Mōryōmaru is the 340th chapter of the InuYasha manga.
Synopsis[]
- Mōryōmaru fights with Kōga to try and absorb him and take his sacred jewel shards.
- Just as the Wolf yōkai is losing the battle, Inuyasha and group arrive. Inuyasha uses Kongōsōha, but Mōryōmaru and Hakudōshi have vanished.
Summary[]
- Kōga asks the child who he is, and so Hakudōshi introduces himself as an incarnation of Naraku. The wolf asks Hakudōshi if he's the one responsible for all the demented demons that have been running around. The incarnation confirms the accusation, elaborating on how he used human Haku to create a new type of life. He says he had to discard the more grotesque looking ones though, because when working with human Haku, a human shaped demon is easier to manipulate and he had to let them evolve. This final deformed demon, who Hakudōshi has named Mōryōmaru, stares at the ground with a cold, lifeless expression. Hakudōshi orders Mōryōmaru to absorb Kōga, jewel shards and all. Kōga scoffs and just tells the incarnation not to cry when he breaks his newest plaything.
Kōga uses his sword on Mōryōmaru.
- Kōga attacks, leading with a flying kick, but his foot becomes engulfed in Mōryōmaru's flesh on contact. The wolf tries to punch his way free, but it proves ineffective. Left with no options, Kōga draws his sword and slashes across Mōryōmaru's chest, quickly making the creature relinquish him. To the wolf's surprise, Mōryōmaru heals from this wound instantly, using the power of the Haku inside him to restore his condition. Also, the orbs of Haku (which always fled from the demons' body after being cut down) stay inside Mōryōmaru. Hakudōshi says it's because the Haku actually like this body. Since they're human Haku, it isn't so foreign as the prototype demons who had grotesque bodies. Kōga starts running around frantically, the battle starting to look bleak, as Mōryōmaru's body has the ability to become hard as steel at one moment and become gooey and viscous the next. His oddly malleable form proving to be formidable in battle, increasing his odds of successfully absorbing the wolf & taking his jewel shards.
- Then, Inuyasha appears, swinging his sword, the windscar striking the monster, but it is revealed that Hakudōshi protected the creature with his barrier. The wolf & the dog have a light scuffle, then Ginta and Hakkaku explain to Inuyasha how Mōryōmaru's body can become hard one minute and malleable the next. So, Inuyasha decides try using Kongōsōha to sunder through Hakudōshi's barrier, just as he did to Naraku's at the borderland. The wolves, even Kōga, are slightly awed by this attack, their first time seeing the Tessaiga coated in diamond.
- Hakudōshi doesn't seem worried. He lightly whispers "Mōryōmaru..." before the diamond spears come out of the Tessaiga. After the attack, the incarnation and Mōryōmaru have vanished, but then Kōga senses something and says "Look up!"
Characters in order of appearance[]
Trivia[]
- This is one of the few times (if not the only time) in the series when Kōga uses his sword. He states in a later chapter that he took it from a human years ago because he thought it would make a cool decoration. It was reprised in chapter 7 of the manga adaptation of Hanyō no Yashahime.
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