Matsuo

Matsuo (松尾, Matsuo) is the former captain of the, who went into self-proclaimed exile due several unspecified problems regarding his lieutenant. He's currently hiding for the in 's, as the aforementioned lieutenant (who was promoted to captain after his departure) didn't hesitate to slander about serious crimes Matsuo is said to have committed.

During his days in the Soul Society Matsuo was among the most popular writers in the Seireitei, mostly writing a series of adventurous adult books detailing the tasty life of a silver-haired shinigami-hybrid and his friends. After his exile, has stopped publishing these, but still spends his free time writing poems and common books.

Appearance
Despite the many years he has lived through, Matsuo retains a youthful appearance. He has a rather slim, even frail built, which stands in contrast with his actual physical abilities. He has very long, somewhat spiky red hair which hangs down in bangs that frame his face and is bound together in the back with a silver ornament. His eyes are a warm green, although they have appeared red in some lighting. He commonly wears a silver-gray shirt with short sleeves and three horizontal stripes across his chest, along with a vertical black one across the whole length of the garment. Along with this, he wears a pair of light blue jeans, to fit with his newly-taken-on human alterego.

During his days as a captain, he wore the traditional, along with a long-sleeved white haori to complete his captain uniform. The Camelia, the 6th Division's symbol, was sewn into the back of his uniform, appropriate for the captain of the latter. His hair was also notably less spiky.

Personality
Contrary to the 6th devision's strict adherence to rules, Matsuo is a very loose-knitted, laid-back guy. He has been described as a "continuous dreamer"' by several people on various occasions, and has trouble taking matters and even battles of life and death seriously. It seems his writing is the only thing he really cares about, and his only passion, and he will interrupt anything to write down a new idea in the notebook he keeps in his pocket, even in the midst of battle. Despite his laid-back attitude, he's not lazy, and will jump to anyone's aid should they request it. This was evident during his time in the Gotei 13, where he selflessly saved a little girl from the slums from a collapsing building, despite having no connection at all to her at all.

Matsuo's day-dreaming often leads him involuntarily into troubling situations, especially regarding women. noted him to be extremely tactless which was most prominently portrayed when he blatantly asked if had gained weight, which resulted in a painful beating on his part. Because he's not paying attention at most occasions, some enemies see him as a very mysterious fellow, who's hiding his true motives through his uncaring attitude and silence, while it's actually just his natural persona.

On later occasions, it is revealed Matsuo still picks up most details he encounters, despite seeming of-earth most of the time. He was able to flawlessly sum up the physical traits of the people he and Kisuke had passed by during their walk, yet couldn't remember what the actual topic of their conversation was.

Powers & Abilities
Urahara commented that he was at least in the league of the most powerful shinigami whom he had encountered. While it is common nowadays that the inability to sense one's spiritual power is a sign of a vast capacity, this is not the case with Matsuo, and his spiritual energy instead affects the mental plane of the victim, troubling their ability to focus, think and partially blurring their eyesight. When fully released, Matsuo's reiatsu can send out a shockwave that tears apart his surroundings and continues to do so for miles, most commonly in a white color, but this can vary.

His speed is great enough to effortlessly outstrip several captain-level opponents and deceive opponents into thinking they are faster then him, while Matsuo had actually arrived long before they did. In combination with his dreamer-like attitude, he could frighten an opponent by telling a story while stepping from one place to another at rapid speeds, so fast the victim could barely comprehend any of his locations. It should be mentioned he performed this feat while lying down, showing he apparently can teleport from one place to another while remaining in his casual, laid-back position.

He has shown the ability to mix up both high and low Hadō and Bakudō spells and hide Kidō within other Kidō to ensure an extra surprise. After his defection, his mastery improved even more under the tutelage of Urahara, although the full extent of these new capabilities hasn't been revealed yet. It was shown that he could cast an intentionally-weakened spell without using his body as a catalyst, to overpower several Adjuchas hollow without much effort from his side.