Tōkijin



T&#333;kijin (「闘鬼神」), in the anime and manga InuYasha, is a possessed sword forged from the fangs of Goshinki, Naraku's detachment, at the request of Sesshomaru.

Forging of the sword
When Goshinki attacks a village at the behest of Naraku, he encounters InuYasha and the group. In the process of dueling with Inuyasha, Goshinki is able to predict all of InuYasha's moves due to his telepathic powers. Finally Goshinki seizes Tetsusaiga using his fangs, the two are deadlocked in a struggle to free the sword. From the tremendous amount of pressure applied to the sword, it is broken in half, with many smaller fragments. InuYasha is knocked unconscious for a brief while, but he storms back in his transformed demon form and slices Goshinki into pieces.

Nevertheless, the feat of grasping the Tetsusaiga with his fangs and able to apply enough pressure to break it is mighty indeed for a demon. Sesshomaru arrives on the scene and he senses the events that took place. He brings the intact head of Goshinki to the evil sword smith Kaijinbō, who was an apprentice of Tōtōsai. Sesshomaru tells Kaijinbō of how the fangs of this demon had enough power to break the Tetsusaiga, the prized masterpiece of his former teacher whom he now despises, and requests him to craft a sword out of the fangs of this demon. Kaijinbō reasons that he cannot do so because the bones are dead and will not forge a great weapon. Sesshomaru, upon hearing this, draws the Tenseiga and revived the demon's head, its eyes gleam with evil.

When Jaken visits Kaijinbō's hut afterwards, seeking to know if the sword has been completed. Jaken stumbles upon a possessed Kaijinbō, who has been completely overtaken by the sword's demonic aura. Kaijinbō kills Jaken with the sword and sets out to take revenge on InuYasha (Later, Sesshomaru revives Jaken with his Tenseiga).

Demonic aura defeated
The sword bore the hatred of Goshinki, who is determined to kill InuYasha for killing him. Upon meeting InuYasha, he declares that this sword is the Tōkijin, made from the fangs of the demon Goshinki. However, Kaijinbō is a sword smith, not a warrior, and the powers of Goshinki overwhelmed him. Kaijinbō's body could not hold up against such strong forces of the Tōkijin, and his body is obliterated. The sword is left standing in the ground, radiating demonic aura.

After reviving Jaken and learning what happened in the hut, Sesshomaru traced Kaijinbō to where he died and finds that InuYasha's group as well as Tōtōsai are attempting to destroy the sword unsuccessfully. He sees the Tōkijin, but Tōtōsai warns him not to touch the sword for even he would be possessed by its power. Sesshomaru does not heed his warnings and pulls the sword from the ground, instantly subduing the demonic aura with his own power.

He then orders InuYasha to draw the Tetsusaiga and fight with him in order to find out why the scent of his blood changed during a battle with Goshinki. Using Tōkijin, he is able to dislodge it from InuYasha's grasp and witnesses his transformation into a full yōkai. Before he can fully transform, Tōtōsai and the group intervene, ending the battle before it became ugly. Sesshomaru notes in a very spiteful manner that InuYasha's demon form made him afraid, even for just a single moment.

Pre-Sesshomaru
While in the hands of Kaijinbō; Tōkijin exhibited a series of powers, abilities, and attributes which altered (or were never again witnessed) after being claimed by Sesshomaru. Among these, all demonstrated in the anime's 44th episode Kaijinbo's Evil Sword, were:
 * Needle-like Kenatsu: (the only such pre-Sesshomaru ability which is seen, albeit temporarily, after the daiyōkai took possession of the sword).
 * Perpetual aura: exudes a purplish-pink plasma, controlling anyone not powerful enough to overwhelm it.
 * Teleportation: Tōkijin could convert its wielder into pure red energy, then swiftly teleport the user along the ground, while slicing through anything in its pathway
 * Telepathic revelation: Tōkijin could see through deceit and offer its wielder psychic information on his intended victim.
 * Re-vitalization: By emanating its aura in a circular pulse, Tōkijin could revitalize a badly-wounded wielder such that said user could then continue fighting despite the presence of the injury.

Post-Sesshomaru
After Sesshomaru takes control of Tōkijin; it first left a green trail wherever it was swung, then it was used to fire an attack of pinkish purple and green energy which shot golden needle like attacks. The sword evolved to release blue energy waves that were clearly of superior might to anything Kaijinbo managed to generate with the blade. And finally (in the movies only) through Sesshomaru’s total mastery of the sword, Tōkijin was able to manifest the physically destructive aspect of Sesshomaru's Sōryūha, which is sufficient to overpower even Inuyasha's Bakuryūha.

It is interesting to note that Tōkijin could potentially be the most powerful weapon in the Inuyasha series. It fires hate energy at the opponent. The more hatred the user has, the stronger its power will be (though there is however evidence that Tōkijin's kenatsu attack is not fueled by hatred alone). In Sesshomaru's battle with Mōryōmaru, when Mōryōmaru insulted Kagura, Sesshomaru grew angry and attacked Mōryōmaru with the Tōkijin. A massive blast was formed, causing far more damage than a regular attack. Tōkijin's sword energy was so powerful that it was able to shatter Kongosoha spears, something no demon has ever done due to Kongoseki's status as the hardest material in the world. This is reflected in Mōryōmaru's half oblitered face and broken shoulder armor.

Limitations and Destruction
Tōkijin is later broken (in the manga and The Final Act) when it was used against Mōryōmaru, who had absorbed Meioujuu's armor-shell. Angered by Mōryōmaru's insult to the demise of Kagura, Sesshomaru ignored the signs of the impending breakage of the sword and forced it to crack open the amour-shell. Due to the incredible stress applied to Tōkijin, the sword ultimately broke. It's ironic when one considers the circumstances behind the birth and death of Tōkijin. When the fangs of Goshinki broke the Tetsusaiga, it lead to Goshinki's death and the birth of Tōkijin. Unlike Tetsusaiga, it was not broken because the adversary applied too much force on it; it was broken because Sesshomaru exerted too much energy on it.

Special Attacks

 * Kenatsu: Translated as Sword Pressure, it is Tōkijin's ability to cut and harm enemies without physical contact. In the beginning, it takes the form of a rain of needle-like energy which deals moderate damage to foes. Later, as Sesshomaru fully masters the sword, he releases it as a blue wave of energy which completely disintegrates the adversary. The strength of this attack depends on how it is unleashed by Sesshomaru. Usually it shoots beams of blue light, and when Sesshomaru utilizes its full potential it comes out in the form of parallel blue trails of energy similar to how InuYasha’s Kaze no Kizu is released. Amazingly, one Kenatsu is seen as being able to cut Inuyasha’s Kaze no Kizu attack, unleashed by his Tetsusaiga, in half mainly because of the yōkai levels of the users’ of the respective swords.
 * Sōryūha (蒼龍破, Azure Dragon Wave, (Dragon Strike in the English Dubbed): (Movies and The Final Act only) It seems that this technique is unique to Sesshomaru when he uses the Tōkijin or Tenseiga since he executed it three times in the third movie, and twice in the fourth movie. In the third movie when Sōryūha is unleashed, thick arcs of blue lightning stab the earth and carry their destructive force to Sesshomaru's opponent. In the fourth movie it is worth noting that the energy released by Sōryūha resolves into the shape of a dragon right before destroying the enemy (in keeping with the attack's name). This attack never appeared in the manga. Since the attack was performed by both Tōkijin and Tenseiga in the third movie, there is some speculation as to whether the attack is just an output of Sesshomaru's demonic energy. Interestingly enough, like the Tetsusaiga-- Tōkijin seems to possess the ability to adjust to particular attacks and energies: when Sesshomaru first utilized Sōryūha, Tōkijin's blade would often short-circuit due to it being "only an oni's fang" and thus unaccustomed to the massive amount of yōki channeled through its blade. However, by the time of the fourth movie; the sword seemed capable of being a conduit for the attack with no ensuing refractory period. Sesshomaru also uses the technique shortly before Tōkijin breaks in half against Moryomaru in The Final Act but the attack is different, consisting of a single small dragon shaped aura wrapping around the sword and chipping away at his shell.

Tōkijin Tokijin