"Seriously, are we there yet? Feels like we've been running for hours."
Cu Chulainn trailed along, watching the scenery blur past with mounting impatience.
"Almost. His scent is right ahead."
Inuyasha's one-word answer was clipped with irritation.
The thought of facing Sesshomaru made his skin crawl. Everyone knew what happened when the two brothers crossed paths. Words became insults, insults became blades, and Inuyasha was usually the one eating dirt.
"Hm?!"
Kagura spotted the figure standing motionless on the open plain below and hesitated.
With her aura steeped in Naraku's scent, Sesshomaru had undoubtedly sensed her approach long ago. Without Inuyasha at the front, he'd have assumed Naraku was trying something.
"Over that cliff and we're there."
They dropped from the edge. An endless plain stretched before them.
"Sesshomaru-sama, it's Inuyasha-sama and the others! But there's someone unfamiliar with them."
Rin sat atop Ah-Un's back, squinting at the three figures drawing closer.
"Huh? That's Kagura, isn't it? Why is she with Inuyasha? And who's the other one?"
'Sesshomaru-sama stopped on purpose. He knew they were approaching.'
Jaken had only just noticed the trio, his voice ripe with suspicion.
"..."
Akame's hand settled on Murasame's hilt. No relaxation, no benefit of the doubt.
She could feel it. The man in the blue bodysuit was a Servant.
"Finally caught up. So this is your brother? You two don't look anything alike. He's way better looking."
"Are you trying to start something?!"
Cu Chulainn studied Sesshomaru's sharp, regal features, then turned to compare them with Inuyasha. Apart from the white hair, there was absolutely nothing linking these two as siblings.
"Apologies. Not Naraku."
Kagura landed, felt Sesshomaru's gaze lock onto her instantly, and shrugged.
"I know it's you."
"I, Sesshomaru, am not so incompetent that I can't distinguish Naraku from his castoffs."
The response was perfectly level. Perfectly serious. And it left Kagura frozen for far longer than it should have.
'He recognized me. Not as Naraku's puppet. As me.'
"Hey, I sensed a Master-Servant pair here. So the Master's a little girl? And another Servant I haven't seen before."
Cu Chulainn glanced at Rin riding the two-headed dragon, then turned his attention to the black-haired girl whose hand hadn't left her sword since they arrived.
"That killing intent. Not Saber. Assassin, by the feel of it. Love to test myself against you sometime."
In a proper Holy Grail War, Servants should have been at each other's throats from the word go. But the Masters in this war were all annoyingly reasonable, which meant Cu Chulainn had barely gotten a proper fight. Either he ran into unkillable things like Naraku, or the pairings he encountered had pre-existing alliances that made combat impossible.
"Enough stalling. Let's get this done."
Inuyasha steeled himself, stepped to the front, and faced Sesshomaru directly.
He didn't want delays giving Naraku any opportunities. If they were going to save Kagura, they'd do it right and they'd do it now.
"Totosai? Myoga-jiichan!"
"Tch, that brat Inuyasha really knows how to boss people around."
"Never mind that. I'm just here to show everyone the situation in real time."
With a rumbling entrance, Totosai arrived atop his three-eyed ox, Myoga perched on his shoulder. He rode right up to Kagome's group.
"Huh?"
They watched as Totosai rapped the ox's skull with his hammer. Light bloomed from the beast's third eye and projected a floating image into the air.
"Inuyasha and Kagura found Sesshomaru!"
"What an incredible ability! I had no idea you could do this, Totosai."
The live-action broadcast drew impressed reactions from the entire group.
Even Rikuo was fascinated. The yokai in this world didn't use Fear, yet some of their capabilities were every bit as extraordinary.
"Rin is a Master too?"
Kagome spotted the distinctive markings on Rin's hand in the projection.
"She is! And that girl next to her wearing the same style uniform as Kagome is the Servant? Never seen her before."
Shippo's observation drew Kagome and Rikuo's gazes to the image. A pretty girl in a black sailor uniform, sword at her hip.
'She looks like a student too, but I don't recognize the outfit.'
'Hard to tell from this distance whether she's human or not. Carrying a sword. Could be Saber, but it'd be foolish to assume. That killing intent suggests Assassin.'
Rikuo had reverted to his human form, quietly analyzing what he saw. They were all acquaintances here and a fight seemed unlikely, but the Dragon Ball hunt loomed over everything. Competition was inevitable eventually.
"I wonder if Koga's plan will actually work."
Miroku sat in the grass, watching the aerial projection and murmuring half to himself.
"If it does, we might even be able to track down where Naraku is hiding."
Sango leaned forward. Saving Kagura while simultaneously pinpointing Naraku's location would be the perfect outcome. With Naraku still recovering from Nenekirimaru's damage, a combined raid from both groups might crush him before he could mount any resistance.
"Forget Naraku for now. Kagura comes first."
Kagome's priorities were crystal clear.
"Relax, Kagome. It'll work."
Koga's confidence in Cu Chulainn's Noble Phantasm was absolute. He'd seen the weapon in action. There would be surprises.
"I hope so."
"YOU PEOPLE! How DARE you try to order Sesshomaru-sama around!"
"Who do you think you ARE?!"
"And why save HER?! She's Naraku's incarnation!!"
Inuyasha hadn't even finished explaining before Jaken was bouncing with outrage. Sesshomaru hadn't spoken a word.
"Regardless, Sesshomaru-sama would never..."
"Jaken-sama, I think we should stay quiet."
"Hm?"
Rin cut him off gently. Jaken turned, bewildered, and found Sesshomaru already holding Tenseiga with the blade drawn.
"An interesting proposal."
"Begin."
Two words. Sesshomaru's agreement was instantaneous.
Kagura stared at him, utterly lost.
She hadn't expected this. Not from him. Given Sesshomaru's hatred of everything connected to Naraku, he should have been the last person to accept.
But the blade was out. The answer was given. No hesitation, no conditions.
"Then let's not waste time!"
Cu Chulainn gripped Gae Bolg and put distance between himself and Kagura. The anticipation was electric.
He genuinely wanted to know the answer himself.
The enemy standing before him. The heart located elsewhere. What would happen when causality reversed?
This was unprecedented. An experiment worth conducting.
Whether the woman could actually be revived afterward? That wasn't his problem.
"Amazing!"
Crimson magical energy coiled around the spear tip like a living serpent. Rin gasped. Akame's grip tightened on Murasame.
"GAE BOLG!!"
Cu Chulainn roared and charged straight at Kagura.
Then, in the eyes of every stunned onlooker, the red light erupting from the spear tip suddenly surged upward.
It twisted mid-flight like a fishing line caught in a gale, arcing away from Kagura entirely. The trail of crimson energy pivoted, locked onto something far beyond the horizon, and screamed toward an invisible target at impossible speed.
"Ah. He flew away."
"Like a tornado."
"Don't tell me he actually flew straight to Naraku?"
Because what happened next was this: Gae Bolg didn't release Cu Chulainn.
The spear found the heart. And the heart was with Naraku. So the spear dragged its wielder along for the ride.
Cu Chulainn became a spinning blue streak rocketing across the sky, hauled by his own Noble Phantasm like a fish caught on its own hook.
"HEY!!! NOBODY TOLD ME ABOUT THIS!!!"
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
[TN: Gae Bolg's effect is Causality Reversal. It doesn't "aim for the heart." It reverses cause and effect so the heart is "already pierced" the instant the technique is activated. Normally the target is in front of you. But since Kagura's heart is physically in Naraku's possession elsewhere, the spear locked onto the actual heart's location, bypassed Kagura entirely, and dragged Cu Chulainn along toward Naraku. Whether it would pierce one heart or all hearts for multi-heart opponents (like Muzan with 7 hearts) is unknown.]