Originally posted by: hiten mitsurugi
Originally posted by: Chi Chi

She can't use her flute because she had to get rid of her only attacking force, her summons. She also thought Shikimaru couldn't move. So she just had to kill him with that Kunai. If Kenshin wanted to kill someone, he'd have to use that Katana to cause his Sakaba doesn't kill people.
Would it not have been better, since Shika was supposedly caught in a genjutsu, for Tayuya to use her summon to kill Shika; instead of grabbing a kunai? Of course it would, she states over and over again that her only weapon is the flute. That's the point I'm trying to make.

The writer introduced this logic to us (her only weapon is the flute). They do this intentionally to setup the kunai. I understand all this. But to have Tayuya grab the kunai, it's just to convenient for Shika. She would have summoned her minnions with her "only weapon" the flute, especially since he's trapped by the genjutsu. She wouldn't have thrown away her only weapon just to pick up a foreign weapon, especially since she's good at long range combat.
Maybe she can't summon them more then once a day or a certain time limit.