Like my love of the library? I recently went there to read the last few pages of The Two Towers in the LotR series - for some reason those pages were all shredded in MY copy - and though they didn't have a physical book there for me to peruse, they did introduce me to the Libby app for my phone. When I tell you my mind was blown... Not only can I check out my library system's e-books without ANYWHERE at ANY TIME, but they also have audio books available for check out too! My husband has been voraciously consuming audio books on his commute to and from work, and I've checked out a couple of titles I've really wanted to read for an awful long time. It's the actual best, and I can't believe no one TOLD me!
I've in turn been telling everyone everywhere ever since I learned, so hopefully I reach a few people who were also in the dark like me. All you need is a library card!
But I didn't sprout tentacles and trap my (nonexistent) enemies in my body at this minor rebirth of mine, so I suppose it's not all that similar to the one talked about in this chapter.
Naraku praises Inuyasha and company for getting this far, as though his body is some kind of weird game show challenge. Which, from what I hear of Japanese game shows, actually wouldn't be too out of place. He does follow up that they didn't do quite well enough, because they're too late, and it's all over for them. Inuyasha questions that last statement, before rejecting it outright with a scoff and declaration that it's a load of bullshit. He says he'll tell Naraku when it's over - when he rips out this hentai freak's throat.
Sango and Miroku fly by on Kirara, Sango having already thrown Hiraikotsu, after which she yells at Naraku to prepare to die. Naraku scoffs himself, even as the giant boomerang slices through one of the many tentacles/intestines throughout the massive cavern. The tentacle spews a load of acid everywhere, melting the wall of his own stomach (????) just about Miroku, Sango, and Kirara's heads, much to their alarm.
That certainly backfired, didn't it?
Shippou and Kagome call out to each other in distress while Shippou is squeezed by another tentacle, and he is forced to pop back into his normal shape and size by its firm hold. Inuyasha yells Kagome's name, straining against his own tentacle bonds, and Naraku chuckles at him darkly, as always, calling him foolish. He asks if Inuyasha doesn't GET IT yet, elaborating the obvious fact that the whole of the mountain is his body now.
Yeah, I don't think anyone was in doubt about that, dude. Pretty obvious. And yet he feels the need to further explain that all these "worms" are in his body. Surprised he doesn't make a note here to go out to the feed supply store later and grab some dewormer. Sango looks even more disgusted by the walls of flesh, now that it's official that they're Naraku's, directing a cringing expression at where the tentacle is coiled around her middle. Miroku sweats in silent distress, but he doesn't look any happier about it.
Eyes watering, Shippou looks up from Kagome's arms at her and asks if this means that they really will be eaten like Kouga. This news of Kouga being consumed hits Inuyasha with some horrified disbelief, as Naraku laughs that they shouldn't be so conceited. He says there's no value in eating them - a weak little youkai (a phrase that Shippou bristles at in offense, asking if it means him), a measly hanyou like Inuyasha (who doesn't respond to the insult because he's too cool to care really)...
I don't know, man, I continue to be very suspicious of the claim that Bankotsu was ever a human.
Inuyasha and Sango both from their respective bounds utter Bankotsu's name in alarm, while Miroku observes that he's actually dead now, tinged with some disbelief. Naraku giggles about how shocking it is indeed just how foolish humans are - even the criminal Bankotsu hung around this mountain to avenge his comrades and ultimately got GOT by Inuyasha. Inuyasha himself looks highly affronted that his win against Bankotsu is being spun in such a weird way. Naraku continues by suggesting that Bankotsu could have just run away once he had all seven of those Shikon shards Naraku handed him for the resurrection of the Shichinin-tai, and forgotten about revenge. He leaves dangling a statement about what happened instead, because the result IS right in front of them all on display.
I'm not usually laughing when I feel sick, man, I think you're experiencing another thing altogether. Insipid smugness, maybe?
Anyway, as Inuyasha watches Bankotsu's bones fall apart and tumble off Naraku's tentacle, he looks utterly scandalized now. He yells at Naraku that he's a bastard, but this, we already knew. Naraku asks what Inuyasha is so pissed about, since HE'S the one who killed Bankotsu in the first place. I don't know, perhaps it's your nasty habit of pretending that it's everyone else's fault when you take advantage of them and their relationships toward others. Just a guess.
Naraku raises another tentacle and jabs Inuyasha in the chest with it, and for a moment it looks like Inuyasha's gotten run through. Kagome and Shippou watch in impotent horror, the former yelling his name. But when the tentacle pulls back again, it appears that Inuyasha's clothes are the only thing damaged; Naraku's curling appendage has ripped the Shikon fragments from under his collar.
Like he's being offered an after-dinner mint or something.
The Shikon shards around him all pinwheel together an fuse, right where Naraku's chest should be, emitting a bright light as little bits of stray flesh start to gravitate towards that clearly defined center. Inuyasha strains against his bonds, but he's also keeping an irritated eye on the little transformative show Naraku's putting on.
... So, you thought putting one of the most vulnerable parts of ANY living being right smack dab in the middle of your chest was a good idea, huh Naraku?
The new bod seems to be impressing Miroku and Sango, though, who gape in horrified awe while it continues to accrue the last of its meaty bits in a big glowing sphere. Inuyasha looks nothing but frustrated on the edge of the panel, however. Naraku chuckles at these cretins who hate him so much, taunting them for managing to get this far and being completely unable to lay a finger on him. Inuyasha clenches his teeth, but he scoffs, calling this whole show a disappointment, having been wondering for a while now what sort of incredible monster Naraku had become after holing himself up in the sacred barrier so carefully.
A boy after my own heart, but Miroku thinks we're both wrong, blurting that Naraku's youki has gotten an incomparable amount stronger than before. He's sweating bullets too, so you know shit is bad. Inuyasha is dismissive about this "youki" argument, insisting that Miroku must be kidding. He finally tears through the tentacle binding him with his claws and bursts from it, declaring that Naraku's twisted ego and confidence just got a whole lot worse is all. He draws Tessaiga.
Not that it's going to matter too much. The Kaze no Kizu rushes toward Naraku in his bubble of light, and he's not looking the least bit nervous. He scoffs that Inuyasha is a fool again, and says that the attack he made himself will end up killing his friends, smirking. The blow seems to bend and warp unnaturally.
Some kind of bullshit, no doubt.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Naraku is WAY cooler when he's just a face peering out of an endless void. The moment he opens his mouth in this one he does that thing where he says a lot without SAYING anything, if you know what I mean. Mostly it was just obvious rage-fuel about how everyone is way dumber than he is and they were all going to die because they're all stupid and sentimental. I can't necessarily blame Inuyasha for falling for it, given that the understandable impulse is to try and throw some of the shade back just to prove how unaffected you are by an gloating windbag in a MUCH better position, but it's still pretty cheap.
Especially considering how... iffy Naraku's new design is. It follows that "slightly wrong" aesthetic that the youkai in this story tend to exhibit, but in a way that is very "2000's JRPG boss". While the eye on his chest forming around his chunk of the Shikon no Tama makes a certain amount of sense, it's also an EYE, and a very large one at that. It's no spoiler to state that this thing has nothing whatsoever to do with his eventual downfall, so the fact that something that is USUALLY a big target in game design has literally no purpose other than mild creepiness here is just a tad irritating to me.
Nice overcoat though, I guess. *shrug*
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