Byakuya Jougasaki

"As far as I'm concerned, a duel is a mental game, not a martial arts bout. A battle starts with knowing the opponent's moves and understanding his approach. And by comprehending the opponent's principles, one can see one or two steps ahead—but that's just the most basic of basics."

- Byakuya Jougasaki

Byakuya Jougasaki is a student from Bukyoku Academy and runner-up of the 61st Seven Stars Sword Art Festival. He participated in the 62nd Festival as a part of Team Bukyoku.

Appearance
Byakuya has short black hair, and he is also wearing glasses.

Personality
Byakuya is logical and very intelligent. He views a battle as a mental game and believes that the winner is the one who better understands their opponent. He was able to deduce that he could defeat Ikki within 23 moves if Ikki doesn't use Ittou Shura or Ittou Rasetsu. Byakuya is friends with the former Seven Stars Sword King Yuudai Moroboshi, who views him as a little bit of a weirdo.

History
Byakuya joined the 61st Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, reaching the finals before losing to Yuudai Moroboshi. Byakuya's ability gave him an edge over other contestants, as he could just teleport them out of the arena upon contact. He was considered part of the "Golden Generation", the three strongest students of Bukyoku Academy, along with Yuhdai Moroboshi and Momiji Asagi.

Party Crashers
Byakuya appears alongside Yuudai Moroboshi who was defending Ikki and confronting Yui Tatara.

Conclusion of the First Match
Byakuya met his next opponent, Ikki Kurogane, in the bathtub, alongside Nagi Arisuin. He first teases Ikki for already thinking about the semi-finals. Byakuya then starts touching Ikki, being amazed by his body. Yuudai, who had just entered, stops Byakuya and scolds him for bothering Ikki. Byakuya gives Ikki and Nagi cups of coffee, which he summons with his Noble Art, God Hand.

Blackout
Before his match with Ikki, Byakuya speaks with Yuudai and tells him that Ikki won't use Ittou Shura or Ittou Rasetsu, because he will need them for his match against Sara Bloodily, and because of this Byakuya will win in 23 moves. Byakuya is proven wrong, when Ikki uses Ittou Rasetsu, winning in 0.8 seconds, as Ikki too knew that he couldn't win without using it. Byakuya is then eliminated from the Festival, because of his loss.

Rising Spirit
Byakuya is one of the people that helps Ikki train for the finals of the Festival. He fights Ikki in a mock battle and is defeated, though the battle is not shown.

Byakuya is later seen watching the finals of the Festival, between Ikki and Stella, which Ikki wins.

Abilities
Placement Manipulation: Byakuya's ability as a Blazer. He is able to manipulate the concept of "placement" of anything via teleportation.

Keen Intellect: Byakuya is an extremely intelligent combatant. He utilizes his intellect in battles to great effect, regarding a battle as nothing but a mental game. His greatest talent is his supreme observation.
 * Eye of Heaven (Observation): Byakuya's greatest skill which earned him the nickname Clairvoyant (天眼 Tengan). He meticulously investigates all available information of his opponents to gather every single bit of available data on them including the subtleties of his opponent's everyday life. He is capable of predicting every move his opponent will make even before actually confronting them and can determine the outcome of battles without much difficulty.

Expert Combatant: Byakuya is an exceptionally skillful combatant. He was able to contend with Yuudai in the final of the last years Festival, and even said he could hit Ikki in 23 moves if he didn't use Ittou Shura or Ittou Rasetsu.

Device
Unknown Device: Byakuya's Device is unknown, but it is known that in order to use his Noble Art, God Hand on opponents, Byakuya must first hit them with his Device.
 * God Hand (白い手, Shiroi Te): Byakuya's Noble Art. It allows him to change the "placement" of any object within a 50 meters radius. In order to use the ability of other people, Byakuya needs to hit the opponent with his Device.

Trivia

 * Byakuya has romantic feelings for Momiji Asagi, though it's unknown if they are in a relationship.
 * Yuudai playfully calls Byakuya "Shiro", which is a play on the first two kanji of his name (白夜) which means "White Night".