Inuyasha's awakening!

"Fifty years ago, she shot an arrow into my chest! How could I possibly forget something like that?"

"Besides, if you knew keeping Kikyo's ashes would give demons an opening and bring trouble to the villagers, you should have thrown them into the river and let the current wash them away! This whole mess happened because you couldn't let go!"

"You caused this trouble, and now you want to rely on my strength. Do you think that's fair?"

At those words, Kaede had no answer.

Finally, she sighed softly and spoke of the frailty of human beings:

"Inuyasha, do you think building a grave serves any purpose?

A grave isn't merely a place to bury people's bodies or bones. The ones who truly need graves are the living!"

Graves were built for the living?

What kind of reasoning was that?!

As everyone puzzled over this, Kaede spoke of the sorrows she had witnessed through more than sixty years of life.

"My elder sister Kikyo was born a miko. She always used her spiritual power to protect Kaede's Village and the surrounding villages, keeping demons away! She also fought disease and famine alongside the villagers, encouraging everyone to keep living bravely!"

"As you saw, the villagers didn't lose hope after she died. They continued to live with courage!"

"But the human heart is fragile, after all..."

"When hardship fills people's hearts with unease, they can easily crumble. Then everyone begins to miss my sister's strength! They miss the days when she protected them! At times like those, a grave gives the living something to anchor their hearts to!"

Her words gave everyone much to ponder.

They inspired a spontaneous sense of respect.

During her life, Kikyo had been almost flawless, with no weakness to exploit. Only after Inuyasha appeared had that changed; her overall strength seemed to have increased, but she had also gained an obvious vulnerability.

"Something to anchor their hearts to...?"

Inuyasha murmured, his gaze drifting.

"Yes. As Kikyo's younger sister, I chose to follow her path and protect this land! But as you've seen, my strength is meager. I cannot match her excellence. Even so, my presence helps put people's hearts at ease..."

Kaede said.

Wasn't protecting people the very reason miko, monks, priests, and the like existed?

Just then, Li Xia interjected:

"Inuyasha, now that we're companions, there are some things I need to get off my chest! I've never understood this. You said before that Miss Kikyo ambushed you and broke your promise, but why is what I've heard different from your account?"

"Different how?"

Inuyasha frowned.

"It's simple!

If Miss Kikyo wanted to kill you, wouldn't firing a [Sacred Arrow] instead of a [Sealing Arrow] have been more direct?

You should know very well that although Higurashi's Sacred Arrows lack accuracy, their destructive power against demons is plain to see! Yet her spiritual power and training as a miko, at least for now, fall far short of Miss Kikyo's! Do you think Miss Kikyo could have killed you with a single arrow back then?"

Everyone froze at his words.

That was right!

Even Kagome's Sacred Arrow could shatter the Shikon Jewel and destroy the red skull at the core of Yura of the Hair, who possessed four-star demon power.

Kikyo's Sacred Arrows could only have been stronger and more accurate.

After all, fifty years ago, if not a thousand demons, then at least eight hundred had attacked Kaede's Village to steal the Shikon Jewel, only to fall to Kikyo's arrows. That didn't even include her many journeys to slay demons before she took on the task of Shikon Jewel Purification.

Among them had been plenty of upper-rank demons with three-star demon power or even Four-Star Demon Power’s Upper-Rank Demon that had terrorized entire regions.

"Mr. Xia, are you saying Miss Kikyo showed mercy back then?"

Kagome asked hurriedly.

Li Xia shrugged:

"That's how I see it! There were already plenty of suspicious details about Miss Kikyo returning gravely wounded that day...!"

"First, who could injure a miko with such keen spiritual senses and immense strength?"

"Second, you took the Shikon Jewel from the shrine's sanctuary, didn't you, Inuyasha? But Miss Kikyo always carried a treasure like that with her whenever she went out! Why didn't she take it with her that time? Why leave it in the shrine for you to steal?"

"What's even more suspicious is that you said Miss Kikyo attacked you while you were on your way to your agreed meeting place! That raises a question. If she truly intended to ambush and kill you, with her hidden and you exposed, would you have had any chance to escape? Why would Miss Kikyo, a master archer, miss her shot?"

"Look... with this many inconsistencies, if you set aside your hatred and stubborn preconceptions and calmly think things through, you'll surely work it out!"

Li Xia didn't forget to give everyone a little credit at the end.

Having offered those pointers, he said no more.

Instead, he turned away to prepare for the new journey that could begin at any moment.

He intended to leave all the monks' cultivation manuals he had obtained from the temple in Kaede's house. He remembered how he and Kagome had spent several hours copying texts by candlelight at the temple two nights earlier, finally making copies of all the cultivation methods and techniques he needed.

He had taken the originals with him.

(The following morning, he had also photographed everything with the [Camera], preserving it all just in case.)

Watching Li Xia walk away, Kagome and Shippo were astonished by what their new companion had said:

"He's right! There are so many suspicious details!

Mr. Xia is amazing!"

"And he's such a kind person...!"

As Kaede watched Li Xia leave, her expression grew even graver:

"What Mr. Xia said is true. Anything can happen in the Demon World, and there are plenty of demons capable of impersonating others!

Inuyasha, you should know that better than I do!

So there may well have been some misunderstanding between you and my sister. I've always wondered why she returned to the village with mortal wounds. Why did she insist on sealing you before she died? If some demon framed you both, then everything makes sense!"

At her words, Inuyasha finally came to his senses!

And he caught the unmistakable scent of a conspiracy!

"Framed?"

"A demon disguised itself as Kikyo and attacked me?"

"And a demon disguised itself as me and attacked Kikyo?"

He wasn't stupid. He had simply been too fixated on Kikyo ambushing and sealing him.

He had sunk so deeply into that obsession that he had never spared a thought for anything else.

"Framed? Framed!"

In an instant, a bleak smile spread across his face!

He remembered.

When he had been heading to their agreed meeting place and Kikyo attacked him along the way, he had indeed caught a faint trace of demonic aura on her.

But her ambush and cold mockery had driven him completely out of his mind! He had turned back to the village and stolen the Shikon Jewel from the sanctuary! Only then had Kikyo returned, gravely wounded, and sealed him with a Sealing Arrow!

That raised a question:

How had Kikyo suffered mortal wounds in that brief interval? Who had injured her?

The Kikyo who had ambushed him earlier had been perfectly unharmed.

What had happened in between?

And if she had fought someone and been gravely wounded, how could she have returned to the village before he took the Shikon Jewel and left the shrine's sanctuary? Kikyo was only human. She couldn't possibly have been that fast!

"So all of this was a trap some demon set for me?"

"And I never noticed?"

"So Kikyo only sealed me instead of using the last of her strength to kill me with a Sacred Arrow. Was that because, besides having some doubts, she couldn't bear to let me go?"

"Kikyo...!"

At that moment, hatred raged wildly in Inuyasha's heart.

The upheaval inside him was beyond words.

All he wanted was to drag out the mastermind and tear them limb from limb.

"Kikyo, I'll recover your remains!"

Time was short.

Everyone soon set off in pursuit of Kikyo's ashes.

This time, however, they all traveled light to save time.

The group headed northeast. After spending a night in the wilderness, they finally reached a forested mountain region around noon the next day.

Clay Cocoons were everywhere.

Clearly, they had chosen the right direction.

They were likely already close to the area where Demoness Urasue operated.

Elsewhere.

Demoness Urasue was mixing the miko Kikyo's Spirit Bones with tomb soil and firing them, producing a completed Clay Figure.

Watching Kikyo slowly open her eyes, Urasue was overjoyed:

"Kikyo, when you lived as a miko, didn't you destroy every demon that coveted the Shikon Jewel? You even disappeared along with the jewel afterward! Now the jewel has reappeared, shattered into countless pieces!"

"And I've heard that even a demon who obtains just one tiny shard can increase their demon power severalfold!"

"I want... I want every Shikon Shard!"

"Go kill and burn every last demon that holds a Shikon Shard! Since I, Urasue, went to such great lengths to resurrect you, you will be my servant from now on!"

She cast her Demon Art.

She sought to summon Kikyo's soul back into this body.

But the summoning failed.

Kagome, her reincarnation, had delivered herself right to Urasue's doorstep, though.

*

*

*

P.S. There are only so many Inuyasha arcs, so I selected a few important ones and planned the various arcs around the original timeline. Some overlap with the plot is inevitable!

After all, the protagonist is still too weak. If he dared to act alone, Naraku and any demons drawn by the news would definitely hunt him down!

That would be a genuine case of making him stupid!

I hope you can understand. Many thanks.