This story picks up after Goku has his youkai power limiter restored and continues to relate the story of Chin Yisou and Cho Hakkai's past. Sha Gojyo is seriously wounded by one of Chin Yisou's shikigami, and Hakkai nearly goes crazy after he's forced to strange Sanzo. ( )

Who was it told me that this was a series that would really dig its claws into you in the fourth volume? Because good lord, were they ever right. The more I read of Hakkai's backstory, the more I gaped at the page. It was really not something I would have ever predicted for him, either in regards to his relationship with his sister (which had me slackjawed for, oh, a good five minutes or so) or in regards to how exactly it is that he became a youkai. Though in fairness, I did not know that such a thing was possible - is that something which Minekura came up with herself, or is that a feature of the legend surrounding the original story?

I'm really loving the slowly developing accretion of layers upon layers of character interaction and dynamic. Even small little things are feeding into that, like how Sanzo was able to recognize almost immediately that Goku was an imposter, let alone Sanzo's line about how Hakkai would rather have died than kill him. I'm looking forward to the next volume immensely. ( )