Six Realms Five Rings - The Divine Figure of Kurikara (六道五輪・倶利伽羅天象, Rikudō Gorin - Kurikara Tenshō?, localized as "Six Paths, Five Rings: Kurikara Divine Blade") is the Noble Phantasm of Miyamoto Musashi.
A sword-roaring battou. As Musashi calmly stands wielding two swords, the swords' force takes on the appearance of a NiohWP guardian slashing with Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. Musashi then unleashes her ultimate "Sword of Zero" attack, derived from the concept of the Void that she has yet to completely master. It may be labeled as an Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm, but it's essentially an Anti-Causality Noble Phantasm. It's the sword of the Buddha that can cleave anything in two with a single stroke, be it the unnatural, Karma, curses, or even misfortune. However, "though the target is reduced to its absolute minimum, to a state where something cannot be reduced any further, 'something' still remains." The Ultimate One known as One (無二, Muni?). Even beyond that lies 0 (０?)... the concept of 「 」. The flower at the apex of heaven continues to seek that state.[2]
Miyamoto Musashi unlocked this Noble Phantasm during her fight against Saber of Empireo in the Shimosa Subcategory Singularity. The essence of Musashi's Niten Ichiryu lies in adapting to thousands of possibilities. However, she can't counter an opponent who always stays up one step ahead. Due to this, Musashi was unable to defeat Yagyuu's Suigetsu. To do so, she had to enter the realm of the gods herself, to find the right answer that lays beyond every possibility. In other words, she had to slash through the unbreakable heavens themselves. By reaching Zero, Musashi was able to defeat Saber of Empireo.[3] On the other hand, when Musashi learned that Yagyuu Munenori had been summoned in Chaldea, she speculated that if the two of them were to fight again, the latter may just be able to beat her. She explains that the Heroic Spirit Yagyuu must have peered beyond the veil, achieved enlightenment, and become a Sword Saint beyond compare. She doesn't mind it, as it just means she'll have to take her Zero sword to the next level.[4]
Nioh guardian (Front)
Nioh guardian (Back)
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When she draws her sword for the Greater Celestial Phenomenon, she mentions Tenman Daijizai TenjinWP’s name. The historical Miyamoto Musashi was a devout of Tenman Dai-Jizai Tenjin, and he can be considered his guardian deity. Tenman Dai-Jizai Tenjin is the name given to the heavenly god of the Dazai Prefecture’s Tenmanguu Shrine; in other words, the amalgamation of the thunder god and Japan’s most prominent Vengeful SpiritSugawara-no-MichizaneWP and Dai-Jizai Ten MahesvaraWP (also known as Shiva, the Hindu God of Destruction). Additionally, Dai-Jizai Ten is also considered an avatar of Guanyin. In reality, before Sugawara-no-Michizane started to be worshipped as the heavenly god of scholarship at the end of the Heian Era, he had already been conferred the divine name of Tenman Dai-Jizai Tenjin, so, putting it bluntly, Tenman Dai-Jizai Tenjin is Sugawara-no-Michizane’s aspect as a wrathful god traced over to Shiva. It is speculated that the reason Musashi chose the thunder god as the object of his devotion is because most KenjutsuWP practitioners before him and their schools were devout to the Kashima ShrineWP, and the god TakemikazuchiWP worshipped there was said to be the thunder god’s ancestor. Takemizuchi, the god of thunder-turned-god of kenjutsu. In response to that, since Musashi chose to perfect himself on “the art of the sword” instead of “the technique of the sword”, he did not devote himself to the same god of thunder or kenjutsu, but to Tenman Dai-Jizai Tenjin, who also has an aspect as the god of scholarship. Or so it is speculated. Additionally, at the time (and even now), Dai-Jizai Ten was often confused with Ishana TenWP, the king of a place named Take-Jizai Ten, due to their similar names. Ishana Ten is considered to be on the same god as Izanagi, the ancestor god of Japan. And, due to how its name is pronounced, he is associated with Shana-ou (Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune). Since Yoshitsune was, even at the time, considered the originator of the samurais’ militarization, Ishana is implied to be connected to both Japan and the origin of samurais.[2]
EnglishEnglish | JapaneseJapanese
« Hail the Tenmandaijizaitenjin, Sever the spirit in the sword! Exterminate every kind of evil with rage, Hayagriva! This single stroke is surely my path of the void, my way of life! Īśāna great manifestation! »
Prior to reaching Zero, Musashi wielded an inferior version of her Noble Phantasm Ishana Daitenshou. It wasn't until she fought Saber of Empireo that she was forced to reach the realm of gods herself.[3]
True Emptiness[]
A state that Proper Human HistoryMiyamoto Musashi never reached.[5] The pinnacle said to be unparalleled. When something is cut by Zero, it is reduced to its absolute minimum, to a state where something cannot be reduced any further. However, even then, 'something' still remains: The concept of 0 (０（ゼロ）?) that is said to exist beyond Zero. 「 」.[2] During the Atlantic Lostbelt, Musashi was able to perform this attack, successfully cutting the hollow space that Chaos was using to observe Earth. Doing so reverted it to Void and sealed Chaos from accessing this universe. In exchange,「 」 erased Musashi's Saint Graph from Chaldea's records and from the Throne of Heroes, wiping her from existence and preventing her from being re-summoned.[5]
Grand Saber[]
Acala Kulikaa - The Divine Figure of Dharmadeva Ishana (不動倶利迦羅・母舎那法天象, Fudō Kurikara - Ishana Hōtenshō?) is the Noble Phantasm of GrandSaberMiyamoto Musashi.
Illustrator and Voice actor Illustrator: Hirokazu Koyama Voice Actor: Ayane Sakura
Parameters
Strength: B
Endurance: B
Agility: B
Mana: E
Luck: B
Noble Phantasm: B
Personal Skills
Fifth Form: A
Heavenly Eye: A
Nothingness: A
Class Skills
Magic Resistance: A
Noble Phantasm
Six Realms Five Planes - The Divine Figure of Kurikara
Rank: A
Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm
Profile
A swordsman from the early Edo Period, famous as the strongest swordmaster in Japanese history.
Learned in the “Niten Ichi-ryu” (a school that was supposedly founded by Musashi), an expert of “dual wielding” that employs a long sword and a short sword.
....or so it should have been, but seems that her circumstances are somehow different from the Musashi that left his name in history.
“Eh? The ‘Musashi’ in this world is a man? And also extremely famous? What a surprise!”
As you see, the person herself has a relaxed, open attitude that never gets worked up.
Having no particular interest in victory or prestige, yet sloven with alcohol, a sucker for money and weak against free food.
However, all those who confronted and were beaten by her in battle said this in the end:
---a vibrant flower of tengen(1). Her sword reaches the heights of nothingness.
Level 1 Bond
Height/Weight: 167cm・56kg
Source: Historical fact
Region: Japan
Alignment: Chaotic Good Gender: Female
“My formal name? Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu. Still, it’s easier if you just call me Musashi.”
Level 2 Bond
In the proper history, Musashi was born in Oohara, Sakushu (modern day Mimasaka, in the Okayama prefecture), at 1584.
His father was a practitioner of martial arts named Shinmen Munisai, who served as an instructor of martial arts to the Shinmen House of lords of the Takayama Castle, and who received the name of Shinmen from his employer’s family. Shinmen Munisai built a dojo of jutte techniques in the Miyamoto village of the Yoshino district, and Musashi would later call himself “Miyamoto” due having this land as his hometown.
He left behind many anecdotes and went through numerous battles against martial artists upon reaching adulthood - especially during the ten years of his 20s. Those famous bouts are even now seen as a staple of the entertainment industry.
However, the truth behind the episodes of these ten years of battle is mostly wrapped in mystery and there are strong suspicions about them being mere fiction.
Level 3 Bond
Cheerful and openhearted, a female swordsman that is lively yet dignified.
Constantly full of pride, acting complacently, but that does not mean she is looking down on her opponent. She is merely enjoying life.
Her way of expressing emotions is somewhat great. She greatly laughs and gets greatly surprised.
While she has a broad-minded personality that laughs off at most things, due being “someone who masters the way of the sword” at her roots, she is very dry and severe in regards to the taking of lives.
That being said, she falls in love easily and likes to be depended on very much.
She also likes to be praised very much. Weak to flattery. A banchou disposition that loves a brawl. Although she has a sense of justice, she never preaches to be righteous herself.
Fundamentally a carefree wandering vagabond, but she becomes ruthless when coming across scenes such as “an one-sided massacre”, “trampling on people’s dignity, convictions for fun” or “stealing my food when I’m hungry”.
Level 4 Bond
Heavenly Eye: A
Heavenly Eye is regarded as “the power to accomplish an objective”.
Once she has decided to do something, she will devote her body and soul to its fulfillment and achieve it without fail. You might say that this is something that she places her entire existence on her gaze and projects it onto her objective.
In Musashi’s case, her Heavenly Eye is pointed only at the deed of “cutting a certain place”.
For example, once she has decided to “cut the opponent’s right arm”, she will server said right arm by taking all and every measures.
As a result, her attack becomes the optimal answer for a slash - “a sword stroke without anything pointless, which makes even time and space yield”.
A power to take all the “measures for the sake of achieving an objective” and “narrowing them down to one”.
You might as well say that this is an extremely unique set of mystic eyes, which confines the naturally infinite futures into “just a single” result.
Level 5 Bond
Nothingness: A
The highest order a swordsman can attain. The ultimate mental state.
It corresponds to the concept of suigetsu(2) of the Yagyuu Shinkage-ryu.
One is nothing, thus invincible. Only a swordsman who has reached the infinite mental state can perceive this.
The Book of Five Rings
Right before death, Musashi compiled the mental state he attained during his lifetime, his cultivated techniques, into one book.
Divided into the five volumes of Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Void, this book was the culmination of the human being called “Musashi”.
The Book of Five Rings gives an outline of the Niten Ichi-ryu and explains its ideology as an art of war in the Book of Earth, explains concrete techniques on the Book of Water, talks about the art of war in the dimensions of tactics and strategy, and - just like the above-mentioned - explains the fundamental understanding of the Niten Ichi-ryu by means of a repudiation of other schools.
Finally, it has been said that Musashi’s own understanding about “emptiness”, as well as the above-mentioned technique of “confrontation”, has been written down on the Book of Void.
Interlude
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(1): roughly, center of heaven. In the ancient Chinese cosmology, the tengen was the source from which all creation grew from, the “vitality of heavens”.
(2): moon on the water. In a broad way, this is a notion that a master warrior can easily perceive his opponent’s intentions so long he maintains a calm state of mind, but not so much when he is agitated. Just like the reflection of the moon on the water.
