What if she hid in the forest?

"Lord Hojo Akitoshi, the forest on that hill ahead is where the demon is hiding."

A pleasant diversion, .ℴ incredibly smooth.

Standing well away from Yura of the Hair's hiding place, Kagome pointed ahead as she spoke to Hojo Akitoshi.

After spending most of the morning riding on Inuyasha, Kagome had finally completed the task Hojo Akitoshi had entrusted to her.

"Mm."

He had brought the villagers conscripted for labor, along with most of the Hojo Army's soldiers.

Hojo Akitoshi smiled at Kagome.

"You don't need to call me Hojo Akitoshi. Just call me Akitoshi."

In Japan, acquaintances generally addressed one another by their surnames, such as Hojo or Higurashi.

Only when they became exceptionally close did they address each other by their given names.

Much as Hojo Akitoshi usually called Akechi Mitsuhide simply Mitsuhide.

"Um..."

At those unexpected words, Kagome blushed and instinctively glanced at the Hojo retainers standing behind Hojo Akitoshi.

The girl had not forgotten what had happened before she left the Hojo Army's camp that morning.

Although these retainers had not voiced their displeasure to her face, their looks and attitudes had made it perfectly clear.

She was decidedly unwelcome.

"Huh?"

As she cautiously studied Hojo Akitoshi's retainers, Kagome noticed something surprising. They were still rather indifferent toward her.

But that faint sense of hostility was gone.

Could it be...?

The sensitive girl immediately thought of Hojo Akitoshi. Lord Akitoshi must have said something to his retainers.

Warmth instantly filled Kagome's heart.

Then, in a voice barely louder than a mosquito's hum, she shyly addressed him.

"Lord Akitoshi."

"Hahaha!"

Laughing heartily, Hojo Akitoshi affectionately patted the blushing Kagome's head.

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"Hey, what are you two doing? Weren't we supposed to be dealing with a demon?"

The feeling of being made to swallow shit grew stronger, and the signs of being cuckolded were becoming impossible to conceal.

Inuyasha stared at Kagome, who wore Kikyo's face, as she acted like a bashful young maiden.

For some reason, fury rose in his heart, setting his blood boiling.

Unable to watch any longer, he hastily shouted, as though giving voice to his displeasure.

He also wanted Kagome to stop using Kikyo's face to behave so shamelessly.

"Indeed."

Kaede, who had watched everything, chimed in. When it came to Hojo Akitoshi...

She sided with Inuyasha. Not because she wanted to see Inuyasha, who had once been entangled with her older sister Kikyo...

Become involved with Kagome, her reincarnation, all over again, but because she simply could not figure Hojo Akitoshi out!

"Lord Hojo Akitoshi, the female demon is in the forest on that hill ahead."

"As far as I know, there is also a valley formed by cliffs up there."

"If the female demon really is hiding there, it would take two hours just to reach her on foot from here."

"And that is without accounting for the hair traps she has laid along the way, or unknown venomous insects and other dangers."

On the surface, Kaede was detailing the dangers along the route. Beneath that, however, she was also subtly making a point.

With a formidable enemy before us, isn't this a poor time to be lavishing attention on Kagome?

Besides!

She cast an almost imperceptible glance behind her at the villagers Hojo Akitoshi had conscripted from the surrounding villages.

Unaware of what awaited them, they had come for two filling meals of rice porridge and pickles, plus two Copper Coins a day.

They had eagerly rushed over without really knowing what they were getting into.

Once these villagers carrying axes and saws learned the purpose of this expedition...

That they were actually here to subjugate a demon hiding in the forest, they immediately grew apprehensive and nervous, yet also reluctant to leave.

Their apprehension and nerves came from having to face a demon who killed without batting an eye.

Their reluctance came from those two meals and the Copper Coins.

"Don't worry, everyone. Your task is only to fell trees around the perimeter."

Having caught the implication in Kaede's words, Hojo Akitoshi turned to address the villagers, who had become restless after hearing her.

Of course, Hojo Akitoshi had not conscripted these villagers to serve as cannon fodder.

For one thing, sending these untrained villagers into the forest to attack a demon would accomplish nothing.

For another, there were the consequences of having over a thousand villagers gathered from more than a dozen villages die here.

With their able-bodied laborers gone, their villages would inevitably fall into decline, affecting tax revenue and grain production.

And most importantly, there was Hojo Akitoshi's reputation, among other things.

None of those outcomes were anything Hojo Akitoshi wanted to see.

"Make the arrangements. Proceed according to plan."

He briefly reassured the villagers, relying on his reputation and authority.

Once they had settled down, Hojo Akitoshi turned and ordered Akechi Mitsuhide to put them to work immediately.

Their first priority was to clear a firebreak at least twenty meters wide around the perimeter of the hill where Yura of the Hair was hiding.

When they saw that the Hojo Army really was not driving ordinary villagers like them into the forest...

And remembered the unlimited refills of porridge and pickles, along with two Copper Coins a day...

The villagers immediately threw themselves into the work. Led by the Hojo Army's samurai, they shouted work chants and hacked away at the trees along the forest's edge.

Kagome was puzzled by this, while Inuyasha and Kaede likewise had no idea what Hojo Akitoshi intended.

Could he be planning to cut down the entire forest bit by bit?

Meanwhile, hidden in a ravine formed by the sheer cliffs on the hill, Yura of the Hair monitored them through the hair she had spread throughout the forest.

In fact, she had noticed their movements as early as that morning, when Kagome led the search.

But after attacking the Hojo Army's camp the previous night, Yura of the Hair's demonic power-something akin to a mana bar...

Had been rather heavily depleted. After all, she had unleashed wave after wave of attacks with her invisible Hair Sea.

Her external avatar had even been destroyed in the end. Yura of the Hair was no Great Demon with tons of demonic power.

Nor was she a cheater who could switch on infinite mana.

Surely she deserved a breather to recover some mana?

Yura of the...

Hair also had her own considerations. She had long since filled her hiding place with an inescapable web of traps.

With this prepared position to rely on, Yura of the Hair wanted the hateful Hojo Army to taste the pain of attacking an enemy's stronghold.

However badly she had been beaten last night, she would make the Hojo Army suffer even worse today.

So Yura of the Hair had allowed Kagome to conduct her reconnaissance, and, as she had hoped, a large force of humans and Hojo troops had arrived.

Except...

From that point onward, things began to diverge from her expectations!

"What are these humans doing?"

Inside a nest made of countless human skulls and strands of hair, Yura of the Hair's true body-a blood-red comb-muttered to herself.

At first, Hojo Akitoshi's arrangements genuinely left her bewildered.

What could these humans possibly accomplish by cutting down those irrelevant trees?

If they want to attack me, they have to enter the forest.

Surely they don't think cutting down a few trees on the outskirts can force me out of the forest's center?

And as for slowly cutting their way in, never mind whether they could even manage such a laborious task...

Do they really think I would stand by and watch?

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The moment you humans touch a tree rigged with my hair traps...

Hehehe. The red comb, Yura of the Hair herself, was already picturing the magnificent sight.

Her skill, the unstoppable Hair Blade, would slice those humans trying to fell the trees into pieces of sashimi!

"Lord Akitoshi."

Time flew by. After the strenuous efforts of more than a thousand villagers, further spurred on by porridge, pickles, and Copper Coins...

By one or two in the afternoon, the firebreak Hojo Akitoshi had requested was nearly complete.

Looking at the felled trees and the bare ring of cleared ground surrounding the forest...

Kagome finally could not resist asking.

"What do we do next?"

She blinked, hoping Hojo Akitoshi would not immediately follow that up with an order to charge.

"Next? Naturally, we..."

Leaving his sentence unfinished, Hojo Akitoshi raised his War Fan toward the men behind him.

...Many ashigaru pushed carts forward, their wheels rumbling over the ground.