Outside the Tenshukaku, on the castle wall.
Inuyasha stood atop the wall, his red Fire Rat Robe snapping in the night wind.
He had originally been waiting in the forest for his chance.
But that power had suddenly erupted.
It was so strong that the hairs on the back of Inuyasha's neck stood on end.
Inuyasha gritted his teeth, jumped down from the wall, and landed in the open ground before the Tenshukaku.
His nose twitched.
Naraku's scent.
It was inside this building.
And not just Naraku.
There were many other demons too.
"Forget it."
Inuyasha broke into a run, charging toward the Tenshukaku's main gate.
He was fast, pulling a red afterimage through the moonlight.
But before he could rush through the gate, a figure darted out of the shadows and blocked his path.
It was a young man.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile played at the corner of his mouth.
Juromaru.
One of Naraku's incarnations.
He stood there, head tilted as he looked at Inuyasha, as if sizing up an interesting toy.
Inuyasha stopped, his golden eyes full of wariness.
He had smelled it.
The guy in front of him was not human.
"Move."
Inuyasha's voice was low.
"I'm looking for Naraku."
Juromaru moved.
Fast.
So fast that Inuyasha only had time to raise his arm to block.
Juromaru's fist slammed into Inuyasha's arm with a dull thud, and the force shoved Inuyasha back three steps.
"Tch."
Inuyasha shook out his numb arm, his golden eyes fixed on Juromaru.
"You've got some skill."
Juromaru said nothing.
He charged in again.
The two of them tangled together in close combat.
Inuyasha did not have Tetsusaiga, only his claws.
But his claws were sharp, Demonic Power pouring into his fingertips, and every swipe left deep gouges in the stone wall.