Takashi Sora

Takashi Sora (隆昊, Sora Takashi), also known as simply Sora, is the former General of Soul Society's army before the Gotei 13 was formed, and later he became Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's first Lieutenant; he later leaves Soul Society to an unknown location and for unknown reasons.

He is a very old Shinigami, having known Yamamoto before the latter's founding of the Gotei 13 and being born the year that Yamamoto founded the Shinō Academy. After leaving the Soul Society, he manages to capture the Ōin before fleeing into unknown areas. Recent information links him to the "Second Coming of Aizen" which was originally thought to all be the doing of Adelio Valdez, the events of Akujin, though his connection to these events are not fully explained yet, and the events of Magatsuhi Sakyōnosuke Yōjirō's betrayal of the Gotei 13.

He is considered a primary antagonist of Bleach - Generation III. His location is currently unknown, but what is known is his goals; since his days in the Shinō Academy, he has desired to be the "perfect being" by combining elements of Shinigami, Zanpakuto, Hollows, Quincies and Humans.

Appearance
In terms of appearance, Takashi looks strikingly similar to Sōsuke Aizen; having a similar hair style and facial expressions, as well as similar clothing. He has long, swept back, blue hair with part of his bangs hanging over his eyes. His facial expression is usually settled in a calm, yet cocky, smile with his aqua eyes narrowed menacingly. He wears a red vest with an upturned collar underneath a long black jacket, looking somewhat similar to the white Arrancar vests that were worn by the Espada and Aizen's crew.

Personality
Sora is and has always been very secretive, keeping his thoughts and opinions mostly to himself. He is also a very cunning and intelligent man. This is attributed to how long his life has actually been, being older than all of the current captains of the Gotei 13; even Captain-Commander Shōyō Shakyamuni and former Captain-Commanders Magatsuhi Sakyōnosuke Yōjirō, Hiromasa Akamatsu and Amatarou Omaha. His cunning is clearly shown in his orchestrating of the Second Coming of Aizen, Akujin's uprising, and Magatsuhi Sakyōnosuke Yōjirō's betrayal. Furthermore, his cunning is shown in not only orchestrating these events, but remaining unsuspected for so long.

He, like so many others since his departure of Soul Society, despises Soul Society for it's views. As one of the Shinigami present at Yamamoto's founding of the Gotei 13, he was one of the few Shinigami who saw the killing of Hollows as inhuman and evil. He also thinks of the Spirit King as a dictator that must be removed from power, a thought not all that unlike the ones of Aizen. Sora commented on Aizen's war against Soul Society, calling it "brilliant" and calling Aizen himself a "man after his own heart". He also appears to be somewhat sympathetic of Hollows, as one of his reasons for despising the Soul Society is it's "senseless killing of Hollows and Arrancar". This behavior is considered extremely bizarre among Shinigami now days, but he claims that in his day, there was a split among Shinigami ranks on what should be done with Hollows. Another thing Sora hates about Soul Society is it's government; the Central 46 and the Spirit King. After the Central 46 was killed by Aizen, he again applauded the rouge captain's work. When the Central 46 was reformed, shortly after Aizen's death, he decided that Soul Society was too corrupt to see the errors of their government, and that they must be destroyed along with their government. He despises the Spirit King for being, in his mind, a "dictator bent on controlling the powers of all the Shinigami and destroying anyone who threatens his control of it". For their association with the Spirit King, Sora also hates anyone with the Kawahiru surname, thinking them all to be ruthless, heartless dictators.

During his service to Soul Society, he was well respected and obeyed Yamamoto without question. Before the Gotei 13 was formed, he served as Soul Society's General under, then, 'Supreme Commander' Yamamoto. The two fostered a close bond, but this bond became strained after the formation of the Gotei 13. Sora despised many of the new views that the Gotei had adopted, but nevertheless, he continued to serve. Once the Central 46 was formed during his last years of service, his relationship with Yamamoto became so strained that the two would often attack each other physically when they would get into arguments. Fed up with the new laws, Sora stole the Ōin and fled Soul Society.

Background
Sora was born 2100 years prior to the series on the very day that Yamamoto established the Shinō Academy. After he was found to be spiritually aware, he enrolled at the academy to become a Shinigami. He was a quick learner and graduated at the early age of 30. He then quickly joined Soul Society's army. Once in the army, he became involved in the "Unification of Soul Society". At the time, Soul Society was split between two factions of Shinigami; Yamamoto's faction and a faction of rebels. As the war drug on, Sora's true abilities began to emerge and soon, he was second only to Yamamoto in rank. The war was eventually won, and the site of the final battle had a city built on it as a memorial to the fallen; a city that later became known as, the Seireitei. Yamamoto moved his Shinō Academy to Seireitei, and formed the Gotei 13 and it's Captains, Lieutenants, and Seated Officer's system. Yamamoto made Sora his lieutenant, but the two differed in opinions on the rising threat of Hollows. Over the years, this difference of opinions turned into brutal arguments, which often resulted in the two men attacking one another. The formation of the Central 46 did not help matters much, and eventually, Sora plotted to leave the Soul Society behind forever.

Before he left, however, he decided that he would eventually return and destroy Soul Society, but he required much planning and several objects. His first target was the Ōin, the King's Seal. With the Ōin, he could control and even create dimensions. Of course, he also needed to achieve his bankai in order to control it, but he figured that he would achieve it in his exile. He discovered the location of the object, killed the guards, and seized it. With it, he left Soul Society for an unknown location. During his exile, he kept tabs on Soul Society, looking for other means for him to achieve his goals. He found one during Aizen's attack on the Fake Karakura Town, for it was then that he learned the true uses of the Hōgyoku. After Aizen's death, he reconstructs the Hōgyoku and adds it to his precious collection of items. At last, Sora decides to set his plans into motion. The first step of his plan was to increase his power tremendously. To do this, he would need the aid of his zanpakutō, Yūkai, which has the ability to assimilate the powers of dead beings into his own. He knew he could not do this all personally, as he risked being discovered, so he orchestrated a distraction; his first target was the powers of the young man he admired, Sōsuke Aizen. For this, he hired a committed Aizen supporter and Aizen's personal apprentice, Adelio Valdez. Adelio Valdez recovered Aizen's corpse believing that he was going to revive Aizen, however, before letting Adelio fulfill his personal goals, Sora completed his own needs for which he had hired Adelio; he assimilated Aizen's spiritual pressure and abilities.

Adelio Valdez's plans later failed, not that Sora cared much, his own plans had succeeded. Next, he needed to test Soul Society's military strength, so he set up Akujin, a man that had been Yamamoto's successor, through a yet unexplained means. This plan came to frutation when Akujin was pitted against the Gotei's captains in the Seireitei. Even better for Sora, a Kawahiru was among them. As expected, Akujin and his army fell, but he had successfully gaged their strength. However, something unexpected happened; Sunryuk Asakura and his race of Morteimpero invaded Soul Society and took over. In their assault, the Morteimpero wiped out most of the old Gotei 13 before Seireitou Kawahiru and Ryan Getsueikirite, reborn as Kyōjin defeated them. Afterwards, the Gotei was then reassembled. Noting that the new Gotei would have significant differences, Sora decided to probe them again. He did this by alerting Kamui Kawahiru to his brother, Seireitou's, presence. This in turn, caused Kamui to lead his own escapade through Soul Society, demonstrating his foe's powers. Sora was still not satisfied with his information, so he planned a final test for the Gotei; the betrayal of Magatsuhi Sakyōnosuke Yōjirō, their new Captain-Commander. By pitting them against the former Leader of the Gotei 13, he could now make all the necessary battle plans to begin his own attack; one he had been preparing for, for nearly 1000 years.

Powers & Abilities
Keen Intellect: As stated by many who know him, Sora is extremely intelligent. He is a master at making plans and not being the one suspected for their actions, as proved numerously by the plans he set into motion with no one finding out about he being the man behind them until he himself was ready. He is aware of his plans' strengths and weaknesses, and makes special adaptations as failsafes in case a weakness is exposed. Part of the reason his plans actually work are due to his incredible patience, proven by the fact that he has been planning Soul Society's demise since the Gotei 13 was formed nearly 1000 years before Generation I of the series. He has knowledge of several of Soul Society's most guarded secrets, such as the abilities of the Ōin and quickly was able to understand the Hōgyoku's purpose as well as knowing enough about it's anatomy to be able to reconstruct it after Aizen's death.

Master Manipulator: Similar to the young man he admires so much, Sora is a master at manipulating both people and situations. This is fully demonstrated by his manipulation of people such as Adelio, Akujin, Akujin and former Captain-Commander Yōjirō, as well as the situation of learning the powers of the Hōgyoku and immediately seizing it and adapting his plans to incorporate the abilities of the Hōgyoku. He was also shown to manipulate the likes of Kamui, though not to the degree of the others he has manipulated, instead merely setting Kamui up to achieve his own personal goals. He does this by learning the desires and personal goals of his targets and then manipulates the situations into making his target think that they are getting their way when they are merely a means to an end in Sora's own master plans.

Tremendous Spiritual Energy: Even before his assimilation of Aizen's spiritual energy, his reiatsu was noted to be in Yamamoto's league. After the assimilation, however, his spiritual energy has been described to be unbearable. Akujin once said that Sora's reiatsu felt like two tons of steel had been dropped on his head. It is by far larger than a standard-level Shinigami Captain. When Adelio first met him, Sora was shown, with no visible effort, to bring him to his knees with his spiritual pressure, after which Adelio commented that it was like facing a sky of spiritual energy. He shows a tremendous amount of control over his vast reserves of spiritual energies. He can control it to the point where he can make himself seem to be weaker than most Seated Officers, but can instantly intensify it to strike fear into his foes.

Immense Strength: Sora is said to possess a great amount of strength. He is able to hurl huge chunks of debris with no visible effort and take on Lieutenant-level Shinigami without his zanpakutō or his kidō, but simply his physical strength alone. His punches at full strength can demolish entire buildings and break bones.

Flash Steps Master: During his time as a Lieutenant, he was shown to be able to catch up with his captain, Yamamoto, while the latter was at full speed. His speed increased during his exile, and even more after he assimilated Aizen's power, to the point where he declared he could outrun even the Captain of the Second Division with ease, though this theory has yet to be tested. He can use his speed to create many, many afterimages. The afterimages are very life like, being able to appear to bleed and being able to stay active for a long while after he's hid himself from sight. The best demonstration of his speed was at his first meeting with Akujin. Akujin had decided to test if Sora was really as powerful as he claimed to be and attacked him point blank, and yet Sora was fast enough to evade and attack before Akujin even knew what was happening.

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Sora's skill in this area is rarely seen, as he rarely ever has to draw his sword to fight his foes. When he does, his fighting style is shown to be very elegant and graceful. His style is reliant on a healthy balance of speed and brute force; striking at his foes from multiple directions and then going full force at their weak spots or openings. He has also shown an extreme mastery of his zanpakutō's abilities, being able to take down most opponents with just his Shikai, using Bankai as an extreme last resort. Even the use of his Shikai is rare, he instead sticks to hand-to-hand combat, or use of his sealed state.

Kidō Master: His skill with kidō is undeniable. He is able to summon barriers, and hadō spells without name or incantation. Though it isn't exactly know the exact level his kidō is out, but it is assumed to be extremely high to the ease he can conjure the spells he has been seen using.

Zanpakutō
Yūkai (融解, Fusion) is Sora's zanpakutō; it takes the form of a regular katana with a dark blue handle, a pentagon-shaped guard and rests in a long black sheathe.
 * Shikai: It's release command is "Assimilate all creation" (摂取一式制定, Sesshu isshiki seitei), an ironic release command, as it is similar to the release command of his former captain's zanpakutō, Ryūjin Jakka. In shikai, the form of Yūkai does not change.
 * Shikai Special Ability: Sora's shikai allows him to "assimilate" the abilities of others, allowing him to use his foes abilities against them. He can also use this move on the deceased, assimilating their power for his own. The abilities retain any requirements, strengths, and weaknesses they possessed before, however, there is a supposed weakness to this ability. In order for him to assimilate the abilities of anyone, he must have more reiatsu than his target by an overwhelming amount; this is true, even in Aizen's case, as Aizen was dead, therefore Sora automatically had more reiatsu with him. It is unknown what would happen to him if he used this ability on a stronger foe, but he inclines that it wouldn't be pleasant. He has stated that his ability isn't just limited to Shinigami, but to all races, which is why he is so feared and is the reason behind his plans' great successes.
 * Assimilated Abilities: Listed in order of assimilation;
 * Complete Hypnosis (完全催眠, kanzen saimin): Yūkai assimilated Aizen's zanpakuto's power shortly after his death. It controls the five senses to the point that it can make the target misinterpret another person's form, shape, mass, feel and smell to be that of the enemy. The initiation condition for the hypnosis is to show the enemy the release of Kyōka Suigetsu. After seeing it just once, that person will completely succumb to the hypnosis. After that, every time it is released, that person will fall under the thrall of the hypnosis. The hypnosis is apparently long-lasting. Since the spell works when you see the ritual, those who cannot see are consequently immune to the hypnosis. When he turns off the hypnosis by force of will, the image shown melts away/shatters. Complete Hypnosis is absolutely flawless; even if the target is aware that they are under the hypnosis, they cannot resist its influence. Complete Hypnosis's hypnotic abilities make it a highly useful tool in combat.


 * Bankai: Not Yet Revealed.

Trivia

 * To clear up time misunderstanding, read below;
 * He was born 2100 before the start of the series, when Yamamoto founded the Shinō Academy.
 * When he was 1000 years old, Yamamoto founded the Gotei 13.
 * It was about a thousand years later that the events of the present occur.