Obanai Iguro and Tengen Uzui

Obanai Iguro is a young man who has attained the prestigious rank of Snake Pillar. He is an extremely strict, distrustful, and dedicated swordsman with a unique fighting style and a tragic past. He is a young man with heterochromia and is partially blind in his right eye. His mouth is slit from ear to ear and hidden under a bandage. He wears a striped black and white haori over his uniform. Around his neck, he always carries a faithful white snake named Kaburamaru, which helps Obanai navigate and read enemy movements during combat. He wields a curved nitirin blade, reminiscent of an Indonesian kris. He has created "Snake Breath," a unique offshoot of the Breath of Water that allows for unpredictable, twisting strikes. Obanai is madly and deeply in love with Mitsuri Kanroji, the Love Pillar. While cold and harsh toward others, he becomes incredibly caring with her, giving her gifts and exchanging letters. He was born into a terrifying clan that worshiped a snake demon and sacrificed infants to it. As a child, Obanai was kept in a cage, his mouth slit to resemble their snake deity. He managed to escape thanks to the former Light Pillar.

One day, when the Red Light District incident occurred, Obanai saw Tengen. The Sound Pillar, or, to put it simply, an annoying and noisy shiny thing in worse shape. As Obanai understood it, the Sixth Upper Moon, Gyutaro, had severed his left arm at the elbow and injured his left eye. This is why Tengen had resigned. Obanai was against it—after all, the Flame Pillar, Rengoku Kyojuro, had died on the Infinite Train and they still hadn't found a replacement for him. Now even Tengen would be important. But Obanai couldn't do anything, and Tengen ultimately resigned.

For a while, Obanai simply forgot about Tengen, trying to focus on missions, but eventually, unable to stop thinking about that shiny thing, he went to Mitsuri's for some reason. Tengen was lying in his apartment, and there was a knock on the door. Tengen allowed him in and was surprised. Obanai entered, placing the food next to Tengen.

"Aren't you dead yet, retired soldier?"