Katen Kyōkotsu (Zanpakutō spirit)

This article is about the manifested spirit of Shunsui Kyōraku's Zanpakutō. For his Zanpakutō and its abilities see Katen Kyōkotsu.

is the manifested spirit of Shunsui Kyōraku's Zanpakutō that is seen during the Zanpakutō Unknown Tales arc.

Character Outline
Katen Kyōkotsu's spirit takes the form of two women. One is a tall, purple-haired woman with a red ribbon around her neck and an eye patch covering her right eye. She wears an indigo cape with a skull imprint on it and a long, dark dress that flows to reveal her cleavage. Her clothing resembles that of an oiran, a high-class Japanese courtesan. She also wears a golden bone headdress, likely a reference to the "crazy bone" part of Katen Kyōkotsu's name. The second half of the spirit is revealed later, and is dressed in dark, close-fitting clothes. Katen Kyōkotsu first half states that she left Kyoraku because she had grown bored of Shunsui's "dull" nature after being around him for so long.

Synopsis
She first appears when several Zanpakutō spirits are in a cave waiting for Muramasa's return. She is later seen in Soul Society along with Sōgyo no Kotowari and Minazuki as they approach the main office of the 1st Division. They are then confronted by Chōjirō Sasakibe and apparently take Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto as their hostage, with Muramasa later stating that her power along with Sōgyo no Kotowari's and Minazuki's power were the necessary forces in order to seal Yamamoto. She is last seen along with the rest of the Zanpakutō spirits appearing before the Shinigami that have gathered at the Sōkyoku Hill.

Katen Kyōkotsu is later seen with Sōgyo no Kotowari and Minazuki, using their powers the barrier Yamamoto was sealed in. When the Shinigami find their hideout, Katen Kyōkotsu intercepts her former partner Shunsui. There it is revealed that Katen Kyōkotsu is one of two entities, as a masked female appears behind Shunsui with one of their Shikai blades.

It soon became clear that there battle was merely to stall for time. Unfortunately, their mission succeeded as Muramasa was able to use Ichigo's power to break through Yamamoto's barrier and take control of Ryujin Jakka. With intial plan finally a success, Muramasa revealed that he merely used the other Zanpakuto spirits in his goal to get Yamamoto's Zanpakuto. Angered by this, Katen Kyōkotsu attacked Muramasa, only to be incinerated by Ryujin Jakka's flames.

Powers & Abilities
At any time, Katen Kyōkotsu are able to manifest the Shikai of their former self. It takes the form of a pair of huge, heavily-curved, black Chinese scimitars with silver edges, one for each of them. The cross guards are rectangles, with the corners cut off, decorated by a pattern of cherry petals and lines, and each sports a dark-blue handle with long red tassels dangling from the end.

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: As despite fighting only to stall for time, Katen Kyōkotsu demonstrated considerable sword skill against their former master, one of the greatest swords masters in Soul Society. As Shunsui, explained, the masked half who was originally Shunsui's wakizashi, specializes in defense, while the taller woman who originally was Shunsui katana, specializes in offense.

Immense Spiritual Energy: As one of the oldest Zanpakutō spirits, Katen Kyōkotsu possesses a rather high-level of spiritual energy.

Stealth Master: The masked half of Katen Kyōkotsu is shown to be very stealthy, able to mask her presence until finally showing herself, however their former master was able to detect the spiritual pressure of "someone else".