Sarutahiko Ōkami (猿田毘古大神, "Great God, Prince Saruta") is the new Zanpakuto Spirit of Van Satonaka. The first thing that many notice about Sarutahiko Ōkami is the fact that the zanpakuto is sealed into two separate blades. One blade of Sarutahiko Ōkami is in the form of a Katana, while the other is in the form of Kodachi. Each of these swords are kept sheath on Van's left hip right on top of each other in identical dark gold scabbards.
Appearance and Personality[]
In its Shikai appearance, Sarutahiko Ōkami possesses a grotesque bulb-like body much larger than any Zanpakuto Spirit seen thus far. He has spiky protrusions growing out of his back, and a wide, cavernous mouth with multiple rows of sharp, pointed teeth, as well as a spiked chin, giving him a monstrous appearance when visible. In this form Sarutahiko Ōkami has long arms and clawed hands, but possesses no visible hind-legs. He also has dark veins similar to those of a plant all over its body, and the endings of its tails resembled leaf buds, which had been shown to unfurl once Sarutahiko Ōkami entered into its Bankai.
After entering into its Bankai form, Tensarutahiko Ōkami began resembling a more humanoid form instead of the beast like form it had before. Its bodily proportions become very elongated, and emaciated with a twisting neck, yet it still retained the spiked bulb from its previous form on its back. Tensarutahiko Ōkami possesses a visible set of legs, which it uses along with its right arm to stand, as its left arm is missing, starting at the elbow. Tensarutahiko Ōkami's facial appearance changes greatly, growing a single ear on the right side of its head, while its mouth, which now contained straight teeth, moved to the left side and several horns formed on various parts on its head.
Synopsis[]
Powers and Abilities[]
Shikai: Released with the command "Nourish", Sarutahiko Ōkami's two blades fuse into a single Nodachi. The blade of this weapon has a light green tint to its edge, while the rest of its steel has a darker, forest green appearance. Sarutahiko Ōkami has several leaf-like appendages hanging from its wooden hilt, in a pattern resembling that of a net, resulting in Sarutahiko Ōkami's Shikai appearing as though it were made from an actual plant.
Shikai Special Ability: Sarutahiko Ōkami represents the culmination of Van's abilities and his previous Zanpakuto spirits have simply been building upon one another in order to gain strength. Sarutahiko Ōkami is the God of both Nature and Power and as such grants Van similar abilities to that of his own in order to suit Van's needs. With Sarutahiko Ōkami, Van is connected directly and can communicate, influence, manipulate and control all of nature. This includes all living beings, plants, geology of the Earth, and the matter and energy of which all these things are composed. Manipulating power is works both offensively and defensively for Van as he is able to control the force of an attack that he launches or that is directed towards him. Using the power manipulation aspects of Sarutahiko Ōkami allows Van to cause massive damage to an opponent with even a shallow wound or cause damage from an opponent's strike to do little or no damage at all, as long as Van is able to perceive the attack before it connects. Combining the two powers into one is a simple and often used feat; as Van can extend the reach of his attacks, not by extending his range, but by utilizing the very nature around him as a medium in order to transfer the force of his blows. This simple trick often catches opponents off-guard since as long as they stay connected to the Earth, they are subject to one of Van's attack from almost any direction, making defense an incredibly hard, if not impossible task. Since Van can use Sarutahiko Ōkami to communicate with nature itself, he is able to become instantly familiar with his surroundings, receiving an instant mapping of the area around him and anyone in contact with the Earth. The connection is so deep that the Earth will respond to Van's desires, allowing him to change the terrain in order to suit his needs. With this aspect, of Sarutahiko Ōkami Van is able to change a vast mountain range into a raging sea and even a barren desert can be transformed into a flourishing jungle, depending on Van's will.
Tsuchisensu (土センス, "Earthen Sense"): A passive ability of Sarutahiko Ōkami while the Shikai is activated. It allows Van to sense vibrations through the ground; seeing by sensing his surroundings and making a mental image of it. It allows for a 360 degree field of vision, outside of his normal line-of-sight. However, in order to do this Van must maintain contact with the ground. This ability is not applicable on all surfaces, as it rendered useless on areas that do not transfer vibrations well, such as sand.
Shikome Chiri (醜女塵, "Gorgon Dust"): The second passive ability of Sarutahiko Ōkami that activates upon release. Once Van releases his zanpakuto, the Earth beneath the ground he walks on is subjugated and falls under his control, as it starts to dissolve in a similar fashion to that of dust from Muhengen. As Van continues to move about the battlefield, more of this ground up soil is created, giving more of this weapon to use. Once created, Van is able to manipulate this new dust-like substance in order to assault his opponent from various sides. This technique works in a similar manner to that of Gin Ichimaru's Korose, Kamishini no Yari as once the opponent breathes in this dust, or allows it to get into their pores through extended contact, Van is able to activate the hidden properties of this technique. Once Van decides, he is able to cause the dust to start spreading throughout the target's body and in doing so causes the opponent's body to become paralyzed as it is slowly petrified down to the cellular level.
Shokuseisu
Shokuseisu (植生の巣, "Nest of Vegitation"): With Sarutahiko Ōkami, Van is able to stab the Nodachi into the ground, creating a spiritual pulse that flows into any nearby flora, or creates suitable targets for him to manipulate if he has already changed the terrain to manipulate plants. The pulse simulates evolution, forcing the affected plants to grow rapidly and fall under Van's complete control. This control can even extend to the Shikai of other Plant-Type Zanpakuto. With this technique, Van typically gathers several vines in order to whip away opponents and ensnare multiple opponents. Carrying over traits from Chushin, the plants affected by this techniqueare able to both steal away the vitality from those caught in their grasps, while also feeding Van the vitality stored within the Earth itself. The plants affected by this technique seem to gain enough durability to withstand breaking through concrete and even steel structures.
Hanran (反乱, "Revolt"): Van utilized Sarutahiko Ōkami's Control Aspect to create a miniature Inversion Field around himself. When anyone came within his vicinity, Van could immediately activate Hanran again to reveal its true purpose. Using Sarutahiko Ōkami's Control Aspect as a base, and the Inversion Field as the catalyst, Van was able to control and reverse a certain flow of time. In this case, Van used the ability to cause previously inflicted wounds to revert to its former state. Not only did Hanran affect physical wounds, but it also effected emotional wounds as well such as mental trauma and mental breakdowns. This effect happened simultaneously in seconds, and when coupled together, could render the target(s) catatonic and unconscious. For those who suffered an immeasurable amount of wounds, it proved to be fatal. This technique was considered highly dangerous by many individuals who fought in numerous battles such as Kenji Hiroshi and Kei Yume, whom if used on, would most likely result in their deaths.
Seisenren in use
Seisenren (性を洗練, "Refining Nature"): With a simple swing of his Zanpakuto, Van is capable of unleashing its might upon the battlefield. Seisenren is capable of allowing Van to shift the terrain to suit his needs in battle. This change happens almsot immediately and can be devastating to those who are unprepared for sudden change. The change in terrain itself could be viewed as an attack of sorts as those in its path could be caught in a unfavorable location such as landing in a lava pit or falling deep into a crevasse. This technique has the ability of allowing Van to store the power of the previous terrain into Sarutahiko Ōkami's blade. For instance, after changing from a lava ridden battlefield to a snow covered wasteland, by storing and condensing the heat of magma into his blade, Van is able to completely incinerate anything coming into contact with it.
Van's Initial Bankai Form
Bankai: Tensarutahiko Ōkami (猿田毘天古大神, Great God, Heavenly Prince Saruta): In order to activate his Bankai, Van will first stab his Nodachi into the ground below, resulting in several stone slabs rising up from Earth and forming into a dome-like fashion as they surround his location. As this dome is forming, Van can be heard uttering the command "Bankai", causing it to echo throughout the area. In doing so, Van causes a large surge of spiritual energy to erupt from within the dome, causing the stone to shatter and shoot outward, damaging anyone that has wandered too close to his location. Upon exiting the stone dome, Van can be seen in his new form. In Bankai, Van's once long hair becomes increasingly short and spiky all over. More noticeably, Van's body undergoes a large transformation, as his body turns white and on the entire right side gains scales, similar to that of the Zanpakuto Spirit. In Bankai, Van possesses ten protrusions coming from his back, with five near his shoulder and five near his hips, as well as a unique pattern of magatama on his back; one large one, on his mid-back, and nine smaller ones, arranged in rows of three, below it.
Van's Mastered Bankai
After vanquishing all of his inner demons and the weaknesses located within his heart, Van completely masters his Bankai and with it gains a new form.
-Scythe produces eleven different blades from it hilt to use in battle.
Bankai Special Ability: Expanding upon his Shikai's control over both nature and power, Tensarutahiko Ōkami's special ability revolves around manipulating "Inverted Contradictions" or in laymen's terms allows Van to tamper with the laws of nature itself. Specializing on the word therefore, Tensarutahiko Ōkami allows Van to accomplish what others cannot. For example, Van's opponent's is powerful therefore Van is able to tamper with the nature flow of things and can achieve a strength that will allow him to obtain victory or an opponent's possesses an incredibly resilient defense therefore Van is able to once again able to tamper with the laws of nature in order ot obtain a skill that can carve out a path. Tensarutahiko Ōkami's special ability makes the impossible possible, or rather it is able to paradoxically materialize the lowest probable outcome of a given situation. This ability allows Van to be capable of breaking the fundamental rules of nature and even common sense, allowing him to bend situations to his will. It has been said that Tensarutahiko Ōkami will allow Van to continue to adapt and develop new skills in battle in order to allow him to achieve victory, making this Bankai one of near unbeatable prowess.
Enhanced Shikai Abilities: Still able to manipulate power and nature.
Kamujin (神刃, "God Blade"): With one of the many blades of Tensarutahiko Ōkami, Van is able to slash with his weapon, trasmitting the attack through the surface of any object in the vicinity as long as it is within his range of sight. When utilizing this technique, with each slash of his Zanpakuto Van is able to implant the attack into the surrounding area to later spring as a trap. These sprung slashes possess enough cutting force to slice through both steel and bone with little effort as they contain the double the amount of strength that Van uses to attack. Using the technique in this manner causes one of the blades to disperse until they all used up. At this point Van must reload by channeling the power of the Earth into the Scythe, however, this process takes time and often results in Van having to stay stationary.
