Naoko Murakami

Naoko Murakami is a Balancer of Souls, being the Marshal of the East and leader of the Observation Corps.

Appearance
Naoko is a fairly young woman of Japanese descent in her late 20's, she has long brown hair which is generally kept in a high ponytail, with bangs of her hair coming down the sides of her face, framing it. Her face is rather thin and she has bright green eyes.

She wears a variation of the standard Balancers uniform, wearing clothing more reminiscent to a Hakama than the standard long sleeved tunic, the legs of the Hakama are red while the top is white. She wears a black Jeonbok over her Hakama uniform, with the insignia of the Balancers of Souls on the back.

Personality
Being a relatively young Balancer of Souls, Naoko is rather inattentive and tends to become rather lazy when not doing anything of worth. She doesn't like doing others favors, usually grumbling if asked to, however she will do them on rare occasions. Despite only being a Balancer briefly in her past, she has rather advanced leader skills, as she is able to command her subordinates effectively.

Naoko can be very talkative to others, often becoming distracted from what she was originally doing, she has a habit of trying to initiate small talk between her opponents, which can either work to her advantage or against her. She also seems to talk more with men more often than women, which has made many assume that she is trying to act seductively towards them, despite her doing no such thing.

Despite her overly lax and lazy attitude, Naoko can become extremely serious during times of dire concentration and wit, she often becomes exceedingly quiet and observational, often searching for a specific strategy to fight her opponents with. She also shows her extremely quick wit and her overwhelming power while in this frame of mind, often stating that she is at her full power when serious.

She can be extremely forgetful at times, sometimes even forgetting to do certain things that she has written down or even forgetting where she put said written item. Her horrible memory stems from when she was killed by lightning, which caused her memory loss problems.

History
Naoko was killed in the human world by a bolt of lightning while she was traveling though the Catatumbo Lightning Field. She was sent to the Soul Society shortly afterward where she lived in the Rukongai for some time.

After a fair few years, she decided to become a Balancer of Souls, she joined under the Observation Corps and trained up until she became it's Major. She kept the position for a many number of years.

Just before the technical extinction of the Balancers, Naoko became the Observation Corps Marshal, despite being overjoyed at her promotion, she was ultimately imprisoned with the rest of the Balancers. This event left Naoko with a bitter hatred for the Gotei 13.

She has been imprisoned in Muken for the 2000 years that the Gotei 13 have been in service.

Powers and Abilities
Her fighting style consists of very quick one handed techniques paired with two handed strikes that carry an uncharacteristically vast amount of power.

She has no certified technique, however she is a very effective impromptu fighter.

Kadō Expert: Naoko's skill in Kadō is acceptable, she is able to cast simple magic to great effect and more advanced magic with some trouble, she commonly uses it in battle. While she is able to use all elemental Kadō she is most proficient with electric Kadō.

Enhanced Strength: She is surprisingly strong, being able to force notably strong individuals back with her unassuming strength. She generally implements her strength into her fighting style, often pushing back enemies in doing so.

Keen Intellect: While usually very laid back and lazy, Naoko has a rather quick wit, she is able to create strategies quickly while also preoccupying herself with the situation at hand/

Expert Observer: As the Marshal of the Observation Corps, Naoko has an acute sense for observation, she is able to effectively gather information about most if not all things with ease and swiftness.

After she was able to move in Muken, she solely trained in improving her shunpo, eventually raising it to a masterful level. She is able to perform many advanced Hohō techniques to a great level of effectiveness.


 *  (閃花, Flash Blossom): A highly advanced Hohō technique which involved the user moving at extremely fast speeds, drawing their sword and piercing the opponent's soul chain and soul sleep, thus causing the individual to lose their powers if done correctly. While she is able to use this move to great effect in battle, Naoko isn't able to perfectly strike both soul chain and soul sleep simultaneously, failing a good majority of the time.


 * Speed Clones: Due to her intense training of Hohō, Naoko is able to create numerous speed clones in order to confuse opponents. She is able to create a fairly large number of 7 clones at a time, offering for a great number of opportunities for a sneak attack.



Jiūkǔndao
Shǎndiàn (闪电, Chinese for Lightning): Naoko's Jiūkǔndao takes the form of a Chinese Nandao, it has a rather wide blade with a blue cloth wrapped hilt which extends from the bottom of the blade to the ring of the hilt. Naoko's Jiūkǔndao, like all Jiūkǔndao, release when she is in dire physical condition and when the command, "O' Ye Manifestation of Fate, Shìfàng!", is stated.


 * Jiūkǔndao Special Ability: Shǎndiàn is able to generate electricity from it's blade, allowing Naoko to use it for multiple purposes, such as attack or defence. Naoko can utilise the lightning generated with many objects or environments, such as using it in earth to crack and destroy the battlefield, or using it on metal to electrify the entire area. Finally, Naoko can shoot the electricity from her blade into the sky in order to deliver a lightning strike to the opponent, however the attack is random, and could potentially miss if there are any lightning rod like objects nearby. Despite it being diverse, Naoko can't generate much electricity at one time.

Shìfàng: Shìjì Fēngbào (世紀風暴, Chinese for Storm of the Century): When released, Shǎndiàn's sealed form disperses into a vast amount of lightning, which then soars out and forms a massive cage made out of thin lightning bars, completely trapping both combatants inside.


 * Shìfàng Special Ability: Shìjì Fēngbào is able to do most of the abilities that Shǎndiàn had in it's arsenal, however it's power is multiplied tenfold, being a lot more efficient and powerful than her sealed form. It is able to create many lightning bolts at a time to rain down upon the battlefield or it can coat Naoko in a dome of lightning to repel attacks. Unlike with her sealed sword, Naoko is able to create a near unlimited amount of lightning, not running out until her own spiritual power runs out.