Yoruichi Shihoin

**Yoruichi Shihoin**is the head of the Shihoin Clan and the former captain of the Second Squad and commander of the Stealth Force. She currently resides in Karakura Town with Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi at the Urahara Shop.

## Physical Appearance

Yoruichi Shihoin is a dark-skinned woman of average height with a slender, yet curvaceous figure, golden-colored eyes and long purple hair, which she keeps up in a ponytail. Her standard attire consists of a backless, black sleeveless undershirt, an orange, long-sleeved over-shirt with two white straps on each shoulder, a large beige sash around her waist, black stretch pants and long beige wrist warmers, secured by bands, and long beige leg warmers with brown light shoes, allowing for stealth and easy use of Shunpo. She, unlike any known Soul Reapers, is able to transform into a black cat for long periods of time. In this form, she has a distinctive male voice and golden eyes.

## Personality

Yoruichi is intelligent and witty, holding an intimate knowledge of the Soul Society and its workings, as she was the former leader of the Stealth Force and the Second Squad's captain. Although of noble birth, she acts differently from most other nobles, very much like Kaien Shiba. For instance, she instructed Soi Fon to refer to her without using honorific suffixes, but reluctantly settled for being called "Lady Yoruichi". She also transforms into her human form directly in front of Ichigo on several occasions just to see his reaction to seeing her naked, which she even teases him about. Another note of her eccentricity is that she speaks in a dialect that elders use, such as identifying herself as "washi" (a term that usually old men define themselves with) instead of more feminine terms like "watashi" in both her human and animal forms.

Although relatively calm, serious and mature when a situation calls for it, Yoruichi is quite laid-back, sassy and playful, often teasing or flirting with those younger than her, such as Ichigo Kurosaki at the underground hot spring, a younger and hot-headed Byakuya Kuchiki, Soi Fon before her time as a captain and Kisuke Urahara, childhood friend, former underling and fellow ex-captain. Yoruichi prefers to drink milk, which fits with her practice of transforming into a cat a lot of the time.

## Abilities

**Feline Transformation**: Yoruichi possess a unique ability which allows her to shape-shift into a black cat at will. How she alone out of all Soul Reapers is capable of this is yet unknown. Though she has apparently possessed the ability for well over 100 years, and its apparently known to others she knew from that time. She apparently has no set time limit on the transformation as she had been in the assumed form for over 100 years. In cat form, Yoruichi can still channel her spiritual energy and move at incredible speeds, though she is physically limited by the form. Her transformation also allows her a complete disguise, as her voice in this form is deep enough for most to assume she is a male. This, of course, leads to awkward situations when she reveals her true form.

**Shunpo Master**: Considered to be the most proficient Shunpo master ever in all of the Soul Society, Yoruichi is highly skilled in the use of Shunpo, a high speed movement ability. Though this is by no means a unique skill, as most seated officers are capable of performing it to various degrees, Yoruichi holds the title "**Flash Master**", because she has mastered this ability to such an extent that she can appear to be in several places at once and wipe out an entire Stealth Force squadron in seconds. She can easily close tremendous gaps of distance in the blink of an eye while remaining undetected, as shown from her ability to surprise Byakuya, who is one of the most proficient in the art as well. She has mastered all of the Stealth Force's speed-oriented techniques and even created some of her own, such as **Utsusemi**. The full extent of her abilities remain unclear, but she was able to outrun Byakuya while carrying an unconscious Ichigo over her shoulder, where she was able to perform around 300 steps before feeling tired from 100 years of being out practice. She is so fast that Soi Fon could barely keep up while Yoruichi was still holding back. It is revealed that she can still perform Shunpo even while in her cat form. Unfortunately for her, she is not as fast as she is in her true form.

* **Utsusemi** (*Cicada*, referencing their molting): Stealth Hoho, Shiho No. 3. It allows for movement at great speed, leaving at least one tangible after-image behind.

**Hakuda Master**: Yoruichi, as former Commander-in-Chief of the Stealth Force is one of the most accomplished hand-to hand combatants in Soul Society. Her mastery of the art form is so great that she uses it exclusively as her form of combat of choice forgoing the use of a Zanpakuto altogether. She has been shown to take down nearly 50 Stealth Force members with only Hakuda. She has been shown taking on the likes of Espada-level Arrancar as when she brutally defeated Yammy and is even regarded by the Cuattro Espada Ulquiorra Schiffer as highly dangerous.

* **Taketonbo**:
* **Raioken** (*Thunder King Fist*): A Hakuda technique involving a series of ultra-high-speed punches delivered using both arms.

**Kido Expert**: As former captain of the Second Squad and the Commander-in-Chief of the Stealth Force, Yoruichi is well-versed in a mastery of Kido. Though she commonly employs Shunpo and Hakuda techniques, she is masterful in using Kido to further her capacity in combat - being so experienced she is able to mix it with other fighting techniques. She has been shown using mid-level binding and destruction spells with no incantation with expert skill.

* **Hanki**:
* **Shunko** (*Flash Cry*): An advanced technique that combines Hakuda with Kido. She fights by surrounding her back and arms with pressurized Kido. The keisen uniform has no back or sleeves since they will rip apart when it is activated. What is known of it so far, is that it can allow her to instantly neutralize an opponent's movement. Yoruichi's version of the technique was developed and studied by her a century ago. Therefore, the technique is complete. Unlike Sui-Feng's version, the compressed Kido is visible.

**Master Strategist**: As the former head of her clan and ex-commander of the Stealth Force, Yoruichi has shown herself to be a capable leader. Repeatedly, Yoruichi has shown to be insightful and crafty, quickly capable of understanding any situation that presents itself and adjust to it effectively. Upon learning that Ichigo would go to save Rukia no matter what, Yoruichi began making preparations of her own by training Orihime and Chad.

**Master Assassin**: As the former Commander-in-Chief of the Stealth Force, Yoruichi is one of the foremost masters of the art of assassination. She has repeatedly shown impressive skill in staying hidden and unseen. When necessary, she can effectively exploit having a advantage against an opponent or hiding her presence. Even one as intuitive as Aizen was completely taken by surprise and just as easily subdued.

**Enhanced Strength**: Despite her slender appearance, Yoruichi is quite strong in her Soul Reaper form; she could still easily use Shunpo while carrying around an unconscious Ichigo to outrun a fellow Shunpo master. She can also easily catch a direct punch from the Decimo Espada, and simultaneously throw him several feet away. She was able to easily injure him despite his thick *Hierro* with various unarmed moves, but it was later revealed that she was injured by his *Hierro*. Though she admitted that she wasn't expecting his skin to be that hard, she states that she could have avoided taking any damage if she had Shunko activated. Yoruichi has shown the strength of a concentrated blow from her is highly destructive, capable of destroying an entire city block.

**Enhanced Endurance**: Despite her own admission of being out of shape, Yoruichi has shown to be a very resilient warrior. Both when out of breath from prolonged running against Byakuya and sustaining fractures from Yammy's Hierro, Yoruichi was still able to fight effectively while showing no signs of weakening.

**Immense Spiritual Power**: As a former captain and head of a noble clan, Yoruichi boasts an immense amount of spiritual energy. Her spiritual energy is great enough to act as a shield from fairly powerful attacks, as seen from blocking Jin Kariya's lightning blast with a single hand. While using Shunko, her concentrated spiritual power becomes far greater than normal. Her Reiatsu is dark tan.