Kurotora
From Inga no Kusari wiki
Kurotora (Black Tiger) is Ryuto Shirahama's Zanpakutō.
Ryuto's blade is a normal sealed zanpakutō besides. The only thing that is unusual is that the scabbard is gold and has three scratch-like holes, in which the actual blade comes through the middle.
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Spirit Description
Kurotora is a dark skinned woman with purple hair and yellow eyes. She has three black, whisker like marks on her cheeks that are about an inch thick each. she has small fangs that come down the side of her mouth when closed. She has black fur that only covers her private areas as if they were undergarments. Around her neck, she wears crystal prayer beads. What is totally unusual about this woman is that she constantly produces an aura that takes the shape of a black tiger. They both share the same conscience though the tiger does not speak.
Shikai
Release Command: Bite the air, Kurotora!
When released, Ryuto is surrounded by swirling black energy for a few seconds. When the energy around Ryuto disappears, The blade grows to a six foot, jian type blade with a black edge and a white center. The hilt is black with white stripes. What is unusual about this blade is that it has no scabbard, focusing totally on offense instead of defense.
Shikai Abilities
Toraho (Tiger Roar)
The tiger's roar emits fear into the heart of its prey. With a simple thrust of the zanpakutō, Kurotora can emit a high frequency "roar" that can disrupt reiatsu within a five meter diameter. Those that are caught by this ability find it difficult to use their spiritual weapon for about three seconds. The time limit on the attack extends in areas that can provide a large echo. Of course, it only affects those that are not holding Kurotora at the time. Also,those with a higher reiatsu than Ryuto can continue to move, albeit slower than they normally could. Those with lower Reiatsu than Ryuto will be paralyzed for the first second, while their movement is slowed down for a significant amount of time.
Kuroga Mazan (Black Fang, Cutting Space)
Like the name implies, Ryuto transfers his reiatsu into Kurotora's edge. When this happens, the blade is surrounded by a black aura. When he swings his blade, it releases a blast of reiatsu in the shape of a black tiger's head. Ryuto can only use this attack no more than four times a day. Each blast slight grows in strength, but the father the energy blast travels, the weaker the attack becomes when it hits.
Strengths
Kurotora doesn't change too much different than his sealed zanpakutō, therefore Ryuto doesn't have to alter his fighting style in order to use it. In fact, the blade doesn't exactly focus on one area of combat. Rather, it allows the user to adapt to any form of combat, as long as the one who uses Kurotora realizes it.
Weaknesses
Kurotora doesn't provide Ryuto with a good defense. It relies on the defensive skill of Ryuto instead. Also, because the blade is rather thin, it doesn't provide as much power. it takes a significant amount of Reiatsu for Ryuto to use his special techniques. Overuse of these techniques can leave him spiritually drained. Also, each of Kurotora's techniques have a specific weakness.
Bankai
Reijuu'o Kurotora (Spirit Beast King-Black Tiger)
Calling out for Bankai, Ryuto's reiatsu changes color from blue to black. It shoots into the sky as it lets out a ground shaking roar. After a couple of seconds, Ryuto raises his zanpakutō over his head. The black energy comes back down in the shape of a tiger's head as it engulfs Ryuto, transforming into its bankai state.
Ryuto's bankai takes the form of an ethereal black tiger, about seven and a half feet in height, ten feet in length, and six feet in width, standing on all fours. Ryuto himself can control the tiger's movements with his hands. The tiger can attack like any other tiger, using its teeth and claws to slash its opponents. There is only one way to stop this attack completely: with a more focused attack that can pierce through the tiger and hit the zanpakutō. Being a zanjutsu specialist, Ryuto learned to compress the power from his bankai into an black ethereal sword that he could handle. In its other form, the blade becomes fifteen feet tall with the hilt being six inches long. However, Ryuto can only hold the sword form for a limited time as Ryuto has yet to perfect the Bankai state and Kurotora sees this as being "trapped within a cage". Ryuto's shinigami robes transforms as well. The upper half of his shinigami robes becomes a long black jacket with a hood, white tiger stripes, and black fur around the sleeves, hood, and overall lining. His bottom half doesn't change.
Bankai Abilities
Toraho (Tiger Roar)
The tiger's roar emits fear into the heart of its prey. Kurotora can emit a high frequency "roar" that can disrupt reiatsu within fifty meters in diameter. Those that are caught by this ability find it difficult to use their spiritual weapon for about thirty seconds. The time limit on the attack extends in areas that can provide a large echo. Also, those with a higher reiatsu than Ryuto can continue to move, albeit slower than they normally could. Those with lower Reiatsu than Ryuto will be paralyzed for the first ten seconds, while their movement is slowed down for a significant amount of time.
Shin Kuroga Mazan (True Black Fang, Cutting Space)
Ryuto retains his signature technique. However, with the increase in power comes various forms of the technique. While in his shikai state, when Ryuto swung his blade, it released a blast of reiatsu in the shape of a black tiger's head, it now takes a shape of a whole black tiger. The normal blast can only travel in one direction, but there is a new form where Ryuto can actually control the direction in which it goes. by coverting the bankai into its sword form, Ryuto points the tip of the blade at the opponent for three seconds before releasing the blast, letting the blade 'track the target's scent' per se. When he releases this blast, Ryuto can control the direction it travels.
Strengths
Aside from the strengths from each special ability, Reijuu'o Kurotora provides him with much more strength and defensive ability than in its shikai state.
Weaknesses
Cannot use both special abilities simultaneously
Ryuto has and always will be a Zanjutsu specialist, so being able to use his full power (the sword form) for a limited time could be troublesome.
Senkai
Kinkou Ametsuchi, Reijuu'o Kurotora (Balance of Heaven and Earth, Spirit Beast King, Black Tiger)
By calling forth his senkai, Ryuto's zanpakutō becomes a single-edge, slightly curved sword of four feet in length. The scabbard is in the shape of a tiger's head, black, with white stripes; the same design with the hilt, and a white chain with a short, two inch 'tassel' of Ryuto's spiritual power. The actual blade is made from black, transparent solid energy.
Ryuto's shinigami robes transforms as well. The upper half of his shinigami robes becomes a long, sleevless, black jacket with a hood, white tiger stripes, and black fur around the shoulders, hood, and overall lining. His bottom half doesn't change.
Senkai Ability
The senkai form of Kurotora combines the two special abilities in one special attack called Kuroga Toraho (Black Fang Tiger Roar). When activating this ability, the blade portion of Ryuto's senkai launches itself at the target, instantly taking the form of a black tiger's head. With the remaining portion of the zanpakutō, Ryuto can control the direction in which it travels until it comes into contact with something physical or another opposing force. Once it does, it carries the same properties of Kuroga Mazan, a concussive force of energy in the shape of a tiger's head.
However, there is an extra side-effect in that the blast releases a roar that disrupts the natural spiritual energy flow of anyone or anything within an one hundred and fifty meter radius, spanning much farther than the damaging part of the ability, like Toraho. Besides the one holding the zanpakutō, the secondary effect makes no difference between friend and foe. For those with the same level of zanjutsu skill (or equivalent speciality) and Senkai level, it will completely stun whoever is caught within range for a single post, while those with lower skills will be stunned for two post turns.
Strengths
-Being a blade naturally, Ryuto has a lot more ease using this form of his zanpakutō as opposed to his bankai.
-The senkai is provided with both short and long range options.
Weaknesses
-The only attack that this senkai grants Ryuto, Kuroga Toraho, also leaves him without a blade to use until it makes physical contact or meets an opposing force of equal power to a senkai. With that, and Ryuto mostly focusing on his zanjutsu skills so far, that leaves Ryuto with a great disadvantage if one takes notice of that.
-Ryuto can only launch one Kuroga Toraho at a time.
-Ryuto also losses the defensive properties that his bankai (A giant tiger) provided him, relying more on Ryuto's own defensive capabilities.
