The pieces he wanted were slowly falling into place

"Human..."

The enormous Sesshomaru looked down at Hojo Akitoshi, who seemed tiny beneath him. That ant-sized creature was swinging desperately at his ankle.

At that moment, Sesshomaru began to understand why humans occupied most of the fertile land in this world.

Rather than demons, who lived longer, possessed greater individual strength, and had far hardier bodies.

Humanity's ancestors must have been just like Hojo Akitoshi, pressing forward generation after generation as others fell before them.

That was how they had driven demons back into the mountains, wilderness, and marshes.

"But I am Sesshomaru!"

"Do not mistake me for those mongrel demons!"

Whatever insight had stirred in his heart, Sesshomaru did not hesitate in his actions.

Demonic power rushed into his ankle, and his pride drove him to meet the attack head-on.

"That's more like it!"

Hojo Akitoshi's eyes gleamed. He, too, wanted to test where he stood in a direct clash.

Fighting Sesshomaru would also give him a clearer sense of the direction he should take from here.

Clang!

Though made of flesh, Sesshomaru's ankle, infused with demonic power, seemed to have become a steel pillar holding up the heavens.

A sharp metallic clang rang out as the blade in Hojo Akitoshi's hand, imbued with a faint trace of purifying power, struck.

It managed only to slice away a few strands of Sesshomaru's fur and leave a shallow cut in his flesh.

Then Sesshomaru's tremendous strength sent Hojo Akitoshi flying, sword and all.

"Hahaha! You certainly live up to your reputation, Lord Sesshomaru, at the pinnacle of the Demon World."

He tucked himself into a midair somersault to bleed off the tremendous impact, then landed firmly on the ground.

Even as Hojo Akitoshi voiced his praise, he dodged Sesshomaru's follow-up attack.

Boom.

Sesshomaru's claws slammed into the earth, a hint of excitement glinting in his eyes.

Turning his head to search for Hojo Akitoshi, he discovered that the human had actually slipped behind his rump.

Displeasure immediately crossed his face. Sesshomaru had no intention of letting Hojo Akitoshi touch his backside.

Even if there was nothing to fault in his opponent's tactics under the circumstances.

His tail swung like a steel whip, like a battering ram.

With what looked like a simple sweep and flick, Hojo Akitoshi, who had intended to strike at the demon's rear, had no choice but to scramble out of the way.

But before Hojo Akitoshi could regain his footing, Sesshomaru kicked backward with a hind leg.

"Gah!"

This time, Hojo Akitoshi had nowhere to dodge. The gap in both size and strength was far too great.

He violently spat out a mouthful of dark purple blood.

"Lord Akitoshi!"

Terrified, Kagome could no longer stay put. She left Inuyasha beside her, who stood dumbstruck, never having imagined that Hojo Akitoshi could hold his own against Sesshomaru for so long.

Without a second thought, the girl reached back for an arrow, nocked it, drew her bow, and fired at the enormous Sesshomaru.

Thanks to Sesshomaru's massive size, even Kagome's less-than-polished archery landed three consecutive hits.

Wounded by those arrows, Sesshomaru gave Hojo Akitoshi a chance to catch his breath.

"Incredible. So this is the strength of a top-tier demon?"

Yura of the Hair had shown him the shortcomings of an ordinary mortal, and Sesshomaru had now shown him the gulf in sheer power.

Hojo Akitoshi's hunger for strength grew ever fiercer. He desperately wanted to finish this battle.

Then he would do everything in his power to obtain strength of his own.

But first...

Working together with Kagome, Hojo Akitoshi did his best to keep Sesshomaru, now an enormous white dog, occupied.

As he fought, he also kept an eye on Inuyasha. If that husky still failed before the two of them reached their limit...

If he still could not unlock Tessaiga's secret!

Then Hojo Akitoshi would have to apologize for what came next!

Hojo Akitoshi did not believe that someone like the Great Dog General, especially within his own tomb...

Would truly stand by and watch his eldest son tear his younger son to pieces. Surely, once Inuyasha faced a genuine life-or-death crisis...

That elusive Great Dog General would have to step into the fray himself, wouldn't he?

Whether he possessed Inuyasha or manifested in broad daylight.

The Great Dog General would surely have some way to settle the conflict!

Just as he had suddenly returned from the dead several times in the original timeline.

"Love and protection, love and protection."

While Hojo Akitoshi and Kagome struggled on one side, Inuyasha was hardly standing idle on the other.

Both aloud and in his head, he frantically repeated the hint Hojo Akitoshi had given him.

I have a lead. I know I do.

His brain felt ready to boil. Inuyasha kept feeling that he was only a little short.

Just that tiny bit, but every time, that tiny bit slipped away.

He could never quite catch hold of it.

"What am I missing?!"

He had silently steeled his resolve countless times, yet the sword in his hand simply refused to respond.

His anxiety burned inside him and showed plainly on his face.

"Gah!"

"Lord Akitoshi!"

Just as Inuyasha was on the verge of madness, he heard someone coughing up blood, followed by a cry filled with worry.

He abruptly turned toward the sounds.

Before his eyes, Hojo Akitoshi's prolonged defense finally failed, and Sesshomaru struck him again.

The blood spraying from Hojo Akitoshi's mouth drifted through the air like petals falling from the cherry tree outside his mother Princess Izayoi's door when he was a child.

"Ah, the cherry tree back home is blooming."

As he murmured to himself, Hojo Akitoshi became that tree in Inuyasha's eyes, and Kagome became his mother, standing at the door and anxiously calling him home.

In the next instant, the illusion shattered, and reality returned.

Like his late mother, Princess Izayoi, Kagome and Hojo Akitoshi seemed about to depart this world.

Under Sesshomaru's relentless assault, Hojo Akitoshi managed to give him a few more wounds.

Then he suffered another heavy blow. Not only that, Sesshomaru found an opening to send Kagome, who had been supporting him, flying with a sweep of his tail.

Something snapped in Inuyasha's mind. Profound questions like love and protection no longer occupied his thoughts.

He simply, instinctively, did not want to see two people who mattered so much to him come to harm.

Whoosh!

It was precisely that simple, instinctive response that transformed the rusty sword in Inuyasha's hand.

It became a majestic blade as broad as a door, its hilt

Adorned with a flowing guard like a lion's mane.

Tessaiga's true form finally revealed itself.

"What?"

Sesshomaru turned to look as he pursued Hojo Akitoshi and Kagome. Having seen Tessaiga in his father the Great Dog General's hands many times...

He could hardly mistake the sword's true appearance.

"Well done."

Blood still flowing from his mouth, Hojo Akitoshi watched with relief as Inuyasha finally understood.

Resting against Kagome's chest as she held him in her arms, Hojo Akitoshi smiled.

"Lord Akitoshi, Lord Akitoshi."

Seeing Hojo Akitoshi like this, Kagome unfortunately recalled the films and television shows she had watched in the future.

In those stories, didn't someone in Hojo Akitoshi's condition usually close his eyes and die next?

She could no longer spare any attention for Inuyasha's battle with Sesshomaru. Her entire heart was fixed on Hojo Akitoshi.

And so, Inuyasha's rare burst of determination, aided by his father's fang and Sesshomaru's weakened condition...

Produced an exceptionally rare moment of glory that Kagome utterly ignored.

"Inuyasha!"

Only when a heart-rending roar rang out, accompanied by an earthshaking crash as something heavy hit the ground...

"Kagome, it's all right. I'm not going to die."

Hojo Akitoshi struggled upright in Kagome's arms, then gently wiped away the tears that worry had brought to her eyes.

Only then did the girl have a moment to notice Inuyasha, sword resting on his shoulder, looking as though he had swallowed shit.

He had been smugly waiting for praise, but now...

Inuyasha wanted to die.

"That damn Hojo Akitoshi."

The disgruntled Inuyasha muttered under his breath.

"Sit!"

Having heard that, how could Kagome let the ungrateful mutt off the hook?

Ignoring the bickering girl and dog, Hojo Akitoshi took the opportunity to approach Sesshomaru's left arm, which Inuyasha had severed.

With neither of the other two noticing, he raised his blade and cut without hesitation.

And so, he obtained Sesshomaru's flesh and blood, along with fragments of the Great Dog General's bones.

Hojo Akitoshi had reaped a rich harvest from this trip. Now all that remained was to wait for the pieces to slowly fall into place.