Suì-Fēng (Ash)

"Don't think for one moment that we're risking our lives on this fight. This is a fight to survive. Things like protecting the world are no more than moral causes that sound good. We will keep ourselves alive, keep you alive, and fight to protect all others from Aizen's hands."

- Suì-Fēng to Ichigo Kurosaki

Suì-Fēng (砕蜂 in the Pinyin transliteration of Mandarin Chinese "Literally meaning"; Crushing Hornet) otherwise romanized as Soifon is the current commander-in-chief of the. After the, and the loss of her Bankai, Suì-Fēng stood down from her position as Captain of the. However; due to the insistence of her, she remained in her position within the Onmitsukidō. As of now, Suì-Fēng is an ideal female role model to follow for all Shinigami, having proven how deadly one can be without exceptional power boosts.

Appearance
Suì-Fēng is a relatively petite woman with gray eyes and black hair. Her hair is worn short with two long braids bound in white cloth, each ending in a large golden ring. 110 years ago, Suì-Fēng's hair was shoulder-length and had a softer look to it. She wears a traditional Shinigami captain's uniform with a sleeveless haori and a yellow obi tied around her waist. Underneath her standard Shinigami captain's uniform, Suì-Fēng wears the uniform of the commander-in-chief of the Onmitsukidō, which has no sleeves and doesn't cover the back, though she does wear long black arm bands.Instead of wearing the standard Shinigami sandals with tabi, she wears traditional Chinese shoes with ordinary white socks.

Personality
Suì-Fēng is staunchly loyal, firm, and unbending in her beliefs. She is a hard worker and takes a strong moral stance — she particularly believes in following orders. She is generally reserved and truly not arrogant in any manner like her lieutenant, though she is not above mocking/joking around with her opponents or smirking while in combat, a trait also seen in her. She will not hesitate in the slightest to strike down even her subordinates if they stand in her way. She chooses to ignore all her subordinates, including her lieutenant Ōmaeda, believing that personal struggle builds character. Suì-Fēng, like most female Shinigami, is a member of the.

Suì-Fēng likes fish, but dislikes meat. She also seems to be quite obsessed with Yoruichi, and often spends her free time dreaming about the days when they fought together and practiced Shunpo. In a Valentine's Day omake, she even tried to give her a heart shaped box of chocolates with little success and she seems to love anything that resembles a black cat, which is Yoruichi's alternate form, and she has a large collection of black cat shaped merchandise. In one of the Shinigami Golden Cup chapters, Suì-Fēng is given a black cat plushie by Matsumoto, who has just returned from a mission in the Real World. It is also known that since Yoruichi's reappearance, she began to collect cat accessories and had the 2nd Division quarters installed with floor-heating (the expenses were covered by her lieutenant). Suì-Fēng once seems to be affectionately admiring pictures of Yoruichi. Later, as part of the photo collecting project of the Shinigami Women's Association she attempts to take nude photos of Yoruichi while she is distracted, but fails miserably. When the Shinigami Women's Association is tasked with designing a new cellphone for Shinigami ladies, she submits a design featuring a black cat's head with a bee body (the cat representing Yoruichi and the bee representing herself), with a private line that would allow her to talk to Yoruichi as much as she wanted. The request was denied. When Yamamoto commands the Gotei 13 Captains to design a Shinigami video game, Suì-Fēng proposed a game with her and Yoruichi as the protagonists. Her lieutenant, Ōmaeda, tells her plainly that she is the only person who will play such a game.

Suì-Fēng is a person of incredible resolve, not hesitating to do whatever it takes to complete a mission and defeat her enemy; an example of this can be seen during her battle with the Segunda Espada, after being exposed to an attack she orders her Lieutenant to remove her arm without hesitation. Very rarely will Suì-Fēng show signs of desperation or emotion on the battlefield, except when it concerns her former master. Despite her cold demeanor and constant attack towards her lieutenant, she has displayed a certain level of faith in him (trusting him to act as a distraction while she carries out a plan). Her stubborn attitude is so great that even now she still seems to hold a degree of dislike for be it because Yoruichi used to tease her about him, or she found his lazy demeanor undisciplined or that she still blames him for her mentor's abandonment over one hundred years previously. This is shown when she asks to place the shop owner in a barrier for a month in exchange for using her Bankai a second time in one day.

Furthermore, after her disdainful defeat and theft of her Bankai, Suì-Fēng has changed quite noticeably as both a leader and an individual. Though determined, she constantly has an air of calm around her; pointing out weakness without fail. She understands that she doesn't have the advantages other Captains would have, and makes it up with her sheer combat prowess and knowledge. She has delved deep into the roots of assassination, particularly within poisons, herbs and the like. Suì-Fēng is particularly fond of swift deaths, and understands that wasting time is a luxury she is incapable to afford. Another point to note is that her humility is far higher; to the point where she willingly stepped down as 2nd Division Captain, and was going to step down as Onmitsukidō commander, but was personally requested by to remain, until they had found a suitable replacement for her.