Episode 172

The Great Holy Demon Spirit's Test is the fifth episode of InuYasha: The Final Act.

Synopsis

 * 1) The Dragon-scaled Tessaiga has been giving Inuyasha trouble, so he goes to Tōtōsai for advice. The only way to master the new form possessed by this blade is to train under Yōreitaisei, the demon equivalent of a wise old hermit/sage.
 * 2) Mōryōmaru battles a demon with a unique power, one that will strengthen his resistance to attacks.
 * 3) Sesshōmaru looks to master his Meidō Zangetsuha.

Summary
Kikyō is walking in a misty forest when Kohaku approaches her; she knows why he's come and that he's been following her since she absorbed Midoriko's soul back at the Demon Slayers' village. Kohaku wants Kikyō to use his shard against Naraku, despite knowing he will die in the process. Kikyō is surprised by that Kokaku is welcoming of death, wondering if life is truly that painful for him. As they continue on, together, Kikyō can only think of the irony of their meeting; had this been under different circumstances, she should have put her efforts toward trying to mend Kohaku's wounded soul.

Elsewhere, Inuyasha's group watches as Kōga decides to leave Hakkaku and Ginta behind for their own safety, despite their protests. Kōga explains that thanks to Midoriko's will and Naraku, he could end up putting them in danger; plus the wolf demon tribe has been put in danger of constant attacks from Naraku and Mōryōmaru to get his shards, which is something he doesn't want. Inuyasha tells Kōga not to beat him to the punch, while Kōga tells him to master Tessaiga. Kōga flirts with Kagome, barely missing a strike from Tessaiga; he promptly leaves. Inuyasha's group bids farewell to Hakkuku and Ginta, who walk off with Kai and Shinta.

Somewhere else, conjoined twin demons Ginka and Kinka fight in the sky above, each trying to kill the other. Their kind of demon is born with two heads, but one is eventually eaten by the other before maturity; however, this hasn't happened in their case, leaving them to fight until one is dead. Its pretty obvious they've been at a stalemate their entire lives; each shows signs of being wounded by the other, with Ginka blind in one eye. Below the battling twins, Mōryōmaru watches. The Infant tells Mōryōmaru that Ginka and Kinka are forever bonded to each other; if he were to obtain the power these demons have, the bond between him and his armor will become stronger than ever. Mōryōmaru flies off to absorb the twins for this power.

Elsewhere, Shippō and Kirara lead Tōtōsai down from his volcano; he wonders what Inuyasha's done this time. Shippō explains Tessaiga burnt Inuyasha. Tōtōsai examines the blade, discovering it has taken Dakki's power. Inuyasha demands to know what's wrong his blade, but Tōtōsai says the problem lays with its wielder. Demonic energy is a type of poison; Tessaiga was originally a fang from the Inu no Taishō, who could absorb infinite amounts of energy. However, because Inuyasha is a hanyō, Tessaiga now has a limit to how much energy it can absorb. Tōtōsai demands to see Inuyasha's hands, seeing the burns; he can only think Inuyasha is truly stubborn to endure this much pain. When Inuyasha explains Tessaiga continued to get hotter, Tōtōsai says Tessaiga was warning him. Inuyasha demands a solution, so Tōtōsai says to go see the Holy Demon Spirit, the equivalent of a wise old hermit; to master Tessaiga, Inuyasha must train under him.

Back to Mōryōmaru. He fires some adamant spears, piercing Ginka and Kinka at their conjoined area; their blood falls on his armor, healing the wound Tōkijin created. Surprised by how effective some of their blood is, Mōryōmaru decides to make good use of them, declaring he'll eat their corpses. Kinka and Ginka attack, only for Mōryōmaru to vanish. They wonder where he is, just as Mōryōmaru appears from behind and wraps them in his tentacles. However, they envelop him with the elemental attacks; Meiōjū's shell isn't enough, Mōryōmaru will burn from the inside out. Though Mōryōmaru screams in pain, the Infant only laughs at the idea. Watching from afar, Byakuya of the Dreams observes, noting Naraku's heart will be in danger. He then manages to avoid a claw swipe from Sesshōmaru, flying to safety on his origami crane. Byakuya says Sesshōmaru should have at least introduced himself before trying to kill him, but Sesshōmaru says that since Byakuya has Naraku's scent on him, it's all the reason he needs. Byakuya quickly figures out who Sesshōmaru is, as he is asked what Mōryōmaru is trying to accomplish. To Sesshōmaru's annoyance, Byakuya only says he's an observer.

Mōryōmaru crashes to the ground, losing grip of Ginka. Seeing Kinka is still caught, Ginka stabs him; Kinka calls him a coward. However, Mōryōmaru then stabs Ginka with his adamant spike, saying they chose this fate; Ginka could have helped Kinka, but chose to kill him instead. Trying to retaliate, Kinka is riddled with adamant spears and sucked into Mōryōmaru along with Ginka. Still watching from afar, Byakuya explains that Mōryōmaru was after the power binding Ginka and Kinka's demonic energy; "Naraku might get his butt kicked." He turns to find Sesshōmaru is gone, only for him to appear right behind Mōryōmaru. Sesshōmaru offers to "help" Mōryōmaru test his new power. Mōryōmaru sends adamant spears coated with fire and lightning at Sesshōmaru, who sucks them into a Meidō. Mōryōmaru flees, having seen how deadly Sesshōmaru's new blade is. Trying to go after Mōryōmaru, Sesshōmaru finds himself unable to see past the mountain top. Byakuya explains Naraku ordered him to let Mōryōmaru to escape. Sesshōmaru sends the origami cranes creating the illusion to the underworld. Flying high into the sky, Byakuya bids farewell to Sesshōmaru as he vanishes.

Elsewhere, Inuyasha's group is lead by Mo-mo to the village where the Holy Demon Spirit resides; it's very unlike a hermit. They come to a hut under a bridge, where they hear someone calling for help. They rush inside to find themselves in another dimension that appears to be a place with mountains surrounding it. Miroku sees the dwelling fitting of a demon hermit. Kagome wonders where the cries for help are coming from as everyone sees what looks like a sheet hanging on a large flower; it's the hermit! Once rescued, the hermit explains he cannot train Inuyasha. Inuyasha begins wringing him, making Kagome give a Sit! command. The hermit explains that a demon attacked him the previous night and took his internal organs. Everyone offers to help, but the hermit insults them by saying only a full demon could help him. Inuyasha once more begins wringing the hermit, sarcastically apologizing for only being a hanyō. Kirara senses something, and runs off to the outside of the Holt Demon Spirit's dwelling.

Everyone goes outside, where they see demons inhabiting the village. Inuyasha goes to slay them but the hermit says to stop him. Kagome gives another Sit command. Inuyasha demands to know why he was stopped, making the hermit explain that they're not demons, but the human villagers. Demonic magic has made them change in appearance; the demonic energy that caused this is from his missing organs. Miroku is confused by this, but the hermit explains while the demon is absorbing his powers, it cannot move, so it is most likely still in the village. As it requires less effort to blend in than to hide, the demon used the hermit's magic to transform all the humans into demon forms. Inuyasha says all they have to do is find the real demon who stole the hermit's organs and get them back. The hermit agrees, but puts chains around Tessaiga. Inuyasha demands to know why the Holy Demon Spirit did this, only to hear that it's to keep him from harming innocents.

Inuyasha finds two real demons posing as humans in the crowd; they claim to be human, but Inuyasha points out that they can't fool his nose. When they attack him, Inuyasha tries drawing Tessaiga, but finds he cannot. Because of how weak the demons are, Inuyasha easily clobbers them. Angered, he demands the Holy Dishrag tell him why he couldn't draw his blade. The Holy Demon Spirit explains it is because neither of those demons are the one who stole his organs. Sango expresses how confusing the task is; Miroku concurs as unrelated demons are mixed in with the transformed humans. More chains wrap around Tessaiga, annoying Inuyasha; the Holy Demon Spirit explains it's punishment for assaulting innocent demons. They are soon surround by angry villagers, who Inuyasha pummels to make a path to escape. Taunting Inuyasha, the Holy Demon Spirit says Tessaiga will vanish if he keeps causing more chains to appear.

A human boy named Genosuke leads the group inside his home to help them evade the villagers. The boy explains he's scared; his mother has been bed-ridden since the previous night. He left to get medicine for her, but returned to find the village full of demons. He takes them to the outside of his mother's room, where she's revealed to have been transformed into a serpent demon. She realizes Genosuke is outside and calls to him. Inuyasha opens the doors, and the Holy Demon Spirit reveals the aura coming from her is the power of his organs. She transforms, losing her human face and becoming larger. She goads Inuyasha into taking back the organs. Inuyasha tries drawing Tessaiga, but finds he cannot. The Holy Demon Spirit asks if Inuyasha needs or wants his sword. Miroku and Sango offer to assist, but a gust of wind blows them away. He lands a blow against the demon, but it heals; the Holy Demon Spirit tells him to look for the "demon vortex", causing the demon to send him, Shippō and Kirara away, just like Sango and Miroku.

Inuyasha continues to fail in wounding the serpent demon, wondering what the "dishrag" was trying to tell him about. The serpent demon wraps around Inuyasha, initiating a powerful venom to dissolve him. Kagome tries to help Inuyasha, but is held hostage by Genosuke, who has become a mantis demon. Inuyasha tries to get free, then finds he can see whirlpools of demonic energy, the demon vortex! Inuyasha discovers the true demon vortex, using Blades of Blood to free himself. He claws through the vortex, and the serpent demon is destroyed. Kagome, free of Genosuke, runs to Inuyasha, who reveals an incense was hiding the demon vortex from him. However, Inuyasha then reveals he can still sense the power of the stolen organs, meaning the true culprit is still around.

They run through the village, seeing the spell unbroken and Tessaiga still wrapped in chains. Inuyasha catches the same smell and follows it to the Holy Demon Spirit's home, which has become dull and lifeless. They find the Holy Demon Spirit has been crumbled up and an ox demon claims to be the culprit, saying he has fully absorbed the Holy Demon Spirit's organs. Inuyasha is angered by what's been done to the "dishrag" while the ox demon says he knows about Tessaiga; such a weapon, which is capable of absorbing demonic energy, needed to be prevented from being perfected. Inuyasha is angered by this, saying that if the ox demon is the one who took the organs, the seal the Holy Demon Spirit put on Tessaiga will break; he will avenge the dishrag's death. Tessaiga pulses and the chains break apart; Inuyasha draws his blade, but sees several vortexes. Inuyasha determines which is real and slices it with Tessaiga. However, this action causes a backlash and cracks Tessaiga. Inuyasha quickly realizes the vortex he needs to cut belongs to the Holy Demon Spirit. He tells Kagome to toss the "Holy dishrag" away, allowing him to cut the vortex.

The ox demon vanishes and life returns to the Holy Demon Spirit's home. Miroku, Sango, Shippō and Kirara enter, saying the spell on the village is broken. The Holy Demon Spirit congratulates Inuyasha for finding the real demon vortex, taking a full-bodied form; he was thin a paper before. The Holy Demon Spirit claims this is his true form, but it's not really different. Miroku correctly guesses the Holy Demon Spirit lied about losing his organs. Inuyasha demands to know what the point of it all was, learning that it was to retrain him. When Inuyasha asks what he means, the Holy Demon Spirit refuses to answer. Inuyasha steps on his face, demanding the answer; left without a choice, the Holy Demon Spirit complies. In the illusionary world that he explored, Inuyasha was constantly exposed to the Holy Demon Spirit's demonic energy. Because of this, Inuyasha's eyes were quickly trained to spot demon vortexes. When asked about the chains put on Tessaiga, the Holy Demon Spirit explains that the chains would cause Teesaiga to snap if drawn unnecessarily. Inuyasha realizes that was the reason Tessaiga zapped him when he tried using it against the snake demon. The Holy Demon Spirit also says he has a message from Tōtōsai - "Tessaiga is not a blade meant to absorb demon energy, but to cut it instead."

The Holy Demon Spirit asks Inuyasha why he cut the last vortex. Inuyasha explains it was because Tessaiga was cracking; he needed to end the battle quickly. The Holy Demon Spirit realizes the theory is lost on him. He asks Inuyasha to draw his Tessaiga. The moment he does, the blade becomes bathed in a golden light. Shippō takes note of the ridiculous amount of demonic energy coming from it. The Holy Demon Spirit explains his demon vortex has enough power to rip normal demon vortexes in half. Inuyasha flatly apologizes for judging the Holy Demon Spirit by his appearance; Kagome says Inuyasha should be thanking the Holy Demon Spirit. The Holy Demon Spirit is surprised by Inuyasha's personality; he thinks to himself about the final form that Tessaiga must master. However, this is something that Inuyasha must learn on his own.