Byakuya

is Naraku's ninth and final detachment, meant to replace Kagura. His main purpose is to observe Inuyasha and Mōryōmaru's growing powers and report back to Naraku.

He originaly appears when Inuyasha fights a poisonous demon that swallowed some of Mōryōmaru's flesh and gained power. Byakuya created illusions to distract Inuyasha and allow the demon to flee. He appeared before Inuyasha to introduce himself, right after telling the demon where he was. Byakuya watched as Inuyasha slayed the demon and was hit by a backlash of energy from Tessaiga. He warned that if another enemy was around, Inuyasha would be dead. Byakuya took his leave to report back to Naraku, commenting that because his orders were to simply observe, he didn't kill Inuyasha when it was easy.

Byakuya next appears right after Meijo is ressurected by Mōryōmaru to gain a powerful armor. At that time, he met Sesshōmaru, who, just like Inuyasha, attacked him because he smelled like Naraku. When Mōryōmaru got the armor and Diamond Spears of Tessaiga, Byakuya was order to distract Sesshōmaru to allow Meijo to escape. Escaping death, Byakuya explained he was simply doing his job.

On Naraku's orders, he attacked the wolf demon tribe and gave a young pup a shikon shard to lure Kōga to him. He suceeded in luring in his prey, but was forced to flee once more when Inuaysha's group arrived to help. Mōryōmaru was caught in the middle of the skirmish and took the shard from the wolf demon child.

After Naraku gained the ability to create webs, Byakuya was tasked with finding and killing Kohaku for his shard. He kept trying, but failed.

After taking the power of one slash of Inuyasha's Meidō Zangetsuha, he thinks to himself that the end is near, informing us that he knew he was going to die like the other incarnations. When Shippō sees him take the Meidō Zangetsuha's demonic energy, he is aware, but he doesn't capture Shippō; in fact, he informs him that he has a chance to get out of Naraku's body alive. Later, Byakuya slashes Kagome with the blade that contained Meidō Zangetsuha's demonic energy. However, before he gets a chance at a second strike, Inuyasha attacks him with his Meidō Zangetsuha and Byakuya is absorbed into it, but not before he states that he has fulfilled his purpose, and that he has no regrets. When Naraku dies, a Meidō appears behind Kagome, due to Byakuya's Meidō Blade.

Personality
Byakuya appears playful and polite, introducing himself to other and expecting the same courtesy; he loathes how Sesshōmaru tried killing him without even an introduction. Logical and observant, Byakuya doesn't want to arouse the anger of someone he knows can kill him, like Sesshōmaru. He is willing to kill others Naraku hates, but won't go against his orders. He is willing to help others, even his enemies; he gifted a shard of Kanna's mirror to Sesshōmaru and told Shippō how to escape Naraku.

Powers & Abilities

 * Illusions: By blowing dew off a blade of grass, Byakuya is able to create a multiplication illusion.


 * Teleportation: When attacked, Byakuya can switch places with a flower, and hide somewhere near by.


 * Barrier: Like Naraku, the Infant and Hakudōshi, Byakuya has the ability to create and fly in a barrier for his own safety if flying on his origami crane is too dangerous at the time.


 * Dimension travel: Using a gourd, Byakuya can suck others into a different dimension against their wills, such as in the case of Inyasha and Sesshōmaru.


 * Orgami control: His most commmonly used ability, Byakuya uses it to create a paper crane to fly on after enlarging it. He can also manipulate cut-outs of people for covert observation, and can possess others by simply attaching his paper to them.


 * Detachable Eye: Byakuya can detach his left eye at will, turning it into a flying eye demon, which he uses to spy on his enemies. Naraku can also see what Byakuya sees by touching his eye socket, to which Byakuya finds "disgusting".


 * Technique Absorption: Byakuya posses a blade-less sword that can absorb demonic energy. It was used to sample the Meidō Zangetsuha. The purpose of this attack is still unknown, as the Meidō opened up behind Kagome some time after Naraku was defeated.

Trivia

 * As Kagura, Hakudōshi, Akago, and Kohaku betrayed Naraku at the same time, Byakuya basically replaces all of them; this perhaps is the reason he is so powerful.
 * There is strong evidence that suggests that Byakuya might be a moth yōkai. Firstly, Byakuya has many of the same powers as other moth yōkai, such as the creation of illusions, insect control, and nature manipulation. He also bears a close resemblance to other moth demons, such as Gatenmaru and Garamaru, particularly his long hair and colored lips. If this were true, it would be Naraku's first and only incarnation that was a member of a particular subspecies of yōkai; all of his other incarnations (with the slight exception of Goshinki, who was nevertheless just an oni) were standard humanoid yōkai and not aligned with any particular animal-derivation; ironic, considering that Naraku is a spider hanyō.