WARNING: The following contains spoilers for To Your Eternity Episode 10, “New Family,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
When the tree creatures first appeared in Episode 6 of To Your Eternity, Fushi was able to defeat them -- but it was a narrow victory. He lost nearly all of his vessels, save for March, and felt the terrifying experience of losing bits and pieces of himself and not remembering exactly what was gone.
Episode 10 sees Fushi face off against these creatures again, which the Creator has now taken to calling "Nokkers." While Fushi hasn't gotten stronger since his last battle, the Nokkers have. It's looking pretty dire -- until his ally discovers a new power.
The March vessel is stolen from Fushi while Gugu gets attacked -- but Fushi protects him, using the spears he'd materialized before. Fushi urges him to run but Gugu refuses, wanting to help. He throws one of Fushi's spears at the Nokker but it has no effect, and it flings Gugu across the forest. Before Fushi can aid him, his Nameless Boy vessel is taken as well. Gugu feels powerless to help, but a nearby torch gives him sudden hope.
Meanwhile, Fushi is fending off the Nokker but not by much, as he's left with only the Oniguma and Joaan vessels. Gugu tries to use the alcohol in his belly to spit out the fire but comes up empty. The two have a bit of an argument with Fushi threatening to bite Gugu if he comes back, but the latter doesn't listen.
Gugu stumbles back to Booze Man's place, where Rean's family has found her and is trying to drag her back home. He makes a beeline for Booze Man and demands that he give him some alcohol, even though he sounds drunk already. It's dangerous though: as soon as Gugu drinks the strongest alcohol available, he coughs due to a rupture in his body. But Gugu knows Fushi's time is running out with each passing second and dismisses his concern. Just before he leaves again, Gugu declares that he loves Rean as To Your Eternity mimics the cliched drunk confession trope.
Torch in hand, Gugu rushes back to the scene but his stomach drops -- there's no sign of Fushi, with only the Nokker in Oniguma's form. This Oniguma is much faster and stronger than the previous one, but he now has a weapon he can utilize. He opens his mouth, bringing the torch's flame close and fire shoots out of his mouth. With a roar, Gugu lets out an inferno that sets the Nokker alight. The shards of the stolen vessels float out of the Nokker's burnt corpse.
The last time Fushi fought the Nokkers, he managed to save March's vessel from being stolen and, in a surprise turn of events, was able to defeat the Nokker. But this time he was totally overpowered and lost all of his vessels, leaving him with only the rock that he first was stimulated by with no consciousness to speak of. As soon as the vessels return to the rock, Fushi comes back in his wolf form. Once he realizes what Gugu did, Fushi bites his hand as promised but thanks his brother for saving him.
A full four years pass in To Your Eternity, with no more Nokkers coming to disturb them. The two brothers have grown with Gugu bulking up and Fushi dealing with some facial hair. Over time, he's expanded his cooking repertoire and is now able to serve edible food. Their little family has lived in peace but, given past precedence, it feels fragile.
The Creator warns Fushi that in order to get stronger, he has to keep moving, which means leaving his new family. Similar to Fushi, the Nokkers will learn from this last battle and will take every measure to not lose next time. Fushi adamantly refuses, telling the Creator he needs Gugu. The Creator relents, but there may be an ulterior motive. He regards Gugu as merely another means for Fushi to get stronger, clearly not seeing him as a human being. It feels like he's merely biding his time, waiting for Gugu's death since that will give Fushi a strong vessel -- regardless of any ensuing trauma Fushi will experience as a result of losing his brother.
