Episode 143 - 3000 Leagues in Search of Father
The team encounters a group of villagers who tell of headless demon on a rampage in the area. Inuyasha and the team investigate the phenomena and the trail leads them into the forest. Inuyasha doesn’t need to his keen sense of smell to track the creature; the demon left a path of destruction a blind man could follow! Moving deeper into the woods, pandemonium breaks loose. A small child with huge bundle runs screaming out of the forest, just steps ahead of a huge, headless monster. Shippo snatches the child out of harm’s way while Inuyasha confronts the juggernaut. Before Inuyasha can attack, the child tackles him, screaming for him to stop! Shippo leaps into the fracas, trying to pry the child off Inuyasha. During the tussle, the headless demon slams down a huge fist nearly pulverizing the trio, and sends them flying. The child falls to the ground transforming into its true form, a little demon. Inuyasha grabs the kid, demanding to know what’s going on. The youngster tells him the headless demon may be his father. When Inuyasha points out the lack of resemblance, the little demon agrees and Inuyasha obliterates the behemoth. The youngster introduces himself as Kanta, a kwauso (otter). Kanta tells the team that three days before, a strange boy appeared on a demon horse while he and his father fished in the river. He witnessed the boy behead and his father. Although the boy seemed to want the head, it fell into the river and was washed away and the boy left. The team agrees the culprit was Hakudoshi! Kanta was able to retrieve his dad’s head but while he searched for it, his father’s body wandered away. The child is searching for the rest of his father, hoping to reunite the pieces in time to save his life. Shippo volunteers Inuyasha’s help, telling Kanta how Inuyasha helped him avenge his father’s death. Shippo’s high praise for Inuyasha’s prowess, however, quickly disintegrates earning him a smack on the head from his ‘hero‘! Kanta is still thrilled to have such a strong (if flawed!) champion on his side. In a secluded house, Hakudoshi interrogates his collection of demon heads for information about the boundary to the netherworld. All the heads tell the same story about a land of white mist and nothing else. One by one, he scans the disembodied heads -- but not without some resistance on the part of the heads themselves ... Elsewhere, Rin and Jaken do the usual - wait for Sessho-maru. Sessho-maru has been especially moody since his encounter with Naraku at Mount Hakurei. Indeed, we find Sessho-maru poised on a breezy hillside, brooding. He is troubled: Tenseiga is trying to ‘tell him something’ but it’s message eludes him. Back in the village, Kanta’s headless Papa stumbles into town, terrifying the villagers. The frightened people attack on the poor demon’s body, turning it into a pincushion full of arrows and spears. Inuyasha and the others arrive in time to witness the panic. They follow the scent trail, discovering Kanta’s father’s body has blindly crawled its way to Sessho-maru. Kanta is distraught to see his father’s desperate condition. Inuyasha and company are stunned to see Sessho-maru. Sessho-maru regards everyone with his usual aloof distain. Kanta and Shippo leap into action and try to put Kanta’s Dad together again. It’s futile: the otter demon is dead and Kanta grieves hysterically. Inuyasha confronts Sessho-maru, demanding to know why he’s there, but Sessho-maru ignores him, and turns to leave. Kagome tries to stop Sessho-maru, pleading for his help with Tenseiga. Sessho-maru tells Kagome it’s not his business. Shippo bravely assumes advocacy for Kanta and his Dad. Frightened and teary, he blocks Sessho-maru’s way, begging him for help. Unmoved by Shippo, Sessho-maru tries to leave, then stops -- Tenseiga is pulsing! The sword ‘tells’ him to save Kanta’s father. With a sweep of the blade, Tenseiga restores Kanta’s father to life. As Kanta’s Dad recovers, he tells everyone about his ‘death’ experience in a strange land filled with white mist and the large, skeletal remains of other demons. Sessho-maru departs before Kanta and his dad can thank him. Enroute, Sessho-maru ponders the demon’s story. Kanta and his Dad also part company with Inuyasha and the others. Continuing the trek, Miroku wonders why Hakodoshi is so obsessed with such a strange place. Inuyasha and Kagome both know why: they’ve been to the place described by Kanta’s Dad --it’s the demon graveyard. The final resting-place of Inuyasha’s father.
