"Cough… cough…"
Byakuya clutched his chest as he slowly crawled out from the dust and smoke. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he lifted his gaze toward the man standing before him.
"So… you must be Uchiha Kasage."
Kasage calmly observed him for a moment before speaking.
"I need you to do me a favor. You won't refuse… right?"
"A favor?" Byakuya smiled faintly and shook his head.
"I have no intention of agreeing."
"That isn't your choice to make."
As Kasage spoke, he began walking toward him step by step.
Byakuya sighed helplessly.
"Then I suppose I have no other option."
In the next instant, countless paper cranes burst out around him, swarming toward Kasage like a storm.
At the same time, Byakuya transformed into a whirlwind and shot back into the sky, attempting to escape once more.
But the moment he stabilized himself atop the paper cranes, Kasage—who had been surrounded below—suddenly vanished.
"Hmph."
Byakuya had clearly anticipated this.
A confident smile appeared on his face as he instantly drew the bladeless Yokai sword strapped to his back.
At that moment, an emerald-green blade of demonic energy erupted from the hilt.
He swung the weapon fiercely—
And Kasage's figure appeared directly before him through the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The emerald blade flashed brilliantly, cleaving straight through Kasage's body.
Byakuya immediately retreated, staring at the figure engulfed in destructive energy.
"This attack contains Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga energy," he said coldly.
"It can only be used once… but for a human like you, surviving it is impossible."
A mocking smile spread across his face.
"Don't blame me. This was Naraku's order. You're too dangerous to leave alive."
"Kasage!"
Kagome and the others cried out in alarm, their expressions filled with worry.
Kasage's body rapidly collapsed under the corrosive power of Bakusaiga.
Yet even then, he looked at Byakuya with a faint smile.
"Don't worry," he said calmly.
"I won't hold a grudge against a dying man."
Byakuya froze.
Then—
Poof!
The collapsing figure exploded into white smoke.
All that remained was a paper shikigami infused with faint spiritual power before it too was destroyed by Bakusaiga's energy.
"A clone?" Kagome said in surprise, remembering Kasage's previous techniques.
"No," Miroku corrected while narrowing his eyes.
"That was one of Kikyo's shikigami. The moment Kasage vanished, the paper doll appeared in his place."
"…Damn it."
Byakuya's expression darkened instantly.
"All that effort… just to destroy a shikigami."
He immediately turned to flee again.
But at that moment, a cold and clear voice echoed below.
"Bansho Ten'in."
Byakuya's eyes widened in shock.
A terrifying gravitational force suddenly seized his body, dragging him violently downward.
He looked below and saw a woman standing calmly on the ground.
She possessed Kikyo's appearance.
But her pale purple Rinnegan radiated a completely different aura.
It was Tendo Akane.
"Kikyo…? No… that's not right…"
Byakuya frowned instinctively.
Kikyo was still near Naraku. This woman was clearly someone else.
Before he could think further, he quickly grabbed the gourd at his waist and aimed it downward.
Instantly, countless venomous snakes wrapped in toxic miasma burst forth and rushed toward Tendo Akane.
Her expression never changed.
Gripping her naginata firmly, she swung it in one smooth motion.
A crescent blade of spiritual power erupted outward, instantly purifying both the snakes and the miasma before continuing toward Byakuya without losing momentum.
Byakuya barely dodged to the side.
Crack!
The gourd in his hand shattered instantly.
Looking at the broken fragments, cold sweat ran down his face.
"A priestess's spiritual power… how terrifying. I almost died."
By this point, he had already fallen directly into Akane's attack range.
Without hesitation, she raised her naginata high and slashed horizontally.
Byakuya's body was severed cleanly at the waist.
But in the next instant, the sliced body transformed into a white lotus flower.
At the same time, his true body appeared silently behind Akane, perfectly hidden within her blind spot.
Without hesitation, Byakuya ignited the white lotus in his hand.
Blazing flames erupted instantly toward her.
However, everything had already been seen through the vision shared by the Hell Bird circling overhead.
Akane didn't even turn around.
"Shinra Tensei."
Boom!
An overwhelming repulsive force exploded outward.
The flames shattered instantly before the immense force slammed directly into Byakuya.
Caught completely off guard, his body was blasted backward like a broken kite.
"So her abilities are gravity… and repulsion…" Byakuya muttered as the scenery blurred around him.
Suddenly—
Puchi!
A dull sound pierced through the battlefield.
Byakuya's flying body abruptly stopped.
A black receiver had pierced through his chest.
Blood slowly dripped down the black rod.
His expression stiffened as he slowly turned around.
Behind him stood a white-haired boy.
The black receiver in the boy's palm had pierced directly through his body.
"Hakudoshi?!"
Byakuya instantly recognized him.
Even though they had never met, the familiar aura identical to Naraku's, along with the iconic white hair, made it obvious.
Hakudoshi stood there expressionlessly.
Snap.
He broke off the black receiver still lodged in Byakuya's chest, causing his disrupted Yokai energy to spiral even further out of control.
Then another black receiver formed in Hakudoshi's hand through Yin-Yang Release.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
One after another, the black receivers pierced through Byakuya's body, pinning him firmly to the ground.
"My Yokai energy…"
Byakuya struggled to lift his head.
When he saw the pale purple Rinnegan within Hakudoshi's eyes, realization finally dawned on him.
"Naraku claimed Hakudoshi was already dead… yet here you are…"
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"I understand now."
He stared at Hakudoshi, then spoke slowly.
"You… that woman who looks like Kikyo… Abihime… Shishinki…"
"They're all puppets being controlled."
His eyes narrowed weakly.
"And those identical purple eyes… they're the key to controlling all of you… aren't they?"
Hakudoshi gave no response.
His expression remained cold and emotionless as he continued driving black receivers into Byakuya's body until his Yokai energy completely collapsed and he lost all ability to resist.
Only then did Hakudoshi finally stop.