Episode 16

Mystical Hand of the Amorous Monk, Miroku is the sixteenth episode of InuYasha.

Synopsis

 * 1) Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippō encounter a monk named Miroku who attempts to steal their Shikon no Tama shards.
 * 2) Miroku tells the group about a wicked demon named Naraku, who cursed him with the Kazaana.
 * 3) Miroku also reveals that Naraku slew a priestess 50 years ago while trying to obtain the Shikon no Tama; Inuyasha vows revenge on Kikyō's killer.

Summary
The episode begins with Kagome getting a drink of water, and Shippō asks her if she's sure she is alright, after the events that took place prior involving Urasue. Kagome says she is fine, but Inuyasha, on the other hand, has been acting strange ever since the encounter with Kikyō. Inuyasha is away from the others pondering his quest for the Shikon no Tama; once he finally obtains the jewel and becomes a full-fledged demon, then what? He wonders if he will ever be able to truly forget Kikyō.

A young monk standing near a walkway with two different paths, with his staff being pointed to the right, still trying to figure out which way he should take. Soon after, he overhears two men speaking about a nearby rest home where a supposedly beautiful woman is working; the monk shifts his staff to the left and decides to follow them.

The monk is disappointed to find that the woman is not beautiful at all. The monk soon overhears from the same men that the daughter of a lord has been possessed by some sort of demon and has taken to bed, and requires the aid of a priest; the monk visits this lord. The lord says that the monk must drive away the demon possessing his daughter or else he will receive no payment, and the monk notes her swollen face; the lord states that she always looks this way. The monk notices a Buddha-esque statue and asks the lord about it; the lord says that he got it from an impoverished nobleman, and that it was a blessed idol. The monk takes a closer look at the statue, and asks that he and the others leave him alone in the room, and they are not to re-enter no matter what sounds they might hear coming from inside, and they do so. The monk calls out to whatever is possessing the girl to come out and surrender peacefully and he will show it mercy. Suddenly, the statue begins to shake and a weasel yōkai emerges, proving to be the culprit. The demon attacks the monk, and he notices that it has a shard of the Shikon no Tama in its' forehead. As the monk deals with the demon, outside the men note that it sounds less like an exorcism and more as if the temple was being pillaged, but the lord still maintains that they should stay outside and leave it to the monk.

Soon after the monk departs, the lord is told and his men quickly learn that all of the lord's valuables have been stolen by the monk. The monk is then seen leaving with all of the stolen goods, searching for a place to pawn off the stolen items. That night the monk is resting in a hot spring, bemoaning the small price that he got for pawning off the goods; however, he says that finding a shard of the Shikon Jewel made it worth his while. He soon hears someone, and it turns out that Kagome is resting in a nearby hot spring as well; he notices the large shard of the Shikon Jewel hanging around her neck, noting that "they're...it's huge".

Kagome yells at Inuyasha to not dare look at her, though he replies that he has no interest in doing so. Something startles Kagome and she screams, causing Inuyasha to come rushing to her aid, only to have him hit her as she was completely naked and thought he was trying to peek at her.

The monk is seen hiding behind a nearby tree, noting that she has a man with her; the monk breathes heavily stating that he hates resorting to violence. Soon after, the monk is seen talking to a raccoon dog demon, apparently putting some sort of plan into place. The next day, Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippō are walking near a cliff by a mountain. The monk and raccoon dog are seen talking near them, and the raccoon dog is to take out Inuyasha, while the monk makes off with the girl; the raccoon dog asks the monk why he doesn't use his right hand to get the jewel in a matter of moments, but the monk replies that everyone would die if he did that. The raccoon dog transforms into some sort of boulder-like creature, and comes crashing down the side of the mountain into Inuyasha, with Shippō falling as well. The monk then grabs Kagome and begins riding her bicycle, kidnapping her. Inuyasha sees that she has been taken, wondering who the guy is, and punches the boulder; he then draws Tessaiga and prepares to attack again, but the raccoon dog reverts to his original form and begs for forgiveness. Kagome gets off the bicycle and rushes over to Inuyasha, and the monk lets her go, since he already has her shard of the Shikon Jewel; he then rides off on the bike. Inuyasha and Kagome discuss the strange power that the monk utilized, somehow using wind to pull it in towards him; they soon realize that the monk took the jewel shard.

Inuyasha and the others begin searching for the monk, with Inuyasha sniffing the ground to pick up his scent; the villagers take note of this strange behavior. They are surprised to quickly find her bicycle outside of a hut in a nearby village. Inuyasha bursts inside, to find the monk already with more women by his side, though he doesn't find them attractive. When the monk sees Kagome he comes straight over to her, grabbing her hands, which angers Inuyasha. Inuyasha begins chasing the monk to regain the jewel shard. Inuyasha then draws Tessaiga, but the monk blocks it with his staff; Inuyasha notes that this is no ordinary human. The monk introduces himself as Miroku, and states that he is indeed a monk. They continue their battle, with the monk blocking each of Inuyasha's blows. The monk begins to lose his footing on a pile of logs, and Inuyasha is able to knock the staff out of Miroku's hands; he points Tessaiga at the monk, telling him to return the shard or die. To Inuyasha's surprise, the monk leaps back up to his feet and begins running away, telling the villagers to get away as fast as possible.

After running for a short period, Miroku stops and turns his attention back to Inuyasha. Inuyasha wonders what the monk is doing, as he holds out his right hand. Miroku then removes the prayer beads from his hand, and a massive wind starts blowing around the area as he yells "Wind Tunnel!" then everything surrounding them begins getting pulled in by a strong wind, Inuyasha is forced to brace himself with Tessaiga. Inuyasha says that this is the same power he used before, and wonders where the wind is coming from; he then notices that Miroku's right hand is actually causing all of the wind. Kagome notes that his hand is almost like a black hole, sucking everything in that isn't nailed down. Kagome then remembers how Miroku had earlier yelled for the people of the village to escape from the area, and she surmises that he does not want to hurt humans. As Inuyasha inches closer and closer to being sucked in, Kagome comes flying passed him and when the monk sees her coming he closes the Wind Tunnel, just before Kagome crashes into him.

Kagome notes that the monk actually closed the Wind Tunnel on his own, so he might not be all that bad. Inuyasha rushes over to her and scolds her for almost getting herself killed; Kagome responds that they should at least give him a chance, as he could have killed them long ago with a power like his. As she has this thought, Miroku begins massaging her butt; embarrassed, she moves away to Inuyasha and retracts her previous statement, telling Inuyasha to kill him.

After they all calm down, Miroku begins telling the group about the history of his cursed hand; he tells them that a wicked demon named Naraku had cursed his grandfather with the Wind Tunnel years ago; he says that Naraku and his grandfather battled many times over the years, and each time Naraku appeared to him it was in the form of a different human. Naraku's curse would be passed down to each generation until no one in the family remained. Miroku says that each year the wind in his hand gets more powerful, and the hole continues to grow; unless he kills Naraku, the Wind Tunnel will eventually suck him up as well.

Miroku continues telling the others about Naraku, saying that he is sure that Naraku has begun gathering shards of the Shikon Jewel to increase his already malicious power. Miroku states that Naraku was nearly successful in obtaining the Shikon Jewel 50 years ago, when he slew the priestess who had been protecting the jewel. This bit of information catches Inuyasha's attention, who immediately speculates that Naraku was the demon who disguised himself as Inuyasha and killed Kikyō all those years ago. Inuyasha notes that Naraku had laid a trap for Kikyō and himself, making them believe that they had deceived each other. Inuyasha vows to get revenge on Naraku.

Kagome says that if they continue searching for the jewel shards, they'll surely encounter Naraku sooner or later; she says that Miroku should travel with them, but Miroku says that he's more accustomed to being on his own. As Kagome expresses concern over Miroku's fate, Miroku grabs her hands and plainly asks that she bear him a son, so that he might carry out revenge on Naraku should Miroku be unable to; as he says this he holds Kagome close. Inuyasha barges in and separates the two, telling Miroku to never think about touching Kagome again. Miroku then states that Inuyasha must be in love with Kagome. Blushing, Inuyasha says that she is merely a "jewel detector", angering Kagome.