This ep starts out with a man running through a field at night. He is carrying something and is being chased by men on horseback, who indicate that he has a fragment of the Shikon jewel. He looks to be carrying some scrolls in his arms, and he grabs one of them, which suddenly changes colour, and suddenly the men are set upon by a host of demons. They kill all the men. One of the men asks for help from the man with the scrolls (who is rather ugly), but he offers no aid. He says that the demons are indeed thirsty for blood and will drink until they get their fill. He then holds up a cannister which appears to hold a shard of the Shikon jewel in the bottom of it.
The next day, Inu & Co. are at the site of the battlefield. Kagome is not surprised that they’ve come upon yet another field of bodies, seeing as they’re in a warring era, but Inu then says that this was no battle, and that something is not right, because he can’t pick up the smell of blood. Miroku believes it to be the work of a very strong demon, and that the demon must possess a shard of the Shikon jewel. Inu then turns to Miroku and says that he has no intention of teaming up with him. Miroku asks Inu if he means that it’s “every man for himself”. Miroku decides to leave the group, thinking that it’s better to compete with Inu from afar. Kagome asks Inu if he really wants Miroku to leave. She gets no answer, and turns to find that Inu isn’t beside them anymore.
Kagome hears a voice yelling “Help! A demon!”. Uh oh! We see that Inu has waylaid a traveller and is sniffing some kind of scroll that the traveller was carrying. Kagome pedals up on her bike with Shippo and yells “sit boy!”. Inu falls to the ground, releasing the man and the scroll letter. The man grabs his letter and takes off. Inu asks Kagome why she did that, and Kagome repliies “Because you were pestering the poor guy.” She asks Inu why he was picking on the guy, and Inu says that he was giving off the same smell of ink that he smelled on the battlefied. If he can track down the source, they might find the demon.
Inu apparently wants to find the jewel shard before Miroku does. Kagome asks Inu what he has against Miroku anyway, and then Inu asks Kagome if she actually likes that “lecher”. Kagome says yes, which surprises Inu. Kagome says it was just a joke, but Inu isn't paying attention. He wonders what Kagome could possibly see in Miroku. Shippo calls Inu an idiot.
Meanwhile, in a nearby town, the ugly little man from the battlefied gains an audience with the town’s Lord, who is surprised that the man defeated an entire army by himself. He offers to let the man join his military forces. A guard then enters and says he needs to speak to the Lord. Next thing we know, the ugly man is being thrown out of the mansion by two guards. They say that his claims of power are unfounded and that he’s simply a wandering artist from the capital. The man begs to speak to the Lord again, but the two guards call him a liar and start beating him up.
The Princess of the mansion walks by and tells the guards to go easy on the man. They apologize, saying that they didn’t see her there. She continues on her way, and the two guards wrap the painter up in an old carpet and throw him over a bridge into the water. He floats downriver. At dusk, we see that the painter has freed himself, and vows to defeat anyone who stands in his way.
His delusions of grandeur include building his own castle, being surrounded in riches, and marrying a Princess, like the one that he saw earlier. He thinks there is nothing he cannot do! Suddenly Inu grabs him from behind, and asks him (somewhat politely) if he will answer a few questions. Not far behind, Kagome is pedalling towards them on her bike, saying that Inu is picking on another guy. Shippo says “Six innocent peasants down, hundreds of thousands to go”. (this was a great line!)
The painter asks Inu who he is, and at first claims to be powerful, then says he is only a simple artist. Inu is annoyed and asks the painter why he smells like ink and fresh blood. The painter starts squirming, wriggles free and runs a few feet away, then turns back toward Inu and throws out another one of his scrolls. As it unrolls from his hand, a large picture of a monster is revealed, and the giant monster comes to life! Kagome wonders what it is, and Shippo says that it’s a demon. Meanwhile, the painter runs away down the hill and gets into a boat. Inu yells at him to come back, but he paddles away frantically.
Kagome wonders if the painter is a demon, but then says she’s sure that he’s a human. The real demon attacks Inu again. Inu draws the Tetsusaiga and cuts the demon in half. The demon explodes into a waterfall of ink! It pours over Inu and knocks him to the ground. He remarks that the goop is a mixture of blood and ink, and then he is suddenly rendered incapacitated (seems to pass out). Kagome runs over and tries to help him up, telling him to get a hold of himself, but he can’t answer. Shippo says that Inu’s nose is so sensitive, the mixture of blood and ink got to him.
The painter wonders what type of beast Inu was, and how he could smell the blood and ink so clearly. The painter says that it’s Inu who should be afraid though, because the painter has a battalion of demons at his beckon call.
Back in the town, Miroku tells the guards at the gate to the mansion that there is an evil shadow hanging over the mansion, and that he can drive it out in a single night. The guards don’t believe him, nd send him away. Miroku sighs and gives up, saying that he’ll have to sleep outside tonight, then turns to leave. As he does, a black shadow passes overhead and he looks up to see a huge black cloud descending upon the mansion. He tries to warn the guards of the “evil shadow”. They are still scoffing him until they turn around and see the cloud for themselves!
The black cloud descends on the two guards, and two demons emerge from it to destroy them. Miroku notes that the two demons are the bull demon and the dragon demon, which he has only ever seen in “paintings of hell”. Miroku hears screams from inside the mansion, and someone yelling “Rescue the Princess!”. Miroku runs into the mansion (gladly!).
We see doors opening up one after the other, and the voice of the painter calling “Princess... Princess...” (this is a dream sequence). We then see that the painter is actually asleep in his hut, and is surrounded by drawings of demons. He is having a nightmare in which he reaches the room where the Princess is, but when she turns around, she looks strange, and her eyes start glowing red. She tells him that she wants his blood, then reaches to grab his throat with one hand and his wrist with the other. His wrist is surrounded by a black wind, and his hand shrinks. He yells at her to release him.
In the real world, Miroku barges into the Princess’ room and moves to stand in front of her. The two demons break through the far wall and Miroku prepares to battle them. Just before they reach him, we hear the voice of the painter yelling “Stop this!”. The demons halt, and then the black cloud retreats out of the mansion. Miroku wonders what happened. The painter wakes up from his nightmare in a panick. The black ink comes down like a rain and then zooms into his hut, returning itself to the cannister in which he keeps it. The painter remarks that the black ink must have sprung into action on its own accord while he was sleeping.
Back at the mansion, the Lord thanks Miroku for saving his daugher, and asks him to forgive the guards for their earlier rudeness. Miroku says that thanks aren’t needed and that he bears no grudge against the guards, but says the danger has yet to pass. He indicates that the demons may atack again, and that the Princess would be safer if she stayed with him; in the same room, in the same bed! From outside, we hear Inu’s voice saying “He’s at it again! And I suppose you’ll need to search her robes while you’re at it too, you pervert?” [that was so funny!]
Inu & Co. appear in the large outside doorway, but they just missed all the fun. Outside, Kagome fills Miroku in on the painter and his evil ink drawings. He believes that for a human to have such power, he must have a jewel shard, and Kagome agrees. Miroku then wonders how they can stop an artist who has the power to bring his demons to life.
Shippo, who is sitting on Inu’s lap having a snack, asks Inu why he’s just sitting there, instead of helping with a plan. Kagome asks Inu if he’s still sulking, and Miroku asks Inu if there’s something wrong. Inu tells them to leave him alone. Kagome gets annoyed and tells Inu to “get over it” and work with Miroku just this once. Kagome then says that Inu is jealous! Inu denies it, but when he turns around, Miroku is holding Kagome’s hands again, saying that her faith in him is strong and that she can sense his pure intentions. She removes his hands and then says sure, but that she can also see that he has some jewel shards. She says she can see two... no, more like three, and they start to glow inside Miroku’s right shoulder. He is pleasantly surprised that she has the power to see them.
Inu comes running over, but Kagome yells “sit!” Inu falls flat on his face, then tells Kagome to stop doing that. Miroku leans over and tells Inu that he collected the jewel shards on his own, and if Inu takes them, that would make him a thief. Inu sarcastically thanks him for “spelling it out”, then gets to his feet, saying that he remembers when a certain “thief” stole Kagome’s shards from her.
Some guards outside the door overhear Inu & Co. talking, and report the situation to their Lord. He says that he’s heard rumours about the jewel’s powers, and that possessing a single shard can increase a person’s natural powers at least a hundred times over. One of the guards wonders if they should take the shard from the painter, then the other guard says that Miroku possesses one too. The Lord is intrigued.
Later that night, the two guards enter Miroku’s room and attempt to kill him while he sleeps, but he was too smart for that. Miroku easily beats them off. Inu comes running and asks Miroku if he’s alright. Miroku, holding his staff to the mens’ throats, asks them to tell him what’s going on. One of the men says that their Lord ordered them to attack him to get the shard, and that their Lord himself went to get the painter’s shard.
Miroku asks the two men where the painter is (they obviously tell him). Miroku then runs outside and grabs Kagome’s bike, asking her if he can “borrow her contraption for a bit”. He begins pedalling away. Kagome and Shippo run after him, telling him to wait up, but they’re both grabbed from behind by Inu, who tosses them onto his back and starts running. He yells to Miroku to keep going and that he’ll catch up.
Out in a field near the painter’s hut, the Lord has assembled a barrage of men who start an attack. Inside his hut, the painter unrolls several paintings and calls forth his hellish army. A black cloud full of demons emerges from his hut and begins destroying all of the Lord’s men. They run in fear, and the Lord yells for someone to help him get his horse under control. Ha ha!
Inu & Co. reach the battlefield, and Shippo tells Inu that he musn’t slay the demons because their blood will make him pass out again. Inu replies “Just watch”, then draws the Tetsusaiga and begins slaying demons. The Lord tells Inu that he saved him, and says that Inu will be compensated. Some blood then splashes to the ground and spooks his horse, which takes off (with the Lord). The blood splashes onto Inu & Co., and Inu passes out again.
Another demon on a horse comes charging toward Kagome & Co., and she calls for Inu. Miroku steps in and destroys the demon, then Inu wakes up as Kagome remarks that Miroku saved them. Miroku then unleashes his wind tunnel, and begins sucking all the demons into it. The painter, looking out his window, sees what’s going on. When all of the demons have been sucked in, Miroku covers his hand again and sinks down onto the ground, groaning in pain. He tells them that he’s never drawn in so many demons before, and that just needs to rest a bit. Inwardly, Inu compalins that he knew they couldn’t count on Miroku.
The gound begins to shake, and a huge snake-like demon with three heads emerges from the ground (the painter is sitting on the middle head). Inu pulls the others away from it, then it attacks them. They all duck out of the way. When the snake comes around again, Inu asks Kagome if she can tell him where the jewel shard is. She looks and tells him that it’s in the bamboo ink pot on the painter’s waist. Inu says he’s all over it and then jumps up onto the back of the snake as it passes. The painter sees him and turns around. Annoyed, he unleashes another painting with demons of death on it.
Inu easily beats off the five or so demons that attack him. Miroku is impressed and wonders what the technique is called that Inu is using and Kagome replies “It’s called wailing on them” (that was hilarious!). Inu tells the painter that to hand over the jewel before Inu gets really upset. Two of the snake’s heads then shoot fire at Inu and he is surrounded by it. Inu falls down a ways on the snake’s back, but manages to hang on. He breaks free from the fire using the Tetsusaiga, but the painter refuses to give up the jewel, because it’s his last chance at happiness.
Inu flies up and uses the Tetsusaiga to slice the ink pot from the painter’s waist, then cuts the ink pot in half. The ink spills out and the three-headed snake disappears. The painter goes tumbling to the ground and hits a tree, then gets up and freaks out because his ink has been spilled. He grabs a sword and uses it to slash hiw own wrist (eww!). He then tells the ink to use his blood, hoping that it will come to life in doing so.
All the ink that is floating in the air zooms toward the painter, but instead of fusing with his blood, the ink devours it he starts to shrivel up. The painter calls out for help, but Inu can only watch helplessly. After a few seconds, the ink finishes the painter off and then falls all over the ground. Kagome, Shippo and Miroku run up behind Inu, and Inu once again calls the painter a fool, saying that the ink devoured him. Kagome thinks it was a terrible way to end, and Inu agrees, saying that the painter’s ambition must have turned the ink into a parasite. Because he would rather have the ink suck his blood dry than give over the jewel fragment, he paid for it with his life.
The jewel shard appears in the middle of the ink, but Miroku tells won’t touch it, fearing it is evil. Kagome picks it up instead, and Miroku is suprised. Kagome asks who wants it, and Inu says that it’s obviously his. Kagome says that Miroku did his share of work too, but Miroku then tells Kagome to keep it. Kagome agrees, and Shippo jumps onto Inu’s head, saying “Good thing someone’s grown up”. Yeah Shippo! Inu turns away grumpily, while Miroku inwardly marvels that Kagome purified the evil shard simply by picking it up.
Next morning, the gang is travelling down the road, and Kagome asks if Miroku is really going to come with them (I guess he decided to). Miroku says yes, and that travelling in the company of a pretty woman is much more enjoyable. Kagome giggles at his comment but Inu just huffs and puffs. Miroku then says that despite Inu’s appearance, he’s not such a bad guy. Inu looks back at them but says nothing. Kagome then remembers (flashback) that Inu could have killed the painter with one blow, but chose instead to spare him and aim only for the ink pot. She figures that Inu’s alright as a person, he just doesn’t know it yet. She thinks that one day, when the time is right, she’ll tell him so.