Heaven forbid I criticize anyone else's decorating style. You're currently reading the words of a woman who has on display in her living room a collection of hanging lanterns with little rechargeable LED candles twinkling in them throughout the day, the Invader Zim DVD box set in the shape of Zim's house with a little GIR toy hiding in the roof, and a giant plush of a red sheep from Minecraft that permanently lives on the couch. None of it goes together, it's not harmonious, and a real estate agent would probably balk at having to try to sell this place.
But those agonized monk statues in front of Goryoumaru's temple? A shade too far. Couldn't be me.
She's actually talking about how she saw the youki disappear from the crystal she was watching as she went through the temple, rather than those creepy statues, directly applying egg to my face. Kagura explains to Sesshoumaru that this proves the fuuyouheki is in Goryoumaru's temple, his two little followers looking between the two with curiosity. Sesshoumaru of course can't help but draw the same conclusion from this fact that Kagura has: Naraku's heart has to be there.
Kagura further speculates that this Goryoumaru guy's role in the whole scheme must be to protect the heart, causing Jaken to pipe up with the question of why SHE wouldn't know that, as a member of Naraku's circle as Goryoumaru presumably is. After a pause, she admits that this is because Naraku doesn't trust her, especially regarding information on his heart, never telling her a single thing about it.
Sesshoumaru says that if this is truly the case, any further action on her part is pretty much useless.
But while she bows her head in acknowledgement of the point, she wonders why it is she's still alive if Naraku is onto her, assuming she would have been killed by Goryoumaru's blast through her chest if her betrayal had been noticed. Much like the main protagonists, she has failed to grasp just how vast is Naraku's manipulative potential, and therefore believes that she still has a chance at winning. I'm shocked that her level of naivete seems on a level similar to RIN'S.
OOF.
Back at Goryoumaru's temple, dark and ominous clouds have gathered overhead, and the atmosphere is creepier than ever. Rain starts to patter onto the heads of those ghoulish statues, and Goryoumaru himself stands out in the mild shower, staring wordlessly out at the grounds. A couple of children run up behind him, one with hands over his head to guard against the rain, asking him what's up and warning him he'll get wet. You don't say. While Goryoumaru murmurs agreement with the kids, he still stares, and we learn his stare is directed at a nearby mountain, on the other side of which he believes the Inuyasha group is now searching.
Goryoumaru has some IMPRESSIVE psychic intuition, because the next panels suggest he's not wrong.
Well, Miroku starts with the question of where all that youki surrounding the temple came from in the first place. Kagome had apparently forgotten that particular detail, what with the multitudes of suspicious things surrounding the location, and mentions all the creepy statues that were around the temple too. She seems to have made a connection between the two. Miroku affirms her observation, calling the statues "rakan", which prompts Shippou to ask what that word means as he rides atop Inuyasha's head.
Miroku says that it's a student who attained enlightenment in Buddhism, the statues depicting such not being unusual at a temple in practice. When Miroku trails at the "but" to his statement, Sango completes his statement by saying that the youki was coming from those statues. As he affirms her addendum, he tells the group that he can feel the same youki energy coming from this mountain they're hiking.
Shippou has vacated the top of Inuyasha's head when Inuyasha suggests with a strangely prickly attitude about this leading to Goryoumaru's secret. Why are you MAD about that, dude? It turns out he's no fan of the slow detective work of following a trail of youki, and suggests that it would be faster to just go back and beat it out of Goryoumaru. Yeah, because that's likely to work out just as well as last time. Annoyed, Miroku says over his shoulder that he would have DONE that already if he could have.
Cut to Kagura flying through the cloudy sky, scanning the wooded hills. Siamyoushou appear at her flank, and and she acknowledges them, as well as a swirling vortex around a bubble in her path.
While Kagura silently regards him, Hakudoushi tells her it's time to work. He doesn't have his usual self-satisfied smirk, which can't be a good sign. Kagura responds with more silence. Yeah, I wouldn't trust myself to say anything either, girl.
Sango has put on her respiration mask, complaining about how intense the youki is here. Shippou clings to Kagome's arm in fear as she asks what that sound is. Inuyasha doesn't speak to that, but he can definitely smell the youkai in the cave, and a nervous Shippou asks for clarification that the scent is coming from the inside, even as Inuyasha marches inside. Inuyasha snaps that it should be obvious and demands they get going. Kagome follows without a word, which must be even MORE concerning for poor Shippou.
Inside, water drips from the stalactites above onto scattered pieces of youkai. Well, where have we seen THIS before? Shippou has switched to riding on a transformed Kirara's back when he makes a trailing statement about what this is, finished by Inuyasha bluntly stating that it's a bunch of shredded youkai pieces. Kirara's tail no doubt provides a valuable light that Shippou would like to be as close to as possible.
Sango draws Miroku's attention to something looming up ahead, and he looks alarmed at the big hulking shape of a lumpy mound in the middle of the cave.
Among the slow drip, drip, drip of water from the cave's ceiling, Kagome expresses alarm that these appear to be the same statues that were around the temple, her fist creeping toward her face in a gesture of apprehension. Sango comments that it's like a stalactite, but she's mistaken; stalagMITES are the ones that reach up from the floor of the cave. My pedantry is so egregious that one of the Rakan statues detaches from the larger clump of its fellows and tumbles to the floor in exasperation, causing Shippou to leap in fright. At least, I assume it's my pedantry. What else can be done if you can't roll your eyes except roll your WHOLE BODY?
Miroku is kneeling at the base of the structure, observing that the bottom is a pile of youkai parts like they saw on the way in. It appears to him that this mound of dead youkai slowly turn to stone Rakan statues, I'm assuming when they're exposed to the dripping water. Kagome asks if this is a NATURAL process, when she knows very well that youkai naturally DISSOLVE when dead (lol). Miroku responds in the negative, saying someone probably set up a spell here. What do you mean PROBABLY, dude???
Inuyasha asserts that Miroku MUST mean Goryoumaru, adding that Gakusanjin's scent is mixed in with the other youkai pieces, noting that it was transported here. Some of his remains or the scent? All one can say for certain is that Inuyasha DOESN'T smell the perpetrator, which should tell him something. Kagome stares at the mound of youkai pieces and stone, wondering just what this is for, because she just doesn't get it.
I gotta admit girl, neither do I.
The two are instructed not to move as they step through the gate to the temple, immediately surrounded by a ring of children with something to prove. Goryoumaru joins his child soldiers, casually verbalizing his recognition of Kagura by noting how she survived his attack on her blandly. Kagura is silently shocked by his familiar tone, but Hakudoushi doesn't say anything about it. He just looks over his shoulder at her again and tells her to finish off the "small fry". By which he means CHILDREN.
Little slimeball.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? This is about the point I always started getting a little confused about what precisely is going on in this arc whenever I re-read it in the past. Whether it was the translation or the nature of the subject matter itself, there were always parts of it that seemed a bit beyond my grasp. Miroku is AWFULLY vague about the nature of the spell that has been cast to turn the youkai remains into this VERY specific shape in stone, though he's usually the one who is more knowledgeable about the enchantments they encounter. What's it's all for I wouldn't expect to be answered quite yet, but I can't even conceive of any possible answers at this point. Taking these statues reeking of youki and putting them all around the temple would do the opposite of obscure its purpose, and just encourage suspicion. Clearly this was Naraku's purpose, but to what end always strikes me as frustratingly opaque.
And killing Goryoumaru so VISIBLY is obviously theater, but to what extent isn't clear yet. Whether Goryoumaru is truly dying here or if it's a big false flag psy-op is ultimately not important. Again, it's the BENEFIT of this display that's the important part, and that's obscure. The only thing that that can be said for sure about it is that Kagura in particular was meant to see it, since Hakudoushi (and by extension Naraku) waited until Inuyasha and company were on the other side of the mountain when he went to the temple, and all the unnamed kids are inconsequential to their and the overall plot. With this, I can imagine that perhaps this is supposed to discourage Kagura from investigating the temple again, and convince her that whatever important artifact being held there is about to be moved to a new place. Other than that, I have no idea. Big shrugs.
Can we take a moment to talk about that look Sesshoumaru gives Kagura as she's leaving? Despite RT's same-face syndrome, which has only gotten worse as the comic has gone on, she's always been very precise with how she draws her expressions on that one face. I've never seen anyone talk about it, but this IS one of Sesshoumaru's more expressive moments, and that's not anger on his face. Maybe there's a little frustration there, but for the most part, he looks sorrowful and in fact WORRIED to me. I'd love to know what my readers think, because for a guy who isn't very forthcoming with how he feels, this was quite a powerful panel. It suggests he's much more sensitive to Kagura's situation than at first blush, and perhaps has a good idea of where she's headed if she doesn't lay low for a while.
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