Mount Hakurei

was a once sacred mountain of absolute purity and divinity. Beautiful flowers grew from the foothills below to the mountain's summit, and it was a place where no yōkai dared to enter. This mountain served as the battleground for the one of the most prominent battles, and as the location where Naraku most significantly altered his body.

History
Hakushin, a once revered and great monk attempting to reach Nirvana by becoming a living Buddha as he died. Near death, the Monk was filled with regret, having spent his entire life helping others, and the villagers he healed and guided gladly let him die in order to save themselves. With Hakushin's spirit in misery his soul remained behind after he died, unable to rest in peace. After many years, Naraku approached Hakushin and spoke words that Hakushin was too cowardly to admit to himself. Manipulated in his vulnerable state, the monk agreed to help him, and with his new powers, was able to manifest an impenetrable barrier that could ward off yōkai and impure humans alike. Since most yōkai could not enter such a pure place, Naraku used Mount Hakurei as his new base of operations while he constructed a more powerful body after being severely injured by Inuyasha and Sesshōmaru.

Inuyasha's group were headed northeast that lead them to Mount Hakurei after they received a tip from Sarugami. An elderly bandit asked Kikyō to take a lock of his hair to "a sacred place where anyone can find salvation" as his final wish just before he died. Kikyō arrived at the orphange where she met Suikotsu in his good personality as his Shikon no Tama shard become cloudy. As Kikyō near the mountain, she did entered the barrier that causes her shinidamachūs being repelled from bringing her souls.

In order to buy time for himself to rebuild his body, Naraku used shards of the Shikon no Tama to resurrect the Shichinintai, a squad of seven mercenaries who were infamous for their mercilessness in combat. Naraku manipulated the Band of Seven by promising that if they kill Inuyasha's group, Kōga, and Sesshōmaru, they would be allowed to keep their jewel shards and live on. Although all seven of the band are eventually defeated, some of the members would occasionally gain the upper hand because as humans, they were able to enter the barrier of Mount Hakurei, with the only side affect being nausea, whereas Inuyasha, Kōga, Sesshōmaru, and Kikyō could not step inside the barrier without being purified.

When Inuyasha's group first approach Mount Hakurei, he, Shippō, and Kirara were all adversely affected by its barrier. As such, they concluded that Naraku could not be hiding on Mount Hakurei due to its purifying powers. Sesshōmaru was also searching for Naraku along Mount Hakurei. His human companion Rin got separated from him after she saw Kohaku. She followed him to a cavern that was full of yōkai. With Kohaku's help, Rin was able to escape unharmed. Rin returned to Sesshōmaru and explained what happened. It was then that he had a better understating of what Naraku's plan was.

Inuyasha's group and Kōga confronted five surviving members of the Shichinintai. The battle ended when the mercenaries' retreated after Bankotsu's weapon Banryū was scarred by Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu. Naraku used a puppet of himself to give the Shichinintai time to escape. It had an unusual smell of flowers that prompted Inuyasha and the others to look for the source of the scent in order to find Naraku. The Shichinintai, meanwhile, arrived at the base of Mount Hakurei while being greeted by Kohaku and Kanna. Bankotsu repaired Banryū using the jewel shards that Renkotsu stole from Kagome. The Shichinintai then split up in order to eliminate one of Naraku's enemies each.

Inuyasha's seacrh for the flowers lead him to Hijiri island. It was there that he once again fought against Bankotsu. The battle ended with Hakushin used his dokko to safely teleport Bankotsu a temple on Mount Hakurei that was made in the monk's honor while he was alive. Miroku and Sango decided to investigate Mount Hakurei after suspecting that Hakushin was aiding Naraku based on Inuyasha's battle with Bankotsu.

Kōga battled Renkotsu and Ginkotsu at the base of Mount Hakurei. He was unable to see them at first due to the barrier making them invisible. Ultimately, the battle ended in Ginkotsu's death, and Kōga being seriously injured. Meanwhile, Suikotsu and Jakotsu battled Sesshōmaru along the base of the mountain. It's purifying barrier it weakened Sesshōmaru while causing Suikotsu to change between his good and evil personalities. Kikyō arrived and help Suikotsu come to terms with who he was before his death.

Miroku and Sango later confronted Naraku's incarnation Kagura, as well as many other yōkai that were deep inside the mountain. The two of them survived since the sacred grounds of Mount Hakurei protected them. As they continued forward, they encountered the mummy of Hakushin. After a brief confrontation, Miroku forced Hakushin to flee and destroyed his temple with the Kazaana. He flew outside of the mountain and came across Kikyō. She was able to get him to remove the purifying barrier, as well as find peace for his soul.

Inuyasha decided to look for Miroku and Sango after they were taking to long to return (believing that being a hanyō would prevent him from being purified). He soon transformed into his human form after a brief fight against Renkotsu. He escaped through a small crevice in the mountain just before Renkotsu fired at him with his cannon. Unfortunately, he is then confronted by Jakotsu and severely outmatched without his yōkai powers.

Destruction
After Kikyō convinced Saint Hakushin to dissolve the barrier, Naraku's miasma corrupted the mountain, turning its rich vegetation into a barren wasteland and making it take a very jagged, rough appearance. He also made it part of his body, making the inside of the mountain his "belly". Afterwards, many yōkai started to emerge from the caves now that they could escape without being purified. All of Naraku's enemies could now freely move around the mountain. As the barrier disappeared, he regained his powers and defeated Jakotsu with killing him. As he was getting closer to Naraku, he was confronted by Bankotsu once again. After an intense fight, Inuyasha managed to kill him. Unfortunately, he was soon became trapped by the fleshy walls of the mountain. Kōga was almost devoured by Naraku while he was helping Kagome locate Inuyasha. As Miroku and Sango continued their journey together, the fell down a cavern that was littered with yōkai corpses. They soon saw many clumps consume the yōkai remains.

All of Inuyasha's friends soon reunited deep inside Mount Hakurei. Naraku then emerged with his new body. Inuyasha tried to destroy him with the Kaze no Kizu, but it was unable to break through Naraku's barrier. They were, however, able to rescue Kōga and prevent him from being absorbed. Having no further use for Mount Hakurei, Naraku destroyed it as prepared to depart. While all that transpired, Kikyō noticed Kagura flying away while carrying something. She tried to stop her, but was unsuccessful.

Naraku soon confronted Kikyō and confessed that his purpose for being at Mount Hakurei was to expel his his human heart in order to kill her. He severely wounded her and caused her to fall down the mountain to her apparent death. Naraku was then confronted by Sesshōmaru. Despite Sesshōmaru's power, Naraku remained unfazed at the damaged that was being done to his body. He proclaimed that he could not be killed and took of in a cloud of miasma

Afterwards
The destruction of Mount Hakurei had devastating repercussions. Many villagers in the region were killed by Naraku's swarm of yōkai. They also freed the boar yōkai Chokyūkai.

It was revealed that many items were sealed inside Mount Hakurei in an attempt to purify them. One such item was the Kon Blade of the Naginata of Kenkon that had come into the possession of Hoshiyomi.

Naraku returned to Mount Hakurei to reabsorb Onigumo's heart, hoping to make sure that Kikyō would not be able to purify the Shikon no Tama because of Onigumo's negative feelings. The mountain's remains now appears as several vegetated spikes.

Barrier of purification
Hakushin's barrier prevent yōkai from passing through by purifying them. Before its destruction, the average yōkai who sought to approach Mount Hakurei become very sick, as shown by Shippō, Jaken and Kirara, and the closer one got, they would react in physical pain, with purifying energy crackling over their body and slowing them down. Only very powerful yōkai, such as Sesshōmaru, have some resistance to being very close to the barrier, and even then he was somewhat weakened. Any item that has yōkai abilities, while not destroyed like yōkai are, lose those abilities. If someone is affected with something like yōkai poison (or perhaps even regular poison), it will also be purified.

Not only are yōkai affected, but at least some humans were as well. Most humans can feel the peace and serenity the barrier caused the surrounding area. However, the evil undead human Band of Seven did not like being in or around the barrier for the way it gave them an unwell feeling due to be being brought back from the dead and their murderous natures. Even Miroku was affected by the barrier, making him feel nauseous. In the anime, Sango and Kagome tried to make him go into the barrier, but he quickly got away with Shippō and Kirara, saying they should get them far from the barrier. This prompts a joke from Inuyasha: "Just how impure do you think he is?" In the Anime as well, the barrier prevented lecherous intentions from occurring; Miroku constantly tried to grope Sango while exploring the mountain but got stung by the barrier.

The barrier, however, only purifies and does not kill a victim if purifying them is not enough to kill them. A hanyō in contact with the barrier would have their yōkai energy forcibly removed, leaving them in their human form. Leaving the barrier caused their powers and hanyō form to immediately return. Having their powers purified in this way was very painful, but obviously was not lethal to them. Once their powers were purified they were perfectly fine, albeit without their superhuman abilities. Because Mount Hakurei only affects yōki, yōkai that do not have any demonic aura, such as Kanna, are able to move in and out freely.

Song
The song of Mount Hakurei was sung by several children living in its shadow.

English= Pure is impure, impure is pure Good is bad, bad is good Living is dying, dying is living Saint Hakushin inside the earth (grave) Mount Hakurei where [the] Hijiri ("virtuous monk") returned Nihongo= 綺麗は汚い、綺麗は浄い 良いは悪い、悪いは良い 生きるは死ぬる、死ぬるは生きる 白心上人土の中 聖戻りの白霊山 Rōmaji= kirei wa kitanai, kitanai wa kirei ii wa warui, warui wa ii ikiru wa shinuru, shinuru wa ikiru Hakushin-shounin tsuchi no naka Hijiri modori no Hakureizan Viz Dub= Pure has become impure, impure has now become pure Good now has become bad, bad has become good To live is to die, to die is to live Saint Hakushin beneath the earth Mount Hakurei will return to Hijiri

This song was of particular interest to Kikyō, and she often meditated upon its irony. As a priestess in the body of a corpse, dead but alive, no matter how much good she did by helping people, she still fed upon the souls of the dead.

Manga vs. Anime

 * The song about Mount Hakurei does not exist in the manga.
 * In the anime, Naraku reveals that he used Rasetsu in order to lure Kikyō to the Mount Hakurei.
 * The events involving Chokyūkai and the Naginata of Kenkon that occur as a result of Mount Hakurei's destruction are not present in the manga.

Trivia

 * Mount Hakurei's Theme Music is included in Inuyasha Official Soundtrack, Vol. 3. Another Theme it is associated with that is also in the same soundtrack is.