Kaname Tōsen

Weaknesses

Blindness: Thanks to reiatsu, Tosen is able to "see", or rather perceive the exterior, its silhouettes and fundamental characteristics (distance, space, movement, etc.), which replaces the need for eyes. However, Tosen is unable to see more secondary features or those inherent only to sight. For example, he can't see people's faces, only their "silhouettes." That's why he mentions that "I didn't expect Koname to be so ugly." Although this has little or no effect on his performance overall. Hearing Impairment: Neuro-shutdown does not work on the deaf. Touch Nullification (Bankai): The Bankai technique's main shortcoming is that anyone, not just Tōsen himself, touching Suzumushi's hilt is immune to the dome's effects, so anyone able to grab Suzumushi recovers their senses.[95] The dome only exists as long as Tōsen wills it to, or if he happens to become seriously injured; in either circumstance, the dome shreds apart and dissipates.

Final release (Bankai)

Bankai: Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Kōrogi (清虫終式閻魔蟋蟀, Cricket Final Form: Yama Cricket; Viz "Bell Bug Closing Ceremony: Field Cricket"): Suzumushi maintains its form of a regular katana, though without the small ring. Tōsen holds up his sword in his right hand, and places his left palm against the ring on his cross guard. The ring begins to spin as it releases spiritual energy. As it spins faster, the circle grows bigger and bigger until it's large enough to surround his body. The ring then splits into ten other glowing rings of similar size that encircle Tōsen. With a slash of his sword, the circles go flying outwards and form a circular perimeter over a large area. Once in position, the ten rings begin to generate a black void, which grows in size until it forms a large black dome, which is centered around Tōsen's body and anchored to the ground by the ten rings. Each ring of Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Kōrogi is inscribed with a unique kanji, which include Skeleton (骨, Hone), Scatter/Squander (散, Bara), Daring/Tragic/Pitiful (敢, Kan), Inflamed/Fester (爛, Ran), Blood (血, Chi), and Stretch/Spread (張, Chō).[79][80][81] Bankai Special Ability: The dome creates a vacuum that nullifies the senses of spiritual energy, sight, sound, and scent, what Tōsen calls Mumyō (無明, lit. "No Light", popularly known as "Avidya" and defined as "Ignorance (of Buddhist teachings)"). The only sense the victim retains is that of touch. Unlike with some Zanpakutō, Suzumushi does not convert itself into the massive dome that it creates during Bankai. Instead, the dome serves as a separate extension of Suzumushi itself, allowing Tōsen to wield its sealed form as a weapon while inside the dome, but preventing him from using its abilities. The technique's main shortcoming is that anyone, not just Tōsen himself, touching Suzumushi's hilt is immune to the dome's effects, so anyone able to grab Suzumushi recovers their senses. The dome only exists as long as Tōsen wills it to, or is heavily injured.

First release (Shikai)

Shikai: Unlike most Zanpakutō, Suzumushi has two Shikai commands, each producing a unique automatic effect. Shikai Special Ability: Suzumushi maintains its form of a regular katana. Suzumushi's release command is "Cry" (鳴け, nake; Viz "Howl"), which projects a high-pitched tone over a wide area, overloading the hearing of anyone in range and knocking them unconscious. This comparatively humane and painless technique fits with Tōsen's self-presentation as a proponent of justice.[76] The ring tone is produced by the vibration of Suzumushi, which Tōsen used to free his sword from the chains of Hisagi's Kazeshini.[77] Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihikō (清虫二式紅飛蝗, Cricket 2nd Movement: Crimson Flying Locusts): A technique which changes Suzumushi into its Benihikō form. Suzumushi vibrates momentarily and, after Tōsen moves the blade around him in a semi-circle, a trail appears, following the sword's path. The trail turns into hundreds of blades, which rain down on his opponents.

Zanpakutō: Suzumushi

Suzumushi (清虫, Cricket; Viz "Bell Bug"): Kaname Tōsen attained Suzumushi after attending the funeral of his late friend.[75] In its sealed state, Suzumushi looks like a regular katana with an orange hilt. The tsuba has a teardrop shape, with the base of the drop arcing over the top of the blade, and the point of the drop pointing below the cutting edge. A row of several tiny teardrop-shaped holes decorates the bottom of the curve, and a small ring, approximately 2" in diameter, dangles off the tip of the tear-drop. In its sealed form, his zanpakutō is a common katana, without special powers, that serves to cut and thrust.

Abilities

Master Swordsman: Despite his personal distaste for violence, Tōsen is highly proficient in wielding his Zanpakutō, which is further impressive with his blindness. During his days as the 5th seated officer, he was able to fight at a captain's level, going toe-to-toe with Shinji Hirako (although Shinji was focused on halting his Hollowfication process at the time).[60] Tōsen's swordsmanship mastery is even further emphasized by him holding his own against Kenpachi Zaraki, one of Soul Society's foremost experts in swordsmanship, even if it was only for a short time.[61] He can even hold his own and fight both Sajin Komamura and his former lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi simultaneously.[62] Shunpo Expert: Tōsen was fast enough to sneak up behind Grimmjow before he realized it[63] He quickly protected Aizen from Shinji's attack.[64] Kidō Expert: Tōsen is capable of using high level Kidō spells without incantation.[65][66] Hakuda Combatant: While relying mostly on his sword skills, Tōsen is also competent in hand-to-hand combat, using swift and powerful kicks to easily overpower and throw around other skilled fighters like Sajin Komamura, despite the massive difference in size.[67] Great Spiritual Power: As the former captain of the 9th Division of the Gotei 13, Tōsen boasts a great amount of spiritual energy. His skill in the use of his spiritual power is evident, as he uses his spiritual sense to "see". His Reiatsu is pink. Enhanced Durability: Tōsen is considerably durable, having withstood a powerful kick from Zaraki into a wall and emerging unharmed after.[72] Enhanced Endurance: Even after having being slashed across his chest twice at close range by Zaraki, Tōsen still managed to stand and fight

Personality

Tōsen's creed in life is to "take the path with the least bloodshed"; it was for this reason that he felt it necessary to follow Sōsuke Aizen. Despite this, he knows of Aizen's plan to create the King's Key, which will require the deaths of thousands of innocent people. He was also willing to attack and kill members of his own division while acting as the 5th seat, including Hollowfying his own captain. Tōsen, along with Gin Ichimaru is identified by Kenpachi Zaraki as being afraid of death, this is later confirmed with him saying he only feared being assimilated into the Shinigami culture and dying a pointless death. Having lost his closest friend, Tōsen had secretly dedicated himself to the pursuit of justice against Soul Society that allowed her killer to go free. Driven by vengeance despite stating many times how much his friend loved the world, he himself never said so, and in fact hated the world that took away his friend. He also recognized the fallacy that justice cannot conflate with ideals such as goodness or pacifism, stating to Komamura that living a peaceful life without avenging the dead would be considered evil to him. As former captain of the 9th Division, which is charged with the editing of Seireitei Communication, Tōsen was the chief editor of the journal. He himself wrote a serialization titled "The Path of Justice", which was not very popular, until he began to publish cooking recipes in his articles, which made them more popular among female Shinigami. This also indicates that his specialty is indeed cooking, his favorite dishes being chicken stewed with carrots and other sophisticated ones. He does not like pickled food.

Appearance

Tōsen is a black man with dark brown braids. He has pupilless eyes that are a pale lavender and has been blind since birth. While a captain, he wore the traditional Shinigami shihakushō with the sleeves rolled up to the shoulders and his captain's haori over it; the uniform is tied with a purple obi sash. He also wore an orange scarf around his neck, white boots (instead of the normal sandals), and black, fingerless gloves. He usually wore clear goggles, although this was not always the case. He kept his hair tied back in a ponytail. He wears the shihakusho uniform as a Shinigami: a black kosode, a white shirt underneath, and pleated black hakama tied with a white obi. As Captain, he wears a distinguished haori over his ordinary uniform.