The screen flickered for a bit before the author appeared.
*Hey guys Hakuorofan7 here and welcome back to another chapter of Hanyo of Snow.*
*As promised this chapter is coming out to you all on January 17th as I was unable to post it last year.*
*This chapter will be a short one, but it will kickstart the next arc as the last chapter had ended the Modernity arc. This arc is technically not part of canon and it will last a few chapters.*
*For what it must attain you all might ask? Well you will all find out soon and it will be interesting to say the least.*
*So let's move on shall we.*
*First I do not own Inuyasha, it belongs to the amazing Rumiko Takahasi.*
*Secondly just sit back, relax, maybe put some music on, and enjoy. I will see you all at the end of the chapter.*
The author snapped his fingers as the screen turned to static.
A New Threat Uprooted
(? POV - Sengoku Jidai)
"Sir we are almost done, are you sure that everything is here?" One of the six humans under my employ said to me.
"It is, but remember the red jade is mine. Just a little more and all of you will have your treasure." I said, getting some of my workers to grumble as they continued to pile on rocks and move the remaining pieces into place.
It was easy enough to convince these humans to follow my lead. After all bandits were easily bribed by the promise of treasure and intimidation by my current form of a pelt clad brute.
Of course I had to execute one idiot who objected to my plans and tried to kill me, but with his head currently resting on a wooden pike in the middle of our camp served as a warning to them if they tried to cross me.
That and as an additional bargaining chip for my true goal.
Now with the factor of human error reduced to my preferred level of control I was able to fully explain to the bandits what was going on.
At the base of this hill was a tomb of a noble buried with a small fortune and a large piece of red jade half a century ago. He wished for no one to claim his treasure so he had his tomb built in the middle of nowhere and priests to make sure that no man might breech it. No matter how large an army no man it yokai shall breech it. The only exceptions would have been a force of nature.
What we were creating, an artificial rock slide with a few upturned trees for some added measure.
Factoring in that angle of the slope and our current position located directly uphill from the tomb the rock slide will destroy part of the tomb. Leaving it mostly intact and burying some of the treasure under rubble.
A minor issue compared to accessing it and spending all day laboring to prepare anything, but the motivation of treasure was enough to any complaints they might have.
I would know better then anyone of what a human could do when motivated enough to do anything to accomplish a dream or task. No matter the cost or no matter if the dream is impossible to achieve.
Making it all the more satisfying when these fools realize they had been tricked.
"Sir, everything that you ask has been accomplished." One of the bandits said.
"Excellent, now move aside and order the others to stand back." I said simply, getting the bandit to nod as he hurried of to the rest of them.
Time to begin.
Not a moment later I waked off towards the fallen trees bound by ropes holding back all the debris.
All six bandits gathered around a tree with one of the support ropes attached to a sturdy branch.
Looking over the mound of rocks and overturned trees, it is perfect.
"Alright all our hard work will be payed off, once I cut this rope you all shall get your reward. Your just reward." I said calmly, getting the fools to cheer as I used a human katana to cut through the rope with one swipe.
My calculations proved correct as the debris was let lose and fell down hill, adding more to it artificial rock slide that grew and grew as it continued downwards. Uprooting trees and taking chunks of the hill off as it finally reached the bottom and crushed part of the tomb.
After a minute the artificial disaster started to settle down, but one of the bandits tried to rush past me.
Until I grabbed him by the arm and threw him behind me.
"Try that again and you are dead. Either by my hand or the fall. The ground is still unstable right now, one misstep and it will kill you." I said coldly, none of them were of use to me if they got themselves killed too early.
"O-Of course sir!" The bandit said as I paid him no heed.
A few minutes later the hill side finally stabilized.
"Now then go to plunder to your heart's contents, but know this if anyone of you find the red jade before I do, heads will roll." I said as the bandits took off infront of me while I calmly walked behind him.
The fools would never know their true purpose until it was too late.
They were nothing more then a means for another test for Touma.
He has proved himself against both raijū and from what I gathered managed to kill one of them before they were brought back to life by the jewel shards. Of course he had nearly died as well but he preformed better then I expected.
So for one final test, let's see how he stands against a more manageable variable.
One lacking in the raw power of a raijū, but one none the less dangerous given it's abilities.
When I reached the outskirts of the tomb I saw the bandits growing restless as they noticed no treasure in the tomb.
Nothing but dead roots and an old arrow. Still they were searching for treasure in the rubble incase everything was accidentally buried.
Before they could even notice me, one of the bandits moved some of the rubble away to reveal something red.
"Guys I found the jade and it is huge!" The bandit cried out as he reached to grab it.
Only to recoil as soon as he touched it.
Looks like I have been found out.
The fool didn't have anytime to scream as his neck was quickly pierced by one of the roots.
Soon more began to pierce his body as the root in his neck poked out the back and began to wrap around his head before ripping it off without spilling a drop of blood and the roots retracting away.
The bandits screamed out as the headless victims corpse collapsed to the ground. Soon the flesh dissolved off of the body in a violet miasma. Leaving nothing left of the bandit except for his headless skeleton and his clothing.
I grinned as they started to run away, but it proved to late as the roots began to impale them one by one.
It was only now they noticed that their true fate.
Nothing more then sacrifices for the Ne no Kubi.
As satisfying as it is to watch the fools being killed one by one, I started to back up as part of the yokai rose out of the tomb as it took the head off of the last bandit before it noticed me.
The Ne no Kubi extended it's roots towards me as I let my body began to shift to my preferred form.
"Now is this the way you treat the one who freed you and gave you all of those sacrifices." I said as the roots stopped once the New no Kubi realized that I wasn't human.
Though I was going to do a lot more then reveal this form if it decides to destroy this kugutsu.
In the long run it wouldn't matter if a single kugutsu was destroyed, but I would prefer to keep this one operational in order to keep an eye on Touma along with Kikyō's reincarnation and Inuko until it wears out.
"And for that I am thankful shape shifter. But stand in my way and I will add your head to my collection!" The Ne no Kubi said as it lumbered it's head closer to me.
"You and I have a common goals but there is some information that you are sorely lacking. The camp of these fools is up hill, along with a corpse and another head for you. So I proposal that we can discuss our deals there." I proposed.
The Ne no Kubi studied me for a moment with it's unblinking eye before sinking into the ground.
"Very well shape shifter I will hear you out, but do not make me regret this." The Ne no Kubi said before it disappeared into the ground.
I followed suit by rushing uphill towards the bandit camp to see it's true body emerge.
A misshapen mass of roots with several red eyes including a massive one in the center right above a vicious set of wooden jaws and several decapitated heads laid their as it began to absorb nutrients from the bandit's corpse.
"What it is that you claim I lack the information on shape shifter?" The Ne no Kubi said as added the head to it's body.
"That you have been sealed up by Kikyō who has been dead for 50 years and the Shikon Jewel is shattered." I said, getting the Ne no Kubi to growl at me as it's roots bristled and began to stretch out towards me.
Until I revealed one of the jewel shards this kugutsu had collected, getting the yokai to freeze in its tracks.
"This is one of the two shards I currently have in my possession. I am willing to give you them if you accept my proposal. One after accepting it and the other once the task is done." I said as the roots started to retreat.
The loss of two shards mattered little to me at this time as I already had several with my true self. Besides if everything goes towards my designs then I shall retrieve them soon enough.
"My proposal will benefit us both as there is something I want and the perfect chance for your revenge." I said, getting the Ne no Kubi's roots rustled and for it to growl.
"Something that should be impossible given your claims of Kikyõ being dead already!" The Ne no Kubi shouted out.
"And she is, but her reincarnation has emerged and had shattered the jewel weeks ago after it was thought lost 50 years ago. She is currently traveling to reclaim the shards along with a few others including Kikyō's killer, the hanyo daughter of Tōga Inuko." I said, getting the Ne no Kubi to let out a laugh.
"So Kikyō's killer is helping her reincarnation collecting the shards. The irony is not lost on me. So you wish for me to kill them then I will gladly do so! I might not get revenge on that accursed priestess Kikyō but this will be the next best thing! And in return I get all of their jewel shards they have?" The Ne no Kubi said, getting me to nod.
"Under two conditions. First there is a yuki-onna hanyo among the group, make sure to kill the others before bringing him to me alive. Second, spare Kikyō's village until they arrive, wouldn't want it to wiped out too early. And by my calculations they should be arriving back tomorrow. Do this and both of my shards are yours." I said before throwing one of them towards the Ne no Kubi.
Who greedily caught it with it's roots and retracted them into it's very being.
"I will give you my other shard in exchange for the hanyo once you have had your revenge. You will have my shards and those of Kikyō's incarnation and your revenge. And all that I ask is that you follow my conditions. So Ne no Kubi, do we have a deal?" I asked, getting the mass of roots to grin at that with it's wooden maw.
"We have a deal shape shifter! Now I have to gather more heads, it has been far too long. But cross me shape shifter and you will regret it!" The Ne no Kubi said before it burrowed itself underground.
"I doubt it." I said as I doused the fire and proceeded to leave the camp.
The Ne no Kubi was acting according to how I heard.
It will make the perfect test for Touma, along with possibly wiping out Inuko and Kikyō's reincarnation.
They are a minor threat, but also a major source of gathering the jewel shards so I could care less if they lived or died.
Speaking of, it is about time I set into motion wiping out the yokai taijiya on Honshū, not that the recent hunt for the shattered jewel shards haven't already thinned them out.
As long as they still had at least that village they would be a problem, best to wipe it out as soon as possible.
Factoring in that, the possiblity of the Ne no Kubi wiping out Kikiyō's reincarnation, and Miyatsu's descendant slowly dying to my curse before continuing the bloodline any chance of human error to my machinations would soon dwindle to manageable levels. The only one left as a capable threat is that accursed Hitomiko, still as much as I loathed to admit it she was beyond my power at the moment.
Besides that I can concern with those matters with this final test I will see if Touma is truly worth my interest.
And if he does, then with his power and what the jewel shard is doing to him it opens so many possibilities.
I can not wait to observe what this confrontation will hold tomorrow.
The screen turned to static before the author reappeared.
*Hey guys Hakuorofan7 here and I hoped that you all enjoyed this chapter.*
*As you can all see here canon has officially been thrown out the window with Ne no Kubi being released three and a half years early.*
*For those not in the know the Ne no Kubi was a yokai from a special chapter written after the Tōhoku Tsunami struck in 2011 and in the first episode of Yashahime. It was a nuisance to deal with to the cast three and half years after they defeated Naraku due to it's abilities.*
*Now it has been released earlier into the story and given a Shikon Jewel shard, making it even more of a nuisance to deal with as the group will find out next chapter.*
*And speaking of the Ne no Kubi arc, from here on out I will be incorporating the elements of Yashahime in the story from time to time. And what exactly will that lead to…well read and find out.*
*Anyway next chapter will see the group confronting the Ne no Kubi on two fronts, bad blood between Kagome and Yura while the latter plots for something, and threats lurking on the side to observe how the situation with the Ne no Kubi unfolds.*
*I hope that you all enjoy the chapter when it comes out March 8th, it will a bit of a long one and the one to breaks the 200k word mark. I know I can't wait to see it.*
*If you have any questions leave a review or PM me and I will get back to you when I can. So until next time ciao!*
The author waves goodbye as the screen fades to black.