Hanayama Kaoru

A powerful, silent Yakuza, he was born into the Hanayama family, and from an early age was taught the ways of the Yakuza by a powerful and fierce, but also kind, father. His immense strength was discovered at an early age, and to test him, his father beat his mother in front of him, causing Hanayama to explode his arm. Impressed, his father told him that he would make an excellent heir, and at peace with his future, he left for a gang war, from which he did not emerge alive. Hanayama spent the next few years training and learning the ways of the Yakuza. However, his mother began to suffer from terminal cancer, which made her look 90 years old, despite being 36. At the age of fifteen, he went to receive the traditional tattoo of the clan, and seemed to criticize it. A few hours later, he disappeared from the gang's radar, and when they found him, they discovered that he had single-handedly infiltrated the headquarters of the gang that had killed his father, beaten all the members, and let them attack his back, to complement the "fierce spirit" of the tattoo. He began to fight and relentlessly search for opponents to fight, until the day he heard about Baki Hanma...

Intelligence: Normal. Hanayama is not only one of Baki's best fighters, being able to hold his own with the likes of Baki and earning praise from Yujiro, but he is also an excellent bully, stalker, and a good administrator for the Yakuza.

Attack: At least Wall (Breaks an arcade with one punch and easily punches through a wall, in addition to being said to be stronger than the Monkey Yasha) | At least Building (Caused serious damage to Spec; A punch of his carrying all his strength was able to give Yujiro a nosebleed; Considered to be one of the only men capable of fighting against The Five Most Dangerous Men in the World)

Defense: At least Wall (Resistes Baki's attacks) | At least Building (Resistes Spec's Wu-Hu-Xi-Da-Ji)

Speed: At least Subsonic (Hit Baki before he can react and grab his arm during a block) | Supersonic (Ma 2; Able to keep up with Spec and Pickle)

Force: kN (Turn a car over and rip a tire in half by flexing your arm) | kN (Pickle compares his strength to that of a 12-ton Triceratops; Knocks over a train car; Rips a car door off)

Stamina: Superhuman (Stays standing even after a long fight and being wounded to the brink of death, with bullets in the knees and brain damage])

Reach: Slightly extended hand-to-hand reach Physical Weaknesses: Conventional human weaknesses at drastically reduced levels

Special Techniques • Destructive Force: Kaoru Hanayama can perform an incredibly strong punch known as Destructive Force. He uses a combination of his supernatural abilities, which consist of grip, body weight, and speed, and then proceeds to punch his opponent. In the manga, it is described as follows: Grip Strength X Body Weight X Speed ​​= Destructive Power (握力×体重×スピード= 破壊力, Akuryoku X Taijū X Supīdo = Hakai-ryoku). In order to perform the move, he must imitate the style of a baseball pitcher. • Monstrous Grip: Hanayama compresses an area of ​​the enemy's body, squeezing with all his strength two close but opposite parts of a limb, and the pressure created, in addition to the cutting off of blood flow, is so great that the entire area explodes. • Headbutt: Hanayama moves his neck back and then brings down a strong headbutt on the opponent with all his strength. • Rolling Kick: Hanayama rolls, and in the middle of the roll, he raises his leg and finishes it with a powerful kick, throwing the enemy far away.

• Tameshi Wari: Hanayama holds the opponent 10cm above a hard surface and then slams his head into the ground, causing further damage when he collides with the surface. The Tameshi Wari trick originally comes from the world of karate. It officially means simply a breaking test, in which a martial artist uses a striking surface to break one or more objects using the skills honed in his art form. During the execution of Tameshi Wari, the karateka leaves an empty space between the stone and the support. With this trick, even an amateur can easily break an object. • Pinch: This is a simple technique that requires the use of just a few fingers to pinch a portion of the opponent's body. The more force the user puts into this technique, the more pain the opponent feels. Although it is a very easy move to execute, it causes a lot of pain. • Iron Claw: Hanayama needs to firmly grab the opponent's left hand with his right hand, then he should grab the opponent's face with his left hand. Then, the user of the technique should take the opponent to the ground and start crushing his face by pressing it against the ground.

• Hand-to-Hand combat: It is not known whether Hanayama had He has no formal martial arts training, but is extremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat, utilizing a street fighting style that emphasizes the use of his hands, using mainly devastating punches and grabs. The style is considered slow, but extremely effective especially against groups of enemies, being able to disable them with his wide strikes.

Personality Kaoru Hanayama is the 19-year-old leader of the Yakuza. He is a taciturn and proud fighter. His code of honor is to choose not to fall in battle, even if it means his death; a family vow that has been upheld in the long tradition passed down from generations. Even after 3 direct attacks from Katsumi Orochi, he still chose not to fall and chose to risk death. Katsumi even admitted that he lost the battle to him, despite officially winning the match. Hanayama is also very silent and stoic, ironically much like Yuujirou himself, as he usually only listens and only speaks what is necessary when confronting someone, especially during combat.

He is seen as an older brother figure to Baki Hanma, often appearing to comfort Baki and reassure him when needed. Originally seeking to fight Baki as a way to get Yuujirou's attention, it is only after being defeated by him that they become good friends. This is best shown during the second series of the manga, where Hanayama ruthlessly grabs Spec by the face and pulls him away from Kozue Matsumoto and Baki, who were having a nice romantic date. Despite his harsh and cold manner, Baki is not the only person Hanayama can show his affection and care for. During the Maximum Tournament, he met Chiharu Shiba, whom he began to respect because of her unusual style and insane fighting spirit. Not only does he begin to consider him a friend, but he likely began working with him in the gangster sphere (seen in the later parts of the manga). His long-time companion and diplomat is Kizaki, whom Hanayama

and only after being defeated by him do they become good friends. This is best shown during the second series of the manga, where Hanayama ruthlessly grabs Spec by the face and pulls him away from Kozue Matsumoto and Baki, who were having a nice romantic date. Despite his harsh and cold manner, Baki is not the only person Hanayama can show his affection and care for. During the Maximum Tournament, he met Chiharu Shiba, whom he began to respect because of her unusual style and insane fighting spirit. Not only does he begin to consider him a friend, but he probably began working with him in the gangster sphere (as seen in the later parts of the manga). His long-time companion and diplomat is Kizaki, to whom Hanayama usually shows no emotion. However, it can be interpreted that he greatly appreciates his service, as they have been with each other for so many years. Kizaki has been with him since Hanayama was a child and has always shown him boundless loyalty. Additionally, Kaoru's act of pouring a drink over Emi Akezawa's grave suggests a feeling of love, but it is unknown

Hanayama loves and respects his mother very much. She was terminally ill with cancer, which made her a weak shell of her former self. Hanayama visited her often. He revealed to Baki that she was 35 years old but looked 90 because of the cancer, and that he was jealous that Baki's mother was still alive and well. Hanayama's attitude towards his father is not very well known, as Keizou died when Kaoru was a boy, so many of his scenes were not shown in the manga, and Kaoru never talks about his father.

Hanayama is very intelligent, being able to effectively lead the Yakuza despite his young age, and knows how to use his strength effectively in combat. However, he is still capable of being extremely reckless. For example, in the first series, he attacked Yuujirou when he was extremely beaten and exhausted after his battle with Baki. However, he is one of the few characters whose reputation extends beyond the fighting world, being well-known within the national police force, with almost everyone respecting and admiring him greatly, demonstrated when police officer Tsuneo Katahira lightly narrated Hanayama's fight against Spec, despite his multiple injuries and fatal attacks received by the death row inmate.

Perhaps something that could be considered a "flaw" in Hanayama's personality is his peculiar approach towards romantic relationships. For example, during his middle school year, Hanayama is confessed to by a girl named Saeri Sugimura that she has a crush on him. In response, Hanayama unzips his pants to reveal his penis and asks her if she is ready to "have [his] child." When Saeri hesitantly answers yes, Hanayama kisses her so hard that her lips swell. This causes Saeri to become frightened and run away in fear. Additionally, during the second series, Hanayama offers Baki to find a "real woman" as a "replacement" for his girlfriend Kozue, much to the couple's anger. On the other hand, it is possible that Hanayama did this simply to test how strong the bond between the two was.

Hanayama is very intelligent, being able to effectively lead the Yakuza despite his young age, and knows how to use his strength effectively in combat. However, he is still capable of being extremely reckless. For example, in the first series, he attacked Yuujirou when he was extremely beaten and tired after his battle with Baki. However, he is one of the few characters whose reputation goes beyond the fighting world, being well-known within the national police force, with almost everyone respecting and admiring him greatly, demonstrated when a police officer Tsuneo Katahira lightly narrated Hanayama's fight against Spec, despite his multiple injuries and fatal attacks received by the death row inmate.

Perhaps something that could be considered a "flaw" in Hanayama's personality is his peculiar approach towards romantic relationships. For example, during his middle school year, Hanayama is confessed to by a girl named Saeri Sugimura that she has a crush on him. In response, Hanayama unzips his pants to reveal his penis and asks her if she is ready to "have [his] child." When Saeri hesitantly answers yes, Hanayama kisses her so hard that her lips swell. This causes Saeri to become frightened and run away in fear. Additionally, during the second series, Hanayama offers Baki to find a "real woman" as a "replacement" for his girlfriend Kozue, much to the couple's anger. On the other hand, it is possible that Hanayama did this simply to test how strong the bond between the two was.

He had an infamous confrontation with the convict Spec, who managed to stuff a handful of bullets into Hanayama's mouth and close it, causing them to explode out of his cheeks, creating two large holes in Hanayama's face and exposing a portion of his jaw muscles. Although Hanayama won the battle, he wears a face mask for most of the series. His appearance has barely changed in the five-year time span, aside from the addition of a few more scars from his subsequent fights.

As a boy, Hanayama's father was the first boss of the Hanayama Group (see: Baki Gaiden: Scarface). While not a cruel man, his father was thoroughly indoctrinated as a Yakuza leader and was fierce and strong, yet highly honorable, earning the respect and recognition of several other Yakuza families. Kizaki, a close friend of Hanayama's father, discovered Hanayama's strength by witnessing feats of strength the boy demonstrated far beyond most trained adults. Kaoru's father, Keizou Hanayama, discovered his son's strength before he died in a gang war. As he was leaving, Hanayama's mother begged him not to leave, but he was undeterred and slapped her. Angered by his mother's mistreatment, young Hanayama grabbed his father's arm with great force, asking, "Is that all?" His father knew that his son possessed exactly the same incredible physical strength as he did, and encouraged the boy to tighten his grip. By doing so, he caused the pressure to build up and his arm to explode, impressing his father. He went on to fight, confident that his son would be a great successor to the leadership of the Hanayama group, as he knew that he himself would probably die in this gang war. Until the time when young Hanayama was ready, Kizaki managed the Hanayama group and looked after the well-being of Kaoru and his mother. He helped educate the young Hanayama in the ways of the Yakuza after his father's death.

When he finally felt ready to take on the group leader, Hanayama was welcomed with open arms by all the members. Kizaki being the closest to him and, still respectful of Hanayama's father, he began to call him of "second", as he was the second generation successor of the Hanayama group. As is tradition at this point, Kaoru is gifted of the same tattoo on the back, all the heirs of the sex male in his family received the "Standing Man". The The story of the "Standing Man" is that of a lone traveler who received shelter from a noble family in feudal Japan. In That same night, a group of assassins is sent to kill all family members in one bloody blow; the traveler tries to escape carrying a large bell on his back, but is cornered by the bandits. They attack him, stabbing him, cutting him, beating him and scolding him, but the man is not moved and looks at them aggressively. Many moments pass until the leader of the bandits realizes that he is long dead. Still, he stood there with the heavy bell on their backs giving them the same menacing look, taking this as a sign that man has a strength of incredible spirit, the bandits leave their bloody acts deeds. The next morning, the man's body is found by the remaining servants of the deceased family still frozen in same pose. It is then revealed that beneath the large bell he was carrying, he had hidden Yakichi Hanayama, the youngest heir of the Hanayama clan. As a tribute to this courageous act that spared his family, it is tradition that each male heir carry the man's tattoo fearless man who saved them and is a symbol of kindness, hope and great spiritual strength for all of them. It is a symbolic example for them to live by, even in the world dangerous Yakuza.

At the age of 15, Kaoru Hanayama receives a tattoo from a traditional tattoo artist named Horitatsu, however, he is not satisfied with it. While his subordinates try to calm the tattoo artist who is furious with the criticism, Hanayama leaves without them knowing. Kizaki panics and has all available members search for him, discovering that his whereabouts are in the territory occupied by the Yakuza group that killed his father. Fearing for Hanayama's life, they rush to save him, only to discover upon arrival the beaten and bloodied bodies of the rival Yakuza group. Finally, they enter the boss's office to find Hanayama having beaten the boss, but now covered from head to toe in scars; those on his body caused by blades and those on his face from human hands as he strangled the rival gang boss. Upon returning to the tattoo artist, he reveals his tattoo as the true "Standing Man", showing that he needed scars to show his strength. Impressed by such an incredible act and the revelation of the truth, the artist bows in recognition that Hanayama was right and possessed incredible strength.

Hanayama represents his own group in the fight against Tommy Carbine, who represents the Yajima group. Hanayama allows Tommy to deliver a series of intense boxing punches that have no effect, and after a while, the gangster executes a devastating blow against an American fighter. Tommy is easily defeated by Hanayama with and Hitoshi Kuriyagawa then asks Hanayama if he will fight Baki Hanma. Hanayama is not interested at first, until he hears that Baki is the son of Yuujirou Hanma, of course, and he then agrees to the request.

When Baki returns from training in the mountains, Hanayama injures Yuri Chakovsky, a professional boxer and friendly sparring partner of Baki, on the way to their fight in the ring. Kizaki and other gangsters come with Hanayama to hold Yuri off for seconds, so that the young gangster can defeat the boxer in peace. During the battle, Yuri bombards Hanayama with his best punches, but the gangster makes it clear that surviving these attacks is not too great a challenge for him. Hanayama attacks Yuri and brutally defeats him, first destroying his hand with the famous Vice Grip, and then violently punching his head against the wall, and the boxer loses consciousness, despite having done his best. This lures Baki to go to Hanayama's Yakuza office, where Baki kicks his desk through the window and then proceeds to deliver a powerful attack on Hanayama. This infuriates Hanayama, as he has never been on his knees before, and he destroys his own car with his bare hands to vent his anger.

Hanayama is an immensely powerful gangster who relies primarily on his raw physical power and his grip. His grip is so strong that if he grabs an opponent's arm, he can often make it explode by restricting blood flow, as he did to Yuri Chakovsky. As a child, Hanayama could break a bottle, tear a thick magazine, grip a doorknob, and knock off a bottle cap with his bare hands. As he grew up, Hanayama is able to effortlessly rip a piece of a deck of cards with his fingers, and is even able to tear Spec's calf muscle and break his arms with his bare hands.

Hanayama was born strong and nearly broke his grandfather's finger just hours after he was born. Despite this, he trains hard to become even stronger, but he has not trained his entire life like some others. During a test of strength with Pickle, Hanayama's strength was compared to that of a Triceratops, a dinosaur that can weigh between 6 and 12 tons. Hanayama also fought a great white shark with his bare hands while underwater, and managed to kill the animal by crushing its brain. His physical strength is great enough that he is the first human Pickle has recognized as a rival, rather than food. Later in the series, he was also able to give Yuujirou a bloody nose, although the damage was almost negligible to the latter. Another notable trait of Hanayama is his extremely high tolerance for pain and incredibly durable body. He was able to take punches from the doomed Spec, who had previously caused extensive damage to the Statue of Liberty with just the use of his fists, and even withstood an explosion inside his mouth caused by Spec's dirty tricks that caused him to lose half of his face. He was able to take multiple shots from a handgun and even a sniper rifle without lasting damage. He has also been shown to be able to catch a blade from Musashi Miyamoto between his knuckles, and his back muscles are strong and durable enough to withstand several of his sword strikes that would otherwise be capable of cutting a massive ox in half. Because of this, Hanayama always takes attacks "head on" and goes "all in" with his powerful attack, making little to no attempt to shield or parry the attack. As such, Hanayama has become a fearless street fighter with many scars all over his body as proof of his strength.

However, Hanayama's greatest weakness is his slow speed. Despite being able to move relatively quickly when needed, he relies more on his stamina and his brutal punches and grip than speed, as most of his punches are powerful but slow. Speed-oriented fighters who rely on speed such as Katsumi, Baki, and Musashi have been able to defeat him with the latter nearly killing him. Additionally, despite his stamina, he is most vulnerable to his stomach, as it was the only place Musashi was able to cut out of ten slashes he landed on him.

Kaoru Hanayama would likely describe himself as a taciturn and proud leader of the Yakuza, embodying a stoic demeanor akin to his, Yuujirou Hanma. Driven by a deep code of honor passed through generations, Hanayama values standing unwavering in battle, even at the risk of death. His imposing physical presence, marked by a muscular build, numerous scars, and the iconic "Standing Man" tattoo, reflects a lifetime of intense combat.