Japanese castles are centered around the Tenshukaku. The surrounding defensive facilities vary depending on the location, but generally include walls and moats. Other defenses, such as a moat, depend on the local conditions.
Outside the castle, the homes of the common people spread outwards from the Tenshukaku. The higher the person's status, the closer their home was to the inner keep. Conversely, the poorer the person, the further they lived from the inner keep.
In an ordinary castle, the poor people on the edge of the castle town would be in the most danger. If attacked by an enemy, they would be the first to be hit, becoming a human wall to block the enemy and buy time for the officials to escape into the inner keep.
But in Hitomijou, the castle occupied by Naraku, the situation was completely reversed. The closer one got to the Tenshukaku, the more dangerous it was. After all, being close made it easier to see things one shouldn't, and the only consequence of seeing those things was death.
With officials disappearing every few days, the remaining officials had no mood to bother the commoners, so the common people of Hitomijou weren't doing too badly.
At this moment, the sun rose in the east, and the darkness quietly retreated, as warm sunlight poured over the world.
The shops in the town gradually opened for business, and the flow of people in the streets gradually increased, with people strolling in twos and threes.
Toga, riding the Youun, passed through the town and scanned the humans within. The situation in the town was different from what he had expected, so he slightly adjusted his original plan.
The vast, sea-like Youki stirred the clouds, instantly condensing into boundless black clouds. Dazzling lightning danced between the layers of clouds, accompanied by howling winds and flying sand and stones. The imposing aura pressed down upon Hitomijou.
The residents of the town raised their heads, gazing at the figure riding the Youun, leading the endless black clouds. They immediately cried out.
"A monster!"
After shouting, they ran faster than each other. Most of them fled in panic towards the city gates. But there were always some who were rather foolish, and even when they saw the monster heading straight for the city, they didn't run out. Instead, they hid in their homes, closing the doors and windows as if they were safe.
When a monster attacks, fleeing isn't the only option; there's also fighting.
The officials and nobles in the city gathered the samurai and soldiers, preparing to fight the monster.
However, Toga didn't pay any attention to those people, charging straight into the Tenshukaku.
Before the Meiji era, the Tenshukaku wasn't called that; it was directly called the "Tenshu." The Tenshu was the highest, most important, and most representative part of a Japanese castle. It served as a lookout and command center, symbolizing authority during the feudal era.
Therefore, in most cases, the castle lord would reside within the Tenshukaku.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry... Enter the castle and save the castle lord!"
An official shouted loudly as a unit of about a hundred soldiers rushed towards the inner castle.
Many of the windows used for lighting were tightly shut, so the light inside the Tenshukaku was not bright. Fortunately, Toga, being a youkai, could see in the dark, so the dim environment had no effect on him.
With his super-sensitive hearing, smell, and sight, Toga didn't spend much effort to grasp the situation in the Keep. The absence of any human scent meant there were no living people inside, and the flowing air was filled with a strong Youki, indicating that there were youkai inside—either strong, numerous, or both.
"Tap, tap, tap~..."
Footsteps echoed in the cold corridor, and a wave of Youki surged along the corridor.
Toga retracted his gaze from the floor, looked towards the darkness at the end of the corridor, raised his right hand, and flicked his fingers.
A thumb-sized ball of Youki shot out, hitting the hidden demon in the darkness. With a "pfft," the Youki ball instantly detonated. The blinding light illuminated the dim corridor. The explosion's impact tore apart the walls, and fragments of wood and stone were flung far away. The strong wind picked up the debris, sweeping it in all directions, and crashing through the corridor, knocking down one shoji door after another...
In the bottom level of the Tenshukaku, Naraku sensed the elimination of his Puppet, and hearing the commotion above, he said with some annoyance.
"...A troublesome guest has arrived!"
He had intended to use a Puppet to greet the uninvited guest, to ask why the demon had come, and to gather some information. But before he could speak, the Puppet was instantly killed by the unfamiliar demon's single move.
To be able to instantly kill a Puppet, their strength was clear.
"Send more demons to test them out."
Naraku's right arm suddenly swelled, appearing to be composed of lumps of flesh, extremely ugly.
Following that, one by one, the lumps of flesh burst, and one after another, ugly and ferocious demons flew out, roaring as they broke through the ceiling, and continuously passed through the hole.
Naraku turned and left, his figure swallowed by the darkness.
On the top floor of the keep, Toga's ears twitched slightly. His gaze fell to the floor. Under his watch, a monstrous, snarling maw smashed through the floorboards, lunging towards him.
He lost his footing and began to fall into the demon mouth. However, the descent lasted only an instant.
The next moment, vast Youki, like an ocean, suddenly erupted. The force of the Youki explosion caused Toga to hover in the air. At the same time, that immense power tore apart all the surrounding demons. The keep seemed to have been bitten by some giant beast, with more than half the floors instantly vanishing. Countless wood and stone fragments rained down on the surroundings.
The pitch-black sky seemed to lower slightly, and the heavy pressure made it difficult to breathe.
"Such powerful Youki. It's truly tempting, yet also frightening."
In the corner of the castle, Naraku gazed up at Toga in the sky. His heart itched like a cat scratching, unable to resist. Toga's formidable strength was like a fire, igniting his desire to become a complete demon.
"Ah! Damn it!"
Perhaps it was the overly intense gaze, or perhaps it was something else, but Toga suddenly turned his head. His gaze, sharp as a blade, locked onto Naraku. In that instant, Naraku felt as if he saw a demon dog baring its fangs and lunging to tear him apart.
Naraku's body stiffened, and he lost control of it. Toga shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, his left hand forming a claw that pierced Naraku's chest, tearing out a heart.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The heart beat with vigorous power. Naraku turned to look at Toga, who was now right in front of him. He sized him up and down, confirming that he didn't recognize him.
"With your strength, you shouldn't be an unknown nobody, but I have no impression of you..."
Naraku voiced his doubts, his gaze fixed on Toga. After a moment, he asked, "...Who are you?!"
"Inuyasha's father, Toga!" Toga turned to meet Naraku's gaze, revealing his identity. "Of course... you can also call me the Dog General."
Although the Dog General had passed away two hundred years ago, Naraku naturally didn't believe Toga's words.
Before the last word faded, over a dozen妖怪 emerged from Naraku's body, their grotesque maws snapping at Toga. At the same time, the heart in his hand sprouted a dozen blood-red tentacles, which swiftly wrapped around Toga's left arm, and then released Shoudoku.
"Hah!"
Toga roared, and his immense Youki erupted once more, forming a shockwave that swept outwards, tearing apart the dozen or so妖怪. The blood-red tentacles wrapped around his arm met the same fate.
But it was a little too late. His left arm was already covered in purple marks, and they were spreading rapidly.
"Shoudoku, is it?" Toga glanced at his left arm, his tone still calm.
"Indeed. It's a potent Shoudoku that can easily dissolve mountains. Even a妖怪 cannot resist it..."
On the inner Tenshukaku wall not far away, stood a figure identical in appearance and attire to Naraku. His tone held no hint of boastfulness, as if he were merely stating a fact.
Toga ignored the Shoudoku that was corroding his arm and looked up at him, voicing his inner doubts. "When did you escape?"
"I didn't reveal myself to you from the very beginning..." Naraku spread his hands, explaining, "When you arrived, you didn't conceal your Youki at all. That overwhelming Demon Energy changed the weather. Facing someone as powerful as you, how could I appear before you in my true form? The 'me' you've seen has all been Puppets, including the one before you now."
Hearing this, Toga's eyebrows twitched slightly. He formed a blade with his fingers, his right palm slashing down towards his left arm. It was as easy as cutting tofu, effortlessly severing his left arm.
The arm "thud"ded to the ground. When the Shoudoku touched the earth and stone, it dissolved them with incredible speed, spreading outwards.
"Clap clap clap..." Naraku clapped, praising, "Truly decisive."
"Let me test how much your strength has decreased after losing an arm!"
Not being the main body, Naraku's behavior was marked by his lack of fear. He jumped down from the Keep's wall and charged straight at Toga. As he ran, his form gradually changed. His flesh wriggled, forming metal-colored armor plating. Dozens of plates combined into a set of armor, covering Naraku's whole body. Five tail-like chain swords grew from beneath his shoulder blades, lined up and slowly drifting.
The short distance of a few dozen meters was crossed in an instant. Naraku, now in front of Toga, swung his right fist, aiming for Toga's cheek.
Seeing the incoming fist, Toga raised his remaining hand to receive it. The collision between the two streams of Youki shook the air, creating chaotic, disordered gusts of wind that blew in all directions, kicking up sand and dust.
Feeling the strength of the other's Youki, Toga was slightly surprised. The Youki of a half-demon was actually comparable to a great yokai; he truly deserved to be called a collection of yokai.
While thinking, Toga's movements didn't stop. His right arm suddenly swung to the right, and a surging force erupted, dragging Naraku off the ground. After turning 45 degrees, he suddenly let go, throwing him towards a wall.
With a loud boom, Naraku crashed into the wall, which collapsed immediately. Bricks and stones tumbled down, and the resulting dust obscured the scene.
Taking this opportunity, Toga went into the shop and bought a Health Potion, drinking it down in one gulp. Within a few seconds, a new arm had grown.
"What did you eat?" Naraku climbed out of the ruins, looking surprised.
How could Toga answer Naraku? He immediately charged forward and punched Naraku's chest twice. Drum-like thuds echoed as Naraku was sent flying, smashing a building and hurtling away.
Without chasing the Puppet, Toga went into the shop to buy information about the location of Naraku's main body and immediately headed towards the destination.
Watching Toga's departing figure, Naraku's Puppet didn't hesitate at all and gave chase.
Turning back to look at the Naraku Puppets chasing him, Toga remembered that Naraku could share the vision with the puppets, and immediately turned back to charge towards the puppets.
He wrapped his fingers with Youki to strengthen his attack, waved his arms forward, and the Youki wrapped around his fingertips shot out, forming ten crescent-shaped slashes.
Seeing the attack coming, Naraku immediately lowered his altitude to avoid it. Toga, who was watching Naraku, continued to attack, and slashes followed Naraku closely, forcing him to constantly move to dodge the attacks.
While moving, Naraku would also launch counterattacks, firing Youki bullets at Toga. The fighting style of the two youkai gradually went off track.
It was a bit like the style of Dragon Ball, with the two of them throwing light bullets at each other. The scene was extremely gorgeous, but there was not a bit of actual damage.
Fortunately, the scene of zero damage did not last long. After a period of stalemate, the two youkai began to engage in close combat.
Naraku, who was only 50 years old since his birth, how could his combat experience be compared to Toga's? As soon as they clashed, Toga seized several flaws and gave him a few hard punches, and in the blink of an eye, he fell into a disadvantage.
Not to mention, as one of the strongest youkai in the Warring States period, Toga was definitely one of the ceilings in youkai combat power, and his comprehensive attributes were not likely to be lower than Naraku's.
Even though Naraku had many skills, using both Shoudoku and barriers, he still couldn't stop his disadvantage from growing. After all, no matter how many or how strong his skills were, they were useless if he couldn't hit his target. So, it wasn't long before he went from a slight disadvantage to an absolute one, getting beaten the entire time. Finally, Toga tore him in two.
As a thrifty and practical Dog King, Toga first picked up Naraku and examined him for a few moments, checking if any of the parts could be used to forge equipment. After confirming there weren't, he sold them to the shop.
Then, he set off for Naraku's main body. Losing the Puppet's vision didn't mean Naraku couldn't determine Toga's whereabouts.
Kanna was Naraku's first split body after obtaining a Shikon Jewel fragment. Her weapon was a mirror, which she could use to see anywhere.
Therefore, Naraku could use the mirror to confirm where Toga was.
This was also the reason why Naraku always managed to escape in advance, avoiding Toga's capture.
After several such attempts, Toga temporarily gave up on capturing Naraku and instead went hunting demons, earning money while collecting materials for forging equipment.
By the way, if he suddenly thought of Naraku, Toga would immediately go to the shop to buy Naraku's location information and launch a surprise attack.
So, Toga was keeping Naraku so busy that he didn't have time to bother Inuyasha and Kagome Higurashi. Aside from collecting the Shikon Jewel shards, he was entirely focused on evading Toga's pursuit.
Without Naraku's interference, Inuyasha and Kagome Higurashi's journey was significantly easier than in the original story.
On the other side, Sesshomaru's conversation with his mother had also ended. Sesshomaru's mother believed that Toga had been resurrected.
In her words, "That man traversed the three realms. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he managed to escape from the underworld one day."
After all, Toga possessed the Tenseiga, which could save a hundred people with a single swing. It wouldn't be strange if he had arranged some contingency for his resurrection... perhaps!
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