Chapter 304

Kagura’s emotions were in turmoil.

She was the wind.

The wind was meant to sweep freely across heaven and earth, unbound and unrestricted.

To Kagura, nothing in the world mattered more than freedom, and no desire burned more fiercely than breaking her chains and reclaiming control of her own fate.

If Nen truly was a power born from the heart, just as Haruto claimed, then she was certain she could develop an ability of her own—one capable of severing every restraint placed upon her.

When that happened, she would finally be free.

No one would control her ever again. No chains would hold her down.

She could fly wherever she wished.

"As long as you teach me Nen, these two Shikon Jewel shards are yours!"

Kagura opened her palm once more.

The two fragments rested there, glowing with faint purple light.

Her eyes were filled with urgency, as though she were afraid Haruto might suddenly change his mind.

If freedom was truly within reach, then forget two Jewel shards—she would gladly pay far more.

Haruto glanced at the shards, but only for a moment before shaking his head.

"Keep them. I don’t want the Shikon Jewel."

He understood its dangers far too well.

The Jewel could grant power to whoever possessed it, but it also magnified the desires and darker impulses buried within their heart.

And Haruto knew better than anyone just how powerful his own appetite and obsession with food could be.

If the Shikon Jewel amplified that desire even further, there was no telling what kind of trouble it might cause.

As for the temporary increase in strength the Jewel could grant yōkai, that held even less appeal.

The added power came from the Jewel itself.

Whether such an ingredient would even be safe to eat was questionable.

Kagura’s expression soured slightly when Haruto refused, but she kept her impatience under control.

"Then what do you want?"

"As long as it’s something I can do."

Haruto answered without hesitation.

"The condition for teaching you Nen is simple."

"Help me find large numbers of yōkai."

Kagura stared at him.

Of all the demands she had prepared herself to hear, that was not one of them.

She had expected some difficult price, perhaps even something dangerous.

Instead, he merely wanted her to... find yōkai?

Seeing her confusion, Haruto smiled and elaborated.

"I know Naraku keeps large numbers of lesser yōkai. They may not be particularly strong, but there are plenty of them."

"As one of his incarnations, you should know where those yōkai gather."

"And since you can travel on the wind, you’ve probably seen plenty of places where other yōkai are concentrated as well."

"That’s all I want."

"Help me locate them."

Compared with wandering blindly through mountains and forests by himself, having Kagura—the very embodiment of wind—guide him would increase his efficiency tremendously.

For Haruto, that was far more valuable than a couple of Shikon Jewel shards.

Kagura looked at him, then down at the shards in her hand.

A faint smile finally appeared on her face.

To her, Haruto’s condition barely qualified as a price at all.

"Fine. I do know where plenty of yōkai can be found."

Kagura had traveled all over under Naraku’s orders while searching for Shikon Jewel shards.

Naturally, she had encountered countless yōkai along the way.

Until now, she had never cared about that information.

She certainly had not expected it to become the key to purchasing her freedom.

Fulfilling Haruto’s request would cost her almost nothing.

And as for why Haruto wanted so badly to find yōkai, or what exactly he intended to do with them...

Kagura did not care in the slightest.

As long as he could free her from Naraku, everything else was irrelevant.

"Then I’ll awaken your Nen first."

"After that, before you try developing a personal ability, you should spend some time strengthening the fundamentals."

Haruto looked at Kagura as he made the suggestion.

Truthfully, he did not particularly trust her.

This was simply a transaction between two people who each wanted something from the other.

What concerned Haruto far more was Naraku.

Naraku was anything but merciful.

The moment Kagura truly betrayed him, his first response would not be to patiently watch and see what happened.

He would simply crush the heart he kept in his possession.

That heart was the tightest chain around Kagura’s neck.

As long as Naraku held it, her life and death would remain entirely at his discretion.

Even if she agreed to Haruto’s deal, she could still be killed at any moment.

Under those circumstances, Haruto believed the first priority was giving Kagura some ability to protect herself.

Only then could she devote herself to helping him find yōkai without constantly fearing that Naraku might extinguish her life on a whim.

When Kagura realized Haruto intended to awaken this power in her before asking anything in return, her pupils contracted slightly.

Emotion briefly crossed her face.

Naraku treated her as a disposable pawn.

He would not even allow her to possess her own life.

Sesshōmaru, despite despising Naraku, had simply watched her struggle with cold indifference.

Her suffering meant nothing to him.

Yet Haruto’s first thought had been to give her the strength to survive.

The feeling was unfamiliar.

Like a warm breeze passing over still water, it sent quiet ripples through Kagura’s heart.

She silently made up her mind.

If Haruto truly could help her break free from Naraku and obtain the freedom she had always wanted, then she would repay him properly and do everything she could to help him locate the yōkai he sought.

Haruto’s gaze shifted toward Sesshōmaru.

He still had not left.

Haruto could more or less guess what he was thinking.

Sesshōmaru was clearly curious about Nen.

He had not asked to learn it himself, nor had he interfered.

He simply wanted to see whether Haruto truly possessed the ability he claimed to have—whether he could actually help Kagura escape Naraku’s control, and whether this thing called Nen was anything more than empty boasting.

Haruto did not mind.

Whether there was an audience made no difference to him.

And if Sesshōmaru were willing to offer something worthwhile in return, Haruto would not necessarily object to awakening his Nen as well.

Turning his attention back to Kagura, Haruto began explaining the core principle behind awakening Nen.

"The first step is opening the aura nodes distributed throughout your body."

"These aura nodes are the pathways through which life energy flows outward."

"For most ordinary people, they remain almost completely closed. They can live their entire lives without ever realizing this kind of energy exists inside them."

"The proper and safest method of awakening Nen is through gradual training—strengthening the body, tempering the mind, and slowly guiding the aura nodes to open naturally until you learn to control your life energy step by step."

"But obviously, we don’t have enough time for you to spend years doing that."

"So I’m going to use the fastest method instead."

"I’ll send my own Nen into your body and forcibly open your aura nodes from the outside."

Haruto paused, his expression becoming more serious.

"There’s significant risk involved."

"Once the nodes are forced open, your life energy will start pouring out uncontrollably."

"If you can’t contain it quickly enough, even with a yōkai’s vitality, you could die."

"So when it happens, there’s only one thing you need to do."

"Focus everything you have on keeping the aura leaking from your body wrapped tightly around you."

Kagura listened with complete concentration, even unconsciously slowing her breathing.

There was danger involved.

But compared with spending the rest of her life with Naraku holding her heart in his hand, this risk meant nothing.

After explaining every important point and warning her of the possible consequences, Haruto asked Kagura to remove the outer layer of her kimono, leaving only the thin garment underneath.

This was his first time awakening someone else’s Nen.

He needed extremely precise control.

Even a small mistake could injure her.

Ideally, there would be as little material as possible between his aura and her body so the Nen could flow without obstruction.

But Kagura was still a woman, so Haruto settled for having her remove only the outer layer.

She agreed without hesitation.

This step might decide whether she ever became free.

There was no reason to be embarrassed now.

Kagura loosened the sash of her kimono, removed the outer garment, and casually set it aside.

Only a close-fitting green underrobe remained.

The thin fabric followed the shape of her body, fluttering lightly whenever the wind passed through the clearing.

Haruto steadied himself and stepped behind her.

Through the light cloth, he could faintly make out the ugly spider-shaped scar across Kagura’s back.

The mark originated from the bandit Onigumo.

It was the brand carried by Naraku and every incarnation born from him.

Haruto’s gaze lingered on it for only a moment before moving away.

He slowly raised one hand and positioned his palm behind the center of Kagura’s back.

Then he gathered his Nen.

Aura flowed steadily into his palm, becoming denser and more concentrated.

Once he judged the amount sufficient, Haruto pushed the gathered Nen into Kagura’s body.

Kagura immediately felt a wave of warmth enter her.

Her entire body trembled.

She had expected the foreign power to crash through her like something violent and painful.

Instead, the warmth spread through her with surprising gentleness, flowing smoothly into every part of her body.

Then Kagura felt something inside her give way.

It was as though an invisible, crushing layer she had never known existed had suddenly been stripped from her body.

And in the next instant, energy carrying the unmistakable signature of her own life began pouring continuously from every part of her skin.

The sensation was completely new.

It reminded her of the first time she had ever commanded the wind, yet at the same time it was utterly different.

This aura flowing out of her belonged entirely to her.

It was not borrowed.

It did not come from Naraku.

It had been born from her own body, from her own cells—

Power that was truly hers.