They passed through the Black Pearl taken from Inuyasha's eye, then through the vortex Sesshomaru had activated.
Hojo Akitoshi and Kagome smoothly boarded a bird shaped like a skeletal pterosaur.
Then, without anyone teaching him, Hojo Akitoshi steered the bird toward something whose presence had been impossible to ignore ever since they entered the vortex.
It was a mountain of dog-headed bones, as enormous as Mount Fuji and clad in samurai armor.
"Are you sure this is all right?"
Sitting behind Hojo Akitoshi with her arms around his waist, Kagome asked in a worried voice.
She remembered how Akechi Mitsuhide and the other samurai had tried to dissuade Hojo Akitoshi before he entered the vortex with her.
Even Kagome felt he had already done more than enough. There was really no need for him to accompany her into danger.
"It's fine. I want to see this through to the end, too."
While reassuring the worried Kagome, Hojo Akitoshi, who knew the whole story, understood perfectly well.
This trip might look dangerous, but the risks were all manageable.
Besides, they had already come this far. If he failed to catch a glimpse of the late Great Dog General's grandeur, the trip would feel as though it were missing something.
"And haven't I already made arrangements for Akechi Mitsuhide and the others?"
Smiling, Hojo Akitoshi turned slightly and patted the girl's head.
"Oh, you have?"
Still a little confused, Kagome relaxed. She seemed to have developed an inexplicable dependence on Hojo Akitoshi.
If Hojo Akitoshi said so, it had to be fine, right?
Setting aside what was happening outside the vortex, Kagome rallied herself and began studying the place they had entered.
This was the supposed boundary between life and death.
"By the way, Kagome, have you noticed anything here?"
"Some light that seems out of place, for instance?"
Hojo Akitoshi suddenly asked as he steered the skeletal pterosaur.
"Light?"
At his words, Kagome widened her eyes and quickly scanned their surroundings, determined not to overlook anything.
Even when the skeletal pterosaur reached the late Great Dog General's remains, Kagome kept searching diligently, despite having spotted nothing unusual.
"Sorry, I didn't see anything."
Embarrassed that she had failed to find the anomaly he had mentioned, she took Hojo Akitoshi's outstretched hand.
Her face flushed, and she barely dared to look at him.
"It's fine."
Hojo Akitoshi shook his head lightly, unbothered. It seemed the final Shikon Jewel shard...
Had not arrived here yet.
Looking around, Hojo Akitoshi also tapped the surrounding bones with his hand.
Clink, clink, clink.
The ringing of metal immediately sounded, indirectly revealing to them a little of...
The former grandeur of the Great Dog General, the mighty warrior who had once ruled Japan's Demon World.
"What about Inuyasha?"
Her eyes flickered as she followed Hojo Akitoshi onward. She had not forgotten their main reason for coming here.
Just as Kagome asked about Inuyasha, while the girl was distracted...
Hojo Akitoshi discreetly tucked away some fragments that had broken off the Great Dog General's bones.
"He should be fine."
Following the principle that a thief never left empty-handed, Hojo Akitoshi answered while quietly helping himself to whatever he could.
Did anyone really think he had come in here just to check off a sightseeing spot?
After all, Demon Hag Urasue could fire Kikyo's ashes into a clay body, then use it as an anchor to draw Kikyo's soul out of Kagome.
Granted, she had met a miserable end. Not only had she failed to control Kikyo in that artificial body, but the very creation she had made sent her to the Underworld.
Still, her approach and techniques held considerable appeal for Hojo Akitoshi.
In other words, as long as the control software could keep up, couldn't the Great Dog General be revived in the living world through the same method?
"Where could I find a researcher like Orochimaru to recruit?"
Delighted by the thought, Hojo Akitoshi unwittingly blurted those words out.
"Orochimaru?"
Hearing that puzzling remark, Kagome turned back and asked curiously.
Was he another famous historical figure?
If he could be of use to Lord Akitoshi...
Kagome silently resolved to return to the modern world in the future as soon as their current business was settled.
Then, even if she had to wear out every Japanese history book, she would find this person named Orochimaru.
As long as it helped Lord Akitoshi, I would do anything!
"Oh, I just happened to hear about him from a peddler who travels from place to place."
"He's supposed to be very, very clever, and knows how to adapt to circumstances."
Realizing he had let something slip, Hojo Akitoshi hastily invented an excuse to cover it up. Then, to keep Kagome from asking further questions...
He pointed toward the exit ahead, where light was gradually coming into view.
Sure enough, that diversion immediately drew Kagome's attention.
The girl hurried forward a few steps, then quickly ran through the exit and into the heart of the Great Dog General's remains.
"Inuyasha!"
As soon as she entered the vast cavern-like space, Kagome saw Inuyasha confronting Sesshomaru.
Or rather, the confrontation was one-sided. In truth, he was being ignored.
For as far as Hojo Akitoshi could see, Sesshomaru had been standing on a platform all along, staring at the sword embedded in it.
The aloof nobleman did not seem to have paid Inuyasha any attention at all.
"How's it going?"
Hojo Akitoshi walked over to Inuyasha, who was baring his teeth and looked as though he had suffered another setback, and asked with apparent concern.
"What are you two doing here?"
Inuyasha had already noticed their arrival. He was deeply touched, but his tongue remained as sharp as ever.
"Inuyasha, what are you saying?"
"Aren't we companions? How could we let you come somewhere this dangerous all alone?"
It was a speech straight out of a hot-blooded Japanese anime protagonist's mouth. Not long ago, Inuyasha had made her furious.
Yet now, there was not a trace of resentment in Kagome, only heartfelt concern.
"Tch. What good does it do for you to come here?"
Turning his head away, Inuyasha stubbornly refused to admit how he felt or back down.
He was still putting on a brave front.
"All right, let's not argue about that now."
Interrupting the exchange between the girl and the dog, Hojo Akitoshi carefully studied the silent Sesshomaru.
"Is that sword the treasure your father left you?"
Pointing at the battered samurai sword embedded in the platform, Hojo Akitoshi asked a question he already knew the answer to.
"Who wants that old man's sword? Like I care!"
Inuyasha forcefully turned his head away again, almost as if he meant to twist it right off his own neck.
With his neck stiffly craned, he was almost endearingly foolish.
Perhaps the arrival of Hojo Akitoshi and Kagome had finally stirred the statue-like Sesshomaru into reacting.
He silently regarded Hojo Akitoshi, whom he admired, and Kagome. When his gaze finally settled on Inuyasha, it held even greater disdain.
"This sword is Tessaiga, the treasured blade with which our father, the Great Dog General, swept across the land."
"It is a mighty demon blade capable of tearing apart countless demons with a single light swing."
"And it is a sword an immature half-demon like you could never understand."
Seeming to offer the explanation more for Hojo Akitoshi and Kagome's benefit, Sesshomaru finished speaking, then slowly reached out one hand to grasp the rusty-looking Tessaiga.
"Lord Akitoshi, we can't let him take that sword."
After hearing the explanation, Kagome was horrified. Sesshomaru was already terrifyingly powerful without it.
How could things possibly turn out well if he got his hands on it?
Without a second thought, Kagome ran behind Hojo Akitoshi and instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist again, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
She intended to join forces with him and fire another Purifying Arrow at Sesshomaru.
As Inuyasha's eyelid twitched uncontrollably, Hojo Akitoshi replied, momentarily at a loss for words.
"Let's watch for now. Since this is something the Great Dog General specifically left for Inuyasha..."
"He must have prepared some safeguards, wouldn't you say?"
"Human lords fill their tombs with all sorts of traps. I imagine a ruler among demons like the Great Dog General..."
"Would have something similar in his own tomb."
"I-is that how it works?"
Blinking, Kagome felt that Hojo Akitoshi's words made a great deal of sense, but she still refused to take her arms from around his waist.
Even when Inuyasha grew red in the face and tried to pull her off Hojo Akitoshi...
Kagome still would not let go.
Before you continue