Could you not, Chapter? I feel like we're all just constantly trying to prove our worth all the time in various ways our whole lives, and to the people who are least qualified to judge us to boot. Between applying for jobs that our interviewers wouldn't begin to know how to do, to chasing constantly changing ideals of beauty and sexual appeal, to being assigned impossible means testing by our overly comfortable legislators, our worth is perpetually being tested over and over with no time to rest. Let's have at least one little pocket of our existences where we're not having to deal with that, please.
I mean, who's even CAPABLE of living up to THIS standard anyway???
The blast Sesshoumaru fires off above hits Naraku's barrier, but beyond warping it a little, not much is accomplished with it. Naraku scoffs, saying Inuyasha was easier to handle, but he's not impressed if this is all Sesshoumaru can manage. Sesshoumaru doesn't respond, possibly because it's hard to refute that he's not having much of an impact so far.
Below in the mouth of the hole in the armor of the Dog Father, Miroku and Sango gape up at the building conflict, the former worrying silently about how even Sesshoumaru's attack is unable to hurt Naraku at this point. Meanwhile, Inuyasha and Kagome are sitting in front of Housenki's head, listening to his account of what will happen before long at this rate: the Shikon fragment he brought with him here will be absorbed into the whole polluted jewel. Inuyasha scoffs that he KNOWS this already.
I feel like Inuyasha's been TRYING to do that for a couple of chapters now.
Housenki clarifies that Inuyasha should cut him specifically to be able to get past Naraku's barrier, something only Housenki's diamond limbs have been able to accomplish. Myouga is still hanging out on Kagome's shoulder, and asks if this means that Housenki will voluntarily give his power to Inuyasha's Tessaiga. Kagome recalls that slaying a powerful youkai with Tessaiga transfers that youkai's power to the sword, but she appears to have reservations regarding this, though these remain unexpressed by anything but a sweatdrop.
MY main question is how Housenki can be slain if he's already dead. Inuyasha's own query about what will happen to Housenki if he does this looks to be kind of skirting this, and Housenki scoffs dismissively in response. He asks Inuyasha if he would really worry about others at a time like this, adding that if Inuyasha is unworthy of owning that jewel fragment they're all fighting over, he'll have no chance of cutting the diamond demon. Can we not assume that his worthiness has already been found lacking by not being able to cut Housenki before? Apparently not, because Housenki has one more particular to add to the description of this test:
Indeed, Inuyasha says hearing this from Housenki makes him feel AT EASE, though his expression conveys more annoyance than anything. Kagome is still uneasily pondering over the meaning of Housenki's claim to loss of life when Inuyasha prepares to draw Tessaiga and warns her to stand back. Though she doesn't appear very comfortable about it, calling to him in concern and sweatdropping severely, she's cleared the next panel, where Inuyasha holds Tessaiga in front of him in preparation to strike. He yells as he does so, trying to cleave through the center of Housenki's hard skull.
This is looking sadly familiar.
The rest of the group looks on in alarm, Miroku narrating the bits of diamond shooting out, and Kagome just crying out Inuyasha's name. By the time diamond shrapnel subsides, Inuyasha is bleeding pretty heavily, the blood dripping copiously down from even the bottom of his ballooned trousers. What's more, when Tessaiga's blade is lifted, there's not even a MARK where it struck, which Inuyasha notes in silent disbelief.
Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru is still sending ineffective blasts at Naraku's impenetrable bubble. Naraku asks Sesshoumaru with a chuckle if he really wants to cut him that badly.
I mean, a part of it, anyway.
It's a ferocious part too. The ends of the tentacles split into long slavering mouths filled with sharp gnashing teeth, but Sesshoumaru doesn't so much as blink in his everlasting glare as he sends them an obliterating blast from his sword, and they disintegrate. Naraku smiles at this, because of COURSE there was a purpose to him performing this farce.
Black and white as it is, I'm pretty sure that isn't blood...
The gush of dark stuff descends to where the Inuyasha group and Jaken are sheltered in the giant dog skeleton armor, Jaken screeching for Sesshoumaru, and Miroku pushing the girls protectively back, snapping that it's miasma. Jaken has to scramble back too, for the corrosive goop sizzles and melts the numerous skulls lying in the tomb. Inuyasha himself looks around in alarm at the sudden commotion behind him, but despite what Housenki said and the blood loss, he's still kicking.
In the air, the cloud of toxic miasma between Naraku and Sesshoumaru clears, and neither of them are the worse for any of it. Sesshoumaru scoffs, asking Naraku if he really expected his feeble miasma to affect him, and Naraku implies with an offhand comment that it didn't really need to affect SESSHOUMARU in particular.
In the tomb, Jaken is gagging for breath, and Miroku is holding a sleeve over his mouth and nose, the noxious fumes already suffocating them.
Jaken gasps that he can breathe, muttering that he's saved, though he doesn't acknowledge his savior. How about a "thank you" my dude?
Naraku chuckles, and the stumps of those tentacles Sesshoumaru just cut sprout their own multiple tentacles. He's like an octopus-hydra. These new tentacles extend over and around Sesshoumaru like claws poised to stab into his impassive person. Naraku asks Sesshoumaru what he's going to do, considering every time he's cut, his miasma gushes out and everyone here will eventually die of exposure to it. Sesshoumaru genuinely looks like he couldn't care less.
Once more, Jaken stutters Sesshoumaru's name, like a nervous prayer to a malevolent god. Not too far off the mark, honestly. Shippou hesitantly assures Jaken that it'll be alright, as long as Kagome has her arrows. Kagome admits that she has no more arrows, sweatdropping. Jaken and Shippou's eyes swim in tears while she says that the one she just fired was the last, though the one from Kikyou is still sitting in her quiver. She acknowledges it with the shameful thought that it's still rejecting her.
At least it's an arrow and not a boy on the dance floor, like would be the case if you were a NORMAL teenager.
Sesshoumaru asks if this is all Naraku has to say, then with a withering glare, declares that staying his hand in exchange for a bunch of measly human lives isn't exactly his style.
Methinks thou dost protest too much.
As the new blow disintegrates the grasping tentacles, Inuyasha is once more gaping up at the actions of his brother with horror, still half-turned away from Housenki. Jaken cries that he KNEW this would happen, and Shippou blabbers about the miasma on its way down to them. At this point, Inuyasha fully turns to the mouth of the tomb, cursing at the responsibility that's fallen to him. He puts himself in front of the others, Tessaiga raised in front of him in defense, demanding they all get as far back as they can and promising to handle the miasma himself. Kagome says his name in concern, but Housenki puts on a mocking tone when he asks what this is about - wasn't this brat about to strengthen his sword by cutting him?
No, for real. Shut it.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Housenki is really grating on my nerves right now. To some extent, I understand that since he's the one who can communicate directly with the jewel fragment that everyone is fighting over, he WOULD be the one who could best determine with whom it should go based on its wishes. But he should already be able to DO that based on what he's already seen thus far. While Inuyasha has been brash and combative, he's expressed multiple times the need for him to have the Shikon shard just so Naraku can't get it. Meanwhile, Naraku, though alone and against everyone else, has spent his time here hiding out until having an indication where the fragment was, appeared to claim it, then arrogantly tossed around the son of an old friend. Most importantly, HE'S the one who's holding the rest of the polluted jewel, likely with the same noxious miasma flowing freely at the moment. It should only be too clear who the villain is here, no test of virtue or "worth" required.
But here he is, demanding Inuyasha go through this weird ordeal where he gets torn up by tiny diamond chips, trying to cut through a stone shell that he hasn't been much more successful cutting through before. Housenki even literally adds insult to injury by teasing him going to take care of the miasma threatening his friends. Between him and Sesshoumaru, I'm not sure which of them is the bigger piece of shit in this chapter, with how dedicated to the concept of "worth", the latter denying it entirely to all the humans in the area, and the former is demanding that it be PROVED to him in some way in order to help.
This could be hand-waved away in a couple of ways. Housenki and Sesshoumaru are pure youkai, and therefore may be considered less precious about life as a matter of course. Housenki might also be a little peeved that he's never even seen Inuyasha before he started throwing around a relation to Housenki's friend, feeling like Inuyasha is trying to cash in a favor that he has no claim to. To my writer brain, this is an issue of having to present a new power/ability as EARNED, and so having to create tension as well as trial for a character to WORK for that payoff. Generally, I appreciate this, but in the current case, it feels just a TAD too forced and formulaic.
Then again, there's not really something I can suggest that would fix it either. Beyond expressing that issue Housenki would have with Inuyasha only showing up to demand something like an ungrateful grandchild, it seems to be due to the friction between the relationships themselves and the influence they should or should not have on the solution to this issue.
Kind of SoL there, I'm afraid.
