"Kagome! Are you alright?! Are you hurt? Where are the Thunder Beast Brothers?!"
Inuyasha burst into the ruined courtyard like a gust of wind, silver hair whipping behind him, amber eyes scanning frantically for injuries. His claws flexed unconsciously as he looked her over from head to toe.
Behind him, Shippō came stumbling in, panting hard, his small fox tail bristling with anxiety.
"Kagome! Kagome!" the little fox demon cried, running to her side. "I'm sorry! I was scared and ran away earlier ,I left you behind…"
Before she could react, Shippō dropped to his knees in front of her and pressed his hands flat against the ground in a perfect dogeza.
"I'm really sorry!"
Kagome blinked, startled, then quickly knelt and pulled him up.
"It's okay! I'm fine." She smiled reassuringly. "I ran into someone named Kagetsu, and he saved me."
Saying his name brought a strange feeling to her chest.
Being around Kagetsu had made her tense in a way she couldn't explain,not fear, exactly. More like standing near a blade that had already been used to fell countless people . Calm. Controlled. Dangerous.
But she had never once felt unsafe.
Remembering something, Kagome quickly lifted the yellow fox pelt she'd been holding.
"Oh,Shippō, this… this should belong to your father."
She gently placed it in his hands.
Shippō froze.
The moment his fingers touched the familiar fur, his small body trembled.
"This is…"
His voice broke.
"…Father…"
The little fox demon hugged the pelt tightly to his chest, burying his face in it as tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Thank you, Kagome… thank you…"
The courtyard grew quiet.
Even Inuyasha looked away awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
"Kagetsu?" he muttered after a moment. "Who's that?"
Myōga, perched on his shoulder, immediately piped up in his shrill voice.
"Why, Master Inuyasha, that would be the man who beat you so badly last time that you couldn't even lift a claw!"
Inuyasha stiffened.
"Dammit! That bastard?!"
His ears flattened against his head as he scanned the area aggressively.
"Where is he? I'm gonna fight him again!"
"He's already gone," Kagome said helplessly. "And he's not a bad person, Inuyasha! He saved me. And he even gave me some of the Shikon shards the Thunder Beast Brothers had."
She opened her palm.
Three crystalline shards shimmered in the sunlight, glowing faintly pink.
Inuyasha's expression shifted,but only slightly.
"I don't care who he is," he snapped. "Stay away from him."
He folded his arms and looked away.
For reasons he couldn't quite explain, something about that Uchiha guy irritated him deeply.
Maybe it was the overwhelming power.
Maybe it was how calm he always acted.
Maybe it was that Kagome said his name so easily.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome leaned closer, narrowing her eyes playfully. "You wouldn't happen to be jealous, would you?"
"W-What?!" Inuyasha sputtered, ears twitching wildly. "Who's jealous?! I'd never be jealous over an ugly woman like you!"
Silence.
A vein popped visibly on Kagome's forehead.
"Inuyasha!!"
She pointed dramatically at the ground.
"Sit!"
BOOM.
The subjugation beads activated instantly.
Inuyasha slammed face-first into the dirt with a crater-forming impact.
"Gah,!"
Shippō sniffled through his tears and blinked.
"…He deserved that."
Meanwhile…
Kagetsu had already arrived at a secluded clearing deep within the forest.
The canopy above filtered sunlight into fractured beams. Birds scattered at his arrival.
With a flicker of space distortion, he released the unconscious Thunder Beast Brothers from the Kamui dimension.
Their bodies dropped heavily onto the grass.
Neither stirred.
Kagetsu walked over, crouching with clinical indifference.
"Let's see what you're worth."
He searched them thoroughly.
Nothing.
No coin.
No valuables.
Aside from Hiten's Thunder Strike Blade and the wind-fire wheels that had allowed aerial movement, they possessed nothing of material value.
"Tch."
He nudged Hiten's shoulder with his foot.
"Paupers."
Standing, he picked up the Thunder Strike Blade.
The weapon crackled faintly with residual demonic energy.
He examined it carefully.
In Inuyasha's world, strength often hinged on weapons.
Tessaiga was the clearest example.
Without it, Inuyasha's combat ability dropped drastically.
Kagetsu infused the blade with chakra.
Nothing happened.
He attempted to circulate elemental chakra through it.
Still nothing.
The weapon responded only faintly,barely more durable than an ordinary polearm in his hands.
"The compatibility is exclusive," he muttered.
Likely bound to the Thunder Beast Clan's demonic bloodline.
As for the flaming wheels,
They too refused to activate properly without demonic energy.
He clicked his tongue.
"As a shinobi, I don't even use polearms."
With a dismissive gesture, he tossed both weapons into the Kamui dimension.
"Useless,for now."
He looked down at the two brothers.
"You've served your purpose."
From Kamui, he retrieved a sealing scroll and unfurled it before them.
Complex black formulas were inscribed across its surface.
"Finally… contribute something worthwhile."
He formed a seal.
"Seal."
The scroll erupted with suction.
Invisible force pulled at the Thunder Beast Brothers' bodies.
Their flesh began to wither rapidly, vitality draining at a visible rate.
Skin shrank.
Muscles collapsed.
Within moments, two desiccated skeletons lay on the forest floor.
The scroll absorbed the extracted life force, its inscriptions glowing briefly before dimming.
Kagetsu rolled it up and stored it away.
A faint, satisfied curve touched his lips.
"Efficient."
He turned and disappeared into the trees.
Several days later.
"So boring…"
Kagetsu lay sprawled across a thick tree branch high above the forest floor.
A yellowed book rested on his chest as he stared up at a cloudless blue sky.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling his pale, cracked skin.
After eliminating the Thunder Beast Brothers, he had used the Shikon shards in his possession as bait.
Demons, drawn by the Jewel's scent, had come one after another.
And one after another,
They had died.
The surrounding region had grown quiet.
Too quiet.
The lesser demons either lay dead or had learned to avoid his territory.
Even his life-force harvesting had slowed.
He flipped a page lazily.
The book had been acquired from a blind Demon Slayer who had mistaken him for a corpse-demon and attacked without warning.
Kagetsu had knocked him unconscious in one strike.
The text detailed common demon species, weaknesses, and regional activity.
Fortunately, the Sengoku-era script was similar enough to the writing system in the shinobi world that he could read it effortlessly.
It helped pass the time.
But boredom crept in.
"I need something else to do…"
He closed the book and sent it to Kamui dimension.
From his vantage point, he scanned the distant landscape.
At the foot of a nearby mountain, smoke rose from chimneys.
A human village.
"Towns attract rumors," he murmured. "Rumors attract movement."
Movement meant opportunity.
Chakra gathered beneath his feet.
He leapt from the branch like a falling leaf, landing silently below before sprinting through the forest.
When he reached the outskirts of the village, he paused.
To avoid unnecessary attention, he formed a hand seal.
"Transformation Jutsu."
His appearance shifted.
Gone were the cracked, pale features.
In their place stood a wandering samurai clad in worn but respectable robes, a katana at his waist.
He stepped into the village calmly.
Children ran past.
Farmers carried tools.
The air smelled faintly of rice and woodsmoke.
As he walked along the dirt road, two villagers carrying farming implements passed nearby.
"…Kumakichi's house was robbed again last night."
Kagetsu slowed slightly.
"Sigh. That's the fifth house this month," the other villager said bitterly. "The thief steals all the grain every time. We barely have enough as it is."
Grain theft.
Repeated incidents.
Systematic.
Interesting.
Kagetsu stepped forward smoothly.
"Excuse me."
The two men froze upon noticing the katana at his waist.
"L-Lord Samurai!"
They bowed immediately, faces tense with respect.
Kagetsu's gaze swept over them calmly.
"What is happening here?"
One of the villagers swallowed nervously.
"A thief has been targeting homes in our village recently, milord. Every few nights, another house loses all its stored grain."
"All of it?"
"Yes, Milord. Not valuables. Not tools. Only food."
Kagetsu's eyes narrowed slightly.
Stealing food alone…
Not greed.
Survival.
Or,
A creature unable to consume ordinary prey.
"Describe what you've seen," he ordered evenly.
The authority in his tone left no room for hesitation.
The villagers hurried to comply.
And for the first time in days,
Kagetsu felt something stir.
Interest.