Appearance:
Name: Kiyoshi Kuroda
Age: 576
Gender: Male
Division: 6
Rank: Captain - Rookie
Accessories: It is customary for members of the Kuroda family to wear prim and proper suits as pictured above. Kiyoshi obviously partakes in this custom himself.
Zanpakutō Sealed Appearance:
Zanpakutō Shikai Appearance:
Zanpakutō Bankai Appearance:
Shikai Abilities:
"Stream, Gekokujou."
The base ability of Kiyoshi's Zanpakuto is the manipulation of water for the purposes of attacking his opponent.
-Aqua Blaster: A simple technique that involves nothing more than Kiyoshi shooting globs of water out of the tip of his Zanpakuto. Their stopping power is modest, but not to be overlooked.
-Slamming Wave: This technique involves creating arcs of water from Kiyoshi swinging his blade. The arcs of water travel through the air until they collide with a target (or until they reach an unreasonable range). The spread of this technique means it can't be sidestepped all too easily, and they pack more of a punch than the Aqua Blasters.
-Whirling Vortex: This technique involves Kiyoshi spinning his Zanpakuto around, creating a vortex of water around him. The technique has both defensive and offensive applications, as it creates a whirling wall of water around Kiyoshi to block projectiles and naturally would prove quite difficult for nearby enemies to defend against.
Bankai Abilities:
"Bankai, Sonno Gekokujou."
-Aquaform: Kiyoshi gains the ability to dive into bodies of water and become one with them. The body of water needs to be at least the size of both his feet (i.e. able to stand on it) to enter. He can use this ability to avoid attacks and to travel through the water to emerge elsewhere, such as behind his opponent or other such things. However, he cannot do this for more than a few seconds, meaning he can't avoid attacks forever and can only travel so far inside a body of water. Furthermore, if the body of water he is within is displaced, he travels with it, meaning he may be forced to leave the water in the middle of the air etc.
-Crushing Torrent: With a large, sweeping swing of his Zanpakuto, Kiyoshi can create a sweeping torrent of water that will slam into everything before it at high speed and sweep away anything not rooted to the ground. Naturally, the technique also leaves behind significant amounts of water in the area it was used in. If used against an airborne target, the attack will be more like a long snaking tendril than a wave. The build up to this attack is rather obvious, and it will be more than obvious what he is trying to do if one is familiar with this attack.
Kido Spells:
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Sokatsui
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Daichi Tenyo
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Seki
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Shitotsu Sansen
Other Skills:
-Zanjutsu Specialist: Kiyoshi's ability with his Zanpakuto is a spectacle.
-Shunpo Expert: Kiyoshi's grasp of Shunpo is exceptional, if not the greatest in the Soul Society.
-Kido practitioner: Kiyoshi's grasp of kido is average at best, though his kido will still strike with all the force one might expect.
-Exceptional Endurance: Kiyoshi's stony attitude is matched by his stony resilience to attacks made by his opponents.
Personality: Kiyoshi is on the surface what might one expect from the Law and Order Division; a man of the law that believes keenly in enforcing the rules and regulations of the Soul Society. His diligent work ethic has given him a reputation as a stickler for the rules throughout the Seireitei. In spite of his reputation, Kiyoshi does not believe in pursuing every tiny violation of the rules to the point of dogma, but his constant attempts to lecture people about the importance of the rules laid out by the Gotei 13 has contributed to the all too common perception of him. His belief in the rule of law stems from a sincere desire to do right by others, but this is poorly communicated by his general demeanour.
Kiyoshi is a fairly stoic man, but not one that chooses to be so. The best way to describe his social graces is to say that he tries; he tries to be friendly, sociable, and capable of joking around. He tries, but he most certainly fails. His sense of humour is his greatest deficiency; he is effectively incapable of being intentionally funny and light hearted and so attempts to compensate by laughing loudly at jokes he doesn't understand and attempting to offer what comedic input he can (and almost always failing miserably). This has naturally done little to help the way people see him. He can hold a conversation just fine, though his language tends to be stuffy and overly formal, and he usually has a bad sense of what is and isn't boring to talk about.
He is hard on himself for his failings, both in work and among his peers, though more so for any perceived failings in the line of duty. He has a perception of what he is supposed to live up to both as a member of the Soul Society and as a ranking member of the Gotei 13. When he fails to meet his own expectations or those of others, he does not take it well. In a way, his sense of self deficiency is what motivates him to try harder, but it nonetheless contributes to his eccentricities; his devotion to his work and his attempts to make himself a more interesting person socially. It is usually due to his overbearing attempts to correct his flaws that he ends up making something worse.
History: Kiyoshi belongs to the family Kuroda, an old, proud noble family in the Soul Society. The Kuroda have always had a tradition of pushing their newest generations to succeed, which is of course what gave birth to Kiyoshi's desire to meet certain standards. His parents were exceptionally strict; expecting nothing less than perfect obedience and for their children to all push themselves to succeed. Simply doing his best was not enough, as learning he had achieved less than others, any others, would lead to expressions of disappointment at home. Kiyoshi began to apply this to all his pursuits in life; his friendships, his studies, and his place in society. His dogmatic pursuit of his own ideals of success made him an oddball to many around him, though he found a handful of friends prepared to overlook his quirks.
Kiyoshi's best friend was a man named Satoshi, who was perhaps the most tolerant of Kiyoshi's strange behaviour. Kiyoshi in turn respected Satoshi, who had as strong a work ethic as he did without coming across like a piece of wood in the process. Both Kiyoshi and Satoshi were both assigned to the 6
th Division. The captain at the time was a rigid thinking woman that had a reputation for following every tiny rule to the letter and dogmatically punishing every rule breaker she could find. Due to this, she chose Kiyoshi as her lieutenant in spite of Satoshi being a better fighter and better adjusted person in general. Kiyoshi believed Satoshi should have been given the role instead, but rather than fight it, he chose to attempt to live up to the role as best he could.
After some time, the 6
th Division captain perished on assignment, and a successor was necessary. Everyone expected it to be Kiyoshi; his family almost demanded he seize the opportunity, and the members of the 6
th Division figured the lieutenant would be the next in line to lead. At the time, Kiyoshi was almost confident he would take the position. However, there was a problem; his Zanpakuto spirit, Gekokujou, was a troublesome creature. While both of them believed in doing right by others, Gekokujou believed rules were meaningless in the face of what was morally right, while Kiyoshi argued that laws should be followed no matter what, to be reformed only from within if truly wrong. Coupled with Gekokujou's nettlesome, snarky personality, this gulf in opinion would prevent Kiyoshi from manifesting his Bankai. But someone in the 6
th Division did manifest their Bankai around this time, and that was Satoshi. Wasting no time, Satoshi was offered the position of captain of the 6
th Division. He kept Kiyoshi on as his lieutenant, but while he held no grudge against Satoshi, Kiyoshi couldn't help but be dismayed. He had disappointed his family yet again, and failed to succeed where almost everyone expected him to. He took this failure as the purest sign of his inadequacy.
Kiyoshi continued to do his best to serve as Satoshi's lieutenant, though his failure always dwelled on his mind. His conflict with Gekokujou soured further, as a small part of Kiyoshi wanted to blame it on his stubborn counterpart. But one day, Satoshi passed away due to illness. Kiyoshi was devastated, and yet, the death of his friend gave him a resolve he did not expect. He tried his best to come to an understanding with Gekokujou, and his Bankai awakened not long after. Kiyoshi was finally awarded the position of captain of the 6
th Division. He was determined to live up the role he had assumed, though his inadequacies always weighed on his mind. He believed he had only taken the position after all the greater candidates had perished, and was always worried his fragile bond with Gekokujou might slip. He was never sure if he was prepared to be a captain, but he resolved to do his best regardless.
Theme Song:
