Seireitou Kawahiru (Puppet)

"I have broken the spine of the Shinobi World... Sometimes, things must be broken in order to be rebuilt. As I have bent Akatsuki to my will, so I will bend the rest of the world. I will become the God of a New World and it will know order."

- Seireitou Kawahiru

Seireitou Kawahiru (瀞霊冬川平 Kawahiru Seireitou), also known by his moniker "Seireitou of the Black Sun" (純粋な魂黒太陽の, Kurotaiyō no Seireitou) is the former recognized leader of Akatsuki and was a major antagonist in the series, but soon became a protagonist. He was a former student under Madara Uchiha, and soon seeked tutelage from Rikudou Sennin. He works alongside Shiori Miyamoto, and is also the First Tenkage (最初の天の影, Shodai Tenkage; Literally meaning "First or Founding Heavenly Shadow") of Tenkogakure. As Tenkage, his word holds sway over all political and military issues that present themselves regarding Tenko and its inhabitants.

Appearance
Although depicted only as a dark figure, several details can be inferred about his appearance. He has long, silver hair flowing backwards, in a style similar to Madara Uchiha's. He wears a familiar Akatsuki cloak that shows his necklace with nine magatama. His eyes have been described as cold and detached, as shown by his Rinnegan's chakra.

Personality
Seireitou displays a number of rather unique personality traits; cool intelligence and cunning, self-confidence, laid-back disposition, conceitedness, and the desire for battling strong opponents. Seireitou is also unique among the Naruto villains in that he has absolutely no desire for conquest or immortality. Another interesting characteristic possessed by him is the fact that he is very genuinely polite to his opponents, complimenting them on their abilities and power when appropriate. He merely desires entertainment, and the annihilation of anything he considers worthless, a category in which he places everyone and everything but himself.

In his own words, Seireitou claims to be unaffected by any form of morals or ethics, which he views as a mere restriction on his potential. He is, therefore, willing to stop at nothing to further his selfish ambitions, including manipulating or killing anyone if he deems it necessary. He is fond of long, complicated, and somewhat convoluted plots, many of which do not have any real reason until he reveals them, and frequently appears to toy with his underlings for amusement. Despite being one of the the strongest, Seireitou retains a level of humbleness and isn't overly arrogant about his strength. He is also one of the most proficient combatants in the Great Nations, and maintains a level of honor and integrity when engaging in battle. He refuses to fight in the presence of a child or even with a child. Nonetheless, he was seen to be quite respectful, particularly to the fallen and the dead. Given the Akatsuki members' frequent bickering, he often restrained them, and encouraged better relations among members. Apparently believing traumas he experienced in his youth had enlightened him to the true meaning of pain and suffering, he considered himself a deity, and believed he had evolved beyond a mere human being.

However, following the disbandment of Akatsuki, Seireitou changed drastically. Compared to his more serious and dark persona exhibited during his time as Akatsuki leader, Seireitou has become somewhat more playful and wacky, toying with enemies then defeating them. His friendly nature means he won't purposely seek to harm others, and he is able to make serious characters like Echo join in with his fun. Yet despite how simple minded he appears at first, Seireitou is a complex person with some rather difficult to understand views. For example, he believes if two people share very different views, its better they go their seperate ways. Despite this seemingly immature, free-spirited and carefree attitude, Seireitou is sage-like and serious when the time calls for it. Seireitou has been called both arrogant and youthful, and this is considered to be his major weakness upon first glance. He has remarkable intuition at seeing the good in others in spite of their actions, though his capacity for forgiving his enemies has occasionally been criticized as excessive; Seireitou, for the most part, only fights to win, and spares his enemies after defeating them only for them to attack him when his back is turned. His staggering power is simultaneously reigned in and enhanced by his fierce loyalty, morality and indomidable spirit. His most remarkable ability is his will to succeed, pushing himself beyond his limitations, and never giving up even when the odds are stacked against him. Despite his almost limitless skills, good-hearted spirit, and courage, Seireitou is shown to suffer from severe ailurophobia, or the fear of cats.

Despite being one of the the strongest, Seireitou retains a level of humbleness and isn't overly arrogant about his strength, although when fighting Hikaru, he does comment on how the fight "wouldn't be too easy", knowing that Hikaru is well-known as one of the strongest alive. He is also one of the most proficient combatants in the Ninja World, soon surpassing even Unagi and Rikudou, and maintains a level of honor and integrity when engaging in battle, much like his best friend Hikaru. He refuses to fight in the presence of a child or even with a child. He also is against the idea of needless bloodshed, even if honor is involved and so far seems to only step up for a fight when a friend is in danger. Surprisingly, given his dark past, Seireitou isn't cruel like many other missing nins, nor does he rule over others with fear to gain respect. He also likes teasing people, as demonstrated by his apparent reactions to Ryun, treating him like a child for having what he calls a "naivete world view".

Background
Born in Konohagakure during the Third Great Ninja War, Seireitou was orphaned at a very young age, where he never even knew his parents at all. He had to fend for himself, and soon found a small girl named Shiori Miyamoto during this time. Both were in similar situations, though Shiori had only a father who was very abusive to her. Hating this life of theirs, the two made an attempt to leave the village and ended up wandering into unknown enemy territory.

With no fear for their lives, they were attacked by Iwagakure ninja, but then were suddenly saved by a hooded man. This hooded man addressed himself as Madara Uchiha. He took the two under his wing, and trained Seireitou in the Ninja arts. Quickly learning much jutsu, including a mysterious teleporting technique and summoning foxes as well as obtaining his Rinnegan, he vowed to use his knowledge to protect Shiori. However, Madara soon revealed his true motive, to use Seireitou's power with Rinnegan to sync him with the Demonic Statue (Before Nagato was used). Seireitou soon realized this beforehand, and defected with Shiori before it was too late.

With no place to go, they wandered aimlessly north. They had heard rumors of a ninja village up north that would take in any missing nins. They had arrived in Otogakure, during Orochimaru's reign. The two became students under him, which allowed Seireitou and Shiori to further their powers. Orochimaru began to take a liking to Seireitou, and planned to use his body as his replacement. He wanted the Sage of Six Paths' power, but Seireitou, being used to betrayal, was able to deny Orochimaru and fled the village. They arrived in Otogakure 2, with other Orochimaru runaways. He joined the resistance, and met Kenji Takomade, who became his closest friend along with Shiori. Quickly rising through the ranks, Seireitou became the leader of the resistance force, and led a war between them and Orochimaru's army. During the struggle, however, Kenji was caught by Manda and ripped to shreds in his teeth, right in plain view of Seireitou. Angered, he ordered his resistance back, and summoned the Nine Tailed Demon Fox; Something of this event was unheard of, since it was said only the Sharingan could control this mighty beast. Kyuubi attacked and ripped through the village, even forcing Orochimaru to retreat. However, Seireitou lost control of Kyuubi, as it run away after Otogakure was torn to pieces.

Not much was known after that event, but as it would appear, after Madara's downfall to his Eye of the Moon Plan being a failure, Seireitou gathered a new Akatsuki and became their leader. Shiori remained at his side, and remained leader of Tenkogakure, the previous Otogakure 2.

Second Dawn
Arriving in Amegakure, he quickly makes little work of the guards and successfully infiltrates the village. After a quick confrontation with the Lady Angel, Konan, he finds the corpse of Nagato. He then proceeds to rip his Rinnegan eyes for a currently unknown reason.

His next appearance is during his meeting with his newly formed Akatsuki. Being badgered by Josho for being late, and also causing an uproar caused by Axel for wasting time to assign the missions. Gimansha repriminded them to hush up when in the eyes of one who dominates their life, and proceeds to listen to Seireitou. Without further objection, the missions were assigned by Seireitou as the Akatsuki members headed off for their own beasts. Once they headed off, Seireitou adjourned to the back room, speaking with Shiori about his Eye of the Sun Plan, and how her mission is to retrieve the Nine Tails from Konohagakure.

Being seen at multiple intervals, Seireitou rejoined with the members and continued onwards with the sealing of the Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi, and Yonbi. During this time, Shiori makes plans to head to Konoha, but Seireitou reassures her that he will be coming along to assist. However, an intruder entered Tenkogakure, causing Shiori to leave on her own as Seireitou entered the field to fight the intruder. He sends his Upādāna Path to distract Hikaru while he takes care of few matters of business beforehand.

Hikaru faced the Upādāna Path, instantly knowing that it wasn't the real Seireitou. The Upādāna Path questioned what Hikaru's business was here, to which he replied with "just passing through". After refusing to leave per Seireitou's order, the two engaged in battle. The first half of the battle was fought between Hikaru's wolf summons and Seireitou's fox summons, both sides seemingly matched. Soon realizing it would take more than summonings to take down the "shadow warrior", he proceeded to summon four other bodies, making a total of five. All five charged into battle, but fell into Hikaru's genjutsu trap, which resulted in the "death" of three bodies. Two were able to escape, but one body disappeared in a puff of smoke. The rest of the fight was fought between Hikaru and Seireitou's Sadāyatana Path, until the Upādāna Path finally reappeared, trapping Hikaru in a powerful fox summoning trap. Surprisingly, the other three bodies then emerged from their prison, and all five proceeded to stab Hikaru at once with their blades. But, before this could occur, Hikaru used a last ditch reverse summoning and switched places with a summoning. Sadly, the wolf used for the switch was killed, but the distraction worked and Hikaru escaped. The bodies remarked that if he did not pull that off, he would have surely died, and then disappeared with a puff of smoke.

At the time of this battle, Seireitou was sealing the Gobi, Rokubi, Shichibi, and after a long struggle, the Hachibi as well. All that was left is the Nine Tails and the Ten Tails. Shiori and Seireitou arrived at the outside of Konoha, as they prepared to invade. Shiori asked if Seireitou had any regrets attacking his old home, to which he remarked that he had none. A quick scan of the outside via Sharingan revealed the barrier surrounding it. Seireitou remarked that Konoha was able to quickly respond to Pain's attack, and he refused to make that same mistake. Using his summoning technique, all ten bodies were brought to the fore-front. Vijñāna Path led four bodies, as the Samskāra Path led the remaining four. The group led by Samskāra traveled underground, as the Vijñāna Path's group used Pain's method and used their summoning body to summon them into Konoha through the tracking barrier. Seireitou gave her his necklace with the nine magatama, to which would signal if any danger should fall upon her. Shiori smiled, and hugged him, then taking her leave into Konoha.

However, thanks to the warnings given by Hikaru, Konoha was well prepared this time, as women and children were already being evacuated. The ANBU Black Ops. were preparing the counter-attack against the five bodies, but soon, the other five shot out from underground, killing off a large number of escaping women and children, as well as several jonin-level ninja. The Ninth took action as well, preparing to leave her office as one of the bodies crashed into her room. It was Vijñāna Path, demanding the whereabouts of Shinsuke Yamamoto, to which she refused. The two then engaged in battle, leading to the Vijñāna Path utilizing Sanshi Suimei and entraping the Hokage. He demanded Shinsuke's location once more, and she once more refused. He then drew his blade, holding it to her neck, threatening to kill her if she does not give a solid answer. She told him to (swear word) off, leading to him making the motion to kill her. Suddenly, an ANBU arrived, telling Seireitou that Shinsuke is in Yamagakure 2, which was what Hikaru recommended they do to avoid him being captured by Seireitou.

Seireitou, angered by this, retreated with his other bodies and Shiori. He returned to the Akatsuki hideout to which he awaited news of Gimansha's capture of Ryun Mazuka, but received a report that Gimansha was captured and defeated by Ryun, adding to Seireitou's already angered state. He told Shiori to prepare, as they will pay Yamagakure 2 a visit. At the same time, he used a powerful large-scale version of the astral projection, to each major country of the six great nations, declaring the Sixth Great Ninja World War.

Powers & Abilities
As the former leader of Akatsuki, and one of the few to possess the Seikouki form, Seireitou is an extraordinarily powerful shinobi. His partner, Shiori, had stated that he had never lost a single battle. He went on to gain the title, "Seireitou of the Black Sun", namely for his immense skill in the use of fire and lightning, and for his known ruthlessness in killing his opponent's in cold blood. But also, for his warm heart and sheer desire to never give in, like the flame of the sun.

Rinnegan
Seireitou's incredible power stemmed mainly from his Kekkei Genkai, the Rinnegan; originally possessed by the Sage of the Six Paths, the world's first ninja, and the founder of modern ninjutsu. Being trained by Madara Uchiha, he learned to utilize the Rinnegan's power, even going as far as to obtain techniques beyond Nagato's reach. Using his natural gift, he can overcome even the most powerful genjutsu, and use his chakra to instill fear in his opponents. It also enhanced his vision of chakra in a similar manner to the Uchiha clan's Sharingan and the Hyuga clan's Byakugan, allowing him to see the chakra of barrier techniques around the perimeter of his location, and the chakra gathered at a shinobi's feet. According to Hikaru, the Rinnegan allows Seireitou to learn any technique he wishes.

Originally, Seireitou possessed a tecnique that gave him control of ten bodies (unlike Nagato's six paths) named Jūnin Toiro, which allowed Seireitou to control ten separate bodies as though they were his own. Each of these bodies were reanimated corpses that were both kept mobile by and made use of Seireitou's chakra. However, also unlike Nagato's, whose was based on the six Buddhist paths of Reincarnation, Seireitou's ten bodies were named after the twelve nidānas of buddhism. The only common feature shared by these bodies was their long silver hair and Rinnegan eyes. However, due to gaining the Seikouki state, he had to give up usage of the ten bodies. However, while it is yet to be confirmed, he seems to still be able to access all of the path's jutsu through himself.

Being the Holder of the Rinnegan, Seireitou also possesses mastery of the 6 elements. However, he naturally relies on his mastery of lightning and fire release jutsu, as well as his unique Spacial and Temporal Release natures.

Top-Notch Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Abilities
Being a former student under the Uchiha clan founder, Madara Uchiha, and later trained by the revered "god" of the ninja world, Rikudou Sennin, it is safe to assume that few have any realistic chance against Seireitou. His skill and cunning are repeatedly shown to be great enough to hold his own against seemingly any opponent. Even Pain, an extremely dangerous ninja, viewed Seireitou's skills as capable of impeding his plans if he did not get rid of Seireitou first. Seireitou's naturally calm attitude is used to his advantage in battle, allowing him to stay collected and out-think the opponent. This is primarily because he can quickly analyze the situation at hand, and comprehend his opponent's abilities and battle tactics. After doing so, he can use sharp intuition to make quick and firm decisions to switch to the appropriate counter-tactics. However, despite being calm, he has been known to sometimes rush in on sheer instinct and feeling.

Being once trained by Madara Uchiha, he can achieve high speeds using his chakra and combining it with his natural "kitsune-like" swiftness. He can even combine it with Madara Uchiha's Teleportation technique for even more speed. His speed proved to be so great, Madara could never once defeat Seireitou in a game of Tag; even going on to prove his superiority in this field over Rikudou Sennin himself. Seireitou's skill is so great that it seems as though he possesses a form of teleportation as he moves in the blink of an eye. Seireitou also shows the ability to travel long distances within relatively short timespans. He seems to move at blinding speed in short bursts, and faster than even the Sharingan can track, albeit only the most powerful and skilled of Sharingan may follow his movements. It was speculated that he uses spacetime Ninjutsu to instantly send himself or even parts of his body to different locations or some sort of void and then instantly bring them back, which he was trained to use by Madara himself. It is revealed that Seireitou can find the exact location of a person and warp himself to that place, stating that it is in his power. He has also shown the ability to teleport others, apparently to a separate dimension. Seireitou seems to also move at high speeds, using almost instantaneous movement, and also seems to be able to block bladed attacks with just his one arm. This can infer he possesses the Swift and Steel Releases, but it has yet to be proven.

Seireitou also has an astounding, remarkable amount of chakra, more so than most Kage. His chakra is dense enough to even have a Kage shiver, when at full power of course. Seireitou's chakra is to a point where even Gokuto, the leader of Yamagakure 2, begins to seriously doubt his ability to defeat Seireitou. His chakra has been shown great enough to affect entire areas to the point of disrupting jutsu from enemies (at close range, and at full power), affect others from seemingly miles away and cause them to enter a state of paralysis and confusion. His chakra is scarlet/black, as opposed to regular blue.

His physical strength is far beyond that of a normal ninja; he was able to easily lift Ryun by the throat into the air with one hand in one of their earlier encounters. In addition, Seireitou was seen carrying a large boulder in one hand with little to no effort, something that would take the strength of five men. This almost herculean-like strength carries over to his skill in kenjutsu, simply the "art of the blade". While not at the level of master samurai, Seireitou has shown strict ease in utilizing his blade in battle. His body flows elegantly when engaging in combat, so finely tuned that he can stop his attacks at a moment's notice and subsequently execute lethal attacks with absolute precision.

Summoning Technique
He possesses a summoning contract with the kitsune of the Jìngjièhú, and usually summons his personal favorite, Sesshōmaru. He originally was taught by Madara how to summon, and made a contract with foxes. However, something that was interesting was that during the uprising against Orochimaru, out of sheer rage, he was able to summon the Nine-tailed Fox, a being who did not co-exist with the other kitsune of the Jìngjièhú. Currently, Sesshōmaru is his most used, and utilizes Fire Release: Flame Tunnel Technique and Haja Kekkai - Invincible Fan Barrier. Interestingly enough, it seems that Sesshōmaru possesses a pair of Sharingan eyes. What this implies is that either he once belonged to a powerful Uchiha, or may be the very animalistic ancestor of the eyes itself; given Sesshōmaru centuries of living. Sesshōmaru, himself, is a kitsune that has gained immortality by gaining all nine tails, but is only seen with one tail. Proof of him gaining nine tails is his white fur, and red markings. His ears are also shaped similarly like Kyuubi's. Around his neck are mysterious extensions of the fur that are red, and will burn and electricute anyone that he does not declare his master (Doing it once to Seireitou before he gained Sesshōmaru's respect). Sesshōmaru often appears aloof and indifferent, and rarely shows any emotions other than slight annoyance or dissatisfaction. He thinks highly of himself and is cruel to others, though he is protective of his minions. He cares little for others, and thinks that humans, while at times amusing, are merely mortal and ultimately expendable. With the ambition to walk the path of conquest, he desires to become stronger, (although he is incredibly strong already, possibly as strong or stronger than someone of Madara's statue; which is quite odd given the fact that he is an animal) even at the expense of others. He believes that struggle is the only way for survival. He repriminds Seireitou for this constantly, and believes he himself is naive. However, Seireitou has proven to Sesshōmaru time and again that he is worthy of respect, which is why Sesshōmaru agrees to work alongside Seireitou. Although Sesshōmaru maintains a cool, uncaring exterior, the presence of Seireitou's constant will to never give up and protect his friends affecting the way he defines power, is proof of his growing compassion.

After his training with Rikudou Sennin in Sinsi, he obtained summonings with the Shikigami of Heaven. Shikigami are eel-like spirits that are known as "soul-collectors", and possess many supernatural abilities. What seperates learning to use them, from the foxes, is that Seireitou had to go through trials to prove his worth. Passing with flying colors, he was allowed to make a pact with them. While rarely used in direct battle, the shikigami are used to trap an opponent for interrogation and such. This is done when a shikigami "connects" to the target's head, or chest. Similar to the Soul Removal technique, Shikigami can read the mind of their attached targets and when they finish, rip the soul out of them. However, these souls can be given to fallen comrades to heal injuries that would otherwise prove life-threatening; but, like the soul removal, this removal process takes much more effort depending on the target's status. Shikigami can appear as birds, small animals, or humans. The range of abilities possessed by a shikigami is dependant on the user's capabilities, which in this case is Seireitou.

Mastery of Sennami
Sennami was the result of Seireitou's mastery of the yin/yang concepts of nature manipulation. By literally "cutting" the very fabic of space, he creates a weapon similar to Chidori in the palm of his hands. With this technique, Seireitou can punch through the strongest obstacles with relative ease, as well as severely damage any opponent. Originally, he could only use Sennami twice in one day, and following his final battle with Shinsuke, he could force a fifth attempt and succeed. Following his training with Rikudou, he could use it without limit. This can either imply that his chakra levels have sky rocketed since before, or he learned to use Sennami with strict ease, seeing as the only effort needed by it's wielder is the direction of yin and yang energy.

Once he mastered Seikouki, Seireitou was able to perfect the Sennami, molding it into different forms, and learn Sacred Kata, the taijutsu style that uses the yin and yang energy around the user to enhance the range and the potency of their attacks.

Seikouki and Ten'i Seikouki
Using Rinnegan, he learned of the "forbidden last secret" of the doujutsu, the Seikouki; going on to master even Kyūseijutsu involved with that state. In order to achieve this, Seireitou had to learn to sense and direct the yin/yang energy around him. Since then, Seikouki has become his most powerful ability. Seikouki greatly increased Seireitou's physical power, as shown by his ability to send 's summons flying. This form allowed Seireitou to use stronger versions of his other jutsu; such as Sennami, and being able to redefine it and create new variants of the technique. He took the form's teachings of Sacred Kata to a point where they literally "rewrote" his martial art style, being used to more circular motions then simple direct attack.

After his severe training to surpass his ancestor Unagi, he obtained the Ten'i Seikouki and went on to form his Scaret Secret Techniques. The overwhelming power of this transformation is apparently great enough to overcome even a direct attack from all four of Ryun's paths attacking at once and shake them off effortlessly. In this form, his physical form doesn't change at all, but his eyes become clear crisp golden, and his hair gains a slight lavender tint to it.

Quotes

 * (To Ryun) "It is not power that corrupts but fear. The fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it, and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."
 * "Let not thy will roar, when thy power can but whisper."
 * "As long as you are naive, you will never be able to reach me with your attacks."
 * "Are you telling me to exploit an opening for the likes of you? Do not speak out of your league."
 * "When people reject someone's very existance and then look at that person, their eyes become cold, as cold as an ice storm in the deepest of winters."
 * (About Ryun) "People like that become stronger because they have bonds they cannot forget."
 * ""Control"... you say? When you stand before me... that word holds no meaning.
 * (To Akatsuki) "Every single one of us has a fanged beast hidden within the depths of our minds. It lies there, waiting in the dark reaches of a person's soul and it appears in our lowest moments. It doesn't matter how strong you think you are. When the beast comes, it is impossible to control. It can even end up hurting those who are closest to you. But if the monster can be tamed, reigned in with the strength of your will, it can become a magnificent power.. And can even make your dreams reality."
 * "When captured birds grow wiser, they try to open the cage with their beaks. They don't give up, because they want to fly again."
 * [seeing rain falling] "Is that you, Shiori...? Are you crying...?"
 * "My eyes do not like them, these creatures called human casualties."

Trivia

 * Seireitou Hyuga and Future Seireitou was actually Prototype characters created to try out several ideas all at once. This article is actually the completed final result of my Seireitou character.
 * Seireitou's Name comes from two places:
 * "Seireitou" came from the words "Pure" from Sei, "Soul" or "Spirit" from rei, and tou being a popular ending given to a male's name.
 * The surname, "Kawahiru", comes from kawa (カワ, lit. "daytime") and hiru (昼, "surrounding") which comes together as "Surrounding Daytime", relating to Seireitou's mysterious ability to make anyone reveal their inner light.
 * During his time in Akatsuki, Seireitou was actually the youngest member, yet he was the leader, adding to his already feared and revered strength.
 * Seireitou and Shinsuke have a lot in common. Both possess a female friend of whom they vow to protect at all cost (Shiori and The Ninth). They both had a poor childhood, and were feared by those around them. And they both experienced pain and loss of those close to them.
 * Seireitou's relationship with Shiori has been hinted to be on the verge of romance, though both refused to admit it. Reactions from both of them over certain events and statements have shown this, again reflecting the parallels between Seireitou/Shiori and Shinsuke/The Ninth.
 * Seireitou is one of the three to ever learn and master Seikouki, along with General Unagi and Rikudou Sennin; and by extension, the only one to take Seikouki further in usage.
 * According to the Naruto Omega Databook:
 * Seireitou's hobbies include meditation and martial art training.
 * Seireitou's wishes to test his strength out against Hikaru and Echo.
 * His favorite food is imagawayaki with grape filling, along with a side of miso soup. His favorite drink is hot oolong tea.
 * Seireitou has never completed an official mission because he defected from Konohagakure at a young age with Shiori.
 * Seireitou's registration number is 2082023 (Which is my official registation number in South Korea's Kukkiwon).
 * Seireitou's favorite phrase is "nankurunaisa" (すべての無事終了になります, Everything will turn out alright in the end).