Maki Ichinose

former member of the 11th Division, under the former captain that Kenpachi Zaraki defeated and replaced.

History
Introduced in the anime's Bount arc, Maki belonged to the 11th Division until Kenpachi Zaraki killed the previous captain in a duel. Maki refused to acknowledge the new captain and left Soul Society, although he retains his Shinigami abilities. While in Soul Society, he shared many ideals with Kaname Tōsen. He then traveled the human world, but one day, while in a weakened state in a desert, he fell upon a hollow who almost killed him; the hollow was subdued by Jin Kariya, who allowed Maki to kill it. Maki swore his loyalty to Jin after that, breaking the vow only once to fight Kenpachi instead of stopping Ichigo and his friends as he was expected to.

He helped Kariya and the other Bounts by infiltrating Soul Society and provoking Mayuri Kurotsuchi into helping the Bount enter. He is severely wounded by Kenpachi Zaraki during their duel, breaking his sword in the process. When he returns to question Kariya's motives and threatens him to help better the Soul Society, he is stabbed and tossed away by Kariya. What's left of his sword is destroyed when it inadvertently saves Ichigo from one of Kariya's lightning attacks, acting as a lightning rod.

Powers & Abilities
Despite not belonging or having a rank in the Gotei 13, Maki is a Captain-level fighter. This is proven when he fights on equal footing with Ichigo Kurosaki, and when he crosses swords with Tōshirō Hitsugaya; neither him nor Maki are not able to push each other back.

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Due to constant training, Maki was capable of holding his own against Kenpachi Zaraki for a short while.

Flash Steps Expert: Ichinose has considerable speed, as shown when he was able to fight on par with Ichigo while using Flash Steps.

Zanpakutō

 * an average katana with a simple rectangular hand guard and greyish-blue hilt.


 * Shikai: It is activated by the command..


 * Shikai Special Ability: When Nijigasumi is drenched with his spiritual energy it is able to create limitless amounts of light. When Nijigasumi shines it melds with all other light. When he releases it he can use that light to take control of shadows and attack his opponent with them. Nijigasumi's ability also allows it to manipulate light for other various effects, such as:


 * Invisibility: Ability to make Maki invisible to the naked eye, by surrounding him with light.


 * Blinding Light: Ability to create a large area of bright around opponents disrupting their visual perceptions, causing confusion and decreasing their chance to fight back against attack.


 * Illusions: Ability to use light to alter another's perceptions, allowing him to make his opponent see what he wants him to see.


 * Blade of Light: Dissolves his actual blade and replaces it with a blade made of pure light. If the blade is broken it can completely covers it to allow the battle to continue.


 * Causes a multitude of twinkling lights to appear which then form together around an opponent creating a huge sphere which engulfs everything within a significant radius. Anyone within that radius will potentially get caught in it. Immediately following that the sphere collapses in on itself using the compressed light to crush everything within it.


 * Bankai: Not Achieved