Chapter 31

Kagome's Last Hope is the 31st chapter of the InuYasha manga.

Summary

 * Kagome pushes Manten off his cloud. In retaliation, he attempts to kill her.
 * Hiten disarms Inuyasha of his Tessaiga.

Synopsis

 * InuyashaChapter31Hiten&InuyashaLightning.jpg Inuyasha and Hiten exchange insults, then resume their battle. Inuyasha starts to become nervous, because all it takes is a single brush of Hiten's lightning attack and he's done for. Shippō is hiding from the fight, silently apologizing to Inuyasha for his own cowardice, knowing he wouldn't be able to help against such strong opponents, anyway. Meanwhile, Kagome is still being held captive on Manten's cloud. Manten chuckles and says he will assist his brother, opening his maw and charging a shot of electricity to fire at Inuyasha. Kagome shouts "You're ganging up on him? What a bunch of cowards!", proceeding to push Manten off the hovering cloud and make him fall to the ground below. After a brief second of victorious celebration, Kagome screams as the cloud disappears and she starts to fall herself. Inuyasha calls for her, rushing in her direction to save her, but Hiten interferes, cutting the half-demon off, taunting "Don't even dream of ignoring me, halfling!" Inuyashs shouts at Kagome to hang on until he can come get save her, but she screams back that gravity isn't going to be patient. She lands on the ground with an oomph, but is surprised when she finds herself unharmed. She starts to think that maybe she'll be okay now, until she sees what broke her fall; Manten. The demon snarls at the girl and starts to chase after her.
 * InuyashaChapter31Shippo'sSpinningTop.jpg Shippō comes to Kagome's aid, using a giant spinning top to subdue Manten while they make their escape. Kagome breathes a sigh of relief. Then, Myōga suddenly appears on Kagome's shoulder and tells her not to let her guard down just yet, because most Fox-magic relies on illusions. This surprises her, because to her eyes it looks very real. The spinning top starts to slow down, and the attack comes to a halt. Manten grumbles under his breath, merely annoyed, until he sees his last strand of hair fall to the ground. Once again, Manten screams "MY HAIR!!!", using his lightning powers to blast everything he can see. Kagome & Shippō manage to hide under some rubble, but Kagome knows that if they're found out, they'll be killed. She then sees the arrow which is still lodged in Manten's snout. She gets an idea. Manten fires more wild blasts, ceasing when he sees Kagome's body laying unconscious, coming over to her and lifting her up by her hair, mocking her. When Kagome opens her eyes, she snickers and her hair starts to envelope Manten: it's Shippō in disguise. Kagome appears from the shadows and yanks the lodged arrow from his snout, raising it up high, about to plunge it into Manten's forehead where his sacred jewel shards are embedded. Shippō tells the Manten that his father will finally be avenged. Just as Kagome is about to pierce the spot with the shards, Manten roars and overpowers the young fox, declaring they'll never win with such pathetic tactics. He then puts his boot ontop of Shippō, holding the Kitsune down, reaching out and starting to strangle Kagome.
 * Inuyasha is watching this, and is fatally slashed across the shoulder by Hiten, who mocks his worries over the girl. "Distracted, lad?" With another swing of his Thunder-pike, Hiten knocks the Tessaiga out of Inuyasha's hands, holding the sharp tip of his spear at the half-demon's neck. He expresses his disappointment, saying he had hoped the battle to be much more entertaining. Inuyasha glares up at the elder thunder brother, thinking to himself: "I can't fight if I can't concentrate. I have to save Kagome first!"

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Inuyasha
 * Hiten
 * Shippō
 * Kagome
 * Manten
 * Myōga

Trivia

 * This chapter marks the first time Shippō uses the Spinning-top technique on an enemy in the Manga.