"Naraku was created from a human who devoured countless demons?!"
Kagura's pink eyes widened in shock as she listened to Kikyo's explanation. Her face was filled with disbelief.
She had never imagined that Naraku had been born in such a grotesque way.
"To be more precise," Kagetsu added from the side, "he's the result of a fallen human merging with demons. In essence, Naraku is a half-demon."
"Human… half-demon…"
The revelation struck Kagura hard. She sat motionless on the swing, her brows knitted tightly together as she sank into deep thought.
The hem of her pink-and-purple kimono swayed gently with the slow movement of the swing. The usual rebellious confidence in her expression had disappeared, replaced by confusion and uncertainty.
Seeing her like this, Kikyo and Kagetsu exchanged a glance, both wearing faint, knowing smiles.
Kagetsu could tell that Kikyo had clearly noticed Kagura's rebellious feelings toward Naraku.
Kikyo likely shared the same thought as him,if they could win Kagura over and place her beside Naraku as a hidden ally, they could both disrupt Naraku's plans and keep track of his movements.
Two birds with one stone.
"Then what about Inuyasha?" Kagura asked after a long silence, lifting her head. "I can sense that his hatred for Naraku isn't just about the Shikon Jewel."
Kikyo was quiet for a moment.
Her gaze drifted toward the distant mountains, and her voice carried a trace of lingering sorrow.
"Fifty years ago, after Onigumo merged with demons and became Naraku… he framed both Inuyasha and me."
"In the end, I died with resentment, taking the Shikon Jewel with me into the grave."
"As for Inuyasha… before I died, I sealed him to the Sacred Tree, where he slept for fifty years."
"So that's what happened…"
Kagura finally understood.
The hatred between Inuyasha and Naraku had taken root half a century ago.
After that, silence once again settled over the shrine.
Kagura and Kanna sat side by side on the gently swaying swing,one deep in thought with a furrowed brow, the other staring blankly into the distance as always, her face devoid of expression.
Neither of them spoke.
Kikyo and Kagetsu didn't disturb them further.
Since no villagers were visiting the shrine at the moment, Kagetsu took the opportunity to rest briefly before pulling Kikyo over to practice swordsmanship.
Ever since he had taught her how to wield a blade, the two of them often sparred whenever they had spare time.
Clang,!
The crisp ring of steel echoed through the shrine grounds.
Kagetsu lifted his blade to block Kikyo's downward strike. With a swift twist of his wrist, he redirected the sword and thrust the tip toward her chest.
Kikyo reacted instantly.
Her body bent backward into a graceful bridge, narrowly avoiding the thrust while simultaneously swinging her blade upward toward his arm.
Kagetsu calmly turned his sword, blocking her counterattack once more.
Kikyo stepped back two paces and raised her katana again, her gaze sharp and focused. Her miko robes fluttered lightly in the sunlight, giving her an unexpectedly heroic air.
Kagetsu felt a small sense of regret.
Kikyo's swordsmanship had improved rapidly. Unfortunately, she always found the armor he had prepared for her too heavy and cumbersome, so she rarely wore it.
Only after repeated persuasion from him would she occasionally put it on.
Because of that, he rarely got to enjoy the sight of "Samurai Kikyo."
Still… watching Priestess Kikyo wield a blade like this had its own charm.
Just as the two were getting into the rhythm of their sparring, a group of villagers suddenly rushed into the shrine, interrupting their practice.
Seeing the unconscious man being carried by several villagers, Kikyo immediately sheathed her sword and hurried over.
Kagetsu followed behind.
From the villagers' frantic explanations, he quickly learned that the man had been bitten by a venomous snake.
Although his breathing was weak, his life didn't appear to be in immediate danger.
Situations like this were common.
People frequently came to Kikyo for treatment after being bitten by poisonous snakes or insects.
As Kikyo herself often said, it wasn't considered particularly dangerous.
While watching Kikyo skillfully examine the wound, a thought suddenly occurred to Kagetsu.
The world of Inuyasha and Kagome's modern era might not simply be separated by a five-hundred-year gap in time.
More likely… they were two completely different parallel worlds.
In Kagome's modern world, a venomous snake bite required immediate hospitalization and treatment with antivenom.
But here, Kikyo could resolve the problem with nothing more than a detoxifying herbal medicine.
This world didn't merely have demons.
Even the plants and animals seemed subtly different. Many herbs possessed unusual medicinal properties that bordered on the miraculous.
Just like in the story,
When Kagome once came down with a fever, Inuyasha cooked a strange stew made from demon organs. After drinking it, she recovered almost instantly and was even able to take her school exams the next day.
More importantly, where had all the powerful demons gone?
For demons, five hundred years was little more than the blink of an eye.
Great demons like Sesshomaru,or even half-demons like Inuyasha,could easily live that long.
Yet in Kagome's modern world, there was no sign of them.
The few items that crossed between the two worlds in the story,the sword Sō'unga, fragments of the Shikon Jewel, and the arrowheads Kagome retrieved from the Sacred Tree,were all connected to two things:
The Sacred Tree of Ages and the Bone-Eater's Well.
Details in the original story made it clear that those two places served as passages connecting the worlds.
Because of this, Kagetsu had begun to suspect something.
When Kagome climbed through the Bone-Eater's Well, she might not have traveled through time at all.
Instead, she may have crossed through space, leaving her own world and entering a parallel one where Inuyasha lived.
Of course, this was only speculation.
There was no evidence to confirm it.
While Kagetsu was lost in thought, Kikyo had already poured the detoxifying medicine into the unconscious villager's mouth.
Before long, the man slowly opened his eyes, his breathing stabilizing noticeably.
The villagers thanked Kikyo profusely.
After leaving behind a large pile of fruits, vegetables, and mountain produce, they carried the recovering man back down the mountain.
"With all of this, we won't possibly be able to finish it ourselves," Kikyo said helplessly, glancing at the piles of produce on the ground.
She turned toward Kagetsu.
"Kagetsu, could you seal these away? If we leave them out, they'll spoil."
"Sure. Leave it to me."
Kagetsu nodded, pulling out a sealing scroll.
He spread it out beside the goods and infused it with chakra. With a small puff of white smoke, everything was sealed neatly into the scroll.
He had become quite accustomed to doing this.
Most of the villagers nearby weren't wealthy. Many were so poor they didn't even possess a single copper coin.
When they came to Kikyo for help,whether to exorcise demons or treat illnesses,they would often bring whatever they could: homegrown vegetables, wild fruit and mushrooms gathered from the mountains, or game caught while hunting.
Over time, these things piled up.
So Kagetsu simply sealed them away for storage.
Sometimes, when the two of them were bored, they would take the goods down to the nearby castle town and set up a small stall to sell them.
Without noticing, evening gradually fell.
Kagura and Kanna had remained quietly nearby the entire time, watching the two of them work.
With Kanna's ability to conceal their presence, the villagers visiting the shrine never noticed them.
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Kikyo asked gently while organizing the ingredients. She looked up at the sisters. "If there's anything you'd like to eat, just tell me."
"No need,we should be going."
Seeing Kikyo's earnest expression, it was clear she truly intended to cook for them.
A strange look flickered across Kagura's face as she quickly waved her hand.
"Still… thank you for telling me about Naraku."
As soon as she finished speaking, a gust of wind swirled around her.
A giant feather appeared beneath her feet.
Kagura pulled Kanna onto it, and the wind lifted them into the air. In an instant, the feather carried the two sisters away, vanishing swiftly into the night sky.