Saitō Hajime

"This is war, the innocent die just as easily as the guilty. That's why we fight, because if we don't then its only the innocent who die."

- Saitō

Saitō Hajime (斎藤 一, Hajime Saitō) is a who currently serves in the  as the captain of the  with both Medaka Rosenkrantz and Ekatarina Satonaka acting as his lieutenants. Formerly a seated officer in the and the Corps Commanders of the  Patrol Corps, he was appointed as the captain of the 9th division following Ryōga Jōkaihan's vacation of the position.

A veteran of many years with the, he has helped suppress a number of uprisings and his proficiency at capturing his opponents without killing them and drawing out information from them made him the best interrogator among the ranks of the Onmitsukidō. As a member of the Onmitsukidō he was also responsible for tracking down and capturing a number of deserters from the Gotei 13, his excellent deductive skills helping him track down almost every rogue shinigami he was sent after.

Appearance
Saitō is a tall, fair-skinned, and famous for his tall and spiky white hair, and the forehead protector worn diagonally across his forehead that covers his left eye. Standing at over 6 feet, he is thin for his height but still possesses a well toned body. He generally sports an expression of lazy nonchalance, which is exacerbated by his lethargic gait. His white hair, the scar over his left eye and the mask that he always wears to cover the lower half of his face make him stand out in almost any crowd and as such he is one of the more recognizable captains in the Gotei 13 at the moment.

His standard attire is reminiscent of his days as it greatly resembles the standard uniform of an Onmitsukidō member. It consists of a blue-black full sleeved, high necked T-shirt and dark pants with a body mesh under the T-shirt and a light green vest over it all. The vest has a number of pockets on it, a zipper running down the middle and three pouches on each side of the chest. It also has a neck guard and extra padding over the shoulders, both of which provide a measure of added protection in combat. He also wears a forehead protector on his head, though it is normally worn diagonally to cover his left eye. The lower half of his face is covered by a black mask. He also wears iron plated black gloves on his hands which leave the tips of his fingers uncovered.

On the rare occasions when he must dress up in the manner befitting a Captain in the Gotei 13, he dressed up in the standard captain's uniform, consisting of a white shitagi, a black kosode, a black hakama, a white hakama-himo, white tabi, and waraji. He wears a short-sleeved captain's haori.

Personality
Saitō is almost always seen with a bored and somewhat indifferent expression on his face, though with the lower half of his face and his left eye covered, it is only through his right eye that any display of emotion is evident form his face. This is very indicative of the nature of his personality as he doesn't normally seem to be excited by anything and ever since he was a child he rarely showed any enthusiasm towards anything other than sleeping or reading. Many have called him an introvert, but though close to the truth, the word does not truly describe who he is. It is not that he does not like being in the company of others, but rather he is so lazy that he cannot bring himself to go to the bother of being around others. He is perfectly happy to spend his time in the company of others, as long as he does not have to put too much effort into it. Unlike some people, who would go to great lengths to avoid meeting someone they don't want to, Saitō will not even put in that effort. As a result he often ends up having to deal with people he would much rather not speak to and tries to get out of such situations as quickly as he can. At such times he can be curt and excessively to the point with his speech and this had lead some people to wrongly think of him to be rude and a little arrogant. On the contrary he is quite polite and well mannered, never looking down on anyone and very rarely does he intentionally speak harshly to someone. He is very much a procrastinator, happily off things till later, no matter how troublesome it might be to deal with it later on. When putting something off he is often in the habit of stating that "I'll deal with it when I deal with it." He has been admonished on a number of occasions for not being serious about anything, and not acting like a Captain in the Gotei 13. All of this seems to make him appear to be quite different from what one would expect of an former assassin from the Onmitsukidō, much less a captain in the Gotei 13. But despite his indolent nature, he almost becomes a different person when things get serious. When duty calls he seems to find the determination to get the job done that is normally seen to be missing in him. Though he might normally put off doing something, when he actually gets down to doing it he will put his heart and soul into it. While on a mission he reveals a side that befits the master assassin that he is, calm, focused and completely ruthless towards his enemies. Despite never actually doing anything early, he does have a tendency to get things done just in time, showing a commitment to the task at hand that overpowers his lethargic nature. Another noteworthy aspect of his personality is the ease with which he takes almost everything into his stride, with almost nothing seeming to bother or surprise him. He will talk about things that would shock any normal person and speak in such a casual manner that it will look like he was discussing something as trivial as what he had for lunch. As long as anything serious happened to him, he will treat it is as something trivial and insignificant, even describing a failed attempt at his life with a smile on his face. But where others are involved he often shows the seriousness the situation demands.

When he first became the captain of the 9th Division, there were fears that he might be too much of a slacker to take up such a responsibility and might be unable to effectively lead the division. But he has emphatically proved all his doubters wrong, without changing any aspect of his personality. Some do find it hard to believe that someone like him was the leader of a branch of the Covert Ops division of Soul Society's military and a captain in the GOtei 13, but those who have worked with him or under him know of his dedication while on the job and know better. His tendency to take the lead in every mission and the fact that he doesn't risk the lives of others in any situation that he would not place himself him have earned the loyalty and complete faith of his subordinates. While he is normally pretty relaxed with his subordinates, stating that it would be hypocritical of him to lecture them when he himself is so lazy and carefree, he does expect them to be diligent where their duties are concerned. He can tolerate seeing one of his subordinates dozing off in front off him as long as he gets the job done. But if anyone slacks off and ignores their duties then he can be very harsh and gives no leeway whatsoever in that regard. The fact that he himself, despite his lazy nature, is always committed to his duties and always gets the job done, sets an example for his subordinates.

Saitō is an avid reader and always has one book on his person the he fishes out whenever he gets the opportunity. As a result he is very knowledgeable and his mind is just as sharp as his body. He also has something of a sweet tooth, specially for pastries.

Powers and Abilities
: As a former member of the Onmitsukidō, Saitō was required to be highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat. He is one of the more proficient hand-to-hand combatants in Soul Society, with only the most skilled of hand-to-hand combatants being assured of coming out on top in such a confrontation with him. He can easily deal with opponents many time his size with nothing but his arms and legs.
 * Psionic Abilities: Saitō possesses an unique ability, telepathic powers that range from reading the mind of sentient beings to communicating telepathically with others over a wide range of distances. The powers of his Zanpakutō Mugen are a part of Saitō's own special abilities. Saitō can transfer information from one mind to another and read the thoughts of humans and animals, though without the aid Mugen he needs to be in physical contact with the subjects to accomplish any of this. He can also unleash powerful psionic blasts that can cause a person great pain despite them not suffering any physical harm.
 * Ikkotsu (一骨, '"Single Bone"'): A simple punch of such power that it can destroy an opponent in one strike. Using this technique, Saitō can quite easily punch a hole right through an opponent, the brute force behind the attack overcoming even the strongest of defenses.
 * Sōkotsu (双骨, "Double Bone"): Similar to Ikkotsu, this technique differs in that the punch is now executed with two hands and is much stronger than Ikkotsu.
 * Seikūken (制空圏, "Vacuum Sphere"): Coating his fist with his spiritual energy, Saitō repeatedly punches the ground at a very high speed to release a shock-wave that travels outwards till it creates a big enough circle around him. As soon as he stops his punches the spiritual pressure suddenly shoots up, pushing the air itself out of its path to create a barrier of vacuum around him that stops any physical attacks.


 * Tesshō (鉄掌, "Iron Palm"):


 * Nijū Tenohira Nami (二重手のひら波, "Double Palm Wave"):

His skills with Shunpo are a step above an average captain and his knowledge of Shunpo and its various techniques is second to none. He has the ability and the skills to match that knowledge and he is counted amongst one of the most proficient users of this skill in all of Soul Society. Such is his speed that he was able to easily outpace Ryū Kagami, himself a former captain in the Gotei 13 and no sluggard himself.





Zanpakutō
Mugen (夢幻, Fantasy) is the name of Saitō Hajime's Zanpakutō, and though it was initially believed to be an Illusion-type Zanpakutō, its true abilities have been revealed to encompass a much wider range of powers. In its sealed state it takes the form of a chokuto, a sword with a straight and single-edged blade, used mainly for hacking into the target. Unlike other swords, Mugen's blade is completely black and lacks the usual shine and luster most other blades sport. The sword lacks a tsuba, or guard, with a black cross-emblazoned hilt and sheath. Shikai: The command Let's Go (行きましょう, Ikimashou) is used to activate Mugen's shikai.
 * Gaitō (外套, Mantle or Cloak): One of Mugen's most basic techniques, and one that is accessible to Saitō even in Mugen's sealed state, it allows him to completely mask his presence from being detected by others. This telepathic form of cloaking is not perfect and individuals with particularly powerful reiatsu such as, or by a person skilled in telepathic abilities can see through this ability. He can extend the range of this ability to hide others around him as well.

Shikai Special Ability: Mugen's special ability is to grant its users the ability to telepathically interact with those around him.


 * Telepathic Communication: Saitō can read the mind of individuals and even animals around him. If he manages to cut a person with Mugen, then the Zanpakutō grants him the ability to not only learn what they are thinking at the time but also read their memories and to "browse" through all the information stored in their minds. With Mugen's shikai activated, Saitō no longer needs to be in physical contact with a person to be able to properly read his or her mind. He can also project thoughts into another person's mind and thus talk to them through their minds. He can also use this ability to communicate with birds and animals.


 * Psionic Attack: Saitō can launch much stronger blasts of psionic energy then he normally can, blasts that do not cause any physical harm but can affect a victim's mind so as to cause the victim pain or cause them to loose consciousness. A strong enough blast would even be capable of rendering someone brain-dead.


 * Healing: Saitō is capable of performing a form of healing where he telepathically controls an individual's brain in order to stimulate the body systems to activate hormone secretion to acitvate a person's healing process. He can locate which part of the body is in the most critical condition and concentrate the healing process there.

Bankai:

Bankai Special Ability: