Benimaru Shinmon

is a hybrid Second and Third Generation pyrokinetic, as well as the captain of Special Fire Force Company 7.

Appearance
Benimaru is a young man of average height with neck-long, wavy, black hair that partially covers the front of his face. His right pupil is a red circle with a black dot in the middle, and his iris is also black; while his left eye has a red iris and a white cross-shaped pupil, reminiscent of the tic-tac-toe game. He normally carries a gloomy facial expression. Benimaru's outfit consists of a white t-shirt with a black vest over it, a grey (dark-blue in the anime) kimono upper-garment that he only wears on his left arm, and the Special Fire Force uniform trousers that he tucks into his black boots. Previously, he wore black, fingerless gloves and a black jumper, which is wrapped around his waist.

When not attending a mission, Benimaru is seen wearing a black t-shirt underneath a black samurai-styled hakama, with a white strap around the waist acting as a belt and black boots. Benimaru is later seen wearing a black shirt underneath a grey (dark-blue in the anime) kimono upper-garment with the Special Fire Brigade uniform trousers and black boots.

Personality
Benimaru is short-tempered, would rather work alone or solely with his brigade, and can be somewhat disrespectful to many of his seniors. Despite this, he has a lot of faith in himself and in his brigade. He doesn't concern himself with any part of Tokyo other than Asakusa, not caring about the rules that the emperor has created, and proudly acts on his own agenda along with his brigade. He is an honest man, though sometimes honest to the point where he is rude to others. Although Benimaru destroys buildings and houses in Asakusa when facing an Infernal, he is seen as a hero and benevolent by the citizens. He seems to care about Asakusa and the people who reside in it, and is upset by having to put an end to the life of someone he once knew and becoming extremely angered when misinformed at the cause of death of Kantarō to the point of fighting the entire 8th Brigade. Generally, he is very calm and nonchalant, even while purifying Infernals, but when angered, fights recklessly. Benimaru is an original country idealist who prefers to be called Shinmon Benimaru, and calling others by their family names before their given names. At the beginning of the attack on Asakusa, Benimaru was hesitant and not confident about acting as the leader and taking control of the citizens, and would rather let Konro do the job, but after encouragement from his brigade, he finally stepped up to the matter.

Background
Benimaru was an orphan before being adopted by Hibachi Shinmon who needed an heir. Hibachi taught him everything about the iaido fighting style and all its forms and was a strict master. Constantly belittling Benimaru for being a fool for his inability to use Sun Wheel correctly because of his self-doubt and punishing him whenever he got into a pointless fight. Benimaru needed Konro to communicate his master's good intentions through of the man's brutish attitude. Even as a boy, Benimaru was a member of the fire service and helped put Infernals to rest.

Abilities
Benimaru is regarded as the strongest Fire Officer in the Special Fire Force. He is known as "Asakusa's King of Destruction" because of the devastating power that he is capable of unleashing. He is an extremely skilled and powerful hand-to-hand combatant, as shown when he easily outmaneuvered Maki Oze and was easily able to overpower the combined might of Maki, Shinra Kusakabe, Tamaki Kotatsu, Arthur Boyle, and Takehisa Hinawa. He is also extremely fast, able to move faster than Shinra's Rapid technique. According to Konro Sagamiya, Benimaru has surpassed their old master, Hibachi Shinmon.

Ignition Ability
Benimaru possesses the rare trait of being a Second and Third Generation pyrokinetic, which ultimately allows him to ignite his own flames willingly, and also control flames from an external source. Both the sheer power and size of his flames are tremendous, as well as his extremely precise and fluid control of said flames. He can use his brigade's matoi as a pole to fly to long-distance areas, and by using his Second Generation ability, he can control the flames of other ignited matoi and direct them to a certain place. He can control the direction and speed of bullets in the same fashion as Takehisa Hinawa. He is also capable of unleashing an immensely powerful blast that resembles a crimson-coloured moon, which is strong enough to completely kill a demon infernal. Due to his extraordinary prowess in both his Second and Third Generation abilities, Konro compares Benimaru to "Kagutsuchi".

Benimaru is a master practitioner of the iaido martial arts. Instead of using a sword, he creates a sharp blade of flames with his hand, a technique branching from his unique fighting style.

VS. Special Fire Force Company 1 arc
Benimaru and his brigade confront a giant Infernal that showed up in Asakusa, noting it to be larger than normal, but encouraging his brigade not to be afraid. Soon after, Benimaru and his brigade defeat it.

Preacher Pursuit arc
Sometime later, Benimaru attends the conference of the captain's in central Tokyo along with Konro, representing the 7th brigade. Shinra looks at him with a grin on his face, and Benimaru responds rudely. As everyone begins to pray while the emperor of Tokyo walks in, Benimaru sits relaxed, feet on the row of chairs in front of him, showing little respect. The discussion begins but before everybody was in agreement of all the Special Fire Brigades working to find the Evangelist, Benimaru speaks out, claiming the 7th Brigade will be acting on their own accord, wanting nothing to do with anything else, and walks out of the room.

Asakusa arc
Sometime after, Benimaru is seen in his hometown, Asakusa. As he returns to his headquarters after a walk, he is told by Konro that the 8th want to pay a visit, to which Benimaru wants to ignore due to his unconcern with the investigation of the Evangelist, but is soon approached in person by the 8th brigade. Reiterating to the brigade of his disinterest of the investigation of the White-Clad or anything else, he ends up in a disputes with Shinra, but is interrupted by a sudden alert on an appearance of an Infernal, and attends the scene to purify it. After destroying multiple houses using his rare ability as a Second and Third Generation, he confronts Kantarō, claiming that damage had been done and that the beasts role had been accomplished. He quickly puts an end to Kantarō's life, commenting it had done a good job of putting up with the pain. As if nothing happened, he goes back to sitting at his headquarters, and takes a bite of the daifuku, saying it's too sweet. As time passes, a funeral commemoration was held for Kantarō. Benimaru orders his brigade to repair the houses that were destroyed in the confrontation. As the 7th and 8th brigades get to work, Benimaru mends to Konro's injuries and talks with Konro, saying that he should be the captain instead of him, but Konro states he is not fit to be a captain. Soon after, Konro reassures the idea of collaborating with the 8th, and Benimaru sees it as a possibility after noticing the 8th willingly help out with the repairs. As he walks out looking for Akitaru, he stumbles upon Shinra, who apologizes for their earlier interaction. After, Shinra tells him where Akitaru and Takehisa are, and as Benimaru walks toward them, he overhears them saying they will ignite more people in Asakusa like they did with Kantarō, initially shocking Benimaru.

Soon after, an infuriated Benimaru chases the two, hurling fiery objects at them, claiming that they killed Kantarō and are planning to create other artificial Infernals, but the two have no idea what he is talking about. Benimaru continues his fiery pursuit, not listening to what they have to say, and a full-out battle between him and the 8th begins. Unbeknownst to everyone, two White Hoods are hiding on a roof, impersonating Akitaru and Takehisa and preparing for their next move. As Benimaru easily dismantles the group one by one, a fully-equipped Akitaru walks out alone prepared to fight the captain one-on-one. As the two begin confrontation, and Benimaru choosing not to listen to Akitaru, the 8th's captain continuously regathers his strength as he is put to the floor numerous times. Both the captain's deal a fair amount of damage on each other, and realizing that weak attacks won't work, Benimaru prepares his final attack, but Konro intervenes and grabs onto Benimaru while using his Ignition Ability, leading to him becoming weak from his Tephrosis and Benimaru turning his attention instead to aiding him instead of fighting. Now calm, Shinmon is now able to listen to eye witness claims that neither Obi nor Hinawa could have been the men he saw and that there might be something happening within the town and he follows Konro's lead by remaining calm.

Walking through the streets, Benimaru comes across an unusual ammount of fist fights and realises that there are dozens of mistaken identity. The citizens of Asakusa continue quarreling, and although Benimaru attempts to step in to stop them, they don't listen. Soon after, he is alerted of multiple fires and Infernal sightings. He rushes to find Konro to take control of the situation by flying over the town with his matoi. They trade information about the attack on Asakusa, with Benimaru telling Konro that the people are looking for him to lead and tell them what to do, but Konro states Benimaru is the true leader and he should take command. A bystander shouts out to Konro asking for his help to find Benimaru, causing Shinmon to realise both his duty and that the people look to him for leadership. Looking out to the destruction of Asakusa, Benimaru says he shall bring destruction upon the White Hoods.

Climbing to the apex of the 7th Special Fire Fighting Station, he uses blows out the supports and uses the tower as a platform that draw attention from the town gone mad. Breathing in to find his voice, he finally lets out a loud yell, reaching everybody's ears successfully, and alerting them of the enemies acting as disguises. With everybody cheering him on, the attitudes of the citizens instantly changed, and Benimaru finally commands Company 7 to focus on putting out the fires and defeat the Infernals while telling the citizens to fight each other to uncover the disguised foes. As the city breaks out into joyful violence, Benimaru spots a demon infernal and charges to fight it. Saving Shinra and Arthur from above, Benimaru begins to fight the demonic cultist. Realising that his normal attacks are ineffective, Benimaru decides to take the battle to the skies in order to unleash his full strength.

Vulcan's Workshop arc
Shinra and Arthur come to Benimaru to train. He teaches them how to be hyper-aware. Shinra tells Benimaru that their captain uses something similar. Shinra and Arthur attack Benimaru. Shinra figures out that he anticipating his attacks and Benimaru says that's enough. Benimaru tells Shinra that the force is fine, but does not look you want to truly use it. Benimaru tells Shinra one thing is missing an invincible skill. Shinra loses focus Benimaru scolds him and tells him your own skills that work with his speed. Viktor Licht complements Benimaru. Viktor explains what Shinra's charm is and apologises to Benimaru. Viktor introduces himself properly and wants to help train Shinra. Benimaru does an example of what Viktor said. Benimaru tells Shinra to do what he just did and Arthur to focus on that battle with killing intent. Shinra focuses on how Benimaru controls his flame for a hint. Benimaru tells Arthur if their fight was real he would have died several times. Arthur tells Benimaru to don't take his eyes off him. Benimaru tells him if you want the element of surprise to be quieter and tells him the attack wasn't bad. Benimaru beats Arthur and tells Shinra to try again. Benimaru shows Shinra in the ancient art of genkoku there were hand signs and he controls his flames with them. Benimaru teaches him the sign for tiger and explains the signs the importance of them. He asks Arthur is he going to sleep on the job. Benimaru tells Shinra congrats for figuring it out. Benimaru tells Shinra to use that ability on him. Benimaru tells him to outrun his fireball and Shinra ask him how was it. Benimaru tells him it was fairly good and if you improve the movements you will have no problems. Benimaru to stop and ask Arthur if he had come up with a for his new skill. Shinra names it kicker kick and Benimaru opposes the name.

VS. Holy Sol Temple arc
Sometime later, an unknown man approaches Benimaru in Asakusa to discuss information involving The Holy Sol Temple. Viewing the information as dangerous and questioning if the man intended to visit the church, Benimaru asks who he is, which he replies saying he's a dark hero. Though he comes across as suspicious, he intrigues Benimaru's interests. Assaulting The Holy Sol Temple – Holy See, Benimaru defeats all of the church's elites that confront him, including a member who poisons him with a blowpipe. Not knowing how he survived the lethal poison, the pair enter the church. Discovering the occupants have left to the Netherworld, the two depart their through a secret entrance underneath the chapel. Upon entering, Joker reveals he use to be part of the Church, before the pair are confronted by Shadow of the Holy Sun. Instructed to handle all the members while Joker faces their captain, Benimaru swiftly defeats all his opponents using his martial arts and Ignition Ability. After the fight is done, Leonard Burns approaches them.

Stigma arc
Learning that Konro is being targeted by Shinra and Hibana, Konro said he handeled the situation before attacking Shinra. Surprised he dodged, he viewed Shinra as being capable of fighting now. Questioning Benimaru how he can combat the White-Clad when Rapid and Corna doesn't work on some of them, he suggested Superfire would work against them, and agrees to train Company 8. The next day, Shinra returns with Arthur and Tamaki. Instructing Hibana and Hikage to train Tamaki, he fights the boys in order to push them beyond their limits. After Tamaki accomplishes her task, he stop the twins with continuing their fight, and confirms to Tamaki that she's improving. Continuing to fight Shinra and Arthur for five hours, the pair succeed with their training.

Ōbi's Rescue arc
Benimaru was aware that the 8th would attempt to rescue Akitaru Ōbi from prison against both of the Tokyo Empire and White-Clad, so Konro had him disguise himself under the the identity as "Moonlight Mask" in order to not make an enemy of them. Arriving at Fuchū Prison, he prevented the White-Clad from finishing off Company 8, though Arrow could tell tell who he was by his attire. Beginning to attack the cultist with fire, he used his matoi to rescue Company 8. Joined by Joker, he continues to assault the group, during which he attacks Charon and Dragon before the pair fled with the brigade and their captain.

Returning to Asakusa, he has Company 7 give aid to the wounded he brought with him. Thanked by Ōbi, Benimaru questioned what was the situation they were facing as well as what was happening to the empire. Discussing the topic with Ōbi and Konro, Ōbi confirmed Benimaru's suspicion that The Holy Sol Temple and the White-Clad had joined forces, resulting in Company 8 being excommunicated from the empire. The pair were also informed that Burns was killed by his demon doppelgänger.

Stone Pillars arc
Benimaru appears in this arc.

Asakusa Showdown arc
Benimaru appears in this arc.

Trivia

 * Benimaru ranked 4th place in the first popularity poll.

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Benimaru Shinmon