Kagura pledges her loyalty to Mōryōmaru under duress, and is told to go kill Kohaku and bring back his jewel shard so that Mōryōmaru can use it. He plans to get stronger in order to surpass Naraku.
Kagura finds Kohaku and attacks him to take his sacred jewel shard.
Summary[]
The infant touches Kagura through Mōryōmaru.
Inuyasha and group pursue Mōryōmaru, using Kagome's abilities to track the sacred jewel shard that he stole. Miroku says there are too many unanswered questions: Naraku first obtained the Nulling stone so he could hide his living heart. They've now learned that the Nulling stone is inside Mōryōmaru, therefore he is Naraku's heart. But the problem is, why would Naraku send his greatest weakness out into the open to collect the sacred jewel shard? Why would he take such a risk; it's very unlike Naraku. The group deduces that Mōryōmaru must have come out against Naraku's orders. So is he rebelling against Naraku?
At a mountain cave, Mōryōmaru tries to rebuild his body after it was torn into rags of flesh by Inuyasha's windscar and Sesshōmaru's Tōkijin. (He looks very similar to how Naraku looked after the battle at the borderland). Kagura asks Mōryōmaru what he's planning, knowing that Inuyasha's group is tracking them by following the path of the sacred jewel shard. Mōryōmaru tells her that she needn't worry, because he has things under control. He then absorbs some demon corpses that are hidden in the cave, using their flesh to rebuild his body. He triumphantly says that before Naraku captured and imprisoned him, he killed thousands of demons and stored their corpses in several caves around the area, just in case of such an emergency. Kagura asks: "Now what? Rebuild your body and fight them again? It's useless!" Mōryōmaru then grabs Kagura by the ankle and demands: "Bring Kohaku to me." When she asks why, he says he wants the Shikon shard embedded in his back. He plans to use it so he can defeat Inuyasha.
Kagura attacks Kohaku to take his shard.
Meanwhile, Kohaku is at a hillside, and he's carrying one of Gakusanjin's crystals of demonic energy. The energy within has vanished, indicating that Naraku's heart must be nearby. Kohaku rushes off to look for Naraku's heart so he can kill him.
Kagura is surprised that Mōryōmaru seeks to destroy Naraku. Mōryōmaru says he has sympathy for her situation, and knows that she's been trying to sniff out his weaknesses. He also says he knows it was her who gave Sesshōmaru the crystals of demonic aura, as well giving the crystals to Kohaku. Kagura becomes frightened when she realizes that Mōryōmaru is reading her thoughts. The Infant's hand is reaching out of Mōryōmaru's body and touching her, finding the darkness in her heart and learning her secrets, just like he did to Kagome in Chapter 284. When Kagura sees the Infant's hand, she realizes Naraku's heart must be inside Mōryōmaru. Reading her mind, he asks: "So what? I could just absorb you right here." She begs Mōryōmaru for mercy, saying she'll do whatever he asks. He tells her that from the moment she defied Naraku and released him from his prison cell, she became a servant of the infant. "If you want to go on living, then you are going to help me make my body stronger. Enough to surpass Naraku." She figures he must mean that if he has Kohaku's shard, he'll be able to kill Naraku. She thinks to herself that it doesn't matter, Kohaku was going to die soon anyway, whenever his shard was eventually removed. Mōryōmaru agrees, saying: "Either Naraku's going to take Kohaku's shard, or I am. That's the only difference." Kagura complies under duress.
Inuyasha and group are still chasing after Mōryōmaru. Kagome has an uneasy look on her face, so Inuyasha asks her what's the matter. She says she senses another Shikon shard: Kohaku! Meanwhile, Kohaku is still running to find Naraku's heart, when he is stopped by Kagura. Kohaku, almost excitedly, tells her that Naraku's heart is nearby. She thinks to herself: "I'm so sorry, Kohaku.", then attacks him with her dance of blades. He asks her what she's doing, and she responds: "Just die here. You can't hope to win anymore."
