Chapter 18

Legacy is the 18th chapter of the InuYasha manga.

Synopsis

 * Kagome is shocked when Inuyasha proclaims that he will protect her.
 * Inuyasha fights Sesshōmaru with the Tessaiga and defeats him, cutting off Sesshōmaru's left arm.

Plot

 * Inuyasha feels that the Tessaiga has a pulse. Meanwhile, Kagome is slightly surprised when Inuyasha says he will protect her. She thinks to herself that Inuyasha may not be 'nice', but compared to his murdering brother, he's a saint. Jaken cheers on Sesshōmaru, saying "Bite that little half-breed's head off, m'lord!" and then Kagome throws a random bone at him, whacking him on the head. "We're going to win this, ugly!" she says, silently wishing Inuyasha luck in his battle.
 * Feeling different, Inuyasha thinks to himself that it's like he knows he's going to win somehow. He attacks Sesshōmaru with the Tessaiga, cutting the demon in several places. When he looks at his sword again, he notices it's transformed; it looks like a giant fang now. With one final slash, Inuyasha cuts off Sesshōmaru's left arm.D005.jpg
 * Beaten, Sesshōmaru flies away, Jaken running in tandem and shouting for his lord to wait for him. Inuyasha chuckles, admitting that his old man left him a worthwhile heirloom after all. Myōga appears on his shoulder and tells him it's not just the sword, but the man who uses it, saying he didn't doubt Inuyasha for a moment. Inuyasha whisks the flea away for his lies.
 * Back at the village, Kaede is told about the Black Pearl and the adventure Kagome & Inuyasha had. Kaede wonders why Kagome was able to pull the sword, perhaps she is no ordinary mortal girl? Myōga thinks that she was able to draw the Tessaiga because she was a mortal. The Tessaiga was forged by Inuyasha's demon father for the purpose of protecting his human bride, Inuyasha's mother. So, the sword can only transform when it is to protect a mortal. Kagome realizes that's why the sword changed when it did, when Inuyasha said "Let me protect you!" and also why Sesshōmaru, a demon who hates humans, would never be able to touch the sword. Meanwhile, Inuyasha is messing around with the Tessaiga, cursing the sword for turning back into a rusty old stick. Kagome comes along and asks him if he wants to know the secret to making the sword transform, on the condition that he keeps using it to protect her. Inuyasha asks her if her brain is broken or if she got knocked in the head.  Angrily Kagome protests"But you said you'd always protect me!" Inuyasha tells her he never said 'always'. He says he's going to gather the shards of the jewel and become a true demon, and with a sword like this he'll be able to defeat anyone who gets in his way, why would he want to waste it protecting her? Kagome Sits him, shaking her head and saying she was actually starting to think he was decent.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Inuyasha
 * Sesshōmaru
 * Kagome
 * Jaken
 * Myōga
 * Kaede

Trivia

 * The coverpage of this chapter is white-on-black instead of the traditional black-on-white as it is in most other chapters.
 * In the Original Japanese Manga, Sesshōmaru loses his left arm, in the United States however, volumes 1-37 were flipped to conform to the English L-R way of reading, so in the VIZ edition Sesshōmaru loses his right arm.