Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-25360536-20140916202609/@comment-5398287-20140917012420

To expand on the above, Shunsui killed Starrk with a slash, not a stab, across his entire torso. Recall that having his wrist lightly cut after Shunsui had called "gray" made Starrk feel like his hand had been completely cut off, and you should see why a much deeper and longer slash with "black" after Shunsui had discarded his captain's haori was fatal to Starrk.