The sounds of lively villagers filled his ears as Naraku walked through the path of the calm forest. He walked at a steady pace as his sword moved slightly by his side with each step that he took. Unlike his usual attire, this time Naraku wore a blue hatori and a navy hakama while his hair was up in a high ponytail. The boisterous sounds of the villagers grew louder and louder with each step that he took towards the village until he arrived at the exit of the forest.

At the exit of the forest, Naraku was greeted by the sight of the lively villagers who smiled and talked joyously amongst each other. There were many villagers walking around and about–selling, buying, eating and socializing. The children laughed as they ran around each other and chased one another.

As Naraku looked around at the sight before him, he smiled a serene smile as he step foot into the village.


"There, There…" Kagome said, sitting between the two little survivors from the ruined temple. She was finishing up wrapping the bandages on the small boy who was on her left, with Sango attending to the boy who was on her right. Kagome patted the bandage abdomen gently as she turned pick up the old bandages and stood up.

Upon seeing her stand up, the little boy cried and reached out his hand to her, "Wait–don't go!..No I'm scared!…" He whimpered as tears gathered up in his eyes once again.

Seeing this again for the umpteeth time, Kagome let out a quiet, yet tired sigh. They had been at this village for 2 days now, tending to these small boys and taking a break from their journey. 'It's hardly a break since we have spent the time here taking care of these children. I mean, as much as I feel sorry for them, I'll never forget how they tried to kill us twice when we came to tend to their master's arm and when we told them not to use their weapons on the demons outside the barrier.' Turning to glance at Sango who also turned to glance at her as the boy near her was crying for the demon slayer as well, Kagome and Sango shared a look, before Kagome looked away and sighed, 'Great…I'm starting to sound like Inuyasha.'

As she remained standing, the boy below her continued to cry for her. At this, Kagome felt exhausted and felt honestly trapped. Before Kagome could do anything else, a child like voice broke through the barriers of her mind and immediately gave her goosebumps. Turning her attention towards the source of that voice, Kagome looked behind her and saw the fox demon who was looking back up at her nervously.

"...Do you want me to take that from you Kagome?" Shippo said with a nervous look on his face as he reached his hand up.

Staring down at the fox demon with a hesitant yet guilty look, Kagome shook her head no as she walked past the fox demon ignoring the cries of the little bandaged boy crying behind her. Little did Kagome know, Shippo at back of her figure with a sad look of dejection on his face as he remained where he stood.

Pushing aside the fragile straw door of the hut, Kagome step out and was instantly greeted by the stern face of the wolf demon.

"I saw that Kagome." Kouga said, "How long are you guys going to keep this up? It has been 2 days since then and you guys are still giving Shippo the cold shoulder."

"Give me some more time Kouga." Kagome said, averting the wolf's demon stern stare, "I'm still shaken up from back then."

"You weren't this bothered with Kirara and I." Kouga said. " And I'm willing to bet that if Inuyasha was there that night in the temple, you would have treated him normally afterwards. So why not Shippo? What's going on?"

"It's just that for Shippo the way he behaved was as if he was trying to get us all killed." Kagome said, reflecting back on that night in the temple, "The way he knew to attack Miroku was because Miroku was the one that was holding up the barrier to keep us protected. It's also the way that Shippo behaved without an ounce of resistance or even control."

"That was why I told you guys and insisted that you guys needed to leave Shippo with Kirara and I." Kouga said, reminding the time traveling priestess of his previous words, "But you guys refused to listen to me. Me, that just experienced the demonic influence that I barely could get a grip on for myself. And apparently I still wasn't even far away enough. You can't even blame Shippo on that. You guys have no one to blame but yourselves."

"Yeah but you ended up being at the temple anyway." Kagome pointed out. "So whether Shippo had stayed with you or not?"

Feeling himself getting annoyed with the time traveling priestess, Kouga took a deep breath and paused for a moment before he responded. "Kagome, had Shippo stayed with me, you guys wouldn't have experienced Shippo attacking Miroku in hopes of destroying the barrier. You guys would not have experienced Shippo participating in killing those children. He would have been with Kirara and I who were about to reach there. Maybe the reason why you are so bothered by Shippo turning on you guys is the fact that you can't control or even punish him when he does something that you don't like, like you had done with Inuyasha."

Kagome shook her head, "It's not that. It's not that. It's just that no matter how hard I try I can't forget the image of Shippo's mouth covered in blood as he used his teeth to gnash upon the flesh of those little boys and upon the flesh of Goryomaru as they all screamed for help. It's very disturbing. What if it happens again?… What am I supposed to do, attack him? I never want to use my own weapons or powers against Shippo. It's like that nightmare that I had where I was attacking you guys and Shippo was crying and pleading with me to spare him and Kirara. I…I just don't know what to do if I ever have to attack him."

Finally understanding where the time traveling priestess was coming from, Kouga said, "Kagome, I can't begin to imagine the extent of the damage that Naraku had done against you. Seeing Shippo suddenly turn on you guys must had been a horrible experience for you. But that doesn't mean that you should take it out on Shippo. The kit feels terrible over his actions. Over the past 2 nights, Shippo has spent the nights crying so hard in my arms and by my side and follows me around so much that he is like my shadow Kagome. Today was the first time since then that he has worked up the courage to approach you since that night and you brushed his efforts away. I don't mind taking care of Shippo, but it breaks my heart to see the kit like this, Kagome. He's really torn up over what he did. He couldn't help it."

Turning to look back at the hut behind her, Kagome looked sadden as she recalled how coldly she had treated the fox demon the past few days. "I have really messed up, didn't I?" She said.

"Not just you, Kagome." Sango admitted coming out of the hut, "Me as well."

Kagome turned to look at Sango as the thought of how loud she and the wolf demon might have hit her. "Were we too loud?"

Sango shook her head, "Not really. I was already heading out of the hut when I heard you two. Besides Kouga, Miroku hasn't been that distant with Shippo. I saw him earlier giving Shippo a smile and teased him as if nothing happened. I should have reacted more like Miroku towards Shippo than how I have been doing the past few days."

"Well, I'm not really any better." Miroku admitted as he approached the group from the direction of the village chief. "I only did that because I realized that Shippo was afraid of my reaction towards him after what happened at the temple. I was still wary of letting my guard down despite him crying over his actions. I was still wary of him for the rest of the night but moved on once I realized that battle was really over. I never thought that my distant action towards him that night led to him thinking I hated him. So after thinking about it, I simply got over what happened because it really wasn't his fault. It was ours. That's why when Shippo finally worked up the courage to approach me earlier, I just smiled at him and teased him."

"What did you say?" Kagome asked.

"Hi Shippo, why the long face?" Miroku said in a carefree tone before he spoke again. "Maybe you guys should talk to Shippo before we leave. That way things won't be too tense between us on the journey."

"Wait, we're leaving?" Sango repeated, "When did you guys decide this? I'm not upset or anything but I just wanted to know why I didn't know about it."

"Well Kouga and I just discussed it a few minutes before I left to discuss things over with the village chief." Miroku said, looking at the direction from where he came from earlier before he came upon the wolf demon and the two women talking , "Despite what happened at the temple, there are so many things we are missing out on and staying at this village is not helping us. We need to find out why Hakudoshi, the infant and Utsuho were at the temple. What did that temple have to do with Naraku's plan? We also need to talk about what exactly about that arm was causing the demons to be heavily influenced. I want to know because I can't understand how that arm was able to do that."

"All I know is that while I was under the influence, all I could hear was that demonic arm calling out to me to save it." Kouga said, "But as I listened, I felt my mind and senses fading away into nothing and my body just behaving as a tool for that demonic arm."

"To be able to override the senses of multiple demons at the same time is a fascinating power." Miroku said, " I wonder how that arm was able to do that."

"I had thought that demonic arm was dead, but after seeing Goryomaru grab Kagome like that and threaten me with the power of that arm, I realized that the demon of that arm was still alive," Sango said. "But what I want to know is how? Didn't Goryomaru say that he killed the demon as it was trying to devour him?"

"He did say that, but because he was still able to use the demon's power, I don't think the demon was really dead. I think it almost died when Goryomaru sacrificed his arm to destroy it but remained silent in waiting for the moment it would get its strength back. Seeing that it never continued eating Goryomaru, I don't believe that the demon was able to get its full strength back. However, it somehow gained the ability to send a strong mind erasing influence to demons nearby to come save it." Taking a moment to think, Miroku added, "Perhaps, it was able to do this by fusing his power with Goryomaru's to the point of absorbing it. There's no doubt in my mind that Goryomaru had strong spiritual powers, but since the demon was attached to Goryomaru, he had in a sense, become part of his body. And since this was the case, that meant that the demon could absorb and combine Goryomaru's spiritual power with his to create some kind of strange demonic influence that controlled demons against their wills to come and save him from Goryomaru."

"So when Shippo attacked you, it wasn't him having the knowledge to do that, it was that demonic arm on Goryomaru that made him do that." Kagome realized, as she looked back at the temple in shame of her actions towards the fox demon "No wonder, and I had thought that was Shippo's doing."

"Even as he was attacking me, I knew it wasn't Shippo, but something else that was possessing him. I realized that because I while I was praying, I sensed the demonic influence coming from that arm. That's why when Goryomaru was crying for help, I knew that it was too late for us to do anything for him other than pray for his soul after he died. If only those boys had not stopped us from freeing him from that arm earlier, then Goryomaru would still be alive." Miroku said, as he shook his head in disappointment at the children of the temple's past actions.

"All because of greed of keeping the power that they shouldn't have been using in the first place, they threaten us and prevented us from saving their masters. And now the survivors want us to stop what we are doing and take care of them, like we don't have other things to do with our lives." Sango said as she glanced back at the hut in frustration. "It's just unbelievable."

"So it's agreed that we are leaving them? I mean I feel sorry for them, but we tried to help them earlier and we can't exactly take them on our journey with us." Kagome said, "Should we ask the people here if someone could take care of them?"

"I'm already ahead of you." Miroku said, "I asked the villager chief and he has already found someone to do just that. And I have even met the person myself. They are really kind hearted."

Both Sango and Kagome sighed in relief.

"Oh thank Goodness." Kagome said as she smiled. "I felt bad for them but I didn't want to stay here anymore."

"Yeah, especially since Naraku obviously had a hand in what happened that night in the temple." Miroku said as he thought back to that night, "The way Hakudoshi appeared and killed Goryomaru, before leaving the temple with Naraku's other incarnations makes me understand that Naraku played a role in the tragedy of that night."

"Yeah and how come Hakudoshi was able to withstand the strong influence of that demonic arm?" Sango asked, "Do you think that the golden barrier that he surrounded himself with had anything to do with it? I haven't seen him with such a barrier before."

"Probably. Because he didn't behave mindlessly or as if he was under the arm's control. But if Naraku had something to do with what happened at the temple, then it makes sense why Hakudoshi wouldn't have been influenced." Miroku said, as he thought about the spider demon's actions some more, "My only thing is that, why were Naraku's incarnations there? I noticed that he was there with the Fuyōheki? If that orb has the power to hide demonic presence, I can't help but wonder why Naraku felt the strong need to be at that temple and why he felt that it was time to leave. What did he want from the temple? Or moreso, what did he want from Goryomaru before he left?"

"Yeah and how did Naraku's incarnations find a way to enter the temple in the first place?" Sango asked, "Could he have found the way to enter the barrier without Goryomaru knowing?"

"These are all really good questions but I don't think we will find the answer to them just standing here." Kouga said, "We need to leave to find out what Naraku's plan was at that temple and what his overall end goal in all of this is. I bet him being at the temple has something to do with his overall end goal. Maybe the Fuyōheki being there at the temple helped him conceal his demonic aura from Goryomaru and his arm and it was absorbing something from him. Maybe the Fuyōheki has other uses to it that we are not aware of. I don't know, but we need to leave so we can find that out."

"Where would we go to? Back to the temple? Somewhere in general that leads us to Naraku?" Sango said, "We can't just walk aimlessly. Going back to the temple is kind of pointless since we were just there."

"All I know is that while Naraku is moving, we are stagnant. And I'll be damned if Naraku pulls a fast one over us all because we were afraid to hunt him down." Kouga said, "If we continue moving, we will eventually bump into Naraku and maybe we will see what he was doing and might be able to put a stop to him for good."

"You talk as if you are certain that we will be able to stop him when we haven't been able to do so before." Sango said while looking at the wolf demon. "What would make going after him now any different than before? I can tell you this, whatever he was doing at that temple that night, he was getting stronger while we weren't."

"Well once we cross paths with Naraku again, we will see if all his efforts in getting stronger were worth it." Kouga before he walked away. "When you guys are ready to leave, let me know. I'll be waiting when you guys are." As he walked away leaving the humans alone with their thoughts.

Seeing the wolf demon leave, Kagome turned back towards the hut where the fox demon was and said, "I'm going to throw away these bandages before I go make things right with Shippo." gesturing to the used bandages in her hands that she had used on the survivors from the temple before she turned to leave.

As Kagome started to walk away, Sango said, "Hold on Kagome, I'll follow you as well.I want to apologize to Shippo as well."

Miroku smiled at the two women as they gave him a smile in turn and left. Once alone, Miroku continued his train of thought, 'What was Hakudoshi and Naraku's other incarnations doing at that temple with the Fuyōheki? Was he really just there getting stronger? Or is there something going on that we are missing?'


Sounds of incantations filled the now silent village. The same village that was once a boisterous village whose streets once contained nothing but happy villagers who walked about—buying, selling and socializing with one another as their children ran around.

Now the streets were littered with the mutilated and deceased bodies of the once lively villagers. It appeared as if all of the villagers's bodies were sliced apart multiple times and their bodies parts were scattered through the village. It was hard to tell whose arms and legs belonged to who. And although their torsos were still attached to their necks and heads, their chests were carved open as if only their hearts were removed. The stench of blood was everywhere. Blood was everywhere. It was scattered and splattered on the ground, the dead villagers bodies, the homes, the trees, the plants, and the animals that were strangely left alive. There were even bloody handprints on the outside wooden walls of the homes, as the straw mat like doors were either slashed though and discarded on the ground or remained on the huts but had been sliced through and bloodied.

It was such a violent and disturbing scene to look at. In the middle of the gruesome scene was Naraku whose head and upper body was covered in blood, and had his eyes closed as he remained still in a hole in the ground that accommodated his height. It was as if he constructed the hole. This hole was filled to the brim with rich crimson human blood that went up to the upper part of Naraku's bare chest. His hair now down in his usual style rather than the high ponytail that he had on earlier. Outside the hole and surrounding him were multiple and discarded grey human hearts that had the appearance of being wrung out dry. And across from him and the hearts was the sword used to aid him in the killings. It laid bloodied up on the ground, discarded as if it was useless to him now that it had served its purpose next to it were his bloodied and discarded clothes.

As Naraku continued chanting, a strange unearthly mixture of a black- and-crimson aura appeared and surrounded his body. It moved around him like thin smoke.

Once this smoke appeared, Naraku stopped chanting and opened his eyes. He had a vicious cold look on his face and had his eyes only focused on the edge of the blood filled narrow hole. He moved towards the edge of the hole and got out of it.

As if the scene before him didn't bother him, Naraku looked at it with detached and indifferent eyes and looked at the forest where he came from. Ignoring the discarded clothes on the ground, Naraku picked up his sword and walked towards the forest.

He walked into the forest naked and covered in nothing but a thick layer of rich crimson blood that dripped blood with each step that he took. As he walked through the forest, he headed towards the darkest area of the forest which only seemed to grow darker and bigger the closer that Naraku got to it. Finally Naraku entered the darkness and disappeared into it.

Inside, he walked through the pitch blackness of the dark forest. It was so empty and so dark. He continued walking until he reached a glowing body of dark water. Reaching the water, Naraku got down on one knee, looked down into it and waved his bloody hand over it. As he did that, drops of blood dropped into the water as the water began to flow the same unearthly color as the thin smoke-like aura that surrounded Naraku.

Over the water, Naraku said some words and the glow of the water grew stronger. Suddenly, loud pain filled cries and screams began to echo about the dark forest. At the arrival of these sounds, Naraku brought out the bloodied sword that he used in the slayings and dipped it into the unearthly black and crimson water. The blade of the sword turned black for a moment before it turned back to normal and the same black-and-crimson aura that Naraku had around him.

Seeing this, a wicked smirk appeared on Naraku's face.


Shippo smiled with a lollipop in his mouth as he sat upon Kagome's shoulder. Seeing how happy the fox demon was on her shoulder, Kagome smiled at him and continued to walk on the new path that her and her travel companions were on.

Kouga and the group walked for a bit before they arrived at a crossroad. It was at this crossroad that Kouga froze in his tracks.

"Huh…" Kagome said, turning to look at the wolf demon, "is something the matter?"

Kouga remained still for a moment as he took several sniffs in the air. Turning his head towards the left direction of the crossroad that they were on, of where the scent was coming from, Kouga was silent for a moment before speaking, "I smell the strong stench of human blood that is coming in that direction."

"The strong stench of human blood?" Sango repeated as she looked down that direction of the crossroad. "Down there?"

"Yeah." Kouga nodded, "And it's a lot of blood mixed in with something that makes me feel uncomfortable."

Hearing this, Miroku briefly glanced at Kouga before he stared down the other path of the crossroad with concern on his face.

"Should we go down there and see what happened?" Kagome asked, watching as her travel mates nodded their heads in agreement. "Hopefully despite the amount of blood spilled, that some people are still alive down there."

With that, Kouga and the group made their way down the left direction of the crossroad that led them towards that village. They ran towards there with hopes of being able to save some villagers but when they got there they were greeted with the same horrific scene that Naraku had left behind.

Looking around in horror, the wolf demon and the group took in the horrific slaughter site in stunned silence. The splatters of blood on the deceased and terribly mutilated bodies, on the ground, the village homes, the trees, and the plants. The stench of it along with the dead bodies was so pungent and so putrid, that nobody in the group wanted to come into the village. There was this very strange aura that surrounded the whole village, which coupled with the strong sense of uneasiness, made the whole slaughter site seem sinister. At the thought of this, nobody in the group, not even Kouga wanted to venture into the village but they knew that they had to, to see the extent of the scene and to see if there were any survivors.

The more they walked further into the village, the more they were greeted with disturbing and horrifying scenes. This continued until they saw the hole in the ground that was filled to the brim with human blood and near it laid discarded wrung-out gray human hearts that surrounded the hole.

As he took in this particular scene, Miroku's eyes spotted the bloody footprints trailing out of the hole and going straight into the forest. Upon noticing the footprints and the discarded clothes on the ground, Miroku jumped back and quickly used his robe to cover his nose before shouting, "Someone practiced witchcraft here!" This captured the rest of the group's attention who stared at what hole and the footprints with eyes of horrid realization.

"…is that?…" Kagome tried to say but was unable to finish due to the horror of the sight before her. As the strong and putrid stench of decaying blood caused her to back up and throw up before she covered her nose as soon as she was done. Sango went to immediately comfort her.

Still covering his nose, Miroku just followed the bloody footsteps that led to the forest before he stopped at the entrance of the forest. Excusing the bloody footprints on the ground, the forest looked calm and serene. However, choosing to remain at the entrance of the forest, Miroku's eyes followed the bloody prints until they stopped at an area of the forest and didn't proceed further.

Following the monk, Kouga appeared by his side and said, "I have been trying to catch the scent of the demon who did this but I can't catch anything. It is almost as if a powerful demon had done this, but I know that no powerful demon would take the time to do such a vile act. The acts that were done here are not normal. None of the humans were eaten. Only their bodies were used for some sort of dark ritual. For a creature to have done all of this, I can't think of anyone else but Naraku or Hakudoshi. But I don't think it's Hakudoshi because Hakudoshi would have left his scent here as a calling card and the scents of the other demons that aided him in this massacre. That just leaves Naraku. And since I can't smell the scents of no other demon, I believe he acted alone."

Hearing these words from the wolf demon, scent a cold chill throughout Miroku's body. He remained where he stood for a moment before he turned to face the wolf demon that stood by his side, "What do you think Naraku did this for?"

However before Kouga could answer that question, he smelt the scent of the creature that had haunted him since the day he almost killed Inuyasha at the castle where his comrades had died.

Kouga's eyes widened in surprise at the arrival of the scent before his face contorted into a vicious look, "Naraku.." Kouga snarled, shocking Miroku to the core.

"Naraku's nearby?" Miroku said in surprise before he looked at the forest and back to the bloody hole in the ground that wasn't too far from him. Suddenly a thought crossed his mind that made the atrocious scene around them make sense.

What if Naraku had done all this for them?

As far-fetched as it sounded, Miroku immediately remembered that it wouldn't have been the first time that Naraku had done a vile act just to battle against them.

"Wait… Kouga I don't think we should…"Miroku said, still keeping his nose covered with his robe. However he could finish, Kouga left his side in a rush and suddenly appeared before Kagome and the others.

"It's Naraku, he's nearby!" Kouga told the others before quickly getting into a position that could carry the time-traveling priestess. Kagome and Shippo immediately got onto his back. Once they were safety secured, Kouga stood back up and said, "Let's go!"

With that, Kouga ran out of the village.

Getting on Kirara, Sango looked towards Miroku and said, "Come on Miroku. Let's hurry up before we lose them." Not understanding the hesitant look that Miroku gave her before he sighed and headed towards her, "Is something wrong Miroku ?"

"I don't think that Naraku's visit is accidental or by chance," Miroku said, which confused the demon slayer as the firecat the demon began to follow the wolf demon. "I think we should not pursue Naraku this time."

This took Sango by surprise, "What? How come? If you ask me, the only one who is capable of doing such a violent massacre that we saw in that village can only be Naraku. Who else would have a reason to do that?"

"Which is all the more reason why we shouldn't pursue Naraku this time." Miroku said with a solemn look on his face as he finally removed his robe from his face and nose. As he thought back on the village that they had just left, "The heinous acts done in that village were done in order to complete some sort of sinister ritual. A ritual whose outcome I don't want to be rushing towards to see it."

This confused Sango for a moment before she spoke and said, "Do you mean that you think that Naraku had killed all those villages in such a deplorable way because he used their bodies and their blood for a dark ritual against us? But why?"

"That's why I can't figure out because that kind of level of witchcraft is extremely strong and he has no reason to do such a ritual towards us," Miroku said as he thought upon his knowledge of evil rituals and witchcraft. "In the past, Naraku had many opportunities to kill us but he never did. Why now?"

The group continued until they arrived back at the crossroads, this time they ran right.

The moment they did that, Miroku immediately felt a cold shiver run through his body. Not liking how the situation felt, Miroku yelled out, "STOP! DON'T PROCEED ANY FURTHER!" Seeing the wolf demon continue to proceed despite his warnings, "KOUGA DON'T YOU HEAR ME!"

At this, Kouga immediately stopped.

Watching as the wolf demon stopped, Sango silently made her firecat demon do the same as well.

Once the Firecat had stopped and was close to the ground, Miroku got off and said, "Guys let's go back and not proceed any further. Let's forget Naraku this time. I have a strong feeling that we should not pursue him this time." However, as he said that nobody turned to look at him. And they were all silent—eerily silent.

"Guys?" Miroku called out, stepping one foot forward before he felt a strong force within him prevent himself from proceeding any further.

"Why?" Kouga asked in the same voice with his back still to Miroku. Kagome and Shippo were the same. "Why should we do that after everything that Naraku has done to us?" His voice was in a quieter volume than usual. "You saw what he did at the village right?" At these words as the wolf demon spoke, for some reason the surrounding forest that surrounded the path they were on became an unearthly dark crimson color.

Noticing this, Miroku felt a strong menacing aura suddenly surround him. This aura was full of deep enmity and the amount of it was so much that it felt suffocating. Immediately Miroku covered his face again with his robe. It was only once he did that, he felt the overwhelming feeling of something extremely heavy pressing down on him. Even though Miroku knew nothing was there, he used his mouth to hold on to his robe as he used his hands to push up full strength at the invisible force that was above him. The invisible force was so heavy that it took a bit before Miroku finally was able to overcome it and push it away from him.

The invisible force landed with a heavy THUD before him. It was so loud that Miroku instantly looked in the direction that the sound was made. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw that there was nothing but the dust of the ground trying to settle after whatever had disturbed it.

Shaken by this, Miroku instantly turned back to his group to see if they also saw what he had just experienced. However, as he did, he was met with the harsh and menacing glares of Kouga, Kagome, and Shippo who had all turned to look at him instead of where the dust was still settling.

Taken back by this, a look of confusion appeared on Miroku's face before he turned to look at the demon slayer beside him. However, as he did, Sango was giving him an intense stare that was completely unlike her. Hearing a snarling, Miroku turned his attention to the Firecat demon and saw the menacing look she was giving him. It was almost as if she was about to attack him.

Suddenly, it dawned onto him what was going on. Without wasting another moment, Miroku backed away from his group until his back hit one of the trees in the unearthly crimson-colored forest that was behind him. Removing his robe from his mouth, Miroku shouted. "WHO ARE YOU? WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS WITH MY COMRADES AND I?"

"Monk..." Kouga spoke in a voice that wasn't his own, "You saw with your eyes what happened to us in the village and you still want to stop us?"

"So, you're the slain villagers from the village that we just left, am I right?" Miroku called out, as he without turning back to look behind him, slowly moved past the tree behind him to continue backing up, "Why have you possessed my friends?"

As if they didn't care to hear his question, the villager that possessed Kouga only repeated, "You saw with your eyes what happened to us in the village and you still want to stop us?" However, this time when the villager spoke these words his voice was more distorted and carried enmity in his words. "You even saw our mutilated bodies and didn't even offer a word of prayer for us. How could you?" The villager said in Kouga's body as he and the others started walking towards Miroku. His voice only getting more distorted. "How could you?"

"I'm sorry, I wanted to but I didn't have the time to do that," Miroku said as he continued to back up but now quicker than he had been doing previously. "The amount of dark energy that surrounds your village needs more than just I to purify it from the evil and sinister ritual that was done there. If I am to do it, it would take alot of prayer and fasting to gain such an enormous spiritual power to begin to cleanse. And even if i am to do that, I would only be able to purify a small portion of it due to the kind of darkness that resides in that village." However, as Miroku spoke these words, he knew that arguing with the dead was pointless for they wouldn't care what he had to say. And yet as soon as Miroku spoke these words, his possessed comrades stopped and their menacing faces turned into intense looks of despair.

"So…you can't even save us? So are our souls doomed to wander about with no rest? Are we doomed go become evil spirits before being sent to hell?…No…No….No…NO!" Before the faces of everyone that possessed all turn into menacing glares, "YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO SAVE US. YOU DON'T WANT TO SAVE US! THEREFORE YOU MUST JOIN US…YES, YOU MUST JOIN US MONK SINCE YOU REFUSE TO SAVE US IN THE VILLAGE AND YOU TRIED TO STOP US FROM GOING TO FACE THE ONE WHO KILLED US…."

And with that as soon as the possessed group rushed towards him, Miroku turned around and ran into the trees of the forest. For he knew that once the spirits of the dead had set their eyes on accomplishing something related to their deaths, no amount of words would ever appease them. Only the vindication of their deaths will satisfy them.

Knowing about the insane speed of the wolf demon, Miroku ran faster than he has ever run before, however, that seemed to be in vain as a snarling Kouga soon appeared by his side ready to grab him. However, this cause Kagome and Shippo on his back to fall which caught the demon's attention briefly but turned back to face the monk as if the others falling off his back didn't matter to him. However, that little moment in time that Kouga took to look back at the fallen Kagome and Shippo was all Miroku needed to make a quick turn left deeper into the forest. 'I need a good moment to set up a barrier to protect myself or else I'm done for!' However, as soon as Miroku thought this Kouga appeared before him ready to deliver a blow to his face. Miroku gasped at Kouga's sudden arrival and didn't have the stamina to conjure up a barrier however as Miroku braced himself for the impact of Kouga's fist, he felt as if he ran into something that immediately covered him like a barrier.

Noticing this feeling, Miroku looked around and saw that he was surrounded by a huge yet familiar magenta barrier. Then the voice of the demon that he thought he would never hear in this type of situation spoke, "Hmm, interesting."

At this, Miroku instantly snapped his head toward the direction of that voice within the barrier and saw Naraku and Hakudoshi standing besides him. Besides the spider demon, Miroku noticed, was Hakudoshi giving Naraku an incredulous look while Naraku appeared unfazed and kept his eyes looking past Miroku.

Knowing what the spider demon was staring at, Miroku turned around and saw his friends pounding viciously at the barrier as they all chanted, "IT IS YOU THAT KILLED US….IT IS YOU THAT KILLED US….IT IS YOU THAT KILLED US!"

"Enough." Naraku said in a strange tone before he stretched out his hand in the direction of the group outside the barrier that was possessed, "Begone."

Immediately, Kouga, Kagome, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara collapsed to the ground as dark clouds lifted from their bodies. The instant Naraku saw these clouds, he quickly extended the barrier to include the unconscious group.

A confused look came over Miroku's face as he turned around to stare at Naraku's unfazed face. However, Naraku didn't return his questioning look but instead gazed at the unconscious bodies with a look of indifference.

Suddenly the others woke up.

"Ugh…My head and my whole body are pounding with aches…What the hell happened?" Kouga said, sitting up before he began to rub his temples. Opening his eyes, Kouga instantly froze before he was greeted with the sight of Naraku staring at him blankly. "WHAT THE HELL? NARAKU?!" Instantly snapping the dazed others fully awake with his exclamation they all turned to see what he was looking at.

Kouga immediately got on his feet to prepare for battle but immediately fell to his knees as his head was still achy from earlier. Noticing that Naraku was not attacking them, Kouga glanced up at the spider demon with anger in his eyes before looking over to the monk that was knelt down beside him attending to the others. "Miroku, what the hell is going on?"

"You all were possessed by the dead villagers of the village that we just left. The only reason why I wasn't affected was probably because I had my nose and mouth covered while we were there while you all didn't. Then as we turned into this place following Naraku's scent, the dead villagers took over your bodies and tried to kill me for not purifying their village and praying for their souls. The only reason why I'm still alive is because… Naraku saved me and then he saved you guys from the dead villagers outside the barrier..." Miroku said before he and his group turned to look outside the magenta barrier and saw the dead villagers staring at them intensely from outside the barrier.

The group was stunned for words before Kouga growled as he turned towards Naraku and Hakudoshi who were staring at him, "What do you want from us Naraku? Do you take us as fools? Aren't you the one who massacred those villagers for whatever reason and used their bodies for some kind of ritual? It's you they want not us!"

Hearing this, Hakudoshi turned his attention back to Naraku as if he was a bit impressed before staring back at Kouga and the others with a smug look on his face.

"Oh? And aren't you the fools that they possessed in order to get to me?" Naraku said, as he smiled smugly at the group before him, "Here I was wondering why you lot were taking such a long time to come over to where I was that had to come looking for you. You should be glad that I did, otherwise, you would have peris…."Naraku stopped himself before he took a moment to chuckle, "Well…you're not exactly safe in my hands either, especially with what I have planned for you."

Getting up quickly and positioning himself before his friends, Miroku said, "I knew that it was a trap! I knew that you had done that dark and evil ritual to battle against us!"

A sick and wide smile quickly appeared on Naraku's face causing Kouga, Kagome, Shippo, and Kirara to get back upon their feet next to Miroku. "Oh, so you realized that I did the ritual for you all, did you? Do you know what kind of ritual it was?" Getting silence as his answer, Naraku simply chuckled.

Unfazed by this, Kouga just simply said, "So the only reason why you 'saved' us was because you wanted us to die by your hands and your hands alone. Not by the hands of the spirits or anyone else." Anger quickly filled his body as he watched Naraku give him a smirk as if in confirmation at his words.

"Look at you using your head to think," Naraku said in mockery.

Kagome shook her head, before she quickly took out her sacred arrow and aimed it at Naraku. "If that's true you sicko, then why did you spare my friends and me that night when you entered my dream to take the sacred jewel shard?" At this, Hakudoshi appeared confused for just a moment before he turned to stare at Naraku incredulously. "You could have had it all. You could have been freed of us forever and would have owned our shard had you just released the hold of the arrow in my fingers. Why didn't you? Why did you spare us?" Suddenly Hakudoshi's look of confusion turned into a look of anger.

"Naraku, the priestess has spoken. Why did you spare them?" Hakudoshi asked as he gave the spider demon a harsh glare which took the others by surprise.

Not even Hakudoshi was aware of this?

Unfazed by his incarnation's glare and the question that the time-traveling priestess had asked, Naraku simply answered, "Why, I didn't see a point to when I had already retrieved what I wanted from you all. Besides, I wasn't in the mood for senseless bloodshed then, so I spared you then."

"Well, considering that you did some senseless bloodshed at the village, are you in the mood now?" Sango sneered as she brought her weapon out, "I can't believe that you would ever say such a ridiculous thing when you are the very reason that all of us are

even together as a group. The vile actions that you committed to each of us individually are the very reason why we have come together against you today."

"Well, that ends today doesn't it?" Naraku said with a smug look on his face.

At this, Kouga growled and instantly appeared before Naraku about to strike him but he was pushed back by the second barrier that appeared around Naraku and Hakudoshi. As Kouga quickly readjusted himself, the barrier that contained Naraku and Hakudoshi moved up within the barrier that Kouga and the others.

"Oh, no what are we gonna do?" Sango asked as the realization of the possibility of their death seem to now hit her.

Here they were trapped in Naraku's barrier with Naraku and Hakudoshi, and outside the barrier were the restless spirits of the slain villagers.

"Miroku you were right!" Sango realized as she turned toward the monk who had a disturbed look on his face, "We fell right into Naraku's trap. He used the spirits of those dead villagers to lead us to him so he could use them to trap us like this to ensure that we would have a horrible death!"

Hearing these words, a wicked smile appeared on Hakudoshi's face as he glanced over at Naraku with a rare look of respect on his face before he stared back down at Kouga and the others.

Staring up at the spider demon with nothing but fearless determination in his eyes, Kouga stood his ground and got into battle position. As he arched his hands, the Gorashi appeared before it turned black and emitted a strange otherworldly color.

Immediately recognizing the move that the wolf demon was about to make, Hakudoshi said in a whispered voice, "Naraku, this is it."

"Is that so?" Naraku said as he observed that black Goarashi in the wolf demon's hand for just a moment before he brought out a sword that was emitting an unearthly black-and-crimson color. Naraku held up this sword right before his body and released it. Instead of falling, the sword remained floating right before Naraku. As if nothing but its dark unearthly black-and-crmison was holding it up. At the sight of this sword, the dead spirits outside the barrier let out haunting screams and began to violently pound on the barrier.

"YOU KILLED US! YOU KILLED US!" The villagers screamed as the distortion in their voices increased each time they cried out that phrase. "YOU KILLED US! YOU KILLED US! YOU MUST PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES! YOU MUST PAY!"

The way that the villagers screamed was so hauntingly heartwrenching that almost everyone inside the barrier turned around and looked at them, almost everyone but Kouga, Naraku, and Hakudoshi who remained locked in towards each other.

Suddenly, Naraku began to chant.

In that very moment that Naraku began to chant, the sword's aura grew stronger and stronger. Soon the barrier began to be filled with intense feelings of hatred, bitterness, and deep sorrow.

Then the screams of the villagers grew loud and distorted as their poundings grew more frantic. Suddenly, scenes of how Naraku slain the villagers flashed quickly before everyone's eyes. It was such a gruesome and horrendous sight that showed an even more sinister side to Naraku that the group didn't even realize that they didn't know existed in him. It was as if they peeled off another layer to his personality and it left them lost for words. It was beyond wicked, beyond vile, it was absolutely heinous.

Suddenly the words of Naraku's chant became crystal clear to Miroku. Almost as if he was alone was given the ability to hear the translation of what the spider demon was saying. And for him to hear the words of that chant so clearly meant that Naraku was invoking something that even bothered the spirit of Jizo Bosatsu.

Into the hellfire that he has prepared for me, is the very place he, himself, shall fall. For he has the blood of the slain upon him. The blood that condemns him into the firey pits and keeps him chained there forevermore.

'The fiery pits of hell? Who is Naraku talking about?' Miroku repeated as he followed Naraku's sinister stare upon the Kouga. Turning towards Kouga whose face was contorted in a harsh look of anger at the spider demon, Miroku looked at the wolf demon horrified as it suddenly dawned on him what Naraku was trying to do. Miroku immediately dashed towards Kouga and yelled, "KOUGA DONT GO! DONT ATTACK HIM! THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO DO. KOUGA!"

However, it seemed that Miroku's words fell on deaf ears as Kouga ran forward and leaped up towards Naraku. Naraku smirked darkly as Kouga extended his claw forward and opened his mouth to say the very words Naraku had been expecting him to say, "BONES OF MY—!"

"I THINK NOT!" Naraku shouted as he gestured an explosion with his hand "GO TO HELL!"

Immediately, the sword before Naraku shattered into many pieces. These pieces shattered everywhere. As the pieces of the sword flew towards Kouga, Kouga braced himself as the shards of the sword embedded itself into his arm. Then, without warning, the black-and crimson aura from the shattered sword quickly engulfed Kouga's body and his Gorashi. Soon the blackness of the Gorashi was replaced by the unearthly black-and crimson color. Then Kouga's Gorashi shined once before the ground opened up and a giant black-and -crimson colored clawed hand appeared from it and rushed towards Kouga.

Seeing the hand quickly approaching him, Kouga tried to move his body to dodge it but found that he couldn't. He couldn't only remain frozen stiff in the air as the clawed hand immediately grabbed him and brought him down until he crashed into the ground hard. Kouga's eyes widened in horror as he let out a loud gasp as soon as he hit the ground.

As soon as Kouga hit the ground a large crater appeared around him and the voices of the dead villagers ceased. Soon dust from the impact of the ground floated in the air around Kouga as it was trying to settle. However, as soon as the dust settled, Kouga didn't try to get up as he normally would have after such a great fall. He just remained lying there with his eyes and mouth wide open forever in a frozen state of horror.

Without hesitation, Kagome and Sango ran to the fallen wolf demon. Upon reaching him, they found him unresponsive.

Falling on her knees right beside Kouga, Sango extended her hand forward to touch his neck. Not getting a pulse back, Sango's eyes widened in shock as she kept her hand there, hoping that she didn't feel wrong.

Seeing herself in Kouga's lifeless cerulean blue eyes, a tear dropped from Sango's face before she started to cry. Sango leaned forward and cried loudly on his chest.

At the sound of the demon slayer's tears, Kagome also fell to her knees and quickly reached her hand forward to the fallen wolf demon's neck. Not getting a pulse back, Kagome just shook her head in disbelief before she leaned forward and cradled Kouga's head.

As Kouga's lifeless cerulean blue eyes stared back at her, memories of Kouga flashed before her eyes. How he argued with Inuyasha, how he proclaimed his love for her, how he basically took Inuyasha's role in the group and went on traveling with them, how he constantly would put his life on the line to protect them in battles.

As these memories flashed by in Kagome's mind, she began to cry. With tears running down her face, Kagome used her hand to close his eyes before she bent over and cried over his head.

At the sight of the fallen wolf demon, Shippo stood still as memories of Kouga comforting him, standing up for him and protecting him filled his eyes. Tears fell form Shippo's face as he walked towards the wolf demon's body. Once there, he crawled onto his body and cried silently.

Seeing the scene, the firecat walked until she was beside the demon slayer. And rested her head on the fallen wolf demon's body.

Horrified at the scene before him, Miroku fell to his knees, staring at the fallen body of the wolf demon.

'GO TO HELL!'

Replaying Naraku's words in his head, Miroku turned to glare at the spider demon who, along with Hakudoshi stared down at them with smug looks on their faces.

"Is there something the matter, monk? Why are you staring at us as if we killed your precious friend?" Hakudoshi asked, cocking his head in feint innocence before he sneered, "Oh wait, we did." Causing Naraku to chuckle darkly beside him. Hearing that sound from the spider demon caused Hakudoshi to glance over at Naraku for a moment, before his smug look widened as if he was pleased.

Feeling his anger boil up in his chest, Miroku got up onto his feet and gripped his staff tightly, "Naraku, you think I don't know what you did? You think I don't know that you used the blood and the bitter feelings of those dead villagers to send Kouga to hell!" This caused Kagome and Sango to stop in their mourning and look up at the spider demon in shock.

"Don't try to deny it. I heard the words of your vile chant loud and clear. And for me to have even heard that, means that your actions deeply bothered the spirit of Jizo Bosatsu!" Miroku shouted with nothing but pure vitriol in his voice, "It was you who killed those villagers, and you used their blood to seal Kouga to the deepest part of hell that you would have gone to for those slayings. That was the dark ritual that you performed in that village. That same ritual where you went in and stood in a pool of their blood to do. Such a heinous and vicious thing to do that caused the dead spirits of their villagers to chase me through the forest to demand justice for what you did to their bodies. Have you no ounce of remorse or shame at what you did!"

As if the words of the monk didn't bother him, Naraku said, "I guess that you didn't know but the idea to send people to hell came from Kouga himself." Causing the eyes of the group below him to widen in shock, "I don't know where he got that idea from but I figure that it must have had something to do with his ancestors and the power of the Gorashi. So you see, I only acted in self-defense since it was clear that he only obtained that power to use it on me. That's the only reason why his attacks were able to go through Hakudoshi's barrier the last time they battled."

Suddenly the memory of Hakudoshi jumping in front of Moryomaru that day flashed through the group's mind.

'Is that how Kouga was able to do that?' They all thought.

As if he could hear their thoughts, Naraku said, "When Hakudoshi informed me of Kouga's new ability, I went around and gathered information on it which took me a long time to do since that kind of power is a dark and forbidden ability. Fortunately for me, I was able to find information about it. To be able to successfully use that ability, you need to sacrifice a portion of your own life with each soul that you manage to send into the hell of your choice. It's a dangerous yet powerful ability that made the wolf demon tribe so formidable back in those early days. By my guess, Kouga decided to take on that ability in order to protect you all." Knowing full well that his words were hurting the group below him.

"For reasons that I believe are cowardly, perhaps the reason why his ancestors stopped relying on that power was because they began to value their lives and sought other means to defend themselves. It's a shame that Kouga couldn't do the same. Anyway, with the method I used, I don't lose any portion of my life and the weight of the sin that I committed to be able to access that power will go on Kouga's head." As if the thought alone pleased him, Naraku bursted out in a loud maniacal laughter much to the anguish of the group below him.

Finding humor in the fucked up situation as much as Naraku did, Hakudoshi joined in on Naraku's laughter as well.

Appalled by the two demons above them, the group remained where they were, completely stunned and were at a loss for words.

Regaining himself, Naraku stretched out his hand towards Kagome and said, "Now I believe that you have something that belongs to me." Watching how Kagome gasped and immediately went to hold on to the bottle around her neck. Naraku chucked, "Oh? You still have it in the same place as before? That makes it easier for me to take them."

Naraku slid a hand into his robe and took out the hive that contained his poisonous insects.

The group below him gasped in horror as they watched the Saimyōshō come out of their hive and rush towards them.

Seeing this, Miroku quickly got up and stood in front of Sango and Kagome.

Seeing this, Sango shook her head and cried out, "Miroku, don't! Please, we already lost Kouga, we can't lose you as well!"

Despite hearing this, Miroku braced himself for death and was about to release his wind tunnel when the image of the spirit of Jizo Bosatsu flashed before his eyes. Immediately, Miroku ceased in his actions which intrigued Naraku and Hakudoshi, but they said nothing as the Saimyōshō quickly came at the humans and attacked them.

Seeing the Saimyōshō rush towards them, Kagome let out a blood-curdling scream as she screamed, "INUYASHA HELP US!"


Far away at Naraku's castle which was surrounded by his barrier, was Inuyasha who was seated. Suddenly Inuyasha looked out towards the open window in his room. Besides him, Sekichou laid undisturbed as he remained sleeping on his bed on the floor. Without a thought of hesitation, Inuyasha stood up, walked towards the opened window and continued looking out of it. As he stood there, a strong rush of wind flew past him and into the room before coming back out carrying his scent.

As the strong winds flew away from Inuyasha, it flew towards the barrier. Instead of dispersing as a result of the barrier, the winds went through the barrier as the barrier strangely opened as if allowing the winds to go through.

Leaving the barrier, the winds carrying Inuyasha's scent flew and flew for quite a while, never once dispersing as if something was preventing it from doing so. The winds flew and flew until it blew strongly against Lord Sesshomaru. Who upon receiving the winds, immediately stopped and looked in the direction of where he smelt the scent of Inuyasha.

Seeing his lord suddenly stop, Jaken looked up at Sesshomaru and asked, "Milord?"

Sesshomaru kept his eyes in that direction and remained still. He closed his eyes as the wind continued to blow onto him, filling his nostrils with Inuyasha's warm and captivating scent. As if he was now certain, Sesshomaru opened his eyes as his mokomoko began to expand as if it was alive.

Startled by this, Jaken asked, "Milord, are we going somewhere?" While Rin giggled at the rising Mokomoko.

"Jaken, take care of Rin." Sesshomaru said as the red began to bleed into the white into his eyes, as his hair began to rise. The winds around Sesshomaru moved quickly and harshly which startled Jaken.

Then before Jaken could open his eyes, Sesshomaru left in a white beam of light.

Seeing the light beam of light vanish in the now far away distance, Jaken cried out, "Wait, where are you going Lord Sesshomaru!"


In that moment that Kagome screamed, calling out for the InuHanyou, Naraku's eyes widened as if he had been struck by lightning.

With eyes of realization, Naraku stared down at the group as his poisonous insects now reached them and were about to sting them. With a wave of his hand, Naraku stared down hard at the Saimyōshō as they descended upon the group. Kagome and the others screamed and tried to brace themselves for the stings but…. they never came.

However what came in place was the removal of the necklace bottle that was around Kagome's neck. Feeling the strings of the necklace be lifted from her neck, Kagome gasped as she watched as the Saimyōshō fly off with the bottle that contained the jewel shards. Before she could attempt to reach up and grab them back from the poisonous insects, she noticed that the Saimyōshō had also grabbed a second set of jewel shards near her.

Immediately realizing where those jewel shards came from, Kagome snapped her head towards the direction of from the fallen wolf's legs and saw that the jewel shards in them were gone.

The Saimyōshō flew back to Naraku and delivered the jewel shards and the bottle in his hands much to the group's horror.

Closing his hand, Naraku stared down at the terrified and tear-stricken group with cold eyes.

There, his enemies were on the ground, helpless and pathetic.

A vile and truly evil thought crossed Naraku's mind as he continued to stare at them with eyes that were devoid of warmth and mercy. The contents of that thought reflected upon these eyes and was easily read by the human group below him, who in return looked up aghast at him.

Suddenly, an image flashed before Naraku's eyes and completely dominated his mind causing him to pause and consider what he was doing.

'Ah…' Naraku thought, the image was of Inuyasha glaring at him with those beautiful golden-amber eyes that carried nothing but hurt and anger in them as he held their sleeping child in his arms. 'There it is once again…There is Inuyasha stopping me once again.'

At this thought, the coldness in Naraku's crimson's eyes decreased which was immediately visible to Miroku as he watched the spider demon remained still in the air next to Hakudoshi who was looking down at the human group with a wicked grin on face.

Waiting for Naraku to deliver the finishing blow to the group below, Hakudoshi's grin faltered a bit at the lack of action from the spider demon. So he tore his eyes from the human group and glanced at the spider demon that was beside him. Looking at Naraku, Hakudoshi's eyes widened in surprise as he caught a look that he never thought he would see on Naraku. That was the look of hesitation.

Naraku was still for another moment before he finally said, "Let's go. We are done here."

His words immediately shocked Hakudoshi and Inuyasha's former companions.

"What?!" Hakudoshi said, appalled at the spider demon's change of behavior. "Naraku, what are you talking about? This is our chance. Let's finish them off!"

Without turning his face to face Hakudoshi, Naraku only glanced at him before saying, "These humans are barely worth anything. They no longer possess the jewel shards and they no longer have anyone amongst themselves that can put up a serious fight against us." Naraku said, moving away from the group. "And I have better things to do then to finish them."

Angered by this, instead of Hakudoshi to listen to his master's words, he turned back to face the group and summoned his spear staff weapon. Watching as the group below him looked up at him with horror and fear in their eyes, Hakudoshi smirked a wide and twisted smirk, "If you won't finish them, then I will."

Silently observing his incarnation with a seemly look of indifference on his face, the hand closest to Naraku's side slightly twitched–as if to signal Naraku's deep displeasure at Hakudoshi defiance of his order. However, before Naraku could say or do anything, a flash of light appeared in the far distance behind him. The presence of this light was something that Naraku had immediately recognized as this flash of light suddenly revealed itself to be a large ball of white light quickly approaching him. Just before the ball could reach him, Naraku moved out of the way and moved faster than Hakudoshi, who immediately was forced towards the direction of the groud by a powerful wave of strength–a wave that Naraku had just narrowly avoided.

The wave of strength was so strong that it sent Hakudoshi flying through the resistance of the ground that was pushing back against the strength of the wave upon Hakudoshi. This caused a ripped effect upon the ground, which showed the impact of that the wave of strength had on Hakudoshi's body as he flew through the ground, destroying it in the process.

Briefly seeing the damage of Hakudoshi's fall, Naraku immediately turned his attention back to the approaching ball of light that revealed itself to be Sesshomaru rushing towards him with a sword in hand.

Seeing this, Naraku immediately put up his barrier just in time for Sesshomaru's sword to clash with it.

As his Tōkijin struck Naraku's barrier and was pushed back by it, Sesshomaru growled and oriented himself back into a battle-ready position.

Seeing how Sesshomaru's eyes began to bleed red, Naraku simply glanced down at his incarnation who managed to pick himself up from the ground–however, he looked like a beaten fool who had engaged in battling a foe that was much stronger than him. "Now that Lord Sesshomaru has arrived Hakusdoshi, it seems that our time to leave has come."

Without another word and before Sesshomaru could rush towards him, Naraku rubbed his fingers together, glanced at Hakudoshi the next second and before anyone else could stop it, both Naraku and Hakudoshi had vanished into thin air.

Sesshomaru immediately rushed to the area where Naraku had last been and slashed his sword through there. However, his sword was met with air which frustrated the Inu-DaiYoukai.

Baring his teeth as he snarled in frustration, Sesshomaru looked around for the spider demon and the child incarnation. As he looked around, instead of finding Naraku and Hakudoshi, Sesshomaru spotted his little brother's former companions and the wolf demon on the ground looking desolated.

Descending down to the ground, Sesshomaru's cold and calm expression settled back upon his face. Once landing, Sesshomaru sheathed his Tōkijin sword and asked, "Where is Inuyasha?" As if he didn't care about the state of the humans and the wolf demon before him.

"Inuyasha?" Miroku repeated with a confused look on his face, "Inuyasha was never here. It was just Naraku, Hakudoshi and us."

At this, Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed in suspicion and he turned his eyes from the group before him. "Is that so." He said as statement instead of as a question. Thinking back on the intensity of his little brother's scent, Sesshomaru scanned the surrounding area as if he didn't believe the words of the monk. Once Sesshomaru couldn't find what he was looking for, he turned towards the direction he came from and began to walk away from the group.

"Wait, Sesshomaru!" Kagome cried out, "We need help. We just lost Kouga and Naraku has taken our shards of the sacred jewel. Please help us get them back and save Kouga."

As if he didn't hear Kagome's words, Sesshomaru kept on walking away, much to the surprise of the humans. Quickly getting up, Miroku attempted to followed after the Inu-DaiYoukai.

"Sesshomaru, wait. Please, we need your help!" Miroku called out as he began to walk towards the Inu-DaiYoukai, "You are the only one who could help us save Kouga with your Tensei-"

"Monk, what does that have to do with me?" Sesshomaru hissed, his tone harsh and cold as he turned around and gave the humans a sharp glare that lacked empathy and compassion, "All I have heard is that you are now unable to carry yourselves against Naraku. Your fight has ended. Go and bury that wolf demon and take yourselves home. You are not my burden to carry."

The cold words of the Inu-DaiYoukai shocked the group to the core as they all stared at Sesshomaru stunned at what he said.

Suddenly Shippo fell to his knees, burst out and cried. His cry was so loud and heart-wrenching that as Kagome and Sango tried to reach over to comfort him, the reality of their situation hit them hard, causing them to cry as well.

Seeing how the fox demon and the two women in the group started to cry, Sesshomaru turned back towards the direction he came from and continued to walk away.

"N-No wait…"Miroku said as memories of Kouga began to flash through his mind. From back then when Kouga offered to protect them against Naraku until they found Inuyasha back when Naraku had first taken Inuyasha; to how Kouga would remain true to word no matter what. "K-Kouga…" Tears started to gather up in his eyes as he began to reflect upon these memories, 'Is that it? Is Kouga really gone forever?'

And not just gone… Gone forever in the worst Hell for a long time before he is able to be reincarnated again.

But whenever that happened, Miroku was sure that he would never see Kouga again for it would be many life cycles if they were to ever meet again.

"This can't be it. This can't be the end and we haven't even saved Inuyasha yet." Miroku shook his head at this and wanted to chase after Sesshomaru but the Inu-DaiYoukai was now quite a distance from them. So Miroku stayed where he was and fell to the ground on his knees.

Then he imagined Kouga in hell running from the demons of hell that chased after him.

Miroku shook his head, completely lost on what to do and brought hands to his face as he wept for not himself, but for Kouga.

Ignoring the cries of the humans behind him, Sesshomaru continued to walk away unbothered. However as he walked, he suddenly heard someone call out his name. Someone whose voice had caused him to instantly freeze at the sound.

"Sesshomaru…." Came the whisper voice which immediately caused Sesshomaru to look in the direction of the voice. However, where the voice was coming from was from behind him, from the direction of the group that he just left.

Seeing the group at a distance who continued to weep, fury grew inside Sesshomaru as he heard the whispered voice again.

"Show yourself!" Sesshomaru hissed as he bared his teeth. For someone was trying to manipulate him with…

Suddenly, Sesshomaru felt the invisible touch of a hand caressing his face as if the hand was trying to calm him down.

"Sesshomaru…." Came the whispered voice and this time the scent came accompanying the scent of Inuyasha. "Sess…"

For some reason, this calmed Sesshomaru down in ways that he didn't understand. It was as if someone had entered his heart to learn of its secrets and were using them against him in ways that Sesshomaru never realized someone could do so.

"Who are you?" Sesshomaru said, his tone still harsh but was now calmer than before.

The voice said nothing but continued to use an invisible hand to caress his face. Sesshomaru seized the invisible hand and ripped it from his face. And the instant he did that, his little brother's scent vanished.

Left alone, Sesshomaru stood still for a moment as he regained his composure. He then turned back around and walked back towards the human group who were still weeping on the ground.

Kagome, Sango, Kirara, and Shippo wept over the body of the fallen wolf demon, while Miroku was on the ground weeping in his hands.

As Sesshomaru stood and waited for his Tenseiga to grant him the power to save the wolf demon, but it didn't come as Sesshomaru had expected to come. For the first time since he had been using the sword, the Tenseiga pulsed in a way that indicated that the wolf demon could still be saved, but something powerful was interfering.

This intrigued Sesshomaru.

Finally noticing the presence of the Inu-DaiYoukai, Shippo lifted up his face from Kouga's body and looked at Sesshomaru. "Sesshomaru, you're back!" He cried out, causing the others in the group to notice him as well.

"Sesshomaru, does this mean that you have changed your mind?" Kagome asked as she began to wipe the tears from her face. "Can you use the power of the Tenseiga to save Kouga?"

However, Sesshomaru ignored her as he just observed the body of the fallen wolf demon. "How did this wolf demon die?"

"Naraku had cast a powerful yet incredibly dark spell that caused a hand from the pits of hell to drag Kouga's soul into hell," Miroku said. "It's a spell that I have never seen before."

Upon hearing this information, as Sesshomaru stared at the body of the fallen wolf demon, Tenseiga had allowed him to see Kouga in a very dark place, trying to climb up the thread of life. Each time he did, a huge, sinister, dark hand would force him back into the darkness that had surrounded the place.

"Well, can you save Kouga with the Tenseiga?" Kagome asked.

"Your friend is in hell. The Tenseiga pulses as if he can be saved, but there is an incredible force that is preventing that." Sesshomaru said, pausing as if he was running through different possible solutions in his mind.

"So there's no way to save him?" Miroku asked.

As if a sufficient idea came to mind, Sesshomaru stared at Kouga's body for another moment before he walked away. "Come."

Without hesitation, Miroku and the others followed after Sesshomaru.


Hi guys, this chapter took a while to write and I'm glad that it has been written. I'm working on the next chapter, so hopefully that comes out soon.

Tsuki: Thanks for reviewing. As much as I want to tell you what happens next, it wouldn't be fun. So we will see what happens :-)

As always everyone thanks for your reviews and comments. Until next time!