Ouma Kurogane

"I seek power, power inexorable. I seek defeat, defeat inevitable. For an A-Rank knight like me, the only one who can give this to me is Stella, who possesses that absolute magic. And… if I can overcome it… if I can do that, then perhaps this hand of mine will tremble no more."

- Ouma Kurogane

Oouma Kurogane is the eldest and firstborn son of Itsuki Kurogane making him the older brother of Ikki and Shizuku Kurogane. Prior to his her promotion, he was the lone A-Rank Student Knight in Japan and won the Japanese Youth Leagues earning the nickname Sword Emperor of the Wind. After seeking real-life battles outside the far safer tournaments, he left Japan on a journey around the world he joined Akatsuki Academy after hearing about another fellow A-Rank Student Knight, Stella Vermillion entering the current Seven Stars Sword Art Festival.

Appearance
Ouma is a young man with very long black hair, which covers most of his forehead, and all of his back. He has yellow eyes that seem to have no life in them as they seem dead. He is seen wearing a black shitagi, as well as a white Haori, with black sleeves, which give the impression of having gray stripes on each sleeve. Later during his fights on Sword Art Festival wear black kimono. Ouma is also seen with a large, x-shaped, scar across his face, although underneath his clothing it is revealed that he has a plethora of scars and marks due to his training around the world.

His face and physique greatly resemble his younger brother, Ikki. However, Ouma lacks the gentleness that Ikki displays and instead comes off as cold with sharpened strength which deviates from the norm according to Sara. Even as little Ouma releasing an immense pressure, which even little release causes viewers and some of his opponents to be shocked.

Personality
Ouma is a man of few words with little interest in anything aside from fighting against strong opponents to test the limits of his strength with his little brother stating that he is a stoic person with no interest in anything else expect to become stronger. Because of this, he was interested in fighting against a fellow A-Rank such as Stella and was disappointed after easily winning against her. He also has great confidence in his abilities to the point of him even being arrogant viewing no one even the previous Seven-Star Sword King and Rakiri as a good enough reason to enter the previous Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, however, this is boated with his overwhelming power.

Whenever speaking, Ouma can be described as being both a cold and calm individual interested in no one else's goals aside from his own not caring about his father's reasons for allying with Akatsuki or even their own goals in spite of being allied with them himself. He also disrespects those older than himself and even his superiors such as Nene and Bakuga, responding to the former and referred to her short height. Although he is shown to be calm and patient, he can be merciless when wanting to achieve his desires to where he even almost killed Ikki, his little brother viewing him as nothing more than a hindrance for Stella to achieve her full potential.

Despite his distant and cold behaviors, Ouma couldn't be viewed as being evil, as he protected the viewers from Stella's Bahamut Howl, but his intentions were never revealed. His desire for strength stems from his first win, which was further resolute after the fear instilled in him having faced the Tyrant, the Leader of Rebellion. During her fight against Ouma has caused Stella to view his desire to be stronger and stand at the summit of the world he loves, which she referred to as childish yet purer than anyone even comparing him to Ikki.

History
Five years prior, Ouma left the Kurogane Household after winning the Little League and U-12 World Tournament in elementary school feeling that he couldn't overcome his limits in a warm environment. He then left Japan and travel to places with real battles such as slums and underground arena. During that time, Ouma met the Tyrant, the leader of Rebellion, and was almost killed if not for the interference of Edelweiss. Following the incident, he was struck with fear and realized that in order to be in the same area as the Tyrant, he needed a metamorphosis and for that purpose, he soon bounded himself in his Tenryuu Armor in order to trigger that himself and began to seek out a worthy opponent for that purpose, wanting to stop the tremble he has had in his hand ever since.

Ouma was also a rival of both Yudai Moroboshi and Renji Kaga during their youth.

Incident at Okutama
Ouma appears along with Reisen Hiraga who was sent to test the ability of Tohka Todo. Ouma, however, was having more interest in Stella, claiming that she's the only reason he joined them and if Stella isn't up to the level then he isn't interested in her. Hiraga also notes that Ouma is rather troublesome, preferring his brother, Ikki.

Akatsuki Strikes
Ouma is seen with his fellow Akatsuki members attacking Hagun Academy, being able to destroy the school quite easily. The Hagun representatives of the Festival training but quickly arrive, being able to defeat Ouma and the others easily. It's revealed however that the Akatsuki members were all illusions created after Amane had seen the future, telling that Nagi would betray them. He later challenges Stella to a duel, easily overpowering her Katharterio Salamandra with his Kusanagi. He was then challenged by Tohka, after the other Student Council members had fallen, who tried to halt Ouma from chasing Stella and the Hagure Sisters but was easily defeated by Ouma.

Ouma and the other Akatsuki members eventually catch up to the Hagure sisters and Stella but they are stopped by Nene who is able to stop all the Akatsuki members except Ouma who planned on taking on Nene. He is, however, stopped by Hiraga who is able to persuade Ouma from attacking Nene, as they had already done what they had planned to do. Ouma and the others then retreat.

Dinner and Confrontation
Later just before the Festival, Ouma is noticed by Ikki, while Ouma was stalking Ikki and his companions during their outing. After Ikki is able to separate himself from the others he calls out Ouma. Ouma explains that he wants Ikki to quit the tournament as he is a blocking stone of Stella, keeping her from her true potential. When Ikki refuses to drop out of the tournament, Ouma decides to use force and draws out his Device and in response, Ikki does the same and a battle between brothers ensues.

Ouma has the advantage in power over Ikki having far more magic and physical power than him. Ouma quickly becomes tired of fighting against Ikki and uses Mukuu Kekkai to force Ikki to end the fight in less than sixty seconds. Ikki was nearly able to cut Ouma but for some reason stopped at the last moment allowing Ouma to hit Ikki with the full force of his blade, causing Ikki to lie helpless as Ouma charged up for his all-powerful Noble Art, Kusanagi.

Ouma unleashes Kusanagi, however, it is destroyed, along with Mukuu Kekkai, before it can hit Ikki. It is then revealed that Yudai Moroboshi, the current Seven Stars Sword King, had come to Ikki's aid, and used his magic destroying Noble Art, Tiger Bite, to save Ikki. Ouma decides he has enough fighting and decides to leave.

Conclusion of the First Match
Ouma wins his first-round match in the Festival, advancing to the second round. Ouma later meets with Ikki again, in the hotel where the competitors are staying. Ikki, who is being chased by Stella and Sara Bloodlily, asks to stay in Ouma's room for the night. Ouma at first rudely rejects Ikki, telling him to go and borrow any of his friend's rooms, and notes on his lack of respect for his senior despite asking for his help but Ikki's cold statement of the reason being Ouma working with a terrorist caused Ouma to begrudgingly accept. As Ouma and Ikki settle down, Ouma notes that Ikki probably has another reason for coming to him, which Ikki admits to being that he wanted to talk to his brother on civil terms. Ikki tells Ouma that he used to admire his older brother, because of his grit and dedication, knowing that Ouma could never be satisfied with fighting weak opponents. This, however, makes Ikki question Ouma's reasons for associating with a crooked organization like Rebellion, which is leading Akatsuki. Ouma corrects Ikki, saying that he is just a guest and not an associate of Rebellion. He is helping them because of his and Ikki's father, Itsuki Kurogane, who asked Ouma to, as Itsuki is supporting Akatsuki's leader's, Bakuga Tsukikage's, ideas of splitting from the League which would bring more power to the Kurogane Family. Despite this, Ouma's main reason was still facing Stella, wishing to fight a strong opponent. He admits to not knowing nor is he interested in Tsukikage's true thoughts.

Ikki notes that Ouma really is captivated by Stella, wondering why Ouma didn't attack him like earlier. Ouma explains that after seeing how much stronger Stella has gotten, he no longer sees Ikki as an obstacle for her. As Ikki asks why Ouma is going specifically after Stella and not other strong adult knights, Ouma mocks his brother for lacking understanding of the concept of a knight's power and constantly using his swordsmanship, referring to it as being "parlor tricks". Ouma explains that everyone has a certain fate, which decides their natural amount of magic power. Stella has one of the greatest amounts of natural raw magic power, which Ouma seeks, not wanting to simply fight an unwinnable battle against the likes of the "Yaksha Princess" or "God of War", instead of wishing to overcome a challenge of power, to stop his hands from trembling. They then go to sleep, with Ouma saying that he might have been a little wrong about Ikki. He warned Ikki that he had caught the eye of someone very troublesome, referring to Amane Shinomiya, and should best prepare for terrible retribution.

Seven Stars Sword Art Festival Third Round - Beginning
Ouma, having easily won his last two matches of the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, faces the ace of Rokuzon Academy, Renji Kaga. Despite Renji's strength and speed, he is unable to damage Ouma, and Ouma in turn easily cuts Renji, and strikes his hand through his chest, ripping out his heart in the process. This act of cruelty shocks the audience, but Stella Vermillion claps at Ouma's showcase of strength.

A Pair of Dragons' Rivalry
In the semifinals of the Festival Ouma faces Stella Vermillion, who he has been wanting to fight from the beginning of the Festival. They exchange powerful blows, with Stella using techniques like Broken Arrow and Satan Fang, while Ouma counters with brute force and Fuujin Kekkai. Stella tries hitting Ouma with a surprise attack but manages to only injure her own arms when she hits Ouma. They then clash swords and Ouma manages to damage Stella's internal organs with a kick. This leads to Stella figuring out the secret of Ouma's defense. Ouma has been surrounding his body with extremely high pressured air, which has strengthened his body.

Ouma then tells about his encounter with the Rebellion leader Tyrant, and Ouma's defeat to him, which lead Ouma to join Akatsuki. Ouma then releases his Tenryuu Armor, which tremendously raises his speed. He then attacks Stella with an onslaught of attacks, but Stella manages to endure them. She then activates her most powerful technique, Dragon Spirit. This technique tremendously increases her physical strength and speed. Her attacks are also surrounded by fire. Ouma is unable to match Stella in this form and is finally defeated in the clash off their attacks, Katharterio Salamandra and Kusanagi. This leads to Ouma being eliminated from the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival.

Rising Spirit
Ouma later arrives to battle against Ikki, to help him train for his upcoming battle against Stella in the finals. Ouma was asked by Ikki to come, with Ouma agreeing as he wants to test Ikki's strength. Ouma has the advantage in the battle, having superior power and durability, but Ikki is capable of keeping up with him, using his swordsmanship knowledge. Ikki also catches Ouma off guard and actually pushes him back, with his newly created third sword technique, Madoka, which directs back one of the powerful slashes of Ouma. This surprises Ouma, who wonders if Ikki's trickery is a kind of strength. Ouma then decides to take the fight seriously and activates his wind manipulation ability. The outcome of their battle is unknown, though Ikki is seen arriving at the finals, with no serious injuries. Ouma then traveled to Osaka the day before celebrating Ikki's victory over Stella at the festival. His current location and goals are unknown.

Abilities
Wind Manipulation: Ouma's ability as a Blazer. He is able to produce wind and use it for offense and defense to an amazing degree. Ouma can use his wind in more subtle ways, like bending the light to make himself invisible. By manipulating the wind, he is able to render air resistance void, granting Ryuuzume whose weight equaled that of a spear the advantage in sharpness and speed. In his match against Stella, Ouma was able to coat his sword with wind and swung it three times at a speed faster than the swords of Edelweiss. He can also create a vacuum orb that explodes on contact.
 * Tenryuu Armor (天龍具足, Heavenly Dragon Armor): A technique, which surrounds Ouma with incredibly high pressured air. The technique puts a load on Ouma's body, training it to become more durable, while also protects him. By releasing his Armor, Ouma gains a massive improvement in speed.

Immense Strength: Having undergone a ridiculous training regimen and bound himself in a high-pressured wind, placing a great burden on himself for five years resulting in a metamorphosis granting him a tremendous physical condition. Ouma could even outclass Stella using his natural strength, the latter enhanced herself using magic in their initial clash, endured Nene's Jibaujin without issues, and pierced through the steel skin of Renji Kaga using his bare hands to grip his heart. After releasing his Tenryuu Armor, he was able to unleash a vacuum slash using his strength alone and sent Stella through the reinforced concrete outside the dome in their second fight.

Immense Durability: Due to his extreme training over the years, Ouma gained tremendous defenses as he took Tohka's famed Raikiri head-on without injuries and received a minor wound from Takemikazuchi, which she later described him as being a mountain. He was able to also endure the powerful hits from Renji without budging an inch. It was later revealed that he bounded himself in his Tenryuu Armor pushing his body to the limit triggering a metamorphosis gaining skin comparable to steel along with both his flesh and bone being ten times denser than others, however, doing so this shortened his lifespan.

Immense Stamina: Due to being clad in his Tenryuu Armor and ridiculous training for five years, Ouma attained an enormous amount of stamina, endurance, and pain tolerance beyond what common sense, further elaborated by his steel-like will. Being able to tank attacks from powerful opponents such as Renji, then the intense pain and injuries from Stella using Dragon Spirit, which burns him from inside and yet still found the strength to stand up a challenge her.

Immense Speed: Ouma has incredible speed, letting him keep up with fast opponents like Ikki and Stella without problems. His true speed having released the Tenryuu Armor was able to shorten the distance between both him Stella in an instant, as was as being agile enough to keep up with Stela strike despite using Dragon Spirit.

Master Swordsmanship: Ouma is extremely skilled in swordsmanship. He mainly uses the Kyokujitsu Isshin-ryuu of the Kurogane Family, which he mastered to a tremendous degree. Ikki, who complimented the swordplay of Stella before, admitted that his sword skills were superior as well as the power of his strikes was more focused compared to hers, a further testament to his mastery. Overall, Ikki compared the level of Ouma swordsmanship to his own, the former is described as having the strongest swordsmanship.
 * Kyokujitsu Isshin-ryuu · Hagane no Kiwami - Hono Ikazuchi (旭日一心流 - 火雷, Rising Sun One Mind Style · Highest of Steel - Fire Thunder): Ouma delivers a strong diagonal slash using his right hand, and is immediately followed up with a punch from his left.
 * Kyokujitsu Isshin-ryuu · Retsu no Kiwami - Amatsukaze (旭日一心流・烈の極 天津風, Rising Sun One Mind Style · Highest of Sequence - Heavenly Crossing Wind): A secret technique, where Ouma delivers a 108 continuous strikes, which overwhelms his opponents, but this version is stronger due to his enormous physical condition making it extremely lethal.
 * Kyokujitsu Isshin-ryuu · Jin no Kiwami - Amaterasu (旭日一心流・迅の極 天照, Rising Sun One Mind Style · Highest of Swiftness - Heavenly Shine): A secret technique, where Ouma delivers an extremely fast slash, using all of his muscles. This technique is his fastest and strongest, which reached the same level of speed as Ikki who had stolen Edelweiss' Swordplay, able to wound Stella using Dragon Spirit.

Willpower: Ouma has incredible willpower, in cases where most would surrender, he still kept going even if it had cost him his life. Combined with his stubbornness, he is still able to stand and fight regardless of the opponent or situation he faces. His unbreakable will has helped him achieve his long-sought metamorphosis achieved through enduring the absurd wind pressure that bound him for years. Despite being half-dead and knowing the difference in strength between him and Stella using her Dragon Spirit, he challenged her Katharterio Salamandra with his Kusanagi resulting in his device being broken and losing consciousness, however, he remained standing up.

Device
Ryuuzume (龍爪, Dragon Claw): Ouma's Device takes a form of an over a meter long white Nodachi.


 * Kusanagi (月輪割り断つ天龍の大爪, Moon Severing Sky Dragon's Talon): This is Ouma's Strongest Noble Art. By condensing his magic into Ryuuzume, he can compress the surrounding air into his Device, creating a powerful storm, which can easily surpass fifty meters in height. Its full strength could surpass even Stella's Katharterio Salamandra, despite differences in their magic power, and was able to turn the school building, practice arena, and paving of Hagun Academy into rubble. Kusanagi, however, has a flaw in the fact that the power drops with each usage, evident when Ouma noted a decrease in power by the third usage during his short fight against Nene.
 * Shinkuuha (真空波, Vacuum Wave): This is a popular offensive technique among Wind Users, which tears through the air, creating a small corridor of vacuum. These vacuum slashes move at high speeds and are nearly invisible.
 * Mukuu Kekkai (無空結界, Airless Barrier): Ouma creates a powerful updraft to deprive his opponent of oxygen. It also serves to momentarily distract the opponent and has a considerable range.
 * Fuujin Kekkai (風神結界, Wind God Barrier): A defensive Noble Art, where Ouma stabs the ground with Ryuuzume, creating a tornado around him. It was strong enough to block Stella's Satan Fang, which was comparable in power to Raikiri.

Trivia

 * Ouma is (王馬) combine with the kanji for "King/Monarch" and "Horse".
 * Ouma was claimed to be the only A-Rank Apprentice Knight in Japan, which is proven untrue as Amane Shinomiya is also an A-Rank Blazers.
 * Ouma's fastest sword technique, Amaterasu, is named after the Shinto's Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu, while Ouma's signature Noble Art Kusanagi is named after Amaterasu's sword of the same name.
 * Despite his lean frame, Ouma is exceedingly heavy. Due to his extremely dense bones and muscles, he weighs about five hundred kilograms, making him heavier than Renji Kaga.
 * Since the beginning of his career as a Blazer, Ouma officially lost only against Stella on 62 Seven Stars Sword Art Festival and against Tyrant in the past.
 * Ouma's quest to test his limits could reference the concept of Musha Shugyō. This is when a samurai would wander the land practicing and honing his skill without the protection of their families or school. The possible activities include training with other schools, dueling, perform bodyguard or mercenary duties, and search for a daimyō to serve.