Inuyasha Manga: 102 Mushin's Temple

Okay, now I KNOW this chapter is trying to bring me to church. Or is a temple different? To be honest, I haven't been given a concrete definition of either term; only a vague sense that most people just think of a temple as something you run into while exploring the ruins of some long-dead civilization. THAT'S probably not the least bit accurate, given that temples exist and thrive in a modern context just fine.

Not that a modern context has much bearing on this chapter's contents, I'm sure.

Even LESS modern than usual, it seems. Baby!Miroku sure as HELL isn't concerned with my confusion over terms, and he damn-well shouldn't be. After that blast of wind, all that remains of the area he was running toward is a giant crater in the ground. A devastated baby!Miroku is addressed by the priest that had been chasing him, now calmly and a bit callously telling Miroku that his father knew his death was coming and so left his son back at the temple.

The same temple we're going to visit, no doubt!

A mist of remembrance swirls across the next couple of panels while Miroku recalls that his father was consumed by the Kazaana in his own hand, and he heard that it happened to his grandfather as well. As he's standing on a hillside with his tanuki friend, who searches the landscape ahead with a hand shading his eyes, Miroku wonders if he'll someday die in the same way. Well, I think that was the point of you developing the Kazaana yourself at some point, yeah? I say "developing" because baby!Miroku conspicuously lacks his bead and glove setup in the above panels, if you look REAL close.

Which I did.

That is an "I don't want to talk about it" face if ever I saw one.

When they've climbed the steps onto the deck, Miroku calls for a Mushin-sama, asking if he's in and letting him know that it's Miroku come to see him. He's still calling out as he enters the front doors of the temple and sees a portly man lying on the floor, head propped on a jar as he dozes away. He scratches at his chest while a soft snore escapes his red nose. Miroku is NOT pleased by the sight of him, annoyed by the drunkenly state that this man has maintained since the last time they were together. He demands the drunk wake up, kicking the jar from beneath his head and causing it to drop with a thud to the floor. He's certainly awake NOW, if his grunt and wide eyes are any indication.

He rubs at his bald head, observing that Miroku is still alive, albeit with some disbelief. Miroku expresses the same, telling Mushin that he can't live long drinking like he does as he sits down next to him. Mushin is scratching his belly beneath his robe, asking if Miroku came to preach at him. Hello? PRIEST. Miroku says that in addition to his preaching, his Kazaana was ripped a bit by a youkai, and he wanted to see if Mushin could heal it.

Mushin takes a close look at Miroku's cloth covered palm, speechless a moment until he grimly informs Miroku that he'll die sometime tonight. Miroku looks concerned, until JUST KIDDING! Mushin waves his hand and says it was all a joke. By the next panel, Miroku has put a lump on the top of Mushin's head and threatening to suck him up with his still raised right fist. Mushin holds up his hand in supplication, asking Miroku to wait.

He says he can heal Miroku, but he can't open up his Kazaana for a while afterward until the wound completely closes. Miroku asks what will happen if he opens it, and Mushin says the Kazaana will widen at the tear and Miroku will die all the sooner. Miroku glares with stoic acceptance as Mushin adds that if that happens, there's nothing more he'll be able to do for him. Mushin then wobbles to his feet, muttering that he's going to prepare some medicine. For Miroku or YOU, dude? As he shuffles away, he tells Miroku to wash the impurities from his body, and an exasperated Miroku sarcastically apologizes for being impure.

Granted, I haven't seen much of Mushin yet, but you didn't hit the guy up because ALCOHOL cut your Kazaana, Miroku.

From the porch around the side of the temple, Mushin is watching Miroku and cursing him mentally. He's annoyed that Miroku got so worked up over such a little wound, but realizes that he shouldn't be surprised when he remembers Miroku has had a pretty hard life.

Meanwhile, in the forest of useless chases, Inuyasha is bellowing Naraku's name while he leaps after a puppet weaving fast through the trees. Sango curses, hand at the ready on Hiraikotsu as she rides Kirara, and getting a side-eye from Inuyasha beside her. I thought that maybe she was cursing because something was preventing her from throwing her weapon, but I guess not, because in the next panel she lets it go clocking puppet!Naraku right in the back of the head. She yells that he's stopped moving, and Inuyasha takes the opportunity to rush forward and bring Tessaiga down on the offending baboon fur.

Surprise?

Sure enough, the little wooden doll with hair wrapped around it is sitting in the center of the pile of dirt Naraku used to make his double. Kagome rolls up onto the scene on her bike, a concerned-looking Shippou clinging to her shoulder. Glaring at the little wooden figure, she asks herself what's going on. When she recalls that the puppet just ran, she thinks that he just wanted to lure them away. Away from what? Kagome doesn't say, just repeats the notion that the puppet wanted to keep them from something while holding her hand to her mouth like she's trying to keep from vomiting this half-baked idea all over her friends.

Too bad, she turns to Inuyasha and says she's wondering why Miroku had to leave. Inuyasha's looks mystified, almost as though her bringing back up of Miroku came out of literally nowhere. Myouga makes a timid appeal to Inuyasha from his shoulder, and both Kagome and Inuyasha are surprised to see him hanging out. Not sure why, because they weren't in any danger before, being the ones CHASING rather than being CHASED.

After relaying the information that Miroku was brooding about something or other the night before, and staring at his right hand a lot, Myouga says that for SOME reason, Miroku looked serious. A small pause later, Kagome insists that they go find Miroku, because something must have happened. She looks off into the distance and wonders again why Miroku left without saying a word.

As the trees rustle in the wind outside the temple and it begins to look like a storm is coming (GET IT?), Miroku is peering into a bowl filled with liquid, somewhat doubtfully identifying it as a painkiller. Mushin confirms this, telling Miroku he has to sew the wound in the Kazaana closed, and if he drinks the painkiller, he'll sleep like a baby. Miroku downs the potion, but points out the Mushin's hand is shaking. Looking down at his trembling hand, Mushin attributes this to the drink having worn off, and gets up to chug another jar so it will stop. Miroku stares daggers at him as he fucks off to a storeroom.

Show me a man who says he WOULDN'T shit his pants upon seeing something like that in his pantry, and I'll show you a liar.

Mushin only has enough time to utter half the first word of what I'm sure was a long, expletive-filled question about what that is and what those things on its arms and head are and how he's supposed to kill it... ahem. All that, when some sort of wiggling string/silk-like substance shoots from the mouth of the jar in its hands.

Thunder rumbles outdoors while Miroku is lying on his back, awaiting his surgery with his eyes closed. Mushin, shadowed and eerie, returns from his trip to the storeroom, only to appear normal again when he leans over Miroku and asks how he's feeling. Miroku opens his eyes a crack and admits he's feeling a bit drowsy. Mushin tells him to sleep, reaching out to touch Miroku's forehead and assuring him it will be done soon. Miroku mumbles that it seems Mushin's hands have stopped shaking. More rumbling sounds, and this time it seems to be coming from the INSIDE of the temple, from our view of the eaves again.

Back on the inside, Miroku is snoozing peacefully, and not!Mushin says that this was really easy since Miroku looks to have a lot of confidence in Mushin. The stringy/silky tendrils protrude from Mushin's mouth just as they did from the jar earlier.

Your premonitions are turning out to be just as wonky as these.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? That thing that got a jump on Mushin was nightmare fuel for me, and I LOVED it. It's a classic example of RT's skill in creating some really disturbing-looking creatures out of such simple features. I think the thing that pushed it over the edge from kind of weird to downright creepy for me was those charms stuck to its head and arms. The way Miroku has used them in the past, I've come to see them as youkai extermination tools, but it looks like they weren't effective with this creature. It's a bit eerie thinking that this thing may have come up against priests like Miroku and Mushin before, and lost in earnest.

I'm not too wild about how Kagome's "premonitions" have occurred to her, though. I suppose they don't come out of NOWHERE, necessarily, but there's something very unnatural about the way that she assumed the Naraku puppet was leading them away from something. I don't know about anyone else, but finding a Naraku puppet in the woods wouldn't make ME automatically link it up to my friend by all accounts up and leaving of his own accord. Now, if no one had seen him leave or someone had given a more suspicious narrative of him leaving, maybe I would think the two had something to do with one another. But, as it stands, I'm not really buying it wholesale.

Then again, random visions or thoughts with a psychic basis to them is more believable in this context than some others, and RT DID have to make the group run to find Miroku in time to save him in some manner. However, if they're going to look for clues back in the village they just left, all the advantages of psychic intervention from the author in the WORLD isn't going to help Miroku.