The aftermath of the curse incident was quietly tied up by Satsuki, who used a single-person version of Veil of Light and Shadow to alter Kurotsuchi Takeshi's memories, rewriting the event as a mere misunderstanding.
His late-night digging was now explained away as a symptom of sleepwalking.
As for the other Onmyōji, Satsuki made no effort to alter their recollections. She knew her dealings with them would not end anytime soon, and besides, her strength was no longer a secret in this world. There was no need to conceal anything.
However, after this incident, the young Onmyōji named Kaede would undoubtedly receive increased attention within their ranks.
The next morning, the group returned to Fushimi Inari Shrine.
The Onmyōji bowed respectfully to Satsuki before parting ways. Their captain, Hikaru, looked up and asked, "Lady Satsuki, regarding the report for this incident—do you have any instructions?"
"Oh?" she thought. At least this one has some sense, even if he lacks ability.
Satsuki's display of strength had been beyond question—utterly redefining what these Onmyōji understood as power.
In an age where individual might could easily surpass that of nations or organizations, her strength alone determined her authority.
But Satsuki truly didn't care how they reported the event; attention or fame meant nothing to her.
She brushed aside her bangs and said lightly, "Simply report the facts as they are."
"I see... Understood. We shall not forget your grace, my lady."
With that, the group bowed once more before heading toward the main shrine atop the hill.
"Grace?" Satsuki murmured as she watched them leave. "What a pitiful way to think."
...
After the Onmyōji had departed, Satsuki returned to the lodging prepared for her.
Moments later, a vortex of demonic energy appeared beside her. From it emerged Sesshōmaru, Ruri, and another manifestation of Satsuki herself.
"Oh? Lady Satsuki, you got back before us?" Ruri said cheerfully. "Looks like you've already handled everything."
Perhaps inheriting a bit too much of her fox heritage, Ruri seemed only more energetic after staying up all night.
As for Sesshōmaru—such trivial matters were beneath his concern.
Retracting her manifested double, Satsuki turned to Ruri and asked mentally, "How long will it take to decipher the local Shinto divine system?"
"Given that we already have reference data from the deities of Yasaka Shrine," Ruri replied through their link, "it should take about a week for me to simulate a functional divinity."
"A week?" Satsuki nodded slightly. "That's acceptable."
Then, turning toward Sesshōmaru, who stood silent and seemingly deep in thought, she asked, "Sesshōmaru, do you have something to say?"
"..."
As always, he was silent for a long moment before finally replying in his deep, steady voice: "I just received word that the Ryūkotsusei nearby has begun preparations to attack the Western Lands."
Ruri tilted her head curiously. "When did you get that information? I didn't see you speak to anyone."
Sesshōmaru gave her a cold, almost pitying look. "We dog demons can identify many things through scent alone."
"Ryūkotsusei?" Satsuki murmured. "That name does sound familiar..."
She paused, trying to recall where she had heard it before.
"It's a great demon on par with my father," Sesshōmaru said at last. "A masked creature born from the corpse of a fallen dragon, absorbing demonic energy from its remains over centuries. Its scales are harder than steel. Even my father's Sōunga Fang, when wielding the technique Dragon Prison Break, could only force it back—never truly wound it."
Ruri scoffed lightly. "If that's the case, there's nothing to worry about, is there? Your parents were both great demons, and your domain is full of other powerful yōkai. Surely this Ryūkotsusei can't take them all on by itself."
"If it were only Ryūkotsusei himself, I wouldn't be concerned," Sesshōmaru said, his golden eyes narrowing with rare seriousness. "But I suspect there's more behind this than it seems."
"Oh? What do you mean?" Satsuki asked calmly.
"Ryūkotsusei once clashed with the leaders of the Panther Devas in the nearby Nanki region. However, he was later defeated by a mysterious group of yōkai who suddenly appeared, calling themselves the Lunar Palace."
—The Lunar Palace.
At the mention of that name, Ruri cast a sidelong glance at Satsuki. But Satsuki's face remained composed, showing no trace of surprise.
"And then?" she prompted.
"As I said before," Sesshōmaru continued, "Ryūkotsusei's true body was that of a masked yōkai. His greatest wish was to be fully reborn as a true dragon—an invincible being without weakness. But recently, reports claim that the mask once covering his face has vanished. In its place, a black magatama now rests."
A black magatama—that was the emblem of the Lunar Palace.
"So it seems the Ryūkotsusei has chosen to side with them," Satsuki said evenly, her tone more analytical than surprised. "And what do you intend to do about it?"
"..."
Sesshōmaru was silent. He hadn't yet decided—that was why he had come to speak with Satsuki and Ruri.
"In that case, let me ask you this," Satsuki said, raising one finger. "If you return, or if you don't—will it change the outcome?"
"..."
He clenched his jaw, but eventually, Sesshōmaru was forced to admit, "If the Lunar Palace's strength truly matches the rumors... then my return would change nothing."
"Good." Satsuki lifted a second finger. "Then my next question—why bring this to me and Ruri at all?"
"I..."
The proud demon lord hesitated. It wasn't that he lacked words—but that the truth had almost escaped his lips, and he restrained it with sheer will.
Yet under Satsuki's gaze—those Tenseigan eyes that seemed to pierce through all illusion—Sesshōmaru finally dropped his resistance.
"I wish... for you, Master, to lend me your aid."
"Hope for my assistance, do you?"
Satsuki regarded the Sesshōmaru before her—head bowed, tone restrained—with mild surprise. She hadn't expected such a change in him in so short a time.
She had only spoken to him once before about his path to greater strength. Beyond that, everything had been left for him to discover through his own experiences.
Perhaps it was repeated confrontations with his own inadequacy—or the growing uncertainty about his way forward—that had led to this moment.
He was no longer the gleaming blade she had first seen by the sea: sharp, untamed, radiating pride. Now, he was tempered by the realization of his own limits—his confidence giving way to quiet reflection.
This was the most fragile point in his heart's journey—but also the most critical. It was the moment when pride and isolation broke, and true introspection began.
(Just as in the original tale, Sesshōmaru's humanity only began to stir when he was gravely wounded by Inuyasha's Tessaiga—when Rin, a mere human, found her way into that vulnerability.)
Satsuki had no interest in befriending Sesshōmaru. As for the so-called "sheath" that his father had spoken of, she was even less intrigued.
Still, since she had already recorded and utilized the power within Sesshōmaru's body, she would honor her word.
"This is your first request of me as your master—and the first time you've called me 'teacher.' Very well. I'll grant you this favor."
At her words, three Truth-Seeking Orbs materialized behind her, infused with her Yin-Yang Sage Arts.
The two energies intertwined and merged, forming a blade of blinding brilliance within a radiance beyond comprehension.
"This is... the Samsara Sword?"
For the first time, Sesshōmaru's usually cold face revealed something new—an emotion that could only be described as yearning.
Satsuki tapped lightly on the sword's sheath, then embedded the Yasakani no Magatama from her chest into a socket near the hilt.
A surge of golden-green light erupted, enveloping the entire weapon.
The aura felt deeply familiar to Sesshōmaru—so much so that it was as if the divine blade were an extension of his very being.
"Take it," came Satsuki's calm command.
Without hesitation, Sesshōmaru stepped forward and grasped the hilt.
Instantly, a torrent of overwhelming energy surged from the weapon into his body. His demonic power whirled within him like a raging vortex.
Through Satsuki's Tenseigan, she could see the massive spiral of yōki unfolding behind him, his newly amplified power flooding into it like a waterfall.
As a proud great demon, Sesshōmaru had always relied solely on the yōki he had cultivated through centuries of discipline. Such energy was refined and precise—his own, perfectly honed.
But that path came with an inevitable flaw: painfully slow growth. Power accumulated only over the course of ages.
Thus, the stronger a yōkai, the longer they had lived. Between two beings of equal bloodline and potential, the younger could never surpass the elder.
But if Satsuki had followed such rules, could she have ever risen against the main house of the Ōtsutsuki?
No—rules existed only to be broken.
And as her disciple, Sesshōmaru too would have to defy those rules and walk an entirely new path.
A perilous path.
"Urgh... Aaaahhhh——!"
Even though Satsuki had refined the energy to be compatible with him, the sheer magnitude of power surging into Sesshōmaru's body caused unbearable pain. Red light pulsed violently across his form, his skin darkening as uncontrolled yōki overflowed. His eyes widened—turning an intense, glowing crimson.
His mouth elongated, forming a canine muzzle. Rows of fangs overlapped within, and greenish venom dripped from his jaws onto the tatami, hissing faintly as it ate into the straw, releasing a pungent odor.
"Looks like he still can't control this surge of demonic energy," Ruri remarked quietly.
She stepped protectively in front of Satsuki, diverting Sesshōmaru's blood-red, killing-intent-filled eyes away from her master and onto herself instead.
Satsuki narrowed her gaze briefly, then looked aside with complete indifference. "If he can't even handle this level of power rampage, then it only proves that this is the limit of what he's worth."
"Sure, sure," Ruri muttered under her breath, "but Satsuki, you still went and set up a suppression barrier around him so the others wouldn't sense his rampaging yōki."
"...What was that?"
"Ah—nothing! I said the master's foresight is flawless! Your disciple, like the system itself, is a peerless prodigy!" Ruri blurted hastily.
Tch. Still as tsundere as ever.
A massive tail of spiritual energy flared behind her, curling protectively around the room. She wasn't worried about Satsuki or herself getting hurt—she simply didn't want Sesshōmaru to lose control completely and transform into his full beast form, tearing the building apart in the process.
But things were quickly spiraling toward that exact outcome.
The Sesshōmaru gripping the Samsara Sword was now on the verge of total demonization. His long silver hair fanned out wildly under the pressure of his surging yōki, while the claws on his hands extended into lethal talons.
Most telling of all—the crescent moon sigil on his forehead was beginning to glow.
Once that mark fully illuminated, it would mean total loss of control. His rational mind would be devoured, leaving nothing but pure, instinct-driven monstrosity.
Satsuki, of course, didn't move to intervene. In her eyes, failure to endure this ordeal was simply weakness. If he fell to his instincts and degenerated into a mindless beast, that would be his own fate.
Ruri, however, couldn't just stand by and watch. For reasons even she couldn't explain—perhaps due to their recent time together—she had grown somewhat fond of Sesshōmaru.
"Tch. What a troublesome man," she sighed.
With that, Ruri drew a folding fan from her sleeve and blurred forward, leaving a trail of afterimages as she closed the distance to Sesshōmaru. Her intent was clear—to knock him unconscious before his yōki spiraled beyond recovery.
But even as Sesshōmaru struggled against the primal beast within, his reflexes—amplified by the overwhelming energy coursing through him—were far too sharp.
Without a sound, he vanished, reappearing several meters away in a streak of motion. His right arm swung down, blade-first.
A massive golden-green slash burst forth from the Samsara Sword, sweeping across the air like divine judgment—and before Ruri could react, the searing light engulfed her completely.