Thanks to Freelance for the scans.

Chapter 469

Since Rin appears to be dead, Sesshoumaru tells Kohaku to put her down. Sesshoumaru drawn Tenseiga to bring her back to life, but he cannot see the imps known as “the pallbearers of the afterlife.” Outside of hell, Sesshoumaru’s mother, who’s observing everything, tells Jaken that Rin is in fact dead. Back in hell, Sesshoumaru is bothered by Rin’s death and quietly asks Tenseiga why. Kohaku tries to apologize but is cut off by Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru quietly reflects that he didn’t have to bring her with him when he raised her from the dead after they first met.

In hell, the darkness grows and washes over them. Rin’s body is removed, leading Sesshoumaru and Kohaku to go deeper into hell. Sesshoumaru’s mother observes this and Jaken gets very concerned about Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru’s mother tells the little youkai that she would regret losing her son while he studies his sword, and so opens a path to him. She tells Sesshoumaru to come out of hell since he won’t be able to leave if he continues on his path. Sesshoumaru tells Kohaku to take the path while he follows Rin scent. Kohaku decides to follow Sesshoumaru and these events annoy Sesshoumaru’s mother.

Kohaku notices the stench of rotting flesh which Sesshoumaru identifies as the scent of death. A giant, slimy, humanoid shape is carrying Rin and drops her on a mountain of corpses. It is then that Sesshoumaru becomes firm in his desire to bring Rin back.

Chapter 470

In an attempt to save Rin, Sesshoumaru uses Tenseiga to cut off the arm of the “Master of Hell” — the giant, slimy humanoid shape. With the arm gone, Rin falls to the mountain of corpses but is caught by Sesshoumaru. On “the surface,” Sesshoumaru’s mother continues to observe the events in hell and reminds Jaken that Sesshoumaru has already resurrected Rin once before. As such, he cannot do so again with Tenseiga. In hell, Sesshoumaru is realizing that Rin cannot be saved and drops Tenseiga, which pierces the ground. Sesshoumaru’s mother observes this as Sesshoumaru grieves over the loss of Rin, deciding that Rin’s life was more important that mastering Tenseiga.

Tenseiga begins to react and the mountain of corpses tries to move toward Tenseiga. Sesshoumaru grabs Tenseiga and the dead in hell begin to be purified by the sword. A meidou is opened from inside hell and from it, Sesshoumaru emerges with the body of Rin as Kohaku follows.

Chapter 471

As Jaken and Kohaku observe the body of Rin, Sesshoumaru’s mother observes her son’s upset countenance and reminds him that he did what he came to do. Sesshoumaru notes that she knew this would happen to Rin, leading his mother to explain the limitations of the resurrection powers of Tenseiga. He cannot save life as many time as he wants and she reminds him he is not a god. He had to learn the lesson that he must feel sadness or fear of losing someone close to him. He must understand life and have a compassionate heart when dispatching his enemies.

Jaken tears up at the knowledge that Rin had to die in order for Sesshoumaru to have a compassionate heart. Sesshoumaru’s mother notices him crying, and he states that because Sesshoumaru-sama cannot show tears due to his disposition, Jaken will in his stead. Asking if Sesshoumaru is sad, his mother takes the meidou stone necklace off and places it on Rin. With it, she brings Rin back to life.

Rin opens her eyes and Sesshoumaru gently touches her face, telling her she’s OK now. Jaken expresses Sesshoumaru’s thanks and states that Sesshoumaru is extremely happy. Sesshoumaru’s mother notes how like his father Sesshoumaru has become. Sesshoumaru then leaves with Rin and Kohaku follows. Sesshoumaru’s mother stops him, asking how he was able to survive hell. He explains it is the Shikon shard. Understanding this, Sesshoumaru’s mother tells him that his life cannot be saved by Tenseiga either.

Elsewhere, Inuyasha’s group comes on a village surrounded by sweet smelling flowers. The flowers are making Shippou-chan and Inuyasha feel ill, but the villagers encourage the group to spend the night. In the house set up for travelers, the group takes residence with Inuyasha mildly complaining. Sango is surprised that Kagome hasn’t grown weary of this, but Kagome knows that Inuyasha is still grieving for Kikyou. Meanwhile, the villagers report to “Kaou-sama” that the travelers are in the lodge, which he notes the scent of a wounded soul.

Chapter 472

As the group sleeps, Inuyasha becomes a bit irritated with the stronger scent of the flowers. Kagome awakens and tries to encourage him to lie down since he hasn’t had a good sleep in a long time. Shippou-chan awakens with hay fever symptoms and Kagome has him blow his nose. Meanwhile, as some villagers make their way through the flowers, Kagome and Inuyasha observe the villagers acting strangely as they begin to cry tears of blood while vines attach themselves to the villagers. Miroku awakens and decides to end this by flinging fuda strips into the flowers. This causes ground to be revealed, which is shaped like various human bodies.

Kaou appears and states this is a flower nursery. Kaou asks the villagers that Miroku saved if they were OK since they were forced to experience something horrible (Miroku’s fuda). The villagers say they are OK but express concern for those who became soil. Inuyasha demands to know if Kaou is a youkai, but Miroku doesn’t sense any youki and Kaou asks Inuyasha if he senses youki. Kaou goes on to say that they must be sensing contentment. With that, the smell of the flowers gets strong and Inuyasha warns them not to smell the scent. Sango passes out and Kaou notes her unhappiness over Kohaku.

As Miroku holds Sango, vines approach them and he dispatches them with a fuda. Kaou notes that the Houshi-dono (a title for Miroku) is worried about his body and may be afraid of death. Kaou tells Miroku to entrust his body to the flowers and become happy. This causes Inuyasha to unleash Tessaiga and a Kaze no Kizu attack. This wipes out the flowers and Kaou disappears, leaving only a small amount of blood behind. Inuyasha decides to follow the blood scent and Kagome decides to go with him. He objects, but Miroku informs him that Kaou is using peoples suffering as food. Inuyasha takes off anyway, so Miroku gives Kagome a warding talisman so she can follow Inuyasha.

Inuyasha and Kagome come to the Japanese castle, where the grounds are covered in flowers. Kaou is waiting for them, having left blood on purpose for them to come to him. Beneath Inuyasha, the flowers become red like blood and Inuyasha finds he can’t move.

Thoughts/Review:

The Sesshoumaru story was really enjoyable. He really does love Rin like a daughter and it was nice to let us see this. It was a shame that we never learned his mother’s name though. I did fear that Takahashi-sensei was going to kill Rin since it feels like she’s getting ready to wrap up this manga this year. I was glad to see that she didn’t do this though.

As to the new story-arc for Inuyasha to follow, I guess this will resolve Inuyasha’s depression. It feels like another so-so story though at this point.