Episode 69

Terror of the Faceless Man is the sixty-ninth episode of the InuYasha anime.

Synopsis

 * 1) Naraku dispels a large chunk of flesh from his body, and it grows to become his newest incarnation.
 * 2) This new incarnation has no face, and slaughters numerous people and steals their faces; he finally settles on a handsome monk named Musō, stealing his face and adopting his name as his own.
 * 3) Inuyasha faces off with Musō, who, upon seeing Kagome, captures her, saying that she is what he has been "missing."

Summary
The episode begins with Kagome in her own time taking an exam, which she knows she did bad on. She meets up with her friends at a nearby fast food restaurant. They talk about Inuyasha and say how they think he is no good for her calling him "rude, selfish and jealous." They also refer to him as a two timer though Kagome insists he wasn't calling their relationship "platonic". When Kagome brings up Kōga and Miroku, her friends predict that she is going to have "man problems" and worry about her.

In the Feudal Era, Shippō comments how it was lonely without Kagome around. Inuyasha says things weren't different but Shippō tells him he "wasn't fooling anyone" pointing out how he's been in a "daze" since Kagome left causing him to hit Shippō. Meanwhile, a new incarnation of Naraku is created without a name or a face and attacks a group bandits. Inuyasha catches the creature's scent and goes to investigate. He, Miroku, Sango and Shippō find the remains of the bandits, also finding all of their faces have been carved off.

The incarnation, at a river going through all of the faces, soon takes the fact from a passing monk called Musō and kills another passing man for his weapon and horse. He then sets out to kill people and villages and gather loot. However he begins realizing that what he has gained is not enough but without any memories, he cannot remember what he misses. He soon finds himself near Kaede's village and suspects he will find what he wants there. On his way down, he runs into Inuyasha and Inuyasha recognizes his scent from Naraku.

In the present time, Kagome has packed up her things and goes through the well to return to the Feudal Era.

During this, Inuyasha states how the incarnation is drenched in Naraku's scent and the incarnation brags about how he has killed many men for their faces and desires money and women but that "there is something missing" but he contains no memory of who he is and suspects he will find what he wants in the village. Sango and Miroku and Shippō realize that he is telling the truth; he has no memory of who he is and is unlike Naraku's other incarnations.

The incarnation decides to call himself Musō, after the monk he slaughtered, and Inuyasha is disgusted by the man's many killings and attacks him, cutting off his arm. Despite the severe injuries, he regenerates quickly, due to the help of Naraku's insects who absorb themselves into him to give him a new arm. He then asks Inuyasha what was in the village saying it is "calling" him and that perhaps if he slaughters the village people he will have his memory restored causing Inuyasha to attack him again but fails. Kagome then returns from her time but is unable to see what is going on causing them to yell and warn her to stay back, but Musō sees her. This in which triggers a piece of his memory which turns out to be of Kikyō. Desperate to know who she is, Musō then grabs Kagome and takes her declaring she is the one he has been missing.

Differences from the manga

 * The scenes of Kagome in her own time are exclusive to the anime. As such, in the manga, Kagome is present with Inuyasha and the group when they discover the bandits with their faces ripped off.
 * The scene of Naraku expelling the lump of flesh that would become Musō is exclusive to the anime.
 * In the anime, Musō comes across Kaede's village, hoping that destroying it will help him regain his memories, and this is when Inuyasha confronts him. In the manga Inuyasha and the group find an unnamed village in flames, and Inuyasha saves a woman whom Musō is about to kill.
 * In the manga Musō instantly remembers Kikyō's name when he sees Kagome, and even yells her name aloud. In the anime, Musō has a flashback to when Kikyō tended to Onigumo, but does not immediately know who Kikyō is.
 * Additionally, in the manga, once Musō yells out Kikyō's name, Miroku and Inuyasha immediately deduce that he must be Onigumo. In the anime they don't learn this until the next episode when Kaede tells them outside of Onigumo's cave.