Hakudōshi

was the eighth detachment from Naraku. Created from Akago's body, he took the form of a young child. Because his heart remained inside The Infant, he could use all of the same powers and his own body could endlessly regenerate from any damage. Eventually, both The Infant and Hakudōshi grew tired of Naraku's rule, and sought to betray and overthrow him. To help The Infant in battle and protect him, Hakudōshi created Moryomaru. Naraku knew of his traitorous intentions but waited until the right time to command his Saimyōshō to abandon Hakudōshi in battle and disable his barrier as well (due a few comments about not needing Naraku and being the "original"), giving him no protection against Miroku's Wind Tunnel.

History
Upon learning the last shard of the Shikon Jewel was in the world between the living and the afterlife Naraku sent The Infant and Kagura to kill priests and priestesses in order to discover a way into the next world. One of the monk's attack managed to cut the baby in half, before he dies. Kanna met with Kagura and told her to keep one half of the infant while she took the other half. The half Kagura is charged to watch grew into the body of a young child. The child took the name of Hakudōshi. Upon awakening he ordered Kagura to bring him new clothes as he had out grown his old ones. The yokai horse Entei followed Kagura and chose Hakudōshi to become his new master. In the anime Hakudōshi killed Entei's previous owner which earned the demon horse's respect.

Shortly after this he encountered Inuyasha's group for the first time in his new form. He confirmed that Naraku was indeed searching for a way to travel to the world between the living and the dead, and also revealed to them that the last Shikon shard was there, something the group did not know. When Kagura questioned him about this Hakudōshi simply replied that he saw no need to keep it a secret. When Inuyasha tried to kill him with the Wind Scar Hakudōshi put up a barrier, and then left with Kagura and Entei.

Hakudōshi decided that a human priest could not provide him with the location to the world between the living and the afterlife, so he decided that yokai may hold the key. He began to cut off the heads of demons to search their minds in order to find the way to travel to the next world. After decapitating many youkai Hakudōshi finally discovered the location of the next world. He ordered Kagura to tell Inuyasha and his friends about the location to a gate that led to the world between the living and dead.

He intended to use them to battle the gate keepers and use Kagura to see if the gate was safe. Kagura questioned Hakudōshi about using her, which he admitted to be doing. This caused Kagura to attack him, only to discover like Naraku he could simply regenerate. He warned Kagura that he was connected to Naraku and that attacking him would only lead to Naraku to squeeze her heart as punishment.

After Naraku made a pact with Princess Abi, Hakudōshi helped Abi and her bird demons collect the blood of humans. He briefly battled Inuyasha, but Inuyasha was unable to overcome his barrier, even with the Red Tessaiga. Hakudōshi's barrier was broken by the purifying arrow to his surprise, this allowed Inuyasha to cut him with the Wind Scar. Hakudōshi started to regenerate, but Entei was killed by the Backlash Wave.

He ordered Kagura to take him and retreat. While regenerating in a hide out Kagura noticeed that Hakudōshi did not have a heart, and deduced that his heart was in the infant. Hakudōshi acted as Naraku's connection to the living world when he traveled to the world between the living and the dead. When Kagome shot Naraku with one of Kikyō's arrows it followed Naraku back to the living world striking Hakudōshi down, however since the infant was the one who possessed their shared heart neither Naraku or Hakudōshi was killed by the arrow.

Forcing Kikyō Out
Under orders from Naraku, Hakudōshi (along with Kohaku) tried to lure Kikyō out in the open. The pair killed a rat youkai and took his shrine. Hakudōshi opened the shrine releasing a swarm of youkai rats that devoured anything in their path. Kikyō finally acted by making a magical tree. Then Hakudōshi ordered Kohaku to guard the shrine and keep it open, while he went to deal with Kikyō. He just missed Kikyō, but destroyed the tree she created to purify the rats by using giant slugs. He told Inuyasha and Kagome that if they saw Kikyō to tell her that Naraku would continue to cause this level of destruction until he found her. He also retrieved Kohaku and took him back to Naraku.

Creating Mōryōmaru
Hakudōshi along with Kohaku hunted down a demon that devoured haku the power that moved the body of all living beings in the InuYasha world. After killing the demon Hakudōshi took the haku it had devoured to use in his experiments. His experiments involved using pieces of other youkai together as a mish-mashed form, and used the haku to allow them to move. His experimented demons ran around attacking humans and demons alike annd drew the attention of both Koga's group and Inuyasha's group, who killed all of the mish-mashed demons. Eventually Hakudōshi discovered that the closer the created youkai were to a human appearance the easier it was for them to move. He perfected creating youkai and created Mōryōmaru.

Hakudōshi decided to test out his creation by having him fight Koga and at the same time try to steal the wolf demon's two Shikon shards. Mōryōmaru had the upperhand, until Inuyasha interfered unleashing the Wind Scar. Hakudōshi protected Mōryōmaru with his barrier. Despite InuYasha joining the fight, Mōryōmaru was able to hold his own while Hakudōshi watched. By working together the two groups managed to create an opening for Inuyasha to use his new technique Kongōsōha, but once Hakudōshi stepped in to protect Mōryōmaru despite knowing that his barrier would be broken by Inuyasha's attack. Unknown to the group the baby urged Hakudōshi to save Mōryōmaru.

Although he failed to steal Koga's shards Hakudōshi managed to gain a small victory by stealing the yoki crystal from Miroku, preventing the group from locating the fuyouheki that concealed the baby's yoki. In the anime Koga was not involved in the fight at all, instead of tracking Koga down Hakudōshi tested Mōyōmaru out on Inuyasha, however the fight ended in the same manner as the manga.

After retreating Hakudōshi delivered Mōyōmaru to the baby and Kanna. He left telling the baby to use Mōyōmaru any way he wanted to. He questioned Naraku about why he allowed Kagura to live even though he knew she was betraying him. Naraku answered him by saying that he could end Kagura's life anytime he chose because he had her heart and that he (Naraku) needed her for one final job. He appeared before Kagura and took her to the temple of Goryomaru.

He seemingly killed Goryomaru shocking Kagura and Inuyasha and his friends. Hakudōshi retrieved Kanna and the baby and left with them, but not before he ordered Kagura to deal with Inuyasha's group. When Naraku lured Inuyasha's gang into a giant oni, Hakudōshi and Naraku appeared before Kagura and mocked her failed attempt to reveal the baby's location to Inuyasha and his friends.

Rebelling Against Naraku
Kagura's final job for Naraku turned out to be guarding Goryomaru who was revealed to be alive. She questioned why she was guarding him when Hakudōshi appeared before her. He told Kagura if she wanted to know how to release Goryomaru. He tried to convince Kagura into releasing Goryomaru despite that Naraku ordered her to guard him. He appeared to have his own motives for freeing Goryomaru. Hakudōshi confronted Kagura and Kohaku to try to steal Kohaku's jewel shard.

He mused that Kagura was untrustworthy for betraying both Naraku and Mōryōmaru. Kagura questioned if Hakudōshi had betrayed Naraku too, although he did not answer her. Kagura sent Kohaku away on her feather to protect him, before Hakudōshi could go after him he was attacked by Inuyasha.

He got into another fight with Inuyasha, but he effectively took Kagura within his barrier and used her as a shield against Inuyasha. He revealed his true intentions: that he and the baby plan to replace Naraku. Because Naraku removed his heart from his body and put it inside the baby, he could not kill the baby and when Naraku gave the baby the Fuyouheki to conceal his yoki he and Hakudōshi decided now was the time to act against Naraku. Hakudōshi played his part by creating Mōryōmaru to act as armor for the baby to better protect him from not only Naraku's enemies but Naraku himself. Hakudōshi mocked Naraku by saying that Naraku was now an empty shell and he and the baby are the real ones.

Death
Hakudōshi taunted Kagura saying that Naraku knew about her betrayal and would kill her. He told her that her only fate was to be killed by Naraku or absorbed by Mōryōmaru. Kagura attacked him, but, like always, his body regenerated. However his barrier was disabled by Naraku (in a bit dramatic irony, this happened right after Hakudōshi boasted that not even Naraku could kill him). With Kagura out of harms way Inuyasha attacked him with the Wind Scar, Hakudōshi simply continued to regenerate. Miroku threatened to suck him in the Wind Tunnel, but he pointed out that Miroku would also suck up the poisonous insects, thus killing him. Naraku called to the insects, making Hakudōshi realize that Naraku had abandoned him for his betrayal. Kagura mocked him for Naraku's actions comparing their situations.

Hakudōshi told her that his situation was different from hers because he was real. In a last ditch effort Hakudōshi created a cloud of shoki to protect him while he attempted to finish off Kagura shouting to himself that he was not a tool to Naraku like Kagura was, however Kagome purified the cloud and Miroku unleashed his wind tunnel sucking up Hakudōshi.

Similarities and Differences with Naraku
Hakudōshi was perhaps the offspring that was most like Naraku—even more so than the baby. He was cruel, controlling, and self-serving. He took pleasure in watching the suffering of others, much like Naraku, as he had been seen to enjoy watching Kagura suffer for her failed attempts of freedom. When he and Kohaku unleashed a swarm of killer rat demons, he was shown watching the death destruction they caused with childish delight. He also made a special trip to the mountains just so he could watch Abi-hime's birds kill and drink the blood of refugees.

Unlike Naraku, Hakudōshi was fearless, more hands-on and didn't mind getting his hands dirty—something Kagura was quick to notice. Hakudōshi did battle with Inuyasha many times, and unlike Naraku, he was not as quick to run and didn't rely on his barrier as much as his maker. He was not above running if his body took a lot of damage, or using someone else to do his work if his life was in danger (he left Entei to die so that he could make his escape and showed no remorse for his loss). Though he was very clever, Hakudōshi wasn't quite as manipulative as Naraku and tended to take a more direct approach in matters. He openly revealed the location of the last Shikon shard and made it very clear that he was going to use Inuyasha's group to get to it. His solution for luring Kikyō out of hiding using Zushinezumi was crude and ruthlessly efficient, and he continuously asked why Naraku didn't kill Kagura even though he knew she was a traitor.

Abilities
Being a demon gave Hakudōshi many different abilities and powers. What made him unique among Naraku's other detachments was that he shared many of the same abilities as Naraku himself.


 * Barrier: Like Naraku, Hakudōshi had the ability to create a barrier, which was just as powerful as Naraku's himself. The barrier was strong enough to withstand a direct hit from the Kaze no Kizu, one of the most powerful yoki based attacks in the series. He could also adjust the size of his barrier to allow others around him inside it, such as Entei the youkai horse and later Kagura. His barrier was also immune to the barrier shattering Red Tessaiga. The barrier could be destroyed by beings with great spiritual power (such as Kikyō's purifying arrow was shown to be able to destroy it), and the Kongōsōha, the hardest substance in the world. Naraku could control Hakudōshi's barrier and as such he could disable it should he wish to do so. He did this when he discovered Hakudōshi had betrayed him. It is seen that naraku is able to return from the netherworld to the real world and teleport to Hakudōshi barrier and regenerates.


 * Reversing Yoki: Hakudōshi could reverse the flow of yoki based attacks that are captured in his barrier. He could use his own yoki to capture the yoki attack and then use his yoki to reverse the flow, which allowed him to redirect the enemy's attack back on him or her. If the attack could break his barrier then he could not reverse the flow.


 * Shouki: Hakudōshi could produce his own shouki, a poisonous substance. Hakudōshi only used the shouki once in the series, so it is unknown if his was as strong as Naraku's.


 * Regeneration: Hakudōshi was originally part of Akago; he did not have his own heart, but shared one with the infant just like Naraku. As a result, he coud not be killed from physical attacks. Hakudōshi's body had been destroyed many times in the series, but he always regenerated from the damage he took. Hakudōshi often used his regeneration to his advantage in battle, such as when he shielded Mōryōmaru from Inuyasha's Kongōsōha which he knew could destroy his barrier. Hakudōshi rebelled against Naraku openly because he knew that Naraku could not kill without killing the baby which would essentially kill himself. Unfortunately, like Naraku, his regeneration could not protect him from being sucked into Miroku's Wind Tunnel, which was what killed him.
 * Mind Reading: Hakudōshi was able to read the thoughts of others, though this power was only seen at its full potential when reading Kagura's mind. It was possible that this was only because they were both incarnations of Naraku.
 * Teleportation: Hakudoshi had shown the abilty to teleport himself and others. He was able to teleport right behind kagura and trap her in a barrier and also was able to teleport himself and giant leech demons to the spirit tree in an attempt to destroy it. This was an ability that Naraku himself also had and also increased the similarities between himself and Naraku.

Quotes
                          Hakudoshi: "Oh, please. Is that what you're so upset about?"
 * "Does it hurt Kagura? Probably because Naraku just squeezed your heart... From wherever he is."
 * "Just watch. Enjoy yourself as all these pitiful humans become bird fodder."
 * Inuyasha: "Do you know how many villages were destroyed just so you could lure Kikyo out?!"
 * "She's got a bad habit of doing things on her own, that one. I don't know why Naraku keeps that treacherous witch alive."
 * "I am not like Kagura! I'm not Naraku's tool! I am my own master!"