Spirit of the Tree of Ages

Spirit of the Tree of Ages
Jidaijū no Seirei
Nihongo	時代樹の精霊
Alias	The Sacred Tree of Ages The Sacred Tree Tree of Ages
Biographical information
Age	Infinite Immortal
Status	Alive
Occupation	Preserve all that exists
Physical information
Species	Spirit/Deity
Gender	Female (via borrowing Kikyō's form and voice)
Eye color	Brown (while manifesting Kikyō's form)
Hair color	Black (while manifesting Kikyō's form)
Skin color	Fair (while manifesting Kikyō's form)
Family
Goshinboku (main body/essence)
Skills information
Abilities	Omniscience/All-Knowing & All-Seeing Time Manipulation Time Travel Stop/Freeze Time temporarily or permanently Postcognition & Premonition Decelerated Aging (on Inuyasha, Kagome Higurashi (manga) & Rin) Curse Reduction
Affiliation
Team	Dream Butterfly Sesshōmaru's group Half-Demon Princesses Akuru † Gods
Loyalty	Mount Musubi
Debut
InuYasha Anime	Episode 4 (Hanyō no Yashahime)
Voice Actors
Japanese Seiyū	Noriko Hidaka
English VA	Willow Johnson

“

I suppose this is one path as well. Perhaps this is all for the best: To remain unchanged.

”

—Spirit of the Tree of Ages

Spirit of the Tree of Ages (時代樹の精霊, "Jidaijū no Seirei"), also known as the Spirit of the Sacred Tree of Ages (神時代樹の精霊) is the very vital essence and spiritual core of the Sacred Tree of Ages itself from both timelines and those unseen of either the distant past or future. It had remained dormant for the entire anime of InuYasha.

History

During the events from when Kikyō had pinned Inuyasha on its trunk, the greatly strong spiritual energy within the sealing arrow tip was infused with the uppermost-level priestess's own vital essence. This said essence was absorbed by the Sacred Tree, enabling it to take on the appearance and voice of the late Kikyō whenever it desires to commune directly to any individual.

As Kirinmaru's older sister Zero found Towa and Setsuna, and after she ordered Homura to burn the forest, Jaken tells a sleeping Rin that she already found them and saw the scale is growing bigger. The spirit tells him that Towa has travel through time to the other era and use the Dream Butterfly chrysalis on Setsuna's neck to slow down the curse.

While watching over Rin within its very core, it detected the arrival of the Half-Demon Princesses and requested that the cousins slay the Eastern Beast King Kirinmaru to save all of time and space themselves from "the Degenerate Age."

Many months later, Moroha tries and fails to get it to emerge again as the Half-Demon Princesses had just encountered and fought Kirinmaru on its behalf.

Setsuna's upgraded and supremely powerful naginata, now called the Yukari no Tachikiri, began reacting to the fatal curse, as well her thread of fate, that Zero had placed upon Towa and Setsuna's young human mother, Rin, as leverage over their mighty father Sesshōmaru. To this end, the essence of the Sacred Tree emerges before the Half-Demon Princesses once they enter within, who informs them of Rin's condition and that Setsuna's own curse from the Dream Butterfly was all for gradually reducing Rin's own curse and preserving her young life by stopping her aging process.

Many months later, Setsuna came to the Sacred Tree of Ages as she tells the spirit to let her inside its heart to check on her mother's condition. Later, she reappears before a sorrow-stricken Rin, Jaken and Setsuna and informs them of how to help Towa and Sesshōmaru as Akuru appears to lend his own assistance, since he healed Towa's kon after she absorbed demonic energy from Kirinmaru's Demonic Fireball in which their father's haku will be drained. She then tells the Half-Demon Princesses that only they can destroy the Grim Comet and remove the "foreign entity" in the Reiwa era since they heard from Kirinmaru himself.

A few days later, after the Sword of Amatsumikaboshi with the spirits of Kirinmaru and his daughter Rion decend to heaven and the Grim Butterfly has been destroyed, the spirit realized that the Half-Demon Princesses have prevented from the coming of the Degenerate Age. She knew that Sesshōmaru and his daughters would be strong enough to achieve this. And she tells Sesshōmaru that she's grateful and vanishes back into dormancy until another time-altering crisis arises.

Personality

Being infinitely wise and knowledgeable, it also seems to have acquired a bit of Kikyō's personality as it has taken on her form and voice to commune with Sesshōmaru, and his twin daughters and half-niece.

Physical description

It has no known true form but has since borrowed the form and voice of the late priestess Kikyō.

Quotes

"To stop the curse, you must permanently freeze this woman's flow of time."

―Spirit

---

Jaken: "Are you the Tree of Ages? Where's Towa? Where the heck did you hide Towa?"

Spirit: "She is safe. She was sent across time to the other world."

―Towa's whereabouts

---

Spirit: "The more pressing matter is to stop the silver-scale curse, is it not? Use the Dream Butterfly to bring dreams to her."

Jaken: "Use what to do what?"

Spirit: "That is a Dream Butterfly chrysalis. Have someone close to the woman act as its host while it grows to maturity. If you use the Dream Butterfly to keep giving sleep and dreams to this woman, she will also continue to sleep and dream. That will stop her time and slow the curse down."

Jaken: "If you say so."

―Task Jaken to stop the curse

---

"The Half-Demon Princesses travel beneath my feet. If my predictions are correct, those three will save this world. For now I shall allow Root Head to dream."

―Spirit

---

"Welcome, Half-Demon Princesses. I have request for the daughters of Sesshōmaru."

―Spirit

---

"No. This is only a borrowed appearance. The form you see before you was created by the spirit of the arrow that was tuck on my trunk. I believe the name of the priestess to who it belonged to was Kikyō."

―Spirit

---

"It seems I was right to place confidence in you."

―Spirit

---

"It seems you are unfamiliar with the consequences of disobeying the Tree of Ages."

―Spirit

---

"I am the Tree of Ages and yet they refused my request. Are you are sure about this? If you forsake this girl, she will never awaken. I suppose this is one path as well. Perhaps staying like this would be best in the end; to remain unchanged."

―Spirit

---

"So you have returned, Dream Butterfly. The poor soul. Being unable to sleep is heroine, but so too is the slumber that never ceases. Don't you agree, daughter of Sesshōmaru?"

―Spirit

---

Spirit: "It has been a while, Half-Demon Princess."

Setsuna: "You're the Tree of Ages?"

Spirit: "You are in the rift between life, death, and space-time. How did you get here?Ah, I see. You have acquired the Yukari no Tachikiri. That would explain how you were able to get here."

―Spirit's curious about Setsuna is inside the Sacred Tree of Ages

---

Setsuna: "Could it be I learned it from this woman?"

Spirit: "How does it feel to meet your mother again after all these years?"

Setsuna: "Mother? She's my mother?! That's impossible! How could she still be so young?"

Spirit: "As I understand it, she was 18 when she was sealed inside."

Setsuna: "Sealed inside?"

Spirit: "That is correct. Your mother, Rin, has not aged a day in the last 14 years."

Setsuna: "Tree of Ages, is there no way to undo the seal?"

Spirit: "Do you wish to save her?"

Setsuna: "My heart, it feels..."

Spirit: "Is it pity? And does that pity fill you with a desire to protect her?"

―Spirit tells Setsuna about meeting her mother Rin

---

Spirit: "I see. The barrier at Mount Musubi must have sent you all to this place."

Moroha: "Hey, Tree of Ages, explain something to me! I saw my mom and dad while I was passing through the barrierjust now. Just what the hell was that place they were in?"

Spirit: "It was the border between this world and the afterlife."

Moroha: "Afterlife?"

Setsuna: "Tree of Ages, you know, don't you? What is it that I must do to save my mother?"

Spirit: "You must use the Yukari no Tachikiri to sever the fate she shares Zero."

Setsuna: "The Yukari no Tachikiri. Alright. Then I will see to it she is saved!"

―Spirit have figured it out as Towa and Moroha get inside the Sacred Tree of Ages

---

"Half-Demon Princesses...It would appear that Akuru has acknowledged the two of you."

―Spirit

---

Spirit: "The Grim Comet will soon come crashing to Earth in the Reiwa era. It is your duty to destroy it and remove the foreign entity who does not belong in that place."

Setsuna: "And who is that?"

Towa: "I think she must mean Mr. Kirin."

Spirit: "There is not a moment to lose. You must hurry to the Windmill of Time."

Jaken: "As always you enjoy bossing us around. It's so annoying."

Spirit: "The fate of this world lies in your hands, Half-Demon Princesses. I'm counting on you."

―Spirit's special task to go to the Reiwa era to destroy the Grim Comet

---

"You have done well in preventing the onslaught of the Degenerate Age. Knowing you and your daughters as I do, however, I knew you all would be strong enough to accomplish it. I am grateful to you, Sesshōmaru."

―Spirit

Trivia

• It's possible that the spirit is, in reference, a Kodama.
  • In Japanese folklore, a Kodama is a type of tree spirit, the Greek equivalent being a Dyrad.

Media Appearances

• Episode 4 (Hanyō no Yashahime) (First appearance)
• Episode 8 (Hanyō no Yashahime) (Dream)
• Episode 25 (Hanyō no Yashahime) (Appears in a flashback)
• Episode 27 (Hanyō no Yashahime) (Appears in a flashback)
• Episode 28 (Hanyō no Yashahime) (Voice only)
• Episode 37 (Hanyō no Yashahime) (Appears in a flashback)
• Episode 41 (Hanyō no Yashahime)
• Episode 48 (Hanyō no Yashahime)