Tsukuro Kanroji

## Portrayal

**Tsukuro Kanroji** is a minor supporting character in Demon Slayer: Blade of the Night. He is the son of the current Love Pillar Mitsuri Kanroji, and the Serpent Pillar Obanai Iguro. He is also the current Flame Tsuguko under Kyojuro Rengoku.

## **Appearance:**

Tsukuro is a tall man with a muscular stature, forcing him to tower over most people he meets. He has pale skin similarly to both his parents, and has black hair kept in large bangs, with one long braid running all the way down to his mid-back. Notably, the tips of these bangs seem to be burning almost constantly, even if no fire is present. The reason for this is unknown.

Tsukuro wears the traditional Tsuguko uniform, covered by a dark red shirt kept in place by his belt. Tsukuro is always seen carrying a psychotic smile, beaming with all his bare teeth at all times, regardless of how he feels.

## **Personality:**

Tsukuro is regarded to be dangerous, unstable and immensely violent. He generally portrays himself with an odd, unnatural smile that, when combined with his impulsive demeanor, acting on his whims almost always. It was this personality that hindered him from becoming the Flame Tsuguko for a good chunk of his life, only doing so due to Kyojuro Rengoku's desperation, assuming that he needed to get a successor in line now, should the worst come to happen. Even so, Kyojuro up to date remains hesitant on ever promoting Tsukuro.

It is however, seen that Tsukuro isn't someone entirely violent. He is displayed to be quite adept at interacting normally and calmly with those he sees as family, being extremely caring towards his mother Mitsuri, conversing normally with his father Obanai (even if visibly uncomfortable), being generally liked by Kyojuro, who he sees as an uncle, outside of work, and being looked up to by Kanjuro. He also displays a level of reasonability when discussing the terms of his rematch with Ryo, waiting until the boy is confident on his strength. Note that this might be that Tsukuro wants to have the most fun in the work, and understands that waiting is going to cultivate Ryo's strength more than rushing.

Tsukuro's creed is that he enjoys fighting. The problem is that his love for the practise is so intense that he will inevitably overdo it, becoming incredibly violent and uncontrolled, rendering a sparring session with him dangerous even for others that enjoy fighting for the thrill. This does mean that Tsukuro is often dissatisfied at the opponents he faces on the field. Tsukuro also appears to use showman language whenever fighting, even using a vague "ladies and gentlemen" when about to do something he deems interesting.

Tsukuro also displays some level of purity, seeing as he does not hate his father, which could have been expected, considering Obanai's absence and Tsukuro's personality. This might be due to Mitsuri's care for him, which he also shows by being extremely gentle and loving towards his mother, going as far as plastering a smile on his face constantly, because he always wants to appear happy to his mother, as a way to show how grateful he is for her care.

Tsukuro also has a crush on Momo Inaka, becoming extremely and uncharacteristically shy around her. The feeling doesn't seem to be mutual.

## **Synopsis:**

Tsukuro was born from Mitsuri Kanroji, the Love Pillar, and he was conceived at a particular night where her relationship with his father, Obanai Iguro, fell apart entirely. The reason for the separation remains unknown, but since then, Tsukuro has been raised by Mitsuri alone, and as time passed, and he trained the art of the Flame Breathing, and using his Eightfold body, he developed a fighting style particular to him. While his brutality hampered his growth in hierarchy in the past, the desperate times and his small, but noticeable development allowed him to be promoted.

## **Abilities:**

**Monumental Strength:** Tsukuro is known for being immensely physically powerful, with his Eightfold body providing for even further muscular power that, despite the already burly appearance, conceals even more strength than Gyomei Himejima at his prime, even though his overall frame is smaller than Tengen Uzui's at his prime. Tsukuro allegedly can spawn real flames using his sheer strength and speed along with his weapon.

**Monumental Speed:** Tsukuro is extremely fast, dealing with three Lower Moons in quick succession. While not his utmost priority, Tsukuro is fairly competitive when it comes to it, wishing to best Ryo, who displayed more speed than Tsukuro assumed, and despite still being faster, Tsukuro wanted Ryo to grow to his fullest so he could outspeed the boy once again.

**Tactical Intellect:** Tsukuro hasn't displayed much of it, considering his wild fighting style, but it can be inferred that Tsukuro is at least competent in strategizing.

**Eightfold Body:** Tsukuro inhereted one of the most defining traits of his mother Mitsuri, having muscles eight times the amount he technically should have, all densely packed into the size of regular musculature. Differently from his mother, Tsukuro has invested deep training into improving his already immensely powerful body, gaining a musculature so dense that punching him is equivalent of socking a block of steel.

**Total Concentration Breathing:** Tsukuro is a master at the Flame Breathing, having achieved Total Concentration Breathing a long time ago to go even beyond the already superhuman strength he carried by having Eightfold.

**Demon Slayer Mark:** Tsukuro can be inferred to have unlocked the Demon Slayer Mark, despite not having displayed it yet.

## **Fighting Style:**

**Master Swordsman:** Tsukuro is immensely skilled at the difficult to master Sword-Whip, even if he is rather uncontrolled when using the range he gains, having many Forms that he cannot control properly, leading to them being capable of smiting both friend and foe. Regardless, he was able to overpower three Lower Moons in a singular fight, and while individually weak, the trio should be able to destroy an entire city if they desired.

### **Breathing Style:**

**Flame Breathing** *(Hono no Kokyu)*: Tsukuro is a master at the Flame Breathing, having achieved Total Concentration Breathing from an early age, learning directly from Kyojuro Rengoku. Past a certain point, Tsukuro adapted the Breathing Style to fit a Sword-Whip, much like his mother uses.

#### **Techniques:**

* **First Form: Flaming Serpentine** *(Ichi no Kata: Enjo Hebi)* - The user lunges, unloading their whip into the opponent's neck, and passing through them, slicing their head off with the attack as they finish their lunge behind the intended opponent. Should the decapitation fail, the user will throw the opponent away along with them.

* **Second Form: Wall of Fire** *(Ni no Kata: Hi no Kabe)* - Manipulating their whip into a defensive position, the user blocks all incoming damage from a singular direction, being capable of blocking anything in a large area due to the whip's size.

* **Third Form: Whirlpool of Flames** *(San no Kata: Hono no Uzu)* - The user surrounds the opponent or themselves with their whip, being able to block off the outside completely, as a defensive or offensive maneuver that can easily overpower any opponent.

* **Fourth Form: Stinging Burns** *(Shi no Kata: Sasu Yakedo)* - The user quickly unloads and reloads their whip onto the opponent, pushing them back with the momentum and gaining space. This attack hampers the opponent's regeneration due to the constant attacks.

* **Fifth Form: Devastated Land** *(Go no Kata: Kohaishita Tochi)* - The user slides their whip across the ground, tearing the scenery from below. This omnidirectional attack does not differentiate between friend or foe and is incredibly difficult to counter or even block.

* **Sixth Form: Claws of the Devil** *(Roku no Kata: Akuma no Tsume)* - The user performs five downward slashes with the whip. The side of each attack is incredible, and the amount of time between each attack is minimal, but can be purposefully slowed to throw off the opponent's tempo.

* **Seventh Form: Grand Finale** *(Shichi no Kata: Gurandofinare)* - The user will powerfully spin their whip around, unloading it with incredible momentum. The amount of heat generated in the metallic blade can burn opponents with actual, real fire. This attack is omnidirectional like the Fifth Form, but has a larger range and more power.

## **Equipment:**

**Nichirin Sword-Whip:** Tsukuro carries around a sword-whip in a manner similar to his mother Mitsuri. The blade of the weapon is red, as expected from a Flame Breathing User, and its handguard is composed of a four red triangles connecting at the blade, shaped vaguely like an edgy four leaf clover.

## **Familiars:**

**Kasai:** Tsukuro's crow, Kasai, is very competent in his job during regular days, but it does have delays, since it always stops to watch whatever fights it comes across until they end.

## **Battles:**

* Tsukuro vs Ryo
* Tsukuro vs Enji, Sakura and Gyo

## **Trivia:**

* Tsukuro's name is fairly simple in its completion. [Tsu] comes from "Tsuki", meaning "Love", while [Kuro] means "Darkness", however, his name in its entirety means "To mend/To repair". Meanwhile, his surname [Kanroji] can be broken down into [Kan], meaning "Sweet/Sugary", [Ro], meaning "Dew", and [Ji], which can be read as "Buddhist Temple".
* The similarity between Tsukuro's name and the title of Tsuguko is entirely incidental.
* Tsukuro is notoriously disliked among his peers, and he himself does not care to improve his relationship with any of them.
* Tsukuro might be the only Breathing Style user to naturally spawn the element he supposedly manipulates, those being flames. This is due to the speed and strength at which he manipulates the sword-whip, generating enough power and energy to set things alight.
* Tsukuro is very adept at speaking English, and often translates certain international documents Kyojuro cannot.
* Notably, the name of his Seventh Form is indeed spoken in English, rather than Japanese.