"Inuyasha, don't bully Shippo!" Kagome scolded, hugging the little fox to comfort him. Then she turned curiously to Miroku and asked, "So how is the other kind of shikigami made?"
At this moment, both Kagome and Sango were staring at Miroku with interest, clearly curious about the second method.
Miroku, seeing their expressions, continued, "Another way is to use one's own hair as a medium and create paper-doll shikigami. They're driven by the user's spiritual power. They're like puppets with partial intelligence and can help with combat or setting up barriers."
"Can you make that kind of shikigami, Miroku?" Sango asked eagerly.
"Uh… I'm not very good at making shikigami," Miroku replied awkwardly, scratching his head.
"Then just say so!" Shippo poked his head out from Kagome's arms and exposed him mercilessly.
Miroku froze, and the atmosphere turned a little awkward.
Seeing this, Uchiha Retsu stepped in to smooth things over.
"Kagome, when you go back home, can you help me get some kunai made like this?"
As he spoke, he handed her the kunai he had been using.
"Just follow this design."
"Kunai?" Kagome took it and examined it carefully. It looked like a small dagger, and the structure wasn't complicated. She nodded at once. "No problem!"
"Thank you very much." Retsu smiled. Then he reached into his ninja pouch and took out an oval-shaped object, handing it to her. "This is your payment."
Kagome looked down and saw a small, shiny gold ingot in her palm. Her eyes widened in shock.
"This is… gold?!"
That's right. What Retsu gave her was a gold ingot.
He had found it earlier while passing by a caravan that had been attacked by demons. Everyone in the convoy had been killed. In one corpse's arms, he found a small box containing several neatly cast gold ingots, probably used as currency.
He took them and, as compensation, buried the bodies.
Now they came in handy as payment.
As a middle school student, Kagome had never held real gold before. After freezing for a moment, she hurriedly tried to return it.
"No… no need! Making these won't cost much. You don't have to give me this! It's gold—it's very valuable!"
"Keep it," Retsu said calmly, refusing to take it back. "I picked it up on the road. I still have several more."
"Picked… picked up?!" Kagome and Miroku both froze.
Kagome couldn't believe someone could just 'pick up' gold, while Miroku, thinking about how hard he worked just to earn a few copper coins, felt an instant wave of frustration.
With their strength, making money wouldn't be difficult. They were simply stunned by the sheer impact of gold.
In the end, under Retsu's insistence, Kagome accepted the ingot.
"When you're done, just leave them at Kaede's place. I'll come get them when I have time," Retsu said.
Kagome nodded.
Meanwhile, Kanna, who had left Retsu, had already returned to Naraku's castle.
As she walked through the corridors, Kagura suddenly appeared beside her and casually asked,
"Kanna, were you sent out to catch demons too?"
"No, Kagura," Kanna replied calmly, stopping her steps.
Kagura had only asked casually, but hearing that Kanna's task was different, she grew curious.
"Then what were you doing?"
"Monitoring Uchiha Retsu," Kanna answered flatly.
"Uchiha Retsu?!" Kagura's expression changed. She frowned and snapped, "Naraku actually sent you to watch him? If he finds you, you'll die!"
"I won't," Kanna said quietly.
Kagura stared at her emotionless face. Knowing that Kanna didn't understand fear, she didn't argue further. Instead, she warned,
"Naraku ended up like this because of that man's technique. He's too dangerous. Be careful."
With that, she stepped forward.
"I've already caught the demons Naraku wanted. I'll go report."
"Kagura…"
Kanna looked at her retreating back. The hand that had been sealed with Kikyo's spiritual power twitched slightly, then went still again.
She followed silently behind Kagura toward Naraku's chamber.
Kagura pushed open the door, and the two entered together. The dim room was lit only by moonlight streaming through the window. Naraku sat deep inside the chamber.
His body no longer looked as withered and aged as before. However, his gloomy expression, the streaks of white in his black hair, and the fine wrinkles on his face showed that he wasn't truly well.
As a demon, Kagura could see it clearly. The white strands in Naraku's hair were slowly increasing, and his once-full body was imperceptibly aging.
"Naraku, the demons you wanted are sealed in the barrier," Kagura reported coldly, already used to this sight.
"Good," Naraku replied.
The next moment, numerous demons smashed through the window behind him, screaming as they were dragged into his body.
His form recovered at a visible speed. When the last demon was absorbed, Naraku looked flawless again—young, full, and eerily handsome, with long black hair draped over his shoulders.
But Kagura knew better.
This was only temporary.
Naraku's body was still being affected by the technique used by Uchiha Retsu. Even with the support of the Shikon Jewel, his life force continued to drain uncontrollably.
Now, he had to devour large numbers of demons at regular intervals just to replace the parts of his body that were aging and dying.
Kagura and Kanna had been separated from his body precisely because Naraku had hoped that splitting himself apart would help him escape the technique's influence.
Clearly, that attempt had failed. The curse-like effect still clung to him.
"Kanna," Naraku said, turning his gaze to her, "I told you to monitor Uchiha Retsu. Why did you come back so soon?"
"I was discovered," Kanna answered expressionlessly.
"Even you were discovered?" Naraku's face darkened, surprise and malice flashing in his eyes.
Kanna said nothing more and simply stood there quietly.
"Stay in the castle for now. Don't provoke Uchiha Retsu anymore," Naraku said after thinking for a moment. "Later, I'll send Kagura with you."
"Naraku! Are you sending me to die?!" Kagura snapped in shock.
"Kanna might escape with her abilities if she's found, but I'm not confident I can get away from that man!"
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