Ryū Kagami

Ryū Kagami (カガミ・龍, Kagami Ryū), born Ryū Suzuki (鈴木・龍 , Suzuki Ryū), is a rogue who is wanted by  on charges that are known to only a few captains within the. He is the younger brother of Shinta Suzuki and the paternal uncle of Kenshin Suzuki and his sister Mia, though he has kept this fact and his true identity hidden from them for reasons known only to him. He is also the nephew of the current head of the Suzuki Clan and Shinsengumi member, Tarō Suzuki. Before his exile he was the Captain of the in the Gotei 13, the predesesor to. Currently a wanderer roaming from place to place in search of his next drink, he was at one time vehemently hunted by Soul Society for decades until a mysterious encounter with resulted in the hunt for the rogue shinigami being called off. The reasons behind such actions from the side of the Captain-Commander remain just as mysterious as the reasons behind his initial persecution.

Personality
Ryū is patient and mild-mannered, remaining calm in almost all situations, displaying an unshakable levelheadedness that even has a calming effect on those around him. His ability to maintain a cool head no matter what the situation has even earned him the epithet of the Ice-Man. Due to his normally calm demeanor with the lazy smile that graces his face ever so often, most expect him to be more carefree than he really is as he has a thoughtful nature, though that does not prevent his competitive and reckless side from surfacing now and then. A tendency that has been a part of him since his days as a Gotei 13 Captain is that he hates being ordered around, preferring to do things his own way and in his own time. He also has a sense of humor and can be quite playful and sarcastic at times, a trait that he has passed on to his pupil Sasuke.

As a child he was greatly intimidated by his elder brother's fame and as a result developed an inferiority complex that did not go away till after he joined the Gotei 13. Only when he graduated from the and started to excel as a swordsman did he start overcoming this block that had been holding him back till then. But though he he started to become more confident in himself, deep down he still felt a need to prove himself and developed a tendency to accomplish any task in a big, flashy manner that increased his fame within. As a result he became overconfident, and though his fame was in some measure justified, his head started swelling from the praise. A part of him even started to believe that he was invincible and the strongest shinigami in all of Gotei 13. He was extremely reckless ans was easily angered, often challenging others to fights over the smallest of insults, and he would often taunt his opponents in the middle of battle. But in the end it was this arrogance that lead to his downfall as his tendency to taunt his enemies came back to bite him as one of his opponents not only managed to defeat him when his guard was down, but also framed him him for his own actions. It was his subsequent expulsion from the Gotei 13 and having to go into exile that finally made him realize the folly of his ways and acted as the heavy dose of medicine that was needed to make him develop some much needed humility.

Since then he has become much more humble and down to earth though he still retains his love for the grand, albeit now being able to control that urge at most times. He is not one to quit and will persevere till he has given his all, not backing down even if his own life is on the line. When angered his shows a much darker side of his psyche and can be a merciless enemy. His quest for fame and fortune is now gone, his only aim now being training Sasuke to the best of his abilities and taking care of and ensuring the safety of his nephew and niece. He has a lot of confidence in both his pupils and expects great things from them. He shows a degree of pride in them and even in loss always has words of encouragement for the duo. He cares deeply for them all, particularly his niece Mia who reminds him of his brother, even more so than her older brother Kenshin. His relationship with his uncle Tarō is a more strained one, with the two of them not really understanding each other and Tarō still holding himself responsible for not being able to prove Ryū's innocence all those years ago and being unable to prevent his exile from Soul Society. But he still maintains contact with his uncle and Tarō shares information and equipment with him that keeps Ryū up to date with the on-goings in Soul Society.

Appearance
Ryū is tall with a well built physique, long black hair and normally has a bored or sleepy expression on his face. His hair is tied into a pony tail at the back of his head, with a few locks falling over his jet black eyes. The most distinctive feature of his appearance is the long scar over his right eye, a scar he obtained at the Captain-commander's hands.

He is normally dressed in a variation of the standard Shihakushō worn by most. It consists of a sleeveless white shitagi, with a black sleeveless kosode above it. A grayish-white obi is tied over the shitagi and kosode to hold them in place. Below this he wears a black hakama which is cut so that it reaches just till a little above his ankles. A pair of black tabi, traditional Japanese socks, are worn on his feet with a simple pair of waraji on his feet. He wears a beige coloured vest over his shirt which has trimmed laces on both shoulders. He also wears black cloth arm guards that end in fingerless gloves on both hands. He also wears a conical stray hat on his head. His Zanpakutō is kept tucked into the obi around his waist. While serving as a in the  he was dressed in a variation of the standard Shihakushō consisting of a a white shitagi, a short-sleeved black kosode, a black hakama, a white hakama-himo, white tabi, and waraji. Along with this he wore a short-sleeved captain's haori. His left arm was kept bandaged while a fingerless black glove covered most of his right forearm. He wore a white bracer over the glove. His hair was also much shorter and kept in a mussed up manner. Another contrast to his current appearance was the absence of the scar that marks his right eye. Like now, his Zanpakutō was kept tucked into the obi around his waist.

Powers and Abilities
His technique is flawless and were fights decided inside the confines of a dōjōs Ryū would be almost impossible to defeat. Be it kendō or iaidō there are few who can match him in pure technical proves. But as great as his skills are, there are many individuals both within and outside who could hold up to him in a fight if his technique were all he had. What makes him a truly peerless swordsman is his ability to switch from one form to another in the middle of a battle, a switch than can throw off many opponents. This tendency of his to switch around between different forms led him to develop a new fighting style that incorporates part of a number of different sword styles but as a result of his mixing is completely different from any single form.


 * Ransen (乱戦, Confused Battle): This new form of his is highly unorthodox in nature, a stark contrast to his technical abilities, and makes use of improvisation to adapt to changing scenarios. Making use of erratic movements, acrobatic maneuvers and moving purely on instinct, he makes use of his great reflexes to move away from attacks at the last moment or move in with an attack when his opponent least expects it. An highly aggressive form, it makes use of a combination of power, strength and speed to push his opponent at all times. Using acrobatic maneuvers such as somersaults and backflips to not only evade the slashes and strikes from his opponents, Ryū can just as easily go on the offensive, attacking with wide, fast, and powerful swings. When combined with Hohō, Ryū can make use of his high speed movements to seemingly attack his opponents from all directions, be it from the front, the sides, overhead, or even from behind. Though this form seems to be highly ostentatious in nature and those few who have seen this form condemn it on the tiring nature of the flips and jumps that it involves, Ryū tends to not make many useless moves while using this form and can maintain his stamina quite well. Also due to his very spiritual pressure his stamina is also very great, as such this form makes use of his ability to perform such acrobatics for a period of time longer than an average shinigami. But still fatigue can be quite a significant factor in long, drawn out battles or against multiple opponents. In such situations Ryū tends to prefer using standard forms of zanjutsu to deal with his opponents.
 * Onmyō Kōsa (陰陽黄砂, "Shadow-Light Cross"): A move executed when Ryū has the higher ground, this move often leads to dismemberment of the opponent and is thus very rarely used by Ryū. Ryū tempts his opponent to come in to attack him and then executes a series of circular motions with his blade aimed at the major limbs. More often than not the opponent looses one or more limbs and can be completely destroyed by this move.
 * Ryūsui no Ugoki (流水のうごき, "Flowing-Water Movement"): Not really a unique move but rather an sequence that is a part of his personal form, Ryū often uses this sequence while going blade-to-blade with his opponent. In the same manner that water follows the contour of any surface on which it is flowing, Ryū follows the movements of his opponent. For example is his opponent is withdrawing his blade, instead of withdrawing as well, Ryū follows the opponent through, cutting through his body. Thus he makes himself as flexible as flowing water, following his opponent's movements step for step ad moving in with the killing move as soon as his opponent slips.
 * Onmyō Hasshi (陰陽発止, "Dusk to Dawn Strike"): When facing a horizontal slash aimed towards his lower body, Ryū jumps over the slash and gains extra altitude by using his spiritual power to enhance the strength of his leg muscles. Once in the air and on the descent he executes a powerful vertical slash with his own blade that can cut an opponent from head to torso. A very specialized move, it is only usable when faced a particular kind of attack but as evading his opponent's horizontal slash leaves them open to Ryū's attack from above, this move almost always successful in cutting down his opponent.


 * Onigiri (鬼斬り, "Demon Sword"): This is a technique that requires a very high level of control over one's spiritual power as the basis of the technique is a very fine manipulation of reiryoku. The essence of the technique is to coat the edge of one's Zanpakutō in an exceedingly fine layer of condensed reiryoku, greatly increasing the blade's cutting power. The fine layer of reiryoku surrounding his blade's edge now acts as its cutting edge and is so sharp that it can cut through almost anything. The potency of the technique increases with one's proficiency with manipulating their reiryoku, the finer the reiryoku layer surrounding the blade's edge, the more easily can it cut through objects. With the level of control that Ryū possesses it is possible for him to create layers that are not even visible to the naked eye and most captains are also capable of almost similar results. Ryū can even expel the spiritual energy from the edges of his blade during slashes as thin, and exceedingly sharp wire like projectiles that cut through anything in their path. Using this technique he can literally shred an opponent to pieces and as it can only be used offensively it is counted among one of his more destructive techniques. This technique allows Ryū to cut through almost anything, cutting through steel like it were butter and only objects coated with a strong enough spiritual energy can block his sword while Onigiri is in use.


 * Omotegiri (表斬り, "Front Beheading"): Holding his blade behind his back in a reverse grip, he spins round and brings his blade sweeping in from behind his back, creating a wide arc which ends in a horizontal slash aimed at his opponent's torso or neck.


 * Classical Forms: As mentioned, despite the unorthodox nature of his self-made combat style, Ryū is a master of traditional sword forms such as kendō and iaidō. These forms formed part of the basis on which he developed his own form and his usage of such classical forms acts as a good counter to the unorthodox nature of his personal form. He can catch his opponent by surprise by starting of with a highly technically sound and by the textbook style of combat and suddenly switching to his own form, a much more haphazard and unpredictable style. When he began learning the ways of the sword he was not the most accomplished of students and he didn't really start showing his true skills with the blade until after he had graduated from the . He spent many hours in a dōjō run by a member of the Shihōin Clan and it was here that his true talent with the blade started to shine through.


 * Hawatari (刃渡り, "Cross the Sword"): A technique that originated from battōjutsu, this involves the execution of a single swift and powerful slash that has enough force behind it to incapacitate most opponents in one move. The drawing of the blade, the act of cutting the target, and the re-sheathing of the blade all take place in one smooth and rapid motion.
 * Hitotsume: Nadegiri (撫で斬り, "The First: Killing Stroke"): This basic technique allows for a precision cut of extreme force and speed, it can casually slice through large, multi-story high opponents protected by steel skin. The opponent can be killed with one swift slash so precise, that they aren't even aware of until after it has taken place.


 * Ryōdan (両断, "Bisection"): A two-handed sword technique that has the practitioner bring the sword down with enough force that it can cut an opponent in half right down the middle. Holding his sword over his head so that it forms a straight line with his spine, he brings the blade down in a powerful vertical slice. Though quite powerful, this move does leave Ryū vulnerable for a short period of time and a skilled combatant can exploit this opening to launch a counter attack of his own. Though he is a master of kendō, Ryū did not truly realize the strength of this technique until he encountered it while escaping from Soul Society when he had to face and was at the receiving end of this move. If executed by the right person, such as Kenpachi, this technique can cut through almost anything and anyone and Ryū himself has admitted that were it not for Mugen no Kanōsei, Zaraki would have killed him with this attack. Ryū has developed a variation of this move where the speed of his swing is so great that it can compress the air in the blade's path and send it flying forward as a powerful burst of compressed air that is strong enough to knock down buildings and sharp enough to cut through steel.

As his Zanpakutō is normally kept sealed, he often uses the sheath of his blade to engage opponents, using his zanjutsu skills to read an opponents movements to dodge and evade their attacks. Though his skills with the blade make it possible for him to instinctively get a feel of where his opponent might attack next, it is only his great speed and agility that make it possible for him to effectively evade those attacks.


 * Gensoku (減速, "Deceleration"):


 * Onigiri (鬼斬り, "Demon Sword"): A variation of the original Onigiri that he developed using his reiryoku, this is a powerful hybrid technique combining both Zanjutsu and Kidō. Instead of the reiryoku that was used in the original, Ryū now uses Kidō to do the same. With the use of Kidō, his Zanpakutō not only possesses heightened cutting power, but the spell used modifies the effect the technique has. FOr instance if he used then his blade would shock and numb anyone on contact, not just cut through them. As Ryū keeps his Zanpakutō sealed, he normally has to rely on his swordsmanship and Kidō. As a result he has developed these skills to great levels and is very comfortable with mixing the two to execute moves such as Onigiri. While he has shown an tendency to use the more basic spells to empower his blade, he is more than capable of using higher spells as and when required.

Zanpakutō
Mugen no Kanōsei (無限の可能性, Infinite Possibilities) is the name of Ryū's Zanpakutō. In its sealed form Mugen no Kanōsei resembles an almost typical katana with a blade slightly longer and straighter than normally seen on such blades. Mugen no Kanōsei's hilt is red in color and a circular bronze tsuba with an intermittent pattern cut into it. The sheath is brown in color and is hard enough to be used to block attacks from other Zanpakutō without getting even a scratch. Ryū has placed a number of seals on Mugen no Kanōsei to keep its powers sealed away and the seals are visible as a piece of white cloth which is tied between the sheath and the tsuba by means of an intricate knot which has a number of powerful spells placed on it. Mojiretsu's spirit takes the form of a young boy and a dog. Ryū has stated that Mojiretsu is a very playful spirit and is not very mature, at times throwing tantrums that irritates Ryū to no end. Ryū tends to address Mugen no Kanōsei as simply Mugen and rarely uses his full name. Ryū's relationship with Mugen similar to that of two siblings with Ryū more often than not having to play the role of an elder brother trying to keep up with a younger sibling's mischievousness.

Unlike most Full-Time Release Zanpakutō, Mugen no Kanōsei's existence in this form is not due to any lack of fine control of his spiritual pressure on Ryū's part, but rather it is a result of the nature of Mugen no Kanōsei's abilities.

Shikai Special Ability: Mugen's special ability is to turn paradoxes into reality, nullifying the contradictions that normally make up the core of the paradox. A paradox is a logical statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which (if true) defies logic or reason. As a result of Mugen's powers the contradictions become void and things that would normally be considered impossible can occur within the field of influence of Mugen's powers. Mugen no Kanōsei's powers have never really been in action as Ryū always keeps it sealed. As such how these abilities work and how they can be used for combat purposes is largely unknown.



Bankai Special Ability: Unknown.