"You... truly aren't killing me?" Naraku spoke weakly, his eyes full of doubt and suspicion. He simply could not understand why the other party would let him go when they clearly had the chance to kill him.
"Any more nonsense and I'll send you on your way right now." Retsu's gaze turned instantly cold, his tone carrying an unquestionable killing intent.
"Hmph, you'll regret this!" Naraku grit his teeth and left a harsh parting word. A large amount of miasma suddenly surged from beneath him, enveloping his body.
He fled rapidly toward the distance, disappearing into the night in the blink of an eye.
"Retsu, why did you let Naraku leave?" Once Naraku had completely vanished, Kagome finally couldn't help but ask, her tone full of confusion and bewilderment.
"Because we couldn't kill him at all." Before Retsu could answer, Kikyo had already turned around, her gaze calmly looking at Kagome, Inuyasha, and the others as she spoke slowly.
"Couldn't kill him? Why?" Inuyasha asked, looking at Kikyo. "He was clearly about to die just now; we just had to cut him down."
"Naraku is different from ordinary demons," Kikyo shook her head gently and explained. "He was formed by Onigumo merging the flesh and souls of countless demons."
"We cannot be certain if he has left a body elsewhere that can be used for resurrection."
"If we kill this body now, it might instead cause him to hide even deeper. The next time he appears, he will only be more difficult to deal with."
"But... but it's also possible, it's also possible he has no way to resurrect, and we really could have killed him completely this time!"
Sango said with a frown, "And even if we let him go, with Naraku's body in that state, he'll definitely use demon flesh to craft a new body anyway, right?"
"You're right." Kikyo nodded, her gaze turning toward the direction where Naraku had disappeared. "But just now, when Naraku looked at Retsu, there was only pure hatred in his eyes, not a trace of fear of death."
"This indicates that he knows very well he cannot die."
"He indeed can craft a new body, just like he did in the cave before." Retsu picked up where Kikyo left off, his tone carrying a trace of an eerie smile. "But I just want him to stay in this body for a bit longer."
At this point, his gaze swept over the crowd before him, his eyes deep as he spoke slowly: "You didn't really think the price for using the Rinne Tensei no Jutsu was as simple as making Naraku grow old, did you?"
"Wha... what do you mean?" Kagome was startled by his eerie expression and subconsciously leaned closer to Inuyasha.
"The Rinne Tensei no Jutsu is a forbidden technique used to resurrect the dead, but the price is the life of the caster. This price cannot be easily avoided," Retsu explained slowly, his tone calm yet carrying a hint of chilliness.
"But Naraku didn't die just now?" Miroku frowned and asked in confusion. "He just became old and weak."
"That's because he is a demon, unlike fragile humans; the process of death has been forcibly prolonged."
Retsu sneered and continued, "When the technique ended just now, I sensed that although Kikyo and I have successfully been resurrected, the life force within Naraku is still slowly and continuously draining due to the effect of the jutsu."
"It's just that his tenacious life force prevents him from dying instantly like a human would."
"Are you worried... that if we kill this body now, Naraku might escape the influence of this jutsu after he's resurrected again?" Kikyo instantly understood his intention, a flash of realization in her eyes.
She had originally intended to kill Naraku directly; even if he could resurrect, it would have kept him dormant for a while.
"Exactly." Retsu nodded. "This is also the first time I've used this jutsu, and the sacrifice was Naraku, a merger of countless demons."
"I'm not certain if the jutsu's influence will vanish if he switches to a new body, so it's better to let him stay in this one as long as possible."
He had originally planned to find any random demon and crudely seal the collected life force into its body as a sacrifice, but he changed his mind after thinking of Naraku.
"Alright, I'll leave the matter of Naraku and the shikon jewel to you guys." Just as Inuyasha and the others were dazed by his explanation.
Retsu suddenly adopted an air of indifference, waving his hand as he said, "Good luck to you all. Try to finish collecting the shikon jewel as soon as possible and defeat Naraku completely."
"Hmph! We will definitely kill that Naraku guy!" Inuyasha curled his lip and said confidently.
"Yeah, yeah, keep it up!" Retsu clapped perfunctorily, his tone devoid of any sincerity.
He turned to Kikyo and said, "Everything is finished; it's time for us to go."
"Mhm." Kikyo nodded, then as if suddenly remembering something, she said to him, "Wait for me a moment."
Retsu was curious about what she was going to do. He saw Kikyo walk straight to Kagome and hand over the bamboo tube containing the shikon jewel shards, saying seriously, "I'm leaving these to you. Don't let Naraku take them."
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