Tsunayashiro Clan

Widely held to be the strongest and most influential of the four great noble houses, the family owes its standing largely to a ruthless survival-of-the-fittest creed, weeding the weak out of its own bloodline. Within Soul Society, its chief charge is directing the Visuals Department's surveillance so that the whole of history is faithfully set down.

The clan's ancestral Zanpakutō, Enrakyōten, ranks among the oldest blades in existence and carries a dreadful curse: wielding it steadily eats away at the user's remaining lifespan. Its Shikai demands the bearer's own injury to release, mends all damage in a blinding flash, and can copy any Zanpakutō ability its wielder has previously witnessed. Fearing the curse, no member before Tokinada dared draw it, and he often disguised its true power under a false name and release command.

Tokinada Tsunayashiro rose from a distant branch of the family to seize the position of head, secretly murdering every member of the main line to do so, before eventually meeting his own death. His wife, the noblewoman Kakyō, likewise died. Hikone Ubuginu once served as retainer to Tokinada and remains alive after his downfall.