Taihō Kasumi’Oji (Captain of Squad 8)

[Taihō Kasumi’Oji]

-Opening-

Password 1: [Kuroi’s Shoes]

Password 2: [Midgets Can’t Dunk]

Type: [Soldier]

Squad: [8]

Rank: [Captain]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Theme Music}

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-Basic Information-

Name: [Taihō Kasumi’Oji , “Herald of Death”]

Age of Death: [Born in Soul Society]

Real Age/Age of Appearance: [634/27]

Birthday (Month/Day): [12/13]

Blood Type: [AB+]

RP Sample (Optional): [Insert Here]

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-Appearance-

Height/Weight: [6’ 1”/134 Lbs.]

Physical Description: [Mysterious, even ominous, like heavy storm clouds on the horizon, Taihō Kasumi’Oji ‘s arrival is often treated as a ill omen by other nobles. As the “Black Sheep” of the Kasumi’Oji family, Taihō is mentioned infrequently at best, and then only in a hushed voice. However, as the indomitable right hand of the Kasumi’Oji family, her bleak presence is all but guaranteed wherever the family is, or had been. Just as Iro and Hokori Kuchiki serve to support Sozen in his endeavors, and Kenryoku Kawada exists to support Shade, Taihō supports Azumi from the shadows, always watching, but rarely seen. She is Azumi’s top enforcer, her “Cleaner” who exists to make Azumi’s problems go away. It is a role which, at times, Taihō resents, but one she is very good at.

Despite her old age, Taihō still possesses a beauty that is at once captivating and elusive. Her beauty starts with her full lips, red as any rose, perfectly suited for all manner of sensual acts, with a smile as sharp as any thorn. From her mouth, we move to her crystalline blue eyes, which have an unnerving multi-faceted quality to the iris, and from her eyes we at last come to her hair, which cascades down her back in heavy golden curls. Her expression is often one of boredom, mixed with mild annoyance. She rarely smiles, and her stony expression gives away nothing of her inner thoughts. Her cold eyes drink in her surroundings, never revealing even the tiniest drop of hope, or fear, or anger. She gives away nothing, but takes everything she can.

Like her half-sister, Azumi, Taihō has luxurious golden hair. Her hair isn’t as long as her sisters, reaching only to the small of her back, but it is styled to a similar impeccable degree. Taihō often keeps the bulk of her hair tied up in two long tails, one on either side of her head. Silky smooth and softer than a dream, her hair has an almost weightless quality to it, shimmering and rustling beautifully in even the slightest breeze, while at the same time defying even the fiercest gale, refusing to whip about in an unsightly manner. Her hair is most beautiful in the failing light; in the twilight hours of the day, her hair catches the last of the sun’s rays, and ignites with an otherworldly glow, not warm like a fire, but cold and starkly spellbinding, the solar prominence of a distant, alien star. In daylight, Azumi is the most beautiful woman in Soul Society, and in the dark of night, she may be even more beautiful, but in the failing light, when both man and beast stand still and hold their breath, Taihō reigns supreme.

Emptiness. That is all one sees in Taihō’s eyes. A blue so deep and pure they’re almost black, clear as crystal, without the faintest shred of a soul to be found. Of course, she isn’t literally soulless, but that’s the impression one would get from gazing into Taihō’s eyes. No hope, no dreams, no remorse, or fear, no anything. Just two blank eyes that take everything in, and give nothing back. Her eyes have a gem-like quality to them, and are so lifeless one could almost think they were made of glass. However, it’s when those eyes shine with a lust for life that you should be really worried. For most, it’s the beginning of the end.

Like most nobles, Taihō has fair skin, showing none of the stresses exerted by the sun, or by hard labor. Pale to the point of luminance, Taihō’s skin is mirror smooth, without a single flaw or imperfection to be seen. There is not one scar or mark upon her flesh, nothing to indicate she had ever experienced an injury, traumatic or otherwise. This isn’t because of some fancy Kido; it’s simple because she hasn’t ever been injured. Even at a young age, she moved with grace enough to avoid the simple pratfalls and failures of coordination that lead to many of life’s scrapes and bruises, and in all of her days not one foe, from childhood bullies to vicious Hollows and Quincy, have ever laid a finger upon her. She has always been powerful; unlike Azumi, who had to struggle under torturous conditions for her great power, it came naturally to Taihō, and this shows in the way she carries herself. Everything about her, from the way she walks to the way she speaks, shows the depths of her power; she is, for all intents and purposes, untouchable, and she knows it.

Even though she is only Azumi’s half-sister, the natural beauty of the Kasumi’Oji family runs deep in Taihō’s features. She has a slim body, slender and delicate looking, with long, elegant arms and legs. She can best be described as willowy, with a narrow chest and waist, further exemplifying her graceful appearance. At just over six feet tall, she easily dwarfs her sister in height, as well as most women she is likely to encounter, and even some men have to look up to her. If Azumi is the most attractive female in Soul Society, than Taihō will have to settle for second best, but even then, she’s more than just meager eye-candy. Her beauty is more than captivating, it’s down-right imposing. Looking at her, one gets the sense that a human, and indeed even a Shinigami, simply shouldn’t look that good; it’s almost unsettling how perfect she appears.

Unfortunately, Taihō hides much of her personal beauty with her wardrobe. As the right hand of the Kasumi’Oji clan, it is her place to support the head of the family, not over-shadow her. As such, she wears a specially modified Shinigami uniform that, while not at all unpleasant to the eye, certainly diverts attention away from Taihō and onto more “Important” individuals. The first thing you will notice is the massively oversized Captain’s Haroi; at least four sizes too big for her, it completely hides her figure, leaving many people guessing as to what she looks like under it. The coat is vaguely bell shaped, widening as it approaches the ground, to the point where the bottom edge is almost six feet in diameter. The coat just barely touches the ground in most instances, not letting even a single inch of flesh show under it. In addition, the Haroi features a high collar, concealing the bottom half of Taihō’s face, further shrouding her expressions and emotions from view. The sleeves of the Haroi are similarly over-sized; more than twice the length of her own arms, they completely conceal her arms and hands, and are even impede her ability to use her hands to a degree. However, the Haroi can be removed easily from within, letting it drop from Taihō’s body at a moment’s notice. Underneath, Taihō wears a regular set of black Shinigami robes while attending official business as Captain of Squad 8, but in most other capacities, she wears more relaxed, comfortable clothing suited to the situation at hand.

Taihō’s sister, Azumi’s beauty can be called radiant, like a beacon that illuminates, however briefly, the lives of those around her. In that case, Taihō’s beauty is the cold, desolate void, the gaping maw of the abyss, a twilight view of the apocalypse granted as a final gift to those forsaken souls who find themselves at the end of her blade. She is absolution, the omega, and death. There is, of course, a certain beauty to death; death is mesmerizing, bewitching. It has power over all, the inevitable end to everyone and everything. The Shinigami are, by definition, beings intrinsically linked to death itself, but in no other Shinigami is this more obvious than in Taihō Kasumi’Oji. The beauty of death clings to her like a shadow, carving into the memories of everyone she meets what it means to face down the right hand of the Kasumi’Oji clan.

Faceclaim:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Haruna, from Arpeggio of Blue Steel}

Without the coat:

[Taihō Kasumi’Oji]

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-Personality-

Dislikes:

└Dreams┐
Taihō considers dreams to be nothing more than a joke, and feels that people who blindly pursue their dreams are just fooling themselves. When idealism and reality collide, reality is rarely the one to back down. Taihō knows that merely wishing things were different won’t change anything, and holds nothing but contempt for the dreamers who say things like “If only…” or “People should really…”. It sickens her. Only strength can change the world.

└Azumi Kasumi’Oji┐
Yes, Taihō is Azumi’s half-sister. Yes, she does respect her as the head of the Kasumi’Oji family…but only as the head of the family. You might laugh at a noble complaining about a hard life, but when you’re the illegitimate child of a noble family in decline, you get a taste of how brutal nobility can be. And Taihō, with her fragile mind, blames it all on her half-sisters, particularly Azumi.

└Quincy┐
When a Quincy destroys a Hollow, the soul is abolished, obliterated, erased from existence. It’s a waste, and it destabilizes the delicate balance of life, death and rebirth that exists between the World of the Living and Soul Society. On top of that, now this Vandenreich has started a genocidal campaign that, should it be allowed to continue, will almost certainly bring about the end of all worlds. They are a threat to the stability and safety of all the worlds, which makes them a threat to the Kasumi’Oji clan. And Taihō cannot let that stand.

└Threats to the Family┐
Although Azumi is the head of the family, and is phenomenally powerful in her own right, Taihō is often the one charged with eliminating threats to the family, so that Azumi doesn’t have to waste time dealing with every little problem by herself. Although this is Taihō’s purpose in the family, it’s not one she likes. Slaughtering the rabble that raise their heads in defiance to the Kasumi’Oji criminal empire is a never ending and often thankless task, of which Taihō is becoming increasingly weary. However, it is her duty to protect the family, its interests and its head, and she will never shirk that duty.

└Daytime┐
Ever since she was a child, Taihō has had a strong dislike towards sunlight, and has avoided being active during the day as much as possible. That’s not to say she’s some kind of vampire, or that she never sets foot in the sunlight; she just prefers not to be up and about while the sun is shining.

└Cowardice ┐
Taihō is a warrior, and like all warriors she follows a certain code of honor. Above all else, cowardice in the face of the enemy is the most dishonorable, disgusting thing imaginable in Taihō’s opinion, and she’s not afraid to say so. She cannot tolerate any display of cowardice, from her friends or her foes, and seeing such a display is one of the few things that will move her to a truly emotional outburst.

└Hesitation┐
Those who hesitate are lost. This is one of Taihō’s guiding principles, something that shapes her actions and beliefs more than anything else. It is also one of the key differences between her and Azumi; although the head of the Kasumi’Oji clan often displays great foresight, concocting elaborate schemes and timing their deployment perfectly, Taihō tends to confront problems in a more head-on fashion. Once she knows what she’s doing, she does it, and considers any delay to be nothing but a waste of time.

└Romantics┐
Love is a fairy tale. As far as Taihō is concerned, there is no such thing as love, on any level. Romantic love is fake, the love between a parent and their child is a hoax, the love of two siblings for one another is a joke, it’s all just a lie. Taihō decided long ago that she would take no part in the myth of love.

└Nobility┐
Decadent aristocrats, with no concern but keeping and growing their own power, like malignant tumors infesting the body of Soul Society itself. That’s all most of the nobles are in Taihō’s opinion. Some families, like the Kuchikis, and of course the Kasumi’Ojis are marginally better, but the rest can burn in Hell as far as she is concerned.

└The Future┐
Unlike Azumi, Taihō does believe in fate, and feels that our lives are scripted from the moment we are born. No matter how we struggle, our destiny is fixed, and though we may change the road we take, the destination is always the same. Taihō fears her future, and her fate, for she knows in her heart that the only things that await her at the end of her road are horror, and doom.

└Parties┐
As you can imagine, Taihō despises the seemingly endless parties held by the nobles of Soul Society. Every time a butterfly roars, it seems, they hold another party to celebrate the occasion. To Taihō, parties are nothing but a waste of time, which could be utilized doing something far more important.

└Muscle-Heads┐
Brutish individuals who try to punch their way through problems disgust Taihō. While she admits to preferring a direct approach to problem solving, and sometimes resorts to sheer brute-force to carry the day, she finds those over confidant muscle freaks who think that raw strength makes them powerful to be infinitely pathetic, and worthy only of contempt.

└The Kawada Family┐
Impudent upstarts, grasping desperately for the shattered remains of older noble families who have fallen from grace, such as the Kasumi’Oji family. Taihō considers them to be nothing more than spoiled grave robbers, flaunting their wealth and claiming it makes them powerful. There’s nothing special about them; they are trash, to be disposed of whenever possible.


Likes:

└Seeing Azumi Suffer┐
Taihō really is quite spiteful towards Azumi, considering her to be at fault for most of what went wrong in Taihō’s life. Of course, she would never do anything to harm Azumi; she may hate her sister, but she is absolutely loyal to the Head of the Kasumi’Oji family. Taihō goes out of her way to protect Azumi from harm, and will annihilate anyone who injuries her, even slightly, to serve as a reminder of what happens when you hurt the Kasumi’Oji family. However, Taihō makes no secret of the fact that she never tires of seeing Azumi in pain, and may even delay saving Azumi from peril by a few precious moments, just to see her half-sister get roughed up a bit more.

└Twilight┐
Not the book series, Taihō loves the hours of twilight, as the sun sets and the last of light bathes everything in the semi-glow of a fading star. Caught between light and darkness, everything gains a beautiful, supernatural air that Taihō simply can’t get enough of. For this reason, she is often most active during the twilight hours, just before sunrise, and just after sunset, and her rooms are often shrouded in the half-light, regardless of the time of day.

└Simplicity┐
Although Azumi seems to revel in the complexity of a situation, Taihō much prefers simplicity. Just tell Taihō where to be and who to kill, and she’s happy. Well, happy-ish. Anyway, she hates overly convoluted schemes, hectic situations, and complex events, and strives to find simplicity in her day to day life.

└Hurting Others┐
Taihō has a sadistic fascination with inflicting pain on others, and she loves hearing people scream. Fueled by her psychosis, Taihō has trouble seeing those around her as actual people, and tends to see them more as playthings for her to abuse at her leisure. She’s not evil about it; rather, she doesn’t see a reason not to do it.

└Her Zanpakuto┐
Most Shinigami like their Zanpakuto. After all, it’s their weapon, an extension of their soul, that which gives them purpose. However, Taihō really likes her Zanpakuto. Taihō’s sword, Mikadzuki, isn’t complicated, like Azumi’s is. It doesn’t create anything, or manipulate anything. It’s power is much simpler than that, and for that reason alone, Taihō loves it.

└Experimenting┐
Like her half-sister Azumi, Taihō has a love of experimentation, of poking and prodding things to figure out how they work. However, Taihō’s hobby takes a distinctly dark turn; While Azumi experiments to learn more about the universe, Taihō experiments because she can. She often conducts gruesome vivisections on unlucky individuals, or forces them to do meaningless tests, for the admitted pleasure of seeing them suffer.

└Destruction┐
”There’s something beautiful about watching all the things that mean the most to a person crumble into dust, don’t you think?” Taihō has always had a fascination with destroying things. She finds beauty in the simple act of making something big become small, in seeing the despair that such destruction causes. She’s the kind of person who would create a brilliant work of art, just to burn it down to the ground.

└Solitude┐
Taihō was never much of a people person. She often vanishes for weeks at a time, wondering alone in her preferred silence. She rejects the concept of teamwork on principle, and will often flatly refuse any form of company or companionship, in favor of isolation. If it were possible, Taihō would go to a place where there were no people, but her obligations prevent that.

└Cute Things┐
You wouldn’t expect it from such a cold individual, but Taihō actually has an almost childlike fascination with things she considers to be cute. However, it must be noted that Taihō’s idea of what’s “cute” can be a tad…eccentric, at times. She devotes a considerable amount of time collecting, analyzing, labeling, storing and eventually dissecting these “cute” things, which takes a sweet little pass time and twists it all the way around into gruesome.

└Science┐
Although she hates to admit it, Taihō and Azumi have more than a little bit in common. Both are brilliant, far and away more intelligent than the best minds of the World of the Living, and both have a fascination with science. However, Taihō differs from Azumi in that she likes science for science’s sake. She has no dreams or aspirations of using her knowledge to help people. She doesn’t even use science for selfish reasons. To her, preforming experiments, studying a subject, conducting research and analysis, they are all ends unto themselves. In short, Taihō engages in scientific pursuits because she can; there is no end goal in mind.

└Her Coat┐
Aside from her Captain’s Haroi, Taihō has numerous other large, black over coats in her possession, as well as a variety of similar coats of different style and color. She is never seen in public without one of these coats on, and even has trouble being seen by just a handful of people like this. The reason is simple; to Taihō’s fragile mind, the coat is like a security blanket. It acts as a physical representation of the mental wall between Taihō and the world around her, and without the coat, that wall crumbles, leaving Taihō feeling weak and vulnerable. With the coat on, she’s a paragon of bad-assitude. Without it, she’s almost totally helpless.

Flaws:

└Psychosis┐
Taihō has never been what one might consider mentally stable; in fact, she suffers from an almost text-book case of psychosis, which renders her unpredictable and at times fragile. Before we continue, it’s important you understand the true meaning of psychosis. It isn’t a constant homicidal urge for death and destruction, as if often portrayed by the media; rather, psychosis is a disruption in the parts of the brain dealing with empathy. In other words, it is impossible for a psychopath to relate to other living beings. Any living thing a psychopath encounters is no more or less meaningful to them than the ground they walk on, or a pencil, or some other inanimate, unimportant thing they may see. This is Taihō’s greatest flaw: she simply doesn’t care about anyone or anything. She has no empathy, no way to understand the thoughts or feelings, for anyone she knows. This makes her cold, remote, willing to sacrifice anyone and anything to get what she wants. It also makes her a remorseless killer.

└Cold/Aloof┐
Judging from her name, which translates to “Great Phoenix”, you would think that Taihō is a fiery, passionate individual. You would be wrong. Taihō is a cold, distant individual, solitary like a remote mountain fortress. She’s not emotionless, but she doesn’t show her emotions often, usually keeping a neutral expression regardless of what happens. This makes it just as hard for people to relate to her as it is for her to relate to other people.

└Grim┐
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Taihō has a rather grim outlook on life. A firm believer in fate and destiny, Taihō believes with absolute certainty that her life is destined to end in horror and doom, and that her actions, whatever they may be, will never be enough to prevent this. Her fatalistic point of view bleeds out into most of what she does, as well; a pessimist who always the assumes the worst, Taihō often offers depressing opinions and predictions on events going on around her, and never seems to have anything nice to say about anyone or anything. She’s not depressed, just certain that everything will end in tears, leading most people to describe her as “grim”.

└No Mercy┐
If you want to bring back prisoners to interrogate, don’t send in Taihō. She only knows one plan, “Attack”, and she doesn’t believe in survivors. A cold-hearted psychopath, she has no compunction against killing everyone that stands before her, and she feels no remorse for her actions. To her, whether its killing one person or one thousand, it’s no different that swatting flies. She bears no malice towards her enemies; she just kills them because they’re there. The only time she won’t kill someone is if she has a good reason not to; otherwise, your ass is grass.

└Liar┐
This may not come as a surprise, considering she is the main enforcer of a vast criminal empire, but Taihō isn’t exactly an outstanding, honest individual. She lies frequently and casually, with the same ease that a regular person might shoot the breeze with a friend. She could pass a lie detector test any day of the week because, as a textbook psychopath, it literally means nothing to her to lie. Some cynics have claimed that as much as ninety percent of what Taihō tells you is a lie, but that couldn’t be true…could it?

└Introverted┐
This may or may not be a flaw depending on how you look at things, but the fact is that Taihō is an extremely introverted individual. She prefers to spend time alone, and to her just talking to people is a chore. Having to spend a great deal of time in a large group of people will rapidly wear her out, and actually giving a speech or something of the like is almost impossible for her. She just can’t deal with it.

└Perverted┐
Though you wouldn’t guess it from looking at her, Taihō is actually a very perverted and lewd individual. She often imagines rather…unlikely events playing out, and lusts after both men and women she finds attractive. However, she never shows this perverted side, keeping her expression and body language neutral even when thinking such dirty thoughts. It should also be noted that you do not want to find yourself the object of her attention. You will most likely find yourself strapped to a table and prepped for vivisection before you know what hit you.

└Unstable┐
Without question, Taihō’s greatest flaw is her mental instability. Even beyond her psychosis, Taihō has a fragile mind and a tentative grasp on reality. By all rights, she belongs in a mental hospital, but her sheer power let her slip, or sometimes barge, her way into the position she now occupies. Taihō has difficulty adjusting to stressful situations, and it can be easy for one skilled in manipulation and mind games to get under her skin, but this may not be a good thing: Cracking the shell of indifference that Taihō has built around herself may reveal a true nightmare…



Habits:

└Hiding/Sneaking┐
For someone who wears such a large, noticeable outfit all the time, Taihō makes for a pretty good ninja. She has the unnerving ability to seemingly vanish, disappearing without a trace even in crowded locations. She’s like a ghost, there one second, gone the next. Even people skilled in observation and locating people are powerless to find Taihō if she doesn’t want to be found, and she can easily infiltrate even the most heavily guarded facilities.

└”Cute”┐
When your typical super-moe character sees something they think is cute, they normally experience an over-the-top fangasm, and spend the next ten minutes gushing over it and how cute it is. When Taihō sees something she thinks is cute, she just says “Cute” and gets on with her life. Of course, somewhere, deep beneath the layers of self-control and psychosis-induced indifference, her subconscious mind experiences a truly intimidating fangasm of such magnitude that it could bring a small nation to its knees. However, that fangasm never makes it to the surface layers of Taihō’s personality where it can be expressed; no, by the time it’s done digging through layer after layer of mental conditioning and icy bad-assitude, it only has enough energy left for a single, meager “Cute”.

└Labeling┐
As an extension of her fascination with science, Taihō has a habit of categorizing and labeling things she finds interesting. She will often go out of her way to learn the names of such things, and will frequently make note of particularly interesting subjects she would like to study later. She records these notes in a plain notebook she keeps on her person at all times.

└Destroying Things┐
Even the most civilized of individuals must admit to a certain primal joy that comes from breaking things. Inflicting violence upon inanimate objects has long been used as a way of relieving stress, and is generally considered to be the second most useful method short of inflicting violence upon animate objects. However, Taihō takes this to an entirely different level. She loves the act of taking something large and complex, and reducing it to mere rubble. It just makes her feel good, and she takes every opportunity she can to break things. This is especially true in battle, where she is infamous for annihilating everything before her just to kill one enemy. The word “overkill” is an understatement when it comes to Taihō. She would level an entire country if it stood between her and her quarry, and would think back on the event with fondness, not remorse.

└Speaking Softly┐
Most people seem to have this odd idea that yelling and screaming is intimidating. Sure, the physical shock of such loudness can be a bit frightening, but most people actually tend to get over that pretty quickly. You want to see something really scary? Just let Taihō talk to you for a few minutes, describing how completely and utterly screwed you are, in that soft, monotone voice, without a hint of malice or ill-will, before shattering everything you’ve ever loved like glass. Taihō never raises her voice, and hardly ever changes the pitch, tone or inflection of her words. The only thing she changes, usually, is the volume. She often speaks at a level suitable for a polite, but discreet, conversation, but as she becomes more irate, the volume actually drops. If you find her whispering in your ear, you should know you’re about to die.

└ ”Shazam” ┐
Whenever Taihō does something particularly impressive or important, she tends to say this to commemorate the occasion. It’s made more humorous because she still says it in a cold, dead-pan tone of voice. She also says this whenever her coat is lost, and she recovers it.

Fears:

The only thing Taihō really fears is seeing the Kasumi’Oji family fall once more. After so long, the family has finally started to rise again, gradually regaining the power it once rightfully wielded, which decadence and treachery had lost. The Kasumi’Oji clan was once the most powerful force in Soul Society short of the Gotei Thirteen itself, and now the opportunity exists for the family to reclaim that might. Taihō fears seeing this opportunity slip away, and she dreads the prospect of the family collapsing once more. She fears that, should the family fail now, it may not ever recover, and will doomed to obscurity and impotence for the rest of eternity. Taihō will not, cannot, allow this to pass.

Like many Captains, Taihō is not afraid to die. After all, everything must come to an end sooner or later, including her. She has long accepted that she will most likely die in battle, and is convinced that her life will end in “Horror and doom” as she puts it. That being said, she does fear dying while the Kasumi’Oji family still needs her strength. It is a thought she cannot tolerate, and a fate she will not except.

Humorously, Taihō seems to become “powerless” without her coat; whether it be her modified Captain’s Haroi, or one of her large black over coats, Taihō needs to have something on to cover herself up with, and will typically collapse into a nervous wreck without it, balling helplessly and pleading for someone to return her coat. For that reason, she fears losing her coat more than anything else in the world.

Goals:

Taihō’s main goal is to see the Kasumi’Oji clan rise and return to power. For too long as the family rested in ruin, drowning in its decadence as the heads of the family wasted their hearts and souls away. Although she does not like her half-sister, Taihō acknowledges that the only reason her family is now growing stronger again is because of Azumi, and so she has resolved to aid her half-sister in any way she can. To this end, she acts as the Kasumi’Oji family’s “Cleaner”, cleaning up messes that Azumi or another family member may have left in their wake, intentionally or otherwise. Mainly, this means killing off unfortunate witnesses to the family’s criminal activities, but also extends to assassinations, intimidation, extortion, and any number of unsavory acts that Azumi could do but doesn’t have the time for, or that others who have the time would most likely mess up.

Unfortunately, Taihō suffers from a conflict of interests. Although she wishes to aid Azumi in any way she can, she also wants to see Azumi suffer. A lot. In her fragile mind, Taihō considers every misfortune that has befallen her to somehow or another trace back to Azumi, and she has a strong need to see these injustices paid back. This results in a frequent clash between what Taihō, the second in command in Azumi’s criminal empire wants, and what Taihō, Azumi’s half-sister wants. On top of that, Taihō has goals as a Captain of the Gotei Thirteen, namely to eliminate threats to Soul Society, which at times can interfere with her other goals. In general, Taihō ranks her priorities as being Azumi’s second in command above being a Captain, and being a Captain above being Azumi’s sister.

Alignment: [Passive Evil]

Overall Personality:

”The brightest stars…always cast the darkest shadows…”
-Taihō Kasumi’Oji

”Greetings…I am Taihō Kasumi’Oji. Since you’re here, you must want to know more about me. Very well…I suppose I will tell you. As you probably know, I am the Captain of Squad Eight. I’ve only recently earned this title, but I will fulfil the duties and obligations associated with it to the best of my abilities. Of course, I have other responsibilities as well, so if you can’t find me, it’s most likely because I am busy taking care of the ‘messes’ left by my family members. It’s a thankless job, but it’s not too difficult, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain.

“In case you’re wondering, the ‘messes’ I referred to are usually people. My family is involved in a great deal of illegal activities, and people often need to be reminded of the value of silence. I find that the dead rarely say things they shouldn’t, and I often encourage those who might feel pressured to talk too much to join the dead in peaceful slumber. Strangely, most people I speak to are less than thrilled by this proposition, and I am often forced to escort them out of this life myself. Some people might be troubled by this, but I don’t see why. All things come to an end. I just help some individuals along the path to their ultimate destiny.

“Of course, that’s not to say I enjoy killing people. It’s just one of my many responsibilities as the right hand of the Kasumi’Oji family. To suggest that I am evil because of it would be like suggesting that fire is evil because it incinerates things. It is what is expected of me, and it is often necessary to ensure the survival of my family. Of course, I’m not the only one who is responsible to protecting the family. My half-sister, Azumi, is also responsible. As the Head of our family, it is ultimately her responsibility to ensure our survival, and our eventual return to power. It is my role to aid her however I can. She is powerful and brilliant, and I have no doubt that she restore our family to its rightful place, but the mere sight of her sickens me. After what she’s done to me, I have no love for her. She would be unwise to put too much trust in me.

“My hobbies? Yes, I have things like that. When I am not otherwise occupied, I fill my time conducting experiments on the various test subjects I have collected. My tests may not be as extravagant as Azumi’s, but I assure you they are quite thorough, and highly informative. Through my research, I have learned how well a test subject can concentrate on a complex task while being hurtled into the stratosphere (They can’t), at what temperature extreme the human spine becomes a super-conductor (It doesn’t), and exactly how many liters of fluid a typical human can drink before their stomach ruptures (Two). I will admit, these discoveries are not pushing the scientific frontier in any particularly useful direction, but they were amusing to obtain, which makes them worthwhile to me. I’m sure my test subjects enjoyed them as well. Until they died. My subjects seem to do that with alarming frequency. I’ll have to perform more studies to figure out why that is.

“Other than experimentation, I have a fondness for cute objects and organisms. These often become my favorite test subjects, and I must admit I spend an unhealthy amount of time collecting, categorizing and studying them. What can I say? We all have our diversions. However, that doesn’t keep me from my duties, both as a Captain and as a Kasumi’Oji. As Captain of Squad Eight, it is my duty to maintain combat readiness, in preparation for a military action, whether it be initiated by Seireitei’s forces or by the enemy.  

“The only other hobby I have, if you could call it that, is destruction. There’s something primal about destroying something beautiful. That, and it annoys Azumi, which makes me happy. I love to destroy things, and that is why I love my Zanpakuto. As a “Pure Destruction” type Zanpakuto, it couldn’t be better suited to me. Nothing complex, Like Azumi’s weapon. Just nice, neat, simple annihilation. I value simplicity in my life. So much of what I have to do is complicated, so I try to find and enjoy the simple things when I can. Like reading a book. Or running a test. Or breaking something. These are the kinds of things I like to do when I have free time.

“What do I think of my family? Hmmm…that’s a good question. Family has always been important to me. Even though I’m an illegitimate child, the family was always good to me, especially my father, the previous head of the family. That is, until Azumi and Oichi were born. After that, everyone seemed to forget I ever existed. With two proper heirs around, they didn’t need to keep me around, I suppose. That being said, family is family. I would die to protect them, though I don’t think they would give their lives for my sake. Especially not Azumi. No, she’s much too important to throw her life away for the likes of me. Now that I think about it, I don’t think any of them would recognize me today. That’s probably for the best. You can’t miss someone you don’t know, after all.

“Do I care about them? I suppose you could say that. Maybe.

“The other nobles? They can all die as far as I’m concerned. The Kuchiki’s are decent enough, I suppose, but the Kawadas are nothing but trash. Impossibly wealthy trash, but trash non-the-less. I would consider taking them all away for study, but I honestly can’t think of a set of experiments that would be pointlessly cruel enough to justify wasting my time with them. It would be nice if they would all dispose of themselves somewhere where they wouldn’t bother people with the smell. Let’s see…Azumi seems to have a soft spot for the Shihouin family, so I hate them on principle. As for the other noble families, all they do is squabble with one another and throw parties. I detest parties. I might like to lobotomize some of them and keep them as pets, but otherwise they are pretty useless.

“Romance? No, I have no interest in that. That isn’t to say I’m not interested in sex, however. It depends on who we are talking about, I suppose. Given the proper amount of physical and mental conditioning, any one would do really, but of course some people are better suited to that sort of thing than others. I don’t normally have time to really get involved with someone, but my schedule is flexible enough for a little bit of fun now and then. Men and women are both fine by me, since they both have their pros and cons, and they both tend to scream in the most gratifying ways. I don’t think I can say which I like better…maybe they’re equal?

My flaws? I suppose I could tell you about them. I don’t do well in large groups, which is a problem given all the parties I have to attend. I don’t see why we need so many parties…they’re nothing but a waste of time. But, I digress. People have told me I’m too cold, and that I’m much too grim. They also seem to think I should be a bit more merciful towards my enemies, and the enemies of the family. None of that makes any sense to me, though. Maybe the problem is my psychosis? I’ll have to run more tests to figure it out.

“I really don’t do well under pressure. It’s not a mental problem really; I just can’t handle it sometimes. This is especially true if I lose my coat. I’m not sure why, but it helps. Without it, I’m powerless. I suppose that’s a pretty big flaw. However, that won’t hold me back as a Captain. I may be unstable, but at least I’m not a drunkard, or a muscle bound nitwit, or a Kawada. I think I’m better off than all them. The only exception is, sometimes, if I’m under a lot of pressure, I can experience a nervous break; my entire mind and body freeze, leaving me helpless. I try to avoid this as much as I can, which hinders me somewhat. Those are my biggest flaws.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve had enough of this. I am quite busy after all. I’ll be taking my leave now, but I’d like to leave you with a few parting words before I go. Before now, before this moment, when I stopped being the shadow cast by the Kasumi’Oji family, and started being the right hand of the Kasumi’Oji family, I was nobody. I was nothing. Now, I am Taihō Kasumi’Oji. You would do well to remember that name. For now that I’ve stepped into the twilight gloom of this world, lit from above and below by the bleak fires of hell, you will be hearing quite a lot about me.

“Oh, and one last thing. I’m a liar. I wonder how much of what I’ve told you today is true?

“Goodbye”.

[Taihō Kasumi’Oji]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Powers-

Fighting Style:
[”Hello. I am Mikadzuki, Taihō Kasumi’Oji’s Zanpakuto. I know, it’s odd to think of a sword telling you how it’s owner uses it in battle, but it seems Taihō has left, leaving me in charge. Fear not, however, for I promise you I will perform a very thorough analysis of Taihō’s battle strategy. After all, who would know better how she fights than me?

“Like most warriors, Taihō conducts her battles following a certain set of basic principles. Reflecting her scientific nature, she tends to treat most fights as if they were tests or experiments, and one can roughly describe her fighting style by comparing it to the scientific method. Each step in the process can represent one phase or aspect of the fight; although Taihō never uses the same strategy twice, her battles tend to follow this general outline. The five main steps to the Scientific Process are: Ask a Question, State a Hypothesis, Make a prediction, Preform a Test, and Analyze the Results.

“The first part of the battle, at least as far as Taihō is concerned, is to ask a question. That question is always the same: What’s the best way to kill my enemy? Taihō isn’t concerned with injuring or immobilizing the foe, except as part of the larger objective of killing them. In order to answer this question, Taihō conducts “research” on her opponent. If the battle is unexpected, it often begins with Taihō shooting the breeze with the enemy, trying to gain even a few seconds of time to observe the enemy prior to combat. If she knows she is going to fight an individual, she will often study them in detail over an extended period of time, learning everything she can about them. And even while in battle, Taihō conducts research on the enemy, using light, probing attacks to test for weaknesses or quirks in their fighting style that she can exploit. However, that is not the full extent of her research. From the moment Taihō meets an individual, even if there is no reason for them to fight her, she begins gathering data on them, researching them so she can find their weaknesses. She even figures out her ally’s weaknesses, and she devotes just as much time to learning how to defeat them as she does her enemies. All of this research goes toward the simple question of “How do I kill you?”

“Once Taihō has completed her research, she moves on to the next step in the process. Using what she has learned, she formulates a hypothesis, essentially a strategy she believes will be effective in killing the opponent. At this point in the battle, Taihō ups the pressure on the enemy, nothing too difficult, but enough to really get their attention. The reason for this is two-fold. One, it distracts the enemy, forcing them to focus more on the battle, and less on their surroundings. Even skilled opponents will be forced to devote more of their energy to the battle, making it easier for Taihō to initiate her strategy. The second purpose is to give the impression that Taihō is an individual that focuses solely on brute force to win her fights. While it is true that she utilizes raw power to achieve her goals, she does so with both strategy and tactics in mind. However if the enemy is not aware of this, they may be lulled into underestimating her when she executes her plan.

“Next, Taihō makes her prediction. Her phenomenal Battle Analysis skills allow her to make highly accurate predictions of future events, which she then factors into her strategy. She anticipates her next move, all of the likely reactions the enemy might make to it, and how she will react to those reactions, often before the enemy has even begun to wonder what, if any, strategy Taihō may be formulating. Of course, it’s impossible for Taihō to be 100% accurate, or to cover every possible move the enemy could make, but Taihō is skilled enough to correctly anticipate and counter most of the enemies attacks before they even make them, giving her a distinct advantage over the enemy. In general, Taihō is always at least two steps ahead of you, possibly more if given enough time to perform more extensive research.

“Now that Taihō has made her predictions, the battle really heats up. The testing phase is when Taihō starts to utilize her true power, enacting the strategy she has constructed for her foe. Every time Taihō battles, she utilizes a new strategy, even if it’s against a foe she’s fought before. This makes it very difficult to predict how she will fight, granting her yet another advantage in battle. During the testing phase, Taihō becomes much more aggressive, using more and more powerful attacks to attempt to bore though her enemies defenses before they can adjust to her strategy. This is often when she begins using her Kido, including the exotic Kasumi’Oji Genesis Arts, and her signature ability, the Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana. In some cases, she may even release me, her Zanpakuto, to my Shikai stage. However, she tends to reserve the brunt of my power for particularly dangerous foes, less she cause unnecessary collateral damage.

“Once Taihō has started one of her so-called “tests”, she rarely backs down. Taihō is a master of several sword styles, and she freely incorporates techniques, stances and movements from most of the major schools of swordsmanship around the world. She combines these different styles into one overarching style of swordsmanship, which Taihō herself has neglected to name, but which her foes often compare to a “demonic ballet”. This name arises from the way she fluidly transitions from one style to another, sometimes in mid sequence, and the punishing nature of her attacks.

“That, however, only describes the methodology of how Taihō fights. You want to know how she fights. Very well. One of the main styles Taihō uses is reminiscent of medieval German styles, which were copied throughout much of Western Europe. Focusing on long, powerful swings, this a style that can cut people in two with a single hit, making a perfect choice for enemies with a powerful defense. It focuses on a series of vertical and diagonal overhead slashes, meant to carve and crush through a defense, mixed with horizontal and diagonally upward slashes to keep the enemy off balance. It also uses a variety of advanced techniques to counter specific guards and attacks, making it a formidable offence.

Another style Taihō uses is similar to traditional Japanese, Chinese and Korean sword styles. Whereas the above style emphasizes offence, sacrificing defense and mobility, this style emphasizes controlling the flow of battle. In truth, it is one of Taihō’s favorite styles to use, because it is very flexible. This style is all about subterfuge; nearly every attack is preceded by some manner of feint, often intending to leave the opponent in an awkward position, or to set up a counter attack. At the same time, Taihō always leaves herself in a good position to guard against enemy attacks, and she is always prepared to strike at an exposed weak point. When going on the offensive, Taihō uses swift, rapid strikes to overwhelm the enemy, forcing them to defend themselves or be cut to ribbons. The cuts are often shallower and shorter than in the previous style, but they can quickly add up, making this style just as dangerous as the one before. Defensively, this is the style Taihō almost always uses when fighting multiple enemies. Whirling around, keeping track of her foes through a combination of her senses, energy sensory, battle analysis skills, she simultaneously attacks one foe while blocking another’s attack. In this manner, she can maintain the advantage even against two or three enemies.

The third sword style Taihō uses is inspired by the Fencing schools of Italy and Spain. This style nicely balances offence and defense, and maximizes mobility. Although most people think of fencing as a stabbing style, slashes are possible while fencing, especially in the Spanish form. Taihō uses fencing style to rapidly press the attack against the enemy while avoiding danger. She often approaches straight toward the enemy, thrusting and slashing rapidly in order to inflict as many wounds as possible, while also being prepared to parry her enemies attack.

In all of these styles, foot work is just as important as sword play. Many combatants fail to realize that the key to a strong offence and a strong defense is to have a strong stance and that starts at your feet. Taihō always takes care to watch her footing, avoiding obstacles whenever possible. She also considered her footing while attacking. For instance, in her first blade style, she advanced in long, lounging attacks which add power to her sword strikes, whereas in her fencing styles, she uses short, deliberate steps to approach enemies. Sometimes, she approaches the enemy directly, moving straight toward them, but sometimes she will move in a diagonal fashion, both to avoid an attack and to reach an optimal angle of attack on her target. That is part of what makes Taihō so dangerous; she can change everything about the way she’s moving in battle at the drop of a hat, completely altering her fighting style in the same instant.

“The final step of the scientific process is Analysis. Taihō is constantly adjusting her strategy, taking what she learns from her “test” to create a new, more successful, plan of attack. Every battle against Taihō is unique; she never uses the same strategy twice, even if it is a successful one. Any powerful enemy will be able to adjust to a strategy that is used over and over, so Taihō constantly changes her strategy to keep the foe off balance. This makes her especially dangerous against people who really only have one fighting style, and who have trouble adapting to someone who changes the way they fight frequently, like Taihō does.

“When Taihō chooses to release me, to allow me to enter Shikai, things get…bad for the enemy. As a sword, I am dangerous. But, as a scythe, I am lethal, death incarnate. Taihō’s skill with the scythe is supernatural, to the point where it defies belief and understanding. Her fighting style becomes much more elaborate and aggressive; as she violently carves her enemies open with my blade, their screams fill the night like music, and blood soaks the cold, hungry ground beneath her feet. She is the center of a whirling storm of destruction, dancing through the battlefield, dealing death as she chooses, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop her.

“Taihō has been known to use the scythe in creative ways that defy normal human understanding. Although she traditionally wields my Shikai form with a two handed stance, which offers greater power and stability, she has been known to switch to a one handed style to improve her already considerable reach. However, there’s nothing fancy about that. Anybody can do that. No, what makes Taihō dangerous is what else she can do with a scythe. She can hurl me at foe with alarming accuracy, twirling my entire form to achieve greater accuracy and range. She uses this to increase her range even more, enabling her to attack enemies who may consider themselves to be safe from her attacks. Not only that, but by altering the way she twirls me before throwing, she can cause me to hover in the air at a certain distance, make abrupt course changes, or even return to her like a boomerang. Of course, these feats all have to be pre-planned, and cannot be done on the fly.

“Of course, these are little more than tricks for someone like Taihō. Her true power has to be seen. She has been known to hook enemies on my curved blade, twirl me like a saw to inflict grievous slicing injuries, and swing me in such a way as to change the angle of my blade, letting her catch enemies who thought they could escape. Thanks in large part to my immense cutting power, she is often able to slice through multiple enemies at once, and utilizes a strategy of attacking, defending and even counterattacking all in the same motion.

“All of this, however, is only applicable when Taihō actually engages her enemy in combat. More often than not, she defeats them without ever touching them. She does this with the powerful, and distinctly sinister, Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana. Once a common skill among those of the Kasumi’Oji clan, the art was almost lost when the family fell so long ago. At present, only Taihō still knows the secrets of this unique brand of Kido, and they are without doubt her greatest weapon. Mind Hana allow the user to telepathically assault the enemy, softening their resistance without ever laying a finger on them. Taihō is a master of these abilities, and can cripple her foe with little more than whisper and a moment of weakness on the enemy’s part. It is this power that makes her so respected, and so feared.

“The most awe inspiring thing about how Taihō fight, however, is that, no matter what is happening, she never shows any sign of emotion. Her emotions, already dulled by her psychosis, never make it far enough to be expressed while she is in battle, giving her a cold, indifferent image while fighting. While she does feel some emotion, it’s not enough to alter the battle in any way. She doesn’t bear any ill will or anger towards her opponent, nor does she enjoy killing them. They are obstacles, impeding either Taihō herself, or her family in some way. Therefore, they must be destroyed. Not even Azumi can match the absolute cold, ruthlessness that Taihō shows her victims, obliterating them completely without consideration of who or what they may be. It doesn’t matter to her in the slightest if it’s an Espada, or a Stern Ritter, or a month old baby that stands before her; they would all be put to death without mercy. During most fights, the most Taihō really feels is a slight sense of annoyance at having to waste time fighting, but this can change to amusement, or even something resembling lust, during especially intense fights.

“When Taihō fights, she fights to win. It’s the only thing she knows, and she’s very good at it. As the Right Hand of the Kasumi’Oji clan, Taihō takes it upon herself to remove any hindrance for Azumi or the family well before it becomes a problem, and the family has endured for this long in large part because of Taihō’s power. Therefore, one should never take her to lightly; she can and will dismantle anyone who stands in her way, and she won’t feel a trace of remorse afterword.”

Zanpakutou Spirit Appearance(Optional):[/b]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

└Faceclaim┐
Kongou – Arpeggio of Blue Steel

][

Appearing as a Victorian woman in her late teens, Mikadzuki’s spirit has been noted to look nothing like what her personality would suggest. Violent and obsessed with destruction, yet possessing a regal air of cold and composure, Mikadzuki is in many ways a perfect match for Taihō. Like Taihō, she appears to be almost emotionless, and is capable of great cruelty without any remorse. She revels in destruction and mayhem, and looks down on enemies with more subtle abilities as being beneath her. Her goal is simple: Eradicate everything that ever existed. According to Taihō herself, Mikadzuki would be more than capable of accomplishing this if given the chance.

Inner World(Optional):[/b]
[ www.japanator.com/ul/30720-/arp09d-620x.jpg[/img]]

Zanpakutou Appearances:
[The Zanpakuto of a member of the Kasumi’Oji clan cannot be anything but exquisite. Taihō’s is no exception. After all, the Kasumi’Oji clan once forged weapons for the Spirit King himself; it’s only natural that they keep some of the best toys for their own use. However, most people don’t notice the beauty of Mikadzuki. They notice it’s size. Mikadzuki is an outlandishly large weapon, just over seven feet in length if you count the hilt. It’s so large, it becomes impractical for Taihō to keep it on her person, and it’s impossible to draw quickly in combat situations. Instead, Taihō uses a unique Kido, made just for this purpose, to summon her sword when needed, and to return it from whence it came when the fighting is over.

The blade of Mikadzuki is slightly wider than a normal katana, mostly to support the additional weight. Due to its incredible length, Mikadzuki is an ideal weapon for forcing enemies to keep their distance, and can deal horrendous damage up close. The blade is of a silvery color, but does not reflect light at all. Instead, it seems to draw light into it, and the blade is always shrouded in darkness, a black haze that seems to grow larger and thicker as Taihō exerts herself more. The sword has no true guard, just a thin band of gold between the blade and the hilt, which has six holes arranged in a hexagonal pattern around it. The hilt is almost a foot long, and is wrapped in a fine black silk. The sheath, though rarely seen, is jet-black, but is otherwise unadorned.

When releasing her Shikai, Taihō holds the sword in front of her, with the tip of the blade pointed to the sky. After speaking the release phrase, the sword begins to shimmer with a violet light, before elongating substantially. At the same time, a horrific screaming can be heard from the blade, which can only be described as the sound of something unfathomably evil being born. Mikadzuki has been described as horrifying, even unholy, and this scream cements that view in the enemy’s mind. As the scream dies off, the sword begins to twist and mutate, becoming an immense scythe. Like in sealed state, Mikadzuki is preposterously large in Shikai, making it a fearsome weapon to face. In this form, Mikadzuki is about eight feet tall, with a wicked blade almost double that in length. The shaft is jet black, and is slightly twisted, like a tree limb. About halfway up the shaft, there’s a small handle that helps Taihō wield the scythe more affectively. The blade of the scythe is exquisite, again showing the peerless craftsmanship of the Kasumi’Oji. Thin enough to slide between an opponent’s ribs and with a vicious crescent shape, the blade is truly intimidating looking. It is black, so pure and absolute it seems to absorb light around it, creating a haze of shadow that clings to bade. The inner edge of the weapon is lined with a lunar calendar, showing the phases of the moon, when sow the fields, and when to harvest. The images of the calendar are gold in color, and always shine with a radiant light, making them always visible, no matter what.

Bankai for Mikadzuki is nothing like it’s Shikai. In fact, it’s nothing like any Bankai that came before it, or will come after. Another, even more ominous and horrible scream is heard, a scream of anguish and fear, the sound of every pure heart in the world, in all the worlds, being torn apart and devoured in a single instant, heralding the birth of something absolutely monstrous. Mikadzuki seems to dissolve into a shadowy liquid, which pools around Taihō’s feet, before expanding outward to form a perfect disk. The disk is almost three hundred feet across, and radiates a violent Reiatsu that can be felt for miles around. The Reiatsu inspires feelings of despair, fear and hatred, and seems to shake the ground; as soon as Taihō goes into Bankai, everybody knows about it.

After just a moment, something starts to rise out of the shadowy depths of the disk. Around the edge of the disk, it emerges, a perfect halo of sorts, three hundred feet in diameter. The halo at first is coated in a thick, black Reiatsu, but that Reiatsu slowly fades away, revealing a cold, gleaming metal underneath. The halo is constructed of two strands, twisted into a double helix shape, making it resemble a strand of DNA twisted into a circle. At first, the halo does nothing, and is mostly useless for combat purposes. However, it contains a secret. At will, Taihō can cause the halo to unwind into exactly two thousand one hundred eighty seven strands of Reiatsu wire, which shimmer with a black and violet light. Each strand of wire is a loop 300 feet in diameter, and each can be controlled by Taihō’s mind, or via hand movements. The wires can only be seen by those with an Energy Sensory of 100 or more, or by those with 200 or more regular Senses. Each wire has a durability and cutting strength equal to Taihō’s Dominant Stat, which makes her Bankai a vicious, Omni-directional weapon that can be used for both offense and defense, even at the same time.

After the halo rises out of this disk, the disk shrinks inward, until it is naught but a puddle at Taihō’s feet. The black Reiatsu rises up, engulfing Taihō completely for several seconds, before evaporating away, leaving Taihō clad in a large, black overcoat, similar to her modified Captain’s haroi. The coat is made of black metal, and has strange symbols carved in gold running down the front of it. A pair of hazy black Reiatsu wings appear behind Taihō, as does a black halo just above her head, both signs of her almost god-like powers of destruction.]

Zanpakutou Release Names(Include both Shikai and Bankai names, and call out phrases) []

Harvest, Mikadzuki.

Bankai, Owari no Mikadzuki.

Overall Ability:
[Harvest. It’s what you do to crops when you want to eat them. It’s what you do to organs when you want to stick them into someone else. It’s what you do to energy when you want to use it to heat you house. It’s not what you do to a living, breathing creature, and it’s certainly not what you do to a person. Think about it. Killing someone is one thing, but harvesting them? Doesn’t that thought just send chills down your spine? Doesn’t it strike you as just wrong somehow?

And yet, harvest is exactly what Taihō does to her enemies, and it embodies the overall ability of her Zanpakuto. Her Zanpakuto has been described as a “Pure Destruction” type Zanpakuto. This isn’t entirely accurate, but it does capture the perfectly the kind of devastation she can unleash against her foes. Taihō’s Zanpakuto can be best described as a natural calamity, forged and shaped into a weapon. Its ability to “Harvest” her opponents makes it one of the most horrific Zanpakuto that have every existed. Below, the broad strokes of her release will be described. Detailed information can be found in the Shikai and Bankai sections.

As stated above, the basic ability of Mikadzuki is to “Harvest”. The word harvest is described as collecting something to be put to use. Whether it’s crops to make food, wood to build a house, or fuel to power a city, it all involves gathering something, and using it in some way. That is what Mikadzuki does, and she does it very, very well. Mikadzuki’s power can be called “Harvest Virus”. It revolves around a catastrophic and highly contagious “Reiatsu Virus” that can spread to, infect and ultimately destroy any form of matter or energy it comes into contact with. The virus spreads rapidly, converting everything it touches into more of itself, exactly how regular viruses work, and in this way it disassembles whatever stands in Taihō’s way into a thick black slime. The slime, a pure an extremely concentrated form of the virus, goes on to infect anything it touches, thus continuing the cycle almost indefinitely. This Reiatsu Virus can infect anything, from organic matter to stone, water, even air can be infected and destroyed by the Reiatsu. Most defenses are useless, since the virus can infect the defense itself and destroy it, as are counter attacks for the same reason. The virus is highly resilient, and spreads uninhibited by temperature, acidity or moisture, factors that are often crucial in managing normal viruses. It is also immune to most forms of treatment, because it converts the medicine into more of the virus before the medicine can begin to work. In short, once you contract the virus, it is difficult to treat and almost impossible to cure, leaving you with few options other than death.

But that’s not even the worst part. Viruses, more than anything else, are infamous for their ability to mutate, to adapt and evolve in order to overcome whatever might stand in their way. The Harvest Virus is no different. The longer the virus stays in your system, the better it gets at killing you, and the harder it becomes to combat. What’s worse, it keeps these mutations as it spreads, making it increasingly difficult to counteract as it spreads through an area, and making it increasingly destructive as time goes on. And should you somehow survive the virus, you still won’t be safe. The virus remembers it’s victims, and will spread more rapidly and more violently in repeat customers, keeping any mutations it gained against an individual and improving upon them with each infection. Because how rapidly the virus mutates, it is impossible to develop an immunity to it, and even if a doctor develops a cure for the virus, it won’t be effective after a few minutes.

Mikadzuki is a Zanpakuto that destroys. It’s as simple as that. Some Zanpakuto manipulate the elements, or create magical effects, or impair the senses to achieve victory. Mikadzuki destroys. This makes Taihō dangerous in a way few Shinigami have ever been. She doesn’t have to put much effort into fighting her enemies, because all it takes is a touch, a scratch, a single instant of distraction, and the battle is over. One solitary hit will start an inevitable cascade into ruin, which few enemies will be able to escape. The tiniest of wounds, on a single finger, will eventually lead to the opponent’s entire body being liquefied. And even if Taihō can’t hit her opponent, she can infect the trees, the buildings, the water, and the ground, even the air around him, until there is no other choice but to lie down and die. If they raise a barrier to stop her, she can destroy it. If they launch a counter attack, she will negate it. There is very little that can be done to combat this devastating power, and that is Taihō’s greatest strength. ]

Shikai Overall Ability:
[In Shikai, Taihō wields a distilled form of Mikadzuki’s ability to “Harvest”. The wicked Harvest Virus is carried in the blade of the massive scythe that Mikadzuki becomes, meaning that any contact with the blade, even in passing, will infect you with the virus. That’s right, skin contact is all that’s required to get sick. Once you are infected, you begin your very rapid journey to death, a journey full of horror and despair. Almost immediately, the point of contact will turn black, as the virus comes alive and begins destroying your flesh. There is no pain involved, as the nerve endings are dissolved faster than they can send messages of alarm to the brain, meaning that most victims have no idea anything’s wrong at first. The black mark begins rapidly spreading across the enemy’s body, first as black veins and arteries, then as a dark wave across the skin as first the blood vessels carrying the virus, then everything around them are destroyed and turned to a black slime. The virus spreads at an alarming rate, moving to any adjacent body parts every two posts. Meaning that if, on post one, the enemy’s hand is infected, on post three the fingers and arm will be infected, and post five the upper arm will be infected, etc. Depending on how high your Dominant Stat is compared to Taihō’s, there may be a brief incubation period before the virus becomes fully active. At 75% of her Dominant stat, there is no incubation period, and the infection begins to spread almost immediately. With a Dominant Stat equal to Taihō’s, there is a one post incubation period, and at 125% of her Dominant stat, this is increased to three posts. At 150% of her Dominant Stat, there is no Incubation period; instead, the target is immune to the virus. It takes three posts after the virus hits part of your body for that body part to be completely destroyed, at which point the body part bursts violently, spraying the black slime within outward in a five foot radius, potentially infecting anyone nearby. The result is a very rapid dissolution of the victim, and the further spread of the virus. This spreading can be slowed by points in Poison Resistance; every point adds one post to the amount of time it takes for the virus to spread to adjacent body parts, and to the time it takes to destroy infected tissue. Meaning that, at 3 points of Poison Resistance, the virus will spread every five posts, and destroy tissue every six posts.

For non-organic objects that are infected, such buildings, water or the ground, the infected volume doubles every two posts, with destruction of the infected area occurring every three posts. Eventually, the ground and all surrounding terrain features and or structures will be destroyed, leaving a pool of black, viral slime that infects it touches as the only battle ground. Obviously, this is a very dangerous situation for the opponent to face, but it would take a very long time for this to occur under normal circumstances. When calculating the initial volume of the point of contact, the tip of the blade is assumed to infect a one cubic inch volume, while the edge of the blade is assumed to infect a six cubic inch volume. This is done mostly for balance purposes, to help slow the rate of spread enough that it would take ten plus posts for a truly substantial area of infected terrain to be formed. It should be noted that, while the virus spreads outward along the ground at a faster rate than it spreads downward, it will spread down into the ground, eventually forming a deep pool of viral slime. Swimming in the pool is not advised. Also, air cannot be infected in Shikai.

Remember the mutations I talked about earlier? Good. Every five posts, the virus will mutate, becoming more virulent and harder to stop. Every time the virus mutates, anything that would slow it down, hinder or damage it becomes 10% less effective. This includes Reiatsu based defenses, healing from a doctor, anything. Not even High Speed Regeneration will save you; although HSR does indeed halt the spread of the virus, it does not kill it. After the first mutation, the virus will begin to spread at 10% of its normal rate, rounded to the nearest whole number. With each mutation, HRS becomes another 10% less effective at stopping the virus, until it eventually stops working completely. With each mutation, the virus also becomes immune to vaccines and medicines used against it up to that point. Also, the rate of infection increases by 5%, rounded to the nearest whole number, a small bonus, but one that adds up over time. Of course, most battles don’t last nearly long enough for this to matter, but that’s ok. The virus is patient; it can wait. After the first mutation, the virus will remember any and all mutations it has accumulated against a particular victim, and start where it left off should the enemy be infected again at a later time. The mutations are global, and affect the virus as a whole, but they are also specific. Meaning that mutations against a specific technique, defense or medicine don’t apply to all techniques, defenses or medicines, but the specific one used against the virus. This applies to characters as well; opponents infected after a mutation occurs get the “vanilla” form of the virus, and gain mutations at a normal rate. All mutations are made null and void at the end of a thread, and do not carry over into other threads.

In case you are wondering, Taihō is largely immune to her own power. She can touch infected matter with impunity, giving her a stark advantage over her opponent. She can even walk on the liquefied, viral matter Jesus-style, meaning that the destroyed terrain only hinders her opponents, not Taihō herself. However, attentive readers will note I said she is largely immune, not completely immune. If, for any reason, she should touch the blade of Mikadzuki, she would contract the virus just like anyone else. This only counts for skin contact, but it could still be used by a creative opponent to harm or hinder Taihō. Also, it must be noted that although she creates the virus, she has no control over it. It will infect friends and helpless bystanders just as easily as her enemies, making it dangerous to use with allies nearby. In fact, if left unchecked, the virus would infect and liquefy the entire world, even if that world happens to be Soul Society or Hueco Mundo. Of course, it would take hundreds of posts for that to happen, but it could happen in theory. The only way to stop the virus is for Taihō to seal her blade, either willingly, or because she can no longer maintain release. With the blade sealed, the virus dies instantly, leaving any infected matter clean and healthy, and destroyed matter in complete ruin. The destroyed matter is returned to its original state instantly, and without concern for where it might have ended up while in liquid form or what might be near it. So, you will have pieces of the ground fused seamlessly with chunks of buildings, tree branches, bodies of water, parts of people (Still living people, mind you), etc. The laws of physics are simply forced to accept the amalgamated mass of devastated stuff left in the wake of the Harvest Virus, leading to some rather gruesome results that make you wonder if surviving is really all it’s cracked up to be. You may have escaped with your life, but how are you going to get around with the upper part of your torso fused to the wall of building, with your legs sticking out of a lake a mile away? Try walking that off. Oh wait, you can’t.

The best thing to do when fighting Taihō is avoid getting infected with the virus. Unfortunately, this is much easier said than done. If you do get infected, don’t give up hope. You do have some small chance to survive. Anybody with 600 or more points of Healing Expertise will be able to purge the virus from your system, and can even destroy it in their own body, rendering them effectively immune to the disease. Be aware, however, that this is subject to the virus’ mutations. Every time the virus mutates, an individual trying to cure it becomes 10% less effective at doing so; in other words, their HE is treated as being 10% lower than it really is for every mutation. If the effective HE drops below 600 points, that person will no longer be able to fight the virus. Like other mutations, this only applies against specific individuals; if someone else takes over, their ability to fight the virus will unaffected. If a doctor is unavailable, the next best thing to do is amputate the infected area, preferably before it spreads.]

Bankai Overall Ability:
[Taihō’s Bankai is death. It’s as simple as that. It would be fair to say that Taihō’s Bankai is one of, if not the, most dangerous Bankai to have ever existed. It’s sheer nature makes it deadly to face, with over two thousand wires that can cut and carve through almost anything they encounter. Taihō becomes the eye of an unimaginable storm of death, tearing apart everything around her with reckless, casual abandon. Very little can stand against her, because of the sheer number and power of the wires created by her Bankai. Each thread has the durability of her Dominant Stat, and can move at a speed of 300. Now, add on to that the Harvest Virus, and you see what makes Taihō’s Bankai so unforgettable. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, each and every strand of wire, all two thousand one hundred eighty seven of them, carries the virus, meaning that as they slice and dice, they are also infecting everything they touch. As you can imagine, this rapidly leads to untimely demise of more or less everything around Taihō. Without using any techniques, without doing anything, Taihō can destroy armies, dismantle fortress, and devastate countries.
In Bankai, the Harvest Virus does everything it did in Shikai, just faster. Instead of spreading on every third turn, it spreads to adjacent areas with each passing post, and destroys infected areas every other post. This means most enemies will be turned to slime in just a few posts, a prospect that nobody wants to think about. The virus spreads through inanimate objects at twice the rate it did in Shikai, and destroys them at twice the rate as well, resulting in a more rapid liquefaction of the environment, restricting the enemy’s movement greatly. Also, the air becomes infectable. After the first mutation in Bankai, the air around Taihō becomes infected with virus, and every three posts after this, the volume of infected air doubles. When destroyed, air becomes a black mist.

The rate of mutation is increased as well, from every five posts to every three posts. While the effects of the mutations are not improved, the accelerated rate of mutation makes the virus even more difficult to combat, especially given the accelerated rate of infection and destruction. Medicines lose effect sooner, barriers dissolve faster, everything you would do to protect yourself is overwhelmed that much faster, making it a truly horrific ability to face. Even HSR is affected, losing half of its effectiveness in just fifteen posts, rather than twenty five like in Shikai. Basically, it goes from difficult to almost impossible to rid yourself of the virus, except by amputating infected body parts. That really is the best way to treat the infection, and you have to do it quickly, before it’s too late.

Taihō’s ability is one that is devastating in the short term, and monstrous in the long term. With her expansive Reiatsu pool, she can refresh her release over and over, letting the long term effects of the virus do the work for her, and simply wait her opponent out. Like a virus, she is methodical and deliberate, and in no hurry to finish things; the longer the battle drags on, the stronger she becomes. However, it does have weaknesses. The biggest one is that, like in Shikai, if Taihō makes direct skin contact with her weapon for any reason, she will contract the Harvest Virus, meaning she always has to be aware of her threads’ whereabouts. Although the release is useful for attacking wide areas and large groups of enemies, singular foes, especially agile ones, can be difficult to catch, limiting its usefulness one-on-one. ]

[Taihō Kasumi’Oji]

Zanpakuto Techniques:

[Technique Name: Uteki (Raindrop)

Release Stage: Shikai, Bankai

Description: The first technique in Taihō’s arsenal, and one of her most powerful. By concentrating her Reiatsu into a dense sphere, then condensing it further, she creates a two pronged projectile attack; it not only deals immense damage, but it acts as a vector for the Harvest Virus. Taihō first forms a black sphere with a violet outline, often in front of her outstretched hand. She then condenses the sphere down to the size of, you guessed it, a raindrop, then launches it forcefully at the target. The drop travels at a speed of 500, and hits as a physical projectile moving with a force of 1000; in other words, the drop hits the target like a physical blow launched from a strength stat of 1000. This makes the attack devastating, often able to demolish small buildings with a single hit, but what’s worse is the virus contained in the drop. Upon contact with an infectable object (not including any form of energy), the virus instantly spreads to that object, allowing Taihō to spread the virus around, and infect slippery opponents who had escaped her previous attacks.

How to use: Costs 400 Reiatsu, 600 in Bankai. Taihō must state the name of the technique, aim it, and fire. Although she often fires the attack from her outstretched hand, it is not required; only looking at the target is necessary to launch the attack, a fact Taihō likes to keep secret until an ideal moment.

Drawback: Of course, a technique as powerful as Uteki is going to have some serious drawbacks. 400 Reiatsu is as much as it costs to enter Bankai, limiting the spamability of this technique somewhat. More than that, however, the technique is very stressful for Taihō to use, and damages her body with each shot. One use causes minor internal bleeding, and this gets worse with each shot in a single thread. Taihō can only stand about four shots in a single thread, unless she receives some form of medical attention to help her heal. In addition, she can only use the technique once per post.


Technique Name: Horu (Carve)

Release Stage: Shikai

Description: Intended as an easily spammable attack, Horu is Taihō’s bread-and-butter technique when simply attacking isn’t sufficient. By flooding her scythe with Reiatsu, Taihō creates a hazy black aura around the blade of the weapon that acts as a vector for the Harvest Virus, allowing her to deal increased physical damage, as well as spread the virus even faster. The aura adds Taihō’s Reiatsu Strength to the Strength behind her physical attacks, essentially giving her attacks a massive boost to the kinetic energy they can impart, and thus their destructive power. What’s more, the aura can be launched as a projectile, flying in a lazy arc in the direction of her swing. Horu, thus, is a useful two prong technique; able to crush enemies who close the distance or force foes to stay at arm’s length to fight. The fact that the technique carries such raw destructive power often causes foes to overlook the virus it carries, further worsening their plight.

How to use: Horu costs 250 Reiatsu to use, and another 100 to launch as a projectile attack. Taihō must say the technique name to use it.

Drawbacks: This is a weaker technique, so it has lighter drawbacks. Besides the Reiatsu cost, it’s tiresome to use this technique over and over, or to maintain it for long periods of time. After a dozen or so shots in one thread, or a two or three posts of continual use, Taihō will be forced to rest for a post to recover her strength. She can maintain the technique for up to three posts without firing it. As a projectile, the attack’s range is rather limited. At around twenty feet, the technique dissipates, preventing it from being used to snipe enemies. Also, the arc of the attack cannot be controlled, and it only moves at a speed of 500, making it fairly easy to dodge.]


Technique Name: Kānibaru (Carnival)

Stage: Bankai

Description: Odd name for a Bankai technique, isn’t it? Carnival. And yet, nothing better describes the organized chaos that this technique unleashes. With this technique, Taihō can plan out the next three movements of her threads, and have them make those movements at Shunpo speed. That’s right. The next three movements of her wires are done at 3000 Speed. Obviously, this makes an incredibly lethal, very difficult to dodge attack become almost impossible to avoid, allowing Taihō to mince entire armies in just a few seconds.

How to use: say the technique name, then use it. This technique costs 600 Reiatsu to activate. After that, Taihō has to plan out three movements for her wires, and only those three movements will get the bonus.

Drawbacks: The first of Taihō’s Bankai techniques, and often the last her enemies will ever see. As such, the drawbacks are steep. Taihō can only use this technique once every three posts, limiting her ability to spam it at enemies. It is also very tiresome to use, and just one or two activations in a single thread will leave her significantly winded. Also, the technique only stays active for one post; after that, even if she still has moves to make, the effect wears off. Since only the three planned moves get the speed boost, the technique can be rendered less effective, or even useless, if the enemies happen to move in a way Taihō didn't expect, causing her to waste Reiatsu.

Technqiue Name: Tōchaku (Arrival)

Stage: Bankai

Description: A largely defensive technique, Tōchaku allows Taihō to move about the battlefield with some degree of safety, while also disrupting the enemy. She first gathers all of her threads around herself, weaving them together into a pair of ribbons, each ten feet long and two feet wide. Because of the number of threads in each ribbon, and their highly compressed nature, each ribbon has a durability equal to double Taihō’s Dominant Stat; cutting power is calculated normally. These ribbons then spiral around Taihō like a double-helix of DNA, rotating at a speed of 800. This shields her from attack, and allows her to Shunpo to a new location. When she does, the ribbons Shunpo with her, and at her point of arrival, they begin to spiral outward, loosening and expanding as they do, until the ribbons are nothing but individual threads again.

How to use: Say the technique name, and pay 500 Reiatsu. The Reiatsu cost of the Shunpo is included in the cost of the technique.

Drawbacks: At 500 Reiatsu a pop, this is far more expensive than a regular Shunpo, meaning she can’t spam it the way Shunpo can be to move around rapidly. It’s a single-movement “get the **** out of her NOW” technique, meant for a rapid departure, and a protected arrival. It takes a few moments for the threads to be woven into ribbons, and using the technique leaves Taihō significantly drained, meaning if her timing is off, she won’t Shunpo in time to avoid the attack, or she may avoid the attack, but be unable to defend herself afterword. She can only use this technique once per post, and it consumes all of her remaining Shunpo uses for that post, leaving her a sitting duck for several seconds after using the technique.

Technique Name: Horokōsuto (Holocaust)

Stage: Bankai

Description: With a name like that, you know this technique is gonna be ugly. Horokōsuto is a “mass murder” attack designed to end battles and decimate armies, and is easily one of Taihō’s most devastating powers. She first calls all of her threads to her, creating a rough sphere of thread about ten feet in diameter. This sphere utterly annihilates it touches, both by slicing it hundreds of times very rapidly, and by infecting it in multiple places at once. After a moment, Taihō launches her threads at a target en masse, creating a dense storm of threads that pierces through almost anything before them. The storm expands as it travels forward, starting at ten feet across and gaining one foot of width for every three feet of distance traveled. The threads stretch out to their maximum length, 300 feet, meaning that the total width of the attack is 110 feet across, making it truly devastating and difficult to avoid. And, since each thread spreads the virus to anything it touches, this technique goes a long way toward the overall goal of infecting the enemy and everything around them in order to destroy them.

How to use: Described above. Costs 600 Reiatsu. Must state technique name.

Drawbacks: Of course, a technique like this one is going to have some severe drawbacks. With that heavy Reiatsu cost, Taihō can’t fling this attack around willy-nilly, and even using it once will be enough to wear her out. A single use leaves her too tired to move for several seconds, and three uses in a thread will leave her unable to move until she receives healing, or leaves the thread. She can only use this technique once every three posts, and can only use it a total of three times in a thread. Like Uteki, this technique damages her body with each use, tearing up her insides each time it’s fired. One use will have her coughing up blood, the second will leave her feeling faint and will reduce her physical stats by 10%, and the third will cause her to pass out. These counters can only be reset at the end of the thread, after 12 hours in game, or with medical assistance. Finally, the threads re-condense into the original halo form after using this technique, and cannot be unwound to be utilized for the next two posts. 


Technique Name: Shamen (Absolution)

Stage: Bankai

Description: Absolution. The release from all guilt, obligation and punishment. Nothing could be a better description of this technique, as Taihō absolves her opponent in the most direct way possible: By killing them. Shamen is, fittingly, Taihō’s finishing move; her ultimate technique, a final attack that completely ends the opponent, as well as much of the surrounding landscape and any hapless bystanders caught up in it. First, Taihō concentrates all of her threads into a single point, weaving them into a sphere the size of a marble. This sphere is then launched at the foe in a manner similar to Uteki; in essence, Shamen is just a more powerful Uteki. However, it behaves very differently than Uteki once it hits something. Upon contact with a solid, liquid, non-air gas, or something made of energy, the Shamen sphere will pierce the target, then rapidly expand back into the Bankai original, double-helix halo form following a post long “Incubation” period. Obviously, having a marble sized object expand into a 300 foot wide ring inside of your body is extremely bad for your health, almost always resulting in death. The sphere travels at a speed of 800, and has a piercing power equal to three times Taiho's Reiatsu Strength. It expands at a speed of 1000.

How to use: Stated above. Costs 1,250 Reiatsu to use. Must state Technqiue name to use.

Drawbacks: This technique, should it hit its target, is almost always lethal. There just isn’t much you can do about an object expanding out to 300 feet in diameter inside of your body. You’re pretty much done. That being said, this technique has some severe drawbacks and limitations to it that limit Taihō from using it recklessly. First of all, 1,250 Reiatsu is a massive amount to spend on one technique. This technique also leaves Taihō severely winded, almost to the point where a stiff breeze could knock her over. It takes two full posts for her to recover from this technique, during which she can barely move, and she is unable to defend herself from attacks. She cannot spend Reiatsu in any way during these posts, or attack an enemy or defend herself. All she can do is run away, and she can’t even do that very well at this point. Also, use of this technique severely damages her Zanpakuto, rendering it inert for four posts. During this time, she cannot control her Bankai, and the Harvest Virus becomes dormant, no longer spreading , mutating or destroying anything. It can also be neutralized by any character with 150 or more Healing Expertise during this time. After use of this technique, Taihō can no longer refresh her Release in the same thread, and cannot re-release after sealing her Zanpakuto in the same thread.

Other Techniques:

Mastered
Unmastered


└Hado┐

Hado #4: Byakurai
Hado #31: Shakkahō
Hado #33: Sōkatsui
Hado #90: Kurohitsugi

└Bakudo┐
Bakudo #81: Danku



└Kasumi’Oji Genesis Arts┐

All are Mastered

Technique Name: Genesis Art: Anima



Class: 3



Technique Type: Genesis Art



Technique Element: Life



Technique Description and Effects:



This is a simple technique. It brings something to life, infusing it with vitality and motion. Genesis Spirit threads itself through the object, which can now move, contort itself, and essentially work like one of those magical housekeeping implements from Disney movies. When used on a technique or something larger like terrain, it creates a fully sentient copy of Taihō equal to her in size; the stats are hers, with the exceptions that the Reiatsu Strength equals that of the technique and there is no Spiritual Pressure. Spiritual Pressure simply doesn't exist for these entities.



How to use: Touch the target. The technique can be fired at a speed of the user's RS in the form of a golden beam, but that costs extra.



Drawback: Costs 400 Life Force and, if fired, 300 Reiatsu. Entities created via Anima have extremely limited reiatsu reserves; one created from a technique can only spend as much as was spent to cast the technique, and it dissipates the moment that reiatsu runs out. Anima is also unusable on the enemy's body and immediate possessions (a weapon that they're holding or clothes that they're wearing). Copies of Taihō created with Anima are also created without a weapon, forcing them to fight unarmed unless they get a weapon from somewhere.



Reserved?: No







Technique Name: Genesis Art: Oculus



Class: 3



Technique Type: Genesis Art



Technique Element: Life



Technique Description and Effects:



Genesis Art: Oculus - Oculus generates an enlarged, floating eye. By the standards of eyes, it's gigantic, but it remains a pretty small object, about six inches in diameter. Only the lens and small corneal region around it is bared; the rest of the eye is covered in a chitinous substance akin to Hierro. Be careful! This shell is covered in barbs and edges that allow the Oculus to adhere to targets or cause them shallow cuts. An Oculus has visual and energy senses equivalent to the user's energy sensory and the ability to freely hover and fly in midair with a Speed stat of 300. They're pretty smart; they don't have Taihō's memories, but they're programmed to read the battlefield and act to ensure her victory, and they're also attuned to her Reiatsu and mind. The Oculus can activate any of Taihō's techniques besides Genesis Arts at any moment, but doing so just once will render the Oculus immobile from fatigue after a couple of seconds. The reiatsu cost of the technique is detracted from Taihō's reiatsu pool; if Taihō is in some sort of reiatsu-inhibiting zone, such as a Sekki-seki prison, then the reiatsu is subtracted from her pool at the earliest opportunity.



How to Use: Hold out hand and cast.



Drawbacks: Cannot use techniques on its own. Costs 400 Life Force to create. Has no energy supply on its own.



Reserved?: Kasumi'Oji and designated allies only







Technique Name: Genesis Art: Plasmatio



Class: 4



Technique Type: Genesis Art



Technique Element: Life



Technique Description and Effects:



Plasmatio allows Taihō to generate objects and weapons. This is a tactical version of the secret art used to create special weapons such as the Bakkoto. It costs 300 Life Force and only allows her to make weapons up to the size of a spear. Swords, axes, etc. are all possible, but a siege warfare battering ram isn't. Their resilience and cutting power are naturally functions of her RS. They're well-forged, of course, since she's a Kasumi'Oji, so they're not brittle. These weapons have no inherent powers, but by casting a non-Genesis technique on them, Taihō can lend the weapon the power of that technique. Since they're living, they can break themselves apart at will. For an additional 200 life force, Taihō can add animated living components to the weapons, such as tentacles.



How to use: Hold the hand out and will the technique to occur.



Drawback: Life force cost. Adds potential for enemy to steal weapons, as Taihō's certainly not immune to taking damage from them.



Reserved?: Kasumi'Oji and designated allies only.


Technique Name: Genesis Art: Calcitro 



Class: 2



Technique Type: Genesis Art



Technique Element: Life



Technique Description and Effects:



One of the more brutal and disturbing of the Genesis Arts, Clacitro can cause massive tentacles, each one being almost five feet thick at the base and up to ten feet long,  to burst from any organic compound within fifty feet of the user, including fertile soil, plants and animals, and the user themselves. These tentacles are massively powerful, possessing a Strength stat of 800, and being able to move at a flat Speed of 200. They have no RS or SprPr, and 150 in both Senses and Instinct. Each one is covered in small, red eyes, as well as armored segments that have a durability equal to the user's RS, and each has it's own limited awareness, instinctively lashing out at the users enemies. If grown from the user's body, the user can direct them as additional limbs, and can do anything with them that they could do with their normal limbs (I.e. cast Kido, etc.). The tentacles are very flexible and dexterous, and can preform delicate operations as well as brute force assaults. The advantages of this technique are obvious. Tentacles can be destroyed at will, and die at the end of thread, or when the host dies. Each tentacle has 1000 static points of Life Force, which are treated as it's health for the purposes of killing it directly.   



How to Use: Hold out hand and cast.



Drawbacks: Calcitro is a rather intense technique, and has some steep drawbacks. Aside from costing Life Force to manifest, each tentacle drains 200 Life Force per post from whatever it is grown from. In the case of the ground, it is assumed the nearby soil has 1000 Life force. Plants and animals have 1400 Life Force. As Life Force is drained, the host becomes more sickened and withered, as the tentacle draws nutrients from them to support itself. For every 20% of Life force lost, all stats drop by 15%. Of course, at zero Life Force, the host is dead, and the tentacle will die as well. This technique can never be cast on another character, even an NPC, for balance purposes, so it can't be used to kill enemies by draining their Life Force. No more then three tentacles can be grown per post, and no more than twelve can exist at a time.



Reserved?: Kasumi'Oji and designated allies only.



Technique Name: Genesis Art: Draconem



Class: 1



Technique Type: Genesis Art



Technique Element: Life



Technique Description and Effects:



What do you think it does? Draconem summons a freaking dragon, that's what it does. The user first generates a small seed, which they can "plant" in any organic matter, aside from another character, to have it break open and grow into a thirty foot long dragon that looks something like this. The dragon has 1200 Strength, 600 Speed, and it's other Stats are equal to the casters, except for having no SprPr and no Reiatsu. It does, however, have a static pool of 5000 Life Force, which is used as health for the purposes of killing it directly. The dragon normally has no special abilities aside from, you know, being a dragon, but by casting an elemental Kido on it, the user can give it an attribute. The dragon's body becomes infused with this element, dealing damage and related effects (burning for fire, freezing for ice, etc) to opponents who touch it, and it gains the ability to breath that element in a cone twenty feet long once per post free of charge. The dragon's greatest strength, however, is that is fully sentient; it has the same intelligence, memories and basic personality as the caster, essentially giving the user a fully independent ally that thinks and acts just like they would. And di I mention that ally is a dragon? Pretty scary.  



How to Use: Create a seed, then plant it in something organic, like fertile soil, or a plant or an animal. 



Drawbacks: Draconem is a viciously powerful technique that can be used to break armies. I mean, it summons a dragon. You don't get much more bad ass than that, now do you? Of course, it has heavy drawbacks to balance it out. First of all, the Life Force cost is pretty steep, equal to the Reiatsu Cost of a Class 1 technique, which can put the user in dire straits if the timing is off. The second drawback is that it requires a sacrifice. The user must sacrifice one of their arms, to provide enough bio-mass to start the development of the dragon. The arm is severed painlessly, and shrinks into a seed about the size a grape. This is what must be planted. Of course, losing an arm is a pretty serious thing, especially in the heat of battle, and this problem is compounded by the fact that the dragon doesn't appear right away. It takes a full post for it to incubate before emerging, during which the user experiences massive fatigue, and is missing an arm. In NDE threads, the arm is assumed to be healed at the end of the thread, but in DE threads, the loss is permanent, and cannot be healed by anything ever for any reason, period.   



Reserved?: Kasumi'Oji and designated allies only.



└Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana┐
Kasumi’Oji: Mind Hana.

Mind Hana are a special set of Kido created by the Kasumi’Oji Clan centuries, perhaps even millennia ago to assist them in…softening resistance to their ambitions. Battles are won not on the battle field, but in the heart and in the mind. Understanding this, the Kasumi’Oji clan developed these techniques to break the opponent’s will directly, via powerful telepathic and psionic assaults on the mind itself. Mind Hana deal no direct damage to the body, but can be used to shocking effect to distract, disorientate, and confuse the enemy, leading to swift, often bloodless victories. When using a Mind Hana technique, the user uses Reiatsu Strength, to determine the power of the technique. The enemy uses Reiatsu Strength to determine how well they can resist it. Skills such as Illusion Resist and Calm Mind can also help in resisting these techniques.

All are Mastered


Technique Name: [Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana: Now You See Me]

Class: [4]

Technique Type (Kido, Hollow/Arrancar Technique, Human World Dweller Technique, Other): [Kido]

Usable By (Technique is available to which races?): [Shinigami.]

Technique Element: [Psychic]

Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect):
[One of the major principles of battle is the concept of concealment. If the enemy can’t find you, they can’t kill you. Some people may attempt to exercise concealment by sneaking about, while others may waste time and energy trying to mask their presence in some way. However the Kasumi’Oji developed a much more elegant solution. The mind, while terribly powerful, suffers from certain limitations. Among these is a finite amount of energy it can expend at any one point in time. In order to conserve energy, your mind only perceives what it deems to be of the greatest importance at that moment; even if you see something else, if your mind doesn’t consider it to be important, you simply won’t notice it’s there. Using this principle, this technique uses a simple adjustment to the enemy’s mind to render the user, and any of the user’s allies they choose to include, as “unimportant”. In a nut-shell, this technique makes enemies ignore the users presence; even if the user stands right in front of the enemy, the enemy will not see or hear the user, nor will they be able to sense the user via ES. ]

How to use technique (How is it activated?): [Just spend Reiatsu, and say the phrase “Now you see me…” to activate the technique. This can be used even if the enemy already knows where you are, making it appear as if you vanished completely.]

Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc.)
Aside from the Reiatsu cost, the main drawback to this technique is that it’s relatively easy to break. If the target’s Reiatsu Strength meets or exceeds the users Reiatsu Strength, they are immune. Also, anyone whose Class exceeds the users is immune. Having points in Illusion Resist can help the victim find the user despite this technique. Finally, the technique is broken if the user does something really noticeable, such as makes a loud sound, speaks directly to the target, or attacks the target. If the target touches the user, the technique is broken. This technique lasts for a maximum of three posts.

Incantation and Effect (If Kido only):

Made By: lurkerslurk

Reserved? (Yes/No) (Can others use your technique, or just your character?): [Yes – Kasumi’Oji Only.]



Technique Name: [Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana: Words, Words, Words]

Class: [3]

Technique Type (Kido, Hollow/Arrancar Technique, Human World Dweller Technique, Other): [Kido]

Usable By (Technique is available to which races?): [Shinigami]

Technique Element: [Psychic]

Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect):
[Most people take simple things like speech for granted. It’s something you learned to do as a toddler, and now it’s second nature to you. Not anymore. This technique temporarily shuts down the language centers of the targets brain, making them essentially useless, dead weight in the brain. Just talking becomes next to impossible, as your brain struggles to cope without one of its most important pieces, making it difficult to say even simple things like “Help! I’m being killed!” Most of what you try to say will be reduced to gobbly-gook and baby-babble, with maybe an actual word or two mixed in if you try really hard. However, the insidious thing about this technique is that more than just speech is tied in our language centers. Much of our understanding of how the world works is based on language; without it, you lose the ability to identify your surroundings, or comprehend how things work. It’s truly a terrifying ability, especially since the mind knows it lost something, but it can’t figure out what it was!]

How to use technique (How is it activated?):
[This technique requires eye contact with the target. The user must spend the appropriate amount of Reiatsu while saying “Words, words, words”. That’s all it takes.]

Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc)
As a Class 3 technique, the Reiatsu cost is somewhat high, especially for a purely disruptive technique. Enemies with more RS than the user has RS are immune, as are foes with a higher Class than the user. Having a high Illusion Resist or Calm Mind skill can help defeat this technique, as can simply avoiding eye contact. In any event, the effects are temporary, and only last a couple of minutes.

Incantation and Effect (If Kido only):

Made By: lurkerslurk

Reserved? (Yes/No) (Can others use your technique, or just your character?): [Yes – Kasumi’Oji Only]



Technique Name: [Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana: See No Evil]

Class: [3]

Technique Type (Kido, Hollow/Arrancar Technique, Human World Dweller Technique, Other): [Kido]

Usable By (Technique is available to which races?): [Shinigami]

Technique Element: [Psychic]

Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect):
[Everyone knows what the five senses are. Sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. They are so critical to the lives of most people, it’s hard to imagine life without any of these senses. The enemies of the Kasumi’Oji, however, know exactly what it’s like. By telepathically blocking the parts of the brain responsible for converting raw sensory input into useful information, the user of this technique can essentially “seal” one of the victims five senses. Sight, hearing, taste, touch or smell; one of those senses is removed completely, forcing the enemy to adjust immediately to the sudden loss. This can wreak havoc on even the most skilled of warriors, making it easy for the Kasumi’Oji to dispose of them at their leisure.]

How to use technique (How is it activated?): [This technique can be fired as a thin, white beam from the users finger tips with a speed of 800, and has a Reiatsu cost of a Class 3 technique. The user must speak the phrase “See no evil”, then pick which sense the enemy loses. ]

Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc)
The technique is rather tiresome to use, and can only be used once per post. An enemy can only have one sense sealed at a time; reuse of this technique causes the sealed sense to be restored, and a new sense to be sealed. Opponents whose RS is higher than the users RS are immune, as are foes of a higher Class. Finally, though the user can steal a sense from the enemy, nothing stops the enemy from adjusting to the lack of that sense. The effects wear off at the end of the thread, or with the aid of a skilled medic.

Incantation and Effect (If Kido only):

Made By: lurkerslurk

Reserved? (Yes/No) (Can others use your technique, or just your character?): [Yes – Kasumi’Oji only]



Technique Name: [Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana: We All Fall Down]

Class: [2]

Technique Type (Kido, Hollow/Arrancar Technique, Human World Dweller Technique, Other): [Kido]

Usable By (Technique is available to which races?): [Shinigami]

Technique Element: [Psychic]

Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect):
[Walking. It’s something so simple, and yet so vital to daily life. Now, the Kasumi’Oji will take even that from you. This technique directs a concentrated burst of psychic “static” at a target, which momentarily overrides and scrambles the victims motor-control centers of the brain. The results are as hilarious as they are devastating, as the opponent loses control over his or her own limbs. First, the victims arms and legs begin flailing about haphazardly, as the brain panics trying to interpret the static it’s being filled with, which usually results in the enemy falling to the ground in a spasmodic heap. After a moment, the motor control centers of the brain shut down temporarily, leaving the victims arms and legs utterly useless for a short period of time. ]

How to use technique (How is it activated?):
[The user must make eye contact for at least five complete seconds before this technique can be used. Any interruption or break in eye contact makes this technique unusable. The user must say the phrase “We all fall down” to activate the technique. ]

Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc)
As one of the more powerful Mind Hana, this technique has a rather steep Reiatsu cost, and is very stressful to both the mind and body of the user to use. It can only be used three times per thread, and once per post. Enemies with more RS than the user has RS are immune, as are foes of greater Class. Using this technique damages the users body, specifically the brain itself, somewhat. After the first use, the user will begin bleeding from eyes, which will get worse the more this and other Class 2 and up Mind Hana are used. This will eventually lead to death if the user keeps using these techniques.

Incantation and Effect (If Kido only):

Made By: lurkerslurk

Reserved? (Yes/No) (Can others use your technique, or just your character?): [Yes – Kasumi’Oji Only]



Technique Name: [Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana: Good Thought]

Class: [2]

Technique Type (Kido, Hollow/Arrancar Technique, Human World Dweller Technique, Other): [Kido]

Usable By (Technique is available to which races?): [Shinigami]

Technique Element: [Psychic]

Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect):
[This technique, more than any other, is responsible for aiding the Kasumi’Oji in their ascent to power. It is, quite possibly, the most insidious technique to exist in Soul Society. The ability to bend minds. With this, the user can insert one thought, a single sentence, into the mind of the opponent, weaving it into their own thoughts so perfectly, it becomes impossible to tell it doesn’t belong. Victims of this technique often have no idea that their thoughts are supplied to them by the Kasumi’Oji, and often find themselves following these thoughts to their logical conclusions, whatever that may be. This power is not direct mind control, but it’s the next best thing: The power of suggestion, a single idea that entices a victim to act, often in a way they would not have otherwise. ]

How to use technique (How is it activated?):
[This technique requires direct skin contact, and has a rather hefty Reiatsu cost associated with it. The user must speak the phrase “Good thought” in order to activate the technique. Once activated, the user merely thinks a single sentence, which they can then insert into the opponent’s thoughts. ]

Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc)
For starters, it must be stressed that this is NOT mind control. The user cannot compel the victim to do anything. It’s merely a suggestion, a stray thought that tugs on the mind, which the victim can chose to acknowledge or ignore. However, since the victim thinks it is their thought, they are usually inclined to continue thinking it, which usually has the intended results. As one can see, this is a technique of situational and unreliable usefulness; just using the technique doesn’t mean anything if the victim doesn’t play along. One has to be careful of the thought used; if it’s something that clashes greatly with what the victim would naturally think, it can raise some suspicions, especially if the target is aware of the user’s Mind Hana. Use of this technique is very taxing, and will cause the user to start bleeding from the eyes. Continued use will make this worse. The technique can only be used once per post. Targets with RS superior to the users RS are immune, as are those of a higher Class.

Incantation and Effect (If Kido only):

Made By: lurkerslurk

Reserved? (Yes/No) (Can others use your technique, or just your character?): [Yes – Kasumi’Oji only]



Technique Name: [Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana: This Will Hurt]

Class: [1]

Technique Type (Kido, Hollow/Arrancar Technique, Human World Dweller Technique, Other): [Kido]

Usable By (Technique is available to which races?): [Shinigami]

Technique Element: [Psychic]

Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect):
[Everybody feels pain, from the wimpiest to the manliest. It warns us of impending injury, and that something is terribly wrong in our body. And it’s controlled by the brain. I think you see where this is going. This technique causes the victim to feel pain. Pure, unadulterated, pain. It deals no damage, it just makes the victim hurt. It does this by directly activating the pain centers of the brain, tricking it into experiencing utter agony, even though nothing is physically happening to the victim’s body. The pain never dulls, and in fact seems to grow more intense over time. No matter how high a pain threshold the victim has, they will be brought to their knees by this technique, since it makes the victim feel “pain beyond anything they ever experienced.” This technique can be maintained for a prolonged period, until the user wills it to stop, cannot continue using it, or the victim dies from sheer shock.]

How to use technique (How is it activated?):
[This technique requires direct skin contact, and that the user say the phrase “This will hurt”. It has a Reiatsu cost of a Class 1 technique.]

Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc)
This technique is very tiresome to use, and can quickly drain the user’s stamina if maintained. The longest it can be maintained for is ten minutes; during that entire time, the user bleeds from their eyes and ears, and experiences an agonizing, splitting headache that lasts for several minutes after the technique ends. This technique can only be used once every three posts. Those with a RS greater than the users RS are immune, as are those of a higher Class. In addition, A total of 5 points in Strength of Will combined with Pain Tolerance will negate this.

Incantation and Effect (If Kido only):

Made By: lurkerslurk

Reserved? (Yes/No) (Can others use your technique, or just your character?): [Yes – Kasumi’Oji only]



Technique Name: [Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana: Mirror, Mirror]

Class: [1]

Technique Type (Kido, Hollow/Arrancar Technique, Human World Dweller Technique, Other): [Kido]

Usable By (Technique is available to which races?): [Shinigami]

Technique Element: [Psychic]

Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect):
[Your sense of direction. Now, the Kasumi’Oji will be taking this from you. More specifically, this technique scrambles the nerves in your brain and body, causing direction of stimuli and movements to be reversed. What does this mean? This means that everything you see, hear, feel, etc is reversed. Left becomes right, front becomes back, etc. Up and down stay the same, however. The really evil part is that that victims movements become reversed as well. So, if the victim tries to move their right arm, the left arm moves instead. Try to turn to the left, and you turn to the right. Want to walk forward? You’ll walk backward instead. To make things worse, since the brain itself is scrambled, it still thinks everything is normal. So, the victim will think that their right arm is moving, even though it’s their left that’s moving. This can obviously cause some serious problems for even the most experienced of fighters.]

How to use technique (How is it activated?):
[TO use this technique, the user must establish BOTH direct eye contact, and direct skin contact with the target, and say the phrase “Mirror, mirror”. The Reiatsu cost is the same for a Class 1 technique.]

Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc)
Obviously, this is a rather devastating technique to be hit with. However, it comes with some steep drawbacks. Having to make both eye and skin contact to use the technique is no easy task, and puts the user in a perilous location should they miss, or the enemy launch a counter attack. This is compounded by the fact that, whether it connects or not, the user will be left severely drained, as if they had experienced several minutes of intense combat all at once. This will also cause them to start bleeding from the eyes and ears, which can become a serious problem. This technique can only be used once every three posts, and can only be used three times per thread. Enemies with more RS than the user has RS are immune, as are those with higher Class. Finally, once the enemy catches on to what’s happening, they can usually adjust fairly easily. Lasts for three posts.

Incantation and Effect (If Kido only):

Made By: lurkerslurk

Reserved? (Yes/No) (Can others use your technique, or just your character?): [Yes – Kasumi’Oji only]



Technique Name: [Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana: Don’t You Love Me?]

Class: [1]

Technique Type (Kido, Hollow/Arrancar Technique, Human World Dweller Technique, Other): [Kido]

Usable By (Technique is available to which races?): [Shinigami]

Technique Element: [Psychic]

Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect):
A cruel technique, which can often end battles by destroying the enemy’s ability to fight back. This technique tricks the victims mind into perceiving the user as whomever the victim loves the most. Whoever is dearest to the victim, whoever they could never dream of hurting, that’s who they think the user is. They see, hear, feel, smell and even taste the one they love the most. However, this is worse than just an illusion, the mind itself is forced to believe that what they are seeing is real. As such, even if you know it can’t be possible, even if you know the one you love isn’t the one in front of you, you still believe it. This is an evil technique, that uses the victims own heart against them.

How to use technique (How is it activated?):
[The user must make BOTH direct eye and direct skin contact with the target. Unlike other techniques, this must last for at least six seconds for the technique to work. After that, the user can activate the technique by saying the phrase “Don’t you love me?” and paying Reiatsu for a Class 1 technique. ]

Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc)
For a technique as vicious and wicked as this, there are bound to be heavy penalties. First and foremost, it is a difficult technique to activate, and it leaves the user vulnerable to retaliation should the technique fail for some reason. This technique may only be used once per thread, and leaves the user extremely fatigued after word. The user begins bleeding from the eyes, ears and nose soon after using this technique, and the technique only lasts for a few moments. If the enemy is the kind of person who would hurt the one they love the most, or if they are some sad soul who loves absolutely no body, the technique will be a waste. Finally, those with more RS than the user has RS are immune, as are those of higher Class.

Incantation and Effect (If Kido only):

Made By: lurkerslurk

Reserved? (Yes/No) (Can others use your technique, or just your character?): [Yes – Kasumi’Oji only]



Technique Name: [Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana: But For The Grace Of God]

Class: [1]

Technique Type (Kido, Hollow/Arrancar Technique, Human World Dweller Technique, Other): [Kido]

Usable By (Technique is available to which races?): [Shinigami]

Technique Element: [Psychic]

Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect):
[Potentially the most vicious technique ever devised by a Shinigami, this is a technique that can, by itself, end a battle. With this technique, the user traps the target in a “maze” of alternate lives, each one drawn from the victim’s memories, thoughts, hopes and fears. Each life represents the way things could have been if something had been different or if the victim had made different choices leading up to that point. Although the victim will experience an entire life time, it only takes one second of real time, and when one life ends, the next begins. The wicked part of this technique is that, while every life starts out as an idyllic, perfect life, they always end badly. Everyone the victim knows will die a painful death, every good thing the victim does will crumble into ruin, every moment of joy will be hollow and naught but ash, and finally, at the peak of the victims suffering, they will die a slow, agonizing death. Then, it all starts over again. And again. And again. It will continue until the victim manages to break free, or until the shock and pain causes them to die. ]

How to use technique (How is it activated?): [In order to use this technique, the user must speak the phrase “But for the grace of God”, then kiss the target. They don’t have to kiss them on the lips, any kind of kiss will do. A kiss on the forehead, or the cheek, anywhere on the target’s body is fine. After that, they just pay the Reiatsu cost, and let the technique wreak it’s havoc on the foe. ]

Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc)
Of course, for such a powerful technique, only the heaviest of drawbacks will suffice. Getting close enough to your opponent to kiss them leaves the user in a precarious position, just asking for retaliation should the technique fail. It’s also a very tiring technique, that will leave the user completely exhausted and unable to fight for quite some time after its use. It can only be used once per thread. While affected by this technique, the enemy can break free if they realize that what they are seeing is not real, and directly oppose the vision before them. Of course, if the target possess RS higher than the users RS, or if their Class is superior, then they are immune to this technique. The user of this technique begins bleeding profusely from the eyes, ears and nose, and will be unable to move or defend themselves for one full post after using this technique.

Incantation and Effect (If Kido only):

Made By: lurkerslurk

Reserved? (Yes/No) (Can others use your technique, or just your character?): [Yes – Kasumi’Oji only.]

[Taihō Kasumi’Oji]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-History-

Birthplace:
└Kasumi’Oji Manor┐

Current Residence:
└Squad 8 Barracks┐

Memorable Figures:
└Azumi Kasumi’Oji┐
└Oichi Kasumi’Oji ┐
└Yoshihiro Kasumi’Oji┐
└Yuki Kasumi’Oji┐
└Naomi Watabe┐


History:
“You’re back. I take it you want to know my story, correct? Very well…I suppose I can tell it to you. Just remember, you brought this on yourself. My story is one of horror, and doom. It began over six hundred years ago…”

***
└The Heir Apparent┐
An agonized scream ripped from the woman’s lips, as an elderly woman calmly instructed her to breath and push, breath and push. The woman had every right to be in pain; the child she was trying to push out of her body was considerably larger than the hole she was trying to push it out through. Nearby, a man stood watching, close enough to imply some kind of support, distant enough to imply he really didn’t care what happened one way or the other. This wasn’t necessarily true; the child was his, his only heir. And yet, a certain repugnance about how the child came to be kept him from feeling the joy a new father should.

“Can’t you be quiet?” He hissed sharply, lifting his hand to remove the hood from his head, revealing his face at last. His robes were at once exquisite and understated, black silk lined with a cloth to block any stray Reiatsu from escaping into the atmosphere. As the Head of the Kasumi’Oji household, his spirit was well known enough that a careful tracker could use it to find him, and that was a chance he couldn’t take. Perhaps that was why this birth was conducted, not in a hospital, or even a house, but a cave, deep in the wilderness outside the Rukangai. A handful of guards stood nearby, armed with the Kasumi’Oji clan’s deadly, and highly illegal, signature weapon: Bakkoto.


The woman exhaled heavily, and raised her head to glare back at the Kasumi’Oji head venomously. “Don’t say that to me!”, she spat, having half a mind to slide of the smooth stone serving as her bed and strangle the arrogant man before her. The mounting pressure and gathering pain of a building contraction made her think better than that, but she had time to speak her mind before another, stronger wave of agony pierced through her. “You did this to me! This wasn’t supposed to happen!”

A look of cold indifference crossed the man’s face, a dark sneer from on high, the look of an angry god to his dissatisfied subject. Yoshihiro Kasumi’Oji was a handsome man, as a Nobel was expected to be, but his expressions often tarnished his good looks. This was no exception; he gave the woman that he himself had impregnated a cold, almost mocking look, an ugly look fit for thugs, not nobility.

“I need an heir. My wife has yet to fulfil this need, so…I decided to improvise.” His smooth, businesslike manner of speaking was typical of a Kasumi’Oji; laws and ethics were like the trifling playthings of a child set before giants where the Kasumi’Oji were concerned. The woman, whose name was Sakura Kumirugi, seemed about to say something in response, but instead another scream, louder than the first, tore through her, as she pushed the child a little further out into the world.

After a long but not particularly difficult labor, all things considered, Sakura gave one last push, and the baby emerged from her uterus into the world. The baby was still, and even after older woman smacked it’s bottom, the baby barely made any noise at all. However, the woman concluded the child was healthy, and, after toweling the child dry, carefully laid it upon Sakura’s chest.

"It’s a girl" She informed the new mother, a look not of joy, but of determination on her face. Sakura didn’t notice the woman’s expression, as she was to wound up in the conflicted emotions she felt for her child. Like any new mother, she was filled with joy, but she was also angry at Yoshihiro. She had assumed the pregnancy was a mistake, but learning that he had planned it infuriated her. He had used her, just like men always did with whores. Like the Kasumi’Oji did to everyone, it seemed.

“Taihō. That will be her name. It means ‘Great Phoenix.’” Sakura never took her eyes off Taihō, but what she said next was directed at Yoshihiro. “I can’t raise a child on my own. This was you’re fault; I expect you to take care of her.” Yoshihiro gave her a reassuring smile that was just a little to triumphant, and nodded graciously.

“Of course. I may be ruthless, even cruel, but I’m not a barbarian. She will have everything she ever wanted, as the heir to the Kasumi’Oji family. One day, she will rule the mightiest family in Soul Society, and no one will ever know the truth about her birth. As for you, my dear, you will be taken care of, as well. Never again will you have to sell your body to make ends meet.” His words caused her to look up at him in surprise, just as a thin blade slid gracefully, almost casually into the back of her neck and into the front. Joy collapsed into confusion, as blood oozed out of her mouth and neck. She tried to speak, but coughed up a mouthful of blood instead, spilling much of it on young Taihō. A drop landed on Yoshihiro’s robe, but he chose to ignore that detail. He had much more important things to worry about. “Clean my daughter up, and take her back to the mansion. If you are seen by anyone, kill them.” as he spoke, the old woman slowly pulled her knife out of Sakura’s throat, wiped it off, and sheathed it again.

“Of course, my Lord.” She paused a moment, then mentioned cautiously, “You’re wife will notice a child she did not give birth to. She may suspect something. What will you tell her?” It was a good question, but one that Yoshihiro already had an answer for. He would give her some of that wonderful drug she liked so much, to addle her brain before he told her. She was already getting soft in the head; it wouldn’t be difficult to convince her that she had given birth to the child. Even as Yoshihiro thought this, he realized that he couldn’t quite place the name of the drug, or where he had gotten it. However, he brushed it aside as irrelevant. He would take some of the drug himself before he told his wife, he decided. To strengthen his nerve. Yes, that was the reason.

“I’ll take care of my wife. Do as you’re told.” The old woman bowed, then departed to carry out her task. Taihō would be sound asleep, in her room in her own wing of the mansion, by sunrise. Meanwhile, Yoshihiro stayed behind a moment, motioning for one of his more trusted subordinates to come to him.

“Burn everything. Every tree, every animal, every blade of grass. Destroy everything in this cave, and seal it off. I want no evidence of what happened here, and no witnesses.”

“Of course, my Lord” Yoshihiro paused to cast a meaningful glance after the old woman carrying his daughter. “I do mean no witnesses. “

***

Taihō had always been a peculiar child. From the day she was born, it was understood she would be a powerful individual, and a suitable Head to the Kasumi’Oji clan. However, she was also just plain odd. Her father was the first one to notice it. She hardly ever made a sound as an infant, and never played with her wide assortment of toys. Yoshihiro had medical experts, even the Captain of Squad 4, asses his daughter, but they all said the same thing: She was healthy. There nothing physically or mentally wrong with her, she was just…odd. They suggested she would grow out of it. This answer was, of course unsatisfactory for Yoshihiro. He had gone through a lot of trouble to bring Taihō into the world, and he was not about the see that investment go to waste. That was how he saw his daughter: an investment in the family’s future. Even as an infant, her latent Reiatsu was powerful; Yoshihiro knew she would have the strength needed to revitalize the Kasumi’Oji clan. He couldn’t let her slip away.

When Taihō was just a few months old, Yoshihiro hired a young woman by the name of Naomi Watabe to be Taiho’s wet nurse and nanny. The official reason was that his wife, Yuki Kasumi’Oji, was too sick to feed and care for the child. The unofficial reason was that Yoshihiro felt that having a constant companion would help bring Taihō out of her shell. It seemed to work. Over time, Taihō gradually became more “normal”; she would always be introverted, but she soon started to cry for attention as an infant should, and by the time she was three years old, she seemed to be an almost perfectly normal child. She was brilliant, well ahead of most children her age, and had already developed a strong vocabulary and sense of self. The only problem was, she was almost entirely dependent on Naomi for everything. The two had grown so close, young Taihō couldn’t stand to be separated from Naomi for any appreciable length of time, and would start balling the moment the older girl left the room. Yoshihiro knew he would have to correct this problem before long, but decided to let his daughter keep her friend for the time being.

At age seven, Taihō began lessons on the skills she would need when she was head of the family. Swordplay and kido were drilled into her until they became second nature to her, as well as theories and discussions on politics, economics, ethics, science, and, of course, the creation of the dark, mysterious Bakkoto. She was trained in secret techniques created long ago, when the Kasumi’Oji clan was young, and powerful, techniques that could bend the senses and crack the mind like an egg. She was trained on how to soften an enemy, and how to break him if he would not yield. By the time she had gained her own Zanpakuto, she had become a frightening a child, but she was still weak. She still clung to Naomi, and Yoshihiro felt it was time to let the wet nurse go.

“Father…where’s Naomi-chan? We were going to play in the garden today”

“Naomi had an accident, child. You won’t be able to see her again.

“Ever.”

Something changed in Taihō after that. She became cold and withdrawn, and began to suffer violent mood swings. She ate infrequently and slept even less, refusing to leave her chambers for any reason. She obsessed over her studies, and poured over any books she could get her hands on. This dramatic reversal in personality had her father, at first, bemused, but he soon took it as a good sign. She was becoming more independent, he told himself, more engaged in her future. She was getting stronger, he told himself. Well, he had that part right. In her dark chambers, perpetually bathed in a twilight gloom, rodents and insects were dying by the dozen just from being near the young Kasumi’Oji. It wasn’t the power of her Reiatsu that was killing them, but the nature of her Reiatsu; violent, angry, bloodthirsty. Barely eight years old, and her “killing intent” was so strong, small animals died just from getting near her. Yes, something was changing in the heart and the soul of the young girl, and if her father was more interested in her as a person, and not as a pawn in his games, he might have been concerned. But, he considered anything that made her stronger to be a good thing, and “lovingly” exposed to her to stimuli that encouraged these tendencies. He was always there for her, pushing her forward at breakneck speed, and though Taihō’s misery grew every day, she came to rely on her father’s cold, guillotine-like presence, in the same way she relied on Naomi in the past. She lived to please her father, and her father used this devotion to mold her into what he envisioned as the ideal head of the family. He thought he was raising the next heir to the Kasumi’Oji Clan.

He was raising a monster.

└The Disposal┐
Years passed, and Taihō matured into a strong, but troubled young woman. She was reclusive, and her wild, violent mood swings made other nobles think little of her. Her few public appearances often ended with someone getting stabbed, and Yoshihiro found himself spending more and more money and calling in more and more favors to keep word of his damaged daughter from spreading. She was becoming a burden to him, and he began to wonder if his decisions in the past had been correct. Of course, the drugs eating away at his mind and soul didn’t help matters any; with his judgment becoming increasingly clouded, his decisions were gradually becoming more questionable. It was a slow sickness, one that would take decades more to reach fruition, but even at these early stages the Head of the Kasumi’Oji clan was becoming a different person than he had been.

Taihō, however, knew none of this. Nothing seemed out of place to her, she who had grown up in a world of isolation and pain, who had come to accept misery as happiness. To her, everything seemed normal. She lived in her chambers, coming out occasionally to speak to her father, and leaving the Kasumi’Oji grounds only rarely to attend some social function. She was shunned by the other nobles, which suited her just fine since she hated them all anyway. No, everything seemed normal to her; in fact, at the age of thirty four, still a child in the eyes of Soul Society, she felt like she was finally getting a handle on her life. Nothing was perfect, but it seemed she was starting to figure out who she was, and what she wanted her life.

And then, a certain someone came along and ruined everything.

“It’s a girl.”

“A girl…Azumi. Her name….is Azumi”

“At last, a proper heir. I was getting tired of the charade with Taihō…”

No one knew Taihō was there that day. No one knew what she heard. They were too busy attending to young Azumi’s needs. What few servants still roamed the halls were diverted to the care of the infant child, whose parents were to consumed by their addiction to care for her themselves. Taihō, who had never lifted a finger to care for herself, was suddenly left her own devices, essentially abandoned in the cavernous mansion she called home. When she tried to ask her parents what was happening, they refused to see her. When she asked again, Yoshihiro had the guards, the few that still served the family, lock her away in her chambers, supposedly never to be seen again.

Taihō spent months, perhaps even years locked in her chambers. She was forced to break into the kitchens and scrounge for scraps just to survive, like a lowly rat. Over time, she found her way into the spaces between the walls, into the rafters and under the floors, living like an insect in her own home. She was the heir, wasn’t she? Why was she being treated this way?

“It’s all her fault. Azumi. She stole everything from me. It’s her fault…”

Taihō watched, an outcast in her home, a prisoner in her slowly rotting chambers, as Azumi grew, matured and flourished. She saw all of Azumi’s triumphs, her budding romance, everything. And she hated her for it. Azumi had everything Taihō had been denied. Her, this pathetic brat, had what she, the heir, lacked!? It was more than Taihō could handle; over the years, her already fragile mind shattered, splintering into a million pieces. Her rational mind was abolished, leaving something more akin to an animal in its place. And, like an animal, Taihō did what she had to destroy what was threatening her. And what threatened Taihō the most was her young half-sister, Azumi.

Taiho’s assault was clumsy, but what it lacked in grace it made up for in sheer force. A significant portion of the Kasumi’Oji manner was destroyed in Taihō’s fury, and a Captain of the Gotei Thirteen later compared the destruction to what an Espada might be able to achieve. Of course, the incident was covered up, witnesses were silenced, and Azumi survived unscathed. In fact, Azumi almost certainly has no memory of the incident, since it ironically took place on one of the few instances she wasn’t at the manor. However, the consequences were dire for Taihō.

“You’re…still alive? I had you locked…away to use as a spare, in case something…happened to Azumi. But now…you’ve outlived you’re usefulness.”

“But, father! I’m the heir! How can you love her more than me?!”

“You…are trash. And trash…gets thrown away.”

And so it was. The Kasumi’Oji head, influenced more by the drugs polluting his body than any sense of love, duty or reason, had Taihō disposed of like trash. It was only the tiniest shred of humanity left intact by the years of mental and spiritual decay that caused him to spare his daughter’s life; instead, he had her sent to the Minimimoto family, in exchange for more of the drugs he had grown to rely on. She wasn’t drugged, just chained like a beast, and thrown into a small cage as an extra precaution. This all occurred about a year before Azumi and Oichi were sold into slavery, but Taihō never learned about that. While Azumi was making a name for herself as a Renaissance assassin, Taihō lived out her days in a small, metal box, her arms and legs bound at all times, waiting for her next “visitor” to violate her body. Sometimes, she had many visitors, and was left broken, barely able to move for the next week; other times, she left alone for almost endless stretches of time, being given just enough food and water to survive. Sometimes, her abuses were sexual; sometimes, she was tortured for hours; other times, her torment was psychological, further dismantling her shattered psyche. When she refused to eat, the Minimimoto installed an IV to pump nutrients directly into her body, keeping her just healthy enough to fulfil her purpose. When she tried to strangle herself with the chains binding her, her hands and feet were instead placed inside hollow metal spheres, too heavy for her to move while being utterly useless for harming herself. Days bled into weeks, months into years. By the time Azumi returned to Soul Society, the person known as Taihō Kasumi’Oji was gone, replaced with a subservient, nearly mindless beast.

Or at least, that’s what Taihō wanted them to think.


└The Reunion┐
Decades had passed by the time Azumi returned to Soul Society, taking the world by storm. Taihō noticed this as an unprecedented amount of anxiety in her Minimimoto; always so smug, so assured, so in control, suddenly something was dismantling their empire, and it scared the living day lights out of them. Their terror seemed to feed Taihō; for the first time in nearly a century, the fire and bloodlust that had horrified so many of Taiho’s childhood caretakers filled her eyes, and that evil, suffocating aura rolled off her body in palpable waves. For the first time in nearly a century, Taihō was awake, fully aware of the world around her, and filled with a bloodlust that could consume a nation. She didn’t know what was happening, of course, but she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was to kill, to hurt the people who had hurt her.

She escaped her bonds, not through any trickery or skill, but through raw power. True to form, she destroyed her bonds with sheer will power, her vial Reiatsu corroding her prison and her restraints, and extending out to kill the meager fools who had tormented her. Her arms and legs had atrophied to the point of being almost useless, but she forged ahead, pushing herself forward through the pain with blunt, uncaring determination, through the cavernous Minimimoto compound. She was in no condition to fight anyone, but she didn’t have to; the few people she encountered died before they could recognize who she was.

“It’s a wonderful day, don’t you think? I think I can hear birds outside…or maybe that’s the sound of people screaming in terror? It sounds nice, either way.”

Coincidentally, this occurred on the day of the festival, when Azumi plotted to massacre the Minimimoto clan. By the time the killing had started outside, Taihō was already free, and wandering the manor looking for more people to kill. That was her only goal. To kill. She didn’t care who she killed, she just wanted them dead. While she was wandering the halls, Azumi was on her mission of vengeance, and while she almost certainly noticed the immensely evil Reiatsu pouring out of the lower levels of the building, it wasn’t one of her targets, and she elected to avoid such a threatening presence when she had work to do. The long separated sisters were literally one floor apart at one point, but they never met that night.

When the killing finally stopped, Taihō was left alone again, once more trapped in a cavernous mansion. The only difference was, it wasn’t her home this time. Although Azumi left once she had accomplished her mission, she left with the records of the many Kasumi’Oji clan members who had been scattered by the Minimimoto family. It didn’t take her long to find out about the existence of her half-sister, and she soon returned to Minimimoto home to collect the wayward woman.

“Hello. I’m Azumi Kasumi’Oji, your-“

“You. I recognize you, sister. Yes, I’ve seen you before. I watched you steal everything that belonged to me. Die.”

The battle was fierce but short, and mostly one sided. Azumi was armed, and in a cool emotional state. Taihō was unarmed, malnourished, and nearly berserk with rage. It wasn’t exactly a fair fight. After Azumi subdued Taihō, she had her older sister taken back to the restored Kasumi’Oji manor, where the Kasumi’Oji head hoped to nurse her sister back to physical and mental health. However, more pressing matters pulled Azumi away from her sister, until she eventually left to pursue opportunities with the Zero Division, Instead, Azumi left her sister in the care of some of her most trusted and capable subordinates, as well as a few older Kasumi’Oji who had survived the family’s fall and whom Taihō was more favorable toward (Favorable here being a lose term meaning “She didn’t try to rip their throats out with her bare hands as soon as she saw them”)

It took a long time, but Taihō gradually learned how to cope with her wild mood swings, in particular her explosive fits of rage, and she started return to what could be considered a civilized state of being. It was discovered that many of her troubles stemmed from a deep seated psychosis, brought on by the neglect and abuse she suffered as a child, and that there was little that could be done for her at that point. The damage had been done, and it would take a healer of truly great skill to even consider amending the psychological damage that had been done.

Over time, Taihō learned and came to accept the truth of her past, and she came to terms with the murder of her parents. She agreed that Azumi was the rightful heir, and that she would most likely be a better leader than she herself would’ve been. However, she refused to forgive Azumi, whom she still perceived as having ruined her life. Though she dedicated her life to serving the family and, by extension, Azumi, she also made a personal vow to see Azumi suffer for what she had done. She wouldn’t kill her sister, as that would weaken the family, but she wanted to be there to see every bad thing that happened to the head of the family, so she could sneer at her sister before offering her assistance.

As she recovered, Taihō began training to strengthen her mind and body, to be of the most use to her family. It was an arduous task, to undo the damage that her imprisonment had wrought upon her body. Though she still retained the memories of how to fight, her body was to heavily damaged to ever return to its peak condition, meaning that no matter how she trained, she would always be weaker and slower than she could’ve been, making her less than ideal in physical confrontations. However, this did nothing to hinder her development spiritually, and this is what she focused on; refining the Genesis Arts of her family, including techniques that she had been taught long ago, which not even Azumi knew of. She also cultivated the dark Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana, a secret art which Taihō alone had managed to truly grasp before the family’s fall. She also honed her immense bloodlust, learning how to suppress it until the right time, then direct it onto specific foes to kill them without even touching them. It took a very long time, but Taihō eventually reached her past level of power, then surpassed it, becoming a force just as threatening as Azumi herself. With Azumi as the mastermind behind the Kasumi’Oji criminal empire, and Taihō as her heavy-handed enforcer, the stage was set for a revival of the sleeping giant known as the Kasumi’Oji clan.

└The Harvest of Screams┐
Unlike Azumi, who pulled her Zanpakuto out of her very soul in a moment of profound stress, Taihō came about hers in a much more mundane way. After all, the Kasumi’Oji were once the greatest sword smiths in Soul Society; it was only natural that the great forges would be fired once more to craft a blade for the newly returned eldest Kasumi’Oji sibling. Crafted by hand from the finest spiritual steel available, and filled with the deepest parts of Taiho’s soul, the newly forged Zanpakuto, Mikadzuki, is said to have screamed like a beast from hell as soon as it was finished, and it didn’t stop until Taihō took it in hand. Taihō began training to develop the power of her Shikai, eschewing the Shino Academy for her own style of training, far away from prying eyes.

However, it was the Garden that granted Taihō her Bankai; She spent weeks in the sprawling, sentient forest deep within the Kasumi’Oji estate, communing with the ancient spirit that dwelled there. It was an arduous task, more again to a violent shouting match than a true dialogue, but at last, Taihō left the Garden with what she had set out to find. What happened in there is a mystery; like Azumi before her, Taiho’s experiences in the Garden affected her in deep and profound ways, and she has yet to share the details of the experience with anyone. What is certain, however, is that she emerged like a butterfly from its chrysalis, more beautiful and powerful than ever. She had grown, matured, even evolved in that Garden.

She was ready.

Rave Haretsu, long standing Captain of Squad 8, vanished mysteriously one day, and shortly thereafter, Taihō passed the Captaincy test and took his place at the head of the Financial Squad. The whole thing was fiendishly suspicious, but nothing could be found to implicate any kind of foul play, and before long the other Captains were forced to accept the newest addition to their ranks. Although many suspect Taihō of being more loyal to her family than Soul Society, her power has gone a long way towards silencing the dissenters; in this moment of most dire need, even the most suspicious were willing to accept, however begrudgingly, this new, powerful ally.

***

“You’re still here. You must have found my story interesting. Now that the past has been exhumed, let me share my vision of the future with you. Our suffering has just begun. Pain is universal, and irresistible. We are, all of us, destined to experience more horror and agony than we ever thought possible. The time is approaching, for the Harvest of Screams, when every living thing will wish it were dead. I will be there to collect their suffering. We may all be destined for horror and doom, but the Kasumi’Oji Clan will remain strong; we will weather the storm, and emerge to face the next trial stronger then the last. That…is our fate.”]

[Taihō Kasumi’Oji]

Stats


Strength - [200 -> 100] Points

Speed - [300] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [300] Points

Reiatsu Strength - [400 -> 1000] Points

Light Aura - [0] Points

Dark Aura - [100] Points

Instinct - [125 ] Points

Senses - [125] Points

Energy sensory - [150] Points

Healing Expertise - [0] Points


Total SP: 1600 Points

Abilities

• [Weapon: Swords] {3}
  
  
• [Weapon: Scythe] {3}
  
  
• [Battle Analysis] {3}
  
  
• [Stealth] {3}
  
  
• [Strength of Will] {3}

[Taihō Kasumi’Oji]

I really hope I did this right XD. I'm not entirely sure of this new CIU system. If there's anything I did wrong/need to fix, I'll be happy to edit it.

Character Name: [Taihō Kasumi’Oji]

Previous Real Age: [634]

Current/New Real Age: [634]

Previous Age of Appearance:[/b] [27]

Current/New Age of Appearance: [27]

Old Ideals/Personality:[/b]

(Removed)

New Ideals/Personality:[/b]

Despite becoming Head of her family, Taihō’s personality really hasn’t changed to much. About the only thing you can really say is that she’s become even more committed to seeing her family grow strong once again, and is more willing to put other responsibilities to the side in order to protect her family. The procedures that Azumi subjected her to in order to make her even stronger (See History) may have left Taihō just a bit more unhinged, but she’s not a raving lunatic. At least, not yet. All in all, most people won’t be able to tell that anything’s really changed in Taihō’s head; she’s still cold, analytical, and eccentric as always, with just a touch of extra psychosis to spice things up.

Dislikes:
Add:
└The New Captains┐

Although Taihō understands and respects the need to replenish the ranks after the disastrous War of the Angels, she feels many of the new Captains are weak, undisciplined and ill-suited to leadership. Although there are a few that she thinks may have potential, most of them are worthless in her mind.

Likes:
Add:
└Hotaru Kuchiki┐

Ever since their spar some time ago, Taihō has been interested in Hotaru. The girl’s tenacity fascinates Taihō, and she values the strength she showed during their fight, and even afterword in her day-to-day life. Unfortunately for Hotaru, this interest has led to Taihō wanting to vivisect her…but what are you going to do, right?

Old Appearance:

(Removed)

New Appearance:

Physical Description: [Mysterious, even ominous, like heavy storm clouds on the horizon, Taihō Kasumi’Oji ‘s arrival is often treated as a ill omen by other nobles. As the “Black Sheep” of the Kasumi’Oji family, Taihō is mentioned infrequently at best, and then only in a hushed voice. However, as the indomitable right hand of the Kasumi’Oji family, her bleak presence is all but guaranteed wherever the family is, or had been. Just as Iro and Hokori Kuchiki serve to support Sozen in his endeavors, and Kenryoku Kawada exists to support Shade, Taihō supports Azumi from the shadows, always watching, but rarely seen. She is Azumi’s top enforcer, her “Cleaner” who exists to make Azumi’s problems go away. It is a role which, at times, Taihō resents, but one she is very good at.

Despite her old age, Taihō still possesses a beauty that is at once captivating and elusive. Her beauty starts with her full lips, red as any rose, perfectly suited for all manner of sensual acts, with a smile as sharp as any thorn. From her mouth, we move to her crystalline blue eyes, which have an unnerving multi-faceted quality to the iris, and from her eyes we at last come to her hair, which cascades down her back in heavy golden curls. Her expression is often one of boredom, mixed with mild annoyance. She rarely smiles, and her stony expression gives away nothing of her inner thoughts. Her cold eyes drink in her surroundings, never revealing even the tiniest drop of hope, or fear, or anger. She gives away nothing, but takes everything she can.

Like her half-sister, Azumi, Taihō has luxurious golden hair. Her hair isn’t as long as her sisters, reaching only to the small of her back, but it is styled to a similar impeccable degree. Taihō often keeps the bulk of her hair tied up in two long tails, one on either side of her head. Silky smooth and softer than a dream, her hair has an almost weightless quality to it, shimmering and rustling beautifully in even the slightest breeze, while at the same time defying even the fiercest gale, refusing to whip about in an unsightly manner. Her hair is most beautiful in the failing light; in the twilight hours of the day, her hair catches the last of the sun’s rays, and ignites with an otherworldly glow, not warm like a fire, but cold and starkly spellbinding, the solar prominence of a distant, alien star. In daylight, Azumi is the most beautiful woman in Soul Society, and in the dark of night, she may be even more beautiful, but in the failing light, when both man and beast stand still and hold their breath, Taihō reigns supreme.

Emptiness. That is all one sees in Taihō’s eyes. A blue so deep and pure they’re almost black, clear as crystal, without the faintest shred of a soul to be found. Of course, she isn’t literally soulless, but that’s the impression one would get from gazing into Taihō’s eyes. No hope, no dreams, no remorse, or fear, no anything. Just two blank eyes that take everything in, and give nothing back. Her eyes have a gem-like quality to them, and are so lifeless one could almost think they were made of glass. However, it’s when those eyes shine with a lust for life that you should be really worried. For most, it’s the beginning of the end.

Like most nobles, Taihō has fair skin, showing none of the stresses exerted by the sun, or by hard labor. Pale to the point of luminance, Taihō’s skin is mirror smooth, without a single flaw or imperfection to be seen. There is not one scar or mark upon her flesh, nothing to indicate she had ever experienced an injury, traumatic or otherwise. This isn’t because of some fancy Kido; it’s simple because she hasn’t ever been injured. Even at a young age, she moved with grace enough to avoid the simple pratfalls and failures of coordination that lead to many of life’s scrapes and bruises, and in all of her days not one foe, from childhood bullies to vicious Hollows and Quincy, have ever laid a finger upon her. She has always been powerful; unlike Azumi, who had to struggle under torturous conditions for her great power, it came naturally to Taihō, and this shows in the way she carries herself. Everything about her, from the way she walks to the way she speaks, shows the depths of her power; she is, for all intents and purposes, untouchable, and she knows it.

Even though she is only Azumi’s half-sister, the natural beauty of the Kasumi’Oji family runs deep in Taihō’s features. She has a slim body, slender and delicate looking, with long, elegant arms and legs. She can best be described as willowy, with a narrow chest and waist, further exemplifying her graceful appearance. At just over six feet tall, she easily dwarfs her sister in height, as well as most women she is likely to encounter, and even some men have to look up to her. If Azumi is the most attractive female in Soul Society, than Taihō will have to settle for second best, but even then, she’s more than just meager eye-candy. Her beauty is more than captivating, it’s down-right imposing. Looking at her, one gets the sense that a human, and indeed even a Shinigami, simply shouldn’t look that good; it’s almost unsettling how perfect she appears.

Unfortunately, Taihō hides much of her personal beauty with her wardrobe. Even after becoming the Head of her Family, Taihō’s fashion sense hasn’t changed. The first thing you will notice is the massively oversized Captain’s Haroi; at least four sizes too big for her, it completely hides her figure, leaving many people guessing as to what she looks like under it. The coat is vaguely bell shaped, widening as it approaches the ground, to the point where the bottom edge is almost six feet in diameter. The coat just barely touches the ground in most instances, not letting even a single inch of flesh show under it. In addition, the Haroi features a high collar, concealing the bottom half of Taihō’s face, further shrouding her expressions and emotions from view. The sleeves of the Haroi are similarly over-sized; more than twice the length of her own arms, they completely conceal her arms and hands, and are even impede her ability to use her hands to a degree. However, the Haroi can be removed easily from within, letting it drop from Taihō’s body at a moment’s notice. Underneath, Taihō wears a regular set of black Shinigami robes while attending official business as Captain of Squad 8, but in most other capacities, she wears more relaxed, comfortable clothing suited to the situation at hand. During formal occasions, Taihō wears similarly over-sized trench coats, typically black, but sometimes she may wear other colors.

Taihō’s sister, Azumi’s beauty can be called radiant, like a beacon that illuminates, however briefly, the lives of those around her. In that case, Taihō’s beauty is the cold, desolate void, the gaping maw of the abyss, a twilight view of the apocalypse granted as a final gift to those forsaken souls who find themselves at the end of her blade. She is absolution, the omega, and death. There is, of course, a certain beauty to death; death is mesmerizing, bewitching. It has power over all, the inevitable end to everyone and everything. The Shinigami are, by definition, beings intrinsically linked to death itself, but in no other Shinigami is this more obvious than in Taihō Kasumi’Oji. The beauty of death clings to her like a shadow, carving into the memories of everyone she meets what it means to face down the right hand of the Kasumi’Oji clan. ]

New History:
Add:
Taihō’s tenure as the Right Hand of the Kasumi’Oji Family was, unfortunately, a brief one. Soon after Taihō became a Captain, Azumi, the Head at the time, was recalled to the Zero Division, leaving the family without a leader. In order to remedy this, Azumi named Taihō the Head of the Family, despite the fact that Taihō was an illegitimate child. In order to appease the Family Elders, Azumi swore it was only until a proper head could be located.

However, anyone who knows Azumi knows her solution wouldn’t be as simple as that. As Taihō began to grow accustomed to her new role, a message arrived for her, from her sister, asking to meet in private. Despite her misgiving, Taihō agreed to the meeting. There, Azumi explained her plan to solve the issue of who would lead the family once and for all.

Using the same methods she used to make Hotaru a full-blooded Kuchiki, Azumi erased the illegitimate blood from Taihō’s body, making her a full Kasumi’Oji. In addition, this process had some…unforeseen side-effects, bolstering Taihō’s already imposing power, at the cost of a slight weakening of her already fragile hold on sanity. The power was so great, Taihō was forced to have her Zanpakuto reforged, in order to improve its ability to channel her abilities. The result was a new Shikai form (See Powers)., even more devastating than the old one.

Now that she was a full-blooded Kasumi’Oji, Taihō’s claim as Head of the Kasumi’Oji family went unchallenged. Although there where whispers of how she had become even more unstable, it was agreed that, overall, she was much more suited to be head now than she had been before.

Old Powers:

(Removed)

New Powers:

-Powers-

Fighting Style:
[”Hello. I am Mikadzuki, Taihō Kasumi’Oji’s Zanpakuto. I know, it’s odd to think of a sword telling you how it’s owner uses it in battle, but it seems Taihō has left, leaving me in charge. Fear not, however, for I promise you I will perform a very thorough analysis of Taihō’s battle strategy. After all, who would know better how she fights than me?

“Like most warriors, Taihō conducts her battles following a certain set of basic principles. Reflecting her scientific nature, she tends to treat most fights as if they were tests or experiments, and one can roughly describe her fighting style by comparing it to the scientific method. Each step in the process can represent one phase or aspect of the fight; although Taihō never uses the same strategy twice, her battles tend to follow this general outline. The five main steps to the Scientific Process are: Ask a Question, State a Hypothesis, Make a prediction, Preform a Test, and Analyze the Results.

“The first part of the battle, at least as far as Taihō is concerned, is to ask a question. That question is always the same: What’s the best way to kill my enemy? Taihō isn’t concerned with injuring or immobilizing the foe, except as part of the larger objective of killing them. In order to answer this question, Taihō conducts “research” on her opponent. If the battle is unexpected, it often begins with Taihō shooting the breeze with the enemy, trying to gain even a few seconds of time to observe the enemy prior to combat. If she knows she is going to fight an individual, she will often study them in detail over an extended period of time, learning everything she can about them. And even while in battle, Taihō conducts research on the enemy, using light, probing attacks to test for weaknesses or quirks in their fighting style that she can exploit. However, that is not the full extent of her research. From the moment Taihō meets an individual, even if there is no reason for them to fight her, she begins gathering data on them, researching them so she can find their weaknesses. She even figures out her ally’s weaknesses, and she devotes just as much time to learning how to defeat them as she does her enemies. All of this research goes toward the simple question of “How do I kill you?”

“Once Taihō has completed her research, she moves on to the next step in the process. Using what she has learned, she formulates a hypothesis, essentially a strategy she believes will be effective in killing the opponent. At this point in the battle, Taihō ups the pressure on the enemy, nothing too difficult, but enough to really get their attention. The reason for this is two-fold. One, it distracts the enemy, forcing them to focus more on the battle, and less on their surroundings. Even skilled opponents will be forced to devote more of their energy to the battle, making it easier for Taihō to initiate her strategy. The second purpose is to give the impression that Taihō is an individual that focuses solely on brute force to win her fights. While it is true that she utilizes raw power to achieve her goals, she does so with both strategy and tactics in mind. However if the enemy is not aware of this, they may be lulled into underestimating her when she executes her plan.

“Next, Taihō makes her prediction. Her phenomenal Battle Analysis skills allow her to make highly accurate predictions of future events, which she then factors into her strategy. She anticipates her next move, all of the likely reactions the enemy might make to it, and how she will react to those reactions, often before the enemy has even begun to wonder what, if any, strategy Taihō may be formulating. Of course, it’s impossible for Taihō to be 100% accurate, or to cover every possible move the enemy could make, but Taihō is skilled enough to correctly anticipate and counter most of the enemies attacks before they even make them, giving her a distinct advantage over the enemy. In general, Taihō is always at least two steps ahead of you, possibly more if given enough time to perform more extensive research.

“Now that Taihō has made her predictions, the battle really heats up. The testing phase is when Taihō starts to utilize her true power, enacting the strategy she has constructed for her foe. Every time Taihō battles, she utilizes a new strategy, even if it’s against a foe she’s fought before. This makes it very difficult to predict how she will fight, granting her yet another advantage in battle. During the testing phase, Taihō becomes much more aggressive, using more and more powerful attacks to attempt to bore though her enemies defenses before they can adjust to her strategy. This is often when she begins using her Kido, including the exotic Kasumi’Oji Genesis Arts, and her signature ability, the Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana. In some cases, she may even release me, her Zanpakuto, to my Shikai stage. However, she tends to reserve the brunt of my power for particularly dangerous foes, less she cause unnecessary collateral damage.

“Once Taihō has started one of her so-called “tests”, she rarely backs down. Taihō is a master of several sword styles, and she freely incorporates techniques, stances and movements from most of the major schools of swordsmanship around the world. She combines these different styles into one overarching style of swordsmanship, which Taihō herself has neglected to name, but which her foes often compare to a “demonic ballet”. This name arises from the way she fluidly transitions from one style to another, sometimes in mid sequence, and the punishing nature of her attacks.

“That, however, only describes the methodology of how Taihō fights. You want to know how she fights. Very well. One of the main styles Taihō uses is reminiscent of medieval German styles, which were copied throughout much of Western Europe. Focusing on long, powerful swings, this a style that can cut people in two with a single hit, making a perfect choice for enemies with a powerful defense. It focuses on a series of vertical and diagonal overhead slashes, meant to carve and crush through a defense, mixed with horizontal and diagonally upward slashes to keep the enemy off balance. It also uses a variety of advanced techniques to counter specific guards and attacks, making it a formidable offence.

Another style Taihō uses is similar to traditional Japanese, Chinese and Korean sword styles. Whereas the above style emphasizes offence, sacrificing defense and mobility, this style emphasizes controlling the flow of battle. In truth, it is one of Taihō’s favorite styles to use, because it is very flexible. This style is all about subterfuge; nearly every attack is preceded by some manner of feint, often intending to leave the opponent in an awkward position, or to set up a counter attack. At the same time, Taihō always leaves herself in a good position to guard against enemy attacks, and she is always prepared to strike at an exposed weak point. When going on the offensive, Taihō uses swift, rapid strikes to overwhelm the enemy, forcing them to defend themselves or be cut to ribbons. The cuts are often shallower and shorter than in the previous style, but they can quickly add up, making this style just as dangerous as the one before. Defensively, this is the style Taihō almost always uses when fighting multiple enemies. Whirling around, keeping track of her foes through a combination of her senses, energy sensory, battle analysis skills, she simultaneously attacks one foe while blocking another’s attack. In this manner, she can maintain the advantage even against two or three enemies.

The third sword style Taihō uses is inspired by the Fencing schools of Italy and Spain. This style nicely balances offence and defense, and maximizes mobility. Although most people think of fencing as a stabbing style, slashes are possible while fencing, especially in the Spanish form. Taihō uses fencing style to rapidly press the attack against the enemy while avoiding danger. She often approaches straight toward the enemy, thrusting and slashing rapidly in order to inflict as many wounds as possible, while also being prepared to parry her enemies attack.

In all of these styles, foot work is just as important as sword play. Many combatants fail to realize that the key to a strong offence and a strong defense is to have a strong stance and that starts at your feet. Taihō always takes care to watch her footing, avoiding obstacles whenever possible. She also considered her footing while attacking. For instance, in her first blade style, she advanced in long, lounging attacks which add power to her sword strikes, whereas in her fencing styles, she uses short, deliberate steps to approach enemies. Sometimes, she approaches the enemy directly, moving straight toward them, but sometimes she will move in a diagonal fashion, both to avoid an attack and to reach an optimal angle of attack on her target. That is part of what makes Taihō so dangerous; she can change everything about the way she’s moving in battle at the drop of a hat, completely altering her fighting style in the same instant.

“The final step of the scientific process is Analysis. Taihō is constantly adjusting her strategy, taking what she learns from her “test” to create a new, more successful, plan of attack. Every battle against Taihō is unique; she never uses the same strategy twice, even if it is a successful one. Any powerful enemy will be able to adjust to a strategy that is used over and over, so Taihō constantly changes her strategy to keep the foe off balance. This makes her especially dangerous against people who really only have one fighting style, and who have trouble adapting to someone who changes the way they fight frequently, like Taihō does.

“When Taihō chooses to release me, to allow me to enter Shikai, things get…bad for the enemy. As a sword, I am dangerous. But, in my Shikai form, I am death incarnate. After being reforged in the great furnaces under the Kasumi’Oji manner, my Shikai has changed, to become a dart-like weapon, which Taihō wields with her mind. In this way, she barely needs to move, as she need only think of killing her enemy, and I will pierce their heart in an instant. She is the center of a whirling storm of destruction, dancing through the battlefield, dealing death as she chooses, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop her.

“All of this, however, is only applicable when Taihō actually engages her enemy in combat. More often than not, she defeats them without ever touching them. She does this with the powerful, and distinctly sinister, Kasumi’Oji Mind Hana. Once a common skill among those of the Kasumi’Oji clan, the art was almost lost when the family fell so long ago. At present, only Taihō still knows the secrets of this unique brand of Kido, and they are without doubt her greatest weapon. Mind Hana allow the user to telepathically assault the enemy, softening their resistance without ever laying a finger on them. Taihō is a master of these abilities, and can cripple her foe with little more than whisper and a moment of weakness on the enemy’s part. It is this power that makes her so respected, and so feared.

“The most awe inspiring thing about how Taihō fight, however, is that, no matter what is happening, she never shows any sign of emotion. Her emotions, already dulled by her psychosis, never make it far enough to be expressed while she is in battle, giving her a cold, indifferent image while fighting. While she does feel some emotion, it’s not enough to alter the battle in any way. She doesn’t bear any ill will or anger towards her opponent, nor does she enjoy killing them. They are obstacles, impeding either Taihō herself, or her family in some way. Therefore, they must be destroyed. Not even Azumi can match the absolute cold, ruthlessness that Taihō shows her victims, obliterating them completely without consideration of who or what they may be. It doesn’t matter to her in the slightest if it’s an Espada, or a Stern Ritter, or a month old baby that stands before her; they would all be put to death without mercy. During most fights, the most Taihō really feels is a slight sense of annoyance at having to waste time fighting, but this can change to amusement, or even something resembling lust, during especially intense fights.

“When Taihō fights, she fights to win. It’s the only thing she knows, and she’s very good at it. As the Right Hand of the Kasumi’Oji clan, Taihō takes it upon herself to remove any hindrance for Azumi or the family well before it becomes a problem, and the family has endured for this long in large part because of Taihō’s power. Therefore, one should never take her to lightly; she can and will dismantle anyone who stands in her way, and she won’t feel a trace of remorse afterword.”

Zanpakutou Spirit Appearance(Optional):[/b]

└Faceclaim┐ Kongou – Arpeggio of Blue Steel



Appearing as a Victorian woman in her late teens, Mikadzuki’s spirit has been noted to look nothing like what her personality would suggest. Violent and obsessed with destruction, yet possessing a regal air of cold and composure, Mikadzuki is in many ways a perfect match for Taihō. Like Taihō, she appears to be almost emotionless, and is capable of great cruelty without any remorse. She revels in destruction and mayhem, and looks down on enemies with more subtle abilities as being beneath her. Her goal is simple: Eradicate everything that ever existed. According to Taihō herself, Mikadzuki would be more than capable of accomplishing this if given the chance.


Inner World(Optional):[/b]
[ www.japanator.com/ul/30720-/arp09d-620x.jpg[/img]]

Zanpakutou Appearances:
[The Zanpakuto of a member of the Kasumi’Oji clan cannot be anything but exquisite. Taihō’s is no exception. After all, the Kasumi’Oji clan once forged weapons for the Spirit King himself; it’s only natural that they keep some of the best toys for their own use. However, most people don’t notice the beauty of Mikadzuki. They notice it’s size. Mikadzuki is an outlandishly large weapon, just over seven feet in length if you count the hilt. It’s so large, it becomes impractical for Taihō to keep it on her person, and it’s impossible to draw quickly in combat situations. Instead, Taihō uses a unique Kido, made just for this purpose, to summon her sword when needed, and to return it from whence it came when the fighting is over.

The blade of Mikadzuki is slightly wider than a normal katana, mostly to support the additional weight. Due to its incredible length, Mikadzuki is an ideal weapon for forcing enemies to keep their distance, and can deal horrendous damage up close. The blade is of a silvery color, but does not reflect light at all. Instead, it seems to draw light into it, and the blade is always shrouded in darkness, a black haze that seems to grow larger and thicker as Taihō exerts herself more. The sword has no true guard, just a thin band of gold between the blade and the hilt, which has six holes arranged in a hexagonal pattern around it. The hilt is almost a foot long, and is wrapped in a fine black silk. The sheath, though rarely seen, is jet-black, but is otherwise unadorned.

When releasing her Shikai, Taihō holds the sword in front of her, with the tip of the blade pointed to the sky. After speaking the release phrase, the sword begins to shimmer with a violet light, before shrinking substantially. At the same time, a horrific screaming can be heard from the blade, which can only be described as the sound of something unfathomably evil being born. Mikadzuki has been described as horrifying, even unholy, and this scream cements that view in the enemy’s mind. As the scream dies off, the sword begins to twist and mutate, becoming a thin, elongated dart of a weapon. In a sharp contrast to its sealed form, Mikadzuki becomes a fairly small weapon, about six inches in length, and perhaps half an inch wide at its base. It is composed of six bands of pitch black metal, which twist tightly around an invisible axis, flaring outward sharply about five inches down the weapons length, before spiraling back in to a short point at the end. The weapon had been compared to a top, but it is typically referred to as a dart. This dart hangs in the air near Taihō, and she has the ability to control it telekinetically, with a range of up to fifty feet.

Bankai for Mikadzuki is nothing like it’s Shikai. In fact, it’s nothing like any Bankai that came before it, or will come after. Another, even more ominous and horrible scream is heard, a scream of anguish and fear, the sound of every pure heart in the world, in all the worlds, being torn apart and devoured in a single instant, heralding the birth of something absolutely monstrous. Mikadzuki seems to dissolve into a shadowy liquid, which pools around Taihō’s feet, before expanding outward to form a perfect disk. The disk is almost three hundred feet across, and radiates a violent Reiatsu that can be felt for miles around. The Reiatsu inspires feelings of despair, fear and hatred, and seems to shake the ground; as soon as Taihō goes into Bankai, everybody knows about it.

After just a moment, something starts to rise out of the shadowy depths of the disk. Around the edge of the disk, it emerges, a perfect halo of sorts, three hundred feet in diameter. The halo at first is coated in a thick, black Reiatsu, but that Reiatsu slowly fades away, revealing a cold, gleaming metal underneath. The halo is constructed of two strands, twisted into a double helix shape, making it resemble a strand of DNA twisted into a circle. At first, the halo does nothing, and is mostly useless for combat purposes. However, it contains a secret. At will, Taihō can cause the halo to unwind into exactly two thousand one hundred eighty seven strands of Reiatsu wire, which shimmer with a black and violet light. Each strand of wire is a thread 300 feet in length, and each can be controlled by Taihō via hand movements, and this control can be augmented by her Bankai level techniques. The wires can only be seen by those with an Energy Sensory of 100 or more, or by those with 200 or more regular Senses. Each wire has a durability and cutting strength equal to Taihō’s Dominant Stat, which makes her Bankai a vicious, Omni-directional weapon that can be used for both offense and defense, even at the same time.

After the halo rises out of this disk, the disk shrinks inward, until it is naught but a puddle at Taihō’s feet. The black Reiatsu rises up, engulfing Taihō completely for several seconds, before evaporating away, leaving Taihō clad in a large, black overcoat, similar to her modified Captain’s haroi. The coat is made of black metal, and has strange symbols carved in gold running down the front of it. A pair of hazy black Reiatsu wings appear behind Taihō, as does a black halo just above her head, both signs of her almost god-like powers of destruction. ]

Zanpakutou Release Names(Include both Shikai and Bankai names, and call out phrases) []

Harvest, Mikadzuki.

Bankai, Owari no Mikadzuki.

Overall Ability:
[Harvest. It’s what you do to crops when you want to eat them. It’s what you do to organs when you want to stick them into someone else. It’s what you do to energy when you want to use it to heat you house. It’s not what you do to a living, breathing creature, and it’s certainly not what you do to a person. Think about it. Killing someone is one thing, but harvesting them? Doesn’t that thought just send chills down your spine? Doesn’t it strike you as just wrong somehow?

And yet, harvest is exactly what Taihō does to her enemies, and it embodies the overall ability of her Zanpakuto. Her Zanpakuto has been described as a “Pure Destruction” type Zanpakuto. This isn’t entirely accurate, but it does capture the perfectly the kind of devastation she can unleash against her foes. Taihō’s Zanpakuto can be best described as a natural calamity, forged and shaped into a weapon. Its ability to “Harvest” her opponents makes it one of the most horrific Zanpakuto that have every existed. Below, the broad strokes of her release will be described. Detailed information can be found in the Shikai and Bankai sections.

As stated above, the basic ability of Mikadzuki is to “Harvest”. The word harvest is described as collecting something to be put to use. Whether it’s crops to make food, wood to build a house, or fuel to power a city, it all involves gathering something, and using it in some way. That is what Mikadzuki does, and she does it very, very well. Mikadzuki’s power can be called “Harvest Virus”. It revolves around a catastrophic and highly contagious “Reiatsu Virus” that can spread to, infect and ultimately destroy any form of matter or energy it comes into contact with. The virus spreads rapidly, converting everything it touches into more of itself, exactly how regular viruses work, and in this way it disassembles whatever stands in Taihō’s way into a thick black slime. The slime, a pure an extremely concentrated form of the virus, goes on to infect anything it touches, thus continuing the cycle almost indefinitely. This Reiatsu Virus can infect anything, from organic matter to stone, water, air, even energy can be infected and destroyed by the Reiatsu. Most defenses are useless, since the virus can infect the defense itself and destroy it, as are counter attacks for the same reason. The virus is highly resilient, and spreads uninhibited by temperature, acidity or moisture, factors that are often crucial in managing normal viruses. It is also immune to most forms of treatment, because it converts the medicine into more of the virus before the medicine can begin to work. In short, once you contract the virus, it is difficult to treat and almost impossible to cure, leaving you with few options other than death.

But that’s not even the worst part. Viruses, more than anything else, are infamous for their ability to mutate, to adapt and evolve in order to overcome whatever might stand in their way. The Harvest Virus is no different. The longer the virus stays in your system, the better it gets at killing you, and the harder it becomes to combat. What’s worse, it keeps these mutations as it spreads, making it increasingly difficult to counteract as it spreads through an area, and making it increasingly destructive as time goes on. And should you somehow survive the virus, you still won’t be safe. The virus remembers it’s victims, and will spread more rapidly and more violently in repeat customers, keeping any mutations it gained against an individual and improving upon them with each infection, even across multiple threads. The mutations persist from one DE or DP thread to the next, meaning that even if you are cured in one thread, if you cath the virus again in another thread, the mutations you have accumulated will still be in effect. However, these mutations do not carry over into NDE threads.. Because of how rapidly the virus mutates, it is impossible to develop an immunity to it, and even if a doctor develops a cure for the virus, it won’t be effective after a few minutes.

Mikadzuki is a Zanpakuto that destroys. It’s as simple as that. Some Zanpakuto manipulate the elements, or create magical effects, or impair the senses to achieve victory. Mikadzuki destroys. This makes Taihō dangerous in a way few Shinigami have ever been. She doesn’t have to put much effort into fighting her enemies, because all it takes is a touch, a scratch, a single instant of distraction, and the battle is over. One solitary hit will start an inevitable cascade into ruin, which few enemies will be able to escape. The tiniest of wounds, on a single finger, will eventually lead to the opponent’s entire body being liquefied. And even if Taihō can’t hit her opponent, she can infect the trees, the buildings, the water, and the ground, even the air around him, until there is no other choice but to lie down and die. If they raise a barrier to stop her, she can destroy it. If they launch a counter attack, she will negate it. There is very little that can be done to combat this devastating power, and that is Taihō’s greatest strength. ]

Shikai Overall Ability:
[In Shikai, Taihō wields a distilled form of Mikadzuki’s ability to “Harvest”. The wicked Harvest Virus is carried in the dart that Mikadzuki becomes, meaning that any contact with the dart, even in passing, will infect you with the virus. That’s right, skin contact is all that’s required to get sick. Taihō can control the dart telekinetically, and can move it at a speed of 500. The maximum range is 50 feet. Once you are infected, you begin your very rapid journey to death, a journey full of horror and despair. Almost immediately, the point of contact will turn black, as the virus comes alive and begins destroying your flesh. There is no pain involved, as the nerve endings are dissolved faster than they can send messages of alarm to the brain, meaning that most victims have no idea anything’s wrong at first. The black mark begins rapidly spreading across the enemy’s body, first as black veins and arteries, then as a dark wave across the skin as first the blood vessels carrying the virus, then everything around them are destroyed and turned to a black slime. The virus spreads at an alarming rate, moving to any adjacent body parts every two posts. Meaning that if, on post one, the enemy’s hand is infected, on post three the fingers and arm will be infected, and post five the upper arm will be infected, etc. Depending on how high your Dominant Stat is compared to Taihō’s, there may be a brief incubation period before the virus becomes fully active. If the victim’s Dominant Stat is less than Taihō’s, they do not get an incubation period. With a Dominant Stat equal to Taihō’s, there is a one post incubation period, and at 125% of her Dominant stat, this is increased to three posts. At 150% of her Dominant Stat, there is no Incubation period; instead, the target is immune to the virus. It takes three posts after the virus hits part of your body for that body part to be completely destroyed, at which point the body part bursts violently, spraying the black slime within outward in a five foot radius, potentially infecting anyone nearby. The result is a very rapid dissolution of the victim, and the further spread of the virus. This spreading can be slowed by points in Poison Resistance; every point adds one post to the amount of time it takes for the virus to spread to adjacent body parts, and to the time it takes to destroy infected tissue. Meaning that, at 3 points of Poison Resistance, the virus will spread every five posts, and destroy tissue every six posts.

For non-organic objects that are infected, such as buildings, water or the ground, the infected volume doubles every two posts, with destruction of the infected area occurring every three posts. Eventually, the ground and all surrounding terrain features and or structures will be destroyed, leaving a pool of black, viral slime that infects it touches as the only battle ground. Obviously, this is a very dangerous situation for the opponent to face, but it would take a very long time for this to occur under normal circumstances. When calculating the initial volume of the point of contact, the dart is assumed to infect a six cubic inch volume.. This is done mostly for balance purposes, to help slow the rate of spread enough that it would take ten plus posts for a truly substantial area of infected terrain to be formed. It should be noted that, while the virus spreads outward along the ground at a faster rate than it spreads downward, it will spread down into the ground, eventually forming a deep pool of viral slime. Swimming in the pool is not advised. Also, air cannot be infected in Shikai, but other gases can be.

Remember the mutations I talked about earlier? Good. Every five posts, the virus will mutate, becoming more virulent and harder to stop. Every time the virus mutates, anything that would slow it down, hinder or damage it becomes 10% less effective. This includes Reiatsu based defenses, healing from a doctor, anything. Not even High Speed Regeneration will save you; although HSR does indeed halt the spread of the virus, it does not kill it. After the first mutation, the virus will begin to spread at 10% of its normal rate, rounded to the nearest whole number. With each mutation, HRS becomes another 10% less effective at stopping the virus, until it eventually stops working completely. With each mutation, the virus also becomes immune to vaccines and medicines used against it up to that point. Also, the rate of infection increases by 5%, rounded to the nearest whole number; a small bonus, but one that adds up over time. Of course, most battles don’t last nearly long enough for this to matter, but that’s ok. The virus is patient; it can wait. After the first mutation, the virus will remember any and all mutations it has accumulated against a particular victim, and start where it left off should the enemy be infected again at a later time, even if it’s in a different thread. However, mutations only carry from one DE or DP thread to the next, and are not present in subsequent NDE threads.. The mutations are global, and affect the virus as a whole, but they are also specific. Meaning that mutations against a specific technique, defense or medicine don’t apply to all techniques, defenses or medicines, but the specific one used against the virus. This applies to characters as well; opponents infected after a mutation occurs get the “vanilla” form of the virus, and gain mutations at a normal rate.

In case you are wondering, Taihō is largely immune to her own power. She can touch infected matter with impunity, giving her a stark advantage over her opponent. She can even walk on the liquefied, viral matter Jesus-style, meaning that the destroyed terrain only hinders her opponents, not Taihō herself. However, attentive readers will note I said she is largely immune, not completely immune. If, for any reason, she should touch the blade of Mikadzuki, she would contract the virus just like anyone else. This only counts for skin contact, but it could still be used by a creative opponent to harm or hinder Taihō. Also, it must be noted that although she creates the virus, she has no control over it. It will infect friends and helpless bystanders just as easily as her enemies, making it dangerous to use with allies nearby. In fact, if left unchecked, the virus would infect and liquefy the entire world, even if that world happens to be Soul Society or Hueco Mundo. Of course, it would take hundreds of posts for that to happen, but it could happen in theory. The only way to stop the virus is for Taihō to seal her blade, either willingly, or because she can no longer maintain release. With the blade sealed, the virus dies instantly, leaving any infected matter clean and healthy, and destroyed matter in complete ruin. The destroyed matter is returned to its original state instantly, and without concern for where it might have ended up while in liquid form or what might be near it. So, you will have pieces of the ground fused seamlessly with chunks of buildings, tree branches, bodies of water, parts of people (Still living people, mind you), etc. The laws of physics are simply forced to accept the amalgamated mass of devastated stuff left in the wake of the Harvest Virus, leading to some rather gruesome results that make you wonder if surviving is really all it’s cracked up to be. You may have escaped with your life, but how are you going to get around with the upper part of your torso fused to the wall of building, with your legs sticking out of a lake a mile away? Try walking that off. Oh wait, you can’t.

The best thing to do when fighting Taihō is avoid getting infected with the virus. Unfortunately, this is much easier said than done. If you do get infected, don’t give up hope. You do have some small chance to survive. Anybody with 600 or more points of Healing Expertise will be able to purge the virus from your system, and can even destroy it in their own body, rendering them effectively immune to the disease. Be aware, however, that this is subject to the virus’ mutations; every time the virus mutates, an individual trying to cure it becomes 10% less effective at doing so; in other words, their HE is treated as being 10% lower than it really is for every mutation. If the effective HE drops below 600 points, that person will no longer be able to fight the virus. Like other mutations, this only applies against specific individuals; if someone else takes over, their ability to fight the virus will unaffected. ]

Bankai Overall Ability:
[Taihō’s Bankai is death. It’s as simple as that. It would be fair to say that Taihō’s Bankai is one of, if not the, most dangerous Bankai to have ever existed. It’s sheer nature makes it deadly to face, with over two thousand wires that can cut and carve through almost anything they encounter. Taihō becomes the eye of an unimaginable storm of death, tearing apart everything around her with reckless, casual abandon. Very little can stand against her, because of the sheer number and power of the wires created by her Bankai. Each thread has the durability of her Dominant Stat, and can move at a speed of 300. Now, add on to that the Harvest Virus, and you see what makes Taihō’s Bankai so unforgettable. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, each and every strand of wire, all two thousand one hundred eighty seven of them, carries the virus, meaning that as they slice and dice, they are also infecting everything they touch. As you can imagine, this rapidly leads to untimely demise of more or less everything around Taihō. Without using any techniques, without doing anything, Taihō can destroy armies, dismantle fortress, and devastate countries.
In Bankai, the Harvest Virus does everything it did in Shikai, just faster. Instead of spreading on every third turn, it spreads to adjacent areas with each passing post, and destroys infected areas every other post. This means most enemies will be turned to slime in just a few posts, a prospect that nobody wants to think about. The virus spreads through inanimate objects at twice the rate it did in Shikai, and destroys them at twice the rate as well, resulting in a more rapid liquefaction of the environment, restricting the enemy’s movement greatly. Also, the air becomes infectable. After the first mutation in Bankai, the air around Taihō becomes infected with virus, and every three posts after this, the volume of infected air doubles. When destroyed, air becomes a black mist.

The rate of mutation is increased as well, from every five posts to every three posts. While the effects of the mutations are not improved, the accelerated rate of mutation makes the virus even more difficult to combat, especially given the accelerated rate of infection and destruction. Medicines lose effect sooner, barriers dissolve faster, everything you would do to protect yourself is overwhelmed that much faster, making it a truly horrific ability to face. Even HSR is affected, losing half of its effectiveness in just fifteen posts, rather than twenty five like in Shikai. Basically, it goes from difficult to almost impossible to rid yourself of the virus, except by amputating infected body parts. That really is the best way to treat the infection, and you have to do it quickly, before it’s too late.

Taihō’s ability is one that is devastating in the short term, and monstrous in the long term. Like a virus, she is methodical and deliberate, and in no hurry to finish things; the longer the battle drags on, the stronger she becomes. However, it does have weaknesses. The biggest one is that, like in Shikai, if Taihō makes direct skin contact with her weapon for any reason, she will contract the Harvest Virus, meaning she always has to be aware of her threads’ whereabouts. Although the release is useful for attacking wide areas and large groups of enemies, singular foes, especially agile ones, can be difficult to catch, limiting its usefulness one-on-one. ]

Zanpakuto Techniques:
Carve removed and replaced with:

Technique Name: Bekutoru (Vector)
Release Stage: Shikai
Description: A vector is anything, such as the wind, insects, birds, etc., that can spread a disease. This technique is designed to make it easier to do just that: Spread the Harvest Virus. Once activated, Taihō can use this Technique to draw another dart, just like the one created when she first enters Shikai, from any source of viral matter nearby. This dart has all the properties of the first one, essentially multiplying Taihō’s offensive power with each use.
How to use: Costs 400 Reiatsu to activate. Must say Technique name, and target a source of viral matter within five feet of herself. It takes about five seconds for the dart to be formed.
Drawbacks: As powerful as this technique is, it’s bound to have serious drawbacks. First of all, Taihō can’t use just any source of viral matter; it has to be a pool with a volume of at least one cubic foot, or a body part at least as large as someone’s forearm. When activated, the viral matter in question will condense and solidify into the dart. Any matter that was in contact with the viral sludge but had not been infected yet is unaffected. Any matter that has been infected will be used in addition to the minimum amount described above. This does not result in a larger dart. This technique is fairly tiresome to use, and can only be used once per post. Taihō can only control a maximum of three darts at a time.]

NEW STATS


Type: Spiritual Genius, Level 4

Strength - [150/3=50] Points

Speed - [300] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [150*3=450] Points

Reiatsu Strength - [400*3=1200] Points

Light Aura - [0] Points

Dark Aura - [100] Points

Instinct - [100] Points

Senses - [100] Points

Energy sensory - [250*3=750] Points

Healing Expertise - [150/3=50] Points


Total SP: [1600] Points[/font]

That's all for the template. There are a LOT of stats, but don't get choosy and just give some to all. The result could be quite negative.

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Abilities
[Weapon: Swords] {3}

[Illusion Resist] {3}

[Battle Analysis] {3}

[Stealth] {3}

[Strength of Will] {3}