Haven't we already covered this topic? I could have sworn Naraku being a hanyou has already been established in this story now. But I guess I can't fault RT for repeating herself. I'm always jiggling my front door's handle to make sure it's locked multiple times, I'll peer at the stove twice or more just to make sure all the knobs are off, and I'll drag my cold ass out of bed at night JUST to double-check that I turned down the thermostat so I don't end up accidentally paying a fortune on my electric bill. If RT has to say it again just to make sure we got the memo, I'm hardly one to judge.
Musou further identifies the furred villian in front of him by Naraku's unique characteristic of keeping him (and plenty of others) locked up for an excruciating amount of time. Naraku mockingly asks if Musou enjoyed romping around outside after his 50-year induced coma.
No really, I'm not even kidding - Musou shoots one of his extending barbed arms right into Naraku's chest. It's a move that Naraku seems ambivalent about, though. In fact, he's downright nonchalant as Musou chuckles, chastising Naraku for appearing in front of him so casually and thinking it would end without a bit of bloodshed.
Baby had fun playing with daddy's tools, but it looks like it's time to give the tools back. Naive little Musou is just shocked by this, in disbelief by the fact that his arm is being pulled in. Naraku placidly bids that Musou return to his body again, which to be fair, is fucking TERRIFYING. Musou yells at Naraku not to fuck with him, but Naraku scoffs. He says he really wants to be rid of Musou's vulgar little soul as soon as possible, but it's currently just to early to banish his sorry ass.
What IS it with this comic and BAD HUGS???
And this one is all the worse, because Musou realizes in a panic that it's paralyzed him; he curses that his body won't do what he wants. As the many mantis limbs grasps at even Musou's feet, lifting him to be devoured, Kagura watches from beside a nearby tree. She's frowning, but appears to be rather emotionless herself as she contemplates what this means - it's precisely what will happen to her if she goes against Naraku.
Or so she assumes.
Inuyasha and Miroku burst onto the scene to confront Naraku, and it isn't a moment before Inuyasha fully grasps the grotesque sight, grimacing and sweating in horror.
Missed the entree, did he?
Naraku's hand helps the last of Musou, a few locks of hair, sink into his chest by pressing on them with his palm. Miroku and Inuyasha stare in morbid alarm, the former at least able to form the cogent thought that Naraku has just absorbed Musou. Inuyasha tries to regain his composure with an accusatory statement that Naraku would have known Musou had Onigumo's mind, and says Onigumo's human mind isn't something he would need - which is clearly why he expelled it like an offspring. But Inuyasha has gathered that it looks a lot like Onigumo took something valuable with him on his way out, because Naraku's just brought him back in as if it was unavoidable just when he got rid of the bastard. Naraku gives him a sarcastic exclamation of surprise, snarking about how Inuyasha actually uses his head for THINKING sometimes. Mean as this comment is, I think he kind of has a point. Inuyasha was JUST hitting Musou with a barrage of Kaze no Kizus like as if it was the only action he could come up with, and now he's making somewhat insightful extrapolations about Naraku's motivations based on his behavior? That's a pretty sharp swing of the pendulum.
Anyway, Naraku admits, out loud even, that Inuyasha is right. Musou is still a very important connector for his body, apparently. Miroku demands Naraku answer another question, since he's being so forthcoming now; with a human mind like Onigumo's, Miroku asks if that means Naraku is a hanyou. Naraku fires back a defensive "so what?" in response, so Miroku gets all KINDS of specific, recalling the time recently when Naraku's barrier around his castle weakened, to the point that Inuyasha and Kouga were able to locate it with their keen noses. Inuyasha shoots him a searching glance, wondering what he's getting at right now. I just wonder why he's giving away the fact that they all noticed this valuable little factoid.
But with Naraku just spilling his guts over here, I suppose it's not a horrible assumption that Miroku will get an elaboration. Especially since Naraku, after a brief observation that Miroku is wanting to know if he has a period of weakness for him, confirms that he is not unlike other hanyou in that regard. He adds that this time is an absolute secret for hanyou, and proceeds to ask Inuyasha what about him. Kagura hanging out behind him, Naraku inquires as to whether Inuyasha shivers in fear while losing his powers and hiding from his enemies. Inuyasha grits his fangs and screws up his face in fury.
Miroku remains calm, with but a single sweatdrop in the middle of his forehead. He thinks that, at any rate, it seems Naraku hasn't heard from Kagura about Inuyasha's human night occurring on the new moon. How he can assume that from the way a known LIAR is just utterly mystifying to me, but okay. Naraku says he has a time of the month when he's unable to move, just at Miroku guessed, but he gets to choose that time of his own will, much to Miroku and Inuyasha's alarm. Inuyasha thinks about his own compulsion to become human on the first day of the month, trailing in comparing that to Naraku's "free choice" in the matter. It's likely a bit painful to consider, so fair.
Naraku finishes up by saying Inuyasha, born from a more *ahem* traditional union between human and youkai, is fundamentally different from him in origin. He looks to his periphery where he knows Kagura is standing, asking if she agrees, which seems to surprise her. She realizes he's referring to how his body was rather... disconnected and dismantled when she stumbled on him the other night.
I don't know man, sounds like you're just sorting through a bunch of puzzle pieces from like 90 different puzzles...
Naraku says that compared to a pitiful hanyou who lose their powers and hide from others, he's quite different. Inuyasha's hackles are predictably raised, and he scoffs through a clenched jaw, but tries to play it cool by smarming that Naraku's mouth must be getting tired from how much he's been yammering. He then loses that cool immediately by pulling Tessaiga, leaping forward, and yelling a promise to give Naraku a rest. Inuyasha let's loose a Kaze no Kizu very close to a frankly unconcerned Naraku, the reason for such a cavalier attitude made plain rather quickly.
This guy hides behind layers of fucking barriers every day so you can't find him, and you're SURPRISED?? Miroku tries to convince me with a gigantic gape that Naraku's barrier hasn't been nearly so powerful until now, but I don't know if I buy it. Then miasma starts gushing out from under the barrier bubble like an open wound, and Miroku yanks Inuyasha back, urging him to retreat from the nasty stuff. It flows through the forest, felling trees and drowning everything in its path. All while Naraku's little capsule of demonic evil, cocooned in noxious miasma, flies up and away. Inuyasha stares up at the receding enemy, groaning in irritation.
Miroku watches Naraku leave as well, saying it seems that what he said didn't seem to be a total lie. Just, like... 99% lie, then?
... During one day of the month. Imagine if he had a whole 27 days every month to get stronger. Like YOU.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Turning Naraku's monthly night of weakness into something of a strength through an ability plan and strategize his own form is an interesting idea. Positioning Musou's appearance after Naraku's recent night of weakness is also interesting, implying heavily that Naraku tried to use that night to see if he could actually rid himself of the human element THROUGH this ability. It's a very Naraku type of experiment to conduct, testing the limits of what he can do, even if he didn't seem all that surprised that Musou/Onigumo is still connected to him. After all, Naraku had to have suspected that he shouldn't be able to get rid of Onigumo through an ability that is basically only there because Onigumo is a part of him. But playing with that paradox is definitely something quintessentially Naraku, so it comes across as believable instead of dumb.
Which I guess must be part of the reason why Miroku might be convinced that Naraku is actually being truthful here. Naraku's reframing of his "weakness" after he admits to it among his enemies is believable in a general sense anyway, because Naraku COULD have just said "I'm not a hanyou and I don't even know what the fuck you're talking about" instead. I still think Miroku doesn't have much, if any, reason to think Naraku doesn't already know about Inuyasha's human night. The way he asked Inuyasha about it didn't seem genuine in the slightest - just casually sarcastic. If anything, I probably would have been convinced that Kagura actually DID say something to Naraku about what she saw. This just seems like another instance of the characters coming to the right conclusions for expediency's sake instead of any real evidence for them.
And while I did enjoy the idea of how this "night of weakness" worked for Naraku and how it was ultimately executed, I do feel a little like this is a culmination of RT only recently thinking about how she's mentioned that hanyou all have these nights once a month, and how to apply that to Naraku's crazy genetic makeup. Maybe an editor or part of her team mentioned that Naraku should also have a "human night" for continuity, and she came up with a similarly wild way that Naraku might experience that. It's not bad, very creative...
... But it's so similar to the way Naraku creates incarnations with the help of the Shikon no Tama that it makes ME wonder why Naraku needed the Shikon no Tama in the first place if he could just do this the whole damn time. Someone probably should have mentioned that little issue to her too.
No comments:
Post a Comment