About Kurei

Kurei was born 400 years ago to Reina and Ohka, of the Hokage Ninja in feudal Japan. He possessed a Flame power, which signified that he would become the next leader.

However, it was not to be. Ohka married a woman named Kagero, and they had a son named Recca. At first, it was thought Recca was an ordinary infant; however, he soon displayed a Flame power of his own. This was taken to mean that Kurei was unworthy of becoming the next leader. He would have been killed, if not for the intercession of Kagero and Ohka. However, he and his mother were banished to the outskirts of the Hokage village.

Kurei grew bitter. The other children would beat him up because he was no longer a "big shot". The other women would mock his mother for the meanness she had formerly displayed. Reina grew sick and malnourished; Kurei loved her and decided that to make their lives happy again, Recca must die.

He went in the dead of night to kill Recca. However, the sword only pierced Recca's cheek, and his family scrambled to the rescue. As a consequence, Kurei was placed in jail.

He stayed there until the Oni invaded the Hokage village. The jail caught fire and would have collapsed on the five-year-old boy, if he had not used his Flame to protect himself from the falling roof. Although the Oni's forces were wreaking havoc, he immediately thought of finishing his revenge on Recca. He found Kagero in the midst of time-manipulation, and as she carried him to safety, he followed the baby through the time portal.

400 years later, he arrived at the other end. He was found by Mori Tsukino, a kindly woman married to an underworld boss. He loved Tsukino very much, but Mori Kouran used this against him. Kurei's already-present bitterness and anger was used to make him into Mori Kouran's killing machine. Tsukino was held hostage in a mountain cottage, with a bomb implanted inside her, to ensure his cooperation. Any time Kurei expressed a love or emotion for something, Mori Kouran destroyed it, and Kurei eventually became cold and heartless... for all intents and purposes, anyways.

Kurenai, a pleasant girl with a fondness for roses, managed to break through this shell. Kurei fell in love with her, and Mori Kouran had her killed. Kurei was devastated, and made his Flame assume her form.

When he had Yanagi and the sensei kidnapped to help with his father's quest for eternal life, Recca, Domon, Mikagami, and Fuuko came to rescue her. During this time, Kurei discovered Recca was indeed his long-lost half-brother, and they had a confrontation. They fought to a stalemate, and Recca & Co. left with Yanagi and their sensei.

He sent the Hokage an invitation to the Ura Butou Satsujin, a deathmatch fighting tournament, where most people used madogou created by their Hokage ancestors.

In the anime, Recca won by default. The two were equally matched, but Kurei left the ring in order to stop Mori Kouran, who had interfered with a Kurei-clone. In the manga, Recca proved himself the more powerful of the two by a knockout. Soukoukasai, Mokuren, Renge, and Mori Kouran confronted Kurei afterwards at the edge of a cliff. Kurei was shot with bullets; Neon came running to his rescue and jumped over the cliff with him.

He remained in a coma for ten days, with Neon caring for him. Neon found the human side to him, which Kurenai had found long ago. Then, when one of his father's lackeys ferreted them out, Neon got hurt. She awoke in the hospital, having been taken there by Kurei. He then discarded his humanity and went to take revenge on his father, who had detonated Tsukino's bomb before Kurei had fallen over the cliff. However, Raiha had run to the Moon Palace to save Tsukino in the middle of the Kurei-Recca fight. He managed to disable the bomb using his Raijin, thus saving her.

He reappeared in the cave of the Tendojigoku with Joker in tow. Neon had been left behind at the hospital. Raiha showed up separately to rescue Fuuko from Soukakasai's cauldron, and they faced Mori Kouran. Kurei had a new mask, with the Hokage symbol on it, and refers to himself as "Uruha Hokage" now...

To be continued.