Oh, it's just ONE scar. I'm sure I'll have so many more than that pretty soon. My new kitten Grimalkin is working on it for me. We've only had her for five days so far and she's got her claws in my skin almost constantly now. She doesn't mean to hurt, but she hasn't quite figured out what the appropriate level of force is, and she's already given me some pretty nasty scratches. I'm trying to dissuade her from thinking of my hands as toys, but until such a time that she understands they are not for biting or clawing, she'll undoubtedly be putting a few new marks on me.
Something I'm sure Naraku is popping up to do on purpose right now.
Naraku laughs that Inuyasha did well to make his way here, as if it's not a sign that his attempt to buy time and hide failed miserably. Meanwhile, ground still trembling beneath them, Miroku alerts Inuyasha to the likelihood that this Naraku isn't the real deal. Before Inuyasha can remind Miroku that he has a pretty keen nose, Kouga scoffs that this facsimile is clearly a puppet. Inuyasha turns instead to Naraku to suggest his little marionette is here to give the Shichinin-tai time to escape. Puppet!Naraku just chuckles evilly in response.
Kagome is puzzling over this puppet, though. She's also under the impression it's not the real Naraku, but there's something different about this one. Meanwhile, puppet!Naraku sprouts a ton of veiny tentacles from under the babboon cloak, vowing not to let Inuyasha destroy his undead mercenaries in threat. Inuyasha raises Tessaiga and lunges for the puppet, demanding he get out of the way.
And that's basically all it takes. As puppet!Naraku crumbles to the ground, Kouga leaps forward, running after the already gone Shichinin-tai. Inuyasha yells at him about his obvious attempt to get a head start on the rest of them, but Kouga just twists to holler back that they would just get away if he was as slow and dumb as Inuyasha. Dashing forward, Inuyasha calls for him to wait his ass up, but someone else yells at him to hit the pause button himself.
Inuyasha looks around to where Kagome is kneeling where the puppet!Naraku is lying in pieces, Miroku standing next to her asking if she noticed IT too, while Sango catches up in the background. Inuyasha is still poised to run, but he asks them what their deal is. Kagome tells him that the puppet is strange, somehow CLEAN, to which Inuyasha responds with confusion, questioning what she means by that. She says that it feels the same as Mt. Hakurei, clearly struggling to articulate the striking similarity in the aura of these things. Inuyasha is even more bewildered by the mention of Mt. Hakurei, and goes to kneel next to the pile of dirt that was the puppet himself next to Kagome.
Kouga is running full tilt in the direction the Shichinin-tai left, assuring himself out loud that they couldn't have gone far and won't get away. He crashes right into that Mt. Hakurei invisible wall, groaning as it crackles around him. Kouga takes a step back and curses, in disbelief over this barrier he's encountered. I guess they haven't been introduced yet. Kouga, meet this arc's hazy obstacle.
Closer to the mountain, someone (likely Jakotsu) remarks to Bankotsu that they can see Mt. Hakurei now. Indeed, as they continue to approach, Jakotsu asks what's up with this atmosphere, complaining that, just like the last time they were through, this place feels shitty. Bankotsu suggests that the barrier has been strengthened, saying that Kouga and Inuyasha shouldn't be able to follow them in. Jakotsu is still bummed, though, whining that it's intense enough for them being in here, though they're human. In name only, I might add, but that's neither here nor there.
A shape appears out of the fog, coming toward them. Bankotsu judges by the figure coming to meet them that they won't have to get too terribly close to the base of the mountain.
Kanna! My girl! How's it going?
Probably same ol', same ol', knowing her, lol.
It's not just Kanna, either, but Kohaku joins her, addressing Bankotsu. Bankotsu returns his greeting, asking who the white kid is. As Kohaku gives a very minimal introduction, Kanna lifts her mirror wordlessly for the Shichinin-tai to see.
Cute framing, Kanna. Which also kind of makes this strange, because when Jakotsu leans in and identifies this as the guy who killed Mukotsu with surprise, Kohaku informs them that Sesshoumaru is Inuyasha's elder brother and he needs to be murdered like the others. Why is the baby girl included in this picture to the point where it's not even centered on the primary subject of Sesshoumaru? Kanna putting a hit out on Rin too? She jealous of the minimal paternal affection that can't be gotten from Naraku?
Bankotsu is unimpressed, asked for MORE than just these orders. When Kohaku doesn't offer up any additional juicy bits, Bankotsu gets right in his face and presses the frustration he has that this is all Kohaku's got after dragging them all the way over here, since they were right in the middle of a battle with Inuyasha. Real "this could have been in an email" energy here. Kanna responds that he would have gotten killed if he'd continued to fight as he was, implying that's the real reason they were drawn away from the battle. Bankotsu gives her a questioning noise, so she SLIGHTLY elaborates that his halberd can't beat Tessaiga. He twitches in continued annoyance.
Yes, that's him stabbing the ground at her feet with his planet-sized blade like he's trying to intimidate her. Because Kanna don't give a shit, this of course gets nothing but a blank stare.
He indicates the crack on the flat of the blade that he made sure was pointing at her, asking if THIS little thing is what she's talking about. He tries to claim it's nothing, but I seem to recall him thinking enough of it to piss and moan a little when it happened. Kanna passes her palm over the crack and says vaguely that the sword can become even stronger, then looks up expectantly at Renkotsu perched on Ginkotsu's tread. Bankotsu utters another confused noise at first, but has a quick epiphany about what she's putting down.
Bankotsu calls to Renkotsu to fork them over, alerting him that his secret is out. Renkotsu tries to play dumb after a short pause, but Bankotsu points Banryuu at Renkotsu's neck, spelling out that he knows Renkotsu has been hiding the Shikon shards he took from Kagome. He suggests that they can just cut the shard in Renkotsu's neck out right now if he doesn't want to cooperate. Another pause as Renkotsu sweats, and then Renkotsu reaches under his collar to retrieve what Bankotsu is asking for. He asked Bankotsu not to be mad, insisting that he INTENDED to hand them over.
Are we sure he's a "big brother" so much as a "daddy" in this context? Not in a kinky way, either, just a weird creepy way.
Bankotsu warns Renkotsu not to think he'll get a second chance, to which Renkotsu responds with another slight pause, then an affirmative. All these ellipses in Renkotsu's speech bubbles should be a red flag to Bankotsu if you ask me. Bankotsu is ready to move on, though, getting down to business by addressing Suikotsu and taking a moment to consider a partner for him. He settles on Jakotsu, ordering the two of them to go and finish off this Sesshoumaru dude. Jakotsu immediately protests, and when Bankotsu asks if he doesn't LIKE those lady-killer types, Jakotsu cannot emphasize ENOUGH that it's Inuyasha he likes.
As he crushes the tiny bottle holding the Shikon shards in his palm over-dramatically, Bankotsu tells Jakotsu his love is unrequited and to deal with it. Then he slaps that same palm over the crack in his sword, the Shikon fragments deposited inside healing up the "wound" in seconds with a glow. Kohaku says he knows which direction Inuyasha is coming from.
Ugh, he REALLY thinks that phrase makes him sound cool, doesn't he? Where's Regina George when you need her?
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm not quite sure how to feel about puppet!Naraku being defeated so easily here. On the one hand, we've already gotten a battle in the last couple of chapters and another protracted one with something they know isn't even Naraku himself is probably not productive. Also, I don't think Inuyasha has faced a puppet!Naraku for some time, and he's gotten the ability to do Kaze no Kizu at will now, so it might make some sense that it could be easier to defeat now just by default.
On the other hand, I don't know if I buy that Naraku wouldn't beef up his distraction just a little, in order to ENSURE that the Shichinin-tai was well out of range by the time Inuyasha and company finished dealing with it. The last time he encountered his sworn enemy, he VASTLY underestimated what Inuyasha was capable of, and it caused him to fall back on disappearing entirely to regroup. His lack of erring on the side of caution in this instance doesn't make a lot of character sense, and I strikes me as just a convenient way for RT to re-introduce Naraku without having to commit to another battle directly on the tail of another. It's not terrible, but it IS a little awkward in my opinion.
It's a little MORE awkward what RT is probably doing with Sesshoumaru and Rin's image in Kanna's mirror. Again, Sesshoumaru's not even in the center of the frame, ROOM is made not just to include Rin but FEATURE her when Jaken is EXCLUDED entirely. I think this was a ham-handed attempt to present Sesshoumaru with visual shorthand as a protector and guardian for an innocent, essentially revamp his image as more "wholesome" than it was. I'm a little iffy on this, because Sesshoumaru as a character has done virtually NOTHING to atone for/make better some of his more egregious actions in the past, so he's essentially getting this shiny new good-guy image for free. Don't get me wrong, Sesshoumaru is one of my favorites in this manga, and he's the embodiment of one of my favorite found-family tropes ever: the emotionally guarded adoptive father of a cute little girl (seriously, this shit is like a healing salve on my weary soul, I love it so much). But I can also acknowledge that Sesshoumaru is NOT a good guy in any sense, and he isn't exactly in a position to be reframed as such. The implication that he is here is a bit eye-twitch worthy, for me. It doesn't feel EARNED.
And finally, this tension between Bankotsu and Renkotsu is curious, because I'm not sure where it's coming from? Was Renkotsu always a little adversarial to his leader, even before their first death and resurrection? If not, what has caused him to start his insubordination? Does his wariness and the shocking lack of it on Bankotsu's part sparked a bit of a disagreement on how the team should be lead? Is Renkotsu's distrust of Naraku born out of the betrayal that got them beheaded in the first place, and he wants to be more cautious this second time around? I don't recall if any of these questions were ever answered, and I don't think there was much discussion regarding their dynamics BEFORE their deaths in the text. My closer reading this time around HAS got me asking a lot of questions that were probably not meant to be asked, though, knowing RT's lack of depth in her world building.
We shall see, I suppose.
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