Seiki Hyakurai
Seiki Hyakurai (百雷セイキ, Hyakurai Seiki) is a jonin-level shinobi of Konohagakure. Since the disgraceful death of her twin brother, Yukari Hyakurai, Seiki longs for nothing more than to restore the honour of her clan as its last surviving member in the village. In their youth, she did everything in her power to protect Yukari, much to his chagrin. Due to the Hyakurai clan's obscure history, many of the village brushed aside Yukari and Seiki as nobodies. This incited Seiki to take matters into her own hands and work hard to garner the attention and respect she believes her clan deserves. Although her attempts at this during her childhood produced wayward results, her involvement in the Fourth Shinobi World War proved her to be a powerful asset to the village alongside her former teammates, Eiya Heike and Tōrai Yanagi.
Through the simple fate of human nature, the Hyakurai clan grew to be smaller and smaller throughout the generations. Although the clan played an important role during the Warring States Period, their significance faded as time went on and eventually their involvement was forgotten altogether, both to the village and to the clan. To put it briefly, the twins named Seiki and Yukari Hyakurai were orphaned when they were both four years old, following the mysterious death of their widowed mother, Kiyoshi Moriyama. Their father had died just before they were born during the Kyuubi's attack on the village, so they never had the chance to meet him.
The two siblings scraped together a living by the grace and generosity of the village, but they were mostly left to their own devices in their abandoned family home. No one wanted to take on the responsibility of traumatized orphans. Because of this, they grew into very reserved children who spoke very little to anyone but each other. Most people gave them a wide berth when they passed by, afraid to approach either of them, or just outright avoiding them altogether.
Until they were enrolled in the Ninja Academy, Seiki and Yukari could rarely be differentiated, both in mannerisms as well as appearances. They'd taken to the same hobbies, the same interests, the same behaviours. However, once introduced to the public youth at the academy, they seemed to drift apart rapidly and unexpectedly. Seiki became, as described by Yukari, "harsh and overbearing and a total brat", whereas Yukari made a point to separate himself from his sister, frequently acting out in stark contrast just to prove that he was different. They gradually grew further apart as they entered different social circles. Yukari was readily accepted by the other boys at the academy, while Seiki's aggressive outbursts and delinquent attitude made it difficult for anyone to approach her. Seiki would frequently pick fights with the older children to release her frustrations, though more often than not she sought excuses, such as sparing another student from bullying and the like. These outbursts never failed to land her in trouble with the instructors, of course, but their scorn only fueled her indignation.
Desperate to flee this suffocating environment, Seiki demanded to take the graduation exam her first year of enrollment. Needless to say she failed, and she continued to fail until the time came that the rest of her class would take the exam. At this point she considered flunking the test on purpose if only to solidify the rift between her and her brother. However, mere weeks before the exam, Seiki was approached by Eiya Heike, a spunky ginger she had seldom taken note of until that day. She recognized him as one of the few boys in her class who hadn't taken to Yukari right away, and that alone was enough to persuade her to hear him out on what he had to say.
He ate lunch with her that day, drawing an unnerving amount of attention to her normally lonesome table, and told her about his family. He told her how big it was—he had five older brothers and two younger sisters—and how close they all were despite the crowd. Seiki came to realize that he was trying to convince her of how important family bonds were, no matter how many or how few. With that in mind, Eiya accompanied her home at the end of the day after she was congratulated by their instructor on not getting into any fights, and gave her the final (literal) nudge she needed to speak to Yukari once they reached their house.
Yukari admitted tearfully that he had missed spending time with Seiki over the years they'd spent at the academy, and Seiki apologized for acting out in her jealousy. From that point on, the three of them began to study and train together in determination to earn the highest scores possible on the graduation exams (Seiki still ended up scoring in the lower percentile, but she did manage to pass this time).
As determined as she is hard-headed, Seiki strives to finish what she starts no matter what. She's quick to humour and slower to wit, but she's a woman of action through and through. She operates on the mentality of "act now, ask questions later" and is thankfully counterbalanced by her teammate Tōrai's levelheaded calculations. Seiki never lost her confrontational attitude from the academy, continuing to pick fights when they weren't necessary and dragging herself and her teammates into excessive trouble, but her willingness to speak out and act out has proved a fairly useful asset at certain times. She can be rather cheeky and sassy for the sole sake of getting a rise out of someone, but she is capable of being serious and sentimental when the situation calls for it, as exemplified by Eiya's initial approach as opposed to her attitude toward her brother during their years at the academy.
Having grown up alongside no one but her brother, Seiki tends toward somewhat vulgar and brash mannerisms. She can wing a formal appearance when it's necessary, but on the whole she would much rather relax with her friends and engage in a riveting belching contest than stand up straight and speak properly. She shows considerable detest for the latter, unable to mask her boredom and fidgeting discomfort when in formal situations. Much less while wearing a dress, as evidenced during the Masquerade Infiltration mission her team executed as genin. She displays a distinct inability to stand still at any given moment, dress or no dress, often busying her hands with things better left untouched.
Her inherent curiosity is the leading cause of most of Seiki's hardships. Unable to keep her nose out of everyone else's business, it isn't uncommon to find her being reprimanded for eavesdropping or chased down for peeking at things that don't concern her. And speaking of peeking, Seiki has proven to be a shameless pervert. She doesn't care to treat matters of a mature nature with casual informality, and often makes jokes for the sake of amusement at watching those around her become embarrassed or discomforted. Because of this, Seiki can almost come off as a tactless flirt, but in all reality she's more interested in watching someone squirm than having any supposed affections returned. In fact, she appears rather unnerved by attempts to flirt with her, as shown when she reunites with her old team in Shippuden and Tōrai tries (feebly) to make a move on her.
All things considered, Seiki is still an introvert at heart. Social interaction exhausts her more quickly than she'd like to admit and she revels in the safety and comfort of her own home. Mellowing out from her immature tendencies over the years, she later takes on a more solemn approach to things after realizing that her childish antics would not serve to earn her the recognition she desires for her clan. As she grows older, she begins to speak out in order to express her sincere thoughts rather than for the simple sake of speaking, and she becomes less inclined toward aggressive confrontations and more inclined toward diplomacy. However, that isn't to say that she doesn't still have a temper. She is easily set off by things, more so as she ages.
Seiki is a girl of small stature, but surprisingly, that isn't the reason for the nickname "Squirt" given to her by her team leader, Keisuke Rikimaru (he gives her that nickname due to frequent backfires from her water jutsu, which often drench her in water). She is dark-skinned and has unruly brown hair that remains shoulder-length until the New Era. Her eyes are a striking, pale blue that stand out from her dark complexion, and her left eyebrow has two nicks in it. During her childhood, she is often seen with cuts and bruises accompanied by bandages as a result of her frequent fights. As a genin she wore black armbands around her forearms, a blue half-vest over a plain black crop-top with short sleeves that hang off her shoulders and a mesh lining over her abdomen, and baggy black cargo shorts along with black sandals. Her hitai-ate is attached to the back of her vest, above which her name is also stitched.
In Part II, having graduated to chunin-level, Seiki's hair has become slightly more manageable and she adorns it with two pale blue feathers, a custom of the Hyakurai clan that dignifies a woman's ascension to maturity. On missions, she ties her hair into a loose half-bun. At this point Seiki has pierced both ears with two sets of small loop rings. She wears a cropped, high-collared, sleeveless black shirt and black pants with a lop-sided blue belt hanging loosely around her hips, on which she attaches several water scrolls along with her ink kit and headband. Her sandals are replaced by open-toed knee-high shoes, and she wears short, fingerless gloves with metal plates to protect the backs of her hands. During a visit to a hot spring resort in Yugakure, a tattoo is revealed in the center of her back between her shoulder blades. The tattoo is the symbol हूं (in Hindi, "I am"), which reads as "Hum" in the Sanskrit mantra "Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ" (ॐ मणिपद्मे हूं). "Hum" represents the spirit of enlightenment. Seiki presumably got this tattoo sometime after visiting Kiyomizu Temple.
Over time Seiki gains various injuries, including a small scar on her left bicep, an X-shaped scar on her left forearm, and a long scar cutting diagonally across her abdomen. All of these injuries were caused by her twin brother, Yukari. While training with Keshiki in Kumogakure, Seiki pushes her Storm Release past its limits and receives a severe burn that reaches all the way up her right arm. She sustained major nerve damage due to this and is unable to move her arm for a prolonged period of time.
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Seiki loses sight in her right eye due to a large gash. The pigmentation in that eye has turned pale, though it is normally covered by a blue eye-patch that bears the same symbol as her tattoo.
From the Blank Period onward, Seiki's hair reaches her lower back and is kept tied up in a high ponytail with various elaborate braids. Her feathers are worn with more of an upward tilt, tucked into the tie of her hair. Her shoes are now thigh-high and her belt is replaced with a pale blue cloth that bears her clan symbol tied around her waist. She has put on quite a bit of weight, but still wears relatively the same outfit as Part II, except for the addition of mesh armbands around her elbows and open-toed shoes that reach her thighs now instead.
Seiki's distinct style over the course of the series is remarkably similar to that of Ino Yamanaka, whom Seiki develops a secret crush on in her early childhood and hence seeks to emulate.
Although laughably inept at honing her skills at the academy, and lacking much progress by the time she graduated, Seiki's determination and perseverance have allowed her to grow considerably as a shinobi as well as a person. Her development is gradual and without many noticeable spurts, but eventually she gains the necessary strength to stand up against the Akatsuki and later participate in the Fourth Shinobi World War.
In addition to her normal jutsu, Seiki makes use of summons, specifically those of the crocodilians who reside within the swampy marsh surrounding Kiyomizu Temple. It is here that Seiki forms a contract with Kyōkan, the most feared resident of the temple due to her history of gratuitous bloodshed. While their relationship was initially strained and tenuous, Seiki eventually gained Kyōkan's favour and their battle dynamic has become exponentially more seamless.
Seiki is able to use ninja wire in conjunction with her Lightning Release to perform the technique Livewire. With this jutsu, she can send an electrical current through a string or web of wires, delivering a harsh shock to anything they come in contact with.
Seiki's particular affinity for her Water Release chakra nature allowed her to develop a unique ability called the Vapor Wave Technique. This technique allows her to humidify an area (the range of which has grown with practice to encompass two hundred yards in any direction) and diffusing her chakra throughout the water particles to sense anyone who enters the area and identify their chakra signature. Due to the nature of this jutsu, however, her activation of it can be detected easily by those observant enough to take note of the change in atmosphere.
She is able to combine this technique with her Lightning Release chakra nature to discharge streams of electricity through the water particles already imbued with her chakra. However, if the path of contact to her target is disrupted—by, for example, a chakra absorption technique or dissipation of the dense humidity—then the electricity will fizzle out.
Seiki has emulated this sensory technique with bodies of water that she is in or standing on. This usage of the technique allows her to sense presences beneath the surface of the water with the same range as the vapor variation. However, if she utilizes her Lightning Release while doing this as she does normally, she cannot guarantee a direct hit, but rather will electrify the entire body of water and everything inside of it.
Inspired by the Yamanaka's penchant for flowers, Seiki developed her own set of fighting techniques involving flowers in hopes of impressing Ino Yamanaka while training under Kurenai Yūhi. Not unlike the offensive moveset Ino's character uses in the Ninja Storm games, Seiki uses flowers in various techniques including disguised projectiles (kunai, shuriken, etc.), genjutsu, and poison-based attacks.
She's become very familiar with many types of flowers and other plants to aid her in battle and often tips her weapons with poison. She can also create toxins that produce various effects, such as putting someone to sleep or paralyzing them.
Seiki has shown exceptional capability in wielding her chakra natures offensively, and her defense can be formidable. She is fond of combining her Water Release and Lightning Release chakra natures to produce catastrophic results.
Seiki's Storm Release, her paternal kekkei genkai, is more of a wild card than a talent. Its destructive nature tends to be difficult for her to control, and so she uses it very little. She first awakened her kekkei genkai during her battle with Yukari on the cliff. As a result, she is rightfully wary of using her Storm Release, although she has managed to specialize a couple techniques to use in a pinch (namely Laser Circus and Thunder Cloud Inner Wave). This was achieved only after much training and practice with Kaori, during which she received the large burn scar on her right arm.
Utilizing her flower-based jutsu techniques, Seiki can manipulate flower petals to create genjutsu illusions. These illusions normally lull the target into a false sense of security before she strikes, but she also uses these illusions to get information out of her targets since their mental fortitude is lowered when under the influence of her genjutsu.
Seiki is often equipped with several water scrolls in the event that she finds herself in a situation where she cannot access natural bodies of water. During Part II these scrolls are carried on the side of her belt. In the New Era, however, she exchanges the smaller scrolls for a much larger one that is strapped to her back. This scroll has the capacity to not only release water, but capture it as well, much like the Fire Sealing Method.
Seiki's signature weapon is the senbon, which are thin needles pointed at both ends. Although lacking in killing power, they can be thrown with great force. While Seiki lacks the proper medical training to be able to target vital points, she can utilize her Lightning Release to create Chidori Senbon, wherein she electrifies the needles and they shock and stun their target(s) upon contact.
She also ties explosive tags to the ends of the needles to deliver powerful explosions upon hitting their target(s) and will often use poison-tipped senbon.
Team Keisuke is sent to infiltrate a masquerade ball in the Land of Tea to protect important guests.
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Seiki and Yukari stumble across a convoluted web of conspiracies that eventually led them to the truth about the deaths of Kiyoshi Moriyama and Kaisei Hyakurai—or rather, their murders.
Team Keisuke is tasked with escorting a nine-months pregnant woman to her sister's abode on the other side of a perilous mountain range.
On the way back from the Land of Snow, they lose their way and end up trapped in the mysterious Shrine of Mikazuki, where strange phenomena begin to occur. Seiki's unstable emotions are largely at fault for the delay in their return to the village and they begin to resonate with the supernatural energy within the shrine.
When Seiki finally returns to the village, she learns that Yukari has vanished from the village without word. She frantically sets out in search of him despite warnings from her superiors to stay in the village and let the professionals handle the situation. After a day's worth of searching, she finally finds him at the edge of a cliff miles away from the village. She confronts him about his disappearance, to which he confesses that he plans on taking revenge for the unjust deaths of their parents. Seiki tries to convince him that revenge is not the answer, using the defection of Sasuke Uchiha as a potent example, but he refuses to listen to reason.
They proceed to fight there on the cliff, a perilous tango that threatens their lives with every movement. Ultimately Seiki gets the upper hand, accidentally awakening the use of her Storm Release in her frustration and consequently knocking Yukari unconscious. Before she can reach him, he tumbles off the side of the cliff, a drop that no one should be able to survive. Paralyzed, guilt-ridden, and in shock, Seiki can't think of what to do, so she spends the night there on the cliff edge, collapsed in mourning and remorse, for she assumes her last remaining family to be dead.
She refuses to talk to anyone about what had happened. When asked if she had found her brother, she simply doesn't reply. It's her sensei Keisuke who finally coaxes her to admit what she had done. Although he tries to comfort her, she can't be consoled for believing herself to be a murderer.
Unbeknownst to her, Yukari has survived, but only barely. His mangled body is discovered by Orochimaru, who takes him back to one of their hideouts to nurture him back to health. Once Yukari is healed enough to regain consciousness, Orochimaru offers to lend him the power to exact his revenge, having admitted to eavesdropping on his isolated ramblings before his sister found him. Yukari, still blinded by rage and dismayed by Seiki's rejection of his plan, agrees to this, unaware that Orochimaru had been directly involved in his parents' murders.
Seiki travels to Kumogakure to learn more of her clan's history and to take time to mourn the loss of her brother.
During her stay in Kumogakure, Seiki meets a Kumo ninja by the name of Keshiki, who has mastered use of the Storm Release. After much begging, Keshiki takes on Seiki as her apprentice and teaches her to refine her kekkei genkai.
Seiki travels alone to Kiyomizu Temple, an ancient site rumoured to be the entry point to the domain of crocodilian summons, as advised by Keisuke to reaffirm her sense of self and study the Scroll of Enlightenment. Unbeknownst to Seiki, Yukari happens upon her at the temple while on a mission assigned by Orochimaru, but he keeps his distance and merely observes as she accesses the Scroll of Enlightenment. Following her departure after several days of studying and subsequently gaining the favour of a snow leopard summon, Yukari follows her example in gaining access to the scroll, learning its secrets for himself and destroying it afterward, as well as laying waste to the temple itself.
Team Keisuke is assigned a reconnaissance mission to Yugakure, where they gather information regarding the Akatsuki member Hidan. Later they relax at a hot spring resort.
Seiki faces off against Deidara, leaving her severely injured. Backup consisting of her team and some others arrive just in time to rescue her and retreat before she can be killed, reluctantly letting Deidara escape in the process.
Seiki is bed-ridden in the hospital for about a month. As she slowly begins to recover, she receives an unexpected visit from Yukari in the middle of the night, who first appears in her hospital room through the open window using the Body Flicker Technique and quickly disappears again, only to reappear at ground level outside of her window. Confused by what she was seeing, thinking that she was either seeing his ghost or dreaming, Seiki lethargically follows him out of the hospital and then out of the village walls entirely. Under the cover of the forest, Yukari challenges her, stating that if she does not join his cause in avenging their parents, then she is a traitor to their family. He tells her that even if she kills him, she would be consumed by his same hatred and need for revenge.
They fight, reluctantly on Seiki's part, and due to her still-healing injuries, he manages to beat her down. Before she falls unconscious, Yukari stands over her and tells her that he's sorry she's too weak to do what needs to be done. He disappears then, leaving her on the forest floor to be discovered the next morning by a patrol squad. She is returned to the hospital, where she has to spend several more weeks recuperating due to her new injuries.
Wrought with pain and confusion upon realizing that her encounter with Yukari was, in fact, real, Seiki begins her search for him anew, impassioned by her desire to find him and help him off of the dark path he had strayed to. It becomes increasingly obvious through subsequent encounters that Yukari has suffered severe head trauma after the incident on the cliff, resulting in an extreme case of amnesia. This was only worsened by Orochimaru's manipulation of his psyche, leading him to believe that Seiki intends to kill him. He has very little recollection of anyone else from the village, including Sasuke, whom he had briefly trained alongside during his time under Orochimaru's wing, though at some point he had abandoned his affiliation with the Sannin as well.
The combination of trauma, amnesia, and manipulation that Yukari underwent, as well as the physical strain of his Cursed Seal, caused Yukari to devolve into pure mania, as evidenced by the fact that most confrontations with Seiki involve a disturbing mixture of crying and laughter interspersed with brief moments of clarity and sanity. Along the way he begins to develop an obsession with fighting his twin sister rather than his initial plan to avenge their parents, suggesting that he might have forgotten about that intention entirely at some point or another.
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During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Seiki plays a largely supportive role in the First Division of the Allied Shinobi Forces, putting to use her Water Release and Storm Release abilities, as well as her signature ink techniques. After beating back the enemy and seizing victory over their oceanfront battlefield, she and the rest of her divison is sent to assist the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces in the battle against Madara, Obito, and the Ten-Tails.
It is only after seizing victory that Seiki learns of the death of her former sensei, Keisuke. Distraught and grief-stricken, Seiki and her former teammates, Eiya and Tōrai, gather around Keisuke's body as it is being retrieved from the battlefield to mourn for their fallen mentor. Desperate in spite of his physical exhaustion, Tōrai performs his supernatural channeling technique, Summoning: Spiritual Awakening, to call upon Keisuke's spirit so that they might spend a few last moments with him, but Tōrai is unable to maintain this technique for very long. Even so, it gave Keisuke and his students enough time to apologize to each other and say their goodbyes.
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Seiki comes to adopt one of the Shin clones from the Konoha Orphanage whom she names Kanesada. Seiki is assigned captain of a team of genin: Katsuki Uzumaki, Akiyuki Nakagami, and her own son, Kanesada Hyakurai.
- The name "Seiki" means "era of prosperity" or "life energy"; while her family name "Hyakurai" means "one hundred thunderclaps".
- Depending on the kanji used, the name "Seiki" can also mean "genitals", which is a subtle reference to her lewd sense of humour.
- Past iterations of Seiki's name include Viatrix Sasaki, Irie Sasaki, Miyabi Nikuhitsu, and Seiki Nikuhitsu.
- The name "Viatrix" means "voyager" and the surname "Sasaki" means "helpful trees". This was the character's original name when she had a very different design and characterisation.
- The name "Irie" means "blessing, favour, grace". This name was given to the character to align better with her Japanese ethnicity.
- The name "Miyabi" means "elegance, refinement, courtliness" or sometimes "a sweet loved one". There was no significant reason for this name change.
- The surname "Nikuhitsu" means "handwriting" and was originally a reference to the ink techniques she was intended to learn from Sai, but this detail has since been retconned.
- Seiki's current name is the final iteration and exemplifies the character's significance in the story and her Kumogakure heritage.
- Seiki's hobbies are meditating, pressing flowers, and taking walks in the rain.
- Seiki wishes to fight Minato Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake, Darui, and Kisame Hoshigaki.
- Seiki's favourite food is okonomiyaki, while her least favourite food is any kind of tempura.
- Seiki's favourite phrase is "Remember my name!" In Japanese, it is written "私 の 名前 を 覚えて いるさ!" (Watashi no namae o oboete iru-sa!), wherein Seiki uses traditionally masculine language to sound more assertive.
- (To Yukari) "No matter where we end up, we'll always have each other. It's me and you, right?"
- (To Tōrai) "Keep your hands to yourself or lose them. Your choice."
- (To Keisuke) "It's just me and my brother now, so I'm gonna work hard to make sure I can always protect him. People think I'm just a nuisance, but one day, they'll see! One day, they're gonna remember my name!"
- (To Keshiki) "My nindō...is to bring honour to the Hyakurai name. I want to be someone my parents would be proud of. That's my ninja way."
- (To Deidara) "You're about to get a good, hard look at the eye of my storm, blondie."
- (To Uki) "Get up, or get the hell out of the way!"
