Episode 74

The Red Tetsusaiga Breaks the Barrier! is the seventy-fourth episode of the InuYasha anime.

Synopsis

 * 1) Taigokumaru and his legion of bat demons attack Shizu's village; Inuyasha attacks Taigokumaru but he is protected by the barrier Shiori has put up.
 * 2) Taigokumaru reveals that he was the one who slew his own son after Tsukuyomaru said he would no longer guard the barrier any longer and would leave the tribe; upon hearing this, Shiori expels Taigokumaru from her barrier and Inuyasha destroys the bat daiyōkai.
 * 3) Shiori tells Inuyasha to destroy the Blood coral crystal with Tessaiga, and Inuyasha eventually does so; Tessaiga begins to glow red, and it now has the ability to break through barriers.

Summary
As the bats attack the village, Inuyasha finds himself unable to break the barrier generated by Shiori, with Taigokumaru being protected inside. But the bat daiyōkai brags about having killed his own son, Shiori's father, because he threatened to abandon his duty as guardian if his fellow demon bats didn't leave the village in peace. Upon hearing this, Shiori expels her grandfather from inside the barrier in order to avenge her father. Inuyasha is then able to defeat the demon bat.

As they prepare to leave the village, Myōga reminds Inuyasha about killing a strong demon to obtain the barrier-breaking ability, but of course he refuses to murder an innocent girl, especially another half demon like himself. Planning to find an even stronger demon with a barrier to kill, Inuyasha bids his friends to get going. However, Shiori stops them and offers to let him to break the Blood coral crystal which created the barrier, explaining that it helps the owner create the barrier, and also holds the power of all the previous holders. She believes that if the Tessaiga can break it, the sword would likely absorb its power; Inuyasha agrees, stating that it would be best if the artifact was destroyed.

The orb has other ideas though: realizing Shiori's intentions, it suddenly starts emanating jyaki. Alarmed, Shizu snatches the orb away but it burns her hands and she drops it onto the sand. The soul of Taigokumaru still lives inside the orb, and after shielding the orb so Inuyasha can't harm it, attacks Shiori. Mother and daughter are shielded by the spirit of Tsukuyomaru, which greatly weakens Taigokumaru when he smashes into the barrier. This allows Inuyasha to destroy the soul of Taigokumaru, thus putting an end to him for good. This causes the orb to crack and break into two halves; having landed in front of it with Tessaiga touching the ground, the crystal's power radiates outward across the sand and the sword absorbs it, thus becoming the Red Tessaiga.