Kazemaru (風丸,Kazemaru?) (which literally means wind circle) is a shinobi that participated in the Genkai Tournament during the Spirit Detective Saga. He works as a bodyguard who secretly escorts VIPs, but eventually decides to compete in Genkai's tournament in the hopes of becoming her apprentice.
He has a mirrored Buddhist manji (卍) symbol tattooed on the middle of his forehead, which looks similar but is not related to a swastika (卐). He has a shaved head, has tan-colored skin and wears iron armor under his dark red shinobi outfit (装束, shōzoku, literally translated as costume).
Personality[]
Kazemaru is a ruthless combatant in battle, but he still abided by a strong set of principles and was overall an honorable man.
Synopsis[]
Kazemaru defeated Kuroda in the first round of the Genkai Tournament. He then went on to compete against Yusuke. Kazemaru wielded his Massive Discharge, a more powerful and mastered version of the Spirit Gun compared to that of Yusuke's. This attack was expelled from his entire palm. Yusuke was still able to defeat him, due in large part to luck (falling into the lake) and quick thinking. Barely conscious, Kazemaru comments that it was not fair but Genkai allowed Yusuke to advance into the finals against Shorin.
Powers and Abilities[]
Shinobi fighting style: In the case of practitioners such as Kazemaru, their fighting style is a cornerstone to all their tactics and by which they are most easily identified. In the case of Kazemaru, he can either use taijutsu (体術, literally "body technique" or "body skill") or strategy and tactics. It is implied that Kazemaru has not only perfected all his skills with weapons but also has trained for years in order to improve his physical strength and agility.
Known Techniques and Moves[]
Massive Discharge
Massive Discharge (霊気砲, Rei Ki Hō, literally translated as Spirit Energy Cannon): Kazemaru is able to fire reiki blasts out of his whole palm in a manner similar to the Spirit Wave. While the Massive Discharge is significantly weaker than the regular Spirit Wave from Genkai, this technique - although similar in appearance - is even stronger than Yusuke's regular Spirit Gun at the time.
Spirit Shuriken
Ninja Throwing Stars: Kazemaru is able to use his Spirit Energy to create shuriken that follow their target relentlessly until they hit. As the tips are loaded with gunpowder, they explode violently on impact.
Trivia[]
Kazemaru is a terrible singer, but his singing shows off his tremendous amount of spirit energy.
In the show's edited version (which aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami block), Kazemaru's Buddhist manji symbol is removed due to its resemblance to the Nazi party Hakenkreuz and its negative connotations in the Western world. This edit is retained in the Netflix airing of the show despite being otherwise uncensored.
Kazemaru means "wind circle".
In Togashi's other manga series, Hunter x Hunter, the character Hanzo who appears in the Hunter Exam arc of the series is reminiscent of Kazemaru. They both have a shaved head, are shinobi, and have fought the main characters before (Hanzo with Gon and Kazemaru with Yusuke).
Kazemaru's Spirit Energy Cannon might be a weaker form of the Spirit Wave technique mastered by Yusuke.[1]
Kazemaru appears as a character in the Yu Yu Hakusho Trading Card Game but his Buddhist manji symbol was edited out for the same reasons it was on Toonami.
