Master

The title of this article is conjectural.
Although it is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture. It may be supplanted at any time by additional information released from canonical sources.

The Master (和尚さま, "Oshō-sama"), also known as Nazuna's Master, was a Kumogashira (蜘蛛頭, "Spider Demon Head") in disguise who murdered Nazuna's father.

History[]

This yōkai had his hordes of kumogashira infest a mountainous region in the hopes of luring the hanyō Inuyasha, who was rumored to be in possession of Shikon Jewel shards. They had killed many villagers in the region, including the parents of Nazuna. He disguised himself as an old buddhist monk and pretended to take pity on Nazuna. He invited her to stay at his temple, without her knowing that he was the one who killed her father.

During the story[]

Nazuna and Master — Nazuna and her Master (in his human form).

The master greeted Inuyasha when he brought Nazuna back to temple. He claimed to have been afraid for Nazuna's safety and was worried that she may have encountered a kumogashira. She explained that she was tending the graves of the victims and had no choice in accepting Inuyasha's help. Just as Inuyasha was about to leave, the master offered to let him and his friends stay the night at his temple. Nazuna tried to object, but relented after the master told her to prepare a meal for them. He apologized for Nazuna's hostility towards yōkai and explained that it stemmed from her parents getting killed by a kumogashira. He assured Inuyasha and the others that they would be safe at his temple since he placed sutras all around it.

The kumogashira managed to invade the temple later that night. Nazuna rushed to find her master in order to warn him, and saw that he was captured. He stated that his sutras were no longer effective.

Master of Nazuna (Oshou-sama) — The master biting Inuyasha with his poison fangs.

When everyone else evacuated the temple, they discovered that Inuyasha had transformed into a human due to it being the night of the new moon. Despite losing his powers, Inuyasha returned to the temple along with Shippō after learning that Kagome left the jewel shards there. When the two of them returned to the temple, they discovered that the master was actually a kumogashira. He transformed his body and revealed that he maintained the charade of being a monk in order to lure Inuyasha for his jewel shards. He had managed to subdue Inuyasha by grabbing his throat and pinned him to one of the temple's pillars. Inuyasha claimed he could still defeat him even though he was in his human form. He had managed to break free from the master's grip, but was quickly held back after he spewed some spider threads at him. Shippō tried to stop him with his Foxfire, but had no effect and he was quickly knocked back. The master then bit Inuyasha with his poisonous fangs. Nazuna and Kagome arrived and saw the master in his true form. Kagome attempted to rescue Inuyasha, who was numb from the poison and hanging upside down. The master spewed his spider threads at Kagome, but she was able to repel them with the aid of Tessaiga. She climbed up his webbed body and was able to free Inuyasha from the spider threads. They all retreated to another room of the temple. Kagome was able to barricade the door by using Tessaiga's barrier to repel the kumogashira.

The master had managed to break through by morning. It was then that he obtained all of the jewel shards and transformed his body further. Nazuna tried to reason with him, believing that her master still existed deep inside the yōkai. He revealed that the person she had come to know as her master was just a disguise he used in order to lure Inuyasha to him. She tried to fight him with Tessaiga after realizing that he was responsible for the death of her parents, but he was able to capture her. It was then that Inuyasha had regained his powers and rescued Nazuna. He reclaimed Tessaiga and used it to slay the yōkai. After Inuyasha defeated him, the Shikon Jewel shards he had consumed were fused together into a larger fragment.

Personality[]

He is very manipulative and deceitful. While in his disguise, he is able to fool everyone into believing that he is a compassionate monk that always tries to aid others in their time of need. He takes great pleasure in killing humans. He also enjoys watching Inuyasha suffer from the poison he injects in him.

Physical description[]

He disguises himself as an elderly man with wrinkles and a bald head. His true form is of a giant spider web with the head of a spider on it. His head loses its human appearance; his nose, eyebrows and humans disappear with a pair of large mandibles and eyes replacing them. After he devours the Shikon Jewel shards, his skin turns dark green and the sclera in his eyes become yellow.

Outfit[]

In both his human and yōkai forms, he wears the traditional robes of a Buddhist monk with a rakusu over them. He also wears a pair of waraji sandals.

Powers & Abilities[]

Expert Manipulator: The master is able to deceive Nazuna and Inuyasha's group into believing that he is a kind monk, but is actually a murderous and deceitful yōkai that lured Inuyasha in order to steal his Shikon Jewel shards.
Transformation (変化, へんげ, "Henge"): He can disguise himself as a human or make his human face appear in his yokai form. In his yōkai form, he can transforms his limbs to make them appear as a giant spider web, his head can travel across these "webs" or even teleport across them.
Spider Threads: He is able spew large sticky spider threads on his opponents.
Poisonous Bite: He is able to inject a lethal poison into anyone that he bites. It causes Inuyasha to go numb, as is only saved when Myōga sucks it out of his body.
Enhanced Strength: In its true form, he had great physical strength. He strong enough the damage is own temple when he tries to obtain the Shikon Jewel shards from Inuyasha

Manga vs. Anime[]

In the manga, there are flashbacks of how he first meets Nazuna after her father is killed.
In the manga, after Inuyasha brings Nazuna to the master's temple when the sun is setting, he questions Inuyasha as to whether he is human since he is unable to sense an aura around him. Inuyasha is eager to prove that he is not a human by challenging him to a fight, but he is stopped after Kagome uses her "sit" command.
In the manga, when Nazuna checks up on her Master after the temple is invaded, he is surrounded by many kumogashira. In the anime, he is covered by their webs.
In the manga, he tells Nazuna to find Inuyasha and his friends after he appears to have been captured by the kumogashira.
In the manga, Nazuna reveals that her master has given memorial services to all the victims of the kumogashira.
In the manga, when Inuyasha (in his human form) and Shippō go back to the temple, they see Nazuna's master trapped in many large spider webs. After they free him, he immediately grabs Inuyasha's throat transforms into a giant web. In the anime, he is seen rummaging through Kagome's bag for her Shikon Jewel shards before he is confronted by Inuyasha. He transforms into a giant web after subduing Inuyasha with his webs.
In the manga, he obtains all of the jewel shards at once when confronts Inuyasha by morning. In the anime, he breaks devours four of the jewels when he first confronts Inuyasha in his human form and obtains the rest in the morning.
In the manga, he is able to move relocate his head all over the spider web that is produced from his body.
In the manga, the master claims that the jewel shards will extend his life by 500 years before ingesting them.
In the manga, the master tries to trick Nazuna into giving him the jewel shards by claiming that they are the source of the kumogashira's recent appearance in the region, and that having them in his possession would give him enough power to get rid of them. Nazuna does not believe him. He able to enter the room after Nazuna removes Tessaiga from the door in her haste. He devours all of the jewel shards and pins Inuyasha to a wall by grabbing his throat. Inuyasha then regains his powers and is able to counterattack with his Sankon Tessō. Inuyasha destroyed the master's head in order to reclaim the jewel shards, but he is able to sprout many more heads throughout his webbed body due to the power of the jewel, and are able to duplicate if one of them is destroyed. Kagome tells Inuyasha to go for the head that is by the clothes on his body. The master grabs Nazuna to use as a shield and distracts Inuyasha long enough in order to trap him in his webs. Nazuna believes that her master is truly gone, but the yōkai states that her master never existed and that he was behind the kumogashira's attacks in the region (including the death of her parents). Nazuna gets angry and stabs him in the head with Tessaiga in its untransformed state. He restrains Nazuna's limbs and prepares to kill her with his poisonous fangs, but Inuyasha stops him by punching through his mouth. Kagome tells Inuyasha that the jewel shards are starting to merge near where Nazuna stabbed him with Tessaiga. The master constricts in body in order to squeeze Inuyasha and Nazuna to death. Inuyasha attempts to reclaim Tessaiga after he rescues Nazuna, but is blocked by the yōkai's spider threads and his flesh squeezing against him. The master claims that the power of the shards will soon spread throughout his entire body. Nazuna is able to retrieve Tessaiga and gives it to Inuyasha. Inuyasha then uses the Tessaiga to cut the spot where the jewel shards are. He and Nazuna are able to escape the master's body. A piece of the master's flesh with his head survived after being separated from his body by Inuyasha. He stabs the and removed the jewel shards from his flesh, thus truly destroying him. In the anime, he crushes his temple from the outside with his body. Nazuna begs his master to fight the yōkai's influence, but he explains that it was all a disguise and her master never existed. She realizes that he is responsible for all of the villagers' deaths (including her father's). She tries to strike him multiples with Tessaiga, but it is ineffective due to it being in its untransformed state. He grabs Nazuna and prepares to devour her. She drops Tessaiga and is obtained by Inuyasha after recovering from the poison. The master discards Nazuna in order to grab Inuyasha. He calls him a fine human specimen, and it is then that Inuyasha begins to transform back into a hanyō. The master attempts to devour Inuyasha before his powers have fully retuned, but he and rest of the kumogashira are killed by him with one swing of Tessaiga.

Trivia[]

Both his Japanese and English voice actors voiced Shun Mitaka's uncle from Rumiko Takahashi's previous series Maison Ikkoku.
Given that the spiderheads can take people's faces for their own, its possible that the face of his human guise came from a victim of his. If that is indeed the case, his temple may have originally been an actual Buddhist temple before being taken over the spiderheads.

Media appearances[]

Manga

Anime

Episode 13 (First appearance)
Episode 56 (Appears in a flashback)