Chapter 14

Nothing Woman is the 14th chapter of the InuYasha manga.

Synopsis

 * Inuyasha discovers that the person he was with isn't his mother, it's actually the Nothing Woman.
 * Kagome saves Inuyasha from Nothing Woman's spell.
 * Sesshōmaru says he now knows where their father's grave is.

Plot

 * Kagome desperately tries to tell Inuyasha that the person he's with isn't his mother, it's an imposter, but she still can't move or speak. The Nothing Woman, still disguised as Inuyasha's mother, says she has to go to the next world. Before she goes, she asks Inuyasha to look at his reflection in the water. The image he sees is himself as a little kid. The nothing woman gets behind him and hugs him, saying "Remember when I would hold you like this when you were a child?" and Inuyasha notices her reflection has no face. He asks her who she really is, but she continues to dote on him. She says she will never let him go as she embraces him tighter and starts to absorb him into her body.
 * As Kagome struggles to move, she suddenly sees mystic chains that are wrapped around her limbs, and she sees little imps that are holding her down. Suddenly, the beautiful marshy vista that was around her turns into a muggy swamp: All of it was an illusion to trick Inuyasha. Then, Myōga appears and sees Kagome, tied up and helpless... So he sucks her blood. He gets swatted yet again. Kagome is able to get up when the imps run away.
 * ReleaseFromMuonna.jpg Jaken shows up and talks to the Nothing Woman, as he was the one who set up the whole trap. As she embraces Inuyasha, Jaken tells her to ask him where Sesshōmaru & Inuyasha's father's grave is. When the nothing woman asks an unconscious Inuyasha, the half-demon says he doesn't know where it is. She says he can do better than that, and says she will explore his soul. Then Inuyasha says "The Black Pearl.... on the right." Jaken says that isn't helpful at all, ordering her to probe deeper into his soul. The Nothing woman says if she delves any deeper inside then his soul will shatter. Jaken says "Then shatter it!" because he doesn't want to face Sesshōmaru's wrath.
 * Kagome takes the Nintōjō from under Jaken's nose and kicks the little imp into the swamp, chasing after the nothing woman, but she refuses to let Inuyasha go, sucking him in further and further into her body. Myōga tells Kagome she has to awaken Inuyasha's soul to save him. The flea also explains that the Mu'onna (Nothing Woman) was born from the vengeful spirits of mothers who lost their children to famine and war.
 * Kagome sees the reflection of Inuyasha and the Mu'onna in the swamp, and notices that Inuyasha's reflection looks like a child. Kagome swings the Nintōjō into the reflection, breaking the water's image. This makes the nothing woman scream as she releases Inuyasha from her grasp, her spell broken. Inuyasha gets angry that he's been lied to, that someone would pretend to be his mother.
 * Sesshōmaru appears and grabs Inuyasha by the neck. He tells his half-brother not to be upset for the deceptions; It was all for the best, because now, Sesshōmaru says he knows where the grave is. He says he never imagined the grave could be in such a place.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Kagome
 * Inuyasha
 * Nothing Woman
 * Myōga
 * Jaken
 * Sesshōmaru

Trivia

 * In the Anime and in the original Japanese manga, the grave is located in Inuyasha's right eye, but due to flipping the comic to configure to the English L-R style, in the VIZ edition, the black pearl is in Inuyasha's left eye.