The mountain path between the trees.
Inuyasha, draped in crimson fire-rat robes, dashed swiftly through the forest.
"Young master! Inuyasha, slow down! Myōga's about to fall off!"
Clutching the edge of the robe on Inuyasha's shoulder, the flea yokai—barely a centimetre tall—let out a pitiful cry.
"Shut up, Myōga!" Inuyasha snapped, though his pace unconsciously slackened slightly.
"I don't have time to dawdle with you. If we don't reach the next village by nightfall, we're in trouble."
"The last thing I want is another ambush by wild yokai."
Hearing this, the tiny flea-man with a handlebar moustache and four arms wiped sweat from his brow while gripping the robe's hem, sighing helplessly:
"You're right, young master. These days... something's off. Our Demon Power keeps diminishing daily. Even Myōga can barely make ends meet now."
Pausing mid-complaint, Myōga's expression suddenly shifted.
"Wait... something feels wrong here?"
The next instant, he remembered their actual purpose and hastily added:
"Wait! Young master, you should be staying safely in a village awaiting Tōtōsai's arrival! He has urgent matters to discuss with you!"
"Urgent matters?" Inuyasha side-eyed his father Tōga's former retainer, who'd sought him out days prior. "More urgent than me obtaining the Shikon Jewel to become a full yokai?"
Myōga froze momentarily before his face turned ashen.
"Young master... you're not planning to seize the Shikon Jewel, are you?"
"Yeah? Didn't I mention it?" Inuyasha sounded puzzled.
"You absolutely did not!" Myōga waved tiny fists indignantly.
"Well, I'm telling you now."
As he spoke, Inuyasha accelerated through the mountain trails.
Witnessing this, Myōga panicked:
"Young master, don't do anything reckless!"
"The Shrine Maiden guarding the Shikon Jewel is said to be the strongest of the Warring States period. I've heard even Great Yokai are no match for her."
"If you try to take the Shikon Jewel from her, you'll definitely die!!"
Seeing Inuyasha might not grasp the disparity in strength, Myōga added anxiously:
"Even Lord Tōga, in his lifetime, was merely one among many Great Yokai. You really shouldn't throw your life away like this!"
'The Shrine Maiden guarding the Shikon Jewel was that powerful?'
Inuyasha looked bewildered. He'd only heard from some yokai that the Shikon Jewel could supposedly grant a yokai's wish, which was why he wanted to steal it—to transform himself from a half-yokai into a full one.
But now, Myōga was saying the Shrine Maiden guarding the jewel was on the same level as his old man.
Wouldn't going after the jewel be like delivering himself to death's door?
Though he thought this, Inuyasha still put on a confident front:
"What's so special about the strongest Shrine Maiden of the Warring States? Humans can be stabbed to death with a blade before they even use their Spiritual Power. If I find the right opportunity, even the strongest Shrine Maiden will die under my claws."
As he spoke, however, his footsteps noticeably slowed.
Myōga could already see the fear in Inuyasha's eyes and couldn't help but think to himself:
'Just like Lord Tōga, young master Inuyasha's mouth is the hardest part of him.'
But though he thought it, Myōga knew better than to provoke Inuyasha outright. He was well aware that Dog Demons like him couldn't resist a challenge:
"Young master Inuyasha, if you wish to defeat the strongest Shrine Maiden of the Warring States and claim the Shikon Jewel, I suggest you retrieve the Sacred Sword Tessaiga that Lord Tōga left for you."
"Oh? The old man left something for me?" Inuyasha was genuinely surprised. "Didn't he die the day I was born?"
Hearing this, Myōga immediately seized the chance to stir Inuyasha's interest:
"Tessaiga is a Demon Sword forged by the master smith Tōtōsai using Lord Tōga's sturdiest fang as material—after he learned Lady Izayoi was pregnant with you."
"When the sword was completed, Lord Tōga tested its edge and slew over a hundred yokai on a mountainside with a single swing. It's an extraordinarily powerful and fearsome Demon Sword."
"The reason I asked you to wait here for Tōtōsai, young master, is because he intends to take you to retrieve the sword."
Wiping sweat from his brow, Myōga let out a long sigh.
After all that effort to steer the conversation back, surely Inuyasha would now obediently wait for Tōtōsai to arrive?
"A sacred sword that can slay a hundred yokai in one swing... Tessaiga, huh?"
Inuyasha was clearly tempted.
Wasn't his desire to become a true yokai born from being bullied by humans and yokai alike due to his weakness?
If he could obtain Tessaiga—a sword capable of annihilating a hundred yokai in one strike—then perhaps the Shikon Jewel wouldn't matter anymore.
After all, the jewel was guarded by a Shrine Maiden who could kill Great Yokai, while Tessaiga was his father's legacy to him.
By any measure, acquiring Tessaiga would be far easier, wouldn't it?
With this in mind, Inuyasha gradually came to a stop, tucking his hands into his sleeves as he asked:
"Myōga, are you saying Tōtōsai is bringing Tessaiga to me now?"
"Well, yes and no." Myōga's tone was somewhat evasive. "As you know, young master Inuyasha, I am the guardian of the tomb of Tōga—also known as Inu no Taishō—the Great Yokai of the Western Country."
"And Tessaiga is actually placed within Lord Tōga's tomb."
Inuyasha's dog ears twitched atop his head as he made a strange face.
"Oh? So you're saying you're taking me to my old man's grave?"
At this point, his expression grew even odder.
"You're not planning to make me dig up my father's grave, are you? Literally dig up his tomb?"
"Well, though it sounds unpleasant, that's more or less the case."
"Oh, and one more thing—due to the tomb's unique properties, and given my own weak strength, we'll need Tōtōsai's assistance to open it."
Myōga deliberately omitted certain details before swiftly changing the subject.
"Most crucially, a group of human Onmyoji have somehow infiltrated Lord Tōga's tomb and are attempting to steal Tessaiga. That's the real reason I asked you to wait for Tōtōsai, young master."
"What? Some Onmyoji are digging up my old man's grave to steal my sword?"
Inuyasha froze momentarily, his face a picture of disbelief.
"Do those bastards think my whole family's dead or something?"
Myōga felt a pang of guilt at this.
'If you rush into the tomb without Tōtōsai and encounter those people, young master, your family might very well end up extinct.'
"Damn it, digging up someone else's father's grave—are those Onmyoji even human? They're more savage than yokai."
Grumbling loudly, Inuyasha marched forward when suddenly his nose twitched.
"That stench? Someone's here?!!"
"Checkmate, Dog Demon boy."
The moment Inuyasha caught the scent and heard the voice behind him, he leapt to the right. But as soon as he landed and turned, the ground beneath him gave way abruptly.
"Shit!! They forced me to jump here on purpose!"
Inuyasha cursed inwardly as he found no foothold and plummeted into the pit.
And in the instant he fell into the trap, a shadow flashed before his eyes—appearing right behind him.
The next second, the man closed in and struck instantly.
Waist lock, arm bar, neck crank—a series of moves executed before Inuyasha could even react. All he heard was a sickening crack.
That was the sound of Inuyasha's bones breaking!
Under the relentless joint locks, Inuyasha was instantly immobilised, collapsing with a thud at the bottom of the trap.
At that moment, Fumonshichi appeared beside Inuyasha, squinting at the half-yokai whose jaw had been dislocated, leaving him only able to groan incoherently:
"Seems I overheard something rather interesting just now?"
"Sacred Sword Tessaiga? How intriguing!"
Outside the trap, the flea yokai Myōga was trembling as he frantically fled through the roadside grass:
"Oh no, young master Inuyasha's been captured! And that man... his aura is as terrifying as Lord Sesshōmaru's..."
"I'm doomed, doomed, doomed!"
"I need to escape—no, wait! I must fetch reinforcements to save young master Inuyasha!"
As Myōga attempted his getaway, he suddenly sensed danger and leapt desperately to the right.
Simultaneously, a foot came down precisely where he'd just been standing.
"Dodged it?" Takina Inoue raised her gun in surprise, taking aim at Myōga.
'Oh no!'
Myōga's heart nearly stopped beating as he saw the weapon trained on him.
Then, a frigid gust swept through.
Mid-leap, Myōga found himself encased in a massive pillar of ice.
'A Yuki-onna?!'
Still conscious, Myōga was paralysed with terror.
Seeing Myōga immobilised, Takina lowered her gun, remarking with some surprise:
"This yokai moves incredibly fast. I barely reacted in time."
As she spoke, Yukari Oikawa emerged gracefully from beneath a nearby tree, covering her mouth with her sleeve:
"If you hadn't been trying to capture it alive, little Takina, you'd have crushed this Small Yokai already."
"We've got our target. Clean up the scene and withdraw immediately!"
Fumonshichi spoke while hauling himself out of the trap with one hand, Inuyasha slung over his shoulder:
"This half-yokai likely has powerful connections. To be safe, we should rendezvous with Director Luo at once."
At this, Takina and Yukari exchanged glances and nodded in unison.
'Damn these stinking humans, tricking and ambushing me... Cowards! Let me down and fight properly!'
Inuyasha's furious curses emerged only as strangled, crow-like croaks—the death throes of a raven.
Even these pitiful sounds soon faded into silence.