Inuyasha retreated a few steps as the tengu's illusion dissolved.  The creature glared at him, stepping back into a low, wide stance and raising its walking stick like a sword.  Inuyasha prepared himself, unsheathing the Tetsusaiga.  The gloom of sunset was briefly illuminated by the energy cast off by the blade as it transformed into its massive true form.  The tengu's glassy eyes widened, not in fear, but delight.

"You carry far too magnificent a weapon, half-breed," the tengu said, its voice whispering in Inuyasha's mind even though the creature's beak didn't move.  "Prove to me that you are more worthy of it than I."

"You've got to be kidding me,"  Inuyasha growled.  "I don't even know you, and you to fight me over a sword?"

"You don't have to fight.  You may surrender the weapon if you wish." said the voice in Inuyasha's head.  "If you're perceptive enough to realize that a weapon of that caliber belongs in the hands of someone who can truly master it, then I will happily accept it without taking your life."

"Hey, don't get me wrong.  I was just tryin' to give you one last chance to reconsider." snickered Inuyasha, hefting the Tetsusaiga onto his shoulder.    

            The tengu adjusted its grip on the walking stick ever so slightly, its face betraying no emotion.  Inuyasha prepared himself, setting his stance and swinging his sword to a ready position.  The tengu's voice reached into Inuyasha's mind, brushing coldly against the back of his consciousness like a chill breeze.

"Come."

Inuyasha leapt at the tengu, the Tetsusaiga slicing through the air in a murderous arc.  He allowed himself the faintest hint of a smile at the thought of the obnoxious tengu being split in two through the shoulder by the first blow.  This wasn't even a fight, it was just an annoyance.  But then something impossible happened.  There was a commotion of wings and arms from the tengu, and before Inuyasha even realized what was happening the Tetsusaiga was streaking uselessly past its target.  Pain flared in Inuyasha's right arm as the tengu rapped its stick sharply across his wrist, driving his arm sharply downward and auguring Tetsusaiga's blade into the ground.  Some hidden part of Inuyasha was secretly impressed.  The tengu had sidestepped and parried his attack at the wrist rather than the blade to avoid clashing with Tetsusaiga's full weight and force.

"Your wrist didn't break.  You must be very strong." the tengu said in Inuyasha's mind.  "But you're no swordsman."

"That's already getting old." Inuyasha snarled, whirling to face his enemy and swinging the Tetsusaiga in a vicious, sweeping blow.

            The tengu stepped forward quickly, casually blocking Inuyasha's elbow with the palm of its hand, stopping his attack before it could even truly begin.  Inuyasha dropped to one knee as tengu brought its stick painfully across the back of his knee.  The tengu strolled calmly around him, looking him from head to toe.   

"No swordsman at all…"  repeated the tengu almost sorrowfully. 

            Rage boiled in Inuyasha's heart at the sound of the creature's chiding.  Despite the ache in his leg, he found his feet and rushed forward with a another overheard swing, his inhuman body straining to put more speed into the attack.

"Will you shut up about…"  He sentence was cut short as butt of the tengu's stick drove upwards into his chin.  

            Inuyasha staggered backwards, spitting blood.  His vision was blurred and he wasn't entirely certain that he hadn't bitten off the end of his tongue.  The tengu seemed to have drawn another stick from within the walking stick.  That doesn't make sense, Inuyasha thought through his daze, but there it was.  The tengu had threaded its walking stick through its belt and was now wielding a smaller, thinner stick, very nearly a switch..

            Inuyasha made up his mind that this would be the final attack.  Even if the tengu shattered all of his ribs with that stupid stick, his next blow would find purchase.  He lunged forward, steeling himself be impaled on the end of tengu's stick, Tetsusaiga once again a steely blur streaking towards the enemy.

            Inuyasha suddenly realized something was wrong, and at the last second he threw all of his weight sideways, aborting his attack and rolling through dirt.  He was dimly aware of the tengu's weapon brushing against his chest just before he changed direction, but his mind was elsewhere, attending to another sense.  A familiar scent had filled the air: the scent of steel.

            As if in response, the illusion over the tengu's stick seemed to wash away, revealing a short, straight-bladed tachi.  The longer stick in the tengu's belt was the scabbard.  The weapon was double-edged, as they had been in olden times.   Inuyasha's eyes widened as he became dimly aware of something warm and sticky running down his stomach.  One edge of the tengu's sword was slick with blood.

"I am Enkai of Haguro, half-breed," the voice in Inuyasha's mind hissed softly. "and you have done what I had thought impossible.  You have felt the bite of my Kogarasu-maru and you still live."