This "What if Character Trained by Mentor" meme originally belongs to MagicalKeyPizzaDan and is dedicated to all of my friends, fellow artists, fans, and brethren who find the idea of Inuyasha being trained by the Wolf Yokai Warrior Tribesmen of the North, South, East, and West. Sit back, relax, and revel in how all the wolf yokai warriors would be more than happy to ensure that Inuyasha reaches his full potential as a yokai warrior, a leader, and a valuable member of Ayame's family as her husband and her grandfather's grandson-in-law/surrogate grandson.
The Wolf Elder may have a beautifully special bond with Inuyasha that would make even Chief Keewazi's fathering skills as well as Kobe's and Usula's grandfathering skills to George of the Jungle, Basuli, Tarzan, and Maugli seem amateurish by sheer comparison. However, just because he unconditionally loves Inuyasha like his grandson does not mean that he has to be alone in ensuring his growth from the little hanyou boy who was Sesshoumaru's younger brother by a year and a half to the yokai warrior he aspired to be, especially when it came to how deep his bond with Ayame was when he made that promise that would always be strong for her. Step forward all the wolf yokai warriors from the North, South, East, and West who were going to give Inuyasha the best training he has ever received from his boyhood years. They would be the ones to aid The Wolf Elder in guiding Inuyasha's exciting journey from boyhood to manhood.
Coming from somebody like me who has empathised with Inuyasha's desire to become a full-fledged yokai, I may support his decision, but I never liked the fact that the Shikon Jewel had to be involved as the MacGuffin that needed to be coveted because it caused more harm than good. So, my AU headcanon brain came up with the idea that, if Inuyasha wanted to achieve yokai warrior status, he would have to do it in the real way with rigorous training and building up his own strength, and what better way to start off when he was young. Sure, Young Inuyasha rescued Little Ayame and promised to be strong for her, thus making him a member of the Northern Yoro Tribe. However, what needs to be touched upon is the fact that The Wolf Elder is both Inuyasha's surrogate grandfather and a great friend/surrogate father to Toga the Dog General as well as a supportive surrogate father-in-law to InuKimi and Izayoi, thus playing an integral role of what was to come with Inuyasha and Ayame as well as with Sesshoumaru to some extent. Although Sesshoumaru chose to remain with his father and two mothers and found Ayame enjoyable to be around, it was Inuyasha's choice to live with Ayame's grandfather to find his own path as a yokai warrior. For someone as older and wiser like The Wolf Elder, raising 7-year-old Inuyasha was quite the handful, given how much of an rambunctious and vivacious ball of energy he was, and how much 4-year-old Ayame enjoyed play-fighting with him and tickling him to make him laugh. In order to make sure that The Wolf Elder's time spent with him and his granddaughter is fairly delegated, he rallied up the yokai warriors of the North, South, East, and West to train Inuyasha in various martial arts, weightlifting, survival skills, and battle roars should they ever go into battle. Young Inuyasha's life has gotten so much more exciting not only having a wolf elder as a grandfather figure but also having several surrogate fathers he can call as sirs as well as dads.
The skills that Young Inuyasha was taught as a child became integral to his overall growth as a warrior, Little Ayame's future husband, and an overall individual. The Northern Yoro Warrior Tribesmen taught Inuyasha how to hunt for food, catch fresh fish, harvest herbs, and pick ripe berries, and were astounded at how quickly he managed to learn at such a young age. For instance, when Young Inuyasha hunted for a wild boar, he did not use a bow and arrows, let alone a knife, but he wrestled the boar to the ground, broke its neck, and exclaimed in a cheery voice, "Dinner is ready!" For that, the tribe and all of the neighbouring tribes never went hungry again. The Southern Yoro Warrior Tribesmen taught Young Inuyasha various martial arts, specifically wrestling, kickboxing, boxing, judo, Tae Kwon Do, and Pankration given how powerful his grip was against his prey and how he was able to incapacitate opponents two to ten-thousand times larger than him. They could attest that Young Inuyasha was a great grappler when it came to his chokeholds, Boston Crabs, Full Nelsons, back-breakers, bearhugs, and camel clutches and an equally phenomenal striker when it came to his signature jabs, uppercuts, roundhouse kicks, Dempsey rolls, and a myriad of moves in boxing and kickboxing that could make any champion bow at his feet and make any blackbelt in judo and Tae Kwon Do salute him for his discipline and strong warrior mindset. There was one occasion where Young Inuyasha did a kata that demonstrated how powerful his strikes and punches were, how flowing his kicks were, and how beautifully he rolled and flew to the air with flying kicks. Another occasion that demonstrated how powerful Young Inuyasha was occurred when he was wrestling with 8-year-old Sesshoumaru who came for a visit to see how his little brother was doing with his betrothed, to which he replied that they have been all right because he always stayed by her side. Going to the wrestling match proper, while Young Sesshoumaru managed to give Young Inuyasha a great deal of bearhugs, camel clutches, and sleeper holds on him, Young Inuyasha had one secret weapon up his wolf yokai warrior attire. He pinned Young Sesshoumaru to the ground, ran to him with a loud battle cry, jumped really high into the air, and landed on him with a massive, earth-shattering, and ground-quaking bodyslam but managed to get up once again to playfully flex his biceps and give a really toothy grin. Young Sesshoumaru was temporarily unconscious to hear Young Inuyasha's resounding victory yell, but he stood up and congratulated his younger brother on a match well fought. Even the Southern Yoro Warrior Tribesmen attested that Young Inuyasha's massive bodyslams, back-breakers, bearhugs, Boston crabs, judo flips, roundhouse kicks, chokeholds, uppercuts, and speed punches were strong enough to incapacitate any enemy, especially those ten to a million times larger than he was. The Western Yoro Warrior Tribesmen oversaw how much potential Young Inuyasha had when it came to lifting extremely heavy weights, deadlifting, bench-pressing, and chest blasts that no other Olympic strongman could accomplish. One heroic deed Young Inuyasha did was saving the Western Wolf Yokai Tribe from an oncoming boulder by stopping it with his bare hands. Ever since then, the Western Wolf Yokai Tribe were thankful to have Young Inuyasha as their hero. The Eastern Yoro Warrior Tribesmen ensured that Young Inuyasha's battle roars were as clear and resounding as any lion, leopard, tiger, and/or gorilla in the wilderness. For someone who was still very young at the time, Young Inuyasha's roar made all the birds fly out of their nests because they thought they heard a predator coming for them, which thoroughly impressed the Eastern Yoro Tribesmen. Every tribesman saw how much Young Inuyasha had Herculean strength, determination, resilience, great combat prowess, and athleticism coursing all over his body, saluted him for being such a great student, and saw him grow at such an exponential rate.
All the wolf yokai warriors from the different regions were also present when 8-year-old Inuyasha first transformed into his full yokai form when a huge demon bear attacked the Northern Yoro Tribe, but Young Inuyasha ended up defeating it with all his super strength, powerful punches, crushing kicks, and that bombastic bodyslam that incapacitated the rampaging demon bear. The Wolf Elder may have kept a watchful eye on his surrogate grandson by ensuring that he does his daily workout regimen of shadowboxing, punching and kicking huge rocks, bench pressing giant boulders, tackling deerskin dummies stuffed with wool, and letting out his powerfully resounding roar while beating his chests to wake the warriors up in the morning, call them to their meal in the afternoon, and be used as a final lights-out for everybody to return to their caves and not let intruders marauder them. However, he also made sure that Young Inuyasha was never alone, for he had sparring partners in kickboxing, wrestling, and boxing in the forms of the wolf yokai warriors of the North, South, East, and West. Each of them managed to do their sparring sessions outside the cave to ensure that nothing gets destroyed. From what they have seen in Young Inuyasha, he has become fully accustomed to his full yokai blood, given how more controlled his combat moves were and that he did not go on a rampage when his eyes turned red with blue slits for irises. Every sparring session would end with a cool-down meditation and a nice, firm clasp on the hand from both student and mentor, thus illustrating the deep trust Young Inuyasha had in his beloved mentors from different tribes. Even when he ended up really exhausted from all those intensely physical activities, the wolf yokai warriors would carry him back to the cave to rest on The Wolf Elder's soft, fuzzy, pillow-like fur. Young Inuyasha also enjoyed the fact that he has become a full-fledged yokai warrior he felt like he was intended to be, especially with his purple stripes on his cheeks still remaining, and was just as happy to have found his true home with his surrogate grandfather The Wolf Elder, his surrogate fathers the wolf yokai warriors of the North, South, East, and West, and, finally, his betrothed Ayame. The Wolf Elder and all the wolf yokai warriors believed that Inuyasha and Ayame were truly meant for each other because he has kept his word of becoming strong for her, and she became just as strong for him by learning to roar just as loudly as him, punch and kick as hard as him, and run just as fast as him to the point where they tumbled around laughing and laughing their little hearts out. Furthermore, The Wolf Elder and the wolf yokai warriors made Young Inuyasha swear an oath. Now that he has become a full-fledged yokai warrior, he needed to remember that he should only transform whenever he was in serious danger, whenever something ravaging occurred, when those badly oppressed needed a protector, and/or when those he held near and dear to him was terribly hurt. In addition, he should never use his full yokai powers either for selfish gain or for greed, as those would bring him to perdition. From that day forward, Young Inuyasha promised that he will fulfil his duties as a full-fledged yokai warrior with honour, responsibility, citizenship, dignity, courage, protection, and love for his surrogate grandfather, surrogate fathers, fellow tribesmen, and his betrothed.
Growing up to his tweens and early teens, especially at 13 years old, Inuyasha was considered to be a man by wolf yokai warrior standards and maintained a strongly and beautifully romantic bond with 10-year-old Ayame as his fiancée. Thanks to the wolf yokai warriors, he also developed a lean and muscular frame that made mightier warriors jealous of him and made she-wolf warriors admire him. Nevertheless, Inuyasha would always state time and time again that his heart and his being always belonged to Ayame who has always championed his every endeavour, and he has also done his part in supporting whatever dream and desire she had. As Inuyasha was already 13 years old, he had to embark on a quest to retrieve Goraishi, which he did by using all of his strength, combat prowess, and fierceness as taught to him and inspired by his mentors. Acquiring Goraishi also meant that Inuyasha and Ayame were happily married and all the grown-ups were excited to see their family grow, thanks to the fact that Inuyasha initiated the tribes joining forces, and his marriage with Ayame solidified the trust the tribes had in each other. It looks like the teaching the wolf yokai warriors of the North, South, East, and West paid off, given how Inuyasha grew with Goraishi while never forgetting his strengths as a kickboxer, boxer, and wrestler. Furthermore, this has not only gained the unconditional love of his wife and grandfather-in-law but also 14-year-old Sesshoumaru who believed in him and was happy to know that he cut his own path in life with a girl he truly loves who would never betray him, 13-year-old Shuran who saluted him for showing strength and determination, 12-year-olds Hakkaku and Ginta who were truly indebted to Inuyasha for being a great older brother figure and a source of inspiration, and 8-year-old Shunran who knew from the bottom of her heart that her big brother from another mother and her surrogate older sister were meant to be together.
As 14-year-old Inuyasha and 11-year-old Ayame became parents to their first sons in the forms of triplets Masataka, Masaya, and Masaru, the wolf yokai warriors also blessed them to be as strong and protective as their parents. With each and every passing year, Inuyasha as well as his wife Ayame kept on training with the wolf yokai warriors of the North, South, East, and West in various martial arts and proved themselves to be worthy leaders of the Northern Yoro Tribe. Moreover, they have also kept on ensuring that Inuyasha and Ayame remained in pique physical condition in every battle they do and made sure that they stayed as strong as ever in all of their endeavours as warriors and as individuals. For the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western wolf yokai warriors, it was incredible to see how Inuyasha transformed from the unpopular yet strong little boy hanyou to a young boy who fully accepted being a full-fledged yokai warrior with mentors and a surrogate grandfather to help him in his journey to a young teenager who proved himself to be a hero to a strong, valiant, steadfast yokai warrior with a chiseled frame the Greek gods would envy. Even Ayame was in total awe of how much Inuyasha lived up to his promise of being strong for her not only physically but also emotionally, considering how well he ran a tight ship in their household and was the stern yet loving father who was there for their children. As their family grew with a total of seven sons and seven daughters, so did Inuyasha's radical wrestling moves, powerful Pankration skills, and mightily manly muscles that bulged when he flexed them as well as Ayame's incomparable combat prowess, furious fists, and sterling super strength to the point where The Wolf Elder and the wolf yokai warriors of the North, South, East, and West were really proud of Inuyasha and Ayame for preserving such a powerful bloodline. Their work as mentors was, is, and will never be taken for granted, and Inuyasha as well as Ayame have them to thank with all of their hearts.
The Northern, Southern, Western, and Eastern Wolf Yokai Warriors did an excellent job in helping out The Wolf Elder in raising Inuyasha to be the powerful yokai warrior he aspired to be when he was a child. His metamorphosis from little hanyou child wanting to be strong for Ayame to the child trying to get used to his yokai powers to a teenager showing valiance and strength to the virile yokai warrior who is an effective leader to his fellow tribesmen is truly a sight to behold and has made the wolf yokai warriors thankful to have mentored Inuyasha, for they have seen him grow so magnificently. In return, Inuyasha is forever grateful for his surrogate grandfather and surrogate fathers for helping him in his journey to become a mighty yokai warrior. After all, they made sure that his great power as a yokai warrior came with the great responsibility of using it to protect those in deep need and inspire courage to those who have seen and dealt with fear. Their teachings will be ingrained in Inuyasha's as well as Ayame's minds, hearts, and souls for a very long time.
I hope you all enjoyed this prospect of Inuyasha being mentored by all the wolf yokai warriors of the North, South, East, and West. Please let me know if you think they could be great mentors and father figures to Inuyasha growing up in the Northern Yoro Tribe aside from his dear grandfather-in-law The Wolf Elder. Take care, stay safe, and please show more love for Inuyasha's romantic relationship with Ayame, deep and meaningful filial relationship with The Wolf Elder, and, most importantly, his equally encouraging and warm filial relationship with The Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Yoro Tribesmen, everybody.
Inuyasha, Ayame, The Wolf Elder, and the warriors of the Northern, Southern, Easter, and Western Yoro Tribes from Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Sunrise.
