Chapter Thirty-Nine: Three Times Is the Limit, So It Was Only Reasonable

"I see, so that's what father was thinking!"

After all, Inuyasha possessed human blood flowing through his veins and had been raised under the tender care of Lady Izayoi.

Although he had suffered plenty of ostracization during his early years due to his half-demon identity, the presence of Lady Izayoi ensured that Inuyasha did not grow up twisted.

Regardless of how annoying Inuyasha could sometimes be in his words and actions, dissecting his core essence revealed that his underlying mindset and logic were fundamentally human.

Therefore, Hojo Akishiki's words only slightly stirred Sesshomaru, who—having not yet met Rin—still harbored a hint of disdain.

However, Inuyasha, hard of mouth yet soft of heart, took every single word to heart.

Adjusting his mindset, Inuyasha gazed at Hojo Akishiki, who was still struggling to hold his ground against Sesshomaru.

Inuyasha looked back over his shoulder at Kagome, who was extremely tense, holding her bow and hesitating to release an arrow for fear of hitting her companion.

*I can do this.*

Cheering himself on inwardly, Inuyasha stepped forward with a resolute gaze right in front of Tessaiga.

He gripped the hilt with one hand!

*It works!*

Ecstatic light flashed in his eyes as he saw that Tessaiga did not unleash its bolts of lightning to reject him this time.

This development not only offered hope to Inuyasha but also brought immense surprise to Kagome.

"Tessaiga has accepted Inuyasha?"

At the same time, Sesshomaru, who was pursuing Hojo Akishiki, saw it too.

A mixture of incomprehension and resentment flashed through his eyes, especially since the unfolding events seemed to prove that his late father's intentions had been predicted spot-on by Hojo Akishiki.

This was the one thing Sesshomaru found entirely unacceptable.

"Love and protection? What meaning could such things possibly hold for a demon!"

The distorted reality of the situation drove Sesshomaru into an even greater frenzy, and the negative emotions he had bottled up for so long compelled him to lash out with a ferocious blow.

"Boom!"

He gave not a single thought to the fact that their current battleground was the resting place of his own father's remains.

Every single strike from Sesshomaru was actually destroying his father's bones.

His mighty, heavy blows missed the elusive Hojo Akishiki and instead shattered yet more of the Great Dog Demon's skeleton.

Bone fragments flew wildly around the area, and dust filled the air everywhere.

If the battle continued for too much longer, the only memento left by the Great Dog Demon for his descendants to pay their respects to would likely be thoroughly demolished by his very own dutiful son.

"Watch it! Fight all you want, but don't smash the Great Dog Demon's skeleton to pieces."

"Your father will cry."

Leaping backward to evade Sesshomaru's attack, Hojo Akishiki did not forget to discreetly pocket a few bone shards beneath the cover of the dust and smoke.

He offered a well-intentioned piece of advice to Sesshomaru.

"I assume the late Great Dog Demon must have made some arrangements for you as well? After all, he was one who understood love and protection through his demon form."

"A great demon worthy of respect—just think about what arrangements he made for you."

"Once you truly fathom that, you will know whether what I said is the truth or a lie."

"So noisy."

Hearing Hojo Akishiki's words, which were essentially pouring fuel on the fire, Sesshomaru grew even more irritated.

Of course the Great Dog Demon had made arrangements for him, but what were they?

Tensaiga, the legendary blade of heaven—yet it was a sword that could not kill!

What use was something like that?

It would be cumbersome even as a decorative ornament!

Toxic saliva began to pool in his mouth, highly corrosive in nature.

At this moment, Sesshomaru relied primarily on the innate combat instincts of his beastly form.

Glancing sideways at Hojo Akishiki, who was as bothersome as a flea, Sesshomaru felt that despite this human being utterly detestable to demons...

The half-demon holding Tessaiga nearby was the one he hated most in the entire world.

Seeing him was like seeing his father, who, right before meeting his demise, had nagged him endlessly with incomprehensible words of wisdom.

"Hah, spit!"

With a swell of his cheeks, Sesshomaru spat a glob of toxic phlegm directly toward Inuyasha, who was still brandishing the rusty blade Tessaiga.

"Watch out!"

Hojo Akishiki bellowed instantly.

"Danger!"

Realizing that Sesshomaru had changed his target, Kagome hurriedly loosed an arrow straight toward the incoming toxic sludge.

Fortunately, Sesshomaru's glob of spit was relatively large.

Even though Kagome's archery skills were not particularly refined, the arrow imbued with purifying power successfully neutralized a major portion of the attack.

With the warnings from both Hojo Akishiki and Kagome, the remainder of the attack narrowly missed hitting Inuyasha head-on.

However...

"What the hell is the use of this sword?!"

Initially, Inuyasha had attempted to use the rusty Tessaiga to block Sesshomaru's attack, save for a slight warning from his sixth sense.

When the tip of the blade brushed against the corrosive and poisonous saliva, Inuyasha sharply realized that the rusty sword was completely useless.

Before the venom could reach him, he scrambled away in a panic, tumbling and rolling out of Sesshomaru's attack range.

Immediately afterward, Inuyasha's fiery temper caused him to unleash a torrent of angry curses at the Tessaiga in his hand.

He had managed to pick it up, yet it was completely useless, and its appearance was an absolute embarrassment to any audience.

What earthly use was this piece of junk?

"Hmph, all flash and no substance."

Seeing this, the corners of Sesshomaru's mouth curled up slightly in his canine-hybrid form as he watched Tessaiga remain completely useless in Inuyasha's hands.

His mood improved considerably, and he cast a mocking glance filled with derision toward Hojo Akishiki.

It was as if he were saying: *That's it?*

"Sigh."

Hojo Akishiki heaved a heavy sigh, internally reflecting on whether he had medged too deeply.

Perhaps the bond between Inuyasha and Kagome was not yet strong enough; in the original timeline, it was only after Inuyasha saw Kagome in mortal peril that the true power of Tessaiga was awakened.

But now...

Who was there to forge a sufficiently strong bond with Inuyasha?

Kagome? Old Lady Kaede? Surely not himself, right?

Shaking his head, Hojo Akishiki shouted from afar to Inuyasha.

"Calm down and truly comprehend Tessaiga. I refuse to believe that the sword your father left you is useless."

"Furthermore, believe in yourself. Believe that you will create a miracle, just as I believe in the blade in my own hands."

"And just as I believe in myself—I, Hojo Akishiki, will undoubtedly lead my retainers to establish an era of benevolence and righteousness!"

"Before achieving that, how could I possibly fall here!"

With that, Hojo Akishiki's gaze shifted sharply, and a faint, shimmering light instantly ignited around the blade he held.

"That is!"

Seeing the anomaly appear on Hojo Akishiki's sword, Kagome was struck dumb with astonishment.

Although that light flickered intermittently and its aura was halting, as if it were out of breath and might vanish at any second...

The aura of that light could not be mistaken; it was precisely the sacred power of purification that she possessed as the reincarnation of Kikyo!

Yet... why on earth was this power of purification appearing on Hojo Akishiki as well?!

"The power of purification?"

Sesshomaru was equally shocked. As the pinnacle of human exorcism abilities, while the power of purification might not be seen once in a millennium, it was exceedingly rare nonetheless.

Normally, it was virtually impossible for multiple wielders to exist contemporaneously.

Since the young human girl over there already possessed it, why had another one appeared?

And why did he happen to run into both of them at the same time?

What terrible luck!

Secretly alarmed, Sesshomaru's blood-rush-addled brain instantly cooled down as he carefully analyzed the underlying cause.

Could Hojo Akishiki have been playing some kind of trick behind the scenes?

"Third time's the charm. I've had close encounters with this power several times now."

Hojo Akishiki smiled, gazing at the light shimmering along the edge of his blade.

Though he had often complained in the past about lacking an excessively convenient golden-finger cheat, Hojo Akishiki understood himself well.

Upon arriving in this world, he learned everything rapidly, possessing immense mental acuity, physical stamina, and sensory perception.

Merely performing his daily routine of 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10-kilometer run—a training regimen that sounded nothing like that of a powerhouse—had somehow granted him top-tier martial prowess capable of dominating the battlefield like a true Sengoku Musou warrior.

Having brushed against the power of purification on Kagome, he had turned inward to carefully ponder it. Lacking any detailed cultivation manual, he had managed to grope at the hazy skirt hems of the power of purification during a quiet, solitary night.

Perhaps hard work itself was his golden finger.

Vibrating his blade, Hojo Akishiki exerted force through the soles of his feet and flashed forward in a few bounds, instantly arriving directly in front of Sesshomaru.

With a swing of his blade, Hojo Akishiki poured his absolute all into the strike.