Sasaki Kojirō
Swallow-cutter
Kensei Sasaki Kojirō (a.k.a. 佐々木 小次郎)
Summary
A traveling swordswoman and one of the land's famous "Kensei", or sword saints. Sasaki Kojirō has taken mastery of her extra-long nodachi to exceptional levels. With Monohoshizao, as she has named her weapon, her technique is capable of even cutting a swallow out of the air in flight. Having so perfected her style, she now travels the country seeking powerful opponents to pit it against. In Japan, there are no shortage of these, but her attentions have most recently been absorbed by Miyamoto Musashi. Among only a handful of people ever to defeat her in a duel, Kojirō still believes the fight to have been a fluke, and has followed Musashi from town to town demanding a rematch since. As one might gather from this, Kojirō has a reputation as something of a sore loser, though she herself would never put it like that. She does indeed hate losing, but always believes that she could have won if she had just acted a bit differently, or made one decision rather than another. Victory dancing just at the edge of her grasp like this drives her to always try again as soon as possible. While so focused, she can be somewhat acerbic and dismissive of others. This is not to say that she does not value other people, but rather that little matters to her outside of achieving her next goal, and idle conversations only waste time.Unique Abilities
Blade of the Monster Slayer: Sasaki Kojirō's pilgrimage battling monsters in the tallest mountains and deepest abysses of the Dreamlands has proved fruitful. She now wields Monohoshizao with steady confidence that its blade can pierce any manner of obfuscation. By spending 15 ki points as part of an Attack Action, Kojirō can ignore all involuntary penalties associated with that Attack. Examples include combat situations such as Partially Immobilized or Vision Totally Obscured, as well as unique or monster abilities, but not additional attack or stance penalties undertaken by Kojirō's choice. If no involuntary penalties apply, the attack is simply too easy and Kojirō gains a +80 bonus to all Attacks made during the action instead. This power can be activated in tandem with ki techniques. Further, ki points for this ability do not need to be accumulated beforehand, and are spent directly from Kojirō's reserve.Mental characteristics
Personal history
Sasaki Kojirō first appeared as the “Elegant Swordswoman”, a late participant in Katsusada Shishauezaemon‘s tournament who entered into the slot vacated by Midorikawa no Mōkin-hime. She began in the losers’ bracket, and fought Tsutsumi Hōzan there for her first match. When Kojirō’s initial strike only slightly wounded the other Kensei, she took the opportunity to use her signature technique, Tsubamegaeshi, thinking that this opponent may be able to survive it. She was proved wrong in this as the attack separated Hōzan’s head from her shoulders, killing her instantly.
Later, Kojirō was approached by @Ryūzaki Sanosuke, who offered her a personal ashigaru to see to her needs, as he had with many of the other participants. Though somewhat rude and short with him, she accepted the serf and apologized in advance if she should face Sanosuke in the tournament. As Kojirō
stated, there was someone she still had to fight, and she couldn’t afford to lose to anyone until then.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Failures & Embarrassments
Defeated by:
General Rank
S
General Type
Kensei
S
General Type
Kensei
Current Location
Species
Ethnicity
Year of Birth
1535
24 Years old
Children
Current Residence
Nijō Castle
Gender
Female
Eyes
Deep blue
Hair
Dark, sleek
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Fair
Height
5'8
Weight
165 lbs
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Related Plots
Related Reports
Character Prototype
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