Hakurei

Biodata

Background / History

Hakurei survived the previous Holy War and became a highly respected elder within Sanctuary. By the time Wuxin appeared, he was living in seclusion in Jamir with his disciple, Crane Yuzuriha, while his younger twin brother Sage served as Sanctuary’s Pope. Few people in Sanctuary truly knew Hakurei, and information about him was closely guarded 1 2 4 7.

Appearance

• Clothing: White robes and a green scarf 1.
• Facial features: An elderly face with distinctive red, dot-shaped eyebrows 1.
• Physique: Lean, powerful muscles, with brown scars across his skin; these are visible when he trains bare-chested 4.
• Resemblance to Sage: Wuxin initially mistakes him for his twin brother before identifying him as the previous Altar Saint 1.

Personality

Hakurei is courteous but deeply cautious. He recognizes that Wuxin’s amnesia appears genuine without treating it as proof of innocence. Even after Sasha assures him that Wuxin is not an enemy, he keeps the young man in Jamir to observe him rather than immediately admitting him to Sanctuary 1 4.

His suspicion is tempered by principle: he is unwilling to hurt people casually, protects Wuxin and Yuzuriha from an unknown attacker, and orders them to recover while he handles the threat. His caution also extends to his students’ missions; he explicitly tells Wuxin to retreat rather than confront an enemy beyond his strength 3 15.

As a teacher, Hakurei values independent understanding, patience, and practical experience. His apprenticeship test supplies no instructions, forcing Wuxin to discover the foundations of death manipulation himself. Once satisfied with his disciple’s talent and temperament, Hakurei teaches him several techniques in quick succession and eventually sends him away from safe training to gain real combat experience 9 14 15.

Abilities & Skills

Sekishiki

Hakurei specializes in Sekishiki, a power produced by purifying corpse qi and strengthening the resentment associated with the dead through mental will. He explains that all his special techniques are transformations based on corpse qi 9 14.

• Combines corpse qi’s suppression of living beings with the dead’s ability to entangle souls 14.
• Can separate a soul from its body or directly shred it 14.
• Gives him exceptional sensitivity to death-related power, allowing him to notice Wuxin’s disturbance of the phosphorus gas outside the stone tower 9.

Sekishiki Meikai Ha

The foundational Sekishiki technique, also called the Underworld Wave. Hakurei demonstrates it by pulling Wuxin’s soul from his body and then restoring it 14.

• Strips an enemy’s soul from their physical body 14.
• Opens access to the Underworld, allowing the user to send enemies there or enter it to escape danger 14.
• Hakurei emphasizes its versatility rather than its raw destructive power 14.

Sekishiki: Demonic Blue Flames

Soul-burning flames that use the spiritual power guiding Cosmo as fuel 15.

• Can completely incinerate an enemy’s soul 15.
• Their burning speed gives opponents time to respond 15.
• An opponent can avoid being consumed by quickly cutting off the flow of Cosmo 15.

Sekishiki: Soul Burial Wave

An explosive refinement of Demonic Blue Flames. Hakurei demonstrates it by violently igniting the flames in his palm and punching forward 15.

• Uses the enemy’s power as fuel for a stronger explosion 15.
• Becomes more powerful against stronger opponents 15.
• His demonstration burns away the phosphorus gas within a radius of nearly ten meters ahead of him 15.

Sekishiki: Spirit Rotation Wave

Hakurei’s ultimate technique, developed by refining Sekishiki Meikai Ha to its utmost limit. It summons heroic spirits from the Underworld and combines their power to annihilate an enemy’s body and soul 15.

• Requires sufficiently powerful Cosmo and exceptional understanding and control of Sekishiki 15.
• Must overcome the Underworld’s laws binding the heroic spirits 15.
• Sage has never mastered it, while Manigoldo has not yet succeeded in learning it 15.
• Hakurei explains it without demonstrating it because the cost of using it is too great 15.

Phosphorus Flame Control

• Draws surrounding phosphorus flames into his raised fingertip and absorbs them 9.
• Safely clears the ghostly flames produced when Wuxin first manifests his death-aligned Cosmo, including a second outbreak covering nearly ten meters 9.

Martial Arts & Physical Strength

• Sends the mysterious swordsman’s armored avatar flying with a punch and subsequently destroys it in battle 3.
• Trains with physical strength alone, producing explosive cracks in the air with his strikes. Wuxin estimates that he could defeat some Sixth Sense fighters without using Cosmo 4.
• Teaches Wuxin close-combat skills, including Cancer Pincer Death Grip 15.

Telekinesis & Perception

• Uses telekinesis to communicate with Sage across the distance between Jamir and Sanctuary 3.
• Reads heartbeat, breathing, and small changes in expression when assessing whether Wuxin is lying 1.
• Recognizes that the swordsman attacking Jamir is merely armor controlled through telekinesis, rather than the enemy’s true body 3.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Wuxin’s Arrival and the Attack on Jamir

• Takes in the amnesiac Wuxin, then questions how an apparent outsider can recognize him and know Sanctuary’s secrets. He leaves Yuzuriha responsible for Wuxin’s care and surveillance 1.
• Rescues Wuxin and Yuzuriha from a sword-wielding attacker concealed in supernatural mist. After destroying its armored avatar, he warns them that the enemy’s true self is far stronger 3.
• Reports the assassination attempt to Sage. They consider sending Wuxin to Kanon Island for examination before Sasha intervenes and personally observes him in soul form 3.

Testing Wuxin’s Intentions

• Offers to teach Wuxin personally after Sasha identifies a profound connection between him and Sanctuary, while privately explaining to Sage that continued observation remains necessary 4.
• Pretends to have Wuxin sent away from Jamir to test his determination. Wuxin returns to request admission openly, acknowledging that his primary goal is to obtain Cosmo 4.
• Permits Wuxin to train alongside Yuzuriha after hearing his reasoning 4.
• Suspends further questioning when Wuxin suggests that a god may be involved in his arrival. Hakurei orders Yuzuriha to keep the conversation secret and consults Sage and Sasha 7.

Accepting a Disciple

• Recognizes Wuxin’s affinity for death and offers him an apprenticeship if he can make a set of remains climb out of a nearby cliff within one month, without assistance 9.
• Sets a trial that also guides Wuxin toward understanding death energy and the foundations of Sekishiki 11 12.
• Accepts Wuxin after he returns with an animated skeleton in roughly half a month. Asmita’s account of Wuxin’s views has also helped Hakurei relinquish his remaining wariness 14.
• Teaches him Sekishiki and close combat. When Wuxin reaches Silver Saint strength in less than three months, Hakurei sends him toward Sanctuary to obtain a Cloth 15.

The Tehran Assignment

• Orders Wuxin to investigate the sexual assault and murder of an Athena priestess in Tehran, whose body was left on the goddess’s statue 15.
• Instructs him to resolve the matter only if capable; otherwise, he must withdraw to Sanctuary and seek stronger Saints rather than act recklessly 15.

Relationships

• Sage — Younger twin brother and Sanctuary’s Pope. Hakurei regularly consults him about threats, Wuxin’s identity, and precautions for Athena’s protection 1 3 4 7.
• Crane Yuzuriha — Disciple and trusted assistant in Jamir. He entrusts her with Wuxin’s care, observation, and initial training 1 4 7.
• Wuxin — Initially a suspicious outsider under his protection; later his personal disciple and an intended inheritor of his death-related techniques 1 9 14 15.
• Sasha / Athena — The goddess he serves. He respects her judgment while taking additional precautions against risks she may be too trusting to dismiss 3 4.
• Manigoldo — Sage’s disciple, whom Hakurei discusses as Wuxin’s senior brother within their shared teaching lineage. Hakurei considers him talented but too impetuous to master Spirit Rotation Wave at that time 15 20.
• Asmita — His account of Wuxin’s attitude helps resolve Hakurei’s doubts before the apprenticeship begins 14.