Is there anything that can happen at this point in the arc that could be "unexpected"? All this seems to be going in a pretty concrete direction, so there's VERY little that could occur that would surprise me. Unless Renkotsu succeeds in his coup attempt, Jakotsu starts flogging himself for being so abusive toward Inuyasha, Bankotsu retires from the murder-for-hire business to carve driftwood figurines, or Inuyasha up and DIES crying in Jakotsu's arms, I probably won't come close to feeling any kind of shock about what transpires. I'll still be entertained, mind, just not floored.
Jakotsu assures him that he won't die soon, since he'd really like to caress him for a while first. Gag me with a spoon. Inuyasha's response is a scoff, though, and with a flash from below, it becomes clear why. The moment Jakotsu got close enough, he drew Tessaiga and swung it up and around, narrowly missing Jakotsu's face, but giving a few of his bangs a trim. Somehow, Inuyasha's slash also managed to nick Jakotsu's neck a bit, and Jakotsu acknowledges quietly that it was awfully close one, to the Shikon shard in his throat that Inuyasha is clearly after, of course.
Inuyasha has struck a defensive stance again, Tessaiga held up in front of him at the ready, as he snarls between clenched teeth that he doesn't have time to play with Jakotsu.
Jakotsu just scoffs back at him for threatening him with that blunt sword. Nope, phrasing is no longer an option, clearly.
I mean, this doesn't necessarily mean he's not scared. Just that his "fight" response has been activated.
As Inuyasha collapses on the ground, Jakotsu steps on Tessaiga, that Inuyasha dropped in his agony. Inuyasha winces when Jakotsu seizes a handful of his hair at his scalp and yanks his head up toward his face - he leans down to meet the much weakened Inuyasha at his level so he can tell him not to pass out, because he STILL wants to see Inuyasha cry. Inuyasha's head just lolls while he hovers on the edge of unconsciousness, knowing he's lost too much blood, so he wasn't even able to do something when Jakotsu got close like he'd planned. He is majorly FUCKED.
Narrow MIST transition panel, our new favorite! Miroku is still kneeling from being tossed backward by Hakushin-Shounin's personal barrier, Sango standing defensively behind him. Hakushin-Shounin calls Miroku a mere novice whose powers are too weak to break his barrier. Miroku raises his cursed fist, acknowledging that this is evidently so, which means...
Sango gapes in alarm as Miroku continues to aim his Kazaana at Hakushin-Shounin, who has been a little obscured behind the barrier that has become opaque with ripples and arcs of electrical energy. The mummy-man sits still behind this barrier, possibly because he can't really move that rigor mortis-ed body. Miroku is in disbelief that Hakushin-Shounin seems to be resisting the curse in his hand.
But it's only a couple more panels before that resistance goes from Hakushin-Shounin's clothing being tugged toward Miroku's Kazaana, to the beads in his own hand crackling and being tugged as well, to the whole strand snapping and the bead scattering to the roaring wind.
There goes that elaborate gilded temple. What a shame.
Sango seems a little shocked that the barrier has been broken, so I guess we know how much faith she had in Miroku's forceful technique here, lol. Almost immediately, a swarm of familiar insects appears in the sky around all the flying debris. Sango identifies them as the saimyoushou in warning, and Miroku wraps his own magic beads around him right hand accordingly, cursing.
Aw, but don't worry buddy, it seems you got the job done regardless of not vacuuming up EVERYTHING in the area. The aura surrounding Mt. Hakurei swirls, and then, with a whoosh...
She notes that the power of the sacred grounds is weakening as she pushes herself up to her feet with her bow. As she's looking at the mountain, what looks like a little lens-flare flies off of it, wavering a little. This alarms her, and she interprets it as something ESCAPING the big hunk of rock.
Another narrow transition panel brings us back to the cave, where Renkotsu is still lurking around a bend from Inuyasha and Jakotsu's little drama. He notices that there's a bit of a rustle happening farther in the cave system, and identifies it as the youkai in there starting to make a disturbance. In the branch right next to Jakotsu, still holding up Inuyasha's head by his hair, there are a multitude of glowing eyes that have appeared there, and Jakotsu hums at them in question.
A few of the youkai slither out of the cave, further confusing Jakotsu, who knows that they should have been confined to the interior of the mountain by the barrier. Then he looks down at Inuyasha, from which a stir of power has emanated. Inuyasha's teeth and nails grow to a point again, his hair turning white, and he scoffs out his friends' names whom he was looking for on the mountain in the first place. He thinks about how he intended to come save Miroku and Sango, but they ended up saving him instead. He feels he can tentatively assume that they're safe after all.
Well THIS assumption, at least, is fair.
As the youkai fly over and past them, Jakotsu makes the mundane observation that Inuyasha's own youki has returned to him. Inuyasha scoffs again, calling Jakotsu an idiot for not finishing him off quickly, and assuring him that it'll cost him his life. Jakotsu retorts that he couldn't help it, because he only gets "stimulation" when he takes his time cutting up pretty little victims like Inuyasha. He's also not too concerned about dying, as he's already done it once. He says it's already a huge bonus that he got to come back and meet a cute guy like Inuyasha.
Yup, "phrasing is definitely done and over with, because Jakotsu doesn't take the bait laid out right in front of him. To be fair, this might be because of the noise from the exiting youkai Jakotsu comments on, seeing this as a sign that the fun has ended after all. He gives Inuyasha a sultry look and promises to take his dog ears as a memento. Jakotsu adds that he'll take the whole head as well, swinging his blades out once more. Inuyasha meets the lash head on, calling Jakotsu "impudent".
If you keep walking into attacks, Inuyasha, it won't matter WHICH form you're in.
The blades are all wrapped and tangled around Inuyasha, and Jakotsu laughs that he'll be in pieces the moment the sword is pulled back. Assuming he's got this one in the bag, he wishes Inuyasha farewell, telling him that he's the all-time favorite of all his kills. Even as the blades start to dig back in and more blood spurts from around Inuyasha, he calls Jakotsu a fool now, reminding him that he's not the way he was before.
Guess being anemic gave him an extra boost somehow? Weird.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? From Inuyasha's lines, it seems like the title refers to his attitude about the events. Obviously none of this is particularly surprising to the reader, and not just because it's me, and this is my fourth read-through of the story. The reader has a wider view than any of the characters, and there's no having to imagine where Miroku and Sango are or how they're doing. Since the entire reason Inuyasha journeyed into the barrier was because of how concerned he and Kagome were for how long their friends were in there, it makes sense that he would be a little pleasantly surprised that they were okay and kicking the ass that he can't quite manage at the moment.
I am very slightly disappointed by the end of this chapter. It's another of those classic rushed conclusions to fights that RT does when she's got to move the fuck on for whatever reason. I would have preferred a more clever move to round out the end of Jakotsu, especially considering his attempt toward the beginning to trick Jakotsu into getting a little too close. He's pulled some pretty sly and interesting battle maneuvers before, so it should have been possible. But the next stage of the arc is coming up fast, and I imagine that RT was a little rushed at the end of this one.
After all, any more panels dedicated to Inuyasha properly finishing up this conflict would cut into Jakotsu's overly-dramatic pouting in the next chapter. And how could we live without THAT?
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