Fenghua

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Tokugawa Fenghua (枫华) 10 15
Gender	Female 10
Age	Eighteen during the encounter with Shuten-dōji 30
Affiliation	Tokugawa family and Shogunate; later travels with Kashimo while evading the Shogunate’s search parties 10 31
Occupation/Role	Shogunate princess; jujutsu sorcerer; Kashimo’s apprentice until their separation 10 24 43
Power Assessment	Kenjaku judges her capable of barely qualifying as Special Grade, though far below Kashimo; no formal grade assignment is stated 24
Cursed Technique	Broken Sky — slashes space itself 15
Status	Alive at her last documented appearance; separated from Kashimo after the Izumo battle 43
First Appearance	At an Edo sugar-painting stall with her younger sister, Yingliang 10

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Established sword fighter and spatial-technique user	15 16	Severs Kashimo’s right hand with Broken Sky, heals herself with Reverse Cursed Technique, and attempts a Domain Expansion.
Fundamental retraining under Kashimo	23	Practices stance, breathing, grip, and repeated swings with the heavier Soul-Devouring Blade; her swings become steady after an hour.
Borderline Special Grade assessment	24	Kenjaku considers her total cursed energy unremarkable but judges that she could barely qualify as Special Grade.
Hollow Wicker Basket	27	Successfully copies Kashimo’s defensive technique inside Shuten-dōji’s domain.
Successful spatial finishing strike	30	Uses the Soul-Devouring Blade to deliver a space-severing slash that decapitates Shuten-dōji after Kashimo creates an opening.
Improved World-Cutting Slash Strike and close combat	31	After three months, predicts opponents’ movements rather than only cutting stationary objects and gains a solid grasp of Kashimo’s hand-to-hand fundamentals.
Independent victory over the Zenin reinforcements	43	Kills every sorcerer sent by the Zenin Clan using hand-to-hand combat alone, without activating her cursed technique. Kashimo subsequently says he has nothing left to teach her.

Background / History

Fenghua is a daughter of the Tokugawa family. Her younger sister, Yingliang, shares her father, but Fenghua states that they were never emotionally close. Both sisters are jujutsu sorcerers 10 19.

She trained with a sword from childhood under a mentor. She recalls eighteen years of repeated practice, wearing down more than a dozen blades, and defeating larger male soldiers in competitions. Eventually, she found combat boring because she rarely encountered anyone who demanded her full effort 16.

Her upbringing taught her that the weak were naturally meant to be killed by the strong. Despite her privileged position, she regarded her household as suffocating and feared returning to punishment, coercion, or an arranged marriage. Kashimo’s decision to spare her challenged the rule she had accepted since childhood 19 20.

Appearance

• Hair: Jet-black, usually tied in a high ponytail 10 21.
• Eyes: Red, repeatedly described as strikingly bright 19 20.
• Features: Strikingly beautiful, with a bold, spirited expression 10.
• Early clothing: Red robes secured with a black sash 10 15.
• Later clothing: Red-and-white robes cinched with a black cord, with the pitch-black Soul-Devouring Blade carried on her back 31.

Personality

Fenghua initially presents herself as lively, confident, and accustomed to using her status. She cheerfully charges sugar paintings to the Shogunate, yet becomes more serious when discussing the attendance of Kyoto’s major jujutsu families. She also shows practical judgment by demanding compensation before agreeing to help Kenjaku 10 24.

In battle, she is daring to the point of recklessness. Kashimo’s near-lethal attacks intensify her fascination rather than discourage her. During their first confrontation, she attempts a Domain Expansion without considering its consequences for herself or Yingliang. Kashimo later identifies this willingness to fight without regard for consequences as something he admires 16 22.

Her persistence is equally apparent outside combat: she follows Kashimo despite repeated refusals and is prepared to sleep outside his room rather than return home. She is also perceptive enough to challenge the contradiction between his claims of emotional detachment and his acts of care 20 22.

As their travels continue, her enthusiasm gives way to guarded silence. Kashimo’s terse answers discourage her questions, while his increasingly solitary hunts deepen her fear of abandonment. Her admiration and gratitude develop into feelings she eventually asks whether she can call love 31 33.

Abilities & Skills

Broken Sky

Fenghua’s innate cursed technique delivers slashes against space itself, rather than relying only on a weapon cutting through the target 15.

• Bypasses ordinary defenses; it severs Kashimo’s wrist despite his exceptionally strong cursed-energy protection 15.
• Revealing the technique to Kashimo strengthens its performance through a binding vow 15.
• Her spatial attack is later called the World-Cutting Slash Strike; training improves her ability to anticipate moving opponents 31.
• A slash delivered with the Soul-Devouring Blade decapitates Shuten-dōji 30.
• Kashimo considers using it to cut Mahoraga in half if he can create an opening. This remains a proposed tactic, not a feat Fenghua performs 22.

Swordsmanship and Hand-to-Hand Combat

Fenghua combines long-standing sword experience with fundamentals taught by Kashimo 16 23 31.

• Previously defeated larger male soldiers in sword competitions 16.
• Traditionally fought at close range while Yingliang supported her with shikigami from a distance 16.
• Retrains her stance, breathing, and weapon grip using the heavy Soul-Devouring Blade 23.
• Develops sufficient hand-to-hand skill to kill the entire Zenin reinforcement force without using Broken Sky 43.
• Her first fight with Kashimo exposes a major gap in speed, strength, and close-combat ability despite her prior victories 15 16.

Reverse Cursed Technique

Fenghua can heal herself with Reverse Cursed Technique before becoming Kashimo’s apprentice 16.

• Repairs abdominal injuries caused by Kashimo’s punch 16.
• Keeps her alive after the destructive battle between Kashimo and Gojo Arashi 19.
• Does not fully heal her injured arm before Kashimo treats it himself 20.
• Her later recollections credit Kashimo with instruction in Reverse Cursed Technique and cursed-energy control 33.

Domain Expansion

Fenghua begins forming a Domain Expansion during her first battle with Kashimo. Its name and sure-hit effect are not revealed 16.

• Its developing boundary warps space and places pressure on the nearby Yingliang 16.
• Gojo Arashi breaks the shell from outside before it closes 16 17.
• The interrupted expansion leaves Fenghua suffering cursed technique burnout and unable to intervene in the resumed duel 17.

Hollow Wicker Basket

Fenghua successfully imitates Kashimo’s Hollow Wicker Basket to protect herself against Shuten-dōji’s Domain Expansion 27.

• Demonstrates her ability to learn and apply a defensive technique under immediate pressure 27.
• She does not create Kenjaku’s Calamity Seal; she shelters inside the barrier he casts 25.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Zhanmadao / horse-cleaving saber — Her original weapon, taller than a person. She uses it during her first confrontation with Kashimo 15 22.
• Soul-Devouring Blade — Previously wielded by Yingliang and seized by Kashimo. Fenghua later trains with it, carries it during their travels, and uses it to behead Shuten-dōji. It is considerably heavier than her usual saber 16 20 23 30 31.
• Ruyi Staff — Kashimo’s jade-green staff, which Fenghua carries and passes to him when needed. She holds it across the road while preparing to block the Zenin reinforcements 25 30 38.
• Tiger-hide blanket — Made by Kashimo when she was cold; Fenghua later turns it into a shawl for him, which he keeps 33.

Relationships

• Hajime Kashimo — Initially her opponent, then protector, teacher, and traveling companion. Her fascination with his strength develops into an emotional attachment she questions as love. He asks whether she can stand beside him and teach him love, but ultimately ends their connection after the Izumo battle 15 22 24 33 34 43.
• Tokugawa Yingliang — Younger paternal half-sister and combat partner. Despite their coordinated fighting style, Fenghua says they were not close and shows no visible grief after Yingliang’s death 16 19.
• Kenjaku — Associate of Kashimo who evaluates her strength and protects her in the Hundred Demons realm. Later places a technique on her that shares Kashimo’s vision, then encourages her to seize the Shogunate after Kashimo leaves her 24 25 38 43.
• Rinko — Kashimo’s earlier companion. Fenghua recognizes Rinko’s reliance on him and challenges his decision to leave her behind; she later fears being abandoned in the same way 20 22 33.
• Gojo Arashi — A guest of the Shogunate whose apparent death prompts Fenghua to confront Kashimo. His return interrupts her Domain Expansion 15 16 17.
• Tokugawa household — Her family and former source of authority, but also a place she fears returning to. Its search parties repeatedly fail to catch her during her travels with Kashimo 20 31.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Edo Festival and Departure

• Appears with Yingliang at a sugar-painting stall and discusses the expected attendance of the Kyoto clans 10.
• Confronts Kashimo for apparently killing Gojo Arashi, a Shogunate guest; she severs his hand before he overwhelms both sisters 15 16.
• Survives the ensuing battle while Yingliang dies. Kashimo spares her, and she persistently asks to accompany him 19 20.
• Receives shelter and healing at the inn, follows him the next morning, and secures his agreement to teach her on the condition that she becomes useful 20 21 22.

Apprenticeship and the Demon King

• Begins rigorous fundamental training; Kashimo publicly identifies her as his apprentice when they meet Kenjaku 23 24.
• Helps Kashimo while trapped in the Hundred Demons realm, immediately throwing him the Ruyi Staff when he requests it 25.
• Copies Hollow Wicker Basket and later delivers the finishing spatial slash against Shuten-dōji 27 30.
• Accompanies Kashimo to a private bath in Kyoto, where his blunt indifference provokes her into joining him despite her embarrassment 30.

Travels and Emotional Confession

• Spends three months traveling with Kashimo, fighting cursed spirits and staying ahead of the Shogunate’s pursuers. Their journey includes Kai, Shinano, and eventually Izumo 31.
• Becomes more skilled but increasingly quiet as Kashimo offers fewer answers and begins hunting sorcerers alone 31 33.
• On December 6, confronts his emotional distance and admits that his absence makes her panic. She asks whether her desire for him to remain beside her can be called love 33.
• Cannot answer when Kashimo asks whether she can stand beside him and teach him what love is 34.

Izumo Battle and Separation

• Serves as the link through which Kenjaku follows Kashimo’s battle using a technique that shares his vision 38.
• Blocks the approaching Zenin sorcerers and kills every reinforcement through hand-to-hand combat alone 38 43.
• Finds Kashimo alive after his victory, but he declares that he has nothing left to teach her and orders her to leave 43.
• Remains speechless as he departs. Kenjaku suggests returning to the Shogunate and taking control through strength, but she is not shown accepting or carrying out that advice 43.

Notable Quotes

“I told you. I'll keep following you until you agree to take me in.” 22

“Then teach me everything you know.” 22

“I want you to stay by my side. Like before. Teaching me, reminding me, caring about me. … Can they be called... love?” 33

Trivia

• Her diary dates her first encounter with Kashimo to September 2 and his acceptance of her apprenticeship to September 3 33.
• Before traveling with Kashimo, she had only visited places around Edo and had never been to Kyoto. The bath attendant there therefore fails to recognize her as the missing princess 30.
• She is sleepy during the day but energetic at night, when she can remain awake stargazing 32.