I began to like Kitsune much more when, like Bruce Wayne, she gained a ward. Part of that is because Kiyoko is so bubbly; she always has a big smile. Part is we see genuine affection from Kitsune when before her emotions always seemed sealed away (except for the climactic scene in "Noodles"). And part is, with an accomplice, she can run bigger scams than simple pickpocketing, which are much more interesting. We saw extortion in an earlier story, and we'll see a medicine show later in "Toad Oil". This outing is back to just lifting a thug's purse so she gets the maguffin that gets the plot ball rolling.

The story moves well (I especially like the mention of the raging river in the background story which then becomes integral to the resolution two issues later), and there are good character moments with Kitsune and Kiyoko. Hatekayama is a creepy if not groundbreaking villain, but what is the motivation here? There's no mention of why he wants to raise the dead. He can summon people, boil rivers, transmogrify humans, and cover long distances as a flaming head in a wagon wheel (which is a really eerie scene), so he's pretty powerful already. What would he use an undead army for? That made the story land a little short for me. I love the spectacle of it, though.

I also don't like zombies and never have. I'm glad these at least can catch Usagi in a footrace.

I've read this story three times now, but it wasn't until I read your comment that I put 2 and 2 together: Usagi had just seen Kitsune fly over the river, so of course he would ask Sasuke if he could fly. 

And I do like the running gags between Usagi and Sasuke. Whenever they meet, Usagi ends up saying "You're kidding, right?" at some point, and Sasuke always asks him to perform an impossible task like "You take care of the giant spiders" or "You handle the zombies".