The final wooden spear slammed into the cliff face.
The continuous thunder of impacts stopped abruptly.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Only the faint sound of shattered stones tumbling down the cliff could be heard, unusually clear in the sudden stillness.
The towering Susanoo slowly faded away, revealing Uchiha Retsu and Kikyo within its protection.
"Is he… dead?" Kagome asked softly, staring at the cliff as the dust gradually settled.
"He probably is?" Kaede frowned, though her tone carried uncertainty.
"No," Retsu's voice came calmly. "That thing is still alive."
He stared into the smoke-covered area and quickly formed hand seals with one hand.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Taking a deep breath, he exhaled a violent gust of wind.
The powerful airflow swept across the battlefield, carrying stones and grass as it crashed against the cliff. The smoke dispersed instantly, revealing the scene beneath it.
The once-smooth cliff face had been blasted into a massive crater. Countless wooden spikes were embedded deep into the mountain, some even piercing through cracks in the rock, forming a grotesque forest of wood.
At the center of the crater, a mass of flesh—impaled by countless spikes—was writhing and merging frantically.
Clearly, the wooden spears that had pinned it there had not killed it.
"Hahaha! It's useless! You can't kill me!"
Soon Musō's upper body began to reform, and his lower half rapidly regenerated as well. His voice was filled with manic triumph.
"Can't kill you?"
Retsu nodded in understanding, then suddenly curled his lips into a wicked smile.
"Perfect."
He lowered his head and lightly kissed Kikyo on the cheek.
Then he looked up at Musō with open provocation.
"Onigumo, if you died like trash, that would be boring. Now you get to watch like the useless garbage you are—unable to do anything."
Seeing Musō's eyes practically burning with rage, Retsu continued mercilessly:
"You sold your soul and fused yourself with a pile of trash demons, turned into Naraku, and spent decades trapped like a prisoner. Now Naraku tossed you away like garbage, and you still have the nerve to keep living?
Even demons consider you trash, yet you dare talk big about taking Kikyo from me?
But I guess that's normal. After all, Onigumo—you were a bandit before, right? A worthless scumbag as a human, and a rejected piece of trash as a demon. Truly useless from beginning to end."
"You bastard! I'll kill you! I'll definitely kill you!!"
Watching Retsu kiss Kikyo and then insult him to his face shattered the last of Musō's sanity.
Veins bulged across his face. His bloodshot eyes burned with madness as he roared.
Ignoring the agonizing pain of the wooden spikes piercing his body, he thrashed wildly, trying to tear himself free from the impalement technique.
As Musō's body continued regenerating, more twisted demon limbs sprouted from him. His demonic aura thickened until it almost felt tangible.
Yet most of his body remained firmly nailed to the cliff by the wooden spikes.
"Onigumo is about to go insane," Kikyo said quietly from Retsu's arms. She struggled to suppress a smile and rolled her eyes helplessly at him.
"Retsu is truly skilled at provoking his enemies," Sango whispered to Kagome and Miroku while watching Musō's breakdown.
"Holding the woman a man loves and calling him trash right to his face… anyone would go crazy," Miroku said seriously, stroking his chin as if analyzing the situation academically.
Kagome nodded in agreement.
"It is a bit too much…"
Just when everyone thought Retsu had gone far enough, he suddenly turned to Kikyo.
"Kikyo, he's too noisy. Let's quiet him down."
He pointed toward Musō and said casually,
"Kill him with a sacred arrow. His heart is on his back, where the spider mark is. Hit that spot and it'll finish him for good."
"…."
Kikyo froze for a moment, then looked at the mischievous grin in his eyes and rubbed her forehead helplessly.
"I almost feel sorry for Onigumo now."
"Well, he did kill you back then," Retsu replied casually. "Come on, give him an arrow. Consider it revenge."
Then he added seriously,
"Besides… I'm jealous. Seeing him annoys me."
"Alright."
Kikyo smiled faintly and nodded.
She immediately raised her bow and drew the string, aiming directly at the still-struggling Musō.
"Kikyo!"
The demonic aura around Musō surged violently when he saw her aiming.
His voice erupted in a furious roar, his eyes filled with disbelief and pain.
But Kikyo ignored him completely.
Her fingers released the string.
The sacred arrow turned into a streak of light, flying straight toward Musō's heart.
At that exact moment, a wind blade suddenly shot down from the top of the cliff, aimed directly at the arrow.
It was Kagura, sent by Naraku to rescue him.
"Kamui."
Retsu's Mangekyō Sharingan rotated slowly.
A black spatial vortex appeared instantly, swallowing the wind blade without leaving even a ripple.
At the same time, the unobstructed sacred arrow struck Musō just as he was about to break free.
"KIKYO!!!"
With the arrow piercing through his heart, Onigumo lifted his head and stared at Kikyo—still holding her bow—his eyes filled with despair and unwillingness.
He released one final, agonized scream.
The next moment, the sacred arrow erupted in brilliant holy light.
The overwhelming purifying power spread across his entire body, turning him gradually into ash that scattered in the wind.
"Damn it!"
From atop the cliff, Kagura watched Musō being purified.
An unwilling expression appeared on her face as she glared at Retsu fiercely—though deep within her eyes hid a faint trace of satisfaction.
With a cold snort, she rode her feather into the sky, following Naraku's messenger demons and disappearing into the horizon.
"…That guy was pretty pitiful," Inuyasha said suddenly while staring at the drifting ashes, his tone complicated.
"Yeah," Kagome agreed with a nod. "First he got humiliated by Retsu… and in the end he died at the hands of the woman he loved."
"Inuyasha, you should be careful too," Shippō suddenly added. "After all, you like Kikyo too."
"Shippō!"
Thump!
Before the words finished, Inuyasha punched him on the head.
"Kagome!"
Shippō cried miserably as he ran to her for help.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome said slowly while looking at the pitiful Shippō.
"Just… don't beat him to death."
"AAAH—!!"
Hearing that, Shippō immediately bolted away in terror.
Retsu briefly scanned the surroundings with his senses and confirmed Musō's demonic aura had completely vanished.
Then he turned to Kikyo.
"When do you want to go back? This clone still has enough chakra left to send you back using Flying Thunder God. Do you want to leave now?"
"I'll say goodbye to Kaede first," Kikyo replied after thinking for a moment. "Wait for me."
Retsu nodded and stood there quietly.
He looked toward the place where Musō had vanished and thought curiously:
Musō had been one of Naraku's incarnations. In the original story, he would eventually be reabsorbed by Naraku.
But now he had been killed by Kikyo instead.
Retsu wondered just how much that would affect Naraku.
One thing was certain.
Losing the core obsession tied to Onigumo would have a massive impact on Naraku. It wouldn't just mean losing Musō's power.
Naraku himself had once said that he still needed Onigumo to connect his body together.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
Naraku was born when Onigumo offered himself to demons. Without Onigumo, it was like the demons that formed him had lost their central core. Something would inevitably go wrong.
After all, in the original story Naraku had risked confronting Inuyasha just to absorb Musō again.
That alone proved how important that incarnation was.
But Retsu had no intention of letting Musō leave alive.
Only by pushing Naraku into a desperate corner would he rely even more heavily on the power of the Shikon Jewel.
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