Kuroki Gensai (黒木 玄斎, Kuroki Gensai; "Gensai Kuroki"), also known as "The Devil Lance" (魔槍, Ma Yari), is a renowned assassin in the criminal underworld and the affiliated fighter for Motorhead Motors in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament.
Appearance
Kuroki is a powerfully imposing individual with a large mass of black hair atop his head, thick black facial hair, including a moustache and beard, and stern hardened facial features. In combat, he wears a black gi.
Personality
Kuroki is a generally stern and taciturn individual, who does not make idle chatter and only speaks when necessary, avoiding being wasteful with his words and his time. Despite adamantly refusing to accept apprentices, he seems to be a natural teacher, and tends to teach by example in the middle of combat, even though he himself denies this.
Because of his tremendous experience and skill, he has very little patience for the arrogant, especially those who are weak. He very rarely brings his full force to bear against weaker opponents, and pulls his punches before killing blows. However, in the rare case where he is angered, his wrath is fearsome and relentless.
History
After his master had passed away, he was visited by Tokita Niko who had come in search of knowledge regarding Gaoh Mukaku.
During a meet up with close friend Taira Genzan, the latter told him about wanting to revamp and modernise the Koei Style because he had found himself a promising student.[4]
At some point in his past he clashed with and killed Mikazuchi Rei's father.[5]
At an unknown time, Kuroki also went to Mount Shirobara Daisen Temple, a "holy land" where many martial artists have come to train since the Kamakura period, and performed the "Purgatory Austerity". Despite the difficulty and danger the rite posed, Kuroki accomplished it with ease.[6]
Before the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, Kuroki was invited to participate by Katahara Metsudo.[7] Accepting the invitation, Kuroki then asked his old friend Takakaze Kirimi to enter him into the tournament as Motorhead Motors' affiliated fighter.
Plot
He was first seen briefly drinking a beer on board the S.S. Kengan.
Representing Motorhead Motors in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, Kuroki entered the arena to fight Rihito in the first round. Dominating him from the start to finish, he quickly attained victory over Rihito. Later, after watching Kiryu's fight with Nikaido Ren, his employer asked him of his impression of Kiryu with Kuroki replying he wouldn't be able to go easy on him.
Facing off against Kiryu Setsuna in the second round, Kuroki asked his opponent if he was the one who betrayed and killed Taira Genzan. With Kiryu ignoring the question, the two's fight began with Kuroki being put on the defensive in the early stages of the match. After a few surprises, he eventually asserted his dominance to attain victory, nearly killing Kiryu in the process. After the fight, with Takakaze asking how Kiryu managed to survive, Kuroki directed the question to Rihito, who answered for him. With Rihito obliviously treating Kuroki like his master, Kuroki kept dismissing it but added that while he didn't take students, Rihito was free to watch his fights.
Before his quarter-final match against Mikazuchi Rei, Rihito met him in the arena entryway and told him he'd be cheering him on from up close. With Kuroki giving Rihito some words of advice on how his strength compared to Rei's, Kuroki stepped into the arena. With his fight starting similarly to his fight against Kiryu, Kuroki was initially put on the back foot by an invigorated Rei. However Kuroki weathered the storm and soon stormed to victory, knocking Rei out cold. After his fight, Takakaze teased Kuroki about him seemingly teaching Rei during their fight, by Kuroki dismissed the notion. Takakaze then told Kuroki that their real trial would be in the next round.
Kuroki observed the Tokita Ohma-Wakatsuki Takeshi semi-final fight, with Kanoh Agito joining him partway through the fight. After Ohma achieved victory, Agito told him he'd see him in the arena, with Kuroki acknowledging the statement. Facing the seemingly unbeatable Fang of Metsudo in the semi-finals, Kuroki had an exhilaratingly tense battle with the Emperor of the Kengan matches before eventually achieving victory.
Before the finals, he met with Tokita Ohma and informed him of everything he knew about the history of the Niko Style. In the final match of the tournament, Kuroki fought against a valiant Ohma but eventually achieved victory after weathering everything Ohma could throw at him.
After the tournament, while meditating under a waterfall, Kuroki mused that he was far from where he wanted to be.
Power & Abilities
A master of the Kaiwan Style,[8] Kuroki Gensai is an extremely powerful unarmed combatant, having defeated many renowned and powerful opponents. The High Priest of the Daisen Temple remarked that Kuroki was the avatar of a Wisdom King, adding that he had never seen anyone as powerful as him in his 105 years of life.[6] Through a combination of his training, his experiences from his lifetime of fighting and assassinations and his overwhelming skill, Kuroki is easily one of the strongest fighters in the tournament. As a component of the Kaiwan Style, Kuroki is able to use karate to a masterful level, with Himuro saying he had never seen anyone use karate so perfectly.[9] By his own admission, he hates fighting weaklings, so he tends to use basic karate to illustrate the gap in power. Only after Kuroki recognises that his opponent actually poses a threat, will he get serious. The combination of his excellent martial arts prowess and his masterful predictive capabilities give Kuroki almost impregnable flawless defensive abilities. Kuroki is also noted to be able to perform the impossible, such as when he reset his dislocated elbow using centrifugal force.[6] He is a man who has reached the pinnacle of martial arts and put it into practice, "using the right technique, at the right moment".[6]
Technique(s)
Kaiwan Style: This martial art is an assassination style that originated in the Ryukyu Kingdom; it is a style that combines the traits of Okinawan karate, traditional Ryukyuan martial arts and Chinese wushu.[10] The Kaiwan Style places high emphasis on partial training, kata training, research of meridians, acupuncture points and qigong.[10] However, the most extreme part of the Kaiwan Style is the hand conditioning users undergo, with Kuroki spending most of his time training his hand by stabbing things like sandbags, bamboo poles and even stone;[10] hand conditioning is performed every day without rest, even if the user's arm is broken or shredded.[11] This conditioning gives Kuroki hands that are as tough as steel[12] and fingers that are capable of punching through solid steel.[13] His extreme strength and dexterity of his limbs and appendages is so great that he was able to carve an intricate image of a Deva into a stone wall.[14] The Kaiwan Style's training does not stop at the hands and feet, with every joint being trained over a ridiculously long period of time; they are at times solid enough to be used as a spear and breaking them instantaneously is nigh-impossible.[15]
- Devil Lance (魔槍, Ma Yari): Kuroki's signature move. Putting his fingers in a formation remarkably similar to nukite, he then he stabs his opponent with it. Due to Kuroki's fingers being abnormally sturdy and tough after his training, he can easily punch right though solid steel and human flesh with this technique; in this manner, Kuroki can easily kill a human with this technique by stabbing them in the heart. Even after he broke all four of the fingers on his right hand after his fights with Kiryu Setsuna and Mikazuchi Rei, he was still able to puncture Kanoh Agito's arm with his right thumb.[16] Kuroki is even able to perform the Devil Lance with his toes, which he did so against Tokita Ohma.[17]
- Motionlessness:[18] The name of "foresight" within the Kaiwan Style. As a result of mastering Motionlessness, Kuroki is a master of prediction, perhaps more so than any other fighter in the tournament, with Kaneda Suekichi regarding him as having reached the "pinnacle" of foresight.[19] At the age of 35 years old, Kuroki asked his friend to shoot him with a rifle, making sure he covered his face to make Kuroki didn't know when he would shoot; even then, Kuroki still stopped the bullet at point-blank range with a jug full of sand.[19] Kuroki's mastered Motionlessness and quick reflexes enabled him to decisively counter Mikazuchi Rei's speed even though Rei was moving so fast that he could no longer be tracked with human eyes.[19] Because of his mastered Motionlessness, Kuroki is even able to utilise it in an offensive manner, such as when he completely countered Rei's insanely fast Lightning Flash by placing his fist where Rei would be when he attacked.[19] Due to his mastery of Motionlessness, Kuroki has become a master of "pre-initiative", the ability to read the opponent's inception of intent and strike before they move.
- Sanchin (三戦, lit. Three Battles):[20] A defensive kata with origins in Ryukyuan karate, it is said to be the simplest yet the ultimate kata. A seasoned master such as Kuroki can use Sanchin to shake off any and all blows, which he showed in his fight with Agito.[20]
- Unnamed technique: Kuroki can also use a technique nigh-identical to the Niko Style's Bone Binding which allows him to adequately control his right hand and fingers despite them being completely broken.[21]
Notes & Trivia
- Kuroki is well-connected among business persons, martial artists and assassins, being acquainted with a surprisingly varied manner of people.
- He likes training, but dislikes bad jokes (he's fine with jokes if they're funny however).[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Kuroki Gensai's profile
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 91
- ↑ 5 wins during the Kengan Annihilation Tournament against Rihito,(Ch94) Kiryu Setsuna,(Ch157) Mikazuchi Rei,(Ch200) Kanoh Agito(Ch226) and Tokita Ohma(Ch235)
- ↑ Chapter 153
- ↑ Chapter 197
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Chapter 225
- ↑ Chapter 227
- ↑ Chapter 31
- ↑ Chapter 92
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Chapter 94
- ↑ Chapter 158
- ↑ Chapter 200
- ↑ Chapter 39
- ↑ Chapter 81
- ↑ Chapter 233
- ↑ Chapter 224
- ↑ Chapter 232
- ↑ Chapter 201
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Chapter 199
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Chapter 223
- ↑ Chapter 226
