Saburo Ryū

Saburo Ryū (三郎リュウ, Saburō Ryū) is an incredibly old and powerful self-made, whose powers where boosted by the effects of Averian's own power; which inspired Saburo to serve him. Following Averian's death at Kusaka Kori's hands however, he has since taken control of Averian's Army, and is intent on destroying the Ryū Order in retribution. He controls the entirety of the.

Appearance
Despite his advanced age, Saburo remains a young-faced and youthful individual, with an appearance that many would consider handsome. In possession of a lean-build at odds with his tremendous powers, Saburo ultimately plays off this trait to not only surprise his opponents or peers, but uses it against them; such is his manipulative nature. His hair is tied tightly at the back into the shape of a long ponytail, with his fringe parted to show his forehead. It was later revealed that the body Saburo now inhabits was once the elder brother of Naibu and Alma Shizuka. As a result of him shifting bodies every now and then to keep in top physical condition, Saburo doesn't possess the Hollow mask remnants often associated with Arrancar. In fact, the only trait that actually makes him appear like an actual Arrancar is his spiritual energy signature. Following his encounter and subsequent battle with Akira Nakamura, Saburo has lost his right arm to Akira's final desperate attack.

Saburo wears the clothing modeled and tailor made in such a manner to appear much like those Naibu's brother once wore, in order to mock his former existence and remind Naibu and Alma that the body in front of them is, in fact, that of their brother's. Saburo dons the classic Shinigami Shihakushō (死覇装, Garment of Dead Souls), with a lightened purple kosode, white shitagi worn beneath and hakama that share the same coloration as the kosode top. He also wears his zanpakutō in the traditional manner, threaded through his ōbi.

Personality
Saburo is generally seen as a mysterious type, since his almost constant smile and misleading looks, combined with his heavy use of sarcasm and mocking politeness, which makes it very difficult to discern what his thoughts, feelings and own plans are. Kusaka has described him as an overly annoying asshole, which is rich coming from someone who is as sarcastic as Kusaka is; though Kenji, among other, ultimately agree with the description.

Many who meet him find his demeanor and appearance rather unsettling and there are very few who are willing to trust him, even Averian, who gave him his levels of strength he now possesses. It should be noted that Saburo demonstrates the utmost loyalty than any of the other Arrancar serving such high positions in Averian's army, behavior which, funnily enough, Averian reciprocates; making the two one of the most destructive and powerful duos the Ryū Order has ever faced.

Perhaps his most annoying trait however is that he seems to be fully aware of the effect he has on others and more than once has been seen toying with people's emotional states for his own amusement. Both Kenji Hiroshi, following the death of Margin Heart and Jinta Kano, regarding the experiments carried out on him by the have been victims of this method of manipulation. Some, most notably Harumi Kazuki, and, to a lesser degree, Naibu Shizuka, have admitted being frightened or otherwise annoyed because of Saburo's mannerisms, appearance and general misleading words. In his appearances, Saburo speaks with a distinct Kyoto dialect, not unlike that of, which is polite but somewhat indirect; with Rosuto claiming he does it to feel "high and mighty".

During a past meeting with Tadashi Kori and Izaya Masaharu, Saburo made it clear he thought of trust and friendship as trifling distractions that ultimately wastes ones time. However, following his defeat at the aforementioned Shinigami's hands, as well as a similar defeat to Shigeru Yuudai and Teruo Yuudai in their fused state, Saburo has since rethought his ideals and came to the conclusion that when one fights with those in who they enjoy spending time with, their strength is influenced positively as a result. With this in mind, Saburo's ideals have changed, at least in the regard to trust and indeed friendship, only making him that much more dangerous, as he works with much more familiarity with those around him than he ever did previously, both in everyday occurrences and within battle.

Despite this attitude, Saburo has shown himself to be an honorable individual even in victory. After defeating Akira Nakamura, he fulfilled the latter's wish for his body to be taken to the Ryū Order instead of being left in. Saburo's sadistic side ultimately won through however. In his own words Akira "did not specify the condition he wished his body to be delivered in". Saburo allowed his Arrancars to "have fun" with the Shinigami's corpse, as Meian Shiba discovered by looking at the wounds inflicted following the death strike, much to the anger of Rosuto.

Synopsis

 * Main Article - Bleach (Kenji Hiroshi).

Impostor arc

 * Resolve

Equipment
Shisuikyō: (熾水鏡, Burning Water Mirror; "Shisui Mirror") The Shisuikyō has the power to drain the of any being, but it drains the Reiryoku levels of its user as well. Saburo later revealed to Rosuto Shiba that it has the power to send souls to the Wandering Spirit World and then onto the Human World for reincarnation, essentially giving its user complete control over the spirit cycle of souls as they see fit. Since Arrancars have Shinigami-like powers, they essentially have control over death, with the Shisuikyō having control over reincarnation. This was the tool that trapped Rosuto within the Wandering Spirit World in the first place.

Powers and Abilities
Soul Transfer: A unique ability that allows Saburo to transfer his soul into another body, preventing him from aging, as long as he regularly switches bodies. He describes the change as "troublesome" because he needs to take time adjusting himself to the new body. He also, at times, retains traits of the person who once inhabited the body in question. This ability has essentially allowed Saburo to become immortal.

Genius Intellect: A testament to Saburo's overall strategy is his misleading, as well as manipulative nature. He acts in a way that either annoys or purposefully angers others, making them more susceptible to his words or attacks. He has twice been seen taking advantage of a persons emotional state, such as when he assaulted Kenji Hiroshi with critical and cutting words regarding the state of Margin Heart, with Kenji only snapping out of the manipulation with the intervention of Kireina Shiba. In most cases, Saburo holds the distinct upper-hand, such is the precaution and calm strategy he plays at, with few ever being fit to determine what it is he is thinking. During battle he showed himself fit to manipulate the positions of three individuals so that when they struck, they ended up killing each other, the action carried out with little effort on his own part.

This is proven from his ability to wield the Shisuikyō, something only has ever demonstrated before. While not as large or as menacing as Averian's own, Saburo remains in a league of his own within Averian's Army, showing himself fit to combat the likes of Meian Shiba and Rosuto Shiba one-on-one and mostly prove superior to them throughout, even in his unreleased state, though it is unknown how he would fair now that Rosuto and Meian have increased their own powers.

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Saburo employs masterful ability in his personalized style of swordsmanship, which involves carefully timed maneuvers that take full advantage of an opponents openings; usually caused either by lesser skill or his deliberately annoying or misleading words. This most of the time restricts him to a counter-attacking form, though he has occasionally shown himself to take the offense in a situation, where he prefers quick, graceful, one-handed strikes.

Sonído Master: Saburo is a skilled utilizer of Sonído, both for simple travel and for battle purposes. When he caught a spy for the Ryū Order that had been masquerading as a member of Averian's Army, Saburo showed himself fit to appear beside him mere seconds after having thrown him a great distance. His speed is further shown from his ability to keep up the impressive Bankai speed exhibited by Rosuto Shiba, pushing him to the limit of his ability, which ultimately forced him to don his Hollow mask in retaliation; where Saburo proved himself a match for even it.

Even at range, it is capable of destroying most obstacles in its path completely. Saburo has also mastered its execution, firing his own with little actual charge time, usually from the point of his extended fingertip. Like most Arrancar, Saburo's Cero is his signature and most recognizable technique.


 * : A more powerful Cero that can only be fired when Saburo mixes his blood in with the forming energy, resulting in a darker shade of purple, as well as a more powerful and destructive Cero overall that completely outmatches his average variant. When released it spins like a razor, showing enough power to disturb the fabric of space. When fired it spins like a razor due to the rapidly compressed and decompressed nature of the attack, due to the sheer speed and raw power it exhibits. Its strength was enough to prompt Rosuto to activate his Bankai during a past meeting.

Hakuda Specialist: While rarely actually shown, Saburo does possess some small skill in hand-to-hand combat. He is fit to throw, catch up with and subsequently kick an Order spy with great strength within mere seconds of one another; the force of the blow killing the spy in question upon contact.

Kidō Expert: Based solely on the memories and spiritual residue held within the body he now occupies, as well as that garnered from other Shinigami whose body he has robbed, Saburo possesses knowledge as well as skill in the use of Kidō as an offensive, defensive and supplementary force. He can easily perform spells in the seventies and due to the sheer strength of his spiritual power, all his spells are noted to be quite damaging and destructive.

Zanpakutō
Kizashi (きざし, Japanese for Omen) is the name of Saburo's zanpakutō. In its unreleased state it takes the form of a nodachi with black-colored hilt wrapping and an ornately decorated guard, highlighted with touches of gold and finished with delicate runic symbols which bear a silver-coloration. Kizashi is usually worn through his ōbi sash despite its length.


 * : Saburo releases his Kizashi with the command Eclipse the Light and Bring Forth the Dark, followed by him impaling himself upon the blade. This command, followed by the action, is accompanied by a large degree of spiritual energy erupting from the "wound" which spills forth as black blood which then suffuses Saburo's limbs, eventually forming a sphere shape around him. This sphere then splits, followed by four waves of energy leaving his body in the main compass directions, revealing Saburo in a more masculine form, complete with a pair of black wings. Lyon explains that Saburo's Hollow form was incredibly humanoid, with wings alone differentiating him from the appearance of average humans and Shinigami. Even in his Resurrección state, Saburo lacks his right arm.


 * Resurrección Special Ability: Saburo's gains even greater physical abilities in this form, with him also being fit to utilize the Resurrección: Segunda Etapa.


 * : Saburo has shown himself fit to fire a potent black-colored Cero that covers any exposed light with pitch darkness before striking its target with a tremendous degree of destructive power. Not only powerful, buts its range is vast as well, making it a potent and destructive technique that Saburo can only utilize in his released state. Its power range lies beyond even the powerful Gran Rey Cero, completely outmatching average Cero and stronger variants.


 * Enhanced Strength: Saburo's strength increases to such extents that in a past meeting he proved himself capable of completely overpowering the impressive Bankai strength of Rosuto Shiba. His strength is sufficient enough to completely outclass a Bankai-using Akira Nakamura.


 * Enhanced Speed: His speed is greatly enhanced, able to move great distances in an instant, even without the use of his wings which only improves his speed again; with Saburo exhibiting such raw agility in a past meeting that he was able to push Rosuto to the point that even his Hollow mask-enhanced Bankai had difficult keeping up at the time.


 * Augmented Hierro: The strength of Saburo's Hierro is also supplemented greatly, allowing him to shrug off all but the strongest of Rosuto's attacks during a past meeting. In fact, it took Rosuto's Seika enhancements plus his Hollow mask just to cut through it.


 * : While already powerful in his own right, following the release of his Resurrección, Saburo's spiritual power permeates an entire area, subjecting everyone within the radius of his spiritual power to become subject to its might. With Averian's Army, its a known fact that only Averian boasts greater strength that Saburo does. The sheer strength of his spiritual energy made Akira activate the second stage of his Bankai release, Saigo no Hyouki.


 * : Not yet Revealed, though Averian revealed that Saburo can indeed perform the action.