Characters
The Infant
As the final remnants of the Band of Seven are destroyed, Miroku and Sango stumble into a pile of small, white, deformed child-like creatures deep inside Mount Hakurei. They soon discover that the entire mountain is Naraku's new body, growing more powerful and undergoing a metamorphosis. Outside of the mountain Kikyo watches as Kagura escapes carrying something in her arms. Soon everyone realizes what has happened, Naraku has tried to separate himself from his human heart, the part of him that still loved Kikyo. He had attempted this once before and created Muso, but the separation was unsuccessful. This time his lesser human side was successfully removed and the result is the Infant.
The Infant begins his life as a small, white haired baby wrapped in Naraku's baboon pelt. Kagura cares for him and obeys his commands to lure Kagome into his clutches. He possesses Kagome and tries to uses a tainted Shikon shard to bring her permanently under his control in order to gain her ability to "see" Shikon shards. Kagome resists his temptations and Inuyasha manages to thwart the Infant's scheme. He readily admits that he may be the rejected, human side of Naraku but one thing he did not keep was a love of Kikyo. The discarded, aborted creatures within Naraku were the remains of his lust for the priestess. The Infant, it seems, is the vile, dirty, polluted remains of Onigumo, Naraku's original human host.
Once his plan to take Kagome fails he begins to attack priests searching for the whereabouts of the final shard. One priest is able to injure him badly, cutting him in half. Half of his body is entrusted to Kagura, while the other half if given to Kanna and Kohaku to look after. One half grows into Hakudoshi, while the other regrows its other half and allows the Infant to heal.
Eventually the Infant falls in with Moryomaru. He gives the creature sentience, and in return Moryomaru acts as a protective armor to the vulnerable baby. Within the giant creature, the Infant clutches the fuyoheki, a small stone which prevents him from being detected by Kagome and Kikyo. The Infant eventually grows too greedy and decides to turn against Naraku, planning on destroying both he and Inuyasha and taking the completed Shikon Jewel for himself. This complicates things for Naraku, who has hidden his heart, his sole weakness within the Infant.
The Meaning Behind the Name - 赤子
The characters in the Infant's name are read as "akago" (赤子) which literally means "red child," while "akago" itself means "infant" in Japanese. The name is symbolically linked to the "white child" (白童子) Hakudoshi.
Voices:
Ai Kobayashi
Chiara Zanni