"Kaguya?"
Kikyo frowned slightly and looked at Kagura in confusion. "What kind of demon is that?"
Uchiha Retsu, however, froze for a moment when he heard the name.
He remembered that demon very clearly.
She was a villain who appeared in the original story's theatrical plotline. Not only were her abilities strange and troublesome, but her origin was also extremely unusual.
Like Naraku, she possessed the power to devour other demons or living beings and seize their strength.
But what she did in the story was even more outrageous than Naraku. She had devoured a legendary celestial maiden, stealing both her body and her powers—gaining the celestial maiden's immortality in the process.
Even more absurdly, after obtaining the Celestial Robe of Feathers, she could cast a spell called "Meikyō Shisui."
Using a pentagram-shaped incantation as a medium, the spell could freeze time itself within the area it covered.
Fortunately, Kagome was the chosen child of destiny in that world—essentially born with a cheat ability.
As a girl who traveled through time, neither she nor the items she carried were affected by the stopped time. Because of that, the main group could still act within the frozen world and eventually defeat Kaguya.
Thinking of this, Retsu suddenly paused.
He himself wasn't originally from this world either.
Would that mean he could also resist Kaguya's time-stopping spell?
He wasn't surprised that Kikyo knew nothing about Kaguya.
Although Kaguya had been sealed fifty years ago, judging from her connection with Naraku, she must have appeared and been sealed after Kikyo's death.
Still, the more he thought about it, the more Retsu couldn't help but complain inwardly.
The power scaling in Inuyasha was an absolute mess.
Kaguya had been sealed by Miroku's grandfather, the monk Miyōga—but she possessed a broken ability like time stop. In the story, even Kagura and Kanna were sealed by a single move from her.
Naraku definitely wasn't like Kagome; he shouldn't have had any immunity to Kaguya's time-stopping ability.
No matter how he thought about it, Retsu couldn't understand why Naraku would be so confident in dealing with her.
And strangely enough, Kaguya herself seemed afraid of Naraku, hiding within her seal while he was still alive.
Yet in the story, Naraku ended up being defeated by her almost instantly.
What confused Retsu even more was something Miroku had said:
According to a letter left by his grandfather, the demon he sealed possessed a technique called "Meikyō Shisui," which could stop time.
That meant Miyōga had personally witnessed the spell's effect—yet he still managed to defeat and seal her without the kind of "cheat ability" Kagome possessed.
It remained a complete mystery.
Fifty years ago, Naraku had only just been born and wasn't particularly strong yet. When he dealt with Kikyo, he had relied entirely on disguising himself as Inuyasha and ambushing her.
If Kikyo had faced him head-on back then, she would definitely have defeated him.
Yet somehow that same Naraku had easily defeated Miroku's grandfather and placed the Wind Tunnel curse on him—a curse that would plague generations and eventually kill him.
The power scaling really made no sense.
Kagura had no idea what Retsu was thinking and simply continued explaining what she knew about Kaguya.
"That woman calls herself the Princess of the Heavenly Palace," she said. "Very mysterious."
"Fifty years ago, a monk sealed her inside something called the Mirror of Life. Now Kanna and I are collecting the items Naraku needs to break the seal."
Her pink eyes darkened slightly as she spoke.
"It looks like Naraku intends to devour her. Kanna seems to know something more about it. She specifically asked me to come find you, Uchiha Retsu.
She said Kaguya must be killed—Naraku must never be allowed to obtain her power."
Retsu frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
In the original story, Naraku had tricked Kaguya by faking his death. Once she broke out of her seal, he tried to devour her.
But judging from Kagura's expression now, her heart was clearly still in Naraku's possession.
Which meant Naraku had simply abandoned the castle barrier and gone into hiding.
He hadn't used a fake death to deceive Kaguya.
Or perhaps… his condition had deteriorated so badly that he was no longer capable of pulling off such a trick.
"Kagura," Retsu asked, lifting his head, "you said Naraku has been acting strangely lately. What exactly do you mean?"
Kagura frowned, tapping her fan lightly against her chin as she thought.
"He's been locking himself inside his castle and rarely going out. All the outside matters have been handled by me and Kanna."
Suddenly her eyes lit up. She snapped her fan against her palm.
"Oh, right! I remember once a part of his body suddenly turned into demonic limbs. It disappeared quickly, but something like that had never happened before."
She hesitated before adding,
"And lately, he's been ordering me to capture more and more demons."
"I think I know what's happening to Naraku," Retsu said, a look of understanding flashing across his eyes. "And I know what he's trying to do."
"Retsu, what's wrong with Naraku?" Kikyo asked, turning toward him with curiosity.
Kagura also stared at him intently, her pink eyes full of anticipation.
"If I'm right," Retsu said slowly as he walked over and sat down in the reclining chair beneath the tree, "Naraku's power is going out of control."
"Do you remember what I told you before? Naraku was born when Onigumo offered his body to countless demons and fused with them.
In other words, Onigumo's evil desire was the core that created Naraku."
Kagura wasn't stupid. She immediately understood and spoke with excitement.
"You mean… Onigumo's obsession became Musō and left Naraku's body. Then Kikyo killed Musō.
So the most important thing sustaining Naraku is gone now? Does that mean Naraku is going to die?"
"Probably not."
Retsu shook his head, shattering her hopeful expectation.
"Naraku exists not only because of Onigumo's obsession, but also because of the Shikon Jewel. As long as the jewel remains, it will be extremely difficult to kill him completely."
"The Shikon Jewel?" Kagura blinked in surprise.
She clearly hadn't expected the matter to involve it as well.
"Yes. The situation is complicated."
Retsu nodded and continued.
"And even though Musō is dead, Onigumo's obsession hasn't completely disappeared from Naraku's body.
After all, Naraku was born from that obsession. As long as he exists, Onigumo's will won't disappear entirely.
It's just that the strongest portion died with Musō, so its influence on Naraku will become much weaker.
From that perspective, Naraku actually achieved his goal—he removed most of the influence of Onigumo's obsession.
He just didn't expect the consequences to be this severe."
Seeing Kagura's pointed ears droop instantly and the disappointment in her eyes almost overflowing, Retsu couldn't help but comfort her.
"Still, Naraku's situation isn't good either.
Don't forget—the Rinne Rebirth Technique left serious side effects on him. His life force has been slowly draining away."
"You said before that Naraku had been using the demons inside his body to bear the loss of life force. That worked before because Onigumo's obsession suppressed them, letting him control those demons easily—even sacrifice them.
But now it's different."
"Because Onigumo's obsession is gone, the demons inside Naraku have completely lost control." Kikyo suddenly understood and continued the explanation calmly.
"If he tries to make them bear the side effects now, they may resist desperately just to survive."
"Exactly."
Retsu nodded.
"That's why Naraku is so desperate to devour Kaguya. He wants to use her power to fix the problems with his body."
He looked at Kagura reassuringly.
"Don't worry. I'll handle Kaguya myself."
"That's good to hear."
Kagura sighed in relief.
"I should go now. Naraku is in a hurry. His demons are still collecting the items needed to break Kaguya's seal. It probably won't be long before it's opened."
She raised her hand lightly, and a feather drifted down beneath her feet.
With a small leap, she stepped onto it.
"Oh, right," she added as a final reminder. "Kaguya's castle—the Celestial Maiden's castle—is located in the Sea of the Nest."
As her words ended, the feather carried her away into the sky with the wind.
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