Naraku laughs, asking Inuyasha if he absolutely HAS to know the reason why he's hated so much before he can die. Inuyasha pauses a moment before asking Naraku what he means. You didn't catch the clue he threw your way by employing your brother and another asshole to murder you, Inuyasha? Seriously, you cannot be this dumb.
Chuckling, Naraku turns to Kaede, who has approached from behind with Kagome like Miroku. He comments on how much Kaede has aged, and Kaede looks angry that this asshole knows her, and even angrier still that he really is who they had determined him to be after all. Inuyasha finishes her thought with an invocation of Onigumo's name, and a vision of Kikyou tending to the injured bandit as she is said to have done.
Naraku says that it's certainly true that he was born in Onigumo's cave way back when, and while Kagome stares questioningly at him, he adds that one could rather say it was thanks to Kikyou that it happened.
His frustration at not being able to move or fulfill these evil urges grew to fill the cave, and drew all sorts of nasty youkai to him. He was prepared to make a trade.
Naraku's tale comes to a swift close when he tells Inuyasha and company that the demons somehow melded together and amalgamated into the baboon-wearing freak before them. Kaede trails off in her conclusions from this story, which Naraku finishes for her by saying that Onigumo's body and soul were devoured on the spot, and he was no more. Naraku says that piece of shit gave him quite the bargain, but I'm still doubtful. I think Naraku's youkai parts would have gotten better nutrition from eating directly out of the trash bin.
And I'm not the only one. Miroku looks a little like he wants to challenge that assertion before Inuyasha asks Naraku why he trapped him and Kikyou, eyes narrowed almost to slits. Naraku tells him it should be obvious that his plan was to soil Kikyou's heart with malice, so that the Shikon no Tama could soak up that malicious blood. Literally, in this case, because the explanation is laid over an image of Naraku disguised as Inuyasha with the injured and collapsed Kikyou next to him as he picks up the jewel she was carrying.
Naraku questions if there is anything more hopelessly tragic than two people who once trusted one another killing each other, again overlaying an image of Kikyou shooting her arrow through Inuyasha. She appears in the next panel looking beyond furious, covered in blood, while Naraku tells of how the jewel becomes corrupted when the feelings of hatred from betrayal increase. Naraku is hunched and chuckling, telling Inuyasha that he should have hated Kikyou too.
Inuyasha makes a noise of disgust, but he'll probably just end up making more, because Naraku isn't finished. He says that the rest of his plan would have gone fine, IF IT WEREN'T FOR THOSE MEDDLING KIDS!
It's because of Kikyou's insistence on being so unselfish that Naraku failed to get that tainted Shikon no Tama he wanted so badly, and by extension because of the the hanyou in front of him now. Naraku calls Kikyou a stupid, useless woman, because he's clearly operating under the mistaken impression that these words are synonyms for "won't do what Naraku thinks they should do".
As I predicted, another disgusted noise escapes Inuyasha, as well as a growl. Insults to Kikyou means shit is about to go DOWN.
Inuyasha springs forward with a declaration that he won't forgive Naraku, while he's tearing through Naraku's baboon mask and where Naraku's neck should be with his claws. His blow is so powerful, it even saws through the tree behind Naraku too, which tips and falls with a crash.
Somehow, Naraku has dodged the attack and jumped high into the air, using what's left of his white baboon fur to shield his head and midsection. A good portion of his dark clothing has been revealed to the shocked Miroku and Inuyasha as he hovers above them, though. Miroku shouts that Naraku will not get away, throwing his staff like a javelin straight at Naraku. Naraku knocks the staff away with the swing of his fur-clad arm, landing back on the ground a short distance away.
He continues to hold his sleeve up by his head ineffectively, calling Miroku a moron. I guess he thinks talking about how Miroku's face so resembles the girl-obsessed one of his grandfather will divert attention from his, but Miroku shuts that down immediately by telling Naraku that his face has nothing to do with this. Inuyasha backs this up with a bid for Naraku to cut the fucking jokes already. He leaps forward again with a shout that he'll kill Naraku.
But he's greeted by a weird substance, somewhere between a liquid and gas, gushing forth from Naraku on every side. The substance hisses upon contact with the earth, and Miroku observes with horror that it's dissolving the ground. He runs, trying to shoo Kagome and Shippou behind him away from the scene too, warning them to look out as the substance gushes past tree trunks, felling them with one wave. Miroku watches a tree melting in the substance with a terrible awe, commenting on what a powerful miasma it is that's doing this.
Kagome looks for Inuyasha in the chaos.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Naraku's narrative was a nice illustration of how he uses words as psychological weapons. He basically spends the entire time setting up his actions as brilliant and genius, while also trying to paint the people he attempted to manipulate as stupid and useless for not going along with it. This twisting of perspective on how people can be defined and described within a recollection is actually a common tactic among abusers and seasoned manipulators to saddle their victims with feelings of guilt and self-loathing. Naraku has constructed his tale in a calculated way, to put Kikyou's love for Inuyasha at the center of her downfall, instead of Naraku's own horrible machinations. Just like with the illusion in the cave a few chapters back, Naraku is trying to put it in Inuyasha's head that HE'S actually the one to blame for all of Kikyou's suffering, from implying that Naraku wouldn't even exist if Kikyou's powers hadn't been fading, to implying that she would have been willing to survive off a wish on the Shikon jewel if her love for Inuyasha hadn't been so deep.
This is MASTERFUL, and throughout the rest of the story, you can see it worked. Yes, right now, Inuyasha has spoken in terms of NARAKU doing horrible things to Kikyou, and going after him for what HE did. However, these kinds of suggestions of placing blame on a victim rarely seep in immediately, and only grow with more time to consider the suggestions being made. RT really outdid herself with this depiction.
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