon slayer said as she too joined in on the attempt to reach their friend. "Come on Kagome, wake up!"

Several moments passed as they continued to call to her, but after the third time the injured girl began to stir uneasily. Her eyes cracked open slowly, but a piercing scream escaped her as she caught sight of the surrounding appendages. "Someone help me… Inuyasha!" she called out his name.

A giant blast of Kido incinerated the offending tentacles to ashes as she came to, her beloved standing over her broken form with a look of concern. "Kagome, can you stand…"

She attempted to get up, but Naraku's last attack had broken her limbs. "Ah…" she screamed as pain coursed through her injured form.

"Hurry!" Miroku shouted to them, his calm demeanor evaporating at once. "I can't keep this up much longer." The captured villain struggled hard than ever at this, his face alive with malice.

"I can't stand up by myself, but I heard what Sango said when I was trapped back there." He extended his hand to help her, but the priestess refused at once. "If I am the only person who can put an end to this, then I have to do this on my own!"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to object, but was caught off guard as she stood back up. Kagome walked past him without so much as a word and reached into the small piece of cloth on her back, pulling out a the bow and arrow that Kisuke Urahara had forged for this sole purpose. He wanted to ask how she had done this with shattered arms, but looking more closely he could see any number of spiritual threads trailing from her body part, as if she were moving like a puppet on strings.

She glared at Naraku's human face for a second before placing her arrow into position. The idea of killing him caused he to hesitate, but something strange began to happen. The heard of the strange arrow ignited into flame as she pulled back the string of the bow, and an unbelievable amount of crimson spirit energy engulfed her body as it channeled through her once and then back into the projectile in her hand.

"The way of battle is an unpredictable one… You must be prepared for any scenario no matter what." Ishida's voice echoed through her mind and a second later, Kikyo's voice followed saying the words. "Kagome… Fire your weapon at that target, and do not hesitate."

For all of the pain that this man had caused, he would now face judgment for his crimes, and now that the time had come she found herself without any more doubts. Without another second of hesitation, Kagome released the arrow with machine like precision, and although she had already guessed what the results would be, what happened next was still surprising.

The arrowhead exploded in a fantastic flash of crimson as the entire projectile burned away, the fire expanding and growing as it came closer to the target. Fiery wings erupted from the flames as the burst transformed into the shape of a giant phoenix, which bore down upon the villain for a second before swallowing him up in a fantastic flash of light.

Kagome gazed into the inferno and saw the Shikon Jewel clearly, but the glints vanished into the fires, multiple lights floating away from the scene and disappearing several seconds later. Naraku thrashed around violently as the fire burned away his flesh, his screams of agony swallowed up by all-consuming flame, the pain made worse by the destruction of his greatest treasure, but as soon as it had begun, the sensation ebbed away.

The curtains of flame vanished as suddenly as they had formed, revealing the burned and battered form of their eternal nemesis. Kagome felt no fear any longer, but the sight of the defeated villain made her ill at ease. The sickening smile had died from his lips, and a several burns now covered his body, making him a terrible sight to behold. Miroku and Sango looked disgusted by the sight, but said nothing as he attempted to stand.

With a growl of rage, the evil entity reached for his sword, but the blackened weapon disintegrated into the dust before he could attack, leaving behind the charred remains attached to the hilt. The guard of the katana rusted and shattered into pieces shortly after that, and the lonely piece of the handle that remained merely slid through his hand and landed near his feet.

"You… I… …" Naraku choked out these words, his eyes filled with undying hatred as he dropped.

Miroku deactivated his Bankai, reappearing in his captain's robes as the armor vanished. The halberd transformed back into a katana, which he immediately sheathed before moving towards their fallen opponent. He placed a hand in front of the man's burned face before turning back towards his nakama.

"He is not dead, but without the jewel it will not be long before he passes on." Seeing them approaching the scene to investigate for themselves, he nodded in acknowledgement.

"If he's alive, I'll change that soon enough!" The former half-demon drew his own sword and lifted the katana over his head, his eyes filled with anger.

The monk seized the end of his Zanpakuto with his left hand. "He will die soon, but right now it is more pressing that Kagome examine him. His eyes swept over the group briefly and settled on the priestess. "I can no longer sense the jewel's presence, but can you?"

Kagome observed the villain's destroyed form. "I can no longer sense any trace of it within his human body, or the spider on which we stand."

"Good, so now we can dispose of him for good." The former demon slayer declared.

"That is my job…" a new voice rang throughout the area.

They went on the defensive as a strange presence filled the air, and seconds later a large doorway materialized before them. They stared in awe as the gateway opened to reveal dark fires beyond, unimaginable screams of agony echoing from the entry.

"What's going on?" the younger of the two girls asked nervously even though she had already made a guess. "Is that…"

"The Gates of Hell." Inuyasha hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "They are opening only for Naraku."

The monk elaborated upon seeing the expression on Kagome's face. "One who has committed terrible crimes does not rejoin the cycle of rebirth, but instead becomes trapped forever within the dark fires of the underworld to face eternal punishment befitting that of what they did in life. It is the ultimate destiny for those who feel no remorse for what they have done…"

Without warning a large arm shot through the gates and pulled Naraku into the fires, the villain's eyes opening just in time for him to scream. He knew what was happening, but was powerless to escape as the demonic entity pulled him through the portal. The doors closed behind him with a loud crash, the doorway vanishing shortly afterwards.

The priestess seemed lost in thought for a moment, but as she turned around, a sudden weariness overtook her, the strain from overusing her powers finally taking full affect. Inuyasha reached out and caught her limp body as she toppled over, giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek as if he did not care who saw.

"You'll be all right." he said to the unconscious girl. "Believe it or not. What you did today was amazing…" His friends smiled as they watched him coddle his beloved, but a second later they realized that the surface on which they stood was moving towards the ground.

"Let's get out of here, without Naraku the spider has no power. It is about to fall!" the captain shouted.

Sango leapt onto Kirara's back and placed Ichigo's unconscious form in front of her so that he would not fall before taking off into the skies. The former half-demon followed suit with his girlfriend propped on his shoulder and took flight into the sky using his wind-based weapon to manipulate the element properly. Miroku leapt onto the demon cat and wrapped his arms around his wife as she swept down to help him, both of them working to stop the unconscious boy aboard from falling.

Although they had all remained safely in the air while the body fell, a look of alarm struck Miroku's face as they watched the monstrous arachnid fall. "Wait, is that body is still filled with shouki, the poison will kill when it touches the ground even without Naraku or the jewel!"

Inuyasha growled exasperatedly. "Oh great, that bastard is harassing us one last time from the grave. We can't stop that thing!"

"What should we do?" Sango shouted in a similar tone. The monk racked his brain, but seconds later the problem had been solved.

On the ground, Jushiro Ukitake had seen the falling body and unnecessarily alerted the others at once. "Sensei!" he shouted to the old man. "What should we do?"

Head Captain Yamamoto felt weary in his old age after maintaining the fiery dome for so long, but quickly reactivated his Zanpakuto for one last attack. "All things in the universe turn to ashes… Ryujin Jakka!" he roared. "Jokaku Enjo!"

A large wall of fire produced by his blade expanded around the falling arachnid and burned it into ashes almost instantaneously. With Naraku gone, the monstrous body no longer possessed a consciousness or the protection provided by the Sacred Jewel, and quickly succumbed to the assault.

Without their master, the army of demon puppets was no longer able to function properly, causing the specters to twitch uncontrollably before breaking apart, the armor that had covered them clattering away across the ground as the bodies vanished. The Shinigami all throughout the battlefield were finally able to relax as the enemy forces crumbled into the dust, and cheers erupted from them as the battle finally came to an end…

Note to Readers: Phew… I made it this far. Yeah I can guess that it sounded pretty repetitive after awhile, but I did what I could to create a long and climactic battle. If there are a lot of errors or badly written portions, I was up late and worked tirelessly to bring this to you guys, so I hope you can forgive me.

I hope everyone who is able will REVIEW, because I worked my butt off this time, and created a chapter nearly twice as long as the others, and in fewer sittings. This story is almost over, so please tell me what you think and give decent reviews. It'll help me struggle to the finish. Want a sequel? I don't think I can do one, but tell me if you want one, and contribute ideas if you have any.