Episode 178

Kanna's Gravestone is the 11th episode of InuYasha: The Final Act.

Summary
Kanna has proven herself to be more dangerous than anyone believed possible; her Mirror Demon has stolen Tessaiga's powers and is using them against Inuyasha!

However, for such an amazing power, there is surely has to be a major drawback; Naraku kept Kanna from using the Mirror Demon until now for a reason. Could it have something to do with the wound on Kanna's shoulder that matches the one that healed on the Mirror Demon?

Plot
Night has fallen, and Miroku has erected a barrier to seal everyone inside a cave for their own safety. Shippo wonders about the Mirror Demon, asking if this fight is just like the one against Toshu and Dakki. Miroku explains that though the powers of their opponents are similar, there is one key diffence between them; Dakki was weilded by a human, and thus had a limit to the amount of demonic energy it could steal. However, this Mirror Demon is being controlled by Kanna, so the amount of demonic energy it can absorb may be near-limitless. Elsewhere, Kanna continues to search for Inuyasha's group with her Mirror Demon. As she continues looking for her target, Kanna thinks of Kagura. The Saimyōshō find Miroku's barrier and thus lead Kanna to it, along with the Mirror Demon. Byakuya of the Dreams arrives, asking Kanna if everything is going to Naraku's plan; Kanna greets him by name.

The Mirror Demon looms next to the entrance of the cave, shocking everyone as it uses the Red Tessaiga to break the barrier. Kagome fires an arrow at the Mirror Demon's neck, but it does nothing except vanish along with the wound it created. At the same time, a dark crack appears on Kanna's neck. Byakuya inquires what happened, but becomes annoyed when she refuses to answer. Inuyasha draws Tessaiga, ready to fight, but is advised against it by Shippo; it's only a shell without its powers. Kanna orders the Mirror Demon to use Adamant Barrage, but Inuyasha clashes blades with it, to keep the adamant spears from being launched. Inuyasha falls back as Kagome catches him; Sango protect herself, Miroku and Shippo with Hiraikotsu. Shippō notices the spears missed them; Tessaiga's barrier protected them.

Inuyasha picks himself up, only for Kagome to see his demon blood has awakened. Shippo panics, saying Inuyasha won't be able to recognise who his friends are once he's transformed; he'll kill them, even enjoy it. However, Inuyasha stands in front of everyone, telling them to stand back. Although he's transformed, he retains his sanity; Tessaiga is seeking out his demonic energy to help him fight. Inuyasha lands a blow on it's left shoulder, only for it to heal. At the same time, Kanna receives a crack on her left shoulder. Byakuya guesses Kanna is taking the Mirror Demon's damage. With the fight now out of the cave, Miroku tries to intevene, but Inuyasha tells him not to; he says he'll go after Miroku next, not knowing what he'll do in his current form. However, this is a ruse; Inuyasha wants to fight by himself.

Elsewhere, Naraku finds it amusing that Inuyasha has transformed into a demon once again; this turn of events will make it all the more easier to kill him, with the very technique he struggled to master. The Mirror Demon switches its Tessaiga from Diamond to Dragon-scaled. Everyone realises Inuyasha is a mass of demonic energy when he's transformed, and warn him. However, Inuyasha continues, telling the Mirror Demon to take its best shot with swinging its fake Tessaiga. As Inuyasha expected, the Mirror Demon proved too slow to hit his demon vortex, allowing him an opening to cut its right eye. However the Mirror Demon once more heals from its injury, much to Inuyasha's annoyance; he wonders if its immortal. A pink energy escapes the demon and envelopes Kanna for a moment. Once the light dies, her right eye cracks, leaving it blind. Seeing this makes everyone realises Kanna has been taking the Mirror Demon's injuries to heal it.

Inuyasha yells for Kanna to stop interfering as he has no intention of killing her. Kanna pays him no mind and forms a circle with her hands; a shadow of Kanna's mirror appears around Inuyasha as a portal of light opens above. Inuyasha tries getting away, but the shadow follows him where-ever he runs. Byakuya calls Inuyasha an idiot, saying killing Kanna would have been the correct move as she cannot defend herself while the mirror is in its demon form. Inuyasha shields himself with Tessaiga's barrier, reflecting the beam of light back and cracking the Mirror Demon's stomach; the damage is then transferred to Kanna so it can heal. Kanna continues to attack Inuyasha with the beams of light, as Naraku says she's to keep going; he materializes her heart in his hand. Kagome warns Kanna that she's going to fire an arrow into the light. The shadow of Kanna's mirror vanishes, allowing Inuyasha to move without worry of being hit by beams of light.

Inuyasha moves to destroy the fake Tessaiga; the real one gains the powers of what-ever it cuts, so cutting the copy that stole its powers would restore them. Kanna figures out his plan and has the Mirror Demon sacrifice its left hand, only for hers to come off to replace its. Inuyasha yells at her once again for continuing to interefere; everyone else does the same. Byakuya thinks to himself that Inuyasha's group must be insane for not trying to kill Kanna. Naraku also finds the idea of Inuyasha's group being concerned for Kanna laughable. Kanna has no emotions, so she cannot understand the meaning of their pity; the concept is lost to her. Inuyasha tries cutting  the fake Tessaiga again, but the Mirror Demon sacrifices its right arm; Inuyasha calls Kanna an idiot as her right arm falls off. Kagome yells at Kanna, asking her why she's maiming herself. With Tessaiga lodged in its copy, Inuyasha is thrown backwards by a burst of light from the fake.

When Inuyasha pulls himself up, he finds himself back in his normal half-demon form while the fake Tessaiga is now destroyed and the Mirror Demon missing its right arm. Since she cannot heal the Mirror Demon again, a defeated Kanna stands in front of it, perhaps shielding it. Inuyasha tells Kanna that their fight is over, saying to scram. Byakuya taunts Inuyasha for wasting another opportunity. However, Inuyasha says he'll get nightmares from killing her; Miroku guesses that's something even Naraku would want. Now that Kanna has been half-destroyed, Miroku believes that Naraku will not bother looking for her. Sango agrees, believing Kanna may be able to survive, despite having no hands. Kagome tells Kanna that it's over. However, Naraku telepathicly tells Kanna that it's not over; she's to take Inuyasha's group with her.

Kagome says Kanna is free, making Kanna think of Kagura. Naraku orders her to walk over to Inuyasha and his group as he begins squeezing her heart. Kanna and the Mirror Demon begin bursting with light. A worried Kagome asks Kanna what's happening, as Naraku continues ordering Kanna to get closer to Inuyasha's group as she's not close enough to take them with. However, even though her body continues to crack as Naraku's grip on her heart tightens, Kanna remains still; she's defying Naraku's orders. Kagome sees Kanna is saying something, but cannot hear her; she walks closer to hear Kanna. However, the moment she does, Naraku shatters Kanna's heart; she begins shattering. Inuyasha picks up Kagome and rushes away with her.

At the very moment they flee, Kanna and the Mirror Demon explode into hundreds of glass shards; a shard hits Kagome's eye. Sango protects herself, Miroku and Shippo with HIrakotsu while Inuyasha uses Tessaiga's barrier to shield himself and Kagome. Holding her eye, Kagome suddenly hears Kanna's voice. Kagome is shown a vison of the Shikon no Tama, which has been defiled by Naraku; however, there's a single speck of pure light deep within it. Kanna's voice says "the light will destroy Naraku."

Once the explosion subsides, nothing is left of Kanna except the crater created by her self-destruction and the frame of her mirror, which holds shards of glass. Byakuya pities Kanna for her fate, commenting that Naraku has a cruel steak in him; deciding he should be careful to avoid the same fate, he boards his origami crane and flies away. At the same time, Naraku is annoyed that Kanna died without taking a single one of his enemies with her to the afterlife. He then wonders if Kanna would regret being unable to follow his orders, but thinks that the idea is completely ridiculous. Kanna didn't have an emotional heart, so how could she feel anything, even regret for falling him

Back to the site of Kanna's death, Inuyasha picks up her mirror, saying that she didn't have to die. As he examines the mirror, some of the remaining shards of broken glass in the mirror crumble into dust and blow away. Shippō wonders if Kanna was trying to take them with her. However, Kagome tells him that wasn't what Kanna wanted. She sheds a tear as the shard falls from her eye; the tear shatters the shard before it can hit the ground. Grieving for Kanna, Kagome explains she didn't want to die; Kanna wanted to live. Inuyasha places Kanna's mirror back in the crater. Kagome promises Kanna that she heard her last wish.

Trivia

 * Naraku destroys Kanna's heart in this episode; however, in the manga, he forced her to explode along with the Mirror Demon. The result is the same, either way; Kanna died by shattering in shards of glass.
 * Referring to Kanna's heart, it looked more like a jeweled egg instead of a heart.
 * It would seem the Mirror Demon form of Kanna's mirror is something of a last resort tactic; Naraku never tried using this earlier in the series, most likely because he still had use for Kanna's mirror to spy on his enemies.
 * Although Byakuya outlives her, Kanna lived the longest of all Naraku's incarnations.
 * If Tessaiga had reasborbed the Meido Zangetsuha beforehand, the battle would've gone in Naraku's favor.
 * The Saimyosho do not appear again after this battle.