Inuyasha Manga: 034 The Scabbard Calls

Inuyasha hasn't been keeping in touch, so the scabbard just gives him a call to see how he's doing. You know, it's curious as to how this fight is going, what he's struggling with lately, how Kagome is doing... Oh, and by the way, did he know it's cracking due to the immense demonic power he's subjecting it to right now? He might not have been aware, you know, considering how little he cares about his poor old mother scabbard...

Well, I mean if the sword is Inuyasha's inheritance from his dad...!

It turns out he DOES notice this cracking and is just as worried about it as everyone else. Kagome looks over at Manten's body and sees Tessaiga sitting next to it, thinking that if she could get to Tessaiga then she could get it to Inuyasha somehow. Shippou had the exact same idea and runs over their hillside cover to retrieve it. Kagome holds out a hand, warning Shippou that it's too dangerous as she picks up Shippou's dad's fur to chase him, but it's too late. Shippou is already in the thick of the battlefield, complaining about how hot Hiten's power has made it, and Hiten looks over to see him.

Hiten opens his mouth to charge up his late brother's signature move, chuckling. Inuyasha recognizes it as such and yells at Kagome and Shippou to watch out. Again, too late. Hiten lets loose his blast right at Kagome and Shippou as they look over mid run.

I was going to say absolutely fucking TRAGIC, but yeah, that too.

As Kagome and Shippou lay unconscious in the heart of the fire, Myouga stutters out their names in disbelief. Hiten continues a string of sarcastic comments about how much of a pity it is that the girl and the brat are dead. Bangs shadowing his eyes over his fangs showing, Inuyasha mutters that Hiten is a bastard. He then pushes Hiten back with a huge burst of strength, screaming that he won't be forgiven.

Hiten grunts as he tries to dig his heels in once more, and this grinds his spear's lightning blade further into Inuyasha's scabbard. He scoffs that Inuyasha is a fool, seeing as his scabbard is breaking. Inuyasha's has the best comeback.

If you're in fourth grade, anyway.

Hiten stutters that Inuyasha is scum, but he must just be mad that Inuyasha managed to strike his face yet again. He's really not doing a good job of making sure that was a one-time deal. Hiten wonders just what the hell Inuyasha is that makes him able to fight back so much more effectively than a hanyou should be able to in his mind. Maybe he doesn't fit into that narrow box you're trying to shove him in, ever think of that Hiten?

Inuyasha declares that he won't die until he murders Hiten's dumb, unprotected face. Hiten smirks about Inuyasha being all hot-headed over his girl being dead, then lunges forward, promising that he'll cut Inuyasha in half along with his scabbard. Said scabbard comes up yet again to receive the blow, though Myouga continues to fret about it breaking more and more. Hiten thinks he's got Inuyasha right where he wants him, but the scabbard makes an odd noise that Inuyasha looks surprised at.

Oh! It dialed the SWORD! That's much more effective than my interpretation of the title.

And that's all it takes, too, apparently.

Whoops, got your face again, didn't he Hiten? Looks like this will be the last time, too, because Hiten collapses with blood spurting from his face, disbelief that he lost to a hanyou consuming his last thoughts before he dissolves into thin air altogether. Hiten's Shikon shards fall to the ground and Myouga hops over to them to collect.

Cursing, Inuyasha kneels on the ground, head bowed. Myouga asks after him, but Inuyasha keeps his guilty thoughts to himself, regretting not defeating Hiten earlier so Kagome didn't have to die.

Myouga claims that this must be Kagome and Shippou's souls saying their final farewell. Inuyasha repeats "souls" in his head as his wide eyes keep trained on Kagome and Shippou. Kagome thanks Inuyasha for everything, and Shippou thanks him for getting revenge for his father too. Then an updraft blows Kagome's and Shippou's hair up and they look skyward as though expecting the mothership to beam them up. Inuyasha leaps forward, begging them not to go.

Oh boy, that's a tad embarrassing, isn't it?

Turns out it was just Shippou's dad's fur which flew away, and as it disappears into the sky, Shippou thinks about how it was his father's foxfire that saved them from Hiten's blast. Myouga revises his explanation, saying it was CLEARLY foxfire escaping from the pelt. Inuyasha gives him a nasty glare tinted with horror as he thinks about how WRONG Myouga's first conclusion was.

He's still holding onto Kagome's hand, which she points out with a hesitant noise. Inuyasha snatches away his hand as he snaps that Kagome and Shippou were confusing him too. Later, as the group walks along, Shippou asks what Inuyasha's problem has been this whole time. Kagome says that the Shikon shards they collected should have made him happy at least as she holds them up. Myouga knows, but he's not about to admit it while Inuyasha is hunched at the lead, scoffing and stomping.

I guess Myouga DOESN'T know everything, huh?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Hiten's death was so sudden that there isn't much to say about it. The only thing about it that struck me as interesting was his stunned question about being beaten by a hanyou just before perishing. He had JUST enough time to contemplate the possibility of his bias, but not enough to come to a conclusion about it. Unlike the other manga I'm currently reviewing, this is a world in which people can't learn from mistakes; they DIE if they make mistakes, and that helps to maintain the status quo. Hiten will never reform his opinion, and he will never be able be able to tell his tale to others as a warning. He just ceased to exist, but the prejudice that fueled his hubris continues unabated among other youkai.

Is this a disadvantage or an advantage to Inuyasha? I think it can be argued both ways, considering the chronic underestimation his opponents give him. Inuyasha's struggle to find a place of belonging is somewhat perpetuated by the fact that he IS strong enough to dispatch all the youkai who come at him with complete confidence in this myth of his disability. It's a kind of bizarre self-circulating issue.

Much like the embarrassing flub that took place at the end of the chapter. Inuyasha is attempting to keep those feelings of wanting Kagome close by under wraps, but in an environment where she is constantly in danger of getting offed, he's also frequently put in the position of almost spilling his guts. Since he's a typical teenager, he wants to pretend he doesn't give a fuck until the absolute last second, but the absolute last second is always around the corner for him, so the result is revealing little by little until it's all out, OR he just throws up his hands and ends the farce already. Either way, he really needs to stop letting Myouga's "sage" assessments of situations dictate his actions without more questioning.

Also, anyone else find it a little weird that Hiten dissolved into the ether when he's brother's body stuck around in order to allow Hiten to eat his heart? A little too CONVENIENT? What's up with THAT?