Tou NiiSan

Name: Tou NiiSan

Nickname: Niijusan (Twenty-three) Preferred especially among his blood family because he feels disturbed at having his non-siblings call him "Nii-san".

Age: unknown

Visual Age: 20s

Gender: Male

Appearance: Unkempt black hair blocks his eyes from view. A light mustache and beard are growing on his face. A black shihakusho covers his lightly muscular frame, honed from self-research and electrical inductance. The rope belt high above his waist holds a pair of twin hooked swords from the back. A belt strap hanging from his right shoulder displays a jian with a heavy blade.

Personality: Calmness is often what he demonstrates, though his pride is apparent unless he is able to intellectually discern a solution. The flow rides with him and he rides with the flow, relaxing while being carried on his journey through time.

Likes: The flow, the protecting fist, science, kido, a difficult problem, a difficult solution

Dislikes: Arrogance, ignorant hollow advocates, lack of aesthetics, those who go against the Reiou, overconfident sneak attacks

Special Characteristics: NiiSan often likes to tinker with machines, especially training hollows, and often uses this kind of method to pass down his techniques onto others. He is especially vocal about something when it bothers him and will defend it if he must, even if it means interfering at certain points. NiiSan is highly contradictory, as he is 2 and 3 in one body. One moment he will side with one thing and the next moment he will side with the next. He is both odd and even, a paradox in whole beings such as himself.

Division: 8

Rank: Captain

History:

Early Years
Born into the Tang lower noble family, Tou NiiSan spent his early years home-schooled in the ways of the fist and sword, though did well in neither of them. His studies were above average, however, though not impressive enough to outdo all of the other students when he entered the Academy. The only things which he was found to excel at were the mathematics and the sciences, neither of which were as needed by the military back then, although they sparked enough interest to allow him a position in the mechanics department upon graduation. There, he worked on mechanical training hollows for the academy students to train on, content with his life. By then, his hand-to-hand combat and sword skills were barely that of the average unseated shinigami, and his kido skills were slightly above average, of which he constantly pondered and thought about to find a truth in kido so that he would be able to pick up on that truth and amplify his skills several times over.

The Zanpakuto
Still, he found it second-nature to pick up his zanpakuto when he went on a break and practiced with it every now and then. It was a nagging feeling, picking up that sword, almost as though it wanted to be taken out of its sheath. And when he napped, he always found himself in what appeared to be a giant 10-km.-radius hourglass with reflective obsidian pebbles sifting through a tiny hole into the other half of the hourglass, face to face with his own reflection. That reflection intrigued him, as it did not reflect what he did, but stood still. The reflection even had his voice, and every time, it spoke, “My name is –“. NiiSan always woke up before it could tell him its name.
In a vacation to the human world, he realizes the truth behind fighting as a means of “self-defense”, not “attack-others”, and releases his zanpakuto, figuring out its abilities by watching various straightsword masters in the human world practice with flowing, fluid motions, and relating them to the wind and water. Through later, unrecorded times, he also manages to figure out the mirror ability and split his sword into twin swords when he learns of a dark side and a bright side (as well as stare blankly at his shinigami uniform for some time).

Kido
His Kido abilities soon come into play when he figures out a correlation between the Kido chants and various spiritual references in the human world. As such, he dwells into books on spiritual symbols and religion (particularly the Bible and Shinto books in the human world). He notices that the spells have greater effect when they are chanted verbally than when they are only chanted mentally, and when they are only chanted mentally, have a greater effect than when they are not chanted at all. Through his reading on spiritual texts, he gains a greater visual appreciation of Kido formulas, faith in the Spirit King, and manages to demonstrate sufficient Kido ability to be admitted into the Kido Corps.

100 Years before the Present
His rise from training-hollow mechanic to a shinigami in the Kido Corps brings about some suspicion from the other Kido-division shinigami and jealousy from the more ambitious mechanics he works with. Discovery of him studying Kido spells above 50 and speaking of “attaining the level of the Captain” only inflames these feelings more, until a 3rd seat suddenly comes to challenge him in an all-out battle while he was reading the theories behind Hado 54. The battle ends in a stalemate, with both trapped in a Rikujokoro. He then becomes a second 3rd seat of the Kido Corps with the approvals of both Captain and Lieutenant.
However, this leads to frequent fights between the two 3rd seats, and the tension reaches its peak when both Captain and Lieutenant disappear suddenly as a result of accidents with gigai. With neither wanting to become subordinate to the other, they start another match, which ends with NiiSan using a backwards-chanted variety of Kyokko, subsequently stunning him with a massive outflow of reiatsu and being declared the winner (and new captain). Unwilling to lose, the opponent attacks with a released zanpakuto, forcing NiiSan to release his own. The battle ends when the sun goes down, and NiiSan utilizes the wind to catch his opponent off guard, and then sever the tendons of his muscles. The opponent is brought to the medical ward, but is surprisingly killed right after by an unknown assailant.
In an undisclosed event involving the same gigai accident that took the lives of the previous Captain and Lieutenant, NiiSan develops the burn marks and the chain mark on his chest while barely surviving thanks to the timely arrival of a nearby 4th Divison shinigami. The illness requires continual treatment of pure, condensed reiatsu, which is very hard to produce. As such, he makes regular requests to the Science division for such a potion. His physical abilities, already mediocre, are even weaker as a result of the accident. NiiSan gradually learns to supplement this weakness by strengthening components of his body through chemical means and moving those components with weakened versions of Tsuzuri Raiden.
NiiSan is suspicious of manipulation, but nonetheless takes up the mantle of captain of the Kido Corps, though is not actually given the rank. Many who dislike him in the division, but know of their lack of power, leave to join other divisions, leaving him with a handful of seated officers. He subsequently begins to train for Bankai as well and quickens his Kido studies, attaining Bankai and able to use all Kido up to 92 without chants 80 years before the present.

The Present
20 years ago, he was transferred to the 8th division, and handles much of the paperwork at his own pace. He is also trying to master hand-to-hand combat, and is meeting some success, though not enough to match that of the average seated officer from seats 5-10.
This changes largely due to his observations of martial arts masters training in secret, and he takes up their attacks to substantially boost his own hand-to-hand combat ability. In this, he discards his Tsuzuri Raiden mobility system to work more on muscle ability, though uses the Tsuzuri Raiden or other electrical devices to strengthen his muscles when he isn't fighting.


RP Sample:
NiiSan has RP'ed a lot. A specific challenge from another will be much more observable. If needed a specific example, NiiSan will post here or through PM in LegendOfBleach

Zanapakuto Name: Kokuyoganmaru (黒曜石)

Release Phrase: Genzuru, Iwaku, Chuuwa, Kokuyoganmaru. (Reveal, reason, neutralize, obsidian) (を明らかにする, を利用する理由, 中和する, 黒曜石)

Level: Bankai

Family: Wind/Water (flow) - default, reflective - secondary

Manifestation: Kokuyoganmaru is a genderless mass of obsidian pebbles constructed into a masked robed man with white eye-holes and an elongated crescent mouth.

Sealed State Description: A jian (Chinese straightsword) whose blade covers even the top of its guard and extends to the rest of the 1 m blade. To balance out this weight, a small, but heavy iron ball is attached to the end of the hilt.

Shikai Form Description: Unlike its sealed state, Kokuyoganmaru exhibits a thin, but extremely sturdy black blade with the same guard as its unsealed state. The heavy weight at its hilt is no longer there, the entire chain detached.

Shikai Ability:
Its default abilities are minute hydro kinesis and aero kinesis. (Note that the moon’s gravitational pull is the reason why tidal waves are higher at night). These abilities are amplified exponentially by six phases of the moon. (New moon = x^1, non-new moon = x^2, full moon = x^3, equinox = x^4, etc.)
When it strikes the opponent’s weapon, if NiiSan wills it, the edge that struck gains an opposite (usually a weaker opposite) of the opponent's current ability for up to 4 minutes, with a 40 minute waiting time before reuse (i.e. ice-fire, heavy-light, skull disease-angel disease, etc.) and the opposite edge gains the ability. It is for this reason that he refers to his zanpakuto as “the zanpakuto of no originality”. However, this ability is very rarely used, as using its “mirror-ability” also necessitates using the ability in the style of its original wielder, making this shikai ability considerably more difficult to use, but not necessarily to maintain, than its unreleased state. This can only copy an enemy’s shikai ability, not a bankai. NiiSan only uses it when he is sure of a 95% or greater hit.
Can split into twin swords with the command: 分割 waru (split). One sword will have a white blade and the other will have a black blade. The sword with the blade color corresponding to the edge the sword struck before splitting will have the opposite ability and the other sword will have the ability. The ability usage can be held for up to the same length of time.

Bankai Name: Kokuyoganmaru Tsukuyomi (黒曜石ツクヨミ)

Bankai Release Phrase: Bankai

Bankai Description:
Becomes hooked swords initially held in reverse position, one black and one white, with crescent-moon guards. Only releasable during an eclipse, a solstice, an equinox, or at night when the moon is not a new moon. Key to this bankai's maintainability, or lack thereof, is the requirement of a spiritual flow from the moon.

Bankai Ability:
1) If at night where the moon is visible, it is connected to his wrists by extendable chains of reiatsu.
2) If a full moon, it becomes unbreakable and is able to acutely control water and wind (by the factor of x^10). The only conditions required to break it are when he is about to die, the universal condition for a failing bankai, or when the sun rises, signifying an end to the night and the setting of the moon, at which it reverts back to shikai.
3) If an equinox, it emits white reishi throughout the blades. The white reishi are condensed and pure, and he is able to feed off of them to continually nullify his illness (which requires very pure reiatsu to nullify). Slamming the white-reishi blades into the ground allows him to shoot endless white reishi in the form of shockwaves. When the white reishi touch the target, they give off a refreshing feeling of euphoria while simultaneously burning the wounded area. This does more damage on targets with darker reishi, such as hollows and arrancar, as well as a vizard that has donned its mask.
4) If a solstice, it emits a black reishi on the left sword, in addition to the white reishi on the right. This signifies a balance between white and black. Unlike the white reishi, when the black reishi touch the target, they give off a feeling of intense pain while burning the target. The black reishi do the same amount of damage as white flames, but do more damage on targets with a brighter reishi, such as humans and shinigami. These reishi can be used in the same fashion as the white reishi.
5) If a solar eclipse, it gives an increase in agility and reflexes. Running is at the speed of shunpo, without additional energy cost.
6) A lunar eclipse has not yet been determined. However, the last time NiiSan has attempted to use it during a Lunar Eclipse, the mass of power he was able to wield did not concur with the orderly state of his mind and he fizzled out, similar in manner to a short circuit. That was approximately 44 years ago and NiiSan has been afraid of using it during a lunar eclipse since, but occasionally looks to develop the ability.

Techniques: All of these are merely samples of the attacks he uses and is not a complete list.

Zanjutsu:
Seikuken (制空圏): A widely known defensive ability in the human world that NiiSan took with him, Seikuken allows NiiSan to block against attacks that come within his arm's reach, or in the case that he is wielding any of his swords, his swords' reach.

Ryusui Ken (流水剣): Based on the evasion ability Ryusui Seikuken, Ryusui Ken is a zanjutsu technique. Unlike Ryusui Seikuken, Ryusui Ken does not require absolute calm, as the shikai state allows NiiSan communication with his zanpakuto to supplement that. This has three stages and all are in Shikai:
1) An opponent attacking NiiSan will have his zanpakuto come into contact with the water around NiiSan's zanpakuto, allowing NiiSan to maneuver himself out of the sword's range instead of simply defending himself against it.
2) Instead of maneuvering out of the sword's range completely, NiiSan attacks in the same or in a similar manner as the opponent, combining his attack with his opponent's.
3) Upon reading a trend with the second ability, NiiSan anticipates his opponent's next move and attacks using that flow before his opponent would think of it. NiiSan is currently working on this part of the maneuver.

Tamashi ken (魂剣): Based off of the quincy Seele Schneider, NiiSan coats his blade in water and causes it to flow about his blade, reminiscent of a chainsaw. The high concentration of the small amounts of water along his blade make the change almost unnoticeable. NiiSan is also able to supplement this attack with Hado 11: Tsuzuri Raiden, manipulating the charges so that they get carried at high speeds by the water molecules along the blade.

Korihari Taiho (氷針大砲): Coating slight amounts of water around the fist that he is not holding his sword with, NiiSan swings his sword out to disrupt the opponent's slash, and then shoots his fist forward. While the fist with the water fixed to it shoots out, the water that emanates from it with the force of the punch will crystallize into a needle by the zanpakuto's ability.
Korihari Taiho - Dengeki Combo (氷針大砲 - 电撃コンボ): Same as previous attack, only that NiiSan, having enhanced his motor nerves with a greatly-weakened Tsuzuri Raiden, shoots the needle out at a greater velocity, However, this time, the needle stays in an orderly liquid form, as though it were in a container, allowing it to splatter onto the enemy and cause additional damage with the large amount of charge built up into it.

Monkey Business (モンキービジネス): NiiSan uses the secondary effect of his blade to temporarily obtain the opposite ability of his opponent. He then closes off his heart and fights the enemy in the enemy's own fighting style. The main weakness of this attack is that an enemy knowing his own style could more easily expose NiiSan's weak spots than NiiSan can, making it practical only when NiiSan is sure he has gotten a hit or is confident on imitating the enemy beforehand.

Hand-to-hand (These attacks do not involve his zanpakuto, though in certain cases, they do.):
Oshizo (押し象): Based on Muay Boran attack Yan Erawan, Oshizo involves NiiSan driving his reishi-coated knee directly into the heart of an incoming opponent, destructively interfering with the heart's beating to severely damage or knock out the opponent. In more severe cases, such as with hollows, NiiSan puts more force into it to kill the opponent outright.
Shinshoku suru zo (浸食する象): With a released zanpakuto, NiiSan adds minute amounts of water to the reiatsu around his knee and puts it into a spinning flow pattern reminiscent of a grinder.