Chitose Wasuchiru

"Just because you can make some big flashy attack in an attempt to valiantly destroy all opposition, doesn't mean you should necessarily do so. A dagger can end a life as easily as a Cero."

Appearance
Standing in at 168 centimeters and weighting 65 kilograms, Chitose is not an imposing figure. He is a man of average to slightly below average stature. His frame is fairly muscular, but slender with decent definition on all of his muscles. This body type is something you'd expect to find on a endurance athlete such as a distance runner, particularly one who takes the time to keep in shape.

His body is scarred, mostly from the hundred years of hollow hunting he has done. Even with experience, you can't get all of them unscathed all of the time. Of those scars, he has three large an noticeable ones if you view him without his normal garments on. The first is horizontally on his stomach, stretching from one side to another. This occurred on his very first hollow hunt, when a large hollow nearly bisected him. If not for circumstance, and the thing missing vital organs, he'd have died that very first day. The second lays on his left thigh, a small slit across it. This scar is a remnant from a training accident while he was still at the academy, where a sparing match went wrong. The third major scar, one extending from the back of his left shoulder to the back of his right hip, he doesn't explain though, and by now no one bothers to ask.

His face is a kind one, relatively unmarked by the wars he has lived through. He has a weak jawline and a fairly round face, though this is balanced out by the overall low fat content he contains. He has shining blue eyes, though upon closer inspection you can almost see a dead look behind them, as if he was in a perpetual state of complete exhaustion. In addition, he wears light amounts of makeup, usually to cover the bags that have formed under his eyes.

While in uniform, Chitose wears the standard Shihakushō, albeit it's more tight to render easier and quick movement. This is reminiscent of the the 2nd division's uniform, but not quite as tight as the uniform of that division is normally. He doesn't like the bagginess of the standard uniform due to the fact that all the flapping clothe makes additional sound as he moves, and he prefers to be silent. To slightly personalize this, he tends to wear a pair of spaulders and vambraces, albeit light ones. While these won't necessarily stop a high level combatant, they do allow him to have a few more options if he is ever faced by multiple opponents. It also allows him to more easily deflect opposing strikes with his limbs if he has to, while reducing the chance of injury. His sword tends to be strapped onto the inside of his left forearm, being a tanto in size. In addition, his blueish brown hair, which is dyed to that color because he likes it, is put up into an extreme pony tail, which hangs down behind him.

While out of uniform his dress tends to be traditional, but still conservative. It consists of a sky blue version of the shinigami garb with a additional flowery sky blue Haori. While in this garb he tends to tie up his hair into a much looser ponytail that the strict one he wears in uniform. This allows his hair to hang more freely, and overall looks far better than his official state of dress.

An Ancient Curse
Chitose's soul has inhabited Soul Society for millennium, even longer than prominent figures such as Yamamoto. His origins trace back to some of the very first souls to ever inhabit Soul Society. His soul first came there shortly after it was created, being drawn by the newly formed cycle of souls that it entailed. His soul was a noble one, fairly well liked among the ones who had come to call Rukongai their own after the formation of this world. He welcomed new arrivals to this world for a time, being one of the very first to inhabit the world. He arrived mere days after the soul king first created the world.

He managed to accrue a fair amount of wealth and territory in one 25th district of Southern Rukongai. Most of this was due to a group of artifacts he had discovered in one of the many worlds he had travelled through in centuries past. He had travelled the paths between worlds picking up antiquities and artifacts for longer than man had ever walked the earth, his soul not aging until it was influenced by the cycle. He was simply a free soul, a floating mass of reishi held together by a singular will, until he was draped in chains. While it was disconcerting that his life would eventually end, it was almost relieving in a way. He wouldn't be wandering for time untold, and would eventually cease to feel the tugs of the centuries.

His influence led to this one district becoming a scholarly district where a fair number of relatively wealthy houses were located. It was a place of antiquity and learning. Many things, some new, some old, entered and left his possessions through the nearly a hundred and fifty years Chitose's original incarnation walked throughout soul society, but only one every truly stood out.

It was a bowl, golden and covered in strange symbols even he couldn't read. It was also filled with a strange green liquid. He had heard a rumor about this bowl nearly a decade earlier, and had spent most of that time patiently trying to figure out where it layed. It was rumored to have been used in the creation of this world that he lived, and an object like that was something to be completely desirable indeed. An artifact like that wasn't something that was found regularly, it was literally a once in a lifetime event. He payed a good amount of his own wealth and several lesser artifacts to own a piece of history of the land he had come to call home. However, he never did try to figure out exactly what it's role was in the birth of this land nor whatever that liquid it held was. He was smart enough to realize that bothering with an artifact that was that powerful was probably suicidal. Trouble would only occur if he disturbed it, so he locked it up in a case in his study, as despite his relative lack of knowledge about it, it was one of his most prized possessions.

This state of affairs persisted for a number of years until a group of thieves tried to raid his home. They were looking to steal some of his possessions, as he had more than a few valuables. They used a good knowledge of Kīdo in order to disarm the defenses he had normally in place to protect his home and possessions. He confronted them upon them tripping a ward he had placed around several rooms that they managed not to notice. A fight broke out throughout his house that ended up destroying more than a few objects, before it ended in the study. Chitose was blasted back by a mid level spell, and was knocked into the bowl, which proceeded to pour it's contents all over him. The green liquid acted almost as a cancer, seeping into his body and soul before releasing a terrible explosion, destroying his entire home and all that lay within it. The liquid had been a binding agent for the entire world, and one body wasn't meant to hold such a power. It had the effect of destroying his current body while binding his soul more extremely to this world. It pulled him out of the cycle of souls, and forced his soul to be forever reincarnated into soul society itself. It's curse also was one of horrid luck, as a material like that wasn't meant to be held by any less than a god.

Endless Cycles
Every life Chitose has lived since that fateful day, he has been bound to Soul Society. That curse dragged him out of the cycle, and left him in even more chains. He lived lives beyond counting in rukongai, being born and then dying again. However, the curse had a will of it's own, and wasn't content with merely enslaving him to this world. Each of his deaths was one of violence or suffering, from the numerous times he starved, or thirsted, or even froze to death, not to mention the numerous times he was cut down.

However this alone did not break him. He retained no memory of each of his last lives, however they were shown to him in his dreams. The curse had manifested itself as a unique personality within his subconscious as a being in an inner world, similar to what would eventually be known as a zanpakutō. It held no real ill will towards each of Chitose's eventual reincarnations, however it got really bored over the millenia, so messing with it's host was it's favorite activity to do.

Most of his deaths occurred young, dying within ten or twenty years, whether it be by the blade or by his spiritual power level being high enough he could starve or thirst to death. In every reincarnation he was born in eventually desolate 25th district, as after his accident souls generally stopped being born there, being shunted to less tainted districts. There was severe violence there, similar to a sixties level district, even though it was a low numbered one. However, due to it's low population and minimal migration outside of it, the issues were mild and mostly unnoticed by the districts outside it.

Eventually, the shinigami were born from the flames of leadership that were sparked by General Yamamoto. Each area would inevitably have some souls that were powerful enough to become shinigami. However, the twenty-fifth district produced almost none, even accounting for the low population. There was never more than one a generation. Though unbeknownst to the population, each was a different incarnation of the same soul. This was a result of the curse tainting the area, binding most of the reishi so it wasn't conductive to other souls with power being born there.

Modern Souls
Even with Chitose's past lives regularly becoming shinigami, they never truly had a long lifespan. Most tended to die to one hollow or another while they were unseated shinigami, and not a single one ever rose to the level of a seated officer over the two thousand years they plied the trade before his current incarnation. While there was significant irregularity among which division he ended up joining in each incarnation, the 12th or 13th divisions were by far the most common, while the only division he was never apart of over the 20 some incarnations that worked their way through the ranks of the shinigami was the 11th division. His soul just simply didn't fit well with the type or style that division utilized. He was also pretty afraid of Retsu Unohana while she was captain of that division, a similar uneasiness that subconsciously lives to this day.

His overall style among each of the divisions tended to be more kido oriented. This was not to say he didn't have some sword based ability to go along with it. He achieved shikai around 3-4 times among these incarnations, however he never lived very long afterwards, as his sword doesn't usually impart any new abilities among it's wielder immediately after being awakened, just taking it's shikai shape. So even though he would learn the name of the sword when his life was on the line, it would make little to no attempt to actually prevent him from falling to whatever pushed him that far. In each and every case the Shikai of his sword was identical, as the curse overrides any other possible form the assauchi could take, instead infecting it and manipulating it to become what it desires.

Sometime during this period one of Chitose's past incarnations came across a Venator Scientiae, though what exactly expired during this event is unknown. However it is known that it managed to glean the knowledge that Chitose was cursed, knowledge that would be passed to a different being.

Life as a Shinigami
This incarnation of chitose is over three hundred years old, which is by far the longest he has ever lived since the inception of his curse by over two hundred years. He was born within the 26th district of South Rukongai like he normally was in each cycle, though he was abandoned shortly after birth. He was picked up by a travelling soul, roughly the equivalent of a friar. He ended up living in a small refuge in the middle of a half destroyed mansion for nearly twenty years. He weakened at first while there, as none of the other children needed food or water, but eventually the friar realized that he was spiritually strong enough to need sustenance to survive. He managed to obtain enough to allow Chitose to continue living. After around thirty years into the reincarnation, he undertook the entrance exam for the academy, and passed with a high enough score to enter into the high class of the spiritual academy.

His time at the academy was marked with misfortune, like his usual lives, including a training accident that would have cost him a leg if a member of the 4th Division hadn't been around at the time in order to heal the injury, caused during a sparring accident with another student. During this period he first began to feel the pull of his own curse upon his soul, as the nameless Zanpakuto he had received began to feel slightly unsettling to be around, as the manifestation of that curse began corrupting the Assauchi that was supposed to be imprinting on his own soul but instead was twisted into the same manifestation as the previous incarnations of his soul.

After 8 years, the normal set of time for graduation from the academy, Chitose graduated and took the exams. He did fairly well in the exams, scoring average on Zanjutsu and Hakuda, but scoring well above average in Kīdo, Hohō, and Intelligence. This trio of scores made him an excellent candidate for the 12th division, which he joined during the reign of Hikifune. During this he was part of a project to understand how the other various races high speed movement capabilities worked, with the primary three being Sonido, Hirenkyaku, and Bringer Light. During this time, he did his best to apply the principles from all three movement profiles to the standard Shinigami Hohō.

Around the time he was one hundred to one hundred fifty years old, Chitose was approached by yet another Venator Scientiae, one who knew of him by stealing the knowledge of another, after a balancing of souls that was ordered by his Captain. After getting invited to the human world to help search through his past, he ended up tricking Vice-Captain Hiyori to allow him to go to the human world. This encounter ended up leading throughout London and Europe as Chitose helped chase down an ancient goddess.

Chitose stayed in the 12th division for quite some time, eventually reaching the rank of 12th seat there, before transferring to the 6th division as the 6 seat officer, as there was no need in the 12th division for a 6th seat officer at the time, and the 6th division had an opening in that position. He has retained this seat since.

Natural Abilities
High Natural Speed: Derived through his slim frame and relatively long life, Chitose is naturally a high speed combatant when he does get into close combat, though his speed is mosre related to his extreme maneuverability and agility rather than straight-line speed. While his straight line speed is fairly impressive for the basic physical capability of a Shinigami for his rank, it isn't as high as some monsters of the captain class or higher.

His agility or maneuvering speed though is top class, and probably reaches up to that of the highest tiers of seated officers. Combined with his Hohō abilities, it renders him quick enough to keep up with if not overtake the speed of most equivalent ranked combatants.

Unnaturally Extensive Experience: Chitose has a much larger pool of experience to tap into than virtually any living Shinigami, stretching back to well before soul society was even created. This is due to his sword retaining the memories of all of his previous lives.

Cursed Existence: Chitose's original incarnation was once a free spirit, who roamed the primordial planes of existence longer than almost any other intact being. Indeed, he'd probably argue that he is older than the Soul King himself, let alone all the untold number of human souls that the king had created created when he created Soul Society. However, with the binding of his soul with the agents of the world, he was inflicted with an extremely powerful curse, ripping him from the cycle of souls and forcing his repeated incarnations to stay within soul society, where they have been met with extreme misfortune.

However, despite all the pain heaped upon him by his curse, it has bestowed him with several benefits as well, such as untold lifetimes of memories spreading back to before Soul Society even existed. Another one is an inability to have his soul bound or destroyed, as the curse itself would protect it until it is finally broken, which is not a trivial task by any means, and lastly, a pair of unique abilities related to the fact that his Zanpakutō is repeatedly overwritten into the exact same sword by the manifestation of the curse itself.

The first is the extreme difficulty required to cause his sword to rebel against him. The curse has bound the soul of his sword to him in such a way that breaking the binding would be as difficult as dispelling the curse itself, and to be more precise about it, Chitose's relationship to the sword is more akin to him being the weapon than his blade itself. The curse is the base of an existence, and he is bound to it's existence, roughly comparing to him being his sword's weapon.

The last ability is the fact that his blade is capable of exerting control over Chitose and his body by it's own volition. He is subservient to the curse, not the other way around. If it so desires it is fully capable of taking control of him, but it would rather watch him struggle through whatever life throws at him, as its original purpose was merely to bind him, which leads to this only happening in situations where Chitose's mind itself is no longer capable of controlling his body, which will cause it to protect him out of self-preservation, as due to the extreme amount of time it has been watching him live, it has come to the feeling that it is ready for this curse to finally end, which means allowing this version of Chitose mature to the point where he may finally find a way to break the curse that has afflicted him for ages untold.

Combat Abilities

 * Chitose's spiritual power is of an average amount for someone of his rank, if not slightly high. However, he is not one to exert his power in a manner to attempt to intimidate the opposition, as all this is is a pointless display of ego stroking in his opinion. So while his spiritual power would be enough to potentially intimidate an unranked Shinigami, he prefers to suppress his spiritual power and focus it where it is needed, as it's only a waste to put it on display, and also potentially could be a severe disadvantage, as the opponent could gauge your own spiritual power more easily.

Another metric of his own spiritual power would be the size of his blade, as up to captain class it can be a fair metric of the power of the individual who holds it, however in Chitose's case this is not true, as he tends to suppress his own power to the point where the blade usually doesn't exceed a foot in length when he carries it around in it's sheath or just simply has it drawn while moving, though he tends to alternate it between a foot and six feet in combat, utilizing his spiritual power tactically to increase his fighting capability. This is his best means to utilize his spiritual energy offensively, adding new dimension to his swordplay.


 * Hohō is one of Chitose's more advanced abilities. While his base usage of that may not be all the quick on it's own, being average at best for someone of his level, he has combined and refined it with several other techniques as well.

During his time with the 12th division, Chitose was part of a team that was assigned to a research project dedicated to studying the movement abilities of the other races, it was primarily focusing on Sonido, Bringer Light, and Hirenkyaku however. This was so Shinigami could learn how to identify, and hopefully counter these movement techniques.

However, Chitose went beyond that. He did a personal experiment to combine elements of those techniques with Shunpo in the hopes of that by applying the principles, he could increase the effectiveness of Shunpo to new heights. In this regard, he is of the opinion that he is on the road to revolutionizing the core of Shunpo itself, eventually allowing the possibility that his research may allow the Shinigami to significantly outpace other combatants.

The first principle he applied was that of Sonido. From his observations, the speed behind Sonido was related to the forceful ejection of spiritual power from the base of the user's feet during movement, creating an additional burst of force beneath the feet that pushed on the user, accelerating them to much faster speeds than normal movements. While extremely effective, albeit brutish, this technique was also exhausting to use at a high level for an extended period of time. The large amount of spiritual power it needs is why it is mostly used among the highest levels of hollows. Chitose on the other hand chose to utilize a much weaker version, only utilizing it sparingly by adding the technique only on the first step of each section of his usages of high speed movement, letting him accelerate extremely quickly, which is useful for catching opponents off guard.

The next step he took was to add the Quincy's High Speed Movement technique into the mix, Hirenkyaku. Unlike Sonido, adding this technique did little to increase his own speed. Instead, what it did is give him unparalleled maneuverability. But skating along the pathways of power in an area, his movement profile became extremely erratic, making it hard, if not impossible, to truly predict exactly where he was going to strike, and by adding this into the mix, orientation and direction mattered little to him during movement, as he could as easily attack while upside down as he could right side up, something most Shinigami had trouble with. The base air walking ability required one to be mostly upright, and this technique removed that restriction.

Lastly, he applied the technique of the illusive Fullbringer, Bringer light. While not truly a technique, more of a side effect, it had some extremely useful attributes, even if Chitose had to actually train himself in order to utilize the technique. By pulling on the soul of the surroundings, one was able to give themselves an extra kick, allowing them to move much faster. Chitose was unable to use that version of this technique, but he modified it so he could pull together the Reishi making up the environment to do a similar thing, making the ground or air push on him as well as him pushing on it. It was a bastardized version of the original techniques, but by applying the concepts to his own natural Shunpo, it allowed his overall speed to increase.

All these combined with the base usage of Shunpo, which greatly reduced the number of steps one needed to take in order to move a distance, allows him to move at extremely high speeds compared to him using Shunpo alone, and forms one of the cornerstones of his abilities.


 * While not his strongest category, Chitose is fairly proficient, albeit unorthodox, in his usage of Zanjutsu. Due to the fact that he tends to keep his blade extremely short compared to the average Shinigami, he isn't as suited to straight up clashes of blades, which tend to be straight up clashes of strength. His fighting style is more that of an assassin, quick glancing blows until he can open up a hole for a more decisive strike. It also is centered around the usage of his kido in order to chain together combos in a sword and spell manner. Lastly, due to the flighty and agile nature of his combat, his moves tend to be unpredictable compared to the average combat style of a shinigami, something that is enhanced by the fact he changes the size of his blade actively during combat, meaning one can never be truly certain of the reach of his blade.




 * Kidō: The Forgotten Verses: Kidō is a mainstay of Shinigami combat, albeit one whose usage varies widely among the various divisions of the Gotei 13. The 11th division for example looks down upon Kidō with disdain. This is due to their obsession with swordplay, something amplified by the usually bloodthirsty method by which the leaders of the unit come to power. However, the method of spell-craft is one of Chitose's strongest attributes, far outpacing his swordplay. This is due largely to the magic that his original self used as his primary method of fighting throughout the time prior to his death. However, the spells that would eventually become the Shinigami Art of Kidō were far different from their original incarnations.

The natural weakness of spell casting in the style of the Soul Society is the sheer length of time it takes to recite the full Incantation to utilize the spell at full power. This made it so only people who had spent centuries perfecting the art of using Kidō could effectively use the art in combat. In order to allow more of the people who kept soul society from falling into anarchy to utilize magic in combat, the Art of Kidō was created by streamlining spell casting and cutting out a good chunk of power from magic so less powerful warriors could use it effectively.

This resulted in the incantations being drastically shortened, and the spell structure being simplified to the point where it was possible to use the spells without the incantation at all if the person was powerful enough.

After millennium of this minimization, the power of the Shinigami spell-casting had weakened drastically, however the increased speed of this spell-casting more than makes up for the power that was lost, as it allowed lower level combatants to make use of it.

As a result, over the centuries, a vast majority of the knowledge of the original spells has been lost and forgotten, left in locked libraries untouched for millennium. Finding the original incantations is virtually impossible, as anyone who knew them has long since died of either natural or unnatural causes.

Chitose is one of the few exceptions to this, as he still has the ability to gain access to the memories of his original body, who existed back when spell-casting was still in it's original unwieldy form. This allows him to weave spells that virtually every modern practitioner of Kidō never knew existed, as well as to expand modern spells back to their historical roots.

Chitose himself is a moderate caster at best, being able to utilize Kidō into the low 40s without an incantation, and up to the seventies with the full incantation before losing power. The highest spell he can cast at all is Hadō #91. Senjū Kōten Taihō, albeit he is only capable of creating two spears that are weaker than most 60 level spells, meaning this move is almost never utilized.

In terms of incantation altering, he is extremely proficient in the use of Nijū Eishō, combining his ability to weave two Kidō spells together with the ability of his false Zanpakutō release to allow him to utilize up to four spells at once, though it is incredibly taxing on his endurance to do it more than once or twice in a day.

Expanded Verses
There are currently less than a dozen spells that Chitose knows the entire set of verses to, and all but two of them are extremely low level spells, since they were the most widely known and used back during their heyday. Each of the verses that were cut added a little bit more to the spell, wrapping it in layer after layer of enhancements and modifications. These incantations almost always have a minimum of two verses, one to initially collect the power and one to shape and unleash it. Incantations over those two verses simply increased the number, power, or capability of the spells.


 * Hadō #1 Shō: One of the simplest spells in existence, all Shō does normally is create a strong force that punches into a target. In it's base form, it is little more than an annoyance to higher level combatants, but an effective disciplinary tool for lower ranked subordinates. However, once you start layering on the power increases it can be devastating in terms of it's penetration and striking force. At three verses, it's intensity more than triples, and at four it's size so the area affected is roughly the size of an umbrella. This is the level that Chitose usually incants up to, as the verses for this spell are fairly short up until that point, being shorter than two verses of some higher level spells. The fifth and sixth verse merely increase its base power again while the seventh modifies it's shape to add an incredible amount of penetration to the spell, allowing it to punch through hardened defenses. Eight and nine refine it's power even farther, while ten is unique. It modifies the spell with a chant of multiplication, continually producing the spell to pummel the target to pieces, restrained only by the spiritual energy of the caster.


 * Incantation:To be added later

Zanpakutō
Sealed Form: Chitose's Zanpakutō normally takes the form of a tanto, which he keeps sealed on the inside of his left arm, hilt facing down. This is to allows him to keep his weapon mostly hidden underneath his uniform, as well as making it quick and easy draw when needed. Due to the extremely short length of it's sealed form, it doesn't get in the way of the movement of his arm. However, he intentionally keeps the amount of reiatsu he feeds to his Zanpakutō to a bare minimum to keep it this small while it is sheathed, he increases the amount to a normal level once he draws it, increasing it's size to around two inches shorter than the average katana at the start of the fight. His Zanpakutō is noticeable straighter than the average blade, having almost no curvature at all, as befitting its normal tanto size and shape. It has a very minimal tsuba, which is jet black with silver highlights in the shape of a pinwheel. The hilt is just long enough for him to two hand. It shares the design scheme of the tsuba, though it isn't as dark, except gold highlights run down through the diamond pattern common to the design of Zanpakutō. It's sheath maintains a similar pattern. The blade itself is an inverse of the normal coloring scheme for a blade of this design, with the cutting edge being black and the back being a burnished silver.


 * Shikai: Seika no Hikage (日陰乃栄華, Lit.Shadow of Glory) It's Release command is Cast a Shadow. Upon releasing, the blade of Seika no Hikage lengthens to three feet in length, as well as turns jet black. the blade starts curving in a manner similar to most katanas, and then the hilt bends back the opposite direction, in a manner similar to a pistol grip, though not as severe as some cases. The blade is accentuated with a red tassel hanging off the end of the hilt. The tsuba disappears for the most part, instead ending in a pair of metal flanges that sheath the first inch of the blade from the handle, increasing it's resilience.
 * Abilities: Seika no Hikage is a kido type blade with the ability to control shadows and their relationship to the objects that cast them. A simply explained power, it however becomes devastating the more you look into exactly what it can do. At base, it gives him no special advantages, but when utilized correctly and smartly it can be used to allow Chitose to defeat opponents he shouldn't normally even be able to injure, though such a victory is due to the opponent's stupidity as much as his own power.

The blade granted Chitose three abilities, two passive and one active.

The primary active ability is that whenever an object comes into contact with the blade the relationship between the object and its shadow becomes reversed. That means the object's shadow now defines its own shape and properties. This also makes it so the object can't change it's shape as the shadow defines the shape it can be. This effect can both be a benefit and a massive disadvantage. On one hand, the object can't be sundered by weaponry besides Seika no Hikage itself except under the most extreme of circumstances. This includes living objects as well as static one, potentially rendering humanoids struck by this ability significantly more durable.

But besides this ability preventing outside objects from affecting and afflicted object's shape, it also prevents it from changing shapes via a release, essentially shutting down most Bankais or even Shikais. The essence of the shadow itself would change even if the object's shape only changed slightly. This locks a person into fighting at roughly their current power level, restricting them to a shadow of their own glory. This ability is the true danger of Chitose, as he effectively shuts down the activation of trump card of his opponents before they can even release it. This ability however is incredibly dangerous to Chitose from a political standpoint, as his ability could be extremely dangerous to the Gotei 13 since it can potentially seal the Shikai and Bankai of far higher ranking members if he ever went rogue. If the Central 46 ever found out just what his sword was capable of doing, there would be a good chance he'd be executed to prevent his power from being disruptive to the order of things. Because of this he crafted a false release for his sword.

The second passive ability is heavily linked to the first ability of his blade. As the shadow of any object that comes into the contact with the blade of his sword defines the shape of the object that cast it, it becomes true that any ability capable of directly attacking the shadow itself is capable of affecting the object. Due to this, Seika no Hikage is capable of cutting the shadow of any object affected by the first ability of the blade. Any damage inflicted on the shadow is mirrored to the object or person to whom it is linked. This means if Seika no Hikage were to cut through the arm of the shadow of an opponent, their arm would be immediately severed as well. This means with the right tactics Chitose could potentially fell beings far more powerful than himself if they are not careful.

The active ability involves Chitose infusing the blade with more potent shadows, allowing him to release a blast of dark reiatsu similar to a large number of melee types. This ability isn't very powerful, however it does give him some additional flexibility with his Shikai as it can be an effective distraction to an opponent.


 * False Release: Hikage no Seika In order to hide the ability of his real Shikai in an effort to prevent the possibility of it causing his death, Chitose developed a false release for his Zanpakuto to act as a stand in for it. It is activated by saying the name of the blade in a reverse order with the same release command. When it gets released, it takes a shape completely opposite to the normal compact sleek blade of the normal release. Instead the blade takes the form of an extremely pompous and ceremonially styled Great ax. It is a double sided affair with a large amount of gilding and a massive blade, similar in size to the previous 11th division commander's Shikai. It is a large and cumbersome weapon, standing taller than Chitose himself does, though he still manages to wield it fairly proficiently.


 * Abilities: Hikage no Seika is another kido type blade, similar to his primary shikai, however unlike the normal form which has shadow controlling powers, this one is an illusion type release. Similar to the true release, it grants Chitose both a passive and an active ability, though they are significantly different than the main release.

The passive ability this weapon grants is that it is a conduit to allow Seika no Hikage to speak through whispers to the outside world. The entire weapon emits a whisper that seems to push at the edge of the consciousness of anyone in the area, whispering tales of madness in a language so old that virtually everyone forgot. Normally, this ability is fairly useless, as it provides no offensive, defensive, or really even any supporting abilities. However, Chitose managed to convince Seika to speak what he asks him to through these whispers, allowing him to utilize the whispers to recite the incantations for Kidō spells during a battle without Chitose himself being forced to spread his attention. Though it can be advantageous to him to chant a spell as well, as it allows him to cast multiple spells simultaneously. If you also throw in his ability to weave chants together, he is capable of casting up to four spells simultaneously through double spelling both the spells he weaves with his own voice and the spells weaved through his Zanpakutō, though it is exhausting to weave so much power at once.

The last ability that his blade provides is the ability to create illusionary attacks from the blade. An example being he could potentially fire a fake Cero from his weapon. These illusions are incredibly real, being that they affect all five senses, though they are completely incapable of causing any lasting effects. The big issue though, is the illusions depend on his opponent not knowing they are illusions. The moment they figure out that what they have been dodging isn't real, the illusion disappears and this ability ceases to function towards that opponent. So a single block vs a dodge renders this ability inert, forcing Chitose to use flashy and powerful attacks with it to keep convincing his opponent to dodge.

Bankai: Not Yet Achieved

Trivia

 * This character's appearance is based off of both of the character Soujiro Seta's appearance in both Rouroni Kenshin and Log Horizon, whose characters look similar enough that the author is treating them as a single image source.