Yae Tenzen

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Evil-doer
Full Name	Unknown (birth name) Red Number 8 (designation) Yae Tenzen (given name)
Alias	Crimson Sakura
Origin	Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World
Occupation	Servant of Aldebaran. Servant of House Barielle (undercover, formerly).
Powers / Skills	Keen intellect Master fighter
Goals	Help Aldebaran complete his mission (ongoing).
Crimes	Murder
Type of Villain	Covert Operative

Yae Tenzen (formerly Red Number 8), also known as the Crimson Sakura, is a supporting antagonist in the 2014 Japanese dark fantasy light novel series Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World.

Yae Tenzen was a talented shinobi of the Volakian Empire and a former student of the Divine General Orbart Dankelken. She attempted to assassinate the noblewoman Priscilla Barielle, but was thwarted and defeated by her attendant Aldebaran. She subsequently swore herself to Aldebaran, serving him loyally out of fear for her own life.

Appearance

Yae Tenzen was a young woman with light skin, black eyes, and a slender build. She had peach-colored hair styled into a bob with bangs that framed her face and a ponytail slung over her left shoulder. Considered beautiful, she had notably feline-like features with two pale red marks across both of her cheeks that visually evoked cat whiskers.

As a maid of House Barielle and an accomplice of Aldebaran, Tenzen primarily wore a maid uniform that was reminiscent of traditional French maid attire.

Personality

Having been raised in a Volakian shinobi village, Yae Tenzen was conditioned mentally from a young age to be able to overcome fear and endure challenging scenarios. As a result, Tenzen was able to remain calm and collected even during highly unpredictable and stressful situations. Also a likely result of her upbringing in Volakia was her general lack of morality, which allowed Tenzen to carry out unethical assignments with no apparent feelings of remorse. Though she was capable of being fond of people, ultimately her only concern was with ensuring her own survival and wellbeing no matter the cost.

Tenzen was highly intelligent, demonstrating cautiousness and a keen awareness of her surroundings at all times. She usually disguised her careful nature behind a façade of cheerfulness and nonchalance, which kept her true thoughts guarded against all but the most perceptive of individuals. She often acted playfully as part of her façade, even with individuals who were far above her in terms of power and station. Tenzen did so as a method to covertly probe the personality and thoughts of others, though she always knew when to curtail her mischief lest it get her into trouble.

Despite her mental fortitude, her battle against Aldebaran left her deeply traumatized and fearful of him. She was so afraid of Al that she pledged herself to him and served him loyally and earnestly, all in the hopes that aiding him in his goals would lead to his death.

Synopsis

Prodigy of the Shinobi Village

Shinobi were elite covert operatives, employed for clandestine operations such as espionage and assassination. The Holy Empire of Volakia, the largest and southernmost of the four great nations of the world, was an authoritarian meritocracy where individual power was the predominant factor in deciding a person's place in society. Volakia contained a village populated by shinobi where new operatives were cultivated for servitude to the state. The process of training new shinobi was long and inhumane, with most recruits dying prior to completing their education.

For the sake of efficiency, new recruits were mostly obtained by kidnapping toddlers from their families rather than raising children from birth. Once a recruit was brought to the village, a shinobi would place them through a process that would erase them of all memories of their past. Shinobi were divided into three ranks based off of their merit, from lowest to highest being: "genin," "chunin," and "jonin." Becoming a jonin was considered an almost impossible feat. New recruits weren't given names until they became genin, instead being referred to by a descriptive designation.

One new recruit, a girl with red hair designated "Red Number 8," was administered the memory disposal by a jonin shinobi named Fujirou Tenzen. Whereas most toddlers struggled during the memory disposal, Number 8's memories of her past vanished almost instantly and without issue.

Yae Tenzen received tutelage from Orbart Dankelken, an elderly man considered the greatest shinobi in Volakia. Dankelken was also a member of the Nine Divine Generals, the nine highest-ranking military officers of Volakia who reported to the ruling Emperor Vincent Volakia. As part of her training, Tenzen was made to run nonstop from the Imperial capital city to her village for a month with no rest and barely any water. Tenzen was considered a prodigy, displaying excellent intellect and skill from a young age. However, she ultimately cut ties with the village and left during her early to late teen years.

Mission from Chisha Gold

Around two to three years after she left the village, Tenzen was informed by her former master Orbart Dankelken that Chisha Gold, a member of the Nine Divine Generals and the personal aide of the Emperor himself, had a task for her. Dankelken warned her that Gold would likely have a difficult assignment for her. As requested, Tenzen met with Gold in an office to discuss the proposed mission. The shinobi was impressed by the Divine General, as she noticed that he was highly intelligent and capable of masking his true intentions well. Gold ordered Tenzen to covertly infiltrate the mansion of Baron Lyp Barielle.

Barielle was a nobleman of the Kingdom of Lugunica, a nation situated directly to the north of Volakia which had historically tense relations with the empire. Gold's specific instructions were to observe the baron's wife Priscilla Barielle and make reports regarding her behavior. The Divine General warned Tenzen that the parameters of her mission could change depending on what she reported and that her mission was not officially sanctioned by the Emperor. After receiving her assignment, Tenzen, who was mentally drained by her meeting with Gold, returned to Dankelken.

Powers & Abilities

Abilities

• High Pain Tolerance: As a part of her upbringing in the shinobi village, Tenzen underwent training to increase her pain tolerance. As a result, torture was highly ineffective against her.
• High Intellect: She had a complete understanding of the human body that allowed her to masterfully pinpoint weak points on a target.
• Master Fighter: As a resident of the shinobi village, Tenzen was subjected to gruelling combat training from a young age. She was a master at hand-to-hand combat and was skilled with various forms of weaponry. She was also an expert marksmanship with throwing weapons. Her tutelage included learning shinobi techniques, special abilities that only shinobi were taught how to use. Yae Tenzen specialized in the "steel thread technique," which as the name implied, was the practice of using steel threads in combat. Tenzen was the preeminent steel thread user and the only known individual to fully master the weapon. She was able to use her threads with high versatility, using them to restrain and/or kill opponents and as a method of transportation by using them to grapple onto and swing from objects. Tenzen was so skilled with her steel threads that she was capable of binding up or otherwise subduing around one hundred people simultaneously.
• Poison Resistance: As a part of her training as a shinobi, Tenzen developed a resistance to poison.

Equipment

• Steel Threads: Yae Tenzen's weapon of choice was a set of extremely fine thread-like steel wires that were stored within a set of ten rings she wore on each respective finger. Despite being so thin that they could be barely registered by the naked eye, Tenzen's steel threads were strong enough to effortlessly slice through flesh. Because of how thin they were, Tenzen was able to keep enough wires on hand to simultaneously bind around one hundred people. By kissing one of the rings, Tenzen could ignite the threads attached to said ring to create an explosion.

Gallery