"What a mess."
"Getting beaten this badly."
Byakuya folded his arms, watching the head slowly growing inside the barrier cocoon.
"Hmph. I underestimated that Servant. Powers and a blade I'd never encountered before."
Skin crawled across raw tissue. A face emerged. Naraku's features took shape, cold displeasure carved into every line.
This wasn't his first time relying on this particular trick. Before every excursion, Naraku carefully planted a teleportation anchor at a separate location. Most times it went unused. This time, it had saved his existence.
He'd done the same thing years ago when retrieving the Hosenki fragment from the Great Dog Demon's tomb.
'Worse than I expected.'
'My yokai power is nearly gone.'
'That blade may actually be more dangerous to me than Tessaiga.'
The assessment of his own body was grim. He couldn't remember the last time his condition had been this severe.
"Byakuya. Monitor the other players' movements. Call me only if something urgent develops."
He masked his presence and flew toward the mountains.
'Looks serious. He needs to rebuild his body and absorb fresh yokai power from scratch. Kagome and her friends pulled a truly impressive card.'
Byakuya watched Naraku disappear into the tree line with a measured gaze.
The yokai power drain was significant, but not lethal. Naraku wasn't a single yokai. He was a composite, an amalgamation of hundreds of devoured creatures. As long as his core survived, he could harvest new bodies and replenish what was lost.
Like eating. Consume the stockpiled yokai he'd gathered, and the tank would refill.
It would take time, but this was merely an unexpected setback.
CRACK...
Miroku's shakujo connected with the mirror's surface, splintering it. Kanna leaped back, pivoted, and vanished into the undergrowth.
"Wait!"
He moved to pursue, but the landscape around them rippled and shifted. The lantern-lit streets dissolved, green earth returning. Rikuo's Reality Marble was collapsing.
"Did Kagome and Rikuo get him?"
Sango watched the transforming scenery with guarded hope.
"Ngh!"
Kagura crouched on the ground, laboring to breathe. She glanced at Kanna's retreating shadow and knew the answer wasn't what she wanted to hear.
The crushing grip on her heart had faded. But that didn't mean Naraku was dead. It only meant he'd released her as a low priority.
He was still alive.
"Everyone."
Kagome and Rikuo returned from the chase, landing among the group.
"Kagome!!"
At that same moment, a howling tornado tore across the landscape, kicking up a wall of dust.
"That's... Koga?"
"Who's the guy next to him? He's actually keeping up!"
Shippo recognized the dramatic entrance, but the unfamiliar figure matching Koga stride for stride was new.
"Naraku was just here! Are you all alright?! Where's that stupid mutt?!"
Rikuo watched the newcomer sprint up and grab Kagome's hand without hesitation. His expression shifted to mild fascination.
Another Master.
And clearly, these people all knew each other. Well, at that.
"Yo, Master! You know this girl? Nice. And you over there, you're a Servant, right? I could feel that presence from a mile away."
Cu Chulainn pulled to a stop beside them, sizing up Rikuo's demonic features with open interest.
"Koga is also a Summoner?"
"Yeah, he's my Servant. Lancer class."
"Hey, Master! You sure about just telling them that? They're participants too..."
"Relax. Kagome would never attack us."
Cu Chulainn wanted to protest further, but the absolute trust on Koga's face shut him up.
Fair enough. They didn't even have a Dragon Ball anymore. Apart from Cu Chulainn's combat ability, there was nothing left worth scheming over.
"Where'd that Naraku bastard go? He should've been right here."
"You're too late. He already escaped."
"..."
The group pieced together what had happened on each side.
"This guy actually forced Naraku to flee in disgrace? A yokai I've never seen before. Even if you were summoned, I gotta ask: where exactly are you from? You look way more reliable than that stupid mutt."
Hearing that Rikuo had sliced Naraku open and sent him running, Koga crowded in with unabashed curiosity.
"Well, to put it in terms this era would understand, I'm roughly..."
Rikuo sensed Koga's wolf-yokai nature and was about to explain when he noticed Kagome walking toward Kagura. Everyone's attention followed.
"Kagura. Do you want to come with us?"
The invitation came from genuine concern. Kagome and Rikuo had already heard from Miroku and Sango about what Kagura had done. The warning she'd shouted to protect them.
That act would be treated as betrayal. The punishment would be death.
Kagome's heart wouldn't allow her to sit idle and let that happen.
"No."
"Even traveling with you won't change the fact that I'll die. In the end, I can never escape Naraku's palm. Freedom was always just a delusion."
The desolation in Kagura's voice was stripped bare. She'd stopped pretending. Bitter, exhausted words from someone who'd glimpsed hope and already decided it wasn't real.
Silence fell over the group. No one had an answer.
"Well, having your heart in someone else's hands is definitely a fatal weakness."
"Isn't there any way to take it back?"
Cu Chulainn had pieced together Kagura's situation from the conversation. His tone was matter-of-fact, probing for solutions rather than dwelling on pity.
"Hmm. Actually, there might be a way."
"But where's that stupid mutt?"
Koga eyed Kagome's worried expression, then shot a glance at Cu Chulainn.
"Why do we need Inuyasha?"
"His brother has a sword that brings the dead back to life, right?"
"We kill her first. Then have the mutt's brother revive her."
"That way, because Tenseiga resurrects the body completely, Kagura's heart gets rebuilt inside her."
The silence that followed was deafening. Every face in the group went blank.
"But even if Kagura dies, her heart is still physically in Naraku's possession."
Miroku was the first to recover, though skepticism laced his voice. The plan treated the symptom, not the disease. Tenseiga could revive someone, but that didn't necessarily mean the heart would abandon Naraku and magically return.
"That's where Lancer comes in."
"Hey, hey, hey, Master. You're not seriously thinking of having me use my Noble Phantasm on this lady?"
Cu Chulainn's eyebrow shot up.
"Noble Phantasm?"
Every gaze locked onto him.
"One of Lancer's Noble Phantasms has the power to strike the enemy's heart without fail. Unavoidable. Absolute."
"Huh?"
"It can directly attack someone's heart?! That's terrifying!"
The sheer absurdity of the effect stunned Rikuo, Shippo, and the others into silence.
Even Kagura stood frozen.
Then Kagome connected the logic.
"So he uses Gae Bolg to pierce and destroy Kagura's heart, wherever it is, even if Naraku holds it. Then we have Sesshomaru use Tenseiga to revive her. Because Tenseiga's resurrection restores the body completely, Kagura's heart would grow back inside her own chest."
"A method like that actually exists?!"
"Fair warning," Cu Chulainn cut in, "I've never encountered an enemy standing in front of me while their heart sits somewhere else entirely. I have no idea what will happen. There is no precedent."
"But it's worth trying, isn't it?"
"Yeah. This might be the only way to free Kagura from Naraku right now."
"But first we'd have to convince Sesshomaru to cooperate. And I have a feeling that's going to be extremely difficult."
"Just send the mutt to beg. They're brothers, aren't they?"
"I think you're drastically underestimating how hard that is."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]