The Tenseiga: The Sword He Inherited

Now, you may have wondered how come Inuyasha gets a great sword from his father while Sesshoumaru inherits nothing...but ah, it's not nothing! Sesshoumaru did indeed inherit quite a godly sword also created from one of his father's fangs by Toutousai. However, we quickly realize that he refuses to use it even though he carries it with him at all times. Tenseiga is roughly translated as "Heavenly Life Fang" and it too has some amazing powers residing within the blade. Well, the name is quite obvious as to what the sword is used for isn't it? Yep..to heal and give life! According to Toutousai, the Tenseiga can restore life if used by someone who's mastered it. While the Tessaiga has the capability of killing 100 youkai with one swing, the Tenseiga can be used to restore 100 lives with one swing by someone who has the heart to truly cherish others. The sword is like an equal to the Tessaiga, brothers that are two sides of the same coin...it is neither superior nor inferior so it's not as though his father gave him a lesser sword by any means. However, a sword that can only be used to heal and not kill, Sesshoumaru could only stare at it with distaste. Who could Sesshoumaru possibly want to heal? The idea is almost funny when you think about the irony of the situation.

The sword does eventually prove to be of some use to Sesshoumaru though. During one of his battles with Inuyasha, the Tenseiga emanated a light that was able to keep Sesshoumaru from dying when Inuyasha managed to truly unleash the Kaze no Kizu attack on him. In the pictures below, you can see how the Tenseiga glowed around Sesshoumaru at the moment when he was directly hit by the Tessaiga's powerful attack. As said by Toutousai, the fact that the Tenseiga had saved Sesshoumaru meant that the sword had chosen him as its true master. It is quite interesting when you think about how Sesshoumaru would be unable to kill his brother with the Tenseiga while Inuyasha himself is also not able to use the Tessaiga to kill Sesshoumaru. Apparently, the brother swords cannot go against each other. Was that the intention of their late father, who might've known that his two sons would be fighting each other? It's a mystery that we can only speculate but not confirm.

So what about that whole deal regarding the fact that the potential of Tenseiga can only be used by someone who has the true heart to heal? On top of that, the reviving sword had chosen Sesshoumaru as its true master? I mean the Sesshoumaru that we know is of someone who is cold-hearted and does not seem to care about who he kills much less about healing anyone. In that sense, the Tenseiga works like a double-edged sword for him. Is he even able to use the abilities of the sword with a heart like his? And even if he could, would he even want to? If he did...would that mean that he's *gasp* kind-hearted and not as badass as we or even he, himself, think? It is indeed a sword that would bring some surprises into his life.

The Tessaiga: The Swords He Desires

The Tessaiga, also seen to have spelled like Tetsusaiga, basically translates as the "Iron Pulverising Fang." It is a sword in which the blade was created from the fang of Sesshoumaru's and Inuyasha's father by a swordsmith called Toutousai. From the first moment when we were introduced to Sesshoumaru's character, he was already avidly searching for this sword...and it seems he has been searching and failing to locate it for quite a lengthy period of time now. We quickly learn that he's a very powerful demon lord, and his indescribable desire to wield the Tessaiga in order to gain more power than he already has, amuses and perplexes even Sesshoumaru himself. However, the search is not easy because the sword was extremely well-hidden by his father...and soon it becomes apparent that the key to obtaining this sword lies within his own half-brother, Inuyasha..a person that he despises the most.

It is said that the sword contains the spiritual aura of their father, the Inu Taiyoukai, and by obtaining the sword, it would be like inheriting his spiritual power. Legend has it that the great Inu Taiyoukai had commissioned the sword for the purpose of protecting his human bride, who was Inuyasha's mother. When wielded correctly...it is able to unleash extremely powerful hidden attacks, one of which is called "Kaze no Kizu" - also known as "The Cutting Wind" attack. It is a technique that is capable of killing 100 youkai with one swing when used correctly with the right mentality- which is, to protect. Quite spiffy eh? But all does not go well for Sesshoumaru because aside from having those legendary powers, the sword also contains some sort of magical/spiritual barrier that prevents Sesshoumaru from even drawing it out of the ground of its hidden place. Alas, the sword was not meant for him...but was instead an inheritance left for Inuyasha by their father. Aggravating for our dear Sesshoumaru isn't it? Well, it gets worse! Apparently, you also need to have human blood coursing through your veins in order to transform the chipped katana in to a huge fang so that the sword's inner potential could be used. Being a full youkai, the sword will not accept Sesshoumaru as opposed to Inuyasha who was half human. Poor Sesshoumaru had to watch his own hated hanyou brother clumsily hold the sword as his own when he knew that he could unleash the great potentials of their father's fang.

Of course Sesshoumaru does not give up...he believes that his hanyou, half-brother is not worthy of such a great sword as Tessaiga and sets out to find ways in which he could obtain the sword for himself. And so there, it begins the root story of the many encounters that Sesshoumaru would come to have with Inuyasha.