"Are you talking about a priestess and someone dressed as a samurai?" Sango's father asked.
"Yes, that's them, riding on a bear demon." Sango nodded, her tone urgent.
"Oh? You ran into them?" The Chief was taken aback for a moment, then understood. "They were indeed guests of the Village. They left not long before you returned, so it's normal that you crossed paths."
Seeing his daughter's anxious expression, he pressed further, "What's wrong, Sango? Did something happen?"
"During this demon slaying mission, I obtained a shard of the shikon jewel, but it seems to have been stolen," Sango clenched her fists. "I suspect it was those two who just left the Village, because the shard of the shikon jewel went missing right after I met them!"
As she spoke, Sango grabbed her hiraikotsu from the side and prepared to rush out. "I'm going to go after them and get it back."
"Wait, don't go, Sango." Hearing her words, Sango's father said with a smile.
"If they really took it, there's no need to get it back. On the contrary, if you still had your shard of the shikon jewel, I would have had you catch up to those two guests and hand it over to them."
"Why?" Sango asked, confused.
"Because that priestess is Kikyo, the one who was entrusted by the seniors of our Demon Slayer Village fifty years ago to purify the shikon jewel," Sango's father explained.
"Huh? Isn't she dead? Besides, fifty years have passed, yet she still looks so young?" Sango said in surprise.
"Yes, although the reason is unknown, she should be the priestess Kikyo. She truly possesses the ability to purify the shikon jewel."
Sango's father said seriously, "Keeping this thing in the Village is too dangerous. I have already given her the shards of the shikon jewel that the Village had collected."
"I understand, Father." Sango nodded upon hearing this and silently put down her hiraikotsu.
"Take a rest, there will be more work soon," Sango's father called out behind her as she prepared to leave. Then he turned to Kohaku beside him and said, "Kohaku, you should get ready too."
Kohaku was startled. "Eh? Me?"
"You're already eleven years old. It's about time you participated in actual combat," the Chief said, looking at Kohaku seriously.
"...Yes!" Kohaku nodded in agreement.
---
Although Retsu didn't know about the conversation in the Demon Slayer Village at this time, he could guess based on the plot.
Sango would return and go to Hitomi Castle with the Demon Slayers to slay demons, only to be set up by Naraku to fight Inuyasha, eventually joining the protagonist's party.
Retsu suddenly thought that since the shikon jewel in the Demon Slayer Village had been taken away by Kikyo, and he had even warned those Demon Slayers before leaving, he wondered if the Village would still be wiped out as it was in the original story.
He worried that a change in the plot might cause Sango to lose her utility, leading Naraku to kill her off casually.
After all, in the story, Sango following her father and the other Demon Slayers to Hitomi Castle was Naraku's scheme, and the young lord of Hitomi Castle, Hitomi Kagewaki, was also replaced by Naraku after Sango left.
Thinking of this, Retsu raised his hands to form seals. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Instantly, an identical Shadow Clone appeared on Kuro Maru's back, then vanished into the mountain forest with a flash.
"Is that your clone? What's wrong?" Kikyo asked curiously as she saw Retsu summon a clone of himself and leave.
"Yes, it's my Shadow Clone. I think I just sensed the demonic aura of that Naraku we met before. I suspect Naraku might want to seize the shards of the shikon jewel from the Demon Slayer Village." Retsu told a casual Retsu.
"Even though we've taken the shards with us, just in case, I'm going to have a Shadow Clone look for his clone and kill it."
Retsu didn't tell Kikyo the true reason; he couldn't exactly say, "I know these Demon Slayers are supposed to die in the story, so I'm going to check on them."
"Is Naraku nearby?" Kikyo was startled by his words, not expecting Naraku to be in the vicinity. "Will your clone be all right?"
"It should be fine. The Naraku puppets we've encountered before were all very weak," Retsu said nonchalantly. "A Shadow Clone is a physical clone. Although its strength isn't that great, it should have no problem dealing with one of Naraku's puppets."
"Where is it? I'll go help too. It's a good time to let Naraku know that I've been resurrected," Kikyo said after a moment's thought.
"No need, it's just a puppet, not the original body. There's no point in you going," Retsu advised. "Besides, I'm worried that if he learns about your resurrection, he might hide his true body even more thoroughly out of fear of your power, making him even harder to find."
"Well, I can't stay hidden forever, can I? This isn't what we discussed before."
Kikyo turned around suddenly, her hair inadvertently brushing against Retsu's cheek with a faint, cool touch.
Kikyo frowned at him, her tone tinged with dissatisfaction.
Retsu felt a bit itchy from the brushing hair and couldn't help but rub his nose.
Seeing Kikyo's gaze fixed on him, he let out a wicked smile and said, "If you want him to know you've been resurrected, we should make it memorable."
Seeing the smile on his face, Kikyo guessed he had another bad idea and couldn't help but ask curiously, "What are you planning?"
"Heh heh!" Retsu chuckled mischievously. Instead of answering, he asked with a smile, "How is your soul's recovery coming along?"
"It's recovered somewhat. It should be fully restored in a little while." Kikyo didn't understand why he was suddenly asking this, but she answered softly nonetheless.
"Remember I told you that the technique I'm planning to use for resurrection requires a sacrifice?" Retsu said with a smile.
"I remember. You said before that you had it ready." Kikyo nodded. Then, thinking of Retsu's wicked smile from a moment ago, she turned to stare intently at him. "You mean...?"
"Jie jie jie!" Retsu let out a deliberate evil laugh. He had only laughed twice before Kikyo, sitting in front of him, elbowed him, forcing him to stop his strange laughter.
"Stop messing around and just tell me," Kikyo said with a hint of helplessness in her voice.
Retsu pulled back his smile and spoke more seriously. "Naraku was the one who killed you back then, so I plan to use him as the sacrifice for the technique to resurrect us."
Kikyo was stunned for a moment, then a cold smile slowly curved her lips as she nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea."
"Will Naraku die after this technique?" Kikyo asked after some thought.
"To be honest, I don't know." Retsu thought about it carefully and shook his head, explaining:
"This technique primarily sacrifices the caster's entire life force to resurrect the target. Normally, the caster would die once the technique is successfully cast."
"But Naraku is a fusion of countless demons, so he might not die. However, even if he doesn't die, he won't be living very well."
At this point, Retsu said nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter if he dies or not, as long as we can be resurrected."
Kikyo fell silent for a moment, then let out a soft "Mm," a flicker of vengeful satisfaction crossing her eyes.
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