Ch. 11 Taming the Dog

Trees had been uprooted or cut cleanly, while fire licked and devoured most of the vegetation in the area.

Craters and gouges in the earth could be seen here and there. And puddles of blood seemed to shine under the fires glow.

Looking at this scene, one would know they have entered a battlefield.

But this battlefield is likely not the one anyone present expected when they set into the forest to awaken Inuyasha.

Villagers hung in the air as if pulled by an invisible force.

Some of the bodies floating were of bandits and animals. They all seemed to be unconscious or dead but somehow moved on thier own.

The occasional explosion echoed though the land with the battle taking place.

Snek was coiled into a defensive position, and had an angry snarl on his face.

He wanted to help his master but he was told to protect Kagome and Kaede, who had been injured and were within his coils, protected by his tough body, like a scaly titanium dome.

Even the dogboy Inuyasha, was unconscious and bleeding, being hung from a tree like a puppet. His body moved on it's own as he unwillingly tried to claw his way through Snek's scales to get to the ones inside.

But how did things come to this?

Well... we would have to go back an hour to understand...

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"Kagome, go ahead and release the dog." Jei smirked, causing Kagome to huff and then begrudgingly do as she was asked.

She once again grabbed the arrow holding Inuyasha in place.

Inuyasha also smirked, thinking he was about to be free and then he could get the sacred jewel he saw hanging from this girl's neck.

As Kagome grabbed the arrow, she felt only a small resistance as the energy within the arrow dissipated as she willed it.

Once it had disappeared, Inuyasha's unsealed energy poured out like a dam and Jei thought it was good that the dog wasn't weak.

'About mid C rank... and he definitely hasn't reached his full potential. Noice!'

"Hehe... haha... hahahaha! You idiots! Now I can take the sacred jewel!" Inuyasha laughed with mockery and had a toothy smile as he eyed the jewel that Kagome was wearing.

"Girl, hand over that jewel and I won't have to kill you."

Kagome backed away with fear and nervousness in her eyes. She looked over at Jei for help and noticed he was already at her side causing her to breathe out in relief.

"If you want the jewel, you can have it..." Jei smirked as he paused his sentence for dramatic flair.

"...but only if you can beat me."

Before Inuyasha could react he was kicked deeper into the forest, crashing through a few trees.

But Jei held back as not to end things too quickly. "Snek, stay with Kagome."

Shha (Got it.)

Snek slid up to Kagome and found his place around her shoulders.

It should be noted that Kagome had gotten used to Snek over the last 24 hours. She was very skittish of him at first but came to see him as a cute snake when he isn't using his gigantification power.

"Bastard!!!" Inuyasha picked himself back up from ground in the distance and yelled.

"I'll kill you!" He dashed at Jei, moving at speeds no normal human would be able follow with thier eyes.

"Not bad. But you shouldn't rush head on without thinking." Jei closed the gap and then jammed an elbow into the dog boy's stomach causing him to fold like paper.

Inuyasha retaliated with a claw swipe that left gouges in the ground.

[Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!]

The sharp nails on his hands glowed with power as he swung his arms and slashes of energy carved the ground where Jei had stood.

Inuyasha thought he might have got him but when the dust settled, there was no body or blood anywhere.

He felt someone tap his shoulder, he had no idea how Jei got behind him without him noticing but Inuyasha was starting to feel pressured.

After a few more exchanges with him always having the upperhand, Jei decided to ask what was on his mind.

"Well dog, I have a question." Jei said as Inuyasha jumped back defensively.

Inuyasha snarled at him, but didn't retaliate yet since Jei had proven himself vastly stronger.

"Why did you betray Kikyo?"

The question caused Inuyasha's eyes to shake in surprise but then they shifted to anger.

"I didn't betray her! She betrayed me!"

Jei could see it. The truth. At least, what Inuyasha believed to be the truth.

"Hm? But old lady Kaede said you attacked her first... And then ran off with the jewel. Is that not how it happened?"

"No! You or that old hag have no idea what really happened! So stop talking about it!"

Inuyasha's anger thinking about the past had reached his peak.

For him, these things are still a fresh source of pain and only happened yesterday. Hearing he was being blamed as the one who betrayed his love and not the other way around, drove him over the edge and he lunged at Jei.

But Jei's attention was suddenly drawn back to where they left the others.

Inuyasha's claws were an inch away from Jei's throat but Jei didn't even look at him and Inuyasha was taken to the ground with a jujitsu takedown. Inuyasha arms were pulled behind his back as if he was being arrested.

[Spirit Cuffs!]

Blue spiritual energy manifested on Jei's palms and formed a pair of cuffs as he grabbed Inuyasha's wrists.

The Spirit Cuffs were originally used to train spiritual control by disrupting the flow of energy in the wearers body, forcing them to control the energy circulation manually in order to move.

Without proper energy control the wearer would be unable to move and be forced to learn control before they could be free.

Inuyasha may be strong but his control is practically non existent due to lack of proper guidance and training.

This means, Inuyasha is basically an immobile stone that can't move now.

Yusuke used this technique throughout his career as a Spirit Detective to apprehend weaker foes and bring them to back to Spirit Agency for detainment.

Stronger foes would have to be killed or beaten to a pulp and dragged in. But the cuffs are perfect for subduing the scrubs.

"What the hell is this?!" Inuyasha struggled to pull his hands apart as the spiritual cuffs didn't budge under his meager strength.

"Stay put and don't cause trouble!" Jei said as his body flickered in the direction of where he left Snek and Kagome.

'Why is he fighting?! And who?!'

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"Will he be alright?" Kagome asked with worry in her eyes. She knew that Jei was strong when she saw him blow up the demon crow.

Sha!

Snek nuzzled her cheek to comfort her and tell her everything would fine.

"Worry not, Kagome. The Necklace of Subjugation is already around the neck of that Inuyasha. Ye merely need speak the command phrase and he will be forced to obey." Kaede placed a hand on kagome's shoulder and affirmed.

With the sounds of battle in the distance, they waited for it's conclusion.

However, only Snek seemed to notice the danger approaching.

Shhaaa!

He slid off Kagome's body and returned to his normal 3 meter size.

His tail flicked violently at the air behind the two women as if swatting something that was about to attack them.

The villagers around that Kaede brought seemed to fall out of consciousness and slump to the ground. Causing the three of them to go more on guard.

Snek looked around warily as he protected the two women.

However the villagers that slumped down began rising up again unnaturally. Like puppets held up by string, their movements were robotic and their heads were still low and eyes were closed.

"What's going on?! What's happening?!" Kagome didn't understand at all but she knew there was danger.

"Hair?"

"Hair?"

Kagome and Kaede said simultaneously.

"It seems you see it too." Kaede said.

"What is this Kaede? Are we under attack?!" She glanced around nervously. But a sonorous voice of a beautiful woman broke the tension.

"Oh? So you can see my web of hair? But... being able to "see" isn't enough..."