Episode 9

Enter Shippo... Plus, The Amazing Thunder Brothers! is the ninth episode of the InuYasha anime. It first aired in Japan on December 11, 2000.

Synopsis

 * 1) Inuyasha and Kagome meet a young kitsune named Shippō.
 * 2) Shippō tells them of the Thunder Brothers who murdered his father.
 * 3) Manten kidnaps Kagome, wanting to use her in some sort of hair-growth concoction; Hiten confronts Inuyasha, declaring that he will kill him for his jewel shards.

Summary
It begins when Kagome makes some noodles for Inuyasha and Myōga. Inuyasha is impressed with her cooking skills, and tells her to start eating. But Kagome says that she can't possibly eat in a wasted battlefield and asks him why they couldn't stop by a river or a field of flowers. Myōga is fascinated with Kagome's things, like her bicycle, her food and a kettle. He asks if her country does a lot of trading with foreigners from the south. Kagome answered that cup noodles were invented in Japan for Astronauts during the space age. She tells them that humans have gone into space, even to the moon. When they ask how, she tells them that they use rocket ships. The sky suddenly grows dark and a strange blue light appears seemingly out of nowhere. The fire is a trick belonging to Shippō, a mischievous little fox yōkai.

He turns into a big pink balloon. Inuyasha slaps him and grabs him by the tail. Kagome wants to hold him after that. Shippō replaces himself with a jizo statue on Inuyasha's hand, browses through Kagome's bag and takes the fragments of the Shikon no Tama. He disappears in a puff of foxfire. Inuyasha and Kagome think he vanished, only to see a skull with a fox tail suspiciously sticking out moving away from them. He tells them that his father has recently been killed by two Thunder Brother demons named Hiten and Manten. It comes to show that Hiten has three fragments of the Shikon no Tama in his forehead and Manten has two shards on his forehead along with Shippō's father around his waist. Myōga knows them right off the bat. Inuyasha was insulted by Shippō for calling him a half-demon, so Inuyasha hits his head a couple of time. Shippō begs forgiveness and gets Inuyasha where he wanted. He puts a bigger statue on his hands and puts a charm on it, making it impossible to move. Shippō tricks Kagome with his fox fire and got the bottle with the shards and runs off. Kagome chases him leaving Inuyasha behind.

Manten, looking at his reflection in the water, wants more hair like his brother to get more ladies like Hiten does. Shippō stumbles upon Manten while he was running from Kagome and was shocked to see his father's pelt around Manten's waist. Shippō tries to punch him, but he was punched back which causes the bottle to fall out of his pocket. Manten is preparing to use his thunder attack on Shippō when an arrow pierces his nose. Kagome warns Manten that she'll shoot his brain next. Kagome orders Shippō to get back to her. She shoots at Manten, aiming for the Shikon no Tama fragments, but her arrow only glances off of his head, causing two of his three strands of hair to fall out. Manten, mortified over the loss of his hair, uses his thunder attack. Shippō and Kagome barely avoid being killed, but Kagome is unconscious. Manten, realizing that she's very beautiful, takes her back to his lair.

Meanwhile, Myōga is trying to take off the charm that holds the jizo statue in place. Shippō tells Inuyasha that he'll remove the charm as long as Inuyasha promises not to hit him. Inuyasha agrees. But as soon as Shippō removes the charm, Inuyasha punches his head a couple of times, picks Shippō up by the tail and shakes him until the bottle with the Shikon no Tama fragments falls out. Shippō tells Inuyasha that Kagome has been kidnapped by the Thunder Brothers. Inuyasha says that Shippō doesn't smell like he avenged his father and asks him if he sat by and watched as they kidnapped Kagome. Shippō says that Inuyasha has to do something because Kagome is "his woman."

Inuyasha throws him on the ground and says that she isn't his woman, but agrees to save her if Shippō will beg forgiveness. But it wouldn't hurt to save her. Myōga tells Shippō that it is time for him to be a man and just do it.

At the Thunder Brothers' tribe, Manten prepares some sort of potion that his mother taught him. Kagome comes to and finds herself being the next ingredient for his potion. Kagome yells, Manten tries to get her to keep her voice down. Hiten barges in with a vixen. Hiten asks Manten who Kagome is. Manten says that Kagome is his prey and that Hiten can't have her. Hiten says that the vixen is much more desirable than Kagome. Hiten asks Manten if he's found any Shikon no Tama fragments, but Manten told him that he did but lost it. Hiten, annoyed, kills the vixen for Manten being more concerned about Kagome than the shards. Kagome comes up with a plan to trick them into believing that Inuyasha has more shards than they do all together. She tells them that Inuyasha is in love with her, that he'd give the shards for her as a ransom. Hiten warns her that if she is lying she'll be killed on the spot.

Inuyasha along with Shippō run towards the Thunder Brothers. Myōga tells Inuyasha the they eat women. Inuyasha doesn't think Kagome is pretty and brave. Inuyasha gets out of the way from a lightning attack from Hiten. Inuyasha is relieved to see her okay, but is confused when Hiten refers to her as his lover. Hiten attacks, before Inuyasha draws the Tessaiga to block Hiten's weapon.