Kuzuryū

Kuzuryū keeps his brown hair swept straight back, lifted slightly at the front. Like Hanza, he masks the lower half of his face in black and dresses in a long-sleeved black shirt with black trousers. Dark pink armor guards his chest, and a purple scarf drapes his shoulders, stretching down along his arms once he draws on more of the Bakkōtō's power.

Of Kumoi's assassins, Kuzuryū is the coolest-headed. He shows a measure of courtesy as well, freely explaining the nature of the Bakkōtō to Uryū even though the two stand as enemies. That restraint masks a cruel streak, though, and he takes clear pleasure in toying with the opponents he faces.

A wanted criminal of the Seireitei, Kuzuryū joins the squad under Hanza Nukui tasked with capturing Rurichiyo Kasumiōji, and squares off against Uryū Ishida, who throws him off by revealing his Quincy past. Asked about his sword, Kuzuryū explains that a Bakkōtō differs from a Zanpakutō in having no Shikai or Bankai, and instead converts its user's Spiritual Pressure straight into power. His weapon, Shiragiri, begins as a flattened, eyeless fish shape running from his hand up toward his elbow, finned along both sides with a katana blade jutting from its dorsal ridge; fed more Reiatsu, it grants him a second blade and drapes his scarf over his arms.

Its ability, Mugen Kairō, floods the battlefield with dark mist and scatters shadowy copies of him everywhere, letting him merge with the haze and strike from hiding. Uryū's arrows pass harmlessly through the shadows, and his leg is wounded before he traps the mist inside a pentagon of Seele Schneider and detonates his Sprenger technique, which Kuzuryū only barely survives. He later reports Hanza's death to Kumoi and asks to inherit his command, but Kumoi, seeing no further use for a failure, casts him aside. Enraged, Kuzuryū turns on his employer and is struck down by Makoto Kibune.