The big three-zero-zero! We're a bit past the halfway point for this manga, but this is the moment I really FEEL that I'm over the hump. It's a little bit of a mean way to put that, especially because I am thoroughly enjoying myself rereading one of my favorite stories, but it's undeniable that the thing is being stretched at this point. This blog is already going on nine years and I'm afraid I'm going to need another nine years after that to get to the end of it! Dammit Inuyasha, why did you have to be popular enough that publishers and editors kept pushing for you to extend beyond a natural expiration date?
Must be how pretty you are. Impressive color on the opening of this one for the milestone.
When Mr. Ponytail deadpans that Inuyasha should become one of the dead by his and Mr. Man-bun's hands, Inuyasha scoffs that these guys are simpletons who have only one idea in their dense rock brains. He leaps up and out of the way of another blow from a spear, and while Mr. Ponytail is still bent over from lunging for the stab, Inuyasha jumps down on his neck, Tessaiga raised over his head. He brings it down on Mr. Ponytail's back, but the sword just sings and vibrates from the violent contact, and Inuyasha silently curses, complaining that the stone man didn't even chip.
Mr. Man-bun's crescent spear speeds at him out of his periphery.
Don't you just LOVE it when getting your ass kicked is a spectator sport?
Mr. Ponytail is upright again, and says they told him before, setting it up for Mr. Man-bun to repeat that they cannot be cut by weapons of the living world. Louder for the ones in the back, please! Meanwhile, Inuyasha's still getting pressed into the rock wall behind him, the only thing keeping him from getting sliced in half by the crescent spear being the width of Tessaiga. Very concerning. He groans out a curse.
Miroku is already standing ahead of the rest of the gang and ripping the beads off his Kazaana, suggesting this might work where a sword won't.
Not a half-bad idea, I guess. But mostly what Miroku gets are the stone skulls and other rocks lying strewn in the cave, and Gozu and Mezu look around at him with a kind of annoyed glare as he struggles to vacuum everything AROUND them up. Mr. Ponytail turns and thrusts his spear down at Miroku, who has to leap back to avoid it, stumbling but still holding out his Kazaana. Mr. Ponytail asks Miroku is HE wants to pass the gateway as well, not looking the least bothered by the force sucking in the rest of the cave's contents. The girls and Shippou are in shocked disbelief that the Kazaana isn't working either, because it's track record has never been... disappointing at all, lol.
While the power of Miroku's Kazaana pulls at him from behind Mr. Man-bun's crescent blade, he seems to get an epiphany, and encourages Miroku to keep the Kazaana open just like he has it, pushing off from the wall with his feet.
Mr. Ponytail's going down again, face first. Miroku wraps the sealing beads back around his fist to close up the Kazaana, AGAIN wondering if the giant stone man impervious to harm from mortal weapons has been got. Dude, have you been paying NO attention this whole time??? Kagome runs forward now that the Kazaana is closed, yelling Inuyasha's name in concern. Inuyasha admits that he just knocked Mr. Ponytail down, and cringes backward when a giant elbow raises and Mr. Ponytail starts to push himself back up. Inuyasha sweatdrops over the fact that he can't even do much damage using the force of the Kazaana.
Myouga hops back onto Inuyasha's shoulder, calling his name, and Inuyasha expresses some more surprise that Myouga hasn't already disappeared from this dangerous situation yet. Myouga brushes past the insult to his character (as a genuine coward, mind you), and tells him in no uncertain terms that he has to return Gozu and Mezu to their inanimate states, which will only happen once the gate has opened and closed again. He says it's a long shot, but...
With this hot tip dropped, Myouga hops in the opposite direction, calling in his wake that he's off for sure now, Inuyasha and Miroku looking over their shoulders at him with minimal exasperation. Running is, after all, what Myouga does, so when Miroku points out this fact, there's no amazement or disbelief attached to it.
Meanwhile, Gozu and Mezu are stomping towards them once again, slow but steady. Inuyasha admits Myouga is right, and that breaking the chain across the closed gate seems like the best course of action, and it would be killing two birds with one stone. Or, two stones with one... sword aimed at an entirely different target? Doesn't translate well.
Tessaiga pulses and changes color - Inuyasha calling for the barrier-breaking RED Tessaiga to help him out with this. He swings with a yell, aiming right between the oncoming moving statues, and the attack strikes the rattling chains on the door in crackling energetic conflict.
Inuyasha barely has enough time to marvel at the fact that he performed this feat with somewhat low effort when he has to leap out of the way of a couple crescent wind blades aimed at him. That's right, our girl Kagura is flying in with an army of minor youkai, congratulating Inuyasha on his nice work and declaring she's going in ahead of him. Inuyasha barks at her in a rage, demanding this bitch fucking WAIT. Inuyasha will NOT tolerate doing all the work and having someone else reap the benefits, even though it was pretty obvious this was where all this was heading.
As the demon horde approaches the newly unchained doors, they begin to glow. Suspiciously.
Yeah, this is probz a bad sign.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I love that Hakudoushi's plan was to literally race Inuyasha and company to the open door, lol! This is the level of evil genius we're dealing with here, and it's glorious in the most underwhelming way. Speaking of underwhelming genius, I do find the solution to getting Gozu and Mezu to stop attacking a little on the contrived side. On its face it seems somewhat clever, until you start to wonder with the chain across the doors wouldn't ALSO be impervious to mortal weapons. It just strikes me as odd that the chain is... a regular chain, especially when we know that there are youkai who can create enchanted items that can entirely bypass Gozu and Mezu in the first place. What use ARE Gozu and Mezu if it's this easy to just trick them into turning to stone again??
But it's pretty funny that Myouga hung around in the midst of danger JUST long enough to give Inuyasha this sweet hack for opening the door, and THEN bailed. I can't tell if he's capable of actually being brave enough to stick out the whole battle and is trolling Inuyasha and crew, or if he's magically compelled to give out advice to Inuyasha as a condition of being a vassal and HAS to stay until he can be of some use. I feel like if he COULD have left before he was helpful he WOULD have, given how he's been characterized thus far, so I'm leaning toward the latter, but either way is a little amusing. If he actually can resist the urge to run and just doesn't, that could be interpreted as a SAVAGE insult, lol.
And Miroku's Kazaana continuing to be more toothless than you would THINK it could so our heroes don't fuck up the line between life and death too badly. Writing that level of order disruption would probably require a bit more world-building than RT can commit to.
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