Chapter 1

The Accursed Youth is the 1st chapter of the InuYasha manga.

Synopsis[]

Inuyasha, a hanyō (half-demon), is sealed to a tree by the miko (priestess) Kikyō.
Modern-day Kagome Higurashi is pulled into the Sengoku jidai by the demon Mistress Centipede.
Mistress Centipede attacks Kaede's village, and Kagome runs into the forest to escape the demon.
Inuyasha awakens because he smells the blood of "the woman who killed him" in Kagome.

The story starts when a half-demon named Inuyasha attacks the village and steals a jewel known as the Shikon no Tama, or Jewel of Four Souls. However, as he escapes from the village, a young priestess named Kikyō shoots an arrow at Inuyasha, stopping him. Using the arrow, she pins Inuyasha to the Goshinboku, a sacred tree in the forest. Kikyō suffers from a severe wound on her shoulder. Just before succumbing to the wound and dying, she asks her younger sister Kaede to cremate the jewel along with her body so she can take the cursed jewel with her to the next world.

550 years later, in modern-day (1996) Japan, Kagome Higurashi is celebrating her 15th birthday at Higurashi shrine. As Kagome prepares to leave for school, she hears her brother Sōta calling for their cat Buyo in the well house. When Kagome goes down and finds the cat by the well, a centipede woman pulls her into the well. While in the well, Kagome uses an unknown spiritual power to temporarily repel and subdue the demon. Kagome is shocked she has such abilities.

Emerging from the well, Kagome realizes that she is no longer in Tokyo, as her house and shrine are gone, instead surrounded by grass and forests. Exploring the area, she happens to find Inuyasha, who is pinned to the tree. She curiously touches his canine ears, but is stopped by Kaede and the villagers. The villagers then capture her, thinking she is a demon. An aged Kaede interrogates Kagome, and is shocked at how closely she resembles her elder sister Kikyō, who passed away 50 years ago. Later that same night, Kaede apologizes to Kagome on behalf of the villagers. She cooks dinner for her just before Mistress Centipede, who was searching for the Shikon no Tama, attacks the village. Kagome leads the demon away and runs for her life. Meanwhile, Inuyasha finally awakens, smelling Kagome, who smells similar to Kikyō.

In the Japanese version is "一九九六" (1996), but the English version changed in 1997.

◀ Volume 1 - Turning Back Time ▶
Chapters	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8