Bennosuke Furuhashi

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Characteristics
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Name	Bennosuke Furuhashi
Kanji	古橋弁之助
Romanji	Furuhashi Bennosuke
Race	Shinigami
Gender	Male
Height	180 cm (5'11")
Weight	69 kg (152 lbs)
Eyes	Brown
Hair	Dark Olive
Professional Status
Affiliation	The Divisions, Soul Society
Occupation	Lieutenant of the 7th Division
Team	7th Division
Partner	Ieyasu Tokugawa
Base of Operations	7th Division HQ, Seireitei, Soul Society
Personal Status
Marital Status	Widower
Education	Genji School
Status	Active
Zanpakutō
Shikai	{{{shikai}}}
Bankai	{{{bankai}}}

Bennosuke Furuhashi (古橋弁之助, Furuhashi Bennosuke) is a Shinigami within the first generation of the Gotei 13, currently known as "The Divisions". He is the lieutenant of the 7th Division under the Captain Ieyasu Tokugawa. A promising soldier, he is being groomed for a captain position once it is available as several captains are transitioning to the Royal Guard and others are considering retirement.

Aside from a soldier, Bennosuke is also a widower and devoted father who's raising his son, Jisai. Although finding time to spend with Jisai can be challenging, Bennosuke makes it his duty to make sure he is apart of his son's life.

Bennosuke is the main protagonist in Bleach: A Father's Tale, an untold story within the history of Soul Society.

Appearance

While not appearing as the most intimidating shinigami, Bennosuke is still a tall young man with a lean build hardened by constant training within the Genji School and under his captain. Bennosuke has very long dark olive hair tied back in a high ponytail. He also lets his hair fall foward framing the sides of his face. Long strands drape over the right side of his face. His face is long, ending with a strong chin. He has thin eyebrows and brown eyes peeking through narrow slits.

As a lieutenant, he wears the standard black shinigami robes tied by a white sash around his waist. He also wears a white cord that wraps his arms under his armpits and over his shoulder, and ties in the back. He tends to carry his sword in his hands instead of tucking it within his sash. When off-duty, Bennosuke wears earth-tone colored robes and no tabi with his sandals.

Personality

Bennosuke possesses two distinct personalities that manisfest themselves during specific times. Though, generally he is considered a good and honest man who's respected within the Divisions for his power and work.

Being surrounded by such powerful individuals as the captains of the Divisions, Bennosuke had to harden himself into a cold and methodical killer. With his slender frame, he needed to create a persona to be feared. As such, when battling against his opponents, he shows no mercy. He's fearless, even when facing against captain level opponents or training with his own captain. This allows him to execute orders with near perfect marks which has caught the eye of his superiors. He's deeply loyal to the Divisions and does not tolerate insubordination. He possesses a strong sense of justice and believes in the Divisions cause at creating peace within Soul Society.

Though loyal and carries out his orders, Bennosuke does some time face moments of moral dilemas. While he would follow his orders without verbal complaint, within himself he questions the lethality and absolute definition of judgements cast down by political figures. This became visible when Bennosuke was tasked with hunting down and killing rogue souls who had stolen from one of the figures in the Central 46. When he found out that what was stolen was used to acquire food and medicine for a very poor area within the lower districts, Bennosuke was internally conflicted and tried to spare the man's life. But his words fell on deaf ears and he was sentenced to death regardless. Bennosuke has always considered himself an honorable man, fighting for the peace of all within Soul Society and not just the nobles, he began seeing that honor being tarnished.

BennosukeJisai — Bennosuke and his son, Jisai, when he was a baby.

The only times that he feels at peace is when he spends time with his son, Jisai. During those times, he is nothing else but a loving father who wishes to see his son grow into a good man and refuses to miss the important moments of his life. As such, he devotes himself to finding time to see his son whenever he can. He shares a strong bond with Jisai, never speaking of the horrors he faces when hunting down deadly hollows or fugitives, and instead tries to teach him the beauties that exist in the world. When not on missions, he spends entire days playing with his son, singing or playing musical instruments, painting pictures, and makes sure to find time to help him with his studies. They are seen regularly walking down the marketplace with Jisai on Bennosuke's shoulders.

His time as married man was shortlived but he was known as a good husband who loved his wife very much and would often bring her flowers when she was feeling ill. He was deeply saddened when she passed shortly after Jisai was born, but makes an effort to tell him about her and the woman she was.

History

Bennosuke was born into a poor family of 3 brothers and 2 sisters, who all passed away from sickness. Since then he had traveled from village to village, taking on whatever work he could find. It was during this time that he met his future wife and mother of his child. He had settled for a few years before having their first and only child, Jisai. Unfortunately, his wife passed away shortly after his birth and he was left to care for Jisai all on his own. Thankfully, his wife's parents were available to help him raise the child.

At one point, he recieved word that the recently formed Genji School was accepting new students with the purpose of filling in positions within the Divisions, a force of peace and justice tasked with the mission of defending Soul Society and maintaining the balance between here and the human world. Seeing it as opportunity to protect his family, he decided that he would enlist.

He joined shortly after and quickly became one of its promising students and was eventually recruited to the 7th Division under its current captain of Ieyasu Tokugawa. Seeing his potential, Bennosuke soared through the ranks and eventually was promoted to lieutenant. But his talent didn't stop there. He was gaining popularity within the Divisions and several captains discussed him becoming a potential candidate should Ieyasu decide to retire.

Plot

Coming Soon.

Powers & Abilities

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Personally trained by his captain, Bennosuke is an extremely powerful combatant capable of holding his own against captain level opponents. His skill is so great that he's been declared as a potential replacement for captain should the position become available, as has been groomed for promotion. His style of combat is described as powerful but elegant, fast and precise, and utilizes his natural agility and speed to overwhelm his targets from all angles. He can easily adapt to any form of fighting, being able to engage with equal skill against other bladed or hand held weapons. Bennosuke is known to get in very close to jam an opponent's ability to utilize their reach. He's also known to stand in traditional stances with his sword, which shows his knowledge of the old styles, and is able to switch in between them with ease. While traditionally trained, Bennosuke has shown a remarkable ability to adapt new stances in mid combat to counter his opponents. He can quickly change hands and grips depending on the situation, parry an attack and give himself an opening, or confuse his targets through flashy swordplay and distract them in the process. Among the other lieutenants, Bennosuke is regarded as the strongest and worthy of the mantle of captain should he be promoted.

Enhanced Agility: Bennosuke is known to be highly athletic and able to perform complex acrobatic maneuvers with apparent ease. He can combine it seamlessly with his fighting style, creating a completely original one that he can call his own. Using his agility, he can outmaneuver many of his opponents or avoid obstacles in his path. He also enjoys employing a more fluid motion to his techniques, such as sliding on the ground to get below an attack and spinning around to find an opening. Against the rest of the lieutenants, he's remarked as the most versatile and agile, outclassing them during exercises and missions.

Great Spiritual Power: Even as a lieutenant, Bennosuke possesses a particularly strong spiritual power that is white in color. When exerting it, it travels in waves and able to cause lower ranked shinigami to prespire in fear, often paralyzing them if their will is weak enough. When traveling in waves, it can cause the ground to tremble slightly, marking his intimidating power. His spiritual power is great enough that he's able to stand in the presence of the captains of the Divisions without being suffocated by their overwhelming energy.

Zanpakutō

Gingitsune (銀狐, Silver Fox) Bennosuke's Zanpakutō appears as a regular katana with a plain silver circular tsuba. The brown hilt is wrapped in white cloth, while the sheath is silver. The sheath is also decorated by a thin brown cord tied in a knot near the top of it.

Shikai: Its release command is "Pounce on your prey." When released, Gingitsune becomes slightly longer with several wolves etched into the silver blade. The handle also gains a small tuff of white fur at the pommel that tapers into the shape of a fox tail.
- Shikai Specail Ability: Gingitsune gains several abilities that can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes that revolve the usage of light. It is not limited to casting light intense enough to blind his opponents. It can also channel them as projectiles to attack from afar, as well as possessing the unique ability to change his body into light to become intangible and make him immune from attacks.
  - Ginkiba (銀牙, Silver Fang) By channeling his spiritual power through his blade, Bennosuke is able to release slashes of silver light that are capable of slicing through solid objects, such as stone and even steel. Due to the relative ease of releasing these projectiles, its an ideal long range attack to stealthfully attack with and is able to produce several these quickly.
  - Ginkegawa (銀毛皮, Silver Pelt) A defensive ability where Gingitsune transforms Bennosuke's body temporarily into light to become intangible. In this form, Bennosuke is immune to physical attacks as it passes through his body harmlessly. While immune to damage, Bennosuke is unable to interact physically with the world around him. This means that while in this form he is unable to attack or block, or even touch things. Bennosuke must be holding his blade to maintain this form.
  - Kagayaku Kitsune (輝くキツネ, Shining Fox) An invaluable technique that grants Bennosuke the ability to teleport over short distances by shifting his body into light, dispersing it and reassembling it instantly in a different location. Bennosuke has been able to eliminate an entire group in the blink of an eye using this technique. When teleporting, a low howling noise can be heard that resembles a fox's howl. He's shown to be able to use this technique in rapid succession and attack a target, teleport and then strike another target before they have time to react. Since this is a form of teleportation, its different in terms of senseing and unable to follow like a combatant would do with Shunpo or other forms of speed movements.

Trivia