Masamori Sumimura
Race	Human
Age	21 22 (end of the series)
Gender	Male
Professional Status
Affiliation	Sumimura Clan The Shadow Organization
Previous Affiliation	Karasumori Karasumori Academy
Occupation	7th Seat, Group of Twelve Chief, Shadow Organization Task Force (Night Troop) Kekkaishi
Previous Occupation	Student
Previous Team	Tatsuki's Resistance Group of Twelve 22nd Legitimate Successors (senior)
Partner	Kurohime (landlord), Mudou (summon) Miki Hatori (Vice Chief)
Previous Partner	Kouya (summon)
Base of Operations	Night Troop Headquarters
Personal Status
Relatives	Shigemori Sumimura (Grandfather) Shuji Sumimura (Father) Sumiko Sumimura (Mother) Yoshimori Sumimura (Brother) Toshimori Sumimura (Brother)
Powers
Technique	Hazama-Ryu Kekkaijutsu, Summoning
First Appearance
Manga	Chapter 30, Big Brother and Little Brother
Anime	Episode 4 (mentioned only) Episode 13, Masamori Sumimura Chief of the Night Troops
Voices
Japanese	Atsushi Miyauchi
English	Patrick Seitz

“	I will do away with them the moment they make a mistake. I will not allow any of these monsters near Karasumori.	”
–Masamori Sumimura, Chapter 61

Masamori Sumimura (墨村正守, Sumimura Masamori) is the elder brother of Yoshimori and the Chief of The Shadow Organization's Task Force, more commonly known as the Night Troop.^[1] He holds the 7th seat on the Council of Twelve^[2], which was vacated by Mudou.^[3]

Contents 1 Appearance 2 Personality 3 History 4 Plot 4.1 Return of the Firstborn Son 4.2 Seven of Twelve 4.3 At War with Kokuboro 4.4 Masamori and Mudou 4.5 Rescuing Rokurou Ougi 4.6 Confronting Yumeji Hisamoi 4.7 Fall of The Shadow Organization 4.8 Tatsuki's Resistance 5 Equipment 6 Powers & Abilities 7 Relationships 7.1 Yoshimori Sumimura 8 References 9 Navigation

AppearanceEdit

Masamori is always seen wearing a Kekkaishi uniform while working, and prefers to wear a robe with an enlarged version of his Council of Twelve membership badge as an open challenge to those that might target him.^[4] He has short, black hair with a small crescent shape scar in the middle of his forehead. He's tall and does not have the Houin mark.^[5]

PersonalityEdit

Masamori maintains a calm, confident attitude around his family, but he is tough on Yoshimori, partially because so much is expected of Yoshimori as the Legitimate Successor, but also because he wants Yoshimori to learn to use his great power more responsibly.^[6][7] Masamori also has a habit of taking on highly dangerous tasks alone, such as trying to flush out traitors within The Shadow Organization^[4], in order to protect his family and subordinates, no matter the cost to himself. He views his subordinates as family and takes any attack on them very personally. Inwardly, Masamori is greatly concerned about both the state of The Shadow Organization and protecting Karasumori (along with his family), and is sometimes forced to temporarily choose loyalty to one over the other.^[8] These heavy burdens often keep him alert and nervous privately, and also take a toll in the form of weight loss.^[9] However, he can also be cruel: to scare Yomi into doing his bidding, he threatens to terminate Yoki.^{[6] [2]}

HistoryEdit

As the oldest son of the Sumimura Clan, Masamori was trained to become a Kekkaishi. When he was older, Masamori attempted to further his training. However, because he did not receive the Houin mark, he was denied access to the scrolls passed down by his ancestors, meant only for the eyes of Legitimate Successors.^[6] That Masamori did not receive the mark was source of resentment for him (and is most probably part of why he distanced himself from the family and joined The Shadow Organization), and confusion for Yoshimori (who believes Masamori is more talented and therefore should have the mark).^[5] As a child, Yoshimori drew the Houin mark on Masamori's hand in an attempt to cheer him up.^[2] Both brothers have a habit of staring at and flexing their hands: Yoshimori wondering why he has the Houin, and Masamori wondering why he doesn't.^[5]

Masamori served as Karasumori's Kekkaishi at some point after his mother's term, and Yoshimori began accompanying him at a young age to prepare for his own term (Tokine had already begun her own term at this point). Masamori stepped down the night that Yoshimori officially became a Kekkaishi, and was shown to still be a student at Karasumori Academy at the time.^[10] Some time later, Masamori left home and joined The Shadow Organization. Much of Masamori's career was patterned after Mudou, former Council of Twelve 7th Seat and someone that Masamori greatly admired.^[11] After Mudou abandoned the organization, Masamori founded the Night Troop, assuming command over Mudou's remaining subordinates.

The night that Gen Shishio transformed for the first time and ran away from home, Masamori and Kyoichi Hiba were called in to capture him. Gen seriously wounded Kyoichi, and then his own sister, but Masamori overpowered him with Zekkai. In order to help him control his powers, Masamori accepted Gen into the Night Troop. ^[12] When he first appeared in the series, Masamori had been away from Karasumori for about 6-7 years. ^[6]

PlotEdit

Return of the Firstborn SonEdit

As the story opens, Masamori was not present. While cleaning up the damage caused by Yomi Kasuga and Yoki, Shigemori reveals that Masamori was Chief of The Shadow Organization's Task Force.^[1] Sometime later, Masamori meets with Yomi, who is (at the time) scheduled to be executed for interfering with Karasumori, a forbidden offense in their organization. Yomi accuses Masamori of having encouraged her to go to the site, but Masamori denies this, and blackmails her into working for him by threatening to destroy Yoki.^[6]

Masamori finally returns to Karasumori and watches as Yoshimori and Tokine try and fail to defeat Sasorigama. Using multiple Nenshi threads, Masamori destroys Sasorigama's scythe with a multi-layered Kekkai, then destroys the Ayakashi with a five layered one. ^[6] He later purposely brings an Ayakashi to Karasumori to test Yoshimori's skills and teamwork with Tokine.^[7] Throughout Masamori's stay, there is considerable tension between him and Yoshimori (both because Masamori is purposely harsh with him, and because Yoshimori is jealous of Tokine's adoration of Masamori).^[6][7] Though both his father and grandfather invite him to stay in Karasumori, Masamori declines and returns to the Night Troop.^[5] To help combat the organized Ayakashi threat against Karasumori, Masamori sends Gen Shishio to assist Yoshimori and Tokine in their duties^[13], noting that he expected Gen and Yoshimori to get along because they were similar.^[14]

Seven of TwelveEdit

Masamori meets Yomi at a sweet shop, where she reluctantly passes him info she gathered on someone within the Night Troop that leaked the news of his upcoming promotion. Having already known this, Masamori uses this as a test to verify that Yomi is a useful informant, and plans to have her next investigate members of the Council of Twelve (again threatening Yoki to force her compliance).^[2] On the Sousui's recommendation, Masamori is appointed to the 7th seat of the Council of Twelve of The Shadow Organization. The other council members are openly insulting and hostile toward him, none more so than Ichirou Ougi. Masamori is inwardly just as suspicious of them, considering them all monsters that might one day invade Karasumori.^[2]

Yomi later informs Masamori that Ichirou has been leaking information on the Night Troop to the enemy. In a private meeting, Ichirou criticizes Masamori's decision to deploy Gen to Karasumori, but Masamori stands by his choice. Upon noticing that Masamori has transferred his council membership badge design to his robe in a clear defiance of tradition, Ichirou attacks him, and Masamori defends with his Zekkai. Though Masamori appears unaffected, after leaving the meeting, he collapses and requires immediate medical treatment. Masamori returns to Karasumori to reassess the situation with Gen, ^[4] and ultimately allows Gen to stay.^[12]

At War with KokuboroEdit

Shigemori asks Masamori to provide protection for Heisuke Matsudo, a family friend and Kokuboro's latest target. However, at Heisuke's request, Masamori instead helps him fake his death, which allows Heisuke to move about undetected and seek revenge against Byaku. ^[15] As the situation with Kokuboro heats up, Masamori plans to transfer the Night Troop to Karasumori to help protect it. Before he can, Ichirou Ougi gives him a difficult,

time-consuming mission. Though he knows this is a trick to keep his forces away from Karasumori, it is also a test that Masamori cannot afford to refuse so early in his new position. He accepts the mission, entrusting protection of Karasumori to Gen.^[16] Though he rushes back, Masamori arrives at Karasumori just after Gen dies from wounds suffered in battle. ^[17] Masamori attends two funerals for Gen: one held by the Night Troop, and another held by the Shishio family. Gen's sister Ryo blames Masamori for Gen's death and demands that he leave. ^[18]

Masamori and MudouEdit

As Yoshimori's spring holiday beings, Masamori calls and invites him to help him with something. Yoshimori is of course reluctant, until Masamori adds that it is work related to a Shinyuuchi and scheduled for that night.

Despite having agreed, Yoshimori is in a bad mood that night at Karasumori. Tokine assures him she can handle things there since it seems to be a quiet night with no Ayakashi turning up. She can't understand why the two brothers don't get along, and Yoshimori claims that even if he tried, Masamori wouldn't let him. Masamori appears suddenly, and Tokine inwardly notes that he seems different. Yoshimori suddenly becomes nervous and tries to change his mind, saying he thinks something might happen at Karasumori. Masamori says their grandfather will help out if anything happens, and boosts them into the air with a Kekkai, where Mukade is waiting on one of his shadow bugs. Along the way, Masamori asks about their mother and Karasumori's state, and Yoshimori realizes he is well-informed despite not being around. Masamori warns Yoshimori that Karasumori is not on their side as he may think, and that it is a monster.

Their destination is a shrine on the rooftop of a building in a crowded city. Masamori explains that there are actually two shrines, and they each serve as an entrance to the Shinyuuchi. Masamori tells Yoshimori to guard the white shrine, and make sure that nothing escapes. Masamori provides no other information much to Yoshimori's annoyance, but leaves him a cellphone to stay in touch and warns him not to enter the shrine, adding that they can't have the Legitimate Successor dying. With those cryptic words, Masamori leaves, ignoring Yoshimori's protests. ^[19]

Yoshimori tries to follow Masamori by making Kekkai in mid-air, but is startled when his cellphone rings. Masamori tells Yoshimori that he'll be out of range for about two hours, and reminds him to stay at his post. Yoshimori asks what's in the shrine, but Masamori only says it's his prey. He adds that if sunrise comes and he hasn't returned, he may need Yoshimori's voice to call him back from the depths. Yoshimori is frustrated, but notes that Masamori rarely every asks him to do anything so seriously.

At the black shrine, Masamori finds that the lock on the inner shrine is destroyed, and finds a mirror inside. He reaches into the mirror, which turns out to be a portal. Masamori calls out to the land's master and requests permission to pursue a man who has recently entered, stating that he wants nothing more than that.

Inside the Shinyuuchi, Masamori enters through a long tunnel of gates, and sees a mansion overlooking a lake. He senses familiar demonic power all over the place, and finds the inhabitants all slaughtered.^[20]

Masamori begins to search outside of the lakehouse and summons Kurohime, both because of Kurohime's detection ability, and because he's sure his target will notice her. Kurohime is suddenly destroyed by a flying ball, and Masamori follows it to an open field, where he finds his target: a man wearing a coat and checkered scarf, surrounded by several more flying balls. Masamori warns him that killing the inhabitants will have a negative impact on the land and make it ill-suited for a hiding place, but the man implies he is after something else. The man is revealed to be Mudou, the person that Masamori replaced on the Council of Twelve, and someone that Masamori had admired in the past.^[21]

Masamori and Mudou both agree that holding a seat on the Council of Twelve was a disappointing experience, and Mudou claims that he much prefers playing with a young man like Masamori. Masamori questions why Mudou slaughtered many young people at the Shadow Organization's Training Facility in the past. Mudou claims he targeted the facility because he knew Masamori wouldn't be there and wanted to face him later on. He suggests that Masamori always pursued him because he wanted to understand people like themselves. Masamori denies this, and Mudou tells him not seek answers from him in that case. Mudou attacks with his flying balls, and Masamori deflects them with his Zekkai. Masamori questions why Mudou, who was so powerful as a human, would willingly become an Ayakashi. Mudou says he tired of being "the Immortal Mudou", intensifies his attack, and vanishes while Masamori remains pinned down.^[22]

Elsewhere, Masamori is still pinned down by several of Mudou's flying balls, protected only by his Zekkai. He recalls a conversation he had with Mudou years ago, when he was just forming the Night Troop. Mudou called him a copycat, apparently having done something similiar first. Masamori replied that he didn't intend to take it as far as Mudou had. Mudou claimed that the one thing a person needed to govern others was pure charisma, which could be gained by being earnest about becoming powerful. Stirred by these words, Masamori uses willpower to increase the size of his Zekkai, vaporizing the flying balls that pinned him down.^[23]

Mudou suggests that Masamori would be pleased if Yoshimori died, because it is natural for those who are not naturally gifted to hate those that are. Yoshimori asks if Mudou was telling the truth about being Masamori's friend, and Mudou says it is only partially true: they were friends in the Shadow Organization (which surprises Yoshimori). Yoshimori asks why Masamori is chasing Mudou, and Mudou says he is not the best person to answer that. Mudou suddenly attacks, repeatedly striking Yoshimori with his flying balls. Even with his Zekkai armor, Yoshimori takes considerable damage. Mudou tells him that the flying balls are similar to Zekkai: they eat away at whatever they touch. However, both Mudou and Yoshimori recognize that he is not able to fully use Zekkai. Lord Tan'yuu wakes up and offers to grant Mudou whatever he wants, but Mudou refuses, saying he will grant his own desires, and that he's using Tan'yuu and Yoshimori as footholds to gain them. Yoshimori feels his head growing light, and tries a last resort manuever, but finds himself hesitating for some reason, and assumes something is missing. At first he thinks it is because he's not in Karasumori, but recalls he has still performed above his usual level in other places with no trouble. He recalls his adventures with the Tengu and Kurosusuki, but wonders for the first time if he was really just using his own power in the latter case. As Mudou halts his attack and begins to approach Yoshimori, a Nenshi shoots out of the lake and wraps around his ankle. Masamori emerges from the lake with his Zekkai, vaporizing Mudou's body on contact. After witnessing Masamori's power, Yoshimori inwardly notes he can't possibly be the one who's gifted. Masamori is upset that Yoshimori entered the shrine against orders, but tells Yoshimori to be on his guard. He tells Yoshimori that "The Immortal Mudou" won't die so easily. Sure enough, the ball attached to Tan'yuu's chest remains, and fragments begin to collect on the lake and rapidly reform into Mudou's body.^[24]

As Mudou reforms in front of them, Yoshimori questions Masamori about he and Mudou being former comrades. Masamori seems surprised that Mudou would mention it, but tells Yoshimori that back then, Mudou could recover from any wound as if it had never happened. He even admits that Mudou has been confirmed dead, cremated, and buried at least twice, but has risen from the dead each time. Masamori adds that he actually witnessed Mudou rising from the grave, and that all of this back when he was still human. Yoshimori decides to leave Mudou to Masamori, and goes to check on Lord Tan'yuu, who is still restrained by pieces of Mudou's scarf and the ball attached to his chest.

Now fully reformed, Mudou attacks Masamori, who again defends with his Zekkai. Tan'yuu recognizes Masamori as the one who came to stop Mudou, and asks Yoshimori if Masamori is strong. Yoshimori says he is.

Mudou questions why Masamori is being so obsessive, and Masamori says that some of his own subordinates were among the young men that Mudou slaughtered. Mudou claims that such losses are a lure along the path to greater power, and that Masasmori is far from perfection, which Mudou claims to be near himself. They clash again, with Masamori using multiple Nenshi to halt Mudou's flying balls. Masamori follows up by forming several Kekkai around various parts of Mudou, but he is able to quickly break them all. Masamori guesses that though Mudou is able to steal life and take it for his own, he also needs to do so, which means there is a limit to his ability to resurrect himself. He swears to kill Mudou as many times as he needs to for him to stay dead, but Mudou doubts his power will last that long.

Yoshimori tries to remove the ball from Tan'yuu's chest, but is unable to. Masamori yells for him to destroy it instead. Mudou immediately grabs Tan'yuu with his scarf to keep Yoshimori from interfering. Yoshimori splits the scarf with multiple Kekkai and catches Tan'yuu with another, only to find that the ball is no longer attached to the god's chest. Mudou has taken back the ball, which has grown slightly larger than his hand. Yoshimori notes that the sky has grown darker, and Mudou says he has drained the Shinyuuchi's power from its god. Mudou absorbs the ball into his arm, and announces his intention to use it right away and switch to a more battle-ready form. Masamori senses Mudou's demonic power rising exponentially, but to his shock, Mudou becomes a teenage version of himself. Mudou explains that this is merely a step in his overall process: he intends to regress up to the very moment that he was born, although he has no idea how many lives he will have to steal to do so.^[25]

Mudou announces his plan to Masamori: to return to the moment of his birth, and relive his life without flaws, thus obtaining perfection. Masamori becomes furious that Mudou sacrificed young recruits who believed in him for what he considers a useless purpose. Mudou disagrees and says that teaching young men showed him that it was impossible for humans to obtain perfection, because no matter how many of their lives he stole, they would still prove meaningless. However, a Shinyuuchi is a different matter, because despite the master's weakness, his life would still be worth stealing, and this was something a mere human could not do. Mudou enlarges one of his flying balls, then flattens it into a disc, and throws it at Masamori, slicing through his Zekkai and causing it to fail. Masamori backs away, and Mudou throws more discs at Masamori, admitting that he no longer has any interest in stealing human lives, and that he will not hold back. Masamori dodges and reactivates his Zekkai, and Mudou follows. Mudou points that out because Masamori admired him, he also sympathized and feared he would go down the same path as Mudou. Masamori ignores this and attacks with several Kekkai Spears, but Mudou destroys them all. Mudou throws discs again, this time cutting into Masamori's shoulder. Masamori is clearly being overwhelmed, inwardly admitting he never expected Mudou to steal the land's power.

Yoshimori watches in concern as Masamori's Zekkai falls again, and Mudou is impressed because it prevented Masamori from being fatally wounded. Yoshimori is shocked because he has never seen Masamori in such a weakened state. Mudou suddenly begins throwing discs at Yoshimori and Lord Tan'yuu. Yoshimori blocks the damage with a Kekkai, but it is easily destroyed. Masamori throws himself between Mudou and the pair, but soon falls to one knee. Masamori orders Yoshimori to take Tan'yuu and run. Yoshimori refuses to leave him, and they begin to argue. Yoshimori finally says that if Masamori is going act like that, he should just go ahead and defeat Mudou. Mudou is amused and offers Masamori a choice: he can choose whether he or Yoshimori will live. ^[26]

Rescuing Rokurou OugiEdit

Confronting Yumeji HisamoiEdit

Fall of The Shadow OrganizationEdit

Tatsuki's ResistanceEdit

EquipmentEdit

Shakujō: Masamori typically carries a Shakujō while on duty. While primarily used to perform Tenketsu, it can also serve as a secondary weapon, a cutting tool, or a means of support when fatigued. However, it is fairly common for him to discard his Shakujō until it is needed.

Shikigami Paper: Masamori carries several pieces of paper, marked with the Houin, to create Shikigami as needed.

Powers & AbilitiesEdit

Hazama-Ryu Kekkaijutsu: Masamori is repeatedly shown to be a very advanced Kekkaishi. His Kekkai tend to be much stronger than Yoshimori's^[6], and he is the first seen using Kekkai as a bridge in mid-air (though Shigemori later shows that he is familiar with this as well). Masamori can produce large numbers of Nenshi^[6] and Shikigami^[5] all at once, and has enough stamina to use multi-layer Kekkai repeatedly in battle.^[6] In addition, his Shikigami are adult-sized and more humanoid compared to Yoshimori's, which are usually very short and pudgy.^[5]

• Zekkai: Masamori can also produce an extremely powerful Zekkai, capable of destroying almost anything it comes in contact with and protecting him from all but the strongest attacks.^[4]

• Landlord: He also has the rare ability to spread out his power in the form of a vast, dark ocean, which allows his landlord, Kurohime, to swim through it, creating ripples that detect the locations of enemies.^[6] This technique can be easily sensed by other Kekkaishi, and is even stifling to younger ones.^[5]
  

High Endurance: Masamori has notably high endurance. Though his Zekkai protects him from most attacks, he has still survived those strong enough to pierce it, even though they would normally be fatal blows without his Zekkai's protection.

High Spiritual Power: As with all Sumimura Kekkaishi, Masamori has a very large amount of spiritual power. He is able to use several techniques known to be especially draining in rapid succession without any visible strain. In addition, he is able to maintain his Zekkai for prolonged periods.

Summoning: Masamori has a talent for summoning and making contracts with spirits, particularly those of the departed. To date, he has at least two active contracts.

• Kurohime: Though Kurohime is Masamori's landlord (and therefore an aspect of his own power), he gained access to her through alternate means (Masamori was not allowed to attempt Musou training with Shimano^[27]).

• Kouya: Remade through the fur remnants of the original, Kouya somewhat reluctantly serves Masamori, in exchange for Masamori eventually breaking the seal that Tokimori Hazama placed on Kouya's mountain home. To symbolize their contract, there is a ring of x-shaped scars around Masamori's neck (Kouya is free to take Masamori's head if the promise is broken).^[28]

• Mudou: Supposedly a "good" version (or at least an earlier one, from before he began killing solely for power) of Mudou, remade from the hair of the original.^[29] At times he still displays the sinister, detached nature present in the original, but Masamori, while wary of him, still values his opinion at times.

RelationshipsEdit

Yoshimori SumimuraEdit

Main article: Yoshimori Sumimura

Since they were young, Masamori has held some resentment for Yoshimori for being born the Legitimate Successor of their family. He tends to be very hard on Yoshimori, though this is partially because so much is expected of Yoshimori and he does not always take his responsibilities seriously. The two brothers argue constantly when around each other, but they do care deeply for each other. Yoshimori inwardly admires Masamori and wants to be a powerful Kekkaishi like him, while Masamori is amazed by Yoshimori's seemingly limitless power.

ReferencesEdit

NavigationEdit

e · d · v	Shadow Organization Executives
Former	Commander Nichinaga Oumi · Group of Twelve - 1st Seat: Yumeji Hisaomi · 2nd Seat: Nura Kidoin · 3rd Seat: Tatsuki · 4th Seat: Meian · 5th Seat: Kusaribe Gaiji · 6th Seat: Kagen Shiromi · 7th Seat: Mudou/Masamori Sumimura · 8th Seat: Ichirou Ougi · 9th Seat: Okuni · 10th Seat: Tsumugi Kazuchika · 11th Seat: Konozuka Kihei · 12th Seat: Juho
Current	Commander Nura Kidoin · Vice Commander Tatsuki · Night Troop Chief Masamori Sumimura