Miroku

**Miroku** (弥勒, "Maitreya") is a monk and a minor character of the *IG-88's Adventures Series*who traveled with Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippō, and Sango. His grandfather Miyatsu was cursed fifty years ago by Naraku, leading to the creation of the wind tunnel, which was destined to be passed down to all of his male descendants, including Miroku.

He is voiced by Kirby Morrow.

## BIO

Miroku was raised and trained by his father's friend named Mushin who became Miroku's guardian when his father was swallowed by his Kazaana/Wind Tunnel, an event Miroku witnessed alongside Mushin. The status of his mother is left unknown.

His grandfather was cursed by Naraku who, in the past, had fought together many times and each time Naraku appeared to him in a different form. Though Miroku's grandfather was a powerful monk, he was also a lecherous man which Naraku used to his advantage. Naraku took the form of a beautiful maiden in order to catch Miroku's grandfather off guard. When Naraku revealed himself, the battle between the two foes began. Whilst battling Naraku, Miroku's grandfather was pierced though the hand - creating the Wind Tunnel. The wind tunnel would grow bigger as time passes, and eventually will over grow the victim's hand, which will suck in the victim and tear them apart. This curse has been passed down from father to son, and thus eventually to Miroku. Miroku is able to control the wind tunnel by sealing it with prayer beads.

Prior to meeting Inuyasha and Kagome, Miroku traveled the countryside performing (As he viewed it) his Buddhist duties towards the people he meets on his journey. This includes praying for any who ask, comforting the sick and dying, and His particular specialty) exorcising unwanted spirits and yōkai, sometimes destroying them in the process. These exorcisms should not be confused with the work done by the yōkai taijiya Sango. If his clients are rich, Miroku rips them off and/or steals anything of value he can get his hands on.

As a Buddhist monk, one of his main concerns is that the spirit or soul of the individual (Including that of demons) should "find rest" and pass peacefully into the "next world". Without this, the spirit is doomed to wander this world, often in a malicious or malevolent form, and further can be taken over by other demons to cause more trouble.

In addition to these duties, Miroku is constantly searching for Naraku, the demon that cursed his family with the Kazaana; for if he does not find and destroy Naraku, then he will be consumed by the curse as his father and grandfather were before him. Near the end of the series, his Kazaana reaches its limit and Naraku plans on forcing him use it one final time so that he will suffer his father and grandfather's tragic fates. However, as Naraku meats his gradual defeat, his Wind Tunnel begins to close before vanishing altogether.

After pawning off the spoils of one of his exorcism/robberies, Miroku decide to relax in a hot spring. He spied on Kagome at the time, noticing she carried a large shard of the Shikon jewel with her. Because of Inuyasha's presence, Miroku saw he had no chance of stealing the jewel. He forced his friend Hachi, a racoon-dog who often served him, into helping him create a distraction the next day, successfully stealing the shard. When Inuyasha followed him to take it back, Miroku threatened him with the Wind Tunnel. However, Kagome threw herself at him as he had it open, risking being consumed by it, forcing him to close it. Regaining consciousness, Miroku groped Kagome, making her order Inuyasha to kill him. He explained his situation to Inuyasha, at the same time revealing the truth of the trap Naraku had successfully sprung Kikyō and Inuyasha. He decided to travel with them, but not before trying to persuade Kagome into having his child to carry on his family mission to destroy Naraku. She is stunned by this offer, followed by Inuyasha threatening Miroku to never make advances towards her again.

Soon afterwards, Miroku collected three more shards of the jewel when he temporarily left the group. He reunited with Inuyasha and Kagome when he was, to his surprise, actually performing an exorcism. Learning of a painter who drew the demons of Hell as his personal minions, Miroku accompanied his friends to battle the painter and, using his wind-tunnel, sucked up all the demons at the cost of being severely weakened. He watched as Inuyasha destroyed the ink pot with a jewel shard in it and the painter be consumed by the very paint he desired. Knowing the shard was tainted by the painter's evil, Miroku watched in amazement as Kagome purified it with a simple touch.

During one of his fake exorcisms, Miroku joined Inuyasha in a fight against Sesshōmaru. Using the Wind Tunnel to suck in Sesshōmaru's minion, Miroku was poisoned for the first time by Saimyōshō. Suffering from the poison, Miroku beat Jaken to a pulp to learn Naraku gave Sesshōmaru the insects to seal the Wind Tunnel. Kagome gave him modern medicine to counteract the poison.

After Inuyasha won the battle, Miroku teamed up with Lady Kaede to seal him in a hut until he recovered after he forced Kagome back to her era. At the same time, Rōyakan had become violent thanks to Naraku implanting shards in him. Miroku was forced to break concentration on a barrier hiding Inuyasha's hut to keep Kaede from being harmed by a spear Naraku sent flying at them. Without the use of his Wind Tunnel, Miroku had a hard time fighting until Inuyasha regained strength and easily knocked Rōyakan out. He watched in amazement as Kagome returned, who told them of someone nearby with several jewel shards. It was at this time, Miroku encountered Naraku, his family enemy and the one who cursed him with the Wind Tunnel. Naraku released a Cloud of Destruction, forcing him to evacuate Kagome and Kaede from the area. After Inuyasha failed to kill Naraku, Miroku learned of a spider-shaped burn mark on Naraku's back that would serve as his calling card.

Soon afterwards, the group heard about the souls of deceased maidens that were being stolen by demons. This was later revealed to have been caused by the still-alive Kikyō, who needed souls of the dead to sustain herself. Miroku questioned Inuyasha whether he cared for Kagome or Kikyō more; however, Inuyasha didn't know himself and wondered if he could care about both of them. Miroku sympathized with Inuyasha as it was a typical male problem with choosing which girl they love; however, he did warn that if either Kagome or Kikyō found out, Inuyasha would get a "Sit" command. No sooner had he said this, Inuyasha received an angry "Sit" command from Kagome.[1]

Miroku may be lecherous at times, but that doesn't stop him from finding true love. Upon hearing about a village of Demon Slayers who were also collecting shards of the Shikon Jewel from demons that they felled, the group traveled to find their village. However, they found the village completely destroyed and all the residents dead. At that time, Miroku met Myōga the flea demon. It was also revealed some of the slayers had been called away to the Hitomi clan castle to slay a demon. Hoping to find them, they encountered Sango, the sole survivor of the group that had been slaughtered by a demon manipulating her younger brother. She mistook Inuyasha for the village's attacker due to Naraku manipulating her. Miroku tricked him into revealing he told the demons that the village lacked the best demon slayers at the time, and thus was vulnerable to attack. However, upon Naraku's defeat, they discovered that he was no more than a demon puppet, controlled by the real Naraku.

As Sango recovered from her wounds, Miroku restrained himself and kept all lecherous actions from occurring, showing that even he has self-restraint when it comes to being a lecher. During Sango's recuperation, the group learned of the Shikon Jewel's origin in a cave in the village. When Sango recovered from her injuries and emotionally healed from her family and comrades deaths, Miroku resumed his lecherous attitude and continuously tried groping her. However, he received painful slaps and other beatings for doing such; however, he didn't seem to mind.

Arriving at a village home to a Water God demanding human sacrifices, the group exposed the Water God as a fake that stole the Trident of Amakoi from the real Water Goddess. Miroku helped rescue her and resisted his natural lecherous tendencies out of fear of divine punishment. When the fake Water God was destroyed, Miroku sucked its remains into the Wind Tunnel.

While the group was slaying a rat demon, Miroku pursued a beautiful woman to the outside of a village. The woman revealed herself to be a mantis demon, who wished to eat him. Miroku quickly sucked it into the Wind Tunnel, but the mantis nicked the sides on the way in, making the Wind Tunnel dangerous to use again as it could spread from the nicks and shorten his life more. Seeking help, Miroku went to Master Mushin's temple to get the old drunk's help in repairing the damage. While waiting for him to mend his wound, Miroku didn't notice a Demon Worm Charmer's presence as he possessed Mushin; Naraku hired this demon to kill Miroku with a jewel shard as payment for the demon. Miroku escaped to his father's grave and put up a barrier. When the barrier fell, Inuyasha and the others showed up to save him. However, the possessed Mushin prevented Inuyasha from slaying the demons, forcing Miroku to use his Wind Tunnel; it spread from the nicks, shortening his life. The demons were destroyed for the first time by the Wind Scar, unknown to Inuyasha, and Mushin was freed from the charmer's control. Upon awakening after Mushin mending his Wind Tunnel, Miroku couldn't help but fake out Sango to grope her.

Upon being accused of visiting villages and performing fake exorcisms, Miroku ended up being chased out of them; however, he claimed to be innocent of all wrongdoing (on this occasion). When the next village revealed that "he" had sold outrageously expensive sutras that turned into leaves, Miroku immediately realized Hachi had been posing as him. Finding Hachi in a cave, Miroku rescued him from a weasel demon by threatening to suck the weasel into the Wind Tunnel. When questioning Hachi about how he got girls to go crazy for him while in disguise, Miroku learned indifference is the key. When Sango got angry at them for whispering to each other, Hachi turned into Miroku, and both ran in a circle to confuse her and ran off. Sango gave chase, but both pretended not to be him, insisting that the other was Miroku. Hachi reminded Miroku of his advice, but Miroku knew it wouldn't work for him.

Following the clue that Naraku had fled in the direction of the Ox-Tiger, Miroku and his companions arrived at Mount Hakurei, a mountain with a purifying barrier so strong, it knocked out weak, evil demons and turned half-demons mortal. After encountering the Band of Seven, Miroku came to believe that Naraku was hiding inside of Mount Hakurei as it was the perfect place to recover as most of those after him could not get inside without consequence. Despite initially having some trouble entering himself, only he, Sango and Kagome could enter the barrier without trouble. Whereas Inuyasha, Shippō, Kirara, Sesshōmaru, Kōga (due to being demons) and Kikyō would be attacked by the barrier.

He and Sango decide to explore the mountain, leaving Kagome with Inuyasha, Shippō, and Kirara. They end up finding Kagura and a horde of Naraku's demons inside. Sango was knocked unconscious by her own weapon, forcing Miroku to carry it and her to safety. Though Kagura taunted him by saying he could save himself by abandoning Sango, Miroku declared that he is willing to sacrifice himself for the woman he loves, and opened the Wind Tunnel and sucking in the poisonous insects, surprising Kagura. Managing to, unknowingly, reenter the barrier after suffering from poisoned badly, Miroku had the Saimyōshō venom purified from his body. While thinking they were going to die, Miroku heard Sango confess her feelings to him, but was shocked when she forgot moments later. They meet the reanimated Hakushin, and Miroku decides to suck him into the Wind Tunnel as he would not let the barrier down. Unknown to him, Kikyō later helped Hakushin's soul ascend.

With the barrier gone, Inuyasha, Shippō, Kirara, and Kagome could enter Mount Hakurei. Miroku and Sango succeed in finding Naraku temporarily, but lose sight of him when Kagura attacks. Sent plummeting below into a pit thanks to Kagura's Dance of Blades destroying their footing, Miroku and Sango discover the remains of demons Naraku tossed out to make himself stronger. Even more strange, the remains began turning into infant-like clumps of flesh. Hearing Kagome and Shippō's voices below them, Miroku and Sango cleared some of the clumps away to see them in an abyss below. Suddenly all the clumps of flesh began falling down into the darkness with Miroku and Sango following, but Kirara caught them.

To their shock, Naraku reappeared, albeit just a head, with Inuyasha captured in his tentacles; Mount Hakurei had become the half-demon's own body. After Naraku stole all the jewel shards, he then united them to allow a more powerful body to be constructed. Miroku warned Inuyasha that Naraku's power had grown significantly since their last battle, but was ignored. Naraku escaped to the outside while making Mount Hakurei begin to collapse. Miroku sucked the resulting miasma into the Wind Tunnel to save them while Inuyasha went to saveKōga after he fell from Naraku's grasp below. Once outside, Miroku watched as the mountain crumbled into nothing.

Following the discovery Kikyō had been slain by Naraku, Miroku explained to Kōga that her spiritual powers were what Naraku feared the most, hence why he went to all the trouble of taking control of Mount Hakurei. While passing by a village that had been devastated by demons Naraku allowed to escape the mountain, a wandering priest mentioned he came across a wounded priestess one mountain over who may have died of her wounds. When Inuyasha took off to investigate, Miroku, Sango and Kagome were captured by soldiers under the orders of a Lady. Kagome was taken to see her while Sango, Miroku, and other captives were ordered to be executed. Sango managed to cut the ropes tied around her with a hidden blade in her sleeve. She retrieved her and Miroku's weapons and freed him also. They knew that these men were being ordered by someone else to kill them. As they did not wish to kill humans, Miroku and Sango found themselves having trouble knocking them out.

They later discovered that the Lady and the priest were in fact being controlled by Kagura's Dance of the Dead. Rescuing Kagome from Naraku's latest trap, Miroku quickly deduced Naraku's newest incarnation, an Infant, was born of Onigumo's heart; however, it was not Onigumo himself, he was left behind in Mount Hakurei. Kagura and the Infant were forced to retreat, but not before warning that they would keep trying to use Kagome's eyes to find the remaining Shikon Jewel shards.

Hearing about a village of demon women who skinned their victims, Miroku was delighted to come across a village of women who had lost their loved ones in war. Having not sensed any demonic aura, Miroku began flirting with any woman he could find; however, he instantly detected the "scent of death" from Sango, who wanted to leave and continue the search. However, they were invited to stay the night and Miroku happily agreed, but found himself rooming solely with Inuyasha, Shippō, and Shinsuke (a man they met previously who was searching for his wife, Wakana, because they had separated from war). He doesn't want to stay in the village anymore because he had hoped to spend some time with the women. He's left gloomy and disappointed for awhile. Shippō questions him about what happened in Mt. Hakurei, with him and Sango. Miroku remembers how he planned to risk himself to save her life, and her confessing her feelings, but he tells Shippō that nothing happened. Later on, much to his joy, a woman offered to spend her time with him, leading Miroku to a hall with a Kwanon hanging scroll. Noticing a demonic vapor coming out of the woman's mouth, Miroku lamented that his luck sucks when it comes to being with a woman and turned his attention to the scroll, which held the spirit of a demon in it. It has a Salamander demon that ruled the marsh, but was exorcised and skinned; it ate the skin of men to prepare for its resurrection.

Miroku dealt damage to the demon, forcing it to flee. Realizing something was in the woman's stomach controlling her, Miroku punched her stomach with a sutra wrapped around his fist, making her spit up a salamander egg. He headed for the marsh, where the demon had partially resurrected itself, and was facing Inuyasha while Kagome and Shippō tried to fight the other possessed women. Miroku hands them sutras and tells them how to break the women out of their trance. Inuyasha destroyed the demon with ease, but the women remained possessed so long as the demon's eggs remained in their stomachs. He then learned Sango had vanished after going after the women on her own; he found Kirara, completely soaked. Miroku gave sutras to Kagome, tasking her with saving the other women and rode Kirara into the marsh underneath the water. Much to his surprise, he was attacked by Hiraikotsu; Sango had been forced to swallow a salamander egg. Miroku fought the possessed Sango, getting lightly injured in his successful attempt to purge the demon from her belly. He admitted she was a "fearsome opponent" and thought he was going to die. When everyone else learned what happened to Sango, they scolded him as it was his own fault due to his flirting.

Miroku later told Sango of his feelings; he valued her as the companion he fights with, but because of that he feels he can't love her as a woman. Though a tearful Sango was ready to leave, Miroku asks her live with him and to bear his children (ten, maybe twenty) if they live through their battle with Naraku and the curse of the Wind Tunnel is broken. Sango tearfully but happily agrees, and asks Miroku to promise not to flirt with other women. Miroku could only laugh nervously; it takes a lot to break bad habits.[2]

Upon hearing from Hachi that Mushin is dying, Miroku and the others visit and fulfill his final requests which was doing all the cleaning chores, even getting a special brew from the Sake Sages. However, he later learns in disbelief that Mushin believed he was going to be one of the priests of high spiritual power slain; many others had been killed, leading to the release of demons under seals. They all yell at Mushin that he will be completely safe, for he doesn't exactly have high spiritual power. Coming across a temple that had recently been attacked, the attacker's identity was revealed to be Kagura and the Infant; however, the Infant had been split in half. Miroku quickly surmised that the Infant was vital to Naraku. Chasing the horse demon Entei, which had escaped its seal thanks to the death of the priest who sealed it, they came face to face with Hakudōshi, Naraku's newest incarnation.

Hakudōshi taunted them, revealing where the final shard of the Shikon Jewel lay; in the Borderland between this world and the next. Soon afterwards, they were lead to the Land of Fire, where the only gate to the Next World existed; however, it was a trap set by Hakudōshi: one would need to be killed by the gatekeepers Mezu and Gozu in order to pass. Miroku helped save Inuyasha by using the Wind Tunnel to pull their weapons off target. Inuyasha forced the gate open, allowing them to discover the light from behind it will petrify anything it touches (for Kagura had tried to enter with her army of demons); Kagome confirmed the Shikon Jewel shard was in the next world.

Soon afterward, word spread of villagers being drained of their blood by demons. Miroku offered to protect a village in exchange for food and boarding. No sooner had he finished his usual line, demon birds descended upon the village and they met Princess Abi, the bird demons' master. She fled soon after escaping the Wind Scar. Because of the demon birds' attacks, word soon spread of Saint Hijiri, who could protect others from the birds. They set off and ran into an old couple and two kids who survived an attack from Abi's birds. Following a trail up the mountain, Kagura and Hakudōshi appear with the demon birds. While the demon birds attack, everyone protects the crowd of people trying to reach what they believe was a safe settlement. Sango found it strange how Kagura and Hakudōshi weren't attacking, and Miroku assumes it's because they must be buying time. Hakudōshi confirms it a second later, that Abi is probably killing the settlement of humans at that moment. Hijiri's arrow proved powerful enough to break Hakudōshi's barrier, leading to speculation thatKikyō may have survived Naraku's attack at Mount Hakurei. Their original goal was to track down the bird demons' nests, yet they ended up searching for Saint Hijiri.

They hear a rumor about this place in the forest where Hijiri may be, and they set off towards it. Miroku and the rest separate from Inuyasha, going on ahead anxiously and leaving him to deal with a bunch of Naraku's weak demons. They run into more demons up ahead and had to stop and fight. Sango, Kirara, and Miroku were the ones fighting the demons, meaning to protect Kagome and Shippō. Seeing Kagome run off on her own, Miroku stops fighting to chase after her, intending to stop her. He lost her once she passed a barrier he couldn't, and disappeared. Later, they find out Kikyō was alive, but she needed Kagome to purify the miasma in her body.

When Princess Abi attacked a castle, it was revealed Kohaku had been there under Naraku's orders. Miroku and the others fought the demon birds, letting Sango leave to find her younger brother, Kohaku. Later, Sango revealed she saw Kohaku trying to take a Lady's baby, which looked *just* like Hakudōshi; this meant Hakudōshi was a distraction to keep attention away from his other half, which must be more important. That night, Miroku comforts a distressed Sango by simply being next to her.

Eventually, Naraku beheaded Abi's mother, Tekkei, creating a River of Blood that took them all to the Borderland. There, Hōsenki, the demon in possession of the last shard, warned them away because the shard did not want to be reassembled into the jewel. After corrupting Hōsenki's shard to make him fight and become weakened, Naraku took his prize. Miroku was prevented from sucking Naraku in by the threat of the Saimyōshō hive. With Sesshōmaru's arrival, the battle took a turn for the better as Inuyasha gained the Adamant Barrage from Hōsenki, successfully crippling Naraku. When Inuyasha was trying to break open Hōsenki's invincible diamond skull to learn Adamant Barrage, Miroku and Kagome were trying to get Inuyasha to stop since the sharp pieces flying off of Hōsenki were making him bleed immensely. In the end, Naraku vanished back to the World of the Living, along with an arrow from Kikyō that Kagome fired. The shard was retrieved and taken back with them.

Upon meeting Gakusanjin, a mountain demon, it is revealed Naraku stole his Fuyōheki, a stone that hides demonic auras; no doubt it was for hiding the Infant from them and the rest of Naraku's enemies. The Mountain Man gave them shards of his demonic energy to find and retrieve the Fuyōheki. During the search for the Fuyōheki, they came across demons, patched-together from corpses and animated by *haku*; these were experiments created by Hakudōshi, to create his masterpiece, Mōryōmaru. Miroku was ashamed of himself, because he was attacked by Mōryōmaru, losing the shards of demonic energy, and thus their only lead to Naraku.[3]

Lamenting his losing of the shards of demonic energy, Miroku happily embraced Sango when she tried cheering him up; she even didn't protest to him groping her. Feeling an earthquake and demonic presence, they raced to a nearby lake, offering assistance. However, Miroku, much to his own surprise, was recognized by one of the men, who asked if he had come back to honor his promise to marry his daughter. Questioned persistently, Miroku immediately recognized Shima, who, three years ago, agreed to marry him once she recovered from her illness. Miroku was pummeled by Sango and continued to fear her wrath when Shima got close to him. Learning the Master of the Lake wants Shima as his bride, Miroku offered to help prevent it; however, this was misinterpreted as his willingness to marry Shima. Shima's father explained the Master of the Lake wants a virgin as his bride, so if she is married to someone else, he'll give up. When the Master of the Lake arrived, Shima lied, saying she slept with Miroku when they met. Miroku, having trouble remembering what exactly happened, was shocked at this accusation though he didn't say anything; at the same time, this only angered Sango further. Enraged at being tricked, the Master of the Lake transformed and prepared to destroy Shima's house.

Miroku tried getting Sango to help, but she was too hurt by what Shima had said to listen to him, and she ran off. Feeling equally hurt, Miroku said she didn't even give him time to explain the truth; Shippō was confused as Miroku is usually guilty when it comes to something perverted. The Master of the Lake kidnapped Shima, deciding to take her after all; Miroku chased them to the lake, where Sango saved Shima at the cost of being captured in her place. Enraged that the demon would try taking "his woman", Miroku drained the lake with his Wind Tunnel and gave the Master of the Former Lake a sound beating. After that, Miroku asked if Sango was alright. She was still stunned over Miroku's protectiveness over her and his previous words, but then she looks away to the side, remembering she was irritated with him about Shima. His expression turns apologetic and sheepish, and she turns away from him abruptly, walking quickly in the opposite direction. He throws Master to the side and chases after her, trying to get her attention. She continued to ignore him, but was secretly happy that he cared for her and she let out a sigh and then a smile. Sango was now relieved that he had proven his feelings. Miroku knew she understood his feelings now and playfully chased her around.

The next day when Shima revealed she lied, Miroku explained to Sango that he was foolish to think she would trust him and not what someone else said. Although, the two made up rather quickly. While walking on to their next adventure, Miroku was questioned as to why he didn't speak up sooner about Shima losing her virginity to him falsely. Earlier, Miroku had told Sango that he supposes he was "naive" because he thought Sango would know and trust he wouldn't do those things, without him having to tell her. That didn't appear to be the case. Shippō accurately guesses he must've taken a while to remember the truth. Miroku freezes and starts to sweat nervously at being caught. He then faced a possible beating from Sango for lying again, and he nervously tells her, "It was so long ago..."[4]

Upon hearing Gakusanjin had been slain by the Gyōja, Inuyasha's sense of smell was used to take them to a temple run by a priest named Goryōmaru; Goryōmaru had a demonic arm thanks to a demon trying to eat him, but he turned the tables and sealed him into his body. Kagura attacked the temple, believing the Infant was hidden inside; unknown to Miroku and the others, it was. Come daybreak, they investigated the nearby cave, where the corpses of demons were put under a spell that turned them into statues that attracted other demons. Kagura returned to the temple, but with Hakudōshi this time; Goryōmaru was decapitated while Hakudōshi picked up the Infant and Kanna, taking them away. The group was then lead to a stone ogre by Kagura, where the Infant supposedly was; however, it was another of Naraku's traps as he, himself, was there in place of his own heart. Miroku ended up poisoned by Saimyōshō while Inuyasha managed to free them from the ogre, which was brought to life by Naraku's shikon jewel.

Soon afterwards, Mōryōmaru betrayed Naraku, having become the vessel for the Infant, along with Hakudōshi and Kagura. They stole the Shikon Shard from Kagome while trying to take Kōga and Kohaku's shards; both attempts ended in failure. Miroku attempted to suck Hakudōshi into his Wind Tunnel after Naraku disabled Hakudōshi's barrier, but Saimyōshō prevented him from doing so. Much to everyone's surprise, the Saimyōshō abandoned Hakudōshi, allowing him to be sucked in. Kagura was offered a place in their group by Kagome, but decided to take off on her own. Kohaku was rescued from Mōryōmaru, who was forced to flee due to lacking enough power to fight on his own. Kohaku took off on his own again, afraid of bringing harm to others. They soon followed after Kagura when Inuyasha caught the scent of blood and miasma. They arrived in a field of flowers just as Kagura died, learning from Sesshōmaru that she was smiling. Mōryōmaru continued growing in power, becoming just as much as a threat as Naraku. At the same time, a new incarnation named Byakuyaappeared to replace Naraku's fallen minions; he observed as both Inuyasha and Mōryōmaru grew stronger, never fighting the other once. Naraku made a sudden move by bringing back to life a demonic tree able to break through barriers, and ate it.

Eventually, Naraku and Mōryōmaru faced off in a duel to absorb the other; Mōryōmaru succeeded and ate Naraku. However, it was later revealed to be a farce; Naraku needed to get inside of Mōryōmaru to use the demon tree's ability to break through barriers in order to reclaim and absorb the Infant back into himself. When Naraku attempted to flee, Miroku opened the Wind Tunnel, sucking in tons of Naraku's miasma to the point of bleeding out of his eyes and mouth. However, he managed to succeed in sucking in the Fuyōheki before Inuyasha forced him to close it. As Naraku taunted Miroku for almost getting him, the villain fled. An examination revealed Naraku's miasma had left a scar on Miroku's body that almost reached his heart; the scar resembled spider legs. Kikyō healed Miroku by pouring her own life energy into him to reverse the damage; however, if Miroku sucks in too much poison, the scars will reappear and spread until they reach his heart and kill him. After being saved from Bone Demons by Sango, Miroku found that his sucking in Naraku's miasma had left him extremely vulnerable to poison, not even being able to handle weaker versions of miasma. It was a constant pain when he would suck in any kinds of miasma. When Sango took her Hiraikotsu to be fixed by the Master of Potions, Miroku was offered a poisonous elixir that would prevent him from feeling pain from sucking in miasma, but it would not actually heal him. He told Inuyasha not to tell the others, especially Sango, and Inuyasha agreed as long as Miroku did not use his Wind Tunnel unnecessarily. To fight by Sango's side, Miroku took the potion, allowing the demon spirits that formed Hiraikotsu to be quelled and reforged.[5]

As the fight over Kohaku's shard to complete the jewel continued, Miroku found using the Wind Tunnel did not hurt anymore thanks to the Master of Potions' medicine. However, the scar began to spread from his hand again. When Magatsuhi tried to take a possessed Kohaku to Naraku, Miroku sucked in his main spiritual body, becoming badly poisoned by its evil spirit. However, he has also pushed the Wind Tunnel to the point of tearing, only to have two usages before being killed by it. Kohaku is taken and Miroku ends up badly hurt with a badly injured Sango. Inuyasha and Kagome rush over to them and Inuyasha scolds Miroku for using Wind Tunnel. All of them are taken off guard when they can actually start to hear the sound of the Wind Tunnel and it's not even open. Inuyasha continues to scold Miroku, when he cuts him off, saying that it's no time for accusations and that he and Kagome should hurry after Kohaku. Sango continues to look at Miroku, with wide eyes.

Inuyasha and Kagome continue after Kohaku. Sango's getting dressed to go after Kohaku also, even though Shippō asks and worries about her serious wounds. She's determined to put an end to Naraku, lifting the curse of Miroku's Wind Tunnel. Miroku's lying down in a storage shed with Kaede watching over him, for he had fallen asleep. Jaken's watching an unconscious Rin (she was poisoned by Magatsuhi's miasma too). Sango enters the storage shed and Jaken apologizes while repeatedly bowing, thinking it was Sesshōmaru. He realizes it's just the Demon Slayer and stops. By now, Sango knows what Miroku did, just to fight by her side. Saddened by it, she asks to be alone with him for a moment. Kaede carries Rin out, and Jaken follows after. Looking at Miroku, Sango thinks about how he always risked his life to save her and Kohaku. Tears falling, she kisses him as he sleeps, hoping he won't die. She then leaves to fight. Later during the night, Miroku's awake. Kaede informs him that she felt an ominous energy leaving his body, which they assumed was the part of Magatsuhi he absorbed. They hoped the others had defeated him. Unfortunately, they realize the real form of Magatsuhi was sucked into Miroku's body and had escaped. Magatsuhi later possesses Rin and takes her to Naraku as a hostage.

Everyone except for Shippō, Jaken, and Kohaku (they were ordered to stay behind) confronted Naraku's huge spider body. Sesshōmaru didn't hesitate to enter Naraku's body, with Kagome and Inuyasha going in right after. Miroku, Sango, and Kirara follow after them, but not before Miroku tells Sango, "Once this is over, let's have our wedding." Once inside, they realize that the whole body is completely Naraku. No matter how many parts of Naraku's flesh they attack, tentacles and clones keep coming back. Eventually, Naraku splits their group up by moving Kagome and Inuyasha to another location. Miroku and Sango continue, trying to find a way to get deeper into Naraku's body since that's where Kagome sensed the jewel was. They're caught in an illusion and Miroku watches as Naraku presents the scene of the day his father was sucked into the Wind Tunnel; seeing this unnerves Sango, who doesn't want him to share the same fate.

After the illusion is done, Miroku tries to calm Sango down. Kirara retrieves them so they can get out but tentacles knock them down. Miroku ends up landing on a higher level ground than Sango. Dazed, Sango tries to get her Hiraikotsu to attack tentacles coming at her but it was going to be too late, and Miroku is forced to use his Wind Tunnel to protect Sango. Much to her protests, she tries to climb up to where he is so he'll stop, but he doesn't until all the tentacles are gone. His Wind Tunnel whirs but when it finally calms down, he smiles sadly at Sango, saying they have to part ways. Then he distances himself from her to avoid sucking her in. He finds it would be more painful than death. When light returns to the Shikon Jewel thanks to Magatsuhi's death, Miroku follows the light to an illusion of Naraku, who tries to persuade him into using the Wind Tunnel. However, Inuyasha and Kagome prevent him from doing so. When being separated again from Inuyasha and Kagome when going after an unconscious and falling Sango, who had been knocked out from the miasma, the two end up alone in another part of Naraku's body. After she wakes up, he asks for forgiveness for abandoning her. However, she instead begs him to let her die alongside him when the Wind Tunnel sucks him in, refusing to be without him in life. Despite not wanting to, he relents and the two embrace and cling to each other, waiting for death.

When Sesshōmaru's Bakusaiga begins destroying Naraku, the Wind Tunnel curse begins fading, allowing Miroku to suck in all of the poisonous miasma spilling out of it. Escaping Naraku's body, Miroku watches as theMeidō Zangetsuha sends Naraku's remains to Hell; however, Naraku's head gets to the Bone-Eater's Wellbefore vanishing with the Shikon Jewel. To confirm Naraku's death, Miroku discovers the Wind Tunnel in his palm is gone, thus the Wind Tunnel curse has been lifted. At that time, Kagome is sucked into a Meidō and Inuyasha goes after her in another. While Inuyasha and Kagome were gone, Shippō, Sango, and Miroku often switched roles throughout the days, waiting for the Well and the other two to come back. Three days later, the Well reappears with just Inuyasha who tells them Kagome is safe on the other side of the well.

At the end of the series, Miroku no longer bears the Kazaana and marries Sango. They live in Kaede's village where they go on to have three children: twin girls and a recently newborn boy. He supports his family by exorcising demons with Inuyasha. However, he hasn't given up on swindling people; he takes three bales of rice, claiming that he has a family to provide for, as an excuse.

## ROLE IN THE IG-88'S ADVENTURES SERIES

He will make his debut in *IG-88's Adventures Of Captain America: Civil War,*where he will be one of the members of Tony Stark's faction of Avengers alongside Kagome, InuYasha, Sango, and Shippo. He along with his friends will later join The 88 Squad in fighting off The Horde Of Darkness in the final battle.