I can think of no other villain that so proudly identifies as a long, protracted demonic fart.
Inuyasha is for some reason surprised by a bundle of those snakes Naraku shed earlier darting toward him from the side. He rips into them with ease, but recoils at the gush of miasma that shoots out of their remains. Miroku warns him that his body won't be able to take the barrage of miasma from killing one snake after another, and Inuyasha barks back that he KNOWS, sheesh.
On the ground, Kagome is elevating Sango's head on her lap when Sango groans. Kagome says Sango's name in askance and Sango gives her a halting apology. Kagome assures her that it's okay and they understand why she did what she did. Miroku is thankful when he notices Sango alive, to which Inuyasha responds with a scoff, asking if Miroku thought she'd die so easily. Her badassery has not gone unnoticed by ALL, it seems.
Naraku's voice chuckles all around them, asking if they really think they're going to get out of here alive. He tells them that they're all going to die here, contrary to their hopes, and it's all because of Sango's betrayal. It looks like Sango has passed out, eyes closed and face impassive, but Kagome appears angry on her behalf. But, by the next panel, Sango has her eyes open again, though she's wincing and sweating in her pain, internally confirming that Naraku is right. This whole situation IS her fault for stealing Tessaiga.
Meanwhile, Naraku's still yapping away at the glaring Inuyasha and Miroku, saying that Sango chose to save her brother's life over all of theirs. Remembering how they found said brother standing over the wounded Sango before, Kagome mentally agonizes over how desperately Sango wanted to save the same person who almost killed her. And Naraku is STILL talking about how they should all hate Sango for how shallow she was, if they have to hate anyone.
Goodness, does this guy ever shut his trap?
Well, yes, at least just before his snakes all lunge at the group ringed by them. Inuyasha curses and worries about even one of the snakes breaking through his defenses as he rips off his red robe. He tosses it onto Kagome's head where the sides settle over Sango and Shippou too, and she appears bemused at first. Inuyasha urges her to put it on so they can be protected at least a little from the miasma as he fights these things. Then it's time to work.
Kagome and Shippou shout his name as well, Shippou going as far as to leap right onto his fist to keep him from opening it. He sobs that Miroku will die if he opens the Kazaana now, but Miroku insists that Shippou let go of him. Inuyasha barks at him not to die in vain, and Miroku yells back that there's no other choice, expressing a hope that his sacrifice will help everyone else get out of the situation with their lives. So, Inuyasha reasons with Miroku the only way he knows how.
Kagome raises a shaking hand to her mouth in shock. Miroku calls Inuyasha a bastard (obvi), asking him a trailing question about what he's doing before collapsing into unconsciousness in Inuyasha's arms. Inuyasha in turn deems him an idiot aloud, while internally telling himself that if he hadn't punched Miroku, he wouldn't have been able to stop him. Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night. Assuming, of course, that you're not in for death instead.
Naraku's voice comes over what I guess in the youkai intercom again, chuckling at how Inuyasha's naiveté will be the death of him. He lists Inuyasha's inability to hate his betrayer Sango and valuing Miroku's life enough to toss aside their means of escape as examples, over Inuyasha's glower at the sky. Naraku calls them all fools, claiming he had thought they would help... with something. He doesn't really say. What he DOES say is that because of Inuyasha not wanting his friends to die, they're all going to die. Makes perfect sense.
As Naraku's evil chuckle trails off, Kagome has put her angry face back on, now will 150% more ire. She slowly says that all this is because of Naraku's scheming, pulling Inuyasha's robe off the top of her head. She promises herself not to forgive him before she starts searching the area for where Naraku could possibly be hiding. All she sees is the mist of miasma and the snakes made of the stuff, but when she looks down, she also sees Sango and Miroku lying on the ground unconscious. Kagome urges herself to hurry, and unlike in my personal experience, it actually works. She actually identifies the tiny glow of a Shikon fragment behind a wall where it blends almost too well.
Kagome raises her bow, glaring at the spot where she sees the shard's glimmer, drawing Inuyasha's attention with her declaration of where it is. Inuyasha yells Naraku's name and starts tearing through the snakes on his way to where Kagome is fixated, slashing this way and that, the burn wounds on his arms growing wider the whole time. He pauses his assault for a moment to nudge away some miasma on his cheek, and that's all it takes for him to be knocked off his feet by a snake flying headlong into his chest.
Shippou cries out Inuyasha's name, both fists raised to his frightened mouth, while Miroku groggily pushes himself up off the ground. Inuyasha, by contrast, falls into the dirt. Naraku laughs at how pathetic it is that Inuyasha will die in pain with his friends. I don't know if that really seems PATHETIC as much as tragic to me, Naraku, but okay. Anyway, Inuyasha is groaning as Naraku says it's an appropriate way to die for a failure hanyou like Inuyasha. If this is appropriate for Inuyasha, I'd HATE to know what Naraku thinks HE deserves.
Then: BOOM.
Kagome tells Naraku that he is the literal worst, in no uncertain terms. As she does so, the snakes are starting to dissolve into the thin air all around them. Shippou takes notice with awe, and Miroku speculates about Kagome's powers having something to do with this.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It was damn cool, especially when it came to those last few pages. It laid out in larger-than-life format just how powerful Kagome's move was, and it showed a side to Kagome's character that we've never really seen before. Sure, we've seen her pissed off before, but this is beyond any kind of annoyance or upset she's ever shown before. This is PURE RAGE at Naraku. She wants his ass dead. No wonder Inuyasha is looking at her like that in the above three panels.
In fact, their roles were slightly reversed here than they usually are. Inuyasha is the one trying to hold the team together with minor support, and Kagome is the lead with the big power-move at the end that utterly destroys the enemy. Since both of them are fulfilling these roles in their unique character ways, though, it was a revelation that was a little hidden for me. Inuyasha is just as coarse in his expressions as ever, but he shows plainly how high his opinion of Sango and Miroku are throughout that coarseness, and how much he values them as members of his team. Kagome's burst of power is the result of seeing her friends being goaded and tricked into hurting one another several times, and it's clear it took a LOT of provocation to get her to this point.
But, I'm still a little confused as to how Naraku could not have at least SOMEWHAT have seen this coming. He's surprised here, so I'm assuming he didn't see this kind of firepower as a possibility from Kagome, but again, since she looks exactly like Kikyou and they're in a world where reincarnation is a valid explanation for resemblance... It just seems like he should have taken some more precautions, even though he knows nothing about Kagome yet.
Not even a puppet like all the other times? No?
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