Chapter Summaries

The author compared the anime and manga versions of Inuyasha and Kikyo’s reunion, arguing that the anime removed Kikyo’s tenderness and attachment to Inuyasha while making her seem harsher. The chapter ended with the author asking readers whether to write Naraku/Kikyo or Inuyasha/Kikyo fanfic.

• The author said the anime portrayed Kikyo as more hateful toward Inuyasha, while the manga showed her as more loving and showed Inuyasha as more attached to her.
• The author recounted the anime reunion, in which Kikyo struggled against Inuyasha’s embrace, then held a knife to his neck and declared she could use Naraku’s feelings to destroy him.
• The author contrasted the manga scene, where Kikyo rested in Inuyasha’s arms and explained that Onigumo’s jealousy had driven Naraku to separate them.
• Inuyasha told Kikyo he would protect her and would not let Naraku take her, while Kikyo explained that her duty as a miko required her to purify Naraku.
• Kikyo told Inuyasha she had been happy when he appeared beside her and promised that she would let no man but him touch her; the author said the anime omitted these lines and invented Kikyo’s farewell.
• The author asked readers whether to write Naraku/Kikyo or Inuyasha/Kikyo fanfic.

Yan Luo held Kagome hostage and tried to deepen her despair over Inuyasha and Kikyo, but Kikyo defended Kagome and Han challenged Yan Luo’s judgment. Naraku wounded Yan Luo to stop her, and she escaped with Momiji after he intercepted Kikyo’s arrow.

• Kagome realized she loved Inuyasha, but Yan Luo seized her and used her as a hostage while Inuyasha was beside Kikyo.
• Yan Luo taunted Inuyasha about choosing Kikyo, but Kikyo defended Kagome and affirmed her kindness and strength.
• Yan Luo showed that Kagome could no longer purify the Shikon Jewel, while Han confronted Yan Luo and Sesshomaru steadied her.
• Yan Luo tightened her grip on Kagome, but Naraku pierced Yan Luo with a tentacle and took the Shikon Jewel.
• Yan Luo mocked Naraku’s feelings for Kikyo, then fled with Momiji after he blocked Kikyo’s Purifying Arrow.

After Naraku attacked Yan Luo, Inuyasha protected Kagome while Kikyo explained that Naraku could only be destroyed by purifying his soul. Kikyo acknowledged her lingering feelings and sent Inuyasha back to Kagome, leaving the group to depart while Han still considered Kikyo more important than Kagome.

• Kagome escaped Yan Luo and clung to Inuyasha, while Kikyo and Inuyasha let Naraku retreat because destroying his body alone would not kill him.
• Naraku realized his attack on Yan Luo had been driven by his own feelings for Kikyo and withdrew to sort through the emotions he had exposed.
• Kikyo told Inuyasha that Onigumo’s heart remained in Naraku and admitted that Naraku’s jealousy had caused their separation fifty years earlier.
• Inuyasha vowed to protect Kikyo, but Kikyo asked him to return to Kagome and said Kagome had healed the wounds in his heart.
• Inuyasha rejoined his companions and said things were over with Kikyo, while Kagome worried she had caused their separation.
• The group left the castle with Miroku, Sango, and Shippo supporting Kagome, while Han continued to value Kikyo more than Kagome.

Kikyo and Han considered Midoriko’s warning that three mikos from the past, present, and future might be needed to destroy the Shikon Jewel, then investigated a shard in Naraku’s abandoned castle. There they found Kohaku and Rin, whose name stirred Han’s fears about Sesshomaru’s memories, but Sesshomaru reassured her that she was the one beside him now.

• Naraku left the castle with Kagura and Kanna, leaving Kohaku and Rin behind for the time being.
• Kikyo declined Han’s invitation to travel with her and discussed Midoriko’s request to find three mikos capable of destroying the Shikon Jewel.
• Han guessed that Kikyo and Kagome might represent the past and future, and Kikyo warned that Kagome could be in danger from the jewel.
• Kikyo sensed a Four Souls Shard in the abandoned castle, so Han and Sesshomaru went with her to investigate.
• They found Kohaku unconscious and Rin guarding him, and Rin’s name reminded Han of Sesshomaru’s memories of another fate.
• Sesshomaru took Han’s hand and told her she was the only one standing beside him, and she embraced him.

Kikyo asked Rin and Kohaku what they wanted to do, and Kohaku asked to travel with her while Rin chose to stay by his side. Han and Sesshomaru offered Rin another option, but she refused, and Kikyo agreed to let her come along.

• Kikyo learned that Yan Luo had brought Rin to the demon's castle and asked Rin and Kohaku about their plans.
• Kohaku asked to follow Kikyo, who warned him that her path would be dangerous and questioned what would happen to Rin.
• Han invited Rin to travel with her and Sesshomaru, but Rin refused because she wanted to stay with Kohaku.
• Rin hid behind Kohaku when Sesshomaru approached, and Han laughed at his dejected reaction.
• Kikyo agreed to let Rin accompany her, telling the girl that this was the path she had chosen.

Han succumbed to Momiji’s fire poison, and Sesshomaru searched for a way to save her until Qiongji revealed that the Deep-Sea Ice Soul Stone could sustain her life. When Xialan challenged him on behalf of the Leopard Cat Tribe, Han woke and urged him to go, so Sesshomaru flew toward their Castle with her. Meanwhile, Inuyasha completed his trial and gained Tessaiga’s barrier-breaking ability as the Leopard Cat Tribe lured him toward its own challenge.

• Rin left with Kohaku, and Han collapsed from Momiji’s fire poison as Sesshomaru caught her.
• Sesshomaru sought help from Hakuōju, Granny Medicine, and the nine great demons, but none could heal Han’s injured soul.
• Qiongji told Sesshomaru that the Deep-Sea Ice Soul Stone in the Dragon-Sleeping Sea could sustain Han’s life.
• Xialan challenged Sesshomaru on behalf of the Leopard Cat Tribe and claimed its chief was still alive; Han woke and urged Sesshomaru to accept the challenge.
• Sesshomaru flew toward the Leopard Cat Tribe’s Castle with Han, while Inuyasha gained the power to break barriers and the tribe abducted Kagome to draw him in.

Han joined the pursuit of Sesshomaru after learning that he had once hoped Inuyasha would fight beside him, and she urged Inuyasha to support his brother. As the group approached the Leopard Cat Tribe's Castle, Han used her fearsome reputation to drive off Xialan and Qiuran, but her injury left her weakened and the Castle's hidden threat unresolved.

• Sesshomaru shattered the Leopard Cat Tribe's defenses with Tōkijin, drove off Xialan, and attacked Inuyasha before leaving him behind.
• Han reached the city on a swallow and explained that she had taken Granny Medicine's medicine to suppress her fire poison so she could help Sesshomaru.
• Han told Inuyasha that Sesshomaru had once hoped he would join the fight against the Leopard Cat Tribe, and Inuyasha agreed to go to his brother's side.
• Han followed Sesshomaru's scent with Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango, but Xialan's flames struck Hachi and sent them tumbling from the sky.
• Han drew her Longbow and frightened Xialan and Qiuran into retreat, then nearly collapsed from her injury.

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha fought the Leopard Cat Tribe’s resurrected chief, while Han used a Purifying Arrow to free the souls trapped inside him. After the chief was defeated, Sesshomaru carried Han away, but she began coughing blood onto his clothes.

• Han sent Miroku and Sango to search for Kagome and the missing villagers, and asked Inuyasha to find Sesshomaru.
• Fuyuran stalled Sesshomaru, while the Leopard Cat Tribe revived its former chief with the Four Souls Shards and targeted the captured villagers, Kagome, Sango, and Miroku.
• Inuyasha broke the Barrier with Tessaiga, but the resurrected chief attacked the Four Winds and then proved impervious to both Tessaiga and Tōkijin.
• Han swallowed Granny Medicine’s pill and shot a Purifying Arrow that pulled the Four Souls Shards and stolen souls from the chief; Sesshomaru used Tenseiga to release the devoured lives, and Inuyasha finished the chief with Wind Scar.
• Fuyuran ended the fight and reunited with her resurrected siblings, while Sesshomaru carried Han toward the Dragon-Sleeping Sea.
• Han began coughing blood onto Sesshomaru’s white robes and armor.

Sesshomaru carried the unconscious Han into the forbidden seabed sanctuary to find the Ice Soul Stone, but the guardians’ attacks and Han’s fading breath left him desperate. He used Tenseiga to free the trapped souls, opening the Gate of Rebirth, while Han remained unresponsive.

• Sesshomaru entered the forbidden grounds with Han protected by the Water Whistle and fought an ice guardian with Tōkijin.
• Sesshomaru destroyed the first guardian with Azure Dragon Blast and pressed deeper into the ice forest as more guardians surrounded him.
• Tōkijin broke while Sesshomaru defended himself, and Han’s breathing stopped before he could find the Ice Soul Stone.
• Sesshomaru drew Tenseiga, realized he could not save Han without an Underworld Messenger, and released the blade in despair.
• Tenseiga and the stones in the guardians’ chests began to glow, and Sesshomaru used the sword to free the trapped souls and open the Gate of Rebirth.

Sesshomaru followed the freed souls to the Crystal Tree to obtain its last Ice Soul Stone and save Han. After destroying the demonic tree and freeing the woman it had enslaved, he took the stone, while Totosai sensed that Sesshomaru had found his own sword and set out to see him.

• The souls led Sesshomaru to the Crystal Tree and explained that Han still had one breath left, so its last Ice Soul Stone could save her.
• The tree woman emerged from the Crystal Tree, admitted that the tree was her mother, and attacked Sesshomaru when he rejected her offer to become her brother.
• The Crystal Tree bound Sesshomaru in vines, but he escaped and destroyed it with his Annihilation Dragon Blast.
• The tree woman crumbled with the Crystal Tree, and her freed soul remembered that the tree had possessed her after she was sent out to sea as a sacrifice.
• Sesshomaru found the Ice Soul Stone among the ruins, while Totosai sensed his new sword and left with Mengmeng to find him.

Sesshomaru drew Bakusaiga, his own sword, and learned that it could suppress regeneration. After Han awakened, he confessed his desire to bind their lives together, and she agreed to remain by his side forever.

• Totosai explained that Sesshomaru had earned Bakusaiga by overcoming his fixation on Tessaiga, and Sesshomaru saw the sword destroy the Demon Tree's ability to regenerate.
• Sesshomaru remembered how his resolve to protect himself and Han had awakened the sword within his heart and let him break free of the crystal cocoon.
• Sesshomaru placed the Deep-Sea Ice Soul Stone against Han and waited as her heartbeat returned.
• Han awakened and recalled that Sesshomaru had once wanted to ask her to stay with him, prompting him to confess his wish to be together like a human couple and share his life and rule with her.
• Han accepted Sesshomaru's vow, told him she wanted to be the only one by his side, and kissed him.

Sesshomaru and Han confronted Kyora, one of the Four Gods of Combat, after he attacked a coastal village, and Sesshomaru drove him away with Bakusaiga. Sesshomaru then told Han how Kyora had marked him during their earlier encounter on Penglai Island, leaving the group with the prospect of settling their old conflict when the island returned.

• Sesshomaru, Han, Jaken, and Yunai followed the coast until ominous demonic energy gathered over the sea.
• Kyora appeared at the village shrine, declared the area a battlefield, and burned villagers with his Scorching Bird attack.
• Han wounded Kyora with a Purifying Arrow and extinguished his flames, while Sesshomaru stayed behind to fight him.
• Sesshomaru used Bakusaiga and Azure Dragon Blast to overpower Kyora, who escaped while claiming Sesshomaru still bore the Four Gods of Combat Mark.
• Sesshomaru told Han that Kyora had marked him on Penglai Island after Sesshomaru defeated him but failed to destroy the island's source of power.
• Han asked whether the old wound still hurt, and Sesshomaru answered that it no longer did.

Han and Sesshomaru traveled to Penglai Island, where a warrior princess with Kikyo’s face stole the Jade Casket from Inuyasha. Han helped Inuyasha recognize that the woman was not Kikyo, and he apologized to Kagome as Han and Sesshomaru continued after the thief.

• Han and Sesshomaru left Yunai and Jaken behind and flew to Penglai Island, where Han spotted a warrior princess who looked like Kikyo.
• Inuyasha escaped the Cauldron of Resonance with Asagi and tried to destroy the Jade Casket, but Red Tessaiga could not damage it.
• The warrior princess struck Inuyasha, took the Jade Casket, and fled; Han and Sesshomaru witnessed the theft.
• Han told Inuyasha that the warrior princess was not Kikyo and explained that different feelings made each person a distinct being.
• Inuyasha realized that Kagome and Kikyo were different people, apologized to Kagome, and watched Han and Sesshomaru pursue the thief.

Han and the others fought to stop the Four Gods of Combat from opening the Jade Casket, while the Princess Warrior tried to release the power sealed inside. Han destroyed the casket with a Spirit Arrow, erasing the source of the Four Gods’ power as the battle continued.

• Miroku asked Han to destroy the Jade Casket, and she agreed before joining Sesshomaru in pursuit of the Princess Warrior.
• The Four Gods of Combat threatened Yunai to force Han to surrender Heavenly Ma, but Han retrieved the rabbit and fought Ryuura with Clear Torrent.
• Inuyasha confronted the Princess Warrior and learned that the Four Gods had created her from Kikyo’s blood to recover their sealed power.
• Han summoned Heavenly Ma and fired a Spirit Arrow through Ryuura’s Wind Blade Fang and the Jade Casket.
• The Jade Casket and the four pieces of jade inside it crumbled to dust, causing the Four Gods of Combat to lose their original power.

Han and the others fought the Four Gods of Combat on Penglai Island, where Han defeated Jura and Goura at sea while Inuyasha and Sesshomaru battled Ryuura and Kyora. After the Four Gods were destroyed, the half-demon children were left in Kaede's care, and Sesshomaru and Han resumed their journey, with Sesshomaru quietly reflecting on fighting beside Inuyasha.

• The Four Gods of Combat abandoned their opponents and attacked Han, while Inuyasha evaded the Princess Warrior and drifted away from the battlefield with her.
• Han used the ocean to defeat Jura with Raging Tides, then trapped Goura as Kikyo's arrow struck the Princess Warrior and saved Inuyasha.
• Inuyasha returned to the fight and told Sesshomaru to help Han, but Sesshomaru said she was undefeated at sea and continued fighting Kyora.
• Sesshomaru defeated Kyora with Azure Dragon Blast, and Inuyasha defeated Ryuura, destroying the Four Gods of Combat.
• Inuyasha and his companions left the half-demon children in Kaede's Village and resumed their search for the Shikon Jewel, while Sesshomaru and Han continued their journey together.

Sango and her companions were ambushed by Takeda soldiers who tried to capture Kagome, and they fought to escape despite Kirara and Inuyasha being mysteriously weakened. As the battle turned against them, Miroku and Sango stayed with Kagome while Inuyasha left with Kirara and Shippo, promising to return and rescue them.

• Sango overheard soldiers entering the courtyard and saw one of them slip into Kagome's room, but Inuyasha drove the intruder out.
• A commander ordered the soldiers to capture Kagome alive, and Kuranosuke revealed that he had been promised Sango would not be harmed if she married him.
• Miroku questioned the soldiers, then arranged for the group to break through together after learning Kirara could not transform.
• The soldiers attacked in waves, while Kirara and Inuyasha proved weaker than usual and Miroku could not use his Wind Tunnel against them.
• Miroku urged Inuyasha to leave with Kirara and Shippo so he could return for the others, while Sango and Miroku stayed to protect Kagome.
• Inuyasha agreed and left with Kirara and Shippo, promising to rescue Sango, Miroku, and Kagome.

Takeda Harunobu concluded that Kagome had come from the future and planned to use her to help defeat Emperor Sakuramachi. After Inuyasha escaped the attack but collapsed from his wounds, Sesshomaru and Han found him and learned that Kagome, Sango, and Miroku had been captured.

• Takeda Harunobu suspected Kagome was a future traveler after examining her belongings and their Heisei-era markings.
• Harunobu decided to seize Kagome for a chance to defeat Emperor Sakuramachi and strengthen the shogunate.
• Inuyasha escaped his attackers with Shippo and Kirara, but the drug and his injuries caused him to collapse in the forest.
• Sesshomaru and Han found Inuyasha, and Han tended his wounds as he said humans had taken Kagome and the others.
• Kagome, Sango, and Miroku remained bound and separately imprisoned in lightless cells, while Kagome feared for her family and Inuyasha.

Inuyasha agreed to work with Han and Sesshomaru to search for Kagome and the others after learning they had vanished from the castle. Meanwhile, Takeda Harunobu questioned Kagome about her origins and deduced that she came from the future, while Han considered appealing to human authorities to confront the powerful lord behind the abduction.

• Inuyasha insisted on rescuing Kagome and the others, but Han and Sesshomaru told him their scents had disappeared from the castle.
• Inuyasha recounted the ambush, and Han proposed investigating the town’s military officers while Sesshomaru ordered Jaken’s monsters to search for signs of a secret troop movement.
• Takeda Harunobu questioned the bound, blindfolded Kagome about her family name, origins, and unusual clothes.
• Kagome tried to hide her future identity with an explanation about her name and amnesia, but Harunobu inferred that she came from the future.
• Han warned that the abductor might command thousands of soldiers and suggested seeking help from the Emperor in Kyoto.

Han reunited with Tomoko after fifty years and met Uesugi Kenshin, whose birth name was Nagao Chiyo. After Han explained that Kagome and the others had been captured by the Takeda House, Tomoko and Chiyo agreed to use an imperial edict to pressure the Takeda House to release them.

• Tomoko welcomed Han into the Small Imperial Palace and introduced her to Uesugi Kenshin.
• Han learned that Kenshin was a woman and that her original name was Nagao Chiyo, and she promised to remember it.
• Han removed her talisman at Tomoko's request, then asked Tomoko and Chiyo for help rescuing Kagome, Inuyasha, and the others from the Takeda House.
• Tomoko said she would issue an imperial edict demanding the Takeda House release Kagome, while Han would try to discover where the captives were being held.
• Han thanked Tomoko and Chiyo and returned Tomoko's jewel, a tiny green magatama on her prayer beads.

Han discovered that Ise Grand Shrine’s chief priest, Nijo Harukata—now known as Zhiyá—was her supposedly dead Master. Zhiyá left the Yasakani no Magatama with Tomoko and promised to help rescue Kikyo’s reincarnation, while Han reminded him that someone at Kiyomori Temple was still waiting for him.

• Chiyo recognized the Yasakani no Magatama, and Tomoko recalled how its theft had sparked the Divine Jewel Incident and her rise to the throne.
• Tomoko offered the jewel to the chief priest, but Zhiyá told her to keep it rather than risk drawing attention to its return.
• Han recognized the chief priest as her Master and struggled with the pain of learning that he had been alive while everyone at Kiyomori Temple believed him dead.
• Zhiyá apologized to Han and explained that he had stayed away because he had things he needed to do, including taking on the fate meant for Tsubaki.
• After Han told him that Kikyo’s reincarnation had been captured by the Takeda House, Zhiyá promised that the Nijo Fujiwara House would help her.
• As Han said goodbye, she told Zhiyá that someone at Kiyomori Temple was still waiting, and his eyes widened.