Kaname Tosen was the previous Captain of the 9th Division of the 13 Court Guard Squads until he betrayed the Soul Society to join Sosuke Aizen and Gin Ichimaru. Before that he served as the 5th seat of the 9th Division under Captain Kensei Muguruma before Hollowfying Kensei and other members of the Visoreds, all acting under the orders of Aizen. He joined the 13 Court Guard Squads after a woman he loved was killed by her Soul Reaper husband but he joined out of revenge, extremely distraught over the fact that someone who loved justice and peace so much could be killed just like that. His philosophy in life is to take the path of least violence and bloodshed, although he isn't above killing a few the satisfy the many.
This Respect Thread will be divided into and cover the following categories:
Quotes
Soul Reaper Basics
Accolades
Zanpaku-to
Kido
Hollowfication
Strength
Speed
Durability/Endurance
Quotes
"This isn't personal, but I must eliminate you to restore peace." (Ch. 146)
"I believe that anyone who disrupts the peace should pay. That's all." (Ch. 213)
"Killing without purpose is only murder. On the other hand, killing with purpose is justice." (Ch. 213)
"In what way is a Soul Reaper becoming more like a Hollow depraved? That's a simplistic judgement from one who sees all Hollows as bad and all Soul Reapers as good." (Ch. 384)
"Power is not the most important thing for a warrior. It's the fear of battle. It's because we know the fear of battle that we are able to grasp our swords and fight for those who also fear battle. Those who don't fear the very sword they hold are not worthy of holding one. Hisagi, if you're really afraid of fighting, you've already acquired something invaluable to a warrior." (Ch. 384)
"I do fear something. I've had the same fear for a hundred years. The fear of assimilating and dying as a Soul Reaper." (Ch. 384)
"You said I was depraved, as though acquiring power by deceiving my comrades and subordinates was a base deed. Then let me ask you this. If someone were to join an organization for revenge and lose sight of his true purpose and become complacent in his new life, wouldn't that be depraved? To my blind eyes, that seems even worse." (Ch. 385)
"Then tell me what justice is!! To forgive the one who murdered a beloved friend? That certainly would be virtuous! It's beautiful! Blindingly beautiful!! But is virtue justice?! No!! To live in peace without avenging the dead is vice!!" (Ch. 385)
Soul Reaper Basics
(Ch. 49) As a Soul Reaper, Byakuya materializes spirit energy from his own soul and manifests it into his zanpaku-to:
(Ch. 35) Reiraku are spirit ribbons, manifestations of spiritual energy, that a good Soul Reaper can sense and a great one can even grab. Being able to sense reiraku allows a Soul Reaper to locate beings with high spiritual power and even track them:
(Ch. 105) In Bleach, a battle between two people is a battle of spiritual power. If one opponent's spiritual power isn't strong enough, they can't even cut a stronger opponent. This is displayed and described by Kenpachi Zaraki when he let's Ichigo Kurosaki get in a free cut during their fight. Ichigo swings as hard as he can but doesn't scratch Kenny and even his hands start to bleed:
(Ch. 187) Although a Soul Reaper's zanpaku-to and spiritual power and directly related, meaning the bigger the zanpaku-to the more spiritual power, Captain-class Soul Reapers know how to hone their blades down to manageable sizes, otherwise they'd be swinging around swords the size of buildings:
Accolades
(Ch. 146) Before betraying the Soul Society, Tosen was the Captain of the 9th Division of the 13 Court Guard Squads. There are three ways to become a Captain of the 13 Court Guards squads:
(Ch. 384) Captain Sanjin Komamura says that Tosen had remarkable skills as a Soul Reaper:
Zanpaku-to
Shikai
(Ch. 120) All zanpaku-to have two releases, shikai and bankai. Shikai is the first release and occurs when a Soul Reaper calls out their sword's name and along with bankai, needs to be mastered in order to become a Captain:
(Ch. 127) The essence of Shikai is to communicate and synchronize with your zanpaku-to:
(Ch. 126) Tosen's zanpaku-to is named Suzumushi and one of his activation words is "Howl". This emits a high-pitched tone in a wide area that overwhelms a target's hearing, like it did when it knocked out Uryu Ishida:
(Ch. 368) Tosen uses Suzumushi's ability to loosen the chains around his sword and free it from Shuhei Hisagi's chains:
Suzumushi Nishiki Benihiko
(Ch. 139) Suzumushi's second ability is called Nishiki Benihiko, Bell Bug Type Two Flying Locus, which transforms his blade into hundreds of blades that then rain down on an opponent. This attack helped collapse part of a large building and was believed to not leave any trace of Kenpachi Zaraki:
Bankai
(Ch. 120) Bankai is the second release of a Soul Reaper's zanpaku-to and in general, increases the users power by five to ten times. Even if you have exceptional skill and talent, mastering bankai can still take a Soul Reaper up to and at least ten years:
(Ch. 127) Where Shikai is the essence of communicating and synchronizing with one's zanpaku-to, bankai requires a Soul Reaper to externalize the zanpaku-to and force it into submission. It usually takes at least ten years for this training because the zanpaku-to needs to be summoned to our world:
(Ch. 162) According to Byakuya Kuchiki, only the most experienced Soul Reapers can achieve bankai:
(Ch. 146) Tosen's bankai is called Suzumushi Tsuishiki Enmakorogi, Bell Bug Closing Ceremony Field Cricket, and when he activates it he enlarges the ring attached to his zanpaku-to's hilt and creates eight copies of the ring to make nine in total. These rings fan out across a wide area and form a large tent to enclose Tosen and his target:
(Ch. 146) Inside of Tosen's bankai is a world without light or sound. It deprives the an enemy of the sense of sight, sound, smell, and even spiritual pressure. The only way to escape it is to be holding Suzumushi:
(Ch. 147) Here's another shot at how big the area of Tosen's bankai is:
Kido
Kido are spells in the Bleach verse and can be used regardless of a Soul Reaper's zanpaku-to abilities. It's basically the magic of the verse.
Hado 54
(Ch. 213) Tosen uses Hado 54 Haien, Abolition Flame, to disintegrate Espada No. 6 Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's arm after he cut it off:
Bakudo 77
(Ch. 314) Tosen uses Bakudo 77 Tenteikura so that Sosuke Aizen could broadcast a message to everyone in Las Noches:
(Ch. 172) Tosen was able to use Bakudo 77 without any incantations whereas an Assistant Captain had to use all of the incantations to use it:
Hollowfication
(Ch. 384) Thanks to Sosuke Aizen and the Hogyoku, Tosen has been granted Hollow powers and the ability to Hollowfy, just like Ichigo Kurosaki and the other Visoreds:
(Ch. 383) Tosen claims that the power to Hollowfy is greater than bankai:
High Speed Regeneration
(Ch. 385) As part of his Hollow powers, Tosen is granted high speed regeneration. He is able to completely heal a thrashed and broken arm he received from Sanjin Komamura's bankai in seconds:
(Ch. 387) After being stabbed through the head and having Shuhei Hisagi's Kazeshini stab him through the throat, Tosen's Hollow powers were able to allow him to breathe and talk:
Resurreccion
(Ch. 385/386) Tosen's Resurreccion is called Suzumushi Hyakushiki: Grillar Grillo, Bell Bug Hundredth Ceremony: Crazed Cricket. He transforms into a cricket-like creature covered in black fur. He has four insect-like arms, two long spiraling horns , large bulbous eyes, a tail and insect wings:
(Ch. 386) In this form Tosen can see his surroundings for the first time:
(Ch. 386) Tosen can fire off Cero blasts in this form:
Los Nueve Aspectos
(Ch. 386) Tosen draws circles in the air that produce massive concussive force capable of crushing and defeating Sajin Komamura's bankai in one attack:
Strength
Feats marked with a "*" are feats performed while Hollowfied.
(Ch. 213) Tosen cuts off Espada No. 6 Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's arm:
(Ch. 384) *Tosen blocks a strike from Sajin Komamura's bankai and then kicks him a far distance to go crashing into a building:
(Ch. 386) *In his Resurreccion form, Tosen catches Sajin Komamura's bankai attack and manages to chip his sword in the process:
Speed
Feats marked with a "*" are feats performed while Hollowfied.
(Ch. 147) Tosen dodges a strike from Kenpachi Zaraki and only receives a small cut on his cheek:
(Ch. 213) Tosen cuts off Espada No. 6 Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's arm despite Grimmjow looking right at Tosen before he went to attack him:
(Ch. 366/367) Tosen intercepts Shinji Hirako's attack on Aizen in an attempt to cut his head off, but only manages to scratch his eyebrow:
Shunpo
(Ch. 155) Shunpo, also known as Flash Step, is an ability where the user travels at FTE speeds in order to cross a large distance in a short matter of time:
(Ch. 384) *Tosen blitzes and slashes Shuhei Hisagi across the body after first showing him his Hollowfication. Shuhei did manage to take a step back to prevent the attack from being fatal, though:
Durability/Endurance
Feats marked with a "*" are feats performed while Hollowfied.
(Ch. 24) A thing to note and be aware of is that according to Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper's life force is equal to his/her spiritual energy:
(Ch. 145) Tosen is fine after being kicked away by Kenpachi Zaraki across a large building and strong enough to severely damage the side of it:
(Ch. 147/148) Tosen is able to endure a slash across his body from Kenpachi Zaraki:
(Ch. 148) Tosen then survives another powerful slash from Kenpachi:
(Ch. 384) *Tosen is fine after being slammed into the side of a building by Shuhei Hisagi:
(Ch. 385) *Tosen is smacked across multiple buildings by Sanjin Komamura's bankai but seems to not care about severely breaking his left arm:
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