Sakura Yakumo

Sakura Yakumo (さくら八雲, Cherry Blossoms in Eight Clouds) is a former member of Team Sunrise. However, following the murder of Rui Matsukaze and the brutal sexual assault of Morgiana Kurokami at the hands of Jiraiya Senju, Sakura joined Haruki Satonaka's hunt for revenge and in turn joined Xodus.

Appearance
Sakura is a slim, large-busted woman, although she despises when someone points this out. She has long, straight black-colored hair that falls to the middle of her back and has bangs covering her forehead, along with two longs strands framing the sides of her face.

Sakura can often be found wearing an elaborate black blazer with a large collar and red stripes going down the shoulders, which is opened to reveal a collared shirt and tie underneath. The cuffs of her attire are tucked into a pair of black gloves. On her legs, Kagura wears a pair of black stockings, which are tucked into a pair of white thigh-high boots and sit under a short frilled black skirt.

Personality
Sakura is girl who dose not show much emotion. She can often be seen with a stern facial expression, however, behind her ice queen persona, she cares about her comrades very much and she is always worried that one of them may not make it out alive.

When entering battle, Sakura is extremely confident in her zanpakuto and her swordsmanship abilities as she and Haruki were the only ones capable of completely picking up the skills taught to them by Hibiki Sumeragi of The Masters.

As a trained assassin, Sakura is extremely adept at bottling her emotions away, allowing her to make swift judgment in the middle of conflicts and even perform the tasks the rest of her teammates find to be disgusting or appalling. Sakura's harsh nature is simply something she developed during her youth as she is more than ready to kill anyone who interferes with her task during one of her missions, more often than not, putting her at odds with strong opponents as she has no fear and will fight anyone she deems necessary to be terminated.

Despite her upbringing, Sakura is not completely without a heart. More often than not, she listens to the very thing that she was trained not to pay any attention to--her heart. She cares about those around her and will go to extreme lengths to ensure their safety during a mission, outright attacking or killing anyone that threatens her teammates. Regardless of a situation, She will not stray from the path that her beliefs have set in front of her as she always tries to make sure that she follows through with any promises that she has made to someone.

Sakura, however, does have one critical weakness; if someone questions her beliefs based on her past, she often falls into a moment of darkness causing her to become animalistic and predictable in combat, making her incredibly easy to dispatch.

History
As a child, Sakura's parents sold both her and an her two relatives to an organization of slavers, where they were raised as assassins from childhood. Sakura in particular became skilled enough to earn the top rank in her division. At some point, after many of her comrades' deaths, including that of her two siblings, she became dissatisfied and resentful to those that raised her, eventually killing them as well before traversing the spiritual realms. Not much else is known about her past as she generally refuses to speak about it.

Powers and Abilities
High Spiritual Energy: Sakura is capable of exerting a high amount of spiritual energy which often exudes from her body in the form of a darkened sun with a grey-ish glow, giving it an eerie appearance when it can be seen. When put into tandem with her combat prowess, makes her one of the most formidable members of Team Sunrise. Sakura's spiritual energy is so great, that it can be felt from a far distance away as noted by most of The Masters and it has the tendency to make most people perspire in fear. Despite her young age, Sakura is capable of hardening her spiritual energy around her body in order to reduce the amount of physical damage that she may have taken from an attack, an ability that is said to take several years for even adults to accomplish.

Kido User:

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Sakura had demonstrated incredible skill in swordsmanship, being able to fight on against all of her teammates on her own. She was also able to fight on par with Suri Kasumioji, who is noted to be an exceptional swordswoman. Sakura tends to fight with very complicated, yet quick and easy slices that are able to rupture an opponent's defense with little to no problem at all. Her training alongside her teammates have also furthered her expertise in this area as she has taken on aspects of all of their sword styles, working them into that of her own.


 * Tenretsu Seijaku-ryu Expert:

High Speed Movements: Sakura has not been formally trained in the art of Flash Steps and instead relies on her natural speed in order to accomplish the same feats. She is capable of moving throughout an area at an incredible pace, seemingly with no rest at all. Sakura claims that this is simply a byproduct of her childhood training and should not be considered impressive in the least.

Hakuda User:

High Intelligence:

Acute Analytical Skills:

Zanpakuto


Hōmuru (葬る, Japanese for "Consign to Oblivion") is the name of Sakura's zanpakuto. When sealed it took the form of a single black Daitō with an ovular crossguard and white wrapping on the hilt. The blade is dark onyx in coloration and is almost the same size of Sakura herself. When not in use it is inside a solid black sheath.


 * Sealed Special Ability: Even when Hōmuru is sealed, it still secretes a dangerous toxin from the edge of its blade. When this toxin comes into contact with an organic target, it enters into their pores and causes an intense paralysis. This paralysis only affects the body part on which a cut from Hōmuru has landed and does not spread anywhere else on the opponent's body. However, the paralysis comes with excruciating pain as the muscles begin to contort and lock themselves up.

Shikai:


 * Shikai Special Ability: Hōmuru's Shikai ability is focuses on gaining control over the opponent's body via a gas secretion from the blade. Hōmuru's gas is invisible and almost undetectable and begins being produced upon being released and enters through the skin. The gas released by Hōmuru takes over the signals that the body sends to the brain in the opponent's body, allowing Sakura to change the target's reliability on their own body. This ability causes the opponents reflexes to drastically slow down, as well as the control over their limbs. Hōmuru can make Sakura's opponent move their leg, for example, if they would try to move their arm, or let them not move at all. This ability grows stronger over time, as more gas enters the opponent's body. Sakura can eventually make the opponent feel pain without any source, let them move out of their own free will or even gain control over subconscious functions of the body, such as the beating of the heart and the workings of other vital organs. She states, that if one would remain within her range for more then half an hour, they would lose absolute control over their body, and is thus doomed to be subdued by Sakura's commands. The gas, however, instantly disappears once Sakura re-seals Hōmuru's blade, giving the opponent the control back over their body. So far, no other escape then sealing the Zanpakutō has been seen to escape the blade's effects.
 * Chinsei (鎮静, Japanese for "Sedation"): This is an ability of Hōmuru which may be used once the target has inhaled enough of Hōmuru's gas. It enforces a shutdown in the opponent's brain, paralyzing them and rendering them helpless. This caused by a high, shrieking sound Hōmuru will give of, which will react with the gas to stop all electric signals in the body. The opponent will then collapse in a coma-like state, as their brain will temporarily stop working. It is later revealed this works similar like a high-level Kidō spell, and can thus be broken or negated in the same way.


 * Shin'en (深淵, Japanese for "Abyss"): The only known offensive ability of Hōmuru, this changes the structure of the gas in such a way that it becomes highly corrosive, being able to melt through solid metal with ease. Only Haruki is immune to this gas, which makes it dangerous to use when his allies are are around. Another disadvantage to this technique that the normally invisible gas now turns red, and spreads around Haruki in a flame-like matter. This makes it easier for opponents to avoid and outrun the gas, but Hōmuru does give Sakura a vulnerable defense against short-range attacks, as her opponent has to enter the area of deadly gas in order to attack.

Bankai: Not Yet Revealed