Sakui Katsuyuki

> "The gods are afraid of you? Who lied to you, worm? The gods don't even know your name. Besides... you could not even fathom my relationship with the gods."
>
>

Sakui Katsuyuki (勝之薾畏, *Katsuyuki Sakui*) is a samurai from Heian hailing from the low-ranking Katsuyuki clan. She is the adoptive caretaker of both Minato and Kyahan and the current head of Katsuyuki-ryu kenjutsu. At a young age, Sakui was revered as a prodigy. After the assassinations of her family, best friend, and sensei, Sakui set off on her own and adopted her two proteges at the age of 16.

## Background

Sakui Katsuyuki was born into a smaller samurai family. Her father was a minor noble’s retainer, and her mother was a geisha. She was born with an otherworldly appearance and incredible talent that made her family consider her the future of their name. As such, they wanted her to be a wise patron of the arts and a strong warrior. They trained her deeply, perhaps too much so, in the ways of bushido. Eventually, the strange child was taken in by a sensei who lived in a great mountain estate. She befriended her sensei's other star pupil, Honoka Kachigaya, and spent much time with her in her sensei's library. They competed over a future status as the strongest, smartest samurai.

However, their notoriety spread as they became strong. Eventually, a rival dojo poisoned her sensei and friend to death while Sakui was gone. In a wild rampage, she stormed the other dojo and killed all of its practitioners. When she saw herself deranged and blood-stained in a river later, she grew disgusted and weary, and swore to never snap like that again. She cast her blade into the river, considering it an evil symbol. Before returning home to her family, she went and took in her friend’s younger sibling to look after them. After becoming an adult, she made the younger child her retainer, and they became wandering samurai together.

Eventually, to keep a young Minato safe, he was passed into Sakui's care. He and Kyahan would grow up as brothers under Sakui's care.

## Personality

Sakui Katsuyuki is a samurai, and many expected traits arise from this. She is a reticent, stoic woman who always keeps her emotions deeply in check. She does not easily give into anger or raise her voice. At the same time, she also frequently checks herself to ensure she is humble, never falling into either a sense of aristocratic superiority, might-makes-right ideals, or simply nerd arrogance.

She has a very powerful will and is highly confident in herself. Never hesitating to voice this, it makes her a very authoritative person. Despite her humility, she has no issue in demanding respect for her competence and hard work. She is also a highly intelligent person, using her authoritative stature to make strong decisions.

Despite that, she is also surprisingly open-minded. In general, she is open to the ideas of others, but she also is open to the changes happening to the world. Despite this, her relatively isolated and old-fashioned lifestyle renders her relatively ignorant to the workings of the modern world, save for a number of strong niche interests she holds. This creates an odd contrast where she seems like an ignorant country bumpkin and an erudite Renaissance woman at the same time.

Her tolerance has a drawn line, however. She despises pacifism and often holds disdain for cowards. As someone who draws all of her strength from her own will, she is not somebody who will so easily offer her sympathy or pity. Her advice can often come across as harsh or unachievable, but she is not an insensitive person. She has a strong moral compass, and her strongest beliefs are stocked in the responsible use of power. She hates selfish, insensitive people.

## Appearance

Sakui is a woman who is typically considered to be visually graceful and majestic. Born with hair white as snow, unblemished pale skin, and piercing red eyes, she was considered blessed. She wears her hair in a well-trimmed bob with hime-styled bangs. Her hair frames her face, covering her ears, and is only chin-length. However, her Countdown technique causes her hair to grow out almost to reach the ground. After her fight with Sakanade, she cut her hair extremely short into a spiky mess.

She dresses in traditional Japanese clothing. She has a lithe, athletic body, with hard-callused hands often clad in bandages. Sakui’s signature katana, Kokuten, is a fine weapon. It sports a simple, golden handguard. The grip has a white wrap, black underskin, and a white pommel. The blade is of a pristine, reflective sheen, and has a brilliant red line along the side. If one looks closely at the line, it has a jewel-like color. The sheath is a gentle red with a strong sheen; a variety of white bands are haphazardly wrapped around it. During the Namek arc, she changed outfits multiple times. Initially, she wore a pilot suit offered by Ichigo's spaceship. However, Caracol eventually replaced her outfit with a kimono, a long haori, and geta sandals with a flower petal motif. This outfit was wrecked when Sakui tore it up for use as impromptu bandaging.

## Abilities

### Swordsmanship

Sakui is an extremely skilled swordsman. Of all characters seen wielding blades, Sakui can easily be considered the greatest. From a young age, Sakui's abilities have been lauded as unusual for her age. By 16, she was skilled enough to begin raising Kyahan and Minato as brilliant swordsmen. Her swordplay has allowed her to engage with the likes of Shiiva at her strongest, slay powerful aliens like Shuji, and aid in the elimination of numerous Saiyans despite the power disparity in each of those fights.

#### Katsuyuki-ryu

Sakui is the current head of the Katsuyuki-ryu and one of the greatest users of it of all time. Its component pieces include Shukuchi and superb ki control, of which Sakui eclipses many of her comrades in. She is a master of all eight base forms, as well as the progenitor and sole user of five unique forms. These five techniques are her Blooms: unfathomably strong and powerful sword techniques only to be used sparingly.

### Physical Prowess

While Sakui's specialty is her skill, her physical abilities are not to be ignored. During the fight with Aegpla, Sakui was several thousand PL units weaker than Aegpla but was nonetheless able to blitz the Saiyaness from time to time.

### Countdown

Sakui is capable of proclaiming a "countdown" for unknown reasons. Upon doing so, a north star manifests. Sakui counts down from five, using her Bloom techniques. With each usage, her appearance changes and she gains new powers. She is capable of cancelling the count whenever, but while it is active she cannot wait too long to count the next Bloom. After disengaging the count, she retains its powers for a limited amount of time. The ultimate effects of the countdown have not been displayed. However, Sakui's inner monologue has suggested that it may have permanent and even deadly side effects.

#### Five

After using Fifth Bloom: REM, Sakui’s forehead develops strange veins, and she gains the ability to manipulate local Planetary Ki.

#### Four

After using Fourth Bloom: Yin-Yon Flowing Cuts in countdown, Sakui gains old-fashioned make-up and her hair doubles in length. Her veins become more pronounced and spread across the face. Her personality becomes more graceful and mystical, but also more somber. She gains the power of a mystical song of curse. This curse manifests the primordial darkness, which allows her to certainly kill any victim which is infested by the darkness. This darkness rendered Shiiva utterly helpless and ultimately killed the tyrant.

#### Three

After using Third Bloom: Trisection Realm/Slash Dimension, Sakui gains a massive, veiny tumor on her forehead, which causes one of her eyes to swell shut. In comparison to the previous two counts, Sakui is very sickly and sluggish in this form, but her strength is tremendous. She is able to release otherworldly, destructive screams that devastate what hears it. These screams were able to dismember Sakanade and severely injure Shiiva at points.

#### Two

Second Bloom: Zero-Two Type must be used to engage this count. Because it is a defensive technique, Sakui may attack herself with a ki ball to use the technique. After being used in countdown, Sakui transforms into a massive headless monster with a single eye. This eye has four tomoe on it. Sakui’s mental capacity is reduced to that of a beast, and her sole instinct is to prepare to use Final Bloom. If not interrupted, she will inevitably do so. The power of this form was later displayed when Sakui -- in base form -- manifested dark tentacles to rip open Shiiva's wounds and generate blood for Satoshi's hemokinesis.

#### One

The effects of this count have not been displayed. However, to engage it, it can be assumed that Sakui must use Final Bloom: Lightless Astra.

## Relationships

### Kyahan

Kyahan is Sakui's retainer and adoptive son. They have a very positive, albeit stoic relationship, but it has been marked with some troubles. Kyahan's misogyny created an inner turmoil in him towards her that generated some strains in their relationship. After Minato's death, Kyahan drifted away from her as he erroneously believed she did not care. She never ceased to love him, however, and he eventually saw the error of his ways.

### Minato

Minato is a student of Sakui's and her adoptive son. Their relationship is similar to that of hers with Kyahan, albeit far more stable. After Minato's death, Sakui was sent into a deep state of depression. Hanshin saw this in her and her home's state of uncleanliness when he visited. When Minato returned to her, she was unable to contain herself and broke down.

### Kora

Kora and Sakui have always had a tenuous relationship. Sakui's distrust for the Saiyans extended to him to a limited extent. This distrust was exacerbated by Kora's loss of control as a Super Saiyan, which resulted in her being severely injured.

### Keal

Like Kora, Sakui does not quite trust Keal as a Saiyan. After she was severely injured by his Ikari state, this distrust grew. She is aware that Keal is not able to control himself well in that form, however, and grants him a little more lenience.

### Annion

Annion and Sakui have had very limited interactions. While her distrust for the Saiyans is there, she registers Annion more as a human.

### Megumi

As kids, Megumi and Sakui met and only exchanged brief glances. In that moment, they were able to read one another very clearly. Over a decade later, they would meet again as adults as a drunken Megumi flirted with her. While she shrugged him off, she would come to see him later on as a reliable comrade.

### Asuka

Sakui harbors a strong respect for Wukong, as she admires his rebellious nature towards the arrogant gods. In battle, they worked together to contain Keal, then defeat Shuji on Zonkus Zorp. They also aided one another in the attrition battle against Shiiva.

### Shiiva

Sakui harbors a strong contempt for the tyrant for her many crimes, as well as for the harm she brought to her sons. Furthermore, over a number of philosophical discussions, a distinct ideological difference has further increased Sakui's hostility. However, it is likely they will meet again on special terms.

### Renge Hinjo'ou

Sakui briefly wielded her during her fight against Shiiva. She was quickly able to understand the blade and impress Renge with her skills.

## Trivia

* Sakui's given name has an obscure kanji "薾" which refers to the growth of a flower. The other kanji, "畏" refers to fear, majesty, and awe. "勝" in her last name means 'victory' while "之" is an archaic kanji for the particle "no".