Gai Nagareboshi

""Ooh, look at your big fancy sword! You know, I've never had something like that. Everyone has things that I don't. So what if you're a Captain? I've gotten this far by myself, and I won't let anyone take my home away from me! Stand back!"

- Gai Nagareboshi, about to face off against Nika

Gai Nagareboshi (流れ星=ガイ, Nagareboshi Gai) is the only known survivor of the now-extinct Mototsu race. The story of Gai Nagareboshi is told through "A Certain Unlucky Person". A person who is only occupied and concerned with looking after his most important people, Gai thinks nothing of his existence as a "Soul" (he assumes himself to be one) living in Rukongai. Gai had abandoned the premise of honor and justice through multiple encounters with Shinigami and Hollows, becoming bitter and cynical as a result. Despite this, he has a soft spot for children, and will not hesitate to protect them at all costs. Despite being the main protagonist of "A Certain Unlucky Person", Gai is an anti-hero, a vigilante who is willing to take the law into his own hands, in addtion to attempting others to give up on the path of justice. However, Gai is usually potrayed to be right, as not heeding his advice caused Setsuna Kawahiru to be sent into a spiral of depression, eventually culminating in her becoming a villain, a fact that Gai attempts to correct by snapping her out of it. After encountering the Arrancar Nika and obtaining the incredibly mysterious, incomprehensibly powerful, and highly sought-after Zanpakutō Kakusei, Gai begins to realize there's much more to himself than he originally thought. While Gai, as part of the Mototsu race, is genderless, in addition to "his" inability to master the technique that stabilizes the race's hormones, leaving him genderless, is referred to as "male" due to "his" masculine voice and manner of acting.

Appearance
Gai, despite his androgynously beautiful appearance, is a male and insists that. He has short brown hair with a small clump of hair down the middle and white hairclips on each side, a slender figure, and wide magenta within blue eyes. Gai wears a small black shirt, shaped like a diamond; the collar is a thin strand of cloth, wrapping around his own neck, and on the sides of the shirt, there are two thin strips that connect around his back, being tied in a small ribbon-like fashion with two red, intersecting belts over his chest. He wears white hakama, with painted golden phoenix wing designs, tied with a green sash. A large piece of black fabric hangs from the center of the sash; embellished with the images of three origami cranes. Gai also bears two strips of blue cloth that drape over either side of his hips, along with a smaller, white strip of cloth tied around his waist, draped in the same manner. On Gai's arms are white bell-sleeves. He also wears black sandals with black thigh-high socks.

Personality and Traits
Gai Nagareboshi is a complex person. While he merely wants to be left alone, he also shows signs of wanting to start an adventure. He is rather bitter, cynical, emotionless, and cold, though people who are close enough to him know that this is an act; as he is actually a kind and caring person, especially to Kōzuki Yoshi/Gekkō Utsukushi and later Hizashi Yoshi. He is also able to forgive easily; when going up against Hizashi, after finding out about her past, he sympathized with her and promised to help her almost immediately. Gai generally keeps his cool under most circumstances, and no matter what his enemies ever do to him, he always seems to have to be able to come up with a witty retort to it. Despite claiming having "given up on that justice stuff", the reason his adventure started is because he stepped in to protect Hikari and Hitsugaya from being killed by Nika. Also he shows an inferiority complex that make him think he can't do anything right or complete. The main reason behind this is that he had been always branded as a worthless person as a "Plus". Therefore for his seeming lack of power and mockery of Shinigami, he entered in a gang. This complex can be seen in his usual internal monologue, as he always complains about the situation but he never says it. Gai is stoic to the point that he is still serious in utterly absurd situations. Gai adores children, and before he started his adventure, adopted several whom he found on the streets of Rukongai. Likewise, children ususally automatically become attatched to Gai, due to his "grumpy mode being permanently turned off around them". He is fiercely protective of them; this is best seen in his interactions with Shion, where the only reason he interfered with her thrashing delivered by Kaori because she was a child, and even before that, Gai defeated an entire royal family due to their cruel treatment of a little girl. Gai is not afraid to take difficult matters into his own hands, and throughout his own story, comes to decide that taking the law into his own hands is the only way to ensure that the villains of Soul Society are punished. However, as shown by his conversation with Setsuna, he is fully aware, and to some extent even worried, that in doing so he risks becoming a person that, in a sense, is just as bad as those whom he despises. Due to his selfless actions, Gai has aqquired a harem consisting of ﻿Gekkō Utsukushi, Hizashi Yoshi, Nika, Hikari Nakajima, Junrei Kokumei, and Saeko Hiwatari, who all try to use various methods to gain his attention, with much of it being embarrassing for him. Despite his popularity with the opposite sex, Gai is oblivious to the intense feelings that these women have for him, and is often more worried about protecting his loved ones and Rukongai. He is, however sensitive to the change of mood in certain situations, but always manages to rationalize the change in mood to something completely unromantic. In his mind, he believes that there is absolutely no chance for him to get a girlfriend, as he replied to Touma's question in Fifteenth Release, that he would not be able to get on any of the girls' good sides- ironically, Gai is the one person who brings out the best in all of them. Gai is an excellent cook, befitting his large appetite. Gai also has a habit of frequently clicking his tongue when irritated. Every time he appears after "A Certain Unlucky Person", Gai will always smash through whatever he can with a dropkick to get to his destination.

Synopsis
Main Article: A Certain Unlucky Person

Twin Bout: Ureshi vs Nagareboshi (100 years before A Certain Unlucky Person)

First Release- Beginnings

Second Release- Gai Nagareboshi vs. Nika

Third Release- Kakusei

Fourth Release- Memories

Fifth Release- Reunion

Sixth Release- Plan

Seventh Release- Unlikely Assistance

Eighth Release- Azure Thunder Knight

Ninth Release- Urahara Shop

Twelfth Release- Void

Thirteenth Release- Defrosting

Powers and Abilities
As a "Soul", Gai held very little ability. Despite this, he was able to fight the Arrancar Nika on equal footing with strategy. Despite his Mototsu heritage and his Zanpakutō being one of the most powerful, his skills are at best slightly below average, thus resulting in him being less powerful than his harem- and Touma. However, after his training, he has enough power to fight the Captain-Commander Haruko Kiseki to a standstill, which is no easy feat. He is often overwhelmed by opponents more skilled than himself, though he makes up for it with his intellect for pointing out and exploiting the attack patterns and weaknesses of his opponents and their Zanpakutō, due to being self-taught and from facing many Shinigami who were out to arrest him.

Beginning Swordsman: As he has just obtained his Zanpakutō, Gai is only a novice. Despite his incredible strength, Kakusei often slips out of his hands while swinging the blade, and he prefers slow, two-handed, heavy and hard-hitting strikes that decimate his foes due to his clumsiness. However, as the story progresses, Gai becomes more skilled with his blade, though he prefers to use his hand-to-hand skill in battle.


 * Kakushi-hane-yō: Eienhōōken (隠し羽貌·永遠凰劍 "Hidden Feather Form: Eternity Phoenix Sword"): Not Yet Revealed.

Immense Strength: Gai's only saving grace is his phenomenal strength and his superior hand-eye coordination. In his first fight shown in "A Certain Unlucky Person", Gai effortlessly blocked a punch from Nika, who had shifted the vectors in her arms, giving her a Herculean level of strength. Later on in that battle, Gai punched Nika in the face with enough force shatter her mask remnant and send her flying a good distance. Gai can to break free from almost any attack that binds him and prevents him from moving. Gai was able to battle a Vasto Lorde with his bare fists and is strong enough to break an enormous tree and swing it like a bat with one hand. He has enough power to break steel with his bare hands, and break through Nika's Hierro with some effort. He was able to defeat a Captain with his bare hands only after the Captain had exhausted all of his spiritual energy before he passed out. Another example of his impressive strength is when he caught several of his brother's kicks, which were stated to have the same power as a falling building.

Incredible Speed: While he possesses no skill in Shunpo, often stopping short of his destination and crashing into people or objects, Gai has shown to be immensely fast, befitting his small size and waifish build. Thanks to his tremendous raw power, Gai's leg strength allows him to more than make up for his lack of Shunpo, allowing him to move fast enough to instantly close a huge gap of space between him and the opponent and even seemingly disappear from sight. In battle he is able to punch with incredible speed in rapid succession, making it highly difficult for his opponents to find an opening and counterattack. Gai is also shown to be able to outrun several opponents who were using Shunpo, predicting where they would reappear and rushing to that location, before intercepting them, though it should be noted the four times that this tactic proved to be effective was against opponents who had only intermediate skill in Shunpo.

Kōshinho Master: After "A Certain Unlucky Person", Gai had started to learn the Mototsu equivilant of Shunpo, Kōshinho (亢進歩, "Acceleration Step"). Despite having only picked up the art, Gai's skill in Kōshinho is incredible; he is able to move enormous distances in the blink of an eye. He runs with long, elegant strides. The art of Kōshinho resembles inline skating.


 * Kokugenei (剋幻影, "Victory Phantom"): A original Kōshinho technique, Gai first jumps up and down, dragging out the noise so that the sound of his feet tapping on the ground isn't heard until after his feet have left the floor again. Once the sound lag is at its fullest, Gai leaps forward like a bullet, producing a sonic boom that destroys everything in front of and behind himself, propelling himself into his opponent at inconcievable speeds. Because he moves faster than the eye can see, the opponent won't be able to react until after he has already hit them. Kagirinai theorizes that he is faster than light, but Gai claims that he just sped forward when he blinked.

Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Gai's expertise in hand-to-hand combat is unparalleled in Rukongai, and he was able to defeat two lieutenants at the same time with his bare hands. His preferred way of striking seems to be punches, though he has often used kicks as well. His mastery of the art form is so great that he would use it exclusively as his combat form of choice, except for Kakusei being vital to his plans. However, after achieving Kakusei's Bankai, Gai begins to use his hand-to-hand combat skills again. He has been shown to take down nearly 10 Lieutenants with only judo throws and powerful haymakers. Gai's fighting style is freestyle and improvised; it follows no particular code of honor at all, and so if necessary, he will actually attack women, hit below the belt, attack even if his opponents have their backs turned on him or are otherwise unprepared or unsuspecting, use allies or opponents as human shields or even bite his opponents. While fighting, Gai can also think on the spot, and come up with creative counterattacks against his enemies. He has been shown taking on the likes of Espada-level Arrancar as when he brutally defeated Maggiore and is even regarded by Yūrei as highly dangerous, and he admits that if he and Gai were to fight in hand-to-hand combat, Gai would win by a landslide. Gai is the most physically powerful character in "A Certain Unlucky Person".


 * Enenininryū Kibakusenmajin Fūsakuken (炎炎殷々竜起爆閃魔神風裂く拳, "Blazing Roaring Dragon Exploding Flash Demon God Air Cleaving Fist"): A regular punch aimed at the opponents' face, though Gai ususally calls the name of the attack before using it as his finishing blow. Gai began calling the name of his finisher due to one of his opponents complaining "Please, just beat me with an attack that sounds like it's worth losing to at least. Not that Fist to your Face attack." Otherwise known as merely "FACEPAWNCH" when being discussed.
 * Rasenshō (螺旋掌, "Spiral Palm"): Gai charges reishi in a spiral-like motion into his fist and releases it, firing off a highly powerful and destructive blast.

Enhanced Durability: Due to his small and waifish build, in addition to his light weight, Gai is sent flying by powerful attacks. An example of this is was Gai was fighting Eienrai the second time, Gai predicted that "one strike, and it's over for me". The only thing that keeps him from perishing against such powerful foes is his willpower; as he is driven by the desire to protect his loved ones, he can continue to stand up again and again. However, thanks to his build, Gai is very nimble and can dodge attacks easily.

High Intelligence: Gai is incredibly intelligent, being capable of using observation and calculation to succeed when faced with a particularly powerful opponent, and he is capable of devising and executing strategies with incredible speed and precision, often coming up with three or more plans when in a tight situation. This is best shown when Gai defeated Gunha Teishin by logically anticipating where his next strike was coming from and remaining one step ahead, even though Gunha's Zanpakutō had time-space manipulation abilities. Gai has a good instinct, as he made accurate guesses about Eienrai's identity, what Nika had hinted about him, and based on those two pieces of information, predicted what he was going to do and what he had done to Hizashi. Gai's intellect is the result of his reishi patterns; as his reiatsu allows him to think at such incredible speed.

Fluctuating Spiritual Power: Gai has been noted on several occasions to have vast levels of spiritual energy well beyond other Shinigami, though it fluctuates wildly, with it being unreadable at its lowest point and at its highest point being as high as Nika's. Retsu Unohana has said that Gai's reishi patterns are similar to that of the Hōgyoku. This works by materializing what Gai wants to happen, which is why he is able to survive incredibly powerful attacks from fearsome opponents despite his terrible defense. His emotions also affect his spiritual energy: when angered, he is capable of defeating Nika before awakening his true power with only his bare hands, but unmotiviated to fight, he could be defeated by a weak Hollow. Even at less than half strength, his spiritual energy is still comparable to a Captain-level fighter. His spiritual energy is rather difficult for him to control as he has no formal training in controlling it. Due to this and that he has far more spiritual energy than his small and waifish body can consciously contain, it leaks out constantly, preventing him from hiding it and effectively making stealth impossible when dealing with other spiritually-aware beings. In his first battle against Nika, his spiritual energy manifested in the form of massive wings of white light, which have galaxies and stars imbued in them. The wings of light combined with Gai's overwhelming power and presence creates a powerful psychological effect on those who see him. After activating Bankai, the wings of pure reishi were converted into black feathered wings. However, by covering the wings in black feathers, they compress Gai's true power. Only in life-or-death situations or times of extreme stress are the wings unleashed again. However, the wings' enormous reishi output is too inefficient and drains Gai of all of his reiatsu. The wings can also be used as a defense mechanism. In RPs, Gai cannot manifest his desires due to the story becoming unbalanced if he does so. He commonly uses his reiatsu to drastically augment the strength of his punches.


 * Telekinesis: Gai is able to use telekinesis with his reiatsu to levitate his Zanpakutō and use it to strike his opponents from afar, as well as call his weapon back to his hand.

Zanpakutō
Kakusei (覚醒 lit. Awakening) is the name of Gai's Zanpakutō. Kakusei was the first Mototsu Zanpakutō in existance, and as Ayano theorizes, Kakusei could be the first Zanpakutō to ever come into existance, aside from the Soul King's Zanpakutō, due to the Mototsu race's longevity. Kakusei is regarded as an extremely powerful Zanpakutō due to its deadly ability which can be used even in its sealed state. According to Eienrai, Kakusei is currently one of the most powerful Zanpakutō in terms of potential, since it has "over one thousand abilities coursing through its blade", though its level is brought down due to Gai's slightly below-average skills, thus putting him on a slightly lower level than the rest of his team. However, it is referred to as Kakusei (廓清 lit. Purification) until it is shattered, and it is later revealed in Tenth Release- Memorization, its name is not Kakusei (廓清 lit. Purification) but Kakusei (覚醒 lit. Awakening). Kakusei, unlike most other Zanpakutō, allows Gai to learn and predict moves of opponents he faces even without being in its released state. In its sealed state, Kakusei looks like a normal katana with the exception of the guard, which is in the shape of a four-pointed bronze-colored star. Its hilt is light blue and sheath dark blue. The sheath completely dissolves when he draws his sword. The sword is somewhat longer than most Zanpakutō, at about 1.4 meters long. Gai obtained Kakusei in Third Release- Kakusei, creating it from the remains of Tōshirō Hitsugaya's Hyōrinmaru, which was destroyed by Nika, with the help of Anki. After Tōshirō gave the remnants of the shattered Zanpakutō to Gai, during his battle with a Menos Grande, Gai, subconciously using Anki, reforged the blade and infused it with his own reiatsu. However, during Gai's fight with Eienrai, Kakusei is shattered. But at the end of Chapter 16, Gai, exerting his Mototsu powers to their fullest with the aid of his reishi patterns, manifests Kakusei's true sealed state. Here, Kakusei is a large broadsword. It has a gear-hilt that can slide off the blade and be used as a flailing weapon. It has an ornately etched based, but its most unique feature is that it has been specially customized with a motorcycle-like gear shift. Kakusei is one of the most mysterious Zanpakutō in the story, with its abilities being incomprehensible.

Shikai: In Shikai, Kakusei takes the form of a unique broadsword, having a magenta blade, with golden trim around the blade. The hilt and cross-guard are a brilliant white, and the cross-guard has two purple crosses sticking out from the sides. There is a triangle sticking out from the cross-guard, making a sort of triangle as seen from the side, slightly covering the cross-guard. This 'triangle' has a green gem in the middle and golden sides with air vents, similar to a knight's helmet. The grip is red and the pommel has three purple spikes on it. Gai's left hand becomes covered by a crimson glove and the chain at the base of Kakusei's hilt extends out further than it previously did, spiraling up the length of his sleeveless left arm with the additional portion of the chain hanging down freely from his upper arm. On his left shoulder, there is a crimson pauldron that has three curved fins of metal jutting out from his left shoulder blade, each progressively larger as they near his shoulder. The fins can break apart to propel Gai forward at great speed and increase the power of his strikes. Kakusei also gains a crescent-shaped blade attached to its hilt by a long metal chain, which can extend greatly if necessary by force of will. The chain itself can be used as an attack or to entangle a target. The chain can also be used to swing the weapon like a flail and toss it at opponents for mid-range combat. Kakusei's wide blade can be used as a shield from incoming attacks. It's release command is "Let's do it!" (やってヤルゼ, "Yatte yaruze!"). Though Kakusei's release command was originally "Take Flight" (敗走, "haisō"), Gai has since changed it to the above. To access his ice powers, Gai must utter "Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens" (霜天に坐せ, sōten ni zase), the same command as Hyōrinmaru's Shikai. However, after Gai's fight with Eienrai, Kakusei has lost access to Hyōrinmaru's powers. In both Shikai and Bankai, Gai displays the ability to shift Kakusei into multiple forms, including a whip, a jet-vehicle, a spinning-cog weapon, a cannon, a claw-like weapon, a greave, a pair of wings that allow flight, and a gigantic sword of pure reishi.

Shikai Special Ability: Kakusei's special ability is called Anki (暗記 lit. Memorization). As he initially cannot manifest his own Zanpakutō into his plane of existance, he must shatter and use his opponent's broken sword as a means to materialize Kakusei. As he performs Anki, his Zanpakutō in its sealed state will take on the form of the assimilated Zanpakutō's sealed state. When doing this, Kakusei obtains a majority of the abilities of the assimilated Zanpakutō, which vary from attacks to movement styles. Gai has assimililated thousands of Zanpakutō, however, his techniques are mere fragments compared to the originals. In Tenth Release- Memorization, Kisuke Urahara teaches Gai another way to utilize Anki; by clashing swords with his opponent, and quickly pouring his reiatsu into Kakusei's blade, Gai can copy one of his opponents' attacks. Another way is to headbutt his opponent. After his deep sleep, Gai can only remember one ability, and nothing else. One hundred and fifty years ago, Gai used Anki on Hanegetsu, thus stealing the the ability to create and control an unknown power which is shaped like feathers for multiple reasons. The 'feathers' have piercing effects, and one is as sharp as any Zanpakutō. These 'feathers' are incredibly durable. The material he creates with these black 'feathers' defies the Laws of Physics. Kakusei has a habit of unlocking certain abilities for Gai when the situation desires it, in order to escape from a tight situation. As Kakusei was forged from the broken Hyōrinmaru, Kakusei also has some of its special abilities, most of which are story-only, and are not to be used in RPs. Unlike Hitsugaya, Gai cannot fully control his ice manipulation abilities. However, after Gai's fight with Eienrai, Kakusei has lost access to Hyōrinmaru's powers. In addition, Gai cannot use Anki against his opponent in RPs.

Techniques:


 * Shining Onslaught (炯然躍進, "Keizen Yakushin"): Gai is capable of unleashing spinning, 'X'-shaped blasts of white feather-like spiritual energy. However, the attack is flawed. The blast's power is inconsistent, as its appearance varies from jagged and threatening, to frail and laughable. If fired in succession, the 'X' becomes more cracked, with the attack becoming more fragile with crack it gains. If the attack has anything less then seven cracks, it can be shattered with ease. Gai came to the conclusion that if he fires seven shots in row, he leaves himself wide open to attack. Shining Onslaught is a powerful technique with great force, capable of causing large-scale damage and destruction. Gai has used this technique in several different manners, such as striking the ground to create an omnidirectional blast of white feathers to knock away incoming attacks or slashing at the ground to upturn it and crush everything in its path.
 * Yami Myaku (闇脈, "Dark Pulse"): Gai puts his hands together in front of his chest and fires a beam of black and purple feathers of spiritual energy from in between them at the opponent, or Gai crosses his arms in front of his face and an orb of black and dark blue circles appears in front of them. Gai then separates his arms and the orb moves in front of Gai's chest. Gai then fires a beam of black and dark blue feathers of spiritual energy from the orb at the opponent.
 * Tsubame Gaeshi (燕返し, "Swallow Reversal"): Gai flies at the opponent, flips in the air, then he becomes engulfed in streaks of white light and flies into the opponent, disappearing before hitting them. Gai can also perform this technique on the ground, where his body becomes surrounded by white streaks and he flies into the opponent multiple times.
 * Hanya Heki (はんやへき, "Midnight Burst"): Gai's eyes glow light blue and his body becomes surrounded by a crimson aura. He then raises his arms above his head. When he does, the aura around his forearms gets thicker. He then slams his arms down into the ground. A pink and crimson growing forcefield of reiatsu appears from the aura around Gai's arms and grows larger, spreading all around him. The thicker the aura is around Gai's arms, the more powerful the attack becomes.
 * Karasu Tsubasa (鴉翼, "Raven Wings"): Gai can create black feather wings on his feet that grant him the ability of flight and speed.
 * Haneryū (羽竜, "Feather Dragon"): Gai's slashes create an immense amount of spiritual power which overflows from the tip of the blade, creating a flow of ice feathers shaped like a Chinese dragon. The dragon flies towards opponents and instantly freezes anything it touches. Kakusei can create multiple feather dragons to attack an opponent from various angles. This attack is unusable in RPs, unless the other collobarator wishes otherwise. After Gai's fight with Eienrai, he has lost this ability.
 * Messenkō (滅閃光, "Destructive Shine"): Gai punches the ground, sending out several black feather clusters in different directions.
 * Haneryū Issen (羽竜一閃, "Feather Dragon Flash"): Gai creates a shaft of black feathers and holds it as if it were a sword. By swinging his arm, he can throw the feather blade against opponents who are far away.
 * Hakka Bakushin (発火驀進, "Ignition Rush"): The fins on Gai's left shoulder blade break apart, unleashing a white surge of reishi from his shoulder that launches him foward at inconcievable speeds. The moment Gai begins to move, a sonic boom is unleashed. This technique is often preceeded by a powerful spinning slash.
 * Kage Ken (影剣, "Shadow Sword"): Amassing black feathers around his blade, Gai runs up to the opponent and slashes his blade at them, causing the feathers to expand and extend and strike his opponent from a small distance away. Kage Ken is Gai's foster mother's ultimate technique in her own Shikai.
 * Byakuya Senmetsuken (白夜殲滅剣, "Midnight Sun Annihilation Sword"): Gai amasses white light on his blade, giving it the look of a gigantic white feather, thus giving Kakusei the ability to cut through anything. He often uses this as a series of seven consecutive blows, called "Kanki Tenshōku" (喚起天翔駆, "Evocation Soaring Drive") where Gai slashes his opponent several times from different angles at incomprehensible speeds, with each slash causing a fiery explosion, before blasting through them.

Bankai: Shinseina Kakusei (神聖な覚醒 lit. Divine Awakening) In Bankai, Kakusei takes the form of two pitch-black gauntlets. It has a crystal blue emblem in the middle, and an orange cross on top of this, and flame type designs also cover the base of the gauntlets. There is a pair of arm thrusters attached to the gauntlets. In Bankai, Gai manifests massive, black devilish wings that he can use as incredibly sharp blades. Despite constantly attempting to better himself in Zanjutsu, Gai eventually realized that he would fare better if his Bankai was attuned to what he excels at: hand-to-hand combat.

Bankai Special Ability: While in Bankai, Gai's manipulation of feathers is greatly enhanced, as are his Anki skills. However, Gai also has a secondary ability. Setsura: Zennōsha Kakusei (全能者覚醒 lit. The Almighty Awakening):﻿ During his battle with Fumeina, even with the help of his older brother, Gai was getting beaten effortlessly. As his nigh-unstoppable foe launched a Cero Oscuras at Hizashi, Gai cried out in desperation for someone to help him save her. As the light began to fade from his eyes, a voice called out to him, telling him to stand and fight. The moment he heard this voice, Gai's body stood up on its own, fuelled by his own resolve. His own reiatsu surrounded him, before enveloping him and Shinseina Kakusei completely, as he unleashed his Setsura (雪羅 lit. "Second Shift") for the first time. In this new form, Gai's attire changes to a white, two-tailed trenchcoat, with no shirt underneath. Gai also wears a golden divided hakama, with painted golden phoenix wing designs, tied with a magenta sash. A large piece of white fabric hangs from the center of the sash; embellished with the images of three origami cranes. Gai also bears two strips of red cloth that drape over either side of his hips, along with a smaller, black strip of cloth tied around his waist, draped in the same manner. Gai's attire is completed with black sneakers. Kakusei becomes larger, taking the form of an enormous broadsword with nine orbs engraved in a zigzagging pattern on the blade and there is a red orb on the cross-guard. On the sides of the cross-guard, there are golden angelic wings. It has an even brighter trim around the blade, and around the orbs, there are crystals. On Gai's left arm, there is a large white fist attachement. Six massive wings of white light, which have galaxies and stars imbued in them erupt from his back. This visage likens Gai to the Seraphim of Judaism, who were said to be the highest ranking angels, and this was signified by their six wings. This imagery also casts Gai as a hero and savior- despite his lazy and unfriendly personality. It is interesting to note that in Setsura, Gai is levitating slightly above the ground.
 * Bankai Regeneration: During his battle with Feng Huang, Gai's Bankai was damaged. However, it regenerated, and Gai stated that as long as there is water in the air his Bankai can be revived indefinitely. This attack is unusable in RPs. This ability is a remnant of Hyōrinmaru's form.
 * Shield of Black Wings: Gai is capable of wrapping his wings around himself like a sphere protecting him from any attacks. This attack is unusable in RPs, unless the other collobarator wishes otherwise.
 * Hyper-Speed Combat: Gai takes all the power of his Bankai and compresses it into a small, condensed form. Then, he uses the power of the Bankai to perform high-speed combat in the form of exceedingly fast bursts of speed that happen at random times which Gai cannot predict. Nika compared Gai's Shinseina Kakusei's second ability to Ichigo Kurosaki's Tensa Zangetsu, but unlike Tensa Zangetsu, Shinseina Kakusei does not enhance his Bankai duration, but rather shorten it drastically in return for short periods of high speed. During his last fight with Haruko Kiseki, Gai has obtained the ability to time these bursts of speed, and shows great maneuverability, being able to effortlessly dodge all of Haruko's Kōkan Bakufū attacks.
 * Enhanced Shining Onslaught: Shinseina Kakusei retains the use of Shining Onslaught, but in an enhanced form. However, due to the absense of a blade, Gai makes a hand motion releasing the blasts from his hands. When used in Bankai, these potent blasts are blue with a magenta outline and their path can be controlled, with explosively augmented power and speed. Gai can also keep Shining Onslaught within Shinseina Kakusei to augment his punches.
 * Kage Ken Shūsei (影剣修正, "Shadow Sword Revised"): In Bankai, Kage Ken has a different presentation. While Gai runs past his opponent, a long blade of black feathers extends from his gauntlets, slicing his opponent. As he passes them, the blade instantly retracts, making it appear as if Gai never slashed his foe at all. A few seconds later, the opponent falls.
 * Ittō Ryōdan: Genmugai (一刀両断・幻夢ガイ, "One Sworded Double Severing: Phantasm Victory Song"): Gai launches two giant crescent waves from Kakusei repeatedly, which cover the entire area in front of him and can kill his opponents instantly. This technique was only used by Gai in a flashback, and he was invulnerable during this attack. Ittō Ryōdan is the art of splitting someone in half in one stroke, thus proving the prowess of this one hit-killing attack. This attack is unusable in RPs.
 * Genmugai Kai (幻夢ガイ・改, "Phantasm Victory Song Revision"): A weaker version of the above, where Gai releases one giant crescent wave from his fist.
 * Shin Messenkō (真・滅閃光, "True Destructive Light"): Gai punches the ground, and a series of black feather clusters shoot from the ground to the sky at the speed of sound. This attack was only used in a flashback, and is unusable in RPs.
 * Rakuhōha (落鳳破, "Falling Phoenix Crush"): A revision of the above, Gai slams his fist to the ground, causing nine black feather bolts of destructive reishi to erupt in a fanned out manner.
 * Maō Gokuenha (魔王獄炎波, "Devil Prison Flame Wave"): Only usable in second Bankai, Gai holds his sword pointed towards the ground with both hands clasped around its hilt while he closes his eyes to focus his thoughts, with several black feathers falling around him. When he opens his eyes, he creates a field of dark reishi around himself, granting himself large burst of strength. He begins a mad dash to the opponent, rising into the air and slamming the ground with his sword, causing pillars of fire to rise from the ground and incinerate his opponent.
 * Reiraku Byakuya (零落白夜, "Midnight Sun Faded Glory"): For one strike, Gai is able to ignore any defense and effect. A single direct hit is often enough to force opponents to exhaust their own reiatsu completely in an attempt to cushion the blow, effectively rendering them drained. However, activation of Reiraku Byakuya requires a vast amount of reishi (which is much more than Gai can continuously supply) so in order to maintain the ability, additional reishi has to be converted from his own reiatsu.
 * Shining Sword Breaker (炯然剣遮断器, "Keizen Ken Shadan-ki"): Gai's ultimate attack. For it, Shinseina Kakusei transforms back into a sword form. Gai holds Shinseina Kakusei in a regular grip, instead of a reverse one, and he spins around several times on one foot, to build speed. After several spins, Gai throws Shinseina Kakusei, which spins around at an incredible speed, breaking the sound barrier. As the blade spins, hovering slightly above the ground, it is bathed in a blue aura and golden feathers trail behind it. Then, Gai throws his right fist into the air, and then throws his left in front of himself, screaming the attack's name. A golden phoenix materializes out of his fist, and it quickly soars to the heavens, parting the clouds. Out of the parted sky, a shining rainbow-coloured blade falls. The blade slams into the opponent, sticking itself into the ground, and the opponent is sent flying into the air. Gai slides towards the blade, Shinseina Kakusei flies into his left hand, Gai flips and grabs the blade, and the image of a glowing golden phoenix appears over him. Gai flies high into the sky, and the phoenix roars. Gai flies after the opponent, the wings of the phoenix leaving behind a trail of golden sparkles. The phoenix roars again, and it disappears along with the phoenix's sword, leaving Gai, who is holding Shinseina Kakusei, as Gai forms golden wings on his back. Gai flies into the opponent, spinning. When Gai connects, the area is engulfed in a bright light, killing, if not, heavily wounding the opponent and heavily injuring those engulfed in the bright light, though it only harms the ones Gai deems enemies. While usually a one-hit-kill, Shining Sword Breaker caused Shinseina Kakusei to shatter after three uses. After it was restored, Gai never used Shining Sword Breaker again. This attack is unusable in RPs.

Setsura Special Abilities: Similar to Kakusei and Shinseina Kakusei, Zennōsha Kakusei drastically auguments Gai's feather manipulation and Anki skills.


 * Enhanced Shining Onslaught: Zennōsha Kakusei retains the use of Shining Onslaught and can be used in the same manners, but can be used in an drastically enhanced form. When Gai first utilizes the Shining Onslaught against Fumeina, it was shown to have a drastically different appearance. Instead of the usual 'X' shaped blasts of white feather-like spiritual energy, it takes the form of a brilliant white arc, or crescent moon, with two angelic wings on each side. This new Shining Onslaught was shown to have enough power to completely tear through Fumeina's Finalidad Asalto. During that battle, Gai refers to this attack as a "Shiroi Yakushin" (白い躍進, "White Onslaught"), referring to the attack's glistening color. Gai can also release Shining Onslaught off his new sword or his gauntlet.
 * Wing Extention: With a single command, Gai can launch his wings at his opponents at inconcievable speeds. Gai's wings can extend up to one hundred meters long, and they carry tremendous force when extending.
 * Shōene Hakai (省エネ破壊, "Energy Destruction"): If an echleon of supernatural energy other than reiatsu or reiryoku comes into contact with Gai's wings, then it will be instantly converted into reiryoku, though it will still strike Gai with the same force as it normally would. However, certain highly powerful attacks can bypass this ability.
 * Hypersonic-Speed Combat: In Setsura, Gai's physical and mental power is pushed far past the limits and beyond even that, giving him otherworldly physical parameters. With it, he can use the power of Setsura to perform high-speed combat. His new speed is so great, that it also enhances his Kōshinho prowess and allows him to create dozens of afterimages to confuse his opponent.
 * Enhanced Setsura Duration: The fact that all of Gai energy is "exceeding his limits" inside his own body and soul instead of his weapon means that usage of Setsura doesn't expel as much reiatsu as Bankai from the point of activation; thus allowing him to use Zennōsha Kakusei at a much longer duration than many other Shinigami, Arrancar, and Vizard with their own releases of his level.

Quotes

 * "...Tch." -Whenever he is irritated.
 * "Yatte yaruze, Kakusei!" -Kakusei's release command
 * "I wanted to be with you forever as well." -To Gekkō Utsukushi
 * "Fight me, Gotei 13! I'll take you all on, right here, right now!" -To the Gotei 13
 * "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. So what if you're a nigh-unstoppable god now? As long as you threaten my loved ones, I can even kill gods like you with my bare hands. So, get ready, Eienrai." -To Eienrai
 * "My evolution occurs at the speed of light. Nothing can stop my evolution!" -To Yūrei
 * "Everyone has things I don't. No matter how much I struggle, I just can't obtain them and yet I still have a final goal that I want to grab no matter what." -Inner monologue
 * "What's the matter? Are you scared? Scared because you've unleashed something you can't comprehend? I don't blame you...For what you've done, I'm going to destroy you." -To Fumeina
 * "I'm a hero because I want to save people. I don't care about upholding the law or anything else, and I certainly don't care if I'm acknowledged or not. There's those light and fluffy ideals you have, and there's doing the right thing, which is what I do. Until you can understand that being a hero's not all glitz and glamour, then you'll never be like me, got that, woman?" -To Setsuna Kawahiru
 * "What's with Shion showing up in a situation like this!? ...Tch! Can't she take care of herself...? Argh, while she's getting strong, she's not powerful enough to deal with the likes of her yet. Looks like it's time for me to step in." -To Gunha Teishin, regarding Shion Akemi
 * "The law has always been the tool of whoever happens to hold all the chips. [...] But you can't deny that lives were saved because I offed those sickos, woman. You'd rather tell those people, 'Sorry you have to die today. I promise we'll change things really soon'? None of you here have the guts to take the law into your own hands. You saw what was going on, yet you didn't lift a finger. At least I'm the only one here who can do what's right for Soul Society!" -To Setsuna Kawahiru, regarding his murders of the corrupt Central 46
 * "So, I'm a villain in your eyes? Very well. I'm the worst of them all. If so...I guess it's time to teach you something. Even villains have standards!" -To Setsuna Kawahiru, before saving her
 * "They may all look the same to you, but there are different kinds and different levels of evil. A first-class villain doesn't target honest lives." -To Konmei Eikyuu

Trivia

 * Gai's Shikai ability was given to PersonaSuperiorDeus by Shiratori Cullen. As such, he/she has permission to use it.
 * Due to Gai's compassionate nature thinly hidden behind his cold facade, many females in the story have developed romantic feelings for him, such as Gekkō Utsukushi, Hizashi Yoshi, Nika, Junrei Kokumei, Hikari Nakajima, and Saeko Hiwatari.
 * Since Kakusei was forged from the remains of Tōshirō Hitsugaya's Hyōnimaru, Gai has access to some of its techniques due to a small remainder of Hitsugaya's reiatsu being attached to the blade. However, they are of the feather element, and mostly are story-exclusive.
 * Tōshirō Hitsugaya obtains a new Hyōnimaru in later chapters of "A Certain Unlucky Person".
 * Gai's favorite food is apples. This is later used for symbolism in PersonaSuperiorDeus' and Koukishi's story, as Gai offers an apple to Setsuna while he advises her to live a life of selfishness and abandon the path of justice but Setsuna refuses both of them. Setsuna believes that Gai's self-centered philosophy is just wrong and also rejects the fruit because she apparently believes it was stolen. This is stark contrast to Gai usually being associated with being a messianic figure.