Nobuaki Zenin

Nobuaki is a man past his youth who shapes his dark hair into a pompadour flanked by sideburns. He dresses in a formal, light-colored costume that seems reserved for him in his role leading the Kukuru Unit.

Smug and self-important, Nobuaki answers for whatever the Kukuru Unit does, which means his superiors scold him over any slip-up. To dodge that blame, he is said to keep a mission's pivotal moments to himself while leaving the punishing labor to his subordinates and then pocketing the glory. His regard for opponents runs low, none more so than Maki. Hearing she had slain Ogi Zenin, he waved the news aside and figured Ogi must have been blindsided. The same disdain carried into their fight, where he could scarcely believe she still moved and swung after taking Chojuro's technique.

Leading from the front, Nobuaki ranked as the mightiest of the Kukuru. The unit's fighters carry no innate technique of their own, and although their squad answers to the Hei as a subordinate branch, relentless training is their constant. He himself showed real talent with a blade and the knack for marshaling a crew of well-drilled warriors. None of that mattered against Maki on her rampage, however; teamed with the elite Hei member Chojuro, Nobuaki held on only a short while before Maki ran her weapon through his neck and finished him.