[b]Name:[/b]
Kato Hiroshi

[b]Gender:[/b]
Male

[b]Appearance Age:[/b]
24

[b]Appearance:[/b] (pic preferred but description is possible).
[img]http://www.socwall.com/images/wallpapers/2129-1600x1200.jpg[/img]

[b]Race:[/b]
Human

[b]Rank:[/b]
Captain

[b]Affiliation:[/b]
Seirietei

[hider=History]
A simple farmer with an obedient wife and two children, one of them slowly growing into an adult. That was to be the life of Kato in feudal Japan, a time where wars would erupt because of a silly rumor and all the backlash would fall onto the lower class. But Kato never complained; he knew the life of a farmer was a hard one, he watched his father deal withe same thing and even watched him killed for offending a feudal lord by not producing enough produce after wars had burned down the farm. He had to take over then at the tender age of fourteen, and he always kept his eyes lowered, minding his own little part of the world. 

That changed when he was approached by his father's friend. The man was lanky and tall, but he had an air of authority about him, a swagger like the samurai, which could get anyone like them killed instantly, but that particular man had it anyway. The first lesson Kato learned from his would-be master was bravery. He came by often to check up on him and his farm, as well as his dying mother and always asked about his older siblings, who had moved on with their lives to work in their own lands. A few months later while working on the farm, Kato was attacked by a random dog that seemed to jump out of nowhere at him. He fought off the dog as best he could and by the time he managed to kill the dog, his left arm was bloody and useless. His father's friend came by hearing the commotion and saw Kato's mauled arm and took him to a healer to told him it had to be cut off.

It took Kato a few months to heal from the wound, and by the time he had healed and went back to his farm, he was approached by a group of men carrying a sedan, and inside was the feudal lord's mistress who informed him that the dog which he killed belonged to her. Kato fell on his face in apology and was on the verge of begging for his life when the mistress told him that to pay for the dog, which was an expensive breed, he was going to be a servant for her and her family. Having no choice in the matter, Kato agreed and one of the men who were carrying the sedan was promptly killed and he was told to replace him. He did so quietly, and carried the heavy box over his shoulder. 

As a servant, he was told to do menial tasks ranging from carrying the sedan, cleaning the house, massaging his mistress, and generally doing everything that was asked of him and keeping his gaze low. One night, his father's friend came to him in the little, cramped cot that the servants shared and he bid him to step outside. Curious, Kato stepped outside with the man where he was told that he could be trained to take care of himself, to never let such humiliation happen to him again. Agreeing, Kato asked what he had to do in return. His father's friend replied by telling him to spy on the woman and report everything to him.

Years passed and Kato spied, keeping his gaze low but having his ears open and noticing the smallest details. And every night, he would step out with his father's friend and train in ninjutsu, and how to use the night as his ally, and slowly his body grew stronger, sturdier, until he himself had an air of slight authority about him. He found that the other servants looked up to him more, that among the rabble he was gaining a sort of respect. This didn't bode well for him, because the small power he had got to his head and he was chastised for it swiftly. A severe punishment came to him where his right leg was cut from under him, leaving him lopsided and off balance. Yet, he wouldn't give up on his training. It was the only sense of control he had in his life, and he desired it like a drug. He pushed himself and within a year, he learned to "hop" with his lopsided body, and his balance was near perfect. Then, his father's friend gave him the order to assassinate his mistress, but Kato was reluctant to answer mainly because he had no idea how to pull off an assassination with only half of his limbs remaining. But the man pushed him, saying the nobles thought him sufficiently culled and that he was the perfect man to do such a thing because of it.

Eventually, Kato agreed to undertake the mission. Killing the mistress was easy, his father's friend was right, she never expected him to do such a thing after his deformation. It was the repercussions that got to him. He was taken, and instead of being executed immediately, the feudal lord ordered that he be tortured to death. For a year, the only thing Kato knew was agony, day in and day out he was tortured, abused, beaten. Through it all however, Kato prevented his mind from going into insanity, he clung desperately to his senses, despite the pain, and when he died, his body was skinned and diseased, the skin refusing to regrow from neck under, his limbs were gone, and his eyes were gauged out. He thought it was finally over.

Kato found himself in soul society, and although his limbs were back, they were deformed like the rest of his body. The muscles were clearly visible along with tendons and ligaments. His skin and fat wouldn't regrow from below his neck, and flies were drawn to him like bees to a fragrant flower. Once more, death was staring him in the face, but he refused to give in. He wrapped his whole body in bandages, and although it helped a little, if he didn't change it often, it would leave him with a serious infection that he suffered once and promised himself that he wouldn't go through it again.

Kato realized that his idea of death, that it would bring ease from the suffering was a naive thought. If anything, it brought more pain. His struggle with the fact that he had no skin made him weak and fragile, and that made him a target within the slums of soul society. Thugs would go out of their way to give him a hard time, bully him, and make his life harder than it already was. And they would constantly beat him up just because they could. During one rather intense session of beating, one of his bullies became over zealous and brought out a dagger and was about to slip it between his ribs when it was stopped. Kato's helper in the living world was there with a black katana in his hand that was dripping blood, and the thug was on the floor screaming and writhing in pain as he tried to stop the flow of blood on the stump where his hand used to be. Dumbfounded, Kato was guided away from the bullies who had backed away.

His father's friend then told him that if he wanted to survive he would have to learn how, then he left without turning back. Kato went back to the place where he was about to get killed and took the knife off the floor and began practicing once again the drills that he used to go through in the living world. He got into more fights since his father's friend showed up, but he slowly began defending himself more and more, until he fought one particular thug with a long chipped katana. And although he was in endless pain, Kato used it as fuel and slew the man and took his katana. Within a year, the thugs learned to stay away from him, and a few years later, he was being challenged to duels by other swordsmen with soul society. Kato's fame grew, and eventually when he applied to the gotei 13 they allowed him inside.

The harsh life that Kato led in soul society had served its purpose. Within the academy, although he was by no means the most skilled with the blade, he was strong, resilient and his stubborn attitude never let him give in. He pushed himself, and although he started somewhere a little above average, he climbed to the top of his class, excelling in zanjutsu.

Eventually he graduated and was placed in the second squad. His time in the squad, he recalled, was very different to his time in the streets of soul society. Where people were bullies to the weak over there, his peers cold towards him, and mostly ignored him. This treatment, he found out, hurt him more than the physical beatings he went through, and to prove himself, Kato spend most of his free time within the dojo trying to turn his weakness into a strength. It got to such a point that skill and perfection was the only thing revolving around Kato's mind. Weakness was a disease, and he'd cure it through training.

As the years went by, Kato became more methodical. Instead of like being the beast he was in soul society, he became a beast tamer and took complete reign of himself, and forced discipline upon himself. His zanjutsu became more refined and soon he had activated his shikai. The years passed him by, and he soon found himself in the position as lieutenant. Nearly six hundred years later, he activated his bankai. He stayed as lieutenant for four hundred more years before the opportunity arose for him to become the captain of the second squad after the death of the previous captain at the hands of another captain, and after the trial where he showed his bankai as well as recommendations from other captains, he was deemed worthy to take the position as the second squad's leader.

Several years after his promotion the captain of the twelfth squad presented him with a strange suit. The captain explained that the suit would replace the bandages, and unlike the bandages it didn't have to be replaced every few days, it would regulate itself and keep external bacteria and harm from reaching his exposed tissues. Kato found the suit strange in design, but it was a welcome change from the bandages. 

Things were relatively normal within the gotei 13 in regards to Kato for the next several thousand years, until the war with the hollows began.
[/hider]

[b]Personality:[/b]
Kato has suffered endlessly for thousands of years, and this suffering has caused him to go cold with a burning desire for destruction underneath. He is by no means unstable, but he revels in the death of his enemies and he fights with the ferocity of an enraged beast while at the same time somehow managing to keep his cool. Ever since he died, never once did Kato smile and after spending time in soul society never again will he smile.

A fine line exists between confidence and arrogance, and Kato has painted that line in bright red. Arrogance never brought him anything but pain, and so he stays away from it as if it were the plague. Yet he is a confident individual, and believes he has every right to be. He is strong after thousands of years of weakness, and a leader of a division.

And to temper that confidence, Kato is disciplined. He believes that with discipline and patience, everything will fall into place, and so he has set boundaries for himself and never crosses them. He's punctual, strict, and has little to no tolerance for those who are careless and act as though things will happen their way if they don't work for it. 

[b]Fighting Style:[/b] 
Before Kato gets into any sort of conflict or fight, he tries to find out as much about that person as possible. If he can't and the fight is spontaneous, he goes slow, getting a feel for his opponent before withdrawing if he can. Once withdrawn he tries to see how his opponent reacts and uses the knowledge he gathers against his enemy. He also tries his best to use his surroundings to give him an advantage, and tries to lure his opponents into traps where he has the upper hand. If he can't find any advantages to use against his opponent, he goes in soft and after getting a taste of his opponent's fighting style leaves, as he believes that knowing your enemy is half the battle.
_
[b]Stats:[/b]

[i]CQC- 6
Kido- 5
Hoho- 2
Zan Resonance- 8
Reiatsu- 9[/i]

_
[b]Race Choices:[/b]

[b]Close Quarter Combat:[/b] Zanjutsu

[b]Skills:[/b]

**Shikai- Zan Resonance- 11
**Bankai- Zan Resonance- 14; Reiatsu- 15
**Shunko- CQC- 13; Kido 11

[b]Custom skills:[/b]

[i]Zanpakuto:[/i]
[img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQPFaH3oE-V5-4GOHkd8EWvls9hNVeLlrSG3lyS4C5wgBrHUkz30w[/img]

[i]Shikai[/i]
[u]Name & Release:[/u]
Fill the world with pain, Sokubaku

[u]Power:[/u]
Sokubaku turns completely black with an audible snap of chains and wails of pain, then barbed shackles and chains surround both Kato and his opponent in a rather large square and if they get near the shackles, they latch onto the opponent. If Sokubaku manages to slay whoever Kato is fighting, the chains latch onto the soul of the opponent and drag it back into the sword, where Sokubaku puts them through eternal torture.

[u]Relationship with wielder:[/u]
Sokubaku is comfortable with Kato, at first he thought that the shinigami was weak and worthless, but he soon saw the potential in him as he trained day in and day out to become better than anyone in his squad until he managed to do just that. The sword has a bit of respect for Kato for it can sense the torture he went through and the pain he suffered, and the fact that he's still standing continues to surprise Sokubaku.

[i]Bankai[/i]
[u]Name:[/u]
Ko Batsu

[u]Power:[/u]
Kato is covered in a masked samurai armor with broken shackles on his neck, wrists, and ankles, with two black katanas in his hands. With the bankai, he can shoot chains out of the katanas and bring his enemies closer to him, and if he manages to cut an opponent the pain they feel is doubled, and every subsequent cut afterwards is doubled in pain continuously. The pain continues to multiply in accordance to the number of souls held by Sokubaku - if there are one hundred souls, and if Kato manages to nick his opponent one hundred and ten times, the pain will only be doubled continuously doubled for those first hundred nicks.