Episode 40

The Deadly Trap of Kagura the Wind Sorceress! is the fortieth episode of the InuYasha anime.

Synopsis

 * 1) Kōga continues his fierce attack on Inuyasha, and Inuyasha is grievously injured by the wolf demon.
 * 2) Kagura reveals to Kōga that she set the whole thing up, and was the one who slaughtered his comrades; Kagura also reveals that the shard in Kōga's arm was a fake, and it poisons him, though Kagome is able to purify the poison.
 * 3) With Kagome's help, Inuyasha unleashes the Kaze no Kizu on Kagura; she manages to survive and furiously confronts Naraku, asking why he deceived her and didn't warn her about the power of Tessaiga.
 * 4) Naraku shows that he possesses Kagura's heart in his very hands, which is why he has complete control over her; Naraku states that she was created from a part of him.

Summary
Kagura frames Inuyasha by using her powers and causes Inuyasha to be covered in the blood of Kōga's wolf pack, which pushed him into a rage, and he attacks Inuyasha before learning the truth, that it was all a ruse. Kōga, using the power of his jewel shards gains the upper hand against Inuyasha, breaking his right arm and eventually what he thinks ends the fight by using the shard embedded in his right arm to deliver a tremendous punch down onto Inuyasha's abdomen, a force so great that he creates a crater in the ground and leaving the latter temporarily incapacitated.

Shortly after Kōga ends his attack against Inuyasha, Kagura emerges from the castle congratulating him on his victory and reveals that she was the one who slew Kōga's brethren by manipulating their corpses once again. Kōga, fuming now having learned the truth attempts to attack Kagura but his body seizes and he becomes paralyzed. She reveals that the shard in his right arm is a counterfeit concocted from a poison that paralyzes the user. His battle with Inuyasha sped up the poison's effect, leaving him paralyzed. As Kagura prepares to have Kōga's own men slaughter him, Kagome fires a sacred arrow that Kagura blocks using Kōga's men, who are destroyed by the blast. Kagura realizes that Kagome is Kikyō reincarnated with her arrows and fires several wind blades, attempting to kill Kagome who is saved by Kirara and Shippō.

As Kagura prepares to attack Kagome again, she is distracted by a badly wounded but alive Inuyasha, who is quick to show his displeasure toward her deceit and the scent of Naraku all over her. Kōga now knows who truly deceived him as Kagura scoffs at Inuyasha's drive to fight despite his injuries. She engages Inuyasha in battle, but due to her manipulation of the wind, being a wind sorceress, Inuyasha is unable to attack her using the Kaze no Kizu. Kagome fires another arrow but misses Kagura to her amusement. However, Kagome's sacred arrow cuts Kagura's demon wind, which Inyasha picks up on. He orders Kagome to fire an arrow at him, which after some hesitation she does, completely destroying her wind manipulation. Kagura simply states that she can just create more wind and does so, which allows Inuyasha to attack her with the Kaze no Kizu. Kagura is shocked at the power coming from Inuyasha and barely escapes on a feather. Inside the castle, Sango and Miroku quickly dispatch the puppet Naraku sicked on them earlier by Kagura.

Inuyasha laments that he was not able to kill Kagura due to his broken right arm as Kagome quickly approaches a still poisoned Kōga. Kagome attempts to remove the poisoned shard from his arm only to be repelled by a barrier. Shippō gets the idea of having Kagome use a sacred arrow to break the barrier, which works and purifies the fake shard, destroying it instantly. Kōga walks away from the castle, vowing to kill both Kagura and Naraku for slaying his brothers. Inuyasha falls asleep, exhausted from the fight as the gang ponders about the spider scar on Kagura's back, piecing that she must share some secret with Naraku.

Kagura angrily berates Naraku for deceiving her about the Tessaiga's power. Naraku muses that he wanted to know how much power Inuyasha possessed, Kagura out of rage attacks him. Naraku produces an orb out of his arm and squeezes it, causing Kagura an overwhelming amount of pain. He reminds her to remember that she was once a part of him and he has no problem turning her back into what she once was.

Music

 * Opening Theme — I Am — TV OST Vol. 2
 * Sango starts attacking demon puppet, Kōga chases Inuyasha — Fight to the Death (Shitō) — TV OST Vol. 1
 * Kōga blocks Inuyasha’s attacks, he knocks out Inuyasha — Attack (Shūgeki) — TV OST Vol. 1
 * Kagura revives corpses — The Hidden Well to the Sengoku Era (Kakushi Ido kara Sengoku Jidai e) — TV OST Vol. 1
 * Inuyasha still lives — Dilemma (Kyūchi) — TV OST Vol. 1
 * Inuyasha cannot see Kagura’s Wind Scar, Kagome’s arrow helps him — Big Counterattack (Daihangeki) — TV OST Vol. 1
 * Inuyasha can see the Wind Scar, Kagura escapes — Attack (Shūgeki) — TV OST Vol. 1
 * Kōga’s arm is corrupted, Kagome’s arrow breaks the counterfeit shard — Evil Spirits Desiring the Shikon no Tama (Shikon no Tama o Nerau Chimimōryō) — TV OST Vol. 1
 * Inuyasha has to rest from wounds — In a Trip of Destiny (Shukumei no Tabi e) — TV OST Vol. 1
 * Kagome recalls Naraku’s evil actions — Trap (Wana) — TV OST Vol. 2
 * Kagome recalls Naraku gave insects to Sesshōmaru — Demon Brother Sesshōmaru (Yōkei Sesshōmaru) — TV OST Vol. 1
 * Naraku holds Kagura’s heart and threatens her — Evil Demon, Naraku (Jayō Naraku) — TV OST Vol. 1
 * Ending Theme — Fukai Mori — TV OST Vol. 2

Differences from the manga

 * In the anime, the scene after Kagura was attacked by Wind Scar is slightly altered to remove nudity, with Kagura immediately fleeing in the middle of the attack once her kimono started to get torn apart by the Wind Scar (thus she didn't receive full damage from the attack), compared to the manga in which she only fled after she was injured after the attack and her kimono's top was torn.
 * The same thing applied to Kagura when she was attacked and pierced by Goryōmaru in Episode 167.

Episod 40 第四十集