Inference and Revelation

Sengoku era, Kanto region.

Gloomy clouds hung low in the sky, casting a shadow of melancholy over the landscape. Beneath this overcast firmament, an unsettling sense of sorrow permeated the air, filling both humans and yokai with an instinctive dread. On a ridge at the edge of a forest, a position easily defended and difficult to attack, stood a tall Japanese castle. Though not massive, the fortress was fully equipped, its defenses clearly layered. Beyond the outermost wooden palisades, the structure was primarily made of stone, reinforced by a dug moat. Countless ashigaru stood at their posts, guarding the perimeter. In this Sengoku era, a castle of this caliber represented a high standard of power; only relatively wealthy lords could possess one, and it was even suitable to serve as the residence for a daimyo.

In the tenshu of this well-fortified castle, within a room decorated with exquisite refinement, a priestess in red and white with jet-black hair sat quietly. Her eyes were closed as she rested her spirit. From her posture, she seemed to be waiting for something. Suddenly, the paper doors on one side of the room were pulled open. From behind them, a man entered. He took a few steps forward and sat opposite the priestess. He was a handsome man with slightly wavy hair, dressed in the fine attire of a high-ranking warrior. He looked at the priestess before him, and after a brief moment of daze, a slight smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

"Greetings, Lady Priestess. I am the lord of this castle, Hitomi Kagewaki. Might I ask what your name is?" the lord inquired, addressing the priestess before him.

Faced with his query, the priestess, who had been resting with her eyes closed, slowly opened them. She looked at the man and spoke with a cold, indifferent tone. "Kikyo."

"Kikyo, I see. That is quite a—pfft..." As the lord listened to the priestess's introduction, he nodded slightly. But halfway through his response, the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. It was as if he wanted to burst into a wide, grinning laugh, though he immediately suppressed it. While he avoided laughing out loud, his sentence was cut short, and the scene fell into a direct, awkward silence. Seeing this, Kikyo spoke first.

"Lord Castle Lord, you seem to have a hidden ailment on your face?"

"...Yes, yes! You are correct, Priestess Kikyo. I have indeed suffered from a facial ailment since childhood. Occasionally, I cannot control my expressions. Please, bear with me." Hearing the priestess's words, the lord suddenly spoke as if realizing something. The priestess nodded in response.

"Naturally. The world should show more care and compassion toward those with congenital defects. Rest assured, Lord Castle Lord. As a wandering priestess whose duty is to slay demons and defend the Way, I will not hold any prejudice against you," the priestess said calmly. Hearing her words, the lord's mouth twitched once more, and his expression seemed on the verge of losing control again. It took several long breaths before he managed to temporarily regain his composure.

"Hehe... Priestess Kikyo's words are truly unlike those of ordinary people. You truly are a powerful demon slayer, quite different from the miko in general shrines." The lord took a cup of tea from the low table and sipped it before continuing.

"Now then, let us move to the main topic. Priestess Kikyo, you told my guards earlier that there is a yokai in my castle?" the lord asked, looking at her. The priestess replied calmly.

"Yes. While passing through this place, I saw demonic energy soaring into the sky from within this castle. There is surely a yokai entrenched here."

"A yokai?" The lord's face showed a slight look of shock. Then, with a trace of doubt, he continued, "There is a yokai in this castle? I hadn't noticed at all. Truly, a demon-slaying priestess is remarkable to have discovered it just by passing by. I wonder what this yokai looks like, to be able to lurk right under the eyes of everyone in this castle? It is truly worrying."

As the lord spoke, a hint of concern appeared on his face. The priestess spoke again with great seriousness. "Lord Castle Lord, regarding this yokai, I actually know a thing or two."

"Oh? You know it? Then could you tell me exactly what kind of yokai is in this castle?" the lord continued. A glint of sharpness flashed in his eyes as he looked at Kikyo.

Facing the lord, the priestess's expression remained unchanged. She said in a deep voice, "The name of this yokai is Naraku."

"...Nara...ku..." Hearing the priestess's words, the lord pondered for a moment. The corners of his mouth twitched twice more, almost imperceptibly. Then, he looked at Kikyo with a piercing gaze. "A yokai named after the abyss? Interesting... I wonder what is so special about this yokai that you, Priestess Kikyo, would remember him specifically?"

"The legend of Naraku is that his true form is unknown. He hides from the world, often killing people to steal their identities and lurk among society. He has committed countless evils over the years, and I have long wished to exterminate him." In the face of the lord's question, the priestess continued to respond indifferently. As she spoke, the lord's expression grew solemn. After she finished, he sighed heavily.

"What a dangerous and bizarre yokai. If such a creature is truly staying in my castle, it truly makes it difficult for me to eat or sleep in peace." As he spoke, the lord's gaze shifted back to the priestess's face.

"However, now that you are here, Priestess Kikyo, I am much more at ease. Since you know this yokai named Naraku so well, you must have conducted an extensive investigation."

"More or less. Because I have a certain history with this Naraku, I conducted a very deep investigation and thus gained quite a bit of knowledge," the priestess continued. Hearing this, the lord was slightly stunned and asked with surprise, "A history? Between you and that Naraku?"

"Yes. Many years ago, I encountered that Naraku. Because of certain unforgivable things he did, he and I are absolutely irreconcilable. I will definitely consign him to the true abyss of hell with my own hands." Her expression and words became stern as she spoke slowly, staring directly at the lord. Her tone was laced with killing intent.

In a forest, the priestess was flying rapidly forward atop a soul-collecting insect. At that moment, a voice echoed in her consciousness.

'What? You're saying the person who attacked me that day was...' Kikyo responded to the voice in her mind.

'Yes. After spending this time with you, I have thoroughly reviewed your memories and extracted some useful information. I have reached a conclusion—an inference regarding that sneak attack fifty years ago that left you with a fatal wound.' The voice responded in a deep tone. Hearing this, Kikyo couldn't help but ask anxiously.

'An inference? What inference? Was there something wrong with that sneak attack?'

'Of course. In fact, there was a huge problem.'

'In your memory, you were ambushed by Inuyasha's claws. He succeeded with a single strike while you were completely defenseless, clawing you three times and leaving you heavily wounded, thus stealing the Shikon Jewel. Coincidentally, after I was summoned back to this world, the first thing I did was exchange blows with Inuyasha. In his fight with me, he happened to use his claws. Claws are the specialty of the Dog Clan. I paid close attention to his attacks and found they differ greatly from your memory.'

'What?'

'Whether it's the speed of the claw strike, its power, the demonic energy on the claws, or the pattern of the strikes... there are massive differences in every aspect. To put it simply, the demonic claws of the Inuyasha I met are much stronger in every way than the one who ambushed you, especially in terms of power.'

As she spoke, the voice continued with a smile.

'The Dog Clan of the Western Provinces is famous for demonic claws comparable to refined iron. Their Soul-Scattering Iron Claw, a technique passed down through their bloodline, can easily split rocks and cleave through trees. It is their trademark.'

'The claw strength of that boy with Toga's bloodline is still lacking, but it's still quite easy for him to tear apart the body of an average yokai with one strike. Yet, such claws that easily shred yokai bodies only heavily wounded your fragile human body. Do you think that's logical?' the voice questioned Kikyo. For a moment, Kikyo was silent. She had seen the power of Inuyasha's demonic claws; logically, taking even one hit should have left her torn apart and dead. This kind of problem was actually easy to notice, but Kikyo had been so blinded by anger back then that she hadn't thought much about it.

'Are you saying... the Inuyasha who ambushed me was a fake?' Following the voice's lead, Kikyo spoke in a heavy tone. The voice nodded.

'Exactly. A yokai with transformation abilities turned into Inuyasha to ambush you and steal the Shikon Jewel, all to turn the fires of your hatred toward Inuyasha. But the Inuyasha who stole the jewel later was absolutely the real thing!'

'If that yokai could turn into Inuyasha to attack you, why couldn't he turn into you to attack Inuyasha? If Inuyasha betrayed you, you would choose to seal him, but what if you were the one who betrayed him?' the voice asked Kikyo again. Kikyo was stunned for a long time before she continued to murmur within her consciousness.

'Inuyasha and I... were played. Who... who was it...'

'I've almost guessed who it was.' As Kikyo murmured to herself, the voice continued to speak. Kikyo was struck with surprise once more.

'You know that too!?'

'Yes. I found the clues in your memories. I have a good idea who the mastermind behind all this is.' As the voice spoke, she waved her hand mentally and continued, 'The key doubt lies in the motive. The motive of that mastermind. If it were just an ordinary yokai craving the Shikon Jewel, it could have killed you directly and fled with the jewel after the first successful ambush. But instead, to make you and Inuyasha kill each other, it specifically put the jewel back in the village. This proves that its primary goal at the time was your mutual resentment, not the jewel itself.'

'And what kind of motive would drive a mastermind to go through such lengths to turn lovers against each other? For now, I can only think of one: jealousy.' Gathering various pieces of information from Kikyo's memories, the voice reasoned. On the other side, Kikyo was in a state of shock.

'Jealousy... but who would...'

'It seems you've started to figure it out as well. Yes, Kikyo, think carefully. Among the desires you encountered during that time, which one was the most nakedly obvious?'

'Do you remember that human whose body was covered in burns, the one you saved?'

Returning to the present time, inside the tall Japanese castle, within the refined room, the priestess sat in her place, staring straight at the lord before her. Within the small room, the atmosphere had become extremely heavy and oppressive, with a sharp intent to kill beginning to overflow.

"Heh. I never imagined that you, Priestess Kikyo, would have a direct history with that Naraku. No wonder you know he is in this castle. You must know him quite well," the lord said with a superficial smile. Beneath his solemn expression, an increasingly heavy pressure was manifesting.

"My apologies, but I actually don't know much about Naraku. What I do know is another name he used... the name from when he was still human. That name was 'Onigumo.'"

As she spoke, the priestess stared at the lord, whose face was now extremely dark, and continued.

"It is also the name that truly belongs to you, Naraku."

As soon as the priestess finished speaking, a series of sounds erupted from all around. The paper doors surrounding the room were violently shredded in that instant. From behind the doors, countless snarling and clawing yokai pounced toward the seated priestess from all directions.