Hibiki Sumeragi

Hibiki Sumeragi (響皇, Resonance Emperor) is the Grandmaster of The Masters, meaning he takes on the winner of the Master Tournament held every ten years as his personal student. His most recent student is Haruki Satonaka, a fact that he enjoyed given Haruki's disdain for combat. Hibiki could be thought of as the goal for many swordsmen as he does not rely on special abilities or powers, but instead defeats his opponents with the skills stored within his own body.

Appearance
A man of small, slender build and with a youthful, feminine visage, Hibiki's appearance is quite different from the tales of a master spread throughout the lands. However, he is easily recognized by his mid-back length red hair tied in a thick ponytail and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. Hibiki's hair is thick and abundant, with all of the shorter frontal hairs falling across his face as bangs rather than being in the ponytail at the nape of his neck. During his younger years, Hibiki wore his ponytail higher as to not interfere with his swordplay.

When Hibiki enters into battle or becomes angry, the sudden burst of adrenaline causes his eye color changes from his already unusual violet color to the even more unusual golden coloration

Hibiki dresses simply, wearing a standard blue kimono, a worn down, tattered white hakama, and white tabi. At various times, Hibiki can also be seen wearing a light red kimono as well. He usually wears this whenever he goes on a easygoing mission or when he attends a casual meeting between The Masters.

Powers and Abilities
Immense Spiritual Energy: Hibiki possesses a formidable amount of spiritual power. He has repeatedly shown to use his spiritual pressure alone to withstand and suppress the full release of any spiritual being that is weaker than a lieutenant. When completely released Hibiki's spiritual pressure far surpasses that of even a Captains in the Gotei 13 and is enough to put a very small degree of surprise and in that of the Captain-Commander, Madoka Mizuki. His spiritual power is orange in color and is always fluctuating but yet is still controllable as he has shown himself to perform various abilities. However, it has been commented on by several individuals such as Van and former member of the Royal Guard, Senjumaru Shutara, that Hibiki has yet to really show anyone his true level of spiritual power.

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Hibiki is a highly skilled fighter, using powerful and surprising strikes with cunning deception. While fighting, his preferred methods of attack are to take advantage of his great agility, aggressively and rapidly striking from various angles to confuse and overwhelm his opponent. He is shown highly adept in combining his speed and his strength with his swordsmanship in order to defeat his opponent. Hibiki has shown to be capable of performing feats of frightening strength is also evident as he is capable of easily cutting through an Espada's Hierro, which is harder than steel, as well as slicing apart a boulders with a mere flick of the wrist. He has also shown to be capable of performing a reverse grip style of swordsmanship causing him to hold the blade horizontally with the blade flowing alongside his arm, using the blade like a large dagger with it pointed backwards towards the bottom of his gripping hand. All strikes are made by sweeping the arm forward as though throwing a punch while whipping the blade forward away from the arm quickly in a broad arc. He is quite adept at blocking with the blade in this manner as well. Hibiki's skills in swordsmanship have been shown to be so high, that he rarely ever relies on more than his Shikai state that often defeats his opponents shortly after its release.


 * Tenretsu Seijaku-ryu Master:

Immense Speed: One of Hibiki's more noticeable traits is his tremendous skillful speed. When caught by surprise from an enemy's attack, he has shown himself to be capable of reacting in time to skillfully dodge or counter the assault. Hibiki is able to keep up quick and rapid assault that forces most opponents on the defense as he leaves no openings in his attacks. He can effectively use his agility to use the battlefield to his advantage, jumping and appearing from different angle to keep his opponents unsure of his attack patterns. His agility has shown to grant him great dexterity in battle, able to attack his opponent from various angles with great accuracy and force. He can use it to the extent where he can appear to be in several places at once and wipe out a large group of Hollows in a matter of seconds. He can easily close tremendous gaps of distance in the blink of an eye while remaining undetected.

Enhanced Strength: Hibiki's physical prowess has shown to be highly impressive and surprising for someone of his build. He has shown to be capable of stopping a punch from a man who is two times taller then him with only his bare hands. He can upturn huge portions of rock floor with a single strike at the ground with his sword while not able to carry them he was able to use it has a temporary barrier.

Enhanced Durability: While not having the most imposing appearance compared to many others, Hibiki has shown to be a very resilient fighter. He is still able to continue fighting effectively and even ignore his wounds to the some extent, as they still hurt him. Hibiki himself has stated that it isn't his body that makes him a durable fighter but it his willpower that makes him continue to battle.

Keen Intellect: In addition to his remarkable combat prowess, Hibki is also gifted with great insight and understanding of situations at hand. Just by analyzing his opponent's personality and spiritual power, Hibiki is able to learn without being told what an opponent is potentially capable of on the field of battle. With his calm and collected nature, Hibiki can be highly perceptive and analytical, allowing him to easily deduce the basic idea of his opponent's skills to figure out their strengths and weaknesses.

Mushin Master:

Zanpakuto
Shikai: Not Yet Revealed

Bankai: Not Yet Revealed