Episode 18 (Hanyō no Yashahime)

Sesshōmaru and Kirinmaru is the eighteenth episode of Hanyō no Yashahime.

Summary
Towa and Setsuna find Moroha, and the cousins get ready to annihilate Konton and Tōtetsu once and for all. They manage to succeed, and Kirinmaru finally appears before the Half-Demon Princesses, as does Towa and Setsuna's own father Sesshōmaru. Do have they have the stomach to go through with what the Sacred Tree of Ages has requested of them to save all of time, even if its taking down Sesshōmaru?

Plot
Towa and Setsuna fight Konton, who tells the twins that the Rainbow Pearls they possess will only spell disaster as they are fragments of an even greater demonic power that was divided by Zero. With the eight-field spell undone, they help Moroha swiftly overpower Tōtetsu, who flees to Kirinmaru's ship to lure them to be killed by Kirinmaru.

Kirinmaru went to the mainland and after admonishing Tōtetsu from his demonic smoke with his powerful wave and knock him down. Kirinmaru is annoyed with Tōtetsu for having brought them to this place where his ship is, who apologizes, he drives Tōtetsu off. As Moroha calls out to Tōtetsu to wait, Kirinmaru notices Towa, Setsuna and Moroha blasted them off Takechiyo with his powerful wave and introduced himself to them. Kirinmaru unperceptive to Towa's attempts to solve matters peacefully and return Setsuna's dreams. After remaining silent as they ponder on whether to engage him or not and on his connection to the Yume no Kochō, Kirinmaru challenged them to try to kill him and fulfill the prophecy that Hanyō would be the one to destroy him.

Kirinmaru quickly proved himself to be much stronger than their combined might as he effortlessly handled their assaults while easily overwhelming them without even using any special technique, simply using his sword and demonic energy, mocking them for their poor effort.

Even as Moroha tapped into the full power of her demonic blood, Kirinmaru swiftly overpowered her as she passed out from exhaustion before proceeding to decisively overpower Setsuna in battle and despite taking a slight injury on his cheek from Towa soon knocked her down with an energy blast. However, before Kirinmaru could kill them, Sesshōmaru throws Bakusaiga at him and lands down. Kirinmaru sarcastically comments on how even Sesshōmaru cares for his daughters and both fly, leaving Jaken behind in front of Towa and Setsuna who are confused by his words.

As Kirinmaru and Sesshōmaru fight, their clash causes tremendous shockwaves that rise the tide of the oceans and eventually begin to affect the weather, releasing thunder claps that knock out Towa and Setsuna. Eventually Kirinmaru decides to spare Towa and Setsuna because they clearly couldn't kill him and still wants Sesshōmaru to work for him, before leaving, and Sesshōmaru also leaves with Jaken.

This leaves Towa, Setsuna and Moroha confused. Moroha tries to get the essence of the Sacred Tree of Ages to emerge by kicking the tree, but is unsuccessful and Towa and Setsuna's mother is shown still in her ceaseless slumber within it. As Setsuna is playing her violin and Towa especially wonders to herself what her father Sesshōmaru's true motives are.

Trivia

 * The Half-Demon Princesses encounter Kirinmaru for the first time. Towa and Setsuna also meet their father Sesshōmaru as he appears to protect them from Kirinmaru.
 * This is Sesshōmaru and Jaken's debut in the present.
 * Even though Sesshōmaru was stated to have surpassed his late father when he instinctively created Bakusaiga from his own body, Kirinmaru proved able to fight equally with him, despite him being stated to only be equal to Tōga in strength. As the two are formidable beast kings, their battle is such that all of the Earth and Heavens themselves quake whenever they clash as they are naturally equally matched.
 * The Half-Demon Princesses are shown to be literally unable to slay Kirinmaru. Due partly to their own shortcomings.
 * Moroha relies too much on her demonic heritage; especially the rogue to pull out all her demonic energy in one go if she's in trouble. Effectively comparable to "doping"; since this also has negative side-effects. Moroha rarely relies on the Spiritual powers she inherited from Kagome, which logically should be stronger due to being more human than demon.
 * Towa lived a peaceful life in the Modern Era, where any of her combative impulses were quelled with athletics as an outlet. Thus Towa has the least combat experience and is the least willing to kill.
 * Setsuna only thinks about killing enemies quickly as possible; thus leaving her open to surprises due her impatience. In addition her poor strategizing often forces Towa to compensate her inability to think flexibly with alternatives.
 * The connection between Kirinmaru and the Dream Butterfly is that if Kirinmaru is slain, then the Dream Butterfly will disappear.
 * Konton dies in this episode, making Tōtetsu the only remaining member of the Shikyō.
 * The Rainbow Pearls are revealed to been, in fact, seven fragments of an ancient and even greater demonic power that was divided by none other than Zero, for being way too dangerous to ever use to its fullest potential. This ancient supreme demonic power seems to be coveted secretly by Riku, as he has expressed a desire to attain all seven pearled fragments for himself.
 * Jaken expresses how Towa and Setsuna have grown, who naturally do not know he is their father's longtime most devoted vassal.
 * Riku takes the blue Rainbow Pearl from Konton's headless corpse, further strengthening his natural abilities once adding it the purple and green Pearls had attained from Kyūki and Jyūbei. This leaves only the orange one Tōtetsu had just swallowed, and the red, gold and silver pearls in the possession of the Half-Demon Princesses, in order for an even greater demonic power to be unleashed on the world once all seven merge into one.
 * Towa's attempt to cut through Kirinmaru's vortex of demonic energy is what Tessaiga's Dragon-Scaled ability does by revealing the opponent's demonic energy in the form of a swirling vortex, enabling Inuyasha to cut through it and gravely weaken his enemy.
 * Whenever Kirinmaru and Sesshōmaru the greatest beast kings, clash, the very Earth and Heavens themselves are disrupted.

Error

 * When Moroha reaches Towa and Setsuna, the Kikujūmonji was lying on the ground. However when Moroha was shaking Towa awake, the sword was shown back in its sheath.

Episodi 18 (Hanyo no Yashahime)