Miroku asks Naraku who the dames are, the little and the big. Some kind of underling? Naraku answers with a, "what good will knowing do you, since you're going to die anyway," response. Classic. But Miroku doesn't want to hear that cocky shit, he just wants to know if the little girl Kanna also has a scar shaped like a spider on her back, like Kagura and Naraku himself. Naraku looks slightly taken aback at first, if not a little irritated, but congratulates Miroku for observing THAT much at least. He tells Miroku that the two ladies were youkai born from himself, identifying Kagura as wind and Kanna as nothingness.
This explains the lack of smell, presence or youki to Miroku, as well as the fact that Kanna wasn't noticed until she had incapacitated them. Like carbon monoxide with a mirror. Naraku was experimenting with how he might hotbox Inuyasha and ended up creating a youkai, I guess. Miroku hones in on that mirror, where he knows Kagome's soul has been trapped, and wonders what he will do, knowing only the possibility that will come if he can get Kagome's soul back.
As he's pondering, though, Naraku is on a completely different topic - commanding Kagura to cut off Inuyasha's head. Kagura casually asks if Naraku is taking it with him, like it's an umbrella or something, as Miroku and Shippou gape in anger and shock, respectively. Naraku giggles about his plan to show Inuyasha's head to a certain woman.
Miroku hears a noise to his left and sees the re-approaching crowd of controlled villagers with their farm implements upheld. Naraku tells him that his opponents are the villagers, and invites Miroku to fight as hard as he likes, leaving out the obvious fact that this is just a distraction anyway. Miroku groans with disgust and a little nervousness.
Kagura doesn't wait long to raise her fan and declare she's taking Inuyasha's head without hesitation. She sends a single wind-blade toward his throat, and Shippou shouts Inuyasha's name in desperation. The little guy doesn't leave the big guy's side, even though that huge blade would slice him right in half along with Inuyasha's neck.
But it wasn't meant to be. Some other projectile intercepts the wind-blade mid-air, dissipating it instantly. A confused Kagura wonders what the hell that was. Three guesses.
Her energy is just pretty limited right now. She lowers herself to the ground next to Inuyasha and Shippou, belly-crawling toward the former as the latter says her name. Inuyasha's weak address of Kagome takes a moment for him to croak out, but Kagome is still able to let out a sigh of relief that Inuyasha is still alive. In true canine fashion, he has the spirit of Charlie B. Barkin.
Kagura starts heckling Kanna, accusing her of failing, and asking why Kagome's still moving if her soul had been stolen properly. Naraku gives Kanna a bit of a dirty look as well, but Kanna doesn't answer Kagura's criticisms. She just looks down at her mirror silently, where a light glows from the surface. Naraku reads the wordless reaction pretty well, taking this to mean that the light is actually Kagome's soul OVERFLOWING from the mirror, too massive to be devoured fully.
Kagome has propped herself on one knee in front of Inuyasha's beaten body, bow drawn again, even though her arm is shaking with the effort it requires. Naraku acts rather impressed that she has the strength left to draw her bow. She doesn't give a shit, promising not to forgive him for doing such a horrible thing to Inuyasha. Naraku just scoffs.
As they face off, Kagome strains, eventually coming to see that a light from the Shikon jewel is shining from his chest. What's unbelievable to her is that it's gotten bigger than when she saw it last, so she confronts him about it, asking where he got a shard like that. Inuyasha and Shippou listen with questioning looks as Naraku recalls with irritation that Kagome can see the shards. He takes it from under his collar and holds it out in his palm, asking if Kagome really wants to know who gave it to him.
Kagome gapes in horrific epiphany long before Naraku confirms her suspicions. In fact, while he's looking forward to how soon it will become whole now. Yup, only four hundred chapters left now. Like the blink of an eye. Kagome recalls when Kikyou's Shinidamachuu hovered her over the crack in the earth, Kikyou herself having taken the large Shikon fragment off her at the time. She looks utterly shocked at the notion that Kikyou would give that shard over to Naraku.
Naraku says he doesn't have any idea what Kikyou was thinking by handing the fragment to him either, but...
Naraku chuckles, telling Inuyasha to hate Kikyou if he's going to hate anyone for this. Inuyasha directs his eyes in Naraku's direction, but otherwise remains speechless as Naraku continues to comment on the terrible way in which he was beaten, citing it as a consequence of his enemy's acquisition of this much of the jewel. He's wearing a smug smile, surrounded by his two new offspring.
Kagome makes a noise of disgust and pulls back even harder on her bowstring, spitting that everything he says gives her the fucking creeps. Naraku doesn't say anything in response - he just tells her to go ahead and shoot after a small pause. Inuyasha stutters at her not to shoot, trailing off in a description of what Kanna's mirror will do. Shippou has to finish for him, relaying to Kagome how Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu was bounced back by the reflective power of the mirror. He suggests that an arrow fired could be bounced back as well. Naraku questions whether it's even worth it to fire an arrow for that measly Inuyasha's protection at all, anyway. What a fine, upstanding guy whose opinions are worthy of respect. Cue my eyeroll.
But Kagome isn't at all hesitant about protecting Inuyasha. She's not even worried about the arrows being reflected back at her.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? That image of Inuyasha lying helpless on the ground is just as visceral and horrifying as it was in the last chapter, even though he's conscious in this one. In a way, his consciousness adds another element of hopelessness, because you know he's INCAPABLE of getting up. He has a habit of pushing himself beyond physical limits in situations of serious danger, and he can't even move more than an inch when his head is about to be cut off. He's completely incapacitated here, and it's terrifying.
And yet, this gives Kagome her opportunity to shine, and shine she does. It becomes more clear here than ever before that she and Inuyasha have a deep stubbornness in common, so strong that they will push through the most devastating circumstances in order to protect each other and their friends when everyone else can't fend for themselves. If anyone ever wondered why they're so into one another while also fighting all the time, let this be the answer to your questions - both of them are too stubborn to give up on ANYTHING, people, situations, feelings and arguments alike. They just don't quit. It makes for a little irony too when you realize that Inuyasha left Kagome behind at the house to protect her at the beginning of the arc, only to need protection from her later when she turns out to be an unlikely savior.
One thing I don't get though is Kagome's large soul. Is this part of Japanese folklore? What gives one a massive soul anyway? Is it similar to an old soul in reincarnation parlance, or is it just that her soul has more power behind it? I assume there's a reason other than "everything is bigger in
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