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 (much like Rangiku Matsumoto). Her clothing resembles that of a oiran, which is a high-class Japanese courtesan. She also wears a golden bone headdress. The second is revealed later, and is dressed in dark, close-fitting clothes. Katen Kyōkotsu states that she has 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 to keep Yamamoto sealed in a pyramid barrier. 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.

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.

Immense Spiritual Energy: As one of the three Zanpakutō spirits used to seal Captain-Commander Yamamoto, 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".