Togiuna Tenkūbashi

*― You've come to face me; are you ready for war?
― Everyone's watching; what are you waiting for?
― My crown awaits, I'll take my place
― Showing my fangs; whatever it takes, I'm on my way!*

**Togiuna Tenkūbashi** (天空橋 時海, *Tenkūbashi Togiuna*?) is a major character in *Bleach: Mirrored Planes*. She is the current Captain of the Seventh Division of the Gotei 13. Her lieutenant is Shinya Shirogane. She formerly served as the Seventh Seat of the Seventh Division under Kazuaki Nagao.

## Background

Togiuna Tenkūbashi is the eldest daughter of Shigenori Tenkūbashi and his wife, Kiyohime Mononobe. Their pairing was among the strangest in Shinigami history as Kiyohime was a Quincy who had deserted her own race after being unable to deal with their radical actions concerning what they would like to do with the state of the world; she met Shigenori when he was on an undercover mission in the Living World and instantly fell in love. Their union was not a quiet affair as a few Shinigami were very skeptical at allowing a Quincy into their ranks. Shigenori used his prodigious talents to silence those that were against his marriage with Kiyohime and the two consummated their love, resulting in the birth of Togiuna. As the eldest child, she was considered the '*young princess*' of the Tenkūbashi clan, an ancient lineage of Shinigami that had produced numerous excellent Shinigami over the centuries. Togiuna, however, wasn’t that much of a fan of being treated like a dainty princess.

As a member of the Tenkuubashi clan who can be considered '*nobility*' among the other clans of Soul Society, Togiuna began her training early and at the age of six, a ceremony was conducted where she received her Asauchi. In a feat never before seen in the history of the Soul Society, Togiuna managed to immediately turn her Asauchi into a proper Zanpakutō mere seconds after touching it. Even more surprisingly, it took no less than one month for Togiuna to learn her Zanpakutō's true name and achieve her Bankai which she first tested out on a detained criminal. After this was discovered and Togiuna's Shikai and Bankai were researched, she was banned from using it, attesting that her Shikai and Bankai had the ability to permanently eliminate those affected by it, thereby preventing those hit by it from returning to the cycle of reincarnation. Togiuna complained immensely about this ban on her powers but she nevertheless abided by them as it was her duty as a Shinigami to recycle souls.

Togiuna spent five years training on her own until she joined the Seventh Division as one of its youngest members, having been conscripted into the service at the age of twelve. Despite being the youngest member, she was considered to be one of its strongest members due to the fact that she was already in possession of a Bankai even if she was banned from using it due to its immense power. Togiuna’s sword techniques were also considered unparalleled and a pioneering talent to the Shinigami. She assisted in many missions, including an important undercover mission into the Shinsengumi; the mission entailed infiltrating into the Shinsengumi as it was rumored that they had an Arrancar among their ranks (the mission ended up being a false alarm as she found no evidence of an Arrancar even after several years of infiltration). Togiuna specifically joined the First Unit of the Shinsengumi, serving directly under Okita Sōji, having studied his school of swordsmanship, the Tennen Rishin-ryū, and incorporating it into the Shinigami-style *zanjutsu*. She was also the one to personally give Okita a Soul Burial following his death in Keiō 4 (AD 1868), crying all the while. Following her mentor’s death, she renewed her efforts in her training promising to become a swordmaster worthy of the title of '*Captain of the Shinsengumi*' (as Okita had named Togiuna his successor, an offer that Togiuna had to unfortunately decline due to her nature).

When the First World War erupted, Togiuna was enlisted into the military as she was able to interact with the humans due to her half-Quincy heritage. She was sent to fight in the war and survived multiple decisive battles including the First Battle of the Marne, the Battle of Jutland, the Battle of Verdun, and the Battle of the Somme; her unit was purposely unlisted as it was composed of supernatural humans and that the influence of the supernaturals on a properly human conflict should be kept to the absolute minimum. After the end of the conflict, she and the unit she was in were honorably discharged as they wouldn't be needed anymore but ten years later, the Second World War began, however, this conflict also included the final war against the Wandenreich, so named the Thousand-Year Blood War.

Togiuna would later join her father in the Shinigami's efforts to keep the surviving Quincy away from the coffin of the Soul King after the leader of the Wandenreich, Adolf Hitler, revealed the secrets of the Soul King. During the Thousand-Year Blood War, the lieutenant of the Seventh Division was killed in action and Togiuna was given an emergency promotion to lieutenant. Following the end of the conflict, the incumbent Captain of the Seventh Division, having received major injuries that more or less put him out of service, appointed Togiuna as his successor and she then became the Captain of the Seventh Division. She is still currently serving as the incumbent Captain of the Seventh Division up until the present day.

## Personality

To describe Togiuna in the least number of words possible, one can use the phrase, '*battle junkie*<nwoiki/>'. From the second she could pick up a sword, she displayed prodigious talent in it. This combined with the fact that the pressures of being a princess of the Tenkuubashi clan affecting her young developing mind caused her to acquire a heavily belligerent personality. She took to her training with unhealthy levels of obsession and when she was told to stop, she would lash out angrily, asking those who would attempt to stop her to defeat her in combat first. This one-track mind was further cultivated by her father, Shigenori, who was quite the battle junkie himself and would often end in her mother, Kiyohime, barging into the dojo and hitting both husband and daughter upside the head before dragging them back home. This did nothing to cure her delirium with fighting as even after rising to the rank of Captain of the Seventh Division, she would constantly find excuses to duel people; this is especially true ever since Soul Society "recruited" Azaliya Pankratikaya Yurnayevna as Togiuna would frequently ask for days of leave just so she could visit Russia and fight Azaliya, someone who possesses among the strongest flame-based Zanpakutō in the history of Soul Society.

Despite her rabid tendency to fight everything she puts her eyes on, Togiuna is highly responsible. She is very disciplined, an attitude that she teaches to her siblings whenever her parents do not have time to care for them. Her father had labeled the eldest of her younger brothers, Akitomo, the man of the house whenever he and Kiyohime are absent but this title is always superseded by Togiuna, the eldest and ironically most responsible member of the family. She is also incredibly skilled in cooking and when her mother is unavailable, it is Togiuna who fixes the meals, something that she is exceedingly proud of. This is actually enough to make her momentarily forget her thirst to fight, a trait of Togiuna's that is readily abused by her siblings to get her to constantly cook delicious food for them to the point that she would neglect her training. After realizing that she had been duped, she would angrily but playfully lash out at her siblings, using them as training dummies to make up for the fact that they played her.

Togiuna also has a fanatic adoration of the swordsmen of the Bakumatsu period, especially members of the Shinsengumi such as Okita Sōji, her mentor, Saitō Hajime, and Kondō Isami. While she knew it was wrong of her, she made off with several important personal belongings, the most notable of which was the very same *haori* Okita wore, a dying gift from her mentor. She had basically enshrined the *haori*, embalming it with everything necessary to keep it from decaying away along with the other items she had secretly taken from the Shinsengumi; she refuses to wear it herself because she believes that her mentor will reincarnate as a swordsman anew and in this second life, he would once again train her from the bottom up. Only when she finally defeats her mentor in combat and her mentor passes her the *haori* for the second time will she wear the *haori*; until then, it remains as an object of worship in Togiuna's room.

## Appearance

Togiuna is a woman of unparalleled beauty. She possesses flowing sea blue hair and eyes like a hawk. Her average height is a topic of great distress for her as she dislikes being underestimated just because she appears short (especially when compared to her father and mother and some of her siblings). She mostly wears the standard Shinigami dress but sometimes elects to wear a different outfit entirely, consisting of a blue *kimono* that is heavily modified for combat; she wears a specially-made breastplate along with an armored skirt. While seemingly difficult to move around in due to the extra weight of the armored *kimono*, she is not slowed down in the least. She also wears her Geistretter around her neck and a Sanrei Glove on her right arm. The Sanrei Glove had been stylistically modified to appear as a bridal gauntlet to make for a pair with the other one she wears on her left arm.

## Abilities

### General Abilities

Born the eldest child of the head of the Tenkūbashi clan, one of the most prominent noble families of Soul Society, Togiuna was set to be immensely skilled. The talent that her father had cultivated did not skip Togiuna who would display rapid development in the art of ***Zanjutsu*** (斬術, *Swordsmanship*?). She would also display general mastery over the **Kidō** (鬼道, *Demon Way*?), techniques akin to '*magic spells*' that requires the use of **Reiryoku**. She is most talented in **Bakudō #79. Kuyō Shibari** (九曜縛, *Nine-Sun Bind*?) and **Bakudō #81. Dankū** (斷空, *Splitting Void*?), two Kidō that she labels as her favorite techniques. She is also capable of several Hadō with her skills concentrated in four: **Hadō #33. Sōkatsui** (蒼火墜, *Pale Fire Crash*?), **Hadō #78. Zangerin** (斬華輪, *Slicing Flower Ring*?), **Hadō #88. Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō** (飛竜撃賊震天雷炮, *Dragon Strike Heaven-Shaking Lightning Cannon*?), and **Hadō #91. Senju Kōten Taihō** (千手皎天汰炮, *Thousand-Hand Bright Heaven Cannon*?).

In the case of **Sōkatsui**, Togiuna has created a special variation unique to herself which she had took to naming **Hadō #33.5. Sōkatsui Kūken** (蒼火墜空剣, *Pale Fire Crash Scarlet Sword*?). The blue flames created by the Hadō are then subsequently shaped into a white-hot sword of fire which is capable of incinerating a target with nothing but a single swipe. In the hands of Togiuna who is the daughter of the Captain-Commander and is the incumbent Captain of the Seventh Division, Sōkatsui Kūken is strong enough to be considered equivalent in power to intermediate-class Bankai. She mostly uses this technique to create a second weapon for herself should she elect not to use her Zanpakutō due to the fact that she is forbidden from unsealing it except for in the most dire of circumstances.

While she is only half-Shinigami, Togiuna still displays excellent martial prowess over the abilities she inherited from her father. Unlike other Shinigami who don't have a material body, Togiuna as a result of being half-Quincy has a physical body that she is rooted in. As such, she is among the first choices to send on undercover missions to the Land of the Living as she doesn't require a so-called **Gigai**. She has great mastery over her Zanpakutō despite being forbidden from using it due to the immense danger possessed by her Zanpakutō's unsealed form. Togiuna is also considered to be a master at using **Shunpo** (瞬歩, *Flash Steps*?); while she isn’t as skilled as her father, she can give her colleagues of the Captain rank a run for their money with the sole exception of the incumbent Kenpachi, Captain of the Eleventh Division. She is an expert-level practitioner of **Hakuda** (白打, *White Hits*?) and is able to hold her own in hand-to-hand combat if the situation comes down to it.

Thanks to her mother, Togiuna has also inherited Quincy powers, mainly their ability to weaponize the natural **Reishi** found everywhere in the realms. As a compromise to her mother, Togiuna's main outfit is that of the Shinigami formal-wear but she also bears the cros that all Quincy carry in order to fully maximize the use of their abilities around her neck; Togiuna also trains in archery, the main combat method of the Quincy people. Upon going out on missions, it is Togiuna's Quincy abilities that shine as she is banned from using her Zanpakutō in anti-Hollow combat except to deal the finishing blow. **Heilig Bogen** (神聖弓ハイリッヒ・ボーグン, *Hairihhi BōgunShinseiyumi*?) is the main armament Togiuna uses with the ammunition being **Heilig Pfeil** (神聖滅矢ハイリッヒ・プファイル, *Hairihhi PufairuShinsei Metsushi*?). She is an incredible archer, praised by her mother to be far more skilled than she herself and Kiyohime was considered to be among the strongest Quincy.

By using her Quincy side's ability to manipulate atmospheric Reishi and combining it with her Kidō techniques, she is capable of invoking them in thin air right next to her target to guarantee at least a graze. Togiuna took to naming this skill, **Domain Expansion** (領域展開, *Ryōiki Tenkai*?) as she envisions herself taking control of the atmospheric Reishi with her Reiatsu, thereby, '*expanding her domain*'. She also has trained in the Quincy variant of high-speed movement, the so-called **Hirenkyaku** (飛廉脚, *Flying Bamboo-Blind Slide*?), and is considered an expert, albeit that was a title she had received only recently from her mother as Togiuna had focused more on advancing Shunpo than Hirenkyaku. Besides this, Togiuna and the other Quincy who had joined Soul Society are in possession of a **Geistretter** (滅却回転十字ガイストレッター, *GeisutoreitāMekkyaku Kaiten Jūji*?), a modified variant of their standard Quincy Cross that allows them to utilize their Quincy abilities without the destruction that they are feared for; as a result, the Quincy of Soul Society have the ability of using their powers to join the effort of recycling souls. This comes with a great benefit for Togiuna who is banned from using her Zanpakutō.

Togiuna has also undergone training with the **Sanrei Glove** at the age of 80. She still wears the glove to the present day as she has had no need to remove it and thanks to the immensely difficult endurance training with the Sanrei Glove, she is capable of drawing out far more of her Quincy abilities than she would normally be capable of had she not undergone the resistance training with the Sanrei Glove. If such a grave emergency arises that requires Togiuna to use Quincy: Letzt Stil, her battle prowess would be raised to immeasurable levels but at the cost of losing her powers once the duration of the technique passes.

### Reiryoku and Reiatsu

As the princess of the Tenkuubashi clan, Togiuna has inherited incredible amounts of **Reiryoku**. While not quite at her father’s level who possesses such an enormous amount of Reiryoku that he can simply annul even the strongest of Bankai through the release of his **Reiatsu** alone, Togiuna's Reiatsu is capable of nullifying all low advanced-class Bankai; said Bankai would not be allowed to be activated in the presence of Togiuna's Reiatsu. Her Reiatsu is powerful enough to instantly knock unconscious those with lower Reiryoku than her; in the case where she contests with someone that has equal Reiatsu, neither of them would be affected.

Togiuna also displays the advanced ability of channeling Reiatsu into her Zanpakutō, greatly amplifying its ability to cut. Even without the use of Hadō #78. Zangerin, Togiuna’s Reiatsu-infused Zanpakutō is capable of slicing through entire city blocks with a single soft swing. When Togiuna clashes with another person who can infuse their Reiatsu into a weapon, the two will clash without touching weapons as the opposing forces of the two fighters’ Reiatsu will constantly repel each other; it would be impossible to deal any form of material wounds on the other as their equivalent Reiatsu would deny each other access to the physical body.

### Zanpakutō

Togiuna's **Zanpakutō** is unique in the sense that it took her nary more than five seconds for her to convert her ***Asauchi*** into a Zanpakutō upon first receiving one at the age of six. Togiuna's Zanpakutō is given the name **Setsuna Tokeijikake** (刹那時計仕掛け, *Momentary Clockwork*?) and it takes the form of a standard *katana* with the *tsuka* being crimson and the blade a fiery pink; the *saya* is a standard black, contrasting greatly with the crimson *tsuka*. The Zanpakutō Spirit that resides in her sword is actually composed of two people: **Setsuna** (刹那, *Kṣaṇa*?, a.k.a. *Moment/Instant*) who represents her Shinigami powers and **Tokeijikake** (時計仕掛け, *Clockwork*?) who represents her Quincy powers. It is actually thanks to these two Zanpakutō Spirits that Togiuna was unable to achieve her Bankai any faster due to the two spirits never agreeing on whether or not they should reveal their true ability. Nevertheless, Togiuna was able to force them to obey her through her natural charm and abilities and she achieved her Bankai in one month which when compared to the average time of ten years, is absurdly quick.

Togiuna's **Shikai** (始解, *Initial Release*?) has the **Kaigo** (解号, *Release Call*?) of "***All of Creation shall freeze before me.***" (私の前に森羅万象わ凍えよう, *Watakushi no mae ni Shinra Banshō wa kogoeyō*?). Her Shikai allows her to manipulate time via the creation of so-called '*conceptual ice*'. This ice will appear in reality and will feel cold to the touch; this is why her Zanpakutō is classified as an ice-type. This ice is generated around her sword similarly to a Shikai that manipulates fire. Should Togiuna manage to cut an opponent with her ice-encased sword, the wound would instantly freeze before immediately spreading out to cover the entire body of the opponent. Togiuna can then hack away at the frozen opponent and they would be unable to break out of the ice due to the fact that they are literally '*frozen in time*'. What makes Togiuna's Shikai especially dangerous to the point that she was banned from ever unsealing her Zanpakutō is the fact that Togiuna removes the existence of the trapped opponent from the temporal plane. She is essentially erasing them from existence, something that Tokeijikake insisted on for Togiuna to be able to learn the name of her Zanpakutō. As the job of the Shinigami is to recycle, Togiuna's Shikai is something that breaks the rules of Soul Society as a whole and is the reason why she is forbidden from unsealing her sword; what makes it even more dangerous is that unlike most other Zanpakutō, resealing **Setsuna Tokeijikake** does not deactivate any ability already used against an opponent.

By taking the **Tennen Rishin-ryū** (天然理心流?) of her kenjutsu mentor, Okita Sōji, and combining it with her Shikai, Togiuna has developed a unique form of swordsmanship that no one else can reproduce. Her swordsmanship has four '*forms*' with said forms being considered to all be kenjutsu techniques of a true swordmaster, something that Togiuna herself denies as she believes that she has certainly not reached the peak of swordsmanship that her mentor had.

* **Ichi no Yukibana 「Shinen Reitō: Oriha」** (壱ノ雪花『深遠冷凍・折り羽』, *First Snowflake: Deep Freeze ー Folded Wing*?) - A *battōjutsu* technique that begins with Togiuna envisioning a small circle around her person, a territory in which she has '*absolute control*' with the reach of her Zanpakutō. Should anything enter within her absolute territory, she will immediately draw her sword to cut it down before returning her blade to the saya and since her sword is encased with the ice of her **Shikai**, the object entering her absolute territory is '*frozen in time*' and subsequently disintegrated. This is a technique that grants her near-absolute defense as she has immensely fast reaction times and her **Shikai** ability freezes anything it comes into contact with.
* **Ni no Yukibana 「Saotome Tokeijikake」** (弐ノ雪花『早乙女時計仕掛け』, *Second Snowflake: Maiden Clockworks*?) - A technique that Togiuna created to nonlethally subdue an opponent (she is still banned from using it due to the fact that no matter how slight, the technique still shaves away at one’s existence), she performs a *mineuchi* (峰打ち?), hitting the opponent with the back of her blade and encasing them with ice. She would then hit the ice once more with the back of her blade, shattering it but still keeping the effects of her Shikai active, that is, imprisoning them in frozen time. Striking the opponent once more would break the timestop but at the cost of a small portion of their existence.
* **San no Yukibana: 「Kannonbiraki Hokkyoku Chōai」** (参ノ雪花『観音開北極寵愛』, *Third Snowflake: Arctic Affections at the Doors of Avalokiteśvara*?) - A technique created to synthesize a maze, it is a technique only possible due to her Quincy heritage. By manipulating the Reishi in the air, Togiuna can slash at the air and leave a '*cut*' hanging in space. This '*cut*' will remain invisible in the air until activated, that is, when an opponent walks into one. The activated slash will wound the opponent and freeze them in time as a retroactive effect of Togiuna's **Shikai**. This technique is one of the main reasons why she is a difficult opponent in close-quarters combat as she can leave a maze of cuts in the air that would instantly freeze the opponent the second it is activated.
* **Shi no Yukibana: 「Teibukaihōsō」** (肆ノ雪花『帝舞界法葬』, *Fourth Snowflake: Imperial Dance World Method Funeral*?) - Via the use of either Shunpo or Hirenkyaku, Togiuna dances around the battlefield with her Zanpakutō in hand. The essence of this technique is that Togiuna herself is a sword and that she slices across the battlefield with nary an obstacle that can prevent her movement. While using this technique, Togiuna's Reiatsu becomes a conglomeration of cold that freezes everything in her path; should there be an obstacle in front of her, they would be instantly stopped in time, frozen away, and eliminated for '*there is nothing that I cannot cut*'.
#### Bankai

Togiuna's ultimate technique is her **Bankai** (卍解, *Full Release*?) that goes by the name of **Setsuna Tokeijikake Zettōketsu Ryōiki** (刹那時計仕掛け絶凍結領域, *Momentary Clockwork Unparalleled Frozen Realm*?). It is a technique considered to have '*transcended into the divine*' as it takes her devastating **Shikai** and brings it to a new realm. By calling out the name of the Bankai and stabbing her sword into the ground (or if she's in the air, making a downward stabbing motion), Togiuna's Bankai activates sending out a single large pulse of her Reiatsu that freezes anything it comes into contact with. It currently has a maximum range of five hundred meters but with further training, this could be greatly increased; the time it takes for the freezing time to radiate out to her maximum limit is one single second, making dodging near-impossible unless one has incredible skill in any of the rapid movement techniques.

This technique also carries the side effect of freezing any form of moisture in the area out to a maximum radius of five hundred meters which essentially prevents any water- or ice-based Bankai from being used as Togiuna's Bankai overrides them; she also overrides most, if not all, fire-based Bankai due to the absolute cold of her ice. Should there be anyone who had managed to avoid the initial effects of Togiuna’s Bankai, they would still need to deal with **Shinen Reitō Hagoromo** (深遠冷凍羽衣, *Deep Freeze Angel's Raiment*?), an effective barrier around Togiuna’s person that makes her virtually untouchable. This is due to the fact that **Shinen Reitō Hagoromo** is an invisible cloak of cold carrying the temperatures of liquid helium (−269 °C; −452.20 °F; 4.15 K); absolutely nothing can touch her without immediately freezing then eliminated from existence. She is also capable of retroactively freezing any escaped persons with **Ningyō Tōjūrō** (人形従凍牢, *Doll Ice-Binding Prison*?) by simply waving her hand at the opponent, encasing them in an inescapable time capsule.

## Trivia

* Togiuna's appearance is that of Ayaka Kamisato from *Genshin Impact*.
* Togiuna's other character themes include: