What kind of demon was my father?

Leaving aside Inuyasha and Kagome's pointless tug-of-war, which was a case of throwing away the watermelon to pick up sesame seeds...

Hojo Akitoshi kept his attention firmly fixed on Sesshomaru as he finally moved.

Apparently, Sesshomaru had at last prepared himself mentally, having received no decent inheritance even when his father died.

He reached toward Tessaiga.

Crackle!

Tiny flashes of electricity immediately appeared. At first, neither the noise nor the leaping arcs was particularly intense.

But as Sesshomaru's hand drew closer to Tessaiga's hilt, both the noise and the arcs visibly grew more violent.

Eventually, it reached the point where...

Explosive cracks echoed everywhere within this central chamber of the Great Dog General's body, and blazing white lightning filled the cavern!

At the sight, Inuyasha and Kagome froze in the middle of their squabble.

Neither of them had expected a scene that could only be called a natural disaster.

"Are you sure this is the inheritance your dad left you?"

Kagome blurted out the question instinctively. Given what she was seeing, she could hardly imagine it.

What would happen if Inuyasha took the place of Sesshomaru, who was still struggling against Tessaiga up above?

Wouldn't Inuyasha become an electrically roasted dog the moment he started?

"What are you talking about, ugly woman!"

At those words, Inuyasha's already stiff expression grew even stiffer. To be perfectly honest, lightning of this intensity...

Refusing to admit defeat was one thing, but he hadn't lived long enough yet!

Besides, was that father he had never met really sure he wanted to leave him a treasure?

Rather than find some roundabout way to make his son join him in death?

The barrier on Tessaiga is rejecting me?

In fact, Sesshomaru had confirmed that the moment he reached out to grasp Tessaiga.

A special barrier had been placed on Tessaiga, the demon blade his father had relied upon to sweep across the world!

He simply didn't yet know whether this barrier was meant to test whether whoever came here was worthy of drawing Tessaiga.

Or whether it was solely for Inuyasha's sake.

But whichever it was, even after Kagome's Purifying Arrow had weakened him...

The proud Sesshomaru still intended to try. If it was a test of whether the visitor deserved to possess this demon blade...

Sesshomaru had the confidence to declare that no one was more worthy of it than he was.

But if it had been left specifically for Inuyasha, he still wanted to draw the demon blade through his own strength.

That would also prove he had surpassed his father!

Even if he had only surpassed the barrier his father had set!

To Sesshomaru, that would still hold tremendous meaning.

Unfortunately, despite Sesshomaru's fine intentions and all the effort he put in...

"Tch."

His hand never truly managed to close around Tessaiga's hilt, though he had come within a hair's breadth of doing so.

In the end, Sesshomaru withdrew his hand expressionlessly under the amused gazes of the two humans and one half-demon.

He understood that forcing the issue any further would certainly leave him in a miserable state.

His already wounded body would suffer irreversible damage.

"What's wrong? Can't do it either, Sesshomaru?"

Forgetting the pain as soon as the wound healed, Inuyasha began showing off. He had originally worried that Sesshomaru would draw the sword.

Now his face looked indescribably punchable.

At those words, Sesshomaru finally glanced at Inuyasha, whom he had ignored all this time.

To Hojo Akitoshi, the look in Sesshomaru's eyes was indescribably complicated.

There was confusion, resentment, and even a little jealousy?

That made sense. Hojo Akitoshi turned his attention back to Tessaiga, still embedded in the platform.

In Hojo Akitoshi's personal opinion, the Great Dog General's arrangements for Sesshomaru had been somewhat unfair.

The late Great Dog General had possessed three treasured blades, corresponding to the three powers of heaven, earth, and humanity.

They were Tenseiga, the blade of heaven; Sōunga, the blade of earth; and Tessaiga, the blade of humanity, which had shone the brightest in the original world.

Leaving aside Sōunga, which had only made a fleeting appearance, what exactly was Tenseiga, the sword left to Sesshomaru?

It had supposedly even been split off from Tessaiga!

In the end, it was merely an ingredient meant to make Tessaiga more perfect.

The stated intention was to have Sesshomaru awaken to a blade of his own, but was the Great Dog General really that confident?

Was he so sure his eldest son would survive until that day?

Japan's Demon World wasn't peaceful either. A genius who died before maturing was no genius at all.

"Hey, why aren't you saying anything?"

While Hojo Akitoshi indulged in a rare bout of inward criticism of the Great Dog General, an enthusiastic Inuyasha continued courting death despite Kagome's attempts to stop him.

Watching Sesshomaru silently stare at his own palm, Inuyasha was practically ready to jump right in front of him and mock him to his heart's content.

"Inuyasha, enough. Go up and try it yourself."

He keenly sensed Sesshomaru's emotions growing more volatile. The demon was already on the verge of taking his anger out on Inuyasha, Kagome, and Hojo Akitoshi himself.

Hojo Akitoshi hurried to stop Inuyasha's continued provocations, speaking while keeping a close watch on Sesshomaru.

"Hm?"

Sesshomaru's ears twitched. Outwardly, he still made no move, but his lack of action signaled tacit consent.

"Huh?"

Inuyasha could ignore Kagome's attempts to stop him, but Hojo Akitoshi had already earned a great deal of his goodwill.

Inuyasha couldn't disregard his words. He stared at Sesshomaru, who had actually shifted aside as though making room for him.

Then he looked at the encouraging Hojo Akitoshi. Scratching his head, Inuyasha suddenly strode toward the platform brimming with confidence.

As he saw it, Sesshomaru couldn't draw the blade, and Hojo Akitoshi had told him to try.

Especially since, in his mind, Hojo Akitoshi was someone whose plans never failed.

The lightning filling the air earlier might have looked terrifying, but once he went up there, surely he would draw the sword without a hitch.

And humiliate Sesshomaru in front of everyone while he was at it?

With that confidence, Inuyasha stood before the sword and loosened up his whole body, treating it as a warm-up.

Then he shot a sideways look at Sesshomaru, who was watching him nearby. Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha seemed determined to move before Tessaiga could react.

His hand shot out as fast as lightning, intending to grab the hilt and pull the blade out in one swift motion.

Apparently, however confident he looked on the surface, Inuyasha was still uneasy inside.

"Hm?"

Watching his good-for-nothing younger brother, a strange glint flickered through Sesshomaru's eyes.

Deep down, even he didn't know whether he wanted Inuyasha to draw Tessaiga.

Fortunately, Sesshomaru soon had no need to agonize over it.

Lightning flashed, and Inuyasha fared even worse than he had.

Unable to endure it for even a little longer, Inuyasha was hurled away by Tessaiga's barrier amid the lightning.

"Oh?"

The chuckle was very quiet. Had Hojo Akitoshi not been watching Sesshomaru all along...

He probably would have missed that slight curve at the corner of Sesshomaru's mouth.

This guy actually smiles at someone else's misfortune?

Feeling as though he had discovered a new side of Sesshomaru, Hojo Akitoshi soon heard Inuyasha's disgruntled yelling.

"Hey!"

He had thought he could thoroughly humiliate Sesshomaru, but hadn't he ended up handing himself over to be humiliated instead?

After all, his performance had been even worse!

Fuming, Inuyasha jumped down from the platform. When he reached Hojo Akitoshi, his hostile gaze and teeth-grinding expression...

Both plainly expressed his displeasure. And to think he had trusted Hojo Akitoshi so much.

"Don't be angry. Something must have gone wrong. Let me think."

As he soothed Inuyasha, who responded best to a gentle touch, his gaze drifted toward the silent Sesshomaru.

In the original timeline, Sesshomaru would already have been fighting Inuyasha by now. Yet here, he seemed to be waiting for Hojo Akitoshi's explanation too.

With three pairs of eyes fixed on him, Hojo Akitoshi made his own way up onto the platform.

"Be careful!"

Seeing this, Kagome hurriedly called out in concern.

"What kind of demon was your father?"

Waving a hand at Kagome behind him, Hojo Akitoshi smiled as he asked Sesshomaru.

He appeared completely unconcerned that Sesshomaru might attack him.

As the saying went, friendship could grow out of a fight.

Although Sesshomaru was dangerous at this point, and not as gentle as he would become after taking in the little human girl Rin...

If one looked past appearances to his true nature...

He was still a pretty kindhearted fellow.

"My father?"

Sesshomaru seemed to sink into his memories.

What kind of demon was my father?