"They all have shards of the shikon jewel on them!" Kagome suddenly opened her eyes wide and exclaimed.
"Hey! Who gave you the shards of the shikon jewel?" Inuyasha abruptly drew Tessaiga, pointing the tip of the blade directly at the Band of Seven, his eyes sharp as he questioned them.
"Ah~ Even when he's angry, he's so cute!" Jakotsu completely ignored his question, still staring at Inuyasha with infatuation, stars in his eyes.
"Jakotsu, stop doing that." Bankotsu shot him a helpless glance. None of the Band of Seven took Inuyasha's question seriously.
"Damn it! How dare they ignore me!" Inuyasha gritted his teeth, gripping Tessaiga and glaring at them.
At this moment, Kagetsu turned to Kikyo and whispered, "I'll deal with them. It's rare to encounter so many opponents. You just watch from here, no need to make a move."
With that, he walked straight forward, his gaze fixed on Band of Seven members: "Naraku sent you, didn't he?"
"Hm? Who are you?" Bankotsu noticed the tanuki mask on his face, raised an eyebrow, and asked.
"When did you start wearing a mask, you guy?" Inuyasha looked at the mask on Kagetsu's face beside him and asked, somewhat strangely.
Kagetsu ignored his question and gestured towards Jakotsu for Inuyasha: "That sissy seems to like you a lot, so I'll leave him to you."
"You sneaky bastard, who exactly are you?" The killing intent in Bankotsu's eyes surged, staring intently at Kagetsu, and the malevolence around him suddenly intensified.
Kagetsu still didn't respond. His crimson Sharingan, visible through the empty eyeholes of his mask, coldly swept over the remaining six. A muffled voice came from beneath the mask: "As for the rest of you..."
Before he finished speaking, his figure suddenly vanished from its spot, turning into an afterimage as he charged towards Band of Seven.
Although Inuyasha was somewhat displeased with his arrangement, he still snorted coldly, gripped Tessaiga tightly, and charged after him.
"Inuyasha! Kagetsu!" Kagome cried out in alarm, her face filled with worry as she saw the two charge forward.
"Don't worry, since Kagetsu doesn't want us to act, he must be confident," Kikyo said calmly, though her longbow was already gripped tightly in her hand, her gaze fixed on the battlefield, ready to provide support at any moment.
"Mysterious guy, I'll deal with you first!" Jakotsu made the first move. His Jakotsu's Serpent Sword instantly transformed into a flexible chain-scythe, sweeping towards Kagetsu with a whistling sound.
But Kagetsu seemed not to see it. The Sharingan beneath his mask rotated slightly, and its powerful dynamic vision made the chain scythe's trajectory impossible to hide.
He flickered, easily dodging the attack; gathered Chakra in his palm; and slapped the side of the chain scythe.
"Bang!"
The chain scythe was instantly slapped away. Kagetsu's speed didn't decrease; he still charged straight towards the core of Band of Seven.
"He actually slapped away my Jakotsus Serpent Sword with his bare hands?!" Jakotsu's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief as he saw his attack so easily neutralized.
"This guy is very strong; be careful!" Bankotsu's eyes narrowed at this sight. While wary, a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes; it had been a long time since he'd encountered such a strong opponent.
He didn't attack directly but shouted, "Mukotsu!"
"Hee hee hee..." Mukotsu laughed sinisterly, pulling out two bamboo tubes from behind his back. The next second, black poisonous mist spewed forth, instantly engulfing the area ahead, obscuring everyone's vision.
"Die!" Mukotsu watched the battlefield swallowed by the poisonous mist, laughing deeply, his tone full of malice.
Inuyasha immediately stopped, covering his nose and mouth with his sleeve.
As a dog demon, his sense of smell was extremely keen. Although the poisonous mist wouldn't kill him, it could strongly irritate his sense of smell and affect his combat ability.
"Be careful! This is highly poisonous mist!" Sango recognized the danger of the mist at a glance and quickly shouted a warning.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"
Just then, Kagetsu's low voice came from within the poisonous mist.
The next second, strong winds suddenly rose, and countless sharp wind blades, carrying the poisonous mist, swept towards Band of Seven.
"Be careful!" Bankotsu shouted.
"Boom!"
Ginkotsu leaped up, his massive body blocking in front of everyone, his arms crossed in front of him, intending to withstand this wave of attack head-on.
The fierce wind, carrying gravel (debris), tree branches, and poisonous mist, instantly swept across the entire battlefield.
The wind blades, like fine knife edges, cut dense wounds on Ginkotsu's huge body. Blood gushed out, instantly staining him crimson.
"First one!"
A cold voice suddenly rang in Ginkotsu's ear.
He was startled and was about to turn his head when a sharp pain came from his brow, and his vision began to spin.
From his falling perspective, he saw his headless corpse crash to the ground and the masked figure standing on its shoulder, his katana slowly returning to its sheath.
A shard of the shikon jewel spun in the air, then was steadily caught by the opponent.
"So fast..."
Ginkotsu's head fell to the ground, his fanged mouth slightly opening and closing, then rapidly turning into withered bones.
"Ginkotsu!" Bankotsu's pupils contracted sharply as he looked at his companion, now withered bones, and then glimpsed Kagetsu falling as the corpse collapsed. A cold killing intent flashed in his eyes.
"Die!" He sneered, leaped up, and brought his giant spear, Savage Dragon, down heavily on Kagetsu in mid-air with immense force.
The heavy spear shaft cut through the air, instantly cleaving Kagetsu's figure in two.
"Kagetsu!" Kagome and the others' faces changed dramatically, and they cried out in alarm.
Kikyo, however, remained calm, making no move, as if she had already guessed something.
"Huh?" Inuyasha, who had just charged up, was stunned when he saw Kagetsu cleaved in two.
He looked at this "corpse" with some confusion, feeling that something was off.
"Hmph, overestimating himself," Bankotsu scoffed disdainfully.
He then raised Savage Dragon, ready to face Inuyasha. However, just then,
"Bang!"
Kagetsu's corpse suddenly exploded, turning into a puff of smoke. A wooden log, broken in two, fell from the smoke and landed on the ground.
"What... it turned into wood?" Kagome and the others were stunned.
"As expected, it's the Substitution Jutsu." Kikyo showed no surprise at this sight.
She had seen him use it once when she practiced swordsmanship with Kagetsu.
"Tch, it was fake after all." Inuyasha clicked his tongue. He had felt that the "corpse's" scent was wrong earlier.
"Jakotsu! Watch out behind you!" Suikotsu's cry of alarm suddenly rang out.
Bankotsu sharply turned his head, only to see Kagetsu's figure suddenly appear behind Jakotsu, while Suikotsu was rapidly charging towards Kagetsu, swinging his iron claws.
Jakotsu also noticed the movement behind him and hastily gripped his Jakotsu's Serpent Sword, turning to slash.
But Kagetsu flickered, easily dodging the attack.
Jakotsu had just turned around and hadn't even clearly seen the opponent's appearance when he was brutally kicked in the abdomen.
"Ah!"
The immense force made Jakotsu's body arch sharply. He let out a scream and shot towards Inuyasha like a cannonball.
"Inuyasha, this guy is yours!" Kagetsu's voice reached Inuyasha's ears.
"Hmph!" Inuyasha snorted unhappily, but his Tessaiga swung out without hesitation, a fierce blade light striking directly at Jakotsu!