Inuyasha Manga: 303 The Three-Pronged Halberd

I associate that kind of weapon with Neptune or sea gods of some sort, so this is just making me want to read about THEM instead. Or maybe watch The Little Mermaid. Engage with anything that isn't going to frustrate me about how the tool is being carried around or used at the behest of someone who so obviously SHOULD NOT BE TRUSTED. I mean, Abi really must be living on a completely different planet mentally in order to not have a single concern about what letting a stranger who has vague unstated interests in her business might be capable of in the future. There's overconfidence in one's ability to just murder anyone who double-crosses you, there's arrogance, and then there's THIS.

I swear, RT must have gotten some kind of reprimand or letter warning her not to get too gorey with defeating the female villains right before the Shichinin-tai arc or something.

Abi looks pretty amused by the suggestion that he's going to rip her apart, "reluctant" as the threat might be, and tells him not to make her laugh through a big fanged grin. She yells that Inuyasha is the same as Naraku - a hanyou - looking significantly less tickled by this thing Naraku and Inuyasha have in common. She swipes her bird talons in a great arc across her chest, which seems to direct a deluge of flames at the group below, and has decided to now express peak annoyance that she, the great Abi-hime, has been dragged into a little spat between lowly hanyou. 

Well, at least she can say she's hotter than anyone else here. 

A smattering of village men nearby gape at the flames engulfing their houses and the ground, stuttering that they're going to die in a defeatist way. Inuyasha calls to his friends to make sure the villagers are evacuated from the area, but Abi turns to order her lizard-birds not to let even ONE of them escape, and to suck up ALL that nutritious blood. The flock flaps to act on their instructions, and Inuyasha directs a Kaze no Kizu at them, wiping a good section of them out with a single blast. 

In the residual wind of the attack, Abi is alarmed, wondering who this hanyou is whose power she has underestimated a bit. Meanwhile, that one bird that was holding the spear Naraku gave Abi in the last chapter flies awkwardly over, some kind of light and swirling energy emitting from it. 

That's it. I've had it with these mother fucking barriers in this mother fucking comic!

Somehow, our main characters are much more shocked than angry like I am, gaping up at their unharmed enemy in that familiar bubble. Miroku, dumbfounded, is in disbelief that the Kaze no Kizu has been repelled, and he's supposed to be the smart one, I must remind everyone. Abi's hands has returned to a human shape and one of them is held out toward the halberd, her own confusion over the fact that it having erected a barrier apparent. At least SHE hasn't seen this a million times before and has an excuse. She recalls how Naraku told her that the weapon was made from his bones, and guesses that Naraku gave it to her so she'd be able to fight the hanyou below. 

Grabbing the halberd, she fucks off in the opposite direction, completely disregarding collecting the blood she was so LITERALLY on fire to collect just a few moments ago. Inuyasha runs after her, yelling at her to wait up, but she's already disappeared in a flicker of flame in the sky. Miroku, ever the Captain Obvious that he is, observes that she's escaped, Inuyasha swearing in response. Kagome asks for confirmation that "Abi-Hime" was what the bird mistress had called herself, but it doesn't seem to be a particularly important question anyone is really considering.

In the daylight, Inuyasha and company hang out in a small building, though it's doubtful it's anywhere in the village that was burning to cinders the night before. I think they would probably be crowded in with the villagers who rightfully needed it for the precious little shelter they had left if that were the case. Sango is saying that while Abi seems to be connected with Naraku, she also doesn't feel that the bird mistress was an agent of Naraku's, I'm guessing in the sense that she's one of his "incarnations". Miroku is on a roll with his mundane observations today - he says Naraku is probably trying to use this Abi person. Great contribution to the conversation, buddy. But Inuyasha seems to appreciate it, at least, since he adds that it's for some objective. I suppose he's glad not to be the only one being made to look dumb for once. 

Why would she be going out of her way to do a favor specifically for a guy who she thinks is dragging her into the conflict between you two? Come on, be serious. 

Miroku states that Naraku should be trying to get between the border between the worlds in order to get that Shikon shard in there, and Kagome is the one to draw the connection between collecting the human blood and getting to the border, though she seems hesitant about it. Inuyasha wonders if there aren't any other possibilities, and is unsure what kind of path this would be. The literal road to Hell is paved with... human blood?

Narrow sky transition panel! Next to the rustling treetops of a nearby forest, little Rin is squatted in a patch of flowers, chatting at Jaken about how boring it is to be staying put again. Jaken agrees, with a sigh, and just when I think they're commiserating properly, he glares over at her collecting a tiny bouquet and thinks about how he'd be able to go wherever Sesshoumaru was if he didn't have to sit and watch the brat. Somehow, I DOUBT that Sesshoumaru wouldn't have to just go off by himself every once in a while, even if Jaken was his only companion. 

A sudden gust of wind descends on them from above, causing both Jaken and Rin to look up, the former humming in question. The former also tumbles head over heels as the gust grows stronger on its way down, shouting in alarm. Rin covers her face with her arm, hair blown back, eyes squeezed shut.

Kidnapping 2.0?

Reasonably concerned that it might be, Rin scampers on hands and knees behind Jaken, crying out to him in fear. Jaken stutters Kagura's name, not exactly calm about this visit either, but he bravely brandishes the Nintoujou at her anyway, demanding to know if she's here to grab Rin again. Kagura makes a questioning noise, and seems to only remember that she actually did do that at a certain point RIGHT NOW. How bad is this girl's memory? Jaken yells that she's shameless as she looks around and asks if Sesshoumaru isn't there. Jaken calls her a moron and yells at her that if Sesshoumaru HAD been here, her head would already be separated from her neck. Entirely fair. 

After a lengthy pause, Kagura turns around and pulls a feather from her hair, muttering that she supposes that's true. In another moment, she's ascending into the sky, Jaken and Rin looking at her with distrust and SUPREME puzzlement at the same time. Rin gapes, stating the obvious that Kagura is gone, and Jaken wonders aloud what exactly she came there for.

The one other time you've brought a gift didn't go over too well either, if you'll recall. 

Kagura DOES remember that she couldn't kill Hakudoushi with her wind blades, and she's convinced both he AND Naraku are going to have to die in order for her to gain her freedom. Suddenly, something occurs to her and she recalls the time the baby she was carrying around got split in half, and how Kanna had come and collected one of the halves, saying that it might actually have been better for this to happen. Kagura is starting to wonder if Kanna's half of the baby has some role to play for Naraku as well, coming to the conclusion that it must. Surprising that she wouldn't have figured that out before now, but I guess she HAS had a lot to deal with in the meantime. Kagura further reasons that it has to be a role that is WAY more important than Hakudoushi's, because Kanna took it, in whom Naraku has leagues more trust than he has in Kagura. Rightfully, if we're being honest. At last, Kagura is convinced that there is some kind of secret involving that other half of infant, and speculates on if it might be significant enough to wipe out Naraku. 

Ooooh, I wish I could still cross my fingers for her sake.

Narrow night sky transition panel to the roof of what looks like a pretty large house. A group of people, three women and an old man, surround where a woman is laying on a futon, asking what's going on. Everyone remains silent, and looks pretty uneasy. This next part is pretty rough, fair warning.

Understandably, the woman sits up in a panic, and asks if that means her baby is dead, something the old man regrettably has to admit is so, clarifying that the child was dead before he was even born. She lifts her hand to her mouth and her eyes fill with tears as she stutters an ineffectual "no" to this horrible reality. As she lays back down to sob into her pillow, the woman immediately at her side cries along with her, offering her sympathies for this heartrending situation. 

It's already a severely tragic scene, but then the older woman sitting next to the futon suddenly freezes, her expression becoming blank in a second. She and the others sitting around the lady of the house collapse, light vapor rising from their gaping mouths, and the lady is even further alarmed by their incapacitation. She lifts her shoulders to peer through the semi-darkness of the room, too shocked and scared to cry anymore. She sees the pale little form of Kanna holding out her mirror, beyond the pushed-over door, the mirror still sucking up the spirits of the help. 

For real??? The worst day of this woman's life, and Naraku is basically manipulating her into being a wet nurse for his little hellspawn? FUCK THIS GUY. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It appears that the line of logic that the characters are engaging in is more solid - Inuyasha and company know that Naraku's first priority is probably to collect that Shikon shard on the border between this world and the next and therefore tentatively conclude that helping Abi get all this human blood is in service to that goal. Likewise, Kagura knows that Kanna is more in Naraku's good graces than herself, and therefore can surmise that the half of Shnooky her sister collected was a bit more important than Hakudoushi to whatever plans Naraku has going, but is still unsure as to whether this other half of the infant is so crucial as to bring Naraku down. Compared to some of the leaps in logic that the characters made earlier in the series (and RECENTLY too), this is DEFINITELY an improvement, because they are clearly working from information they already have instead of the secret shit they shouldn't. The writing indicates a little bit of uncertainty too, which is appreciated when characters are drawing incomplete conjectures. 

I'm also thankful that the stillborn child was treated with the gravity that the situation deserves and everyone seems to have an appropriate reaction. It does raise several questions for me, though. Did Naraku somehow know the child would be stillborn and chose to install his infant in his place accordingly? Did he CAUSE the stillbirth with miasma or some such thing so he could use this noblewoman as an appropriately posh sheltering figure for his demon spawn? And, most importantly, what is the OBJECT of putting the modified Shnooky in a noble human household? He is, after all, co-opting another youkai's campaign to gather all the human blood in the area. Wouldn't that put Shnooky in some amount of danger? It seems like it at least would create an extra variable with which Naraku can be fucked with, and that appears just a tad counterproductive. 

Not that Naraku hasn't done plenty of counterproductive nonsense before. It really is by the grace of RT's publishers that his stupid ass hasn't been obliterated yet.