"Kikyo… I didn't expect… you actually resurrected…" Perhaps it was Kikyo's gaze that stirred Naraku. With great difficulty, he turned his eyes toward her, his voice hoarse and strained.
"Naraku, fifty years ago you plotted to kill me. Fifty years later, I used your life to return. This is karma." Kikyo's voice remained calm, yet there was a quiet weight behind each word as she stared at him.
"Hmph… I just didn't expect… that the man beside you… could bring you back…"
Naraku slowly shifted his gaze, his hateful eyes sweeping over Uchiha Kasage. A cold sneer curled at the corner of his lips.
"Kikyo, I killed you fifty years ago. Now you can strike and take your revenge."
"Kasage, should we kill him?" Kikyo ignored Naraku's provocation and turned to Uchiha Kasage, her tone steady, yet more searching than before.
"Of course we should kill him! This bastard slaughtered so many people—he cannot be spared!" Inuyasha stepped forward immediately, drawing Tessaiga, his eyes blazing with fury as he prepared to cut Naraku down in a single strike.
However, Uchiha Kasage shook his head.
"No. Let him go."
"Why?!" Inuyasha roared, glaring at him in disbelief.
Kasage glanced at him, a faint, almost teasing smile appearing on his lips. "Because the one who holds a grudge against Naraku is you, not me. On the contrary… I should thank him for using his life to give me a new one."
"You—!" Inuyasha's anger flared. "I'll kill Naraku!"
With a furious shout, he raised Tessaiga and charged forward.
"Inuyasha! Don't be reckless!" Kagome called out urgently.
Seeing that he wouldn't stop, she clenched her teeth and shouted, "Sit!"
The prayer beads around Inuyasha's neck flashed with brilliant light. An invisible force slammed him into the ground with a thunderous crash, shaking the earth beneath him.
Kasage slowly lowered his hand, watching silently. Since Kagome had already stopped him, there was no need to interfere.
"Kagome! Why did you stop me?!" Inuyasha struggled, glaring at her in frustration.
"Inuyasha, come back first," Miroku said gravely, stepping forward. "With Kasage here, you won't be able to kill Naraku. Rushing in would be pointless."
"…Damn it." Inuyasha shot Kasage one last glare before reluctantly sheathing Tessaiga and stepping back to Kagome's side.
Once he calmed down, Kasage turned to Kikyo. "Kikyo, give me a shard of the Shikon Jewel."
"…Alright." Kikyo did not question him. She took out a bamboo tube from her robes, poured out a shard, and handed it over.
Kasage accepted it, then flicked it lightly with his fingertip. The shard shot forward like an arrow, piercing Naraku's chest and embedding itself into his shriveled body.
As the shard entered, Naraku's aura steadied slightly, and a faint light returned to his dim eyes.
"Naraku," Kasage said calmly, his tone laced with subtle mockery, "this shard is a gift of thanks. Don't die too easily."
"You… really won't kill me?" Naraku's voice trembled with confusion and suspicion. He couldn't understand why he was being spared.
"If you waste another word," Kasage replied coldly, his eyes sharpening with killing intent, "I might change my mind."
"Hmph… you'll regret this!" Naraku hissed.
A thick cloud of miasma surged from beneath him, wrapping around his body. In an instant, he fled into the darkness, vanishing without a trace.
"Kasage… why did you let him go?" Kagome finally asked once Naraku had disappeared, her voice filled with confusion.
"Because we couldn't kill him anyway," Kikyo answered before Kasage could speak. She turned toward them, her expression calm but thoughtful.
"Couldn't kill him?!" Inuyasha frowned. "He was already dying! One more strike would've finished it!"
"Naraku is not like ordinary Yokai," Kikyo explained softly. "He was born from Onigumo, fused with the flesh, blood, and souls of countless Yokai. There's no certainty he hasn't left behind another body somewhere. Killing this one might only force him deeper into hiding—and make him even harder to deal with next time."
"But… what if he couldn't resurrect this time?" Sango said, frowning. "And even if he can, won't he just gather more Yokai flesh to rebuild himself again?"
"You're right," Kikyo admitted, her gaze drifting toward the darkness where Naraku vanished. "But the look he gave Kasage… it held no fear of death. Only hatred. That means he knows he cannot truly die."
"He can rebuild himself, just like before," Kasage added, his voice calm but carrying a strange edge. "But I want him to remain in this body… a little longer."
His eyes swept across them, deep and unreadable.
"You don't think the price of using the Heretical Path – Art of Samsara Rebirth was simply making him old, do you?"
"What… do you mean?" Kagome instinctively moved closer to Inuyasha, unsettled by his tone.
"The Heretical Path is a forbidden technique. It revives the dead—but at the cost of the caster's life," Kasage explained quietly. "That price cannot simply be ignored."
"But Naraku didn't die," Miroku pointed out. "He just became weak."
"That's because he's a Yokai," Kasage replied with a faint sneer. "Unlike fragile humans, he can delay death. But when the technique ended, I sensed it—his life force is still draining, slowly, continuously. His vitality is resisting… but it won't last forever."
Kikyo's eyes widened slightly as realization dawned. "You're concerned… that if we kill this body now, he might escape the technique's effect after taking a new form?"
Kasage nodded. "Exactly. This was my first time using this technique, and the sacrifice was someone like Naraku—an entity formed from countless Yokai. I don't know if the effect will persist after he changes bodies. So it's safer… to let him remain like this."
He paused briefly, his expression unreadable.
"Originally, I intended to use some random Yokai as a sacrifice… but Naraku was a far better choice."
Silence fell over the group as they absorbed his words.
"Well then," Kasage said casually, waving his hand, his tone suddenly indifferent, "Naraku and the Shikon Jewel are your problem now. Do your best to gather the fragments quickly—and finish him off."
"Tch. We will!" Inuyasha said firmly. "I'll kill that bastard!"
"Mhm. Do your best," Kasage replied lightly, clapping once in a half-hearted manner.
He then turned to Kikyo. "It's over. Let's go."
"…Wait a moment," Kikyo said softly.
Kasage watched curiously as she stepped toward Kagome. Without hesitation, Kikyo handed her the bamboo tube containing the Shikon Jewel shards.
"I'm entrusting this to you," she said, her voice gentle yet firm. "Don't let Naraku take it."
For a brief moment, there was a quiet understanding between them—something unspoken, yet deeply felt.