Chapter Summaries

Han destroyed Tsubaki’s altar and purified the monsters sustaining her, while Inuyasha helped Kagome awaken from the curse’s nightmare. Kagome reflected Tsubaki’s Soaring Serpent curse back at her, but Tsubaki escaped with one last monster, leaving Han grieving over their broken bond.

• Kagome briefly regained consciousness as Tsubaki fought Han, and Inuyasha carried her to the battlefield before Han told him to stay out of the fight.
• Tsubaki used the Shikon Jewel to intensify Kagome’s curse and released monsters from her right eye, so Han ordered Inuyasha to wake Kagome while she attacked the altar.
• Han destroyed the altar and revealed that Tsubaki had fused herself with the curse and its monsters, but Tsubaki refused to stop and sent her remaining monsters at Han.
• Han unleashed her spiritual power to purify the monsters, and the destruction of their source weakened Tsubaki enough for Kagome to awaken in Inuyasha’s arms.
• Tsubaki sent the Soaring Serpent after Kagome, but Kagome reflected the curse back at Tsubaki as Kikyo had fifty years earlier.
• Tsubaki collapsed with the curse marks exposed, then escaped on one final monster while Kagome held Inuyasha back and Han mourned their lost bond.

Han and Sesshomaru followed Kagome’s party to Kiyomori Temple after Han decided she could not abandon Tsubaki. They reached the Many Treasures Pagoda, where Tsubaki broke the seal on the Evil Spirit Gate and began summoning the ancient evil spirit.

• Tsubaki recalled her final argument with her Master over the Shikon Jewel and decided to seek the powerful evil spirit sealed at Kiyomori Temple.
• Han and Sesshomaru set out for Kiyomori Temple, and Han told him she wanted to return because it was home to both her and Tsubaki.
• Kagome sensed the Shikon Jewel, and she, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango encountered Han and Sesshomaru at Kiyomori Temple’s demon-repelling barrier.
• Han learned that Gardenia, Morning Glory, Daisy, and Sayuri had died, then explained that Tsubaki was a Black Miko and hurried the group toward the Many Treasures Pagoda.
• Kagura confronted the group outside the pagoda but fled after Han shot an arrow at her.
• Tsubaki broke the seal on the Evil Spirit Gate and began summoning the death god.

Tsubaki broke the seal on a powerful evil spirit and tried to merge with him, but Han and the others failed to contain him. Sesshomaru defeated the spirit with his Annihilation Dragon Blast, and Inuyasha learned that Tessaiga had an ultimate secret technique of its own.

• Tsubaki tried to merge with the evil spirit, so Han shot arrows to hold it back while Inuyasha carried Tsubaki away.
• Han, Kaede, Kagome, Miroku, Mu Dan, and Cong failed to reseal the gate, and the evil spirit broke free and attacked them.
• Sesshomaru fought the spirit and helped the others escape the collapsing pagoda, while Inuyasha joined the battle outside.
• Han warned Sesshomaru of the spirit’s next attack, and he protected her from its lightning before returning to fight.
• Sesshomaru killed the spirit with his Annihilation Dragon Blast, and Myoga explained the technique to Inuyasha.
• Inuyasha asked whether Tessaiga had an ultimate secret technique and vowed to master it so he could defeat Sesshomaru.

Han learned that Naraku had taken Kikyo and set out with Sesshomaru and the others to find him at Hitomi Castle. Tsubaki revealed that she had marked the castle and asked Han to deliver an apology to Kikyo, while Kaede recognized Tsubaki as Kikyo’s former enemy and forgave her.

• Tsubaki told Han that Naraku had offered her the Shikon Jewel to curse Kikyo, then helped Han purify the area and disrupt Naraku’s spying through Kanna’s Mirror and the Saimyosho.
• Tsubaki revealed that a Curse Mark in Naraku’s castle would let her Paper Crane guide Han there, and Han explained that Naraku had taken Kikyo after she was forcibly resurrected.
• Tsubaki discovered that Kikyo had loved Inuyasha and questioned his relationship with Kagome before Miroku urged the group to pursue Naraku quickly.
• Tsubaki sent Han and Sesshomaru’s group toward Hitomi Castle and asked Han to apologize to Kikyo on her behalf.
• Kaede identified Tsubaki as the miko who had cursed Kikyo fifty years ago, and Tsubaki asked why Kaede had kept her past secret.
• Kaede told Tsubaki that she believed everyone deserved a chance to change, and Tsubaki quietly went to the Zen Room.

Han gave Kagome the Shikon Jewel, and Sesshomaru warned Inuyasha that using it to become a full demon could leave him mindless. As both groups reached Naraku’s castle, Han broke its barrier, revealing Hitomi Castle and the miasma pouring from it.

• Han gave Kagome the Shikon Jewel and explained that she no longer needed it; Kagome said she would continue collecting its fragments because she had shattered it and wanted to stay with Inuyasha.
• Sesshomaru mocked Inuyasha’s ambition to become a full demon, and their fight ended with Sesshomaru knocking Inuyasha off Hachi’s back before Kirara caught him.
• Sesshomaru warned that the Shikon Jewel could not give a half-demon a complete demonic lineage and said he would kill Inuyasha rather than let him become a mindless beast; Inuyasha said he still wanted strength but would not become a killing beast.
• Sesshomaru detected Naraku’s scent, and Inuyasha’s group speculated that Naraku’s barrier had weakened because he might be transforming into a human.
• Sesshomaru and Han reached Naraku’s barrier, and Han used Heavenly Ma... to break it, exposing Hitomi Castle and its spreading miasma.

Han and Sesshomaru entered Hitomi Castle, where Yan Luo prepared a trap, and Han awakened to her past as the Water Spirit King, Lianhua. In her memories, Sesshomaru rescued her from monsters, and after she collapsed, he ordered Jaken to treat her wounds.

• Sesshomaru and Han entered Hitomi Castle as Yan Luo watched them and readied the Flower Emperor and Kanna for her spectacle.
• Han remembered being Lianhua, the Water Spirit King, and recalled her awakening, her journey toward the Spirit Clan’s sacred land, and the monsters that pursued her.
• After monsters surrounded Lianhua, Sesshomaru used Bakusaiga to destroy many of them and drove the rest away.
• Lianhua gave Sesshomaru the name Lotus and promised to repay him, then she and Sesshomaru parted in opposite directions.
• Sesshomaru told Jaken to treat Lotus after she collapsed, and Jaken chased off the nearby monsters and applied healing herbs supplied by Sesshomaru.

The Silver-Haired Girl recovered under Sesshomaru and Jaken’s care, then told Sesshomaru how Sentaro had betrayed her. When she sensed a clanswoman in danger and rushed toward a village with Sesshomaru, a blood moon rose over the villagers’ deadly sacrifice and the girl’s vengeful awakening.

• Jaken tended the injured Silver-Haired Girl, who awoke, thanked him and Sesshomaru, and learned their names.
• The girl told Sesshomaru that Sentaro had tried to kill her after she trusted him to help save his younger cousin.
• At midnight, the girl sensed a Spirit Clan member in danger near a village, and Sesshomaru carried her there while ordering Jaken to stay behind.
• A blood moon appeared as a buried girl’s spiritual power erupted, trapping the village in flames and fulfilling her curse.
• The girl’s memories revealed that villagers had buried her and her parents alive, while Sentaro had thrown the first shovelful of earth into their pit.

Lotus saved Ai from the burning village and learned the truth of their intertwined memories, then challenged the lord of Hell over Ai’s punishment. Lotus chose to retrieve the lord’s evil avatar from the Eighth Layer of Hell, while Ai was made the Hell Girl and left to await her return.

• Lotus used a water dragon to extinguish the village fire, then comforted Ai and drove off the villagers who threatened her.
• Lotus and Ai shared their memories, revealing how Sentaro’s betrayal and revenge had led to their deaths and suffering.
• The lord of Hell condemned Ai to remain in the Mortal World and offered Lotus three choices, including retrieving his avatar from the Eighth Layer of Hell.
• Lotus chose the third option and promised Ai she would return, while Ai’s attempt to choose her own punishment was rejected.
• The lord of Hell sent Lotus to Hell and named Ai Enma, the Hell Girl, ordering her to dispel hatred in the human world.

Sesshomaru discovered that Lotus had been taken to Hell and set out to follow her, while Lotus struggled to survive in Avici Hell and met a boy named Momiji. Momiji helped her restore her spiritual power, then revealed that he had been sealed there.

• Lotus left Sesshomaru after they extinguished the village fire, but Sesshomaru detected a trace of Naraku and hurried after her.
• Sesshomaru defeated the Human-Faced Spider's avatar and decided to enter Hell to find Lotus, despite Jaken's objections.
• Lotus arrived in Avici Hell, where she searched for a way to reach the Lord of Hell's avatar and rescue Ai.
• Lotus hid from a procession of evil spirits and learned that blood snake gallbladders could help restore her spiritual power, though she did not know the danger of eating one.
• Momiji warned Lotus not to eat a blood snake's gallbladder, then used one to break the barrier suppressing her spiritual power.
• Lotus asked Momiji why he was in Hell, and he told her that he had been sealed there.

In the Heian era, Momiji and Rena lived among the Spirit Clan as Momiji awaited the birth of his destined companion and Rena faced her loneliness. After monsters killed Momiji’s companion and Rena died fighting beside him, Momiji’s revenge led the monsters to seal him in Hell’s eighth level.

• Momiji, Rena, and Sanae spent time together in the Celestial Palace, where Rena welcomed a newborn rain spirit and Momiji sensed that his destined companion had awakened.
• Momiji arrived too late to save his companion from monsters and began a devastating campaign of vengeance.
• Momiji and Rena fought together at the Tama River, where Rena defended his actions to Tōga before a Leopard Cat Tribe demon fatally wounded her.
• Momiji mourned Rena as she dissolved into the Tama River, and her death caused a tsunami across the coast.
• Momiji accused the Leopard Cat Tribe of killing Rena and Menou, then fought the monsters until Ryūki proposed sealing him in Hell.
• The monsters sealed Momiji, the fire king of the Spirit Clan, in Hell’s eighth level.

Naraku reflected on his origin and his feelings for Kikyo while imprisoned in the Shikon Jewel. Lotus entered Purple Flame Pillar City to retrieve the jewel, but Momiji disappeared as she escaped, and the jewel’s avatar emerged and seized her.

• Naraku recalled how the lord of Hell’s malice and Onigumo’s body had helped create him, and realized his feelings for Kikyo were his own.
• Lotus followed Momiji through Hell toward Purple Flame Pillar City, where the lord’s sealed avatar was held.
• Momiji opened a path through the city’s hellfire, and Lotus entered to break the seal while he held the flames back.
• Lotus reached the altar, endured the invisible flame’s heat, and took the Shikon Jewel.
• As the passage collapsed, Momiji reopened it, but vanished when Lotus reached the exit, leaving her to collapse outside the city.
• The Shikon Jewel began glowing, its avatar rose from it, and the figure tightened a hand around Lotus’s neck.

Lotus and Naraku entered Flameless City and freed Momiji from his centuries-long seal, but their escape was threatened when Lotus’s barrier began to fail. A powerful figure then appeared, cutting through the hellfire and dispelling the city’s illusion.

• Naraku recognized Lotus’s spiritual power and agreed to help her reach Flameless City and rescue Momiji in exchange for her help freeing him later.
• Naraku and Lotus found Momiji imprisoned in a sealing formation at the heart of Flameless City, and Lotus forced her way through the colorless hellfire with a Water Ring Barrier.
• Lotus used her blood to weaken the seal, removed the restraints from Momiji, and worked with him to pull the broken arrow from his chest.
• The Water Ring Barrier began to collapse as Lotus and the weakened Momiji prepared to flee with Naraku.
• A tall, slender swordsman appeared, cleaved through the flames, and caused the illusion of Flameless City to vanish.

Lotus forced the Hell Lord to free Ai and the souls imprisoned with her, while Sesshomaru learned that Ai had been Rin reborn and that his past resurrections had shaped her tragic fate. Back in the human world, Lotus kept the Shikon Jewel and was left to decide whether Naraku should be absorbed by the Hell Lord or regain his freedom.

• Sesshomaru confronted the Hell Lord as Lotus refused to hand over the Shikon Jewel unless Ai and the souls of her loved ones were truly freed.
• The Hell Lord brought Ai and the imprisoned souls to the lake, where Ai reunited with Lotus before she and the others entered the cycle of reincarnation.
• The Hell Lord revealed that Ai had been Rin reborn and blamed her tragic life on Sesshomaru having brought Rin back from death twice.
• Lotus challenged the Hell Lord's treatment of Ai and questioned whether he should absorb Naraku, his independent incarnation, to become whole.
• The Hell Lord let Lotus keep the Shikon Jewel and decide Naraku's fate, then sent Lotus, Sesshomaru, and the others back to the human world.

Sesshomaru and Lotus intervened when Hagoromo Gitsune abducted Princess Tsubaki to consume her organs, and Sesshomaru rescued Lotus before Nura Rikuo arrived to fight for Tsubaki. After Tsubaki and Rikuo reunited, Sesshomaru accepted that Tsubaki was not the Rin he had lost and left with Lotus, no longer intending to return.

• Sesshomaru told Lotus he would not act because Princess Tsubaki was waiting for Rikuo, but agreed he would not let her die to Hagoromo Gitsune's greed.
• Lotus entered Hagoromo Gitsune's chamber, rescued an abducted girl, and fought off the monsters with her Longbow and Katana.
• Sesshomaru stopped Hagoromo Gitsune from attacking Lotus, then carried Lotus away as Nura Rikuo arrived and attacked Hagoromo Gitsune to rescue Tsubaki.
• Sesshomaru explained to Lotus that Rikuo led the Worldly Clan, while Sesshomaru's people belonged to the Hidden World Clan and avoided contact with humans.
• Rikuo reunited with Tsubaki, and she accepted his love as the Nura Clan fought Hagoromo Gitsune's followers.
• Sesshomaru left with Lotus, saying there was no need to return, while remembering Rin and Lotus wished Tsubaki happiness.

Lotus and Sesshomaru remained unable to confess their feelings, even after Sesshomaru risked his life to obtain a treasure that saved her. After Naraku chose to merge with the Hell Lord, he urged Lotus to find Sesshomaru, leaving her to decide whether to seek the answer she wanted.

• Lotus prepared to undergo rebirth and feared that she might lose the memories and feelings connecting her to Sesshomaru.
• Sesshomaru braved the deadly depths of the sea and obtained the Deep-Sea Ice Soul Stone to prolong the life of the Water Spirit Clan.
• Sesshomaru placed the stone on Lotus's chest, restoring her failing heart, then departed without responding to her question about why he had saved her.
• Naraku told Lotus he had lost hope of finding Kikyo's reincarnation and chose to return to the Hell Lord, believing his devotion might let him overcome the Hell Lord's will.
• Naraku thanked Lotus and advised her to find Sesshomaru, saying she would find the answer she wanted.

Sesshomaru paid the Deep-Sea Ice Soul Stone’s price by surrendering himself, but Lotus fought her way to the forbidden grounds and freed him. After Naraku tried to use the Shikon Jewel to turn back time, Midoriko warned Lotus that the Jewel was controlled by an evil spirit and the world began rewinding five hundred years.

• Sesshomaru entrusted the Western Lands to Rinyō before entering the Deep Sea to fulfill his bargain for the Ice Soul Stone.
• Lotus fought through the Deep Sea, destroyed the ice guardian with a summoned storm, and shattered the crystal imprisoning Sesshomaru.
• Sesshomaru awoke, and Naraku appeared to reclaim the Shikon Jewel and offered to turn back time so Sesshomaru could see Rin again.
• Sesshomaru rejected Naraku’s offer, and Lotus fired a spirit arrow at him after the Shikon Jewel vanished from his hand.
• Midoriko revealed that the Shikon Jewel had captured a powerful soul from another world and urged Lotus to find the two miko who could help destroy it.
• Time began running backward toward five hundred years earlier.

The Silver-Haired Girl and Sesshomaru overcame the Flower Emperor’s attempt to exploit their hidden pain, while memories of a vanished future unsettled her. As they entered Hitomi Castle, Yan Luo plotted to seize Kagome’s Shikon Jewel and use the imprisoned Kikyo as a diversion.

• The Silver-Haired Girl recalled the Shikon Jewel’s memories of a world reset and found reassurance in Sesshomaru’s hand, telling him she was glad she had met him.
• Kagome, Inuyasha, and their companions arrived at Hitomi Castle, where the Silver-Haired Girl and Sesshomaru destroyed the Flower Emperor’s vines.
• Yan Luo realized Kagome carried the Shikon Jewel and decided to recover it and kill the Silver-Haired Girl.
• Sesshomaru found and killed the Flower Emperor, who had tried to tempt him with resentment toward Inuyasha and his father.
• Yan Luo sent Momiji to lure the group toward the imprisoned Kikyo, then planned to circle around and take the Shikon Jewel from Kagome.
• The Silver-Haired Girl followed Sesshomaru into the castle, wondering whether the Flower Emperor had shown him the Jewel’s memories and what he would do if he met the human girl from that future.

Inuyasha found Kikyo fighting Momiji, but the powerful warrior fatally wounded her after Inuyasha failed to protect her. As Kikyo crumbled in Inuyasha’s arms, Renna arrived and cut Momiji’s face with an arrow.

• Inuyasha chased a red figure through Hitomi Castle and found Kikyo battling Momiji, who easily blocked his Wind Scar.
• Kikyo used her remaining spiritual power to attack Momiji, but he evaded her Purifying Arrow and drove Inuyasha back.
• Momiji moved to kill Kikyo, but Inuyasha shielded her, and Kikyo pushed him aside and let the Halberd pierce her back.
• Kikyo explained that she had not wanted Inuyasha to die and crumbled in his arms as he wept.
• Momiji hesitated to strike the grieving pair, then Renna arrived and shot an arrow that cut his face.

Renna, also called Han, saved Kikyo from the Purest Fire by drawing it into herself, then used the Dragon Pearl to restore Kikyo’s body and extend her life. Kikyo accepted the chance to live again so she could remain with Han, and awakened reborn in a human body.

• Renna recognized that Momiji had gravely wounded Kikyo and insisted that Inuyasha let her try to save her.
• Renna drew the Purest Fire out of Kikyo by kissing her, suffering severe pain and coughing up blood as the flames entered her.
• Renna explained that Kikyo’s soul might be able to sustain her rebirth and placed the Dragon Pearl into Kikyo’s shattered chest.
• Kikyo awoke and accepted living again in another form so she could stay with Han.
• The Dragon Pearl healed Kikyo’s chest, restored her human body and warmth, and Kikyo opened her eyes and said she was back.

Kagome and her companions were attacked by Yan Luo, a powerful Fox Demon who stole the Shikon Jewel and pursued Kagome. Kagome reached Inuyasha as he mourned Kikyo, but she stayed hidden, overwhelmed by jealousy and uncertainty about her place beside him.

• Miroku and Sango warned Kagome that a powerful demonic presence was nearby and urged her to flee if danger arose.
• Yan Luo attacked Kagome, revealed herself as a Fox Demon, shattered Miroku's barrier, and knocked Miroku and Sango aside.
• Kagome escaped on Kirara, while Yan Luo pursued her; Kagome discovered that Yan Luo had stolen the Shikon Jewel.
• Kagome found Inuyasha holding the dying Kikyo and watched from behind a door as he wept and focused entirely on Kikyo.
• Kagome struggled with jealousy and doubts about her place in Inuyasha's life, then hid herself so he would not see her.