Kakuzen Akabashi

Kakuzen Akabashi (赤羽市 核善 Akabashi Kakuzen Literally meaning; Stone Virtue, Red Bird City) is an independent Shinigami who broke his ties with the Gotei 13 after wanting to achieve his own goals. With the assistance of his friends, Shizuka Enyou, Taiga Jinkou and Oshiego Kurosaki he was capable of doing so. Currently he is situated in the Human World, and is gathering strength in order to repel an unusual force he has discovered.

Appearance
Seen always with a small grin upon his face; regardless of the occasion, Kakuzen is a distinct individual who will be noticed by even the most ignorant of men and women. He bears exotic tanned skin associated with the whilst having a pair of keen black eyes, sharp facial features and a generally angular jawline and facial structure. His hair is a dark maroon, neck-length and is very spiky, along with having a small number of locks dangling in the middle and two bangs going down to the end of his jawline. Additionally, a prominent scar is seen on his left eye, almost blinding him if it weren't for Taiga Jinkou's assistance.

After defection from the Gotei 13, Kakuzen is seen to wear a knee-length white mantle with a high black collar over a dark red trench-coat with silver lining. Additionally; under this he is seen wearing, a black tank-top with a pair of black hakama, bandages on his legs and a pair of black shoes.

Personality
A generally well-liked individual, Kakuzen is quite easily the object of one's attention and friendship after a few meetings. With his cheerful, calm and sincere demeanor, very few people tend to dislike Kakuzen. If anything, people may seem envious of the success Kakuzen has had with almost his entire life. Calm, collected, but still bearing a positive outlook on everything around him, Kakuzen generally is seen with a small grin on his face, chuckling through everything that is thrown at him. It is undeniable that Kakuzen himself retains awareness of everything that surrounds him, not letting up even a single piece of information that can be handled by him. In fact, this undying inquisitive nature is also present in his general mannerisms, and makes a very large amount of his moods at any given time.

In terms of mannerisms, Kakuzen is quite respectful, calm and generally very sincere. This is not excluded to a sole class of individual, and spreads out equally amongst individuals of any relation to himself, whether they be close friends to mere acquaintances or mentors. Tending to adopt the suffixes, "-san", "-chan" and "-dono" when addressing people, one would think his almost demonic sneer is another personality entirely! He submits to those he knows he cannot win against, and generally makes a point at averting any conflict when it isn't necessary.

It is also noticed commonly that Kakuzen tends to interject himself into conversation at random points of time; inputting a clever remark in order to weave into the conversation to see what exactly is being discussed. He cannot see those he is close to have sadness and negativity in their eyes, and is a great judge of emotions, plucking them out with a clever choice of words and being the shoulder that many lean on for support. He doesn't mind this role as an elder, and in-fact enjoys giving others comfort in return for the joys given to him by them.

But on the other hand, Kakuzen is not the "nice guy" continually, and can be quite the malicious male when the situation calls it. Devilishly sarcastic, manipulative and dismissive, Kakuzen has developed a sort of..."anti-bully attitude" to those that aren't particularly fond of him. Because of the amount of bullying he has faced as a child and through his preliminary schooling, Kakuzen can be considered anti-social to quite an evident extent. This is seen in many of his common habits, such as; wearing earphones when not listening to music, having a preference to work by himself, and having adverse reactions to people touching him, Kakuzen can be seen as a burdened soul who hasn't been able to fully recover from past endeavors of life.

Even with such an attitude towards specific individuals, Kakuzen is not one to hate society, but he does critique its ways and rather harshly. His opinion on the government, social standing between individuals and issues of society is quite articulate, and he argues these points rather effectively. A philosophically inclined individual, Kakuzen takes inspiration from quotes of substantial importance and significance to the way one runs their life, yet his hesitation is something that keeps him away from differentiating himself entirely from his peers.

Most notable about Kakuzen is his inherent hesitation to do any task that differs completely from the norm. Though he is not in the sense "afraid", but he prefers not to be alone when taking a revolution in his own life that others would normally be frightened at doing. Including this is a moral of restraint he has placed upon himself when conducting in various activities. He believes in the principles of etiquette and takes them directly to his heart. Kakuzen prevents himself from "going wild" in any situation and tends to calmly resolve any matter that needs attention.

Not afraid to praise himself when the time comes, Kakuzen is a man with talent and he sees himself in that way entirely. He doesn't hesitate to compliment himself with his achievements, though he does refrain from the thin line bordering self-satisfaction and sheer arrogance. Inside a battle this can be more apparent, for Kakuzen is a critique of battle conduct, and praises himself and others on their capabilities very often, sometimes not paying attention to the battle and leading to his downfall as well!

Yet his persistence to purge through any obstacle is what allows Kakuzen to trigger the wrath of his opponents. Though he might be paralyzed with fear of eternal death, Kakuzen continues to wield his blade deftly in his hands until his entire soul is shattered. As he has said to himself many-a-time, he might pick any overwhelming opponent, but persistence is the key to a brighter future.

Defection and Settlement Arc

 * Migration of the Redbird
 * Enclosed Wings, a New Shelter
 * Armored or Unarmored. The Avian's Contest! (Meeting and battle with Arata Yaguruma)

Powers and Abilities
Child Genius: Though perhaps his skills aren't of the caliber that prodigies such as Keikan Mikazuki, Izanagi Zetsubou and Shinrei Kurosaki shine through, Kakuzen's natural genius is quite the contributing factor to many of his exploits. Having been rumored to be at the top of his class during his tenures at the academy, he quickly excelled through the ranks and was capable of impressing most of his instructor with his academic brilliance. He formulates impressive and well-laid plans that generally have a few contingencies to support them. However, his naivety and inexperience have made him exposed to a number of failures against veterans of the arts of war.

Expert Strategist and Tactician: Through a calculative and keen mind he is capable of laying out plans by thinking quite ahead in a battle situation. Through simple logical decisions, and the modification of his own actions, he can turn a battle in his favor. However, he attempts to supplement these plans with appropriate contingencies to ensure optimum success rates.

With fury and rising emotional levels, a cascade of floods attempt to destroy the enemy's very soul. The density of such a sea of energy drowns adversity into the depths of their own weakness, as the young man stands above it all with his sharp, unrelenting gaze. Though perhaps not expressed at all given times; Kakuzen is in possession of an immense amount of power that is hidden by his inexperience and young age as a shinigami. Because of this, when he exerts his standard levels of energy, he is grossly underestimated by his opponents, for they would naturally believe that the energy levels he possesses only signify a standing as a seated officer at best. Yet Kakuzen is beyond such rudimentary skills; he has shown devious ways of deception, and through assistance by Taiga Jinkou, he has gained a special drink which allows him to exert larger levels of reiatsu and contain more reiryoku in his body at any given time in exchange for a significant level of exhaustion right after usage, needing immediate rest, otherwise being exposed to severe levels of pain and disability for over a month's period of time.

Swordsmanship Specialist: Though he does not excel like some in the art, Kakuzen does possess notable skill in the forms of swordsmanship. Though the depths of his possible skill-level haven't been achieved, Kakuzen is noted to be capable of fighting on-par with Lieutenants for brief periods of time before resorting to Kidō and Shunpō to defeat them. He is noted to be agile and boasts considerable amount of effort into every movement. He uses a variant of which involves both unorthodox feet and hand motions to position his swordsmanship precisely and allow optimum damage. However, his movements are generally predicted by others, allowing masterful swordsmen to take advantage of his weaknesses.

Hakuda Specialist: Possessing rudimentary basics of Hakuda, Kakuzen is noted to easily be capable of implementing swift and brief punches and kicks into his overall style of fighting. Utilizing has allowed his skills to increase somewhat, using clever tactics to surround and conquer his enemies. However, much like his swordsmanship, Kakuzen's movements can be predicted by substantially stronger foes.

Heightened Shunpō Specialist: One of his most distinctive traits is his ability to maneuver through the environment at a considerable pace without being exhausted preliminary. Through extended periods of training, Kakuzen shows himself to have obtained a heightened form of movement speed, akin to that of Lieutenants in the Gotei 13. He employs agile movements which are easily akin to floating leaves in the wind, pausing briefly before accelerating once again and dancing through the wind currents.

Kidō Specialist: Having gained a rudimentary understanding of Kidō and its usage, Kakuzen is capable of using spells up to number 40 without an incantation. However, beyond that his spiritual control is lost and spells tend to slip up and backfire. He normally uses spells such as Inu no Denkō, Geki and Giragira to keep an enemy distracted so that he may quickly run or eliminate them.

Zanpakutō
Shitachi (四質 The Four Human Natures) is the name of Kakuzen's zanpakutō. When sealed, it takes the appearance of a standard katana with a unique circular hilt that has several spike-like protrusions jutting out of it. The color of both the hilt and guard is lavender, while the sheath itself is a slightly darker shade.
 * : Released with the command; Slash and Scatter into the Four Cardinal Directions! The Red North, Blue South, Green West and Brown East! Let the culmination of your demise begin! (東西の方向に削減と散布！レッドノース、サウスブルー、グリーン西と東ブラウン！あなたの終焉の集大成を始めましょう！Tōzai no hōkō ni sakugen to sanpu! Reddonōsu, sausuburū, gurīn nishi to azuma buraun! Anata no shūen no shūtaisei o hajimemashou!), the sword of Shitachi is quickly flowed with a large amount of radiant lavender spiritual energy before suddenly the entire blade dissipates into a large amount of a dense mist-like substance which is then distributed upon the battle field. Additionally; Kakuzen's weaponry now becomes a . The blade itself has a unique metallic sheen and is flooded with violet spiritual energy. Its hilt is a metallic violet sheen, with four protrusions outward from it making the guard. The one facing north is red, south is blue, west is green and east is brown.

Shikai Special Ability: The special ability of Shitachi utilizes the potent lavender mist that is created through his release in order to activate the true ability of the zanpakutō. Kakuzen manipulates this mist and allows it to seep into the orifices of his opponents, and even allies. From here, the mist then serves to cause a stimulant in the victim's emotional receptors inside the brain. A heightened expression of this emotion is displayed through their bodily movements, which then allow Kakuzen to manipulate the opponent's physical body in a specific manner dependent on the emotion triggered. It has also been viewed that he is capable of heightening his own emotional stimulus to achieve greater instincts and other benefits in battle.

Whilst his Shikai has several advantages, key flaws that have been viewed are; if the amount of spiritual energy in a body is incredibly immense or condensed, manipulating their motions is next-to-impossible. Additionally; through precise spiritual control one is capable of removing the foreign substance from their body. Finally; due to Kakuzen's own inexperience, he is unable to contain the mist inside the opponent's body for times extending a period of five minutes.
 * Tanjūshitsu (胆汁質 Choleric) is the first technique Kakuzen learnt in Shikai. It is a representation of emotions such as anger, or intense passion. By triggering emotional receptors of a choleric nature, Kakuzen causes his opponents to have a significant heightening of their aggressive nature. Kakuzen then directs them to abandon all defense and rush at Kakuzen solely. Through clever positioning, Kakuzen can cause them to inflict considerable amounts of damage upon themselves by causing them to smash into another object barring their path.
 * Taketsushitsu (多血質 Sanguine) is the second technique Kakuzen learnt in Shikai. A representation of negotiable, awareness, and a lack of initiative. Triggering emotional receptors of a sanguine nature, Kakuzen causes his victims to become very lax and somewhat overconfident. From here, he has complete control over their movements for small periods of time, allowing them to remain stationary while he flees or defeats them. Though it should be noted, when his concentration is broken, the control ceases.
 * Tanshitsu (痰質 Phlegmatic) Not Yet Achieved
 * Inkishitsu (陰気質 Melancholic) Not Yet Achieved

Behind the Scenes

 * Kakuzen's appearance will be influenced from a number of individuals, but most predominantly the new appearance of Cobra from the Fairy Tail series.