The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

"Very well! Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish!"

"Wait, Inuyasha, there might be a trap here!"

Miroku shouted a warning, but Inuyasha had already leaped up and slashed Naraku directly with his sword.

clang!!

The next moment, a resounding clang like striking iron was heard, and the Tessaiga sprang high into the air, trembling incessantly. Naraku's baboon skin shattered, revealing a strange, black, hard armor beneath, seemingly composed of sharp, clustered armor blades.

"Hehe, it doesn't hurt or itch."

He gave a cold laugh, and a dozen tentacles suddenly shot out from behind him, completely binding Inuyasha in front of him. Then, with a contemptuous look in his eyes, he said, "Inuyasha, I have no interest in getting entangled with you anymore. Since you hate me so much, I will make you merge with me and imprison your soul in the abyss of resentment forever."

Having said that, just as he was about to devour Inuyasha, a white shadow suddenly flashed by, severing the tentacles one by one. The former immediately fell to the ground and regained its freedom.

"Sesshomaru!"

The group was quite surprised to see Sesshomaru suddenly appear from the forest and save Inuyasha.

"Hmph, I followed you here because I smelled Inuyasha's scent, but I didn't expect you to be here too."

Not even bothering to glance at Inuyasha behind him, Sesshomaru stared at Naraku with his sword eyes, his voice cold as he said, "Although Inuyasha is just a lowly half-demon, my father's bloodline is not something a filthy piece of trash like you can touch. And last time you dared to scheme against me, Sesshomaru, Naraku, you should be prepared to pay the price, shouldn't you?"

"Heh, Sesshomaru, you've come at the perfect time." Naraku showed no sign of backing down, abandoning his usual style and saying with arrogance, "Today I'll devour both of you brothers. The bloodline of a great demon should also greatly enhance my demonic power."

Chapter 103 The Underworld Appears Ahead of Schedule

"Young Master Sesshomaru, wait... wait for me, Young Master Sesshomaru..."

"Young Master Sesshomaru, wait for Rin."

Just then, Jaken, panting heavily, and a little human girl in a kimono emerged from the jungle and ran over.

The human girl was none other than Rin, the girl who followed Sesshomaru in the original story.

It's quite a coincidence. Although Su Qi had fought Sesshomaru before, he reloaded his save file and never interacted with him again. Later, he focused on increasing Kikyo's favorability and happened to miss the early confrontation between Sesshomaru and Inuyasha. So, Rin's connection with Sesshomaru wasn't ruined by his actions.

"Little Bell, Jaken, step back."

Sesshomaru glanced at the two of them, then immediately leaped forward and attacked Naraku.

boom! !

The shockwave exploded, and the latter was knocked back several steps by his claw, but was unharmed.

"No, even the Tessaiga can't do anything to my armor, let alone your claws." Naraku smiled and looked at Xiaoling behind Jaken, saying meaningfully, "But it's really strange that Sesshomaru, who is always cold and ruthless, would have a human child by his side. She must be a very special person to you."

A flash of killing intent crossed Sesshomaru's eyes. He immediately stepped forward and charged forward again without saying a word.

"Sesshomaru, get out of my way! Wind Scar!!"

Inuyasha also shouted and joined in, unleashing a Wind Scar. Naraku... was repelled, but remained unharmed.

"Let's go too."

Miroku, Sango, and Kagome also joined the attack. For a time, although Naraku was wearing a turtle shell and his health bar did not decrease at all, he was attacked from all sides, and his attacks were interrupted as soon as he made a move, making it difficult for him to fight back.

"Kagura, what are you waiting for?"

But he remained calm. With a command, a series of wind blades suddenly shot out from the forest, scattering the group.

"Kagura, hold them off and don't disturb me as I devour Sesshomaru and Inuyasha."

Kagura emerged from the shadows of the forest, her gaze sweeping over Miroku, Sango, and Kagome opposite her. In her mind, she immediately cursed Naraku mercilessly. One against three? Did he think he was some kind of turtle in a shell? In this situation, the slightest misstep could mean certain death.

I can't delay any longer! I must find a chance to break free from Naraku's control as soon as possible, otherwise I will surely die like Kanna and the others!

While making up her mind, she followed Naraku's instructions to restrain Miroku and the others, but of course she did not go all out. She only tried to take advantage of any opportunity to slack off while ensuring her own safety.

On the other hand, thanks to Kagura's restraint, Naraku finally had the opportunity to take action against Inuyasha and Sesshomaru.

Without a doubt, Naraku, relying on his divine armor, completely overwhelmed the Dog Brothers. Even with two of them, it was utterly useless; sometimes, due to poor teamwork, they would hinder each other, causing the other to fall into dire straits and face perilous situations.

If this situation continues, the two brothers will likely be devoured by Naraku, but fortunately... the two brothers have a powerful dog-like father.

Just when they were almost in dire straits, the Tessaiga in Inuyasha's hand and the Tenseiga at Sesshomaru's waist suddenly resonated, and the power-up left by Inuyasha's father finally came online.

……

"and then?"

Several days later, in Maple Village, beside the Well of Bone Eaters, Su Qi asked this question.

"Later..." Kagome said as she recalled, "Later, Sesshomaru's Tenseiga drew a black crescent moon, which even Naraku's armor could not withstand, and then he escaped."

"A black waning moon..."

Su Qi understood immediately; it was clearly the prematurely appearing Netherworld Crescent Moon Breaker. It was fortunate that Gouzi's father had left such a substantial inheritance, otherwise they would have been wiped out again. But… what goes around comes around; how many more times could they get such good fortune?

"Kagome, aren't you scared?"

"Huh? Scared?"

"Yes, I heard Grandma Feng say that the world you live in shouldn't be this dangerous, right?" He pretended to be a native and asked with concern, "Having lived in that kind of world all your life, aren't you afraid of this place?"

"Um... I was really scared at first, but with Inuyasha protecting me and everyone around me, I gradually got used to it."

"But what if Inuyasha can't protect you?" Su Qi's expression changed, and he said seriously, "You should have realized it recently, right? Because of the Shikon Jewel, Naraku has become stronger and stronger. If you continue to follow us in chasing Naraku, you... might die."

His words weren't meant to be alarmist. In the original story, the main characters were constantly at a disadvantage, frequently falling into dangerous situations due to Naraku's schemes. If it weren't for the author's behind-the-scenes manipulation, they would have been wiped out countless times. In this unedited version, without the author's intervention, Naraku is now far beyond what Inuyasha and his group can handle.

That's understandable, though. If Naraku could handle it with just the original protagonist's team, why would Su Qi need to undergo the trial? Would he just sit on the sidelines drinking tea and watching virtual reality animation?

His reminder made Kagome recall the various dangers she had faced before, and she trembled, her face turning pale. She was genuinely frightened.

"Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango relentlessly pursued Naraku because they harbored deep hatred for him and were willing to sacrifice their own lives. Even I did it because I had a compelling reason. But what about you? Do you have a reason to risk your life to eliminate Naraku?"

Kagome fell silent. Upon reflection, she realized she didn't really have a reason to kill Naraku like Inuyasha and the others did, but... it wasn't entirely impossible.

"I... want to be with Inuyasha and the others." Finally, she gave her answer.

Seeing the girl's resolute expression, Su Qi was slightly moved. "Even if you risk your life for this, you won't regret it?"

"I'm not really sure either, but... even though I'm really scared, I just can't bring myself to abandon my companions and run away."

After saying that, Kagome smiled brightly, "So thank you for your concern, I will definitely be more careful in the future."

Su Qi shook his head slightly. The reason he said these things was threefold: first, he didn't plan to rely on them anymore, but would instead rely on his own strength to defeat Naraku; second, Kagome was a good woman, and he kindly wanted to spare her some suffering; and third, he wanted them to have some peace and quiet for a while, so that Naraku wouldn't have another opportunity to trick them, otherwise he would have to go back in time to fix things for the sake of his evaluation.

Unfortunately, even Kagome, who seems to be the weakest member of the main group, is surprisingly strong. Of course, if he were to use any means necessary, he could definitely disable them temporarily, but he simply doesn't want to do so unless absolutely necessary.

Oh well, at most it'll just be a rollback once or twice, so let's just let them be for now.

Su Qi put that matter aside for the time being and said instead, "Ge Wei, there's something I'd like you to confirm."

Chapter 104 Unreachable Love

Because she had helped him with his plans before and had just gained some goodwill from him, Kagome still trusted Su Qi quite a bit. She immediately said, "Oh? Do you need my help? Sure, please tell me, I will do my best."

"Have you ever heard of a monster called 'Jian'?" Su Qi started his charade again. "It is said to be a monster with a human face and a bull's body, capable of predicting disasters. Not long ago, I encountered a monster that resembled Jian. He said there was a demonic sword in a place called Higurashi Shrine that would bring great calamity."

In the Inuyasha anime adaptation, the Murakumo first appeared in Kagome's family warehouse, and the sword did indeed bring disaster. So, in a sense, he wasn't lying. Of course, this is all predicated on the Murakumo existing in this timeline.

"Eh?!?!?!" Kagome exclaimed in astonishment, "Higurashi Shrine, isn't that my house?"

"I came here specifically to ask because I thought of your name, but I'm not sure if that monster is real or not, and I don't know if what he said is true or false, so I wanted you to confirm it first to see if it's true. If it is true, we can bring the sword back and try to seal it; if it's false, it's just a false alarm, and we don't need to worry about it."

"Thank you, thank you for reminding me. I'll go back and look for it now."

Hearing that such a dangerous item might be in her home, she became very anxious. After giving a greeting, she jumped down into the Well of Bones.

As soon as Kagome's figure disappeared at the bottom of the well, Su Qi immediately followed and jumped into the well as well, and then... nothing happened.

"Tsk, the protagonist can wear this, but I can't. Even a mere broken well has its own form of discrimination... What a pity, my hopes of drinking a few bottles of soda and eating some modern Chinese food are dashed..."

He sighed softly, kicked the well wall, and jumped up helplessly.

……

On the other side of the village, in the cave where Onigumo once lived.

Kikyo half-squatted beside the patch of ground where Onigumo had once lain, which was now corrupted by evil energy. She dug out some soil with a cloth, packed it up, and was about to leave when she turned around and saw Inuyasha standing at the cave entrance, quietly watching her.

"Inuyasha, what's the matter?"

"Kikyo..." Inuyasha murmured two words, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but stopped.

"If there's nothing else, I'm leaving now."

"No...I...actually..."

His eyes hesitated, his expression was conflicted, and he stammered for a while. Seeing the other person take half a step forward, as if about to leave, he finally said, "I'm sorry."

He looked down at the ground, then looked away, his expression somber, and said, "I... want to apologize to you."

Kikyo narrowed her bright eyes slightly, staring at Inuyasha's face, and said calmly, "Is this what you really want to say to me?"

"..."

"If that's the case, then I've heard you and accept your apology. You can leave now."

The latter did not answer, but stood with his head down, his face full of struggle, hesitating to move aside.

Kikyo frowned slightly. "You like that girl named Kagome, right?"

Inuyasha remained silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

"Then you shouldn't have come to see me alone anymore."

"But it's bellflower..."

"There are no 'buts'," Kikyo said coldly. "Inuyasha, remember, getting involved with both of us at the same time will only hurt everyone."

Compared to fifty years ago, she has experienced far more now. Looking at Inuyasha again, she realizes that he is indeed sometimes too indecisive and immature.

Of course, Inuyasha also has his merits, such as his stubborn yet kind heart, his fearless courage, and his simple and honest straightforwardness; but such personality traits make it difficult for others to feel dependent on him, and he is more suitable as a friend than a husband.

Fifty years ago, Kikyo, as a priestess, was actually quite naive when it came to relationships. Her monotonous life hadn't exposed her to many outstanding men, which is why she was easily swayed by Inuyasha, that goofy husky. If the present Kikyo were to go back in time, she herself wouldn't know if she would still fall in love with Inuyasha.

But love has no "what ifs," and she can't go back to the past. As a dead woman, she has no future, but Inuyasha and Kagome are different. Although her feelings towards that girl are very complicated, she has to admit that Kagome is a very suitable woman for Inuyasha...

"Put it down, Inuyasha." Kikyo said expressionlessly, "There's no future for our relationship. Don't let that girl hear your apology again."

Inuyasha trembled, looked up at her with disbelief in his eyes, and said in an extremely complicated tone, "Kikyo...you...have you let go?"