Anger...
Naraku didn't know how long it had been since he'd experienced that emotion.
Feelings he thought he'd long since abandoned now surfaced in his heart.
Being betrayed, being injured, plans failing—none of these could make Naraku lose his composure.
But what Naraku absolutely couldn't accept was a situation like Kagura's—escaping his control to live as she pleased.
If there was one thing most twisted about Naraku, it was his malicious psychology.
He didn't want to see the good and beautiful side of human nature. He was always scheming malevolent plots to destroy others' feelings and hearts.
The darkness and ugliness of human nature was what he wanted to witness.
Time and again he had schemed against Inuyasha and the others, but aside from initially trapping Inuyasha and Kikyo, he'd never succeeded again after that.
One could only say that as a director, he was quite the failure sometimes...
So much so that Naraku had developed excellent mental fortitude over a long period.
He almost never felt anger and could face most things with equanimity.
Unfortunately, this time Kagura's escape had truly made him lose composure.
He himself hadn't obtained the happiness he sought, so what gave Kagura the right to grasp it?
Such a thing—he would not permit!
Kagura had to die with regrets and resentment. That was the fate she deserved.
One could imagine how extremely negative such thinking was.
"You again... What a bother."
Cu Chulainn looked at Naraku, now reduced to just a head, and could sense the anger hidden beneath his surface.
If he remembered right, this Naraku was also a Master...
But honestly, wasn't it a bit rule-breaking for a Master to have an immortal body?
At least facing such an enemy, Cu Chulainn truly had no good solution.
If killing him repeatedly never worked, he could tire himself to death just stabbing while the opponent stood still.
"Hmph! Since Koga sent you here, then stay put!"
The angry mindset persisted for a while, then Naraku calmed down and spoke coldly.
CRACK!!
"Heh, though I can't kill you, you can't take me down either."
Swinging his spear to cut off the tentacles reaching from the darkness, Cu Chulainn wasn't panicking.
Naraku was indeed hard to kill, but that didn't mean Cu Chulainn couldn't escape unscathed.
If he really wanted to leave, this guy couldn't keep him here.
"You seem unaware of where you've come to."
At this, Naraku sneered.
"Hm?"
In that instant, Cu Chulainn saw the mountain walls around him transform into flesh.
The cave entrance behind him had also become a bottomless tunnel.
"This is inside my body... Once you're in, don't think you'll easily get out."
Though he'd been interfered with, Naraku had already reformed most of his body.
Not as excellent as before, but sufficient for now.
"Ugh, this entire mountain is your body?!"
His eyelid twitched. Even Cu Chulainn was starting to feel disgusted.
He looked at the flesh walls at his feet constantly churning and began hopping around.
"Hmph, just become nourishment as part of my body."
The voice echoed around him. That head hanging in the air was so conspicuous.
"This is a real pain."
Having no idea where the exit was, Cu Chulainn looked left and right.
The extending filaments and squeezing flesh walls were making his space to dodge increasingly smaller.
"A technique that can pierce the heart is quite strong... But unfortunately, it doesn't work on me, Naraku."
Offering an assessment, Naraku looked at Cu Chulainn's dodging figure and spoke quietly.
He understood that was a Noble Phantasm release as a Servant. The weapon was only part of it.
Different from Kagome's Servant, that move couldn't be replicated.
Otherwise, Naraku would have wanted to steal this killing technique from him.
It would be quite convenient for dealing with Inuyasha and the others.
"Hm? Looks like you ran into trouble too."
Suddenly sensing something, Naraku turned his head toward the orb beside him suffused with black light.
"Tch, I just didn't get the Dragon Ball. I did get the fragment."
That unwilling tone came through. Naraku glanced at the Shikon no Tama missing a corner and understood.
"Koga's Servant? Heh, devouring him would be a good choice."
As if seeing something rare, the Shikon no Tama's voice became greedy.
"Hmph..."
Knowing its intention, Naraku allowed it.
The Shikon no Tama then revealed its twisted form.
Compared to before—the old man, the muscular man, the woman—now it was completely a mountain of flesh.
It spread out tentacles and attacked downward.
'Already the fourth form?'
Looking at the Shikon no Tama's appearance, who knew what Naraku was thinking.
But then the red light flashing below drew his attention.
"Aah, I won't be holding back anymore! What a disgusting place... I'm gonna blow this whole place away in one shot!"
...
"We can't see what's happening inside. But that should be inside Naraku's body."
Totosai looked at the now-blurry image and said to Kagome and the others.
"Koga-kun, wouldn't it be better to summon Lancer back?"
Kagome was worried about that Servant's situation and asked Koga.
She knew that Masters could use Command Spells to forcibly teleport their Servants back.
"Mm, let's wait a bit longer. He seems about to use that move."
Koga had originally planned to do so, but the youkai power being drawn from his body indicated Cu Chulainn was releasing a Noble Phantasm.
Such a level of drain—that definitely wasn't the heart-targeting [Gae Bolg].
It was the wide-area bombardment version—[Gae Bolg: Soaring Spear that Strikes with Death]!
Considering Cu Chulainn's situation, it would very likely add insult to injury for Naraku's already incomplete body. Koga was happy to see such a scene.
Maybe it could give Naraku a big surprise?
"That place should be Suiga Valley to the west. The distance is quite far... By the time we get there, Naraku will definitely have run."
Miroku, Sango, and Shippo were trying to recall the location they'd seen and speculate where Naraku was hiding.
"Can only wait for another opportunity..."
...
The spreading magical energy completely shrouded the surroundings. That conspicuous red light illuminated the dark flesh.
Dodging the incoming tentacles, Cu Chulainn leaped high.
Under Naraku and the Shikon no Tama's stunned gazes, he hurled the red demonic spear.
"[Gae Bolg]!!"
The demonic spear, wrapped in unstoppable power, crashed downward. Everything that touched it—tentacles and flesh—began to collapse.
WHOOSH!!
BOOM!!!
With lightning speed, the demonic spear struck Naraku's head, then triggered an astonishing rumble and explosion. Even the Shikon no Tama beside him was engulfed by that fierce aftershock.
BOOM!!