Shiro Inukai

Shiro Inukai (, Inukai Shiro) is a mysterious Bushi and a member of the Obsidian Eight. He chases the Obsidian Goddess in order to achieve the strongest Kitetsu Sword.

Appearance
Shiro is a young, tall and muscular man with short, spiky silver hair. He has golden eyes and freckles on his face.

Shiro's clothing is composed of a dark shirt and trousers with a belt and a black cloak over them. He has earrings in both ears and a large golden cross necklace. He also wears a neck ring like Nanao's.

Personality
Shiro is usually seen as a carefree, outgoing person with a playful nature. He is a huge fan of Kitetsu swords, and will often talk about them or boast his collection of them. That is why when they are involved in a matter that he also is, Shiro becomes a completely different person. He takes off his facade and shows his true demeanor. Shiro is a smooth talker who knows what fits certain situations, and he isn't opposed to lying in order to get what he sets his eyes on, just like he did with Musashi. During battle, he shows no mercy and becomes a ruthless fighter who can kill many people in the blink of an eye. He despises the weak who run away from fighting, while on the other hand, he acknowledges those who shows bravery.

Daito Mine Arc
Following an oni, Musashi meets Shiro at a large field, where Shiro had place Kitetsu Blades everywhere. He offers Musashi to borrow one to defeat the oni. As Musashi does and defeats the oni, the sword ends up breaking, but Shiro tells him its fine as that sword was waste of steel. However, he wonders how he managed to draw out that much power and if he is the one. Shiro's servant, Nanao Inusaka, then appears, telling him its time and wonders why Shiro insists of making patterns in the ground with the Kitetsu Blades. Shiro states he feels good being surrounded by beauties and then explains how each sword makes him feel. Nanao apologizes for Shiro's perversion and they leave. Musashi asks them who are they, but Shiro states they are dogs for hire with names not worth sharing, and then vanish before Musashi even realizes.

Shiro observed Musashi's failed trial. As everyone left to fight the Kishin, he appears in front of Musashi and reveals he has black aura too and invites Musashi to join him. Shiro explains that Musashi can become stronger if he lets himself go during the Kitetsu Sword trial. He then demonstrates how powerful he can be and cuts a large pit in the ground and tells Musashi he can become the ultimate Kitetsu Blade. Musashi realizes he means to turn him into a sword and refuses, wanting to be with his friends. Thinking about it, Shiro decides to make his friends swords too and pushes Musashi into the pit, along with a Kitetsu Blade. Nanao then comes and Shiro explains he found the goddess he was looking for, but also wants to get some black stones. He then leaves Nanao to look after Musashi and heads towards the mountain.

Shiro decapitates the Kishin and hides its head on which is also his horn. As the Bushi come, he reveals himself and confirms that the horn is on the head. A small Bushi band surrounds him, wanting to take the head and the Kitetsu, but he murders them. He then tells everyone that he wants their Kitetsu Blades and the Bushi try fighting him, but end up defeated. As they start running, he gets angry as the soul of coward Bushi isn't something he wish. However, he promised to make Kojiro into a blade, so he starts chasing him. Realizing he is after him, Kojiro turns back to the top of the mountain, to let the Bushi escape. Shiro follows Kojiro and defeats him, stating that he finds the soul of courageous Bushi to be beautiful. As he is about to kill him, he feels Musashi's presence and lets Kojiro and steps away. Nanao join him and explains she pulled Musashi too early. Shiro realizes she rushed to complete the job, but forgives her as its became interesting as Musashi is half fused with the black stone and the Goddess haven't cast her judgement yet, but if they attack him now, she will issue her sentence. He then lets Nanao fight Musashi, Kojiro and Tsugumi.

Nanao starts fighting them and initially takes the upper hand, but soon she looses one of her swords. Shiro then decides to step in, as he gets bored. He prefers to fight alone and tells Nanao to step aside. He activates his Kitetsu Blade and creates a cube that flips the ground and the sky, causing Bushi to start falling to their death. He finds the Bushi to be insects, who needs to band to survive, while all they need to do is become stronger. As he causes Musashi to start falling too, the Goddess accepts Musashi and shares her power with him. Using Musashi's body, she draws energy from all Kitetsu Blades around her and takes Shiro's blade, ending his technique. Shiro retakes his blade and states he waited long to meet her and wishes she to join him, but the Goddess denies and prepares to fight him.

As the Goddess gathers energy and attacks them, Shiro uses his technique and manages to escape with Nanao, while also taking the Kishin. A bit later, Nanao describes Jisai and states they were looking for him, the great criminal who escaped with the Goddess inside of him. But if Musashi has the Goddess, then the description doesn't fit. Shiro states its been 15 years and seems the Goddess had picked a new vessel for some reason, however, Musashi seems to not have any clue about the Goddess.

Awaji Island Recapture Operation Arc
The Obsidian Eight gather for a meeting after they heard Shiro and Nanao had encountered the Obsidian Goddess and Nanao confirms. Shiro boost that he found her, but Seiroku Inukawa says he heard that she rejected Shiro and the two end in an argument. The eight explain that the Bushi shouldn't get a hold of the goddess and that their duty is to ensure the survival of the Kishin, so they can continue living alongside them. They decide to form a plan and send someone after Musashi, who Musashi have not seen.

Kitetsu Sword

 * Avidya: Shiro's Kitetsu Sword is a massive, oversized greatsword with a curved blade that he usually carries on his back.

Powers and Abilities
Black Sword Soul: Users with a black soul are said to be masters of the Touki. This is a unique condition caused by having a black crystal within oneself or being the host to the Obsidian Goddess. Black crystal users are shown to have a second color along with the black crystals they possess.

White Sword Soul: Shiro's original sword soul color was white. Amongst the five types of sword souls, it is the absolute strongest. Its users are described as those who can use horrifying techniques that surpass the limits of human knowledge. It is so rare that there have only been a few white blade users throughout all of history.

Shiro's ability allows him to cut out locations in space to swap them with others. The size of the location can range anywhere from about the size of the average human to that of an entire mountain top.

Aoshi Sanada said he was like a god that can manipulate heaven and earth, with the power to slice open the world and rearrange it as he sees fit, using the power of creation and destruction. When fighting opponents he doesn't want to touch with his blade, he traps and crushes them in a water prison made of high pressure water swapped from the ocean floor, or he drops the bone melting interior of a volcano on them.

Etymology

 * The name Shiro means "four" (四) (shi) and "son" (郎) (ro).
 * Shiro's surname Inukai means "dog" (犬) (inu) and "domesticate/domestication, raise, keep, feed" (飼) (kai).

Trivia

 * His favourite meat is pheasant meat.

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Инукай Широ