We'll see if throwing myself into another review does the trick.
Jaken glares at the youki crystal he's holding up in front of his face, reporting that it's not reacting at all. He turns to Sesshoumaru and asks if Kagura was making up her story about Naraku's heart being here, but Sesshoumaru is lost in his own analysis of the environment. He can smell Inuyasha's former presence, as well as something else that he doesn't even identify yet in his HEAD.
As Jaken and Rin cower behind Sesshoumaru's furry shoulder ornament, the former asking what the deal is with all the dead youkai, Sesshoumaru comments rather on the fact that someone seems to have been buried in this spot. He suggests it was THAT person who was responsible for all the carnage around the empty grave. I mean, okay, but dead people don't usually just get up and start killing youkai. Maybe since he (along with plenty of others in this story) is familiar with zombies menacing an area by this point, he's less concerned with the "HOW", so much as the "WHY". If he's concerned at all, of course.
As Jaken sidles up to the corpse of a giant eyeball with legs and hums critically, Sesshoumaru resolves silently to remember this scent. Given historical precedent, he probably has no doubt it will pop up again.
Narrow transition panel to Inuyasha and company racing at breakneck speed over a rocky landscape, Inuyasha himself complaining about how they really got delayed, Kagome clinging to his back with a concerned look. On Kirara a short way to the rear, Miroku tells Inuyasha there was really no way they could have left Goryoumaru unburied to give chase right away. Kagome adds that their new knowledge that the baby is Naraku's heart on its own is valuable, but Inuyasha interrupts her to snap that it's not GOOD enough. He is, after all, a man of action. Inuyasha insists that they have to find the heart before Naraku can hide it somewhere new.
A narrow shape in the sky hovers in the distance as they fly through a jagged canyon.
Kagura herself notes that the group below has seen her and that it's coming over. On the ground, Sango expresses some suspicion about how much of a distance Kagura is keeping from them, and Miroku interprets this as a lack of courage to guide them directly. Kagome seems to agree with this assessment, reminding them that Kagura told of how Naraku has a grip on her heart. All Kagura can think is that these bastards better do a good job, because she's not interested in dying in vain either.
Another narrow transition panel leads us to another view of the massive stone oni from below.
Without ANY hesitation, it seems, Inuyasha encourages the group to enter the statue, and he receives no argument either. Kirara follows him into the cavernous mouth of the carving, like it's some kind of cheap Halloween attraction. They've got more guts than me, that's for sure. I hope they don't LOSE them in there.
When Shippou DOES ask if they're going to be eaten as they start to approach the throat and he takes a last nervous look at the gaping mouth behind them, Miroku assures him that it's just rock carved to LOOK like an oni. He should know that this is no guarantee of safety, but there's literally nothing else he can do while actively entering the statue than trust that it won't spring to life.
Inuyasha pauses at the back of the mouth, commenting on the deep shaft descending into darkness from there as he gazes down it. Kagome thinks she can sense something down there in the dark, and at the same time, Inuyasha's nose twitches, picking up a scent. Once more, he tells the group to press on, jumping into the hole.
After letting Kagome off his back into the ankle-deep questionable water at the bottom of the "cave", Inuyasha advises her to keep close, and she stutters her agreement. She says his name with some concern when he draws Tessaiga, but he just screams out into the cave to the bastards he KNOWS are there, letting off a Kaze no Kizu at the wall. A silhouette, all tentacles and spines, emerges from behind the crumbling divide.
Inuyasha is clearly suspicious of the obvious as well, asking what's going on for Naraku to just stroll out here like this. I mean, he WAS behind a wall... Miroku interprets this to mean that the Shnooky heart was already hidden elsewhere, while Naraku asks Inuyasha what's wrong with him that he's not the LEAST bit happy at finally cornering his hated enemy. I doubt anyone would be HAPPY to see you under ANY circumstances, dude.
Naraku (or his proxy, as it may be) holds out his hand, palm up, to surprise the Inuyasha group with a the almost complete Shikon no Tama, dark as a lump of coal. Kagome has her brows drawn down in anger, noting that its evil aura has grown stronger still than the last time they encountered it. Naraku appears at first to be offering the jewel as a parting gift - before their journey into the afterlife, at least. But then he clarifies that he MEANS the Shikon shard Kagome already carries. How can you give someone something they already HAVE?
Who knows? He doesn't really bother to elaborate as the Shikon no Tama in his palm pulses and crackles.
Shippou and Kagome both shriek in pain, jerking their feet out of the "water" with urgency. The newly pulsing walls glisten, secreting more moisture that drips down on the group's collective heads, Sango shouting in alarm that this is ACID. Outside, Kagura is shocked by the oni statue throbbing before its eyes spring open, looking malicious in its new vitality. Despite Kagura's disbelief, it has indeed come to life.
Hakudoushi hovers at Kagura's back while she's distracted with horrified fixation on this giant creature into which she's led the Inuyasha team. He smirks at her.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Inuyasha's pursuit of Naraku has always been SOME level of reckless, but it has reached a whole new level in this chapter. From snapping at Kagome that just having the information they've gained on Naraku's heart isn't enough, to automatically diving into the most suspicious mouth-shaped cave in the history of ever, to vowing to grab the Shikon no Tama off Naraku basically even when he would fucking die in the process anyway, he's so eager to solve this Naraku problem as fast as possible that his brain is fully off. No strategizing anymore. Not even the beginnings of strategizing. Just lunging for what is most likely, if historical precedent is any indication, not REMOTELY close to the throat. The desperation for any kind of strike at this purely malevolent force that has taken so many lives and been so destructive is potent enough that it doesn't seem to matter to Inuyasha though.
But you know, I can't really blame him. I'm tired of Naraku's shit too. Every action of his is more outrageous and heinous than the last, and you have to wonder how he's gotten away with it all having pissed off so many people. I suppose his only saving grace is that all those people he's pissed off so thoroughly are distrustful enough of EACH OTHER that they aren't ready to enter into a real alliance to take his horrible ass out, and some part of that is by design. Keep everyone fighting amongst themselves and even when they realize they have goals in common, they can't quite bring themselves to join forces because the prejudice is so deeply ingrained.
What do you mean? Of COURSE I'm still talking about Naraku. Who ELSE could I possibly be talking about?
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