Well, I don't think Masamori had the power to come up with the zekkai on his own either at 9 years old.
Plus, the zekkai seems to be more of a personality type power. Yoshimori has lots of power, but he only has a 10% success rate. Yoshi just doesn't have enough negative feelings to do it.
I'm sure that if Toshimori is "sad" enough, he can do a Zekkai. Just not at 9 years old.
And given how Shigemori was not surprised that Masamori can do a Zekkai, I am sure all Kekkaishis can learn any techinque.
Some techniques just are not suitable for every Kekkaishi. But that doesn't mean they can't do it. Tokine was able to do the Multi-layered kekkai. She just found out that it was not a good technique for her because it makes her run out of enery too quickly. That doesn't mean she can't do it.
All kekkaishis have the power to do any Kekkai technique.
It never seemed to me that Toshimori "strained" to knock out his friends. Toshimori must have produced Kekkai before since Yoshi was not surprised that Toshi made a Kekkai.
Of course, I was not surprised either. I knew from episode 1 that Toshimori was a kekkaishi. His father mentioned him and Yoshi even offered his job to Toshi after Toshi was pro at reading the scrolls. Why would Yoshi do that if Toshi was incapable of producing a Kekkai.
That is why it blew me away that people actually went "OMG. Toshi made a kekkai for the first time. He does have powers after all. I thought he didn't." I was like "Really? 
"
And yeah, Toshi owned Shion's goons. It makes sense that Toshi would be excited to cast Mestu for the first time. Even though he already knew how to make Kekkai, he wouldn't have anything to Metsu. What would he Metsu? The air?
I think Toshimori and Masamori have the power to easily rival Yoshimori. Well, I guess it depends whether or not he still has the great power he once had, since Chushinmaru is sealed up and whatnot.
That is another thing. Some people think that they might have lost their Kekkaishi powers. Once again, I was .
I think all Kekkaishis have the power to rival each other and be of near equal strength to each other.
Since, the whole Legitimate Heir thing was a lie and uttherly meaningless for the most part.
Although, I wonder what "good first impression" meant. The families bring newborn babies to Karasumori and because of a spell, the babies get the Houin mark depending whether or not Chushimaru gets a first good impression.
But what does that mean? How do you get a good first impression on a baby? Was it just random technically? Was Chushinmaru in a bad mood during Masamori and Toshimori's turn and that was why they didn't get the Houin mark? Was Chushinmaru in a good mood and that was why Yoshi got the mark? Did the Houin mark depend on whether or not Chushinmaru even felt like seeing a baby?
Masamori does say that there was 2 Legitimate Heirs as brothers at one point. So, that does mean that it was actually possible for Toshimori and Masamori to have also obtained the Houin mark. It was possible for all 3 Sumimura brothers to have the Houin Mark.
And given how Legitimate Heirs even skipped multiple generations, Chushinmaru must have been in a bad mood often.
Phew!!! I wrote a lot. I just had to vent all these after months of harboring it in. Please try your best to comment on everything I said, Boborudnik. Alot of work went into this. 
ritster21 wrote:
Phew!!! I wrote a lot. I just had to vent all these after months of harboring it in. Please try your best to comment on everything I said, Boborudnik. Alot of work went into this.
otsukaresamade**noel**a, ritster ***add note: this stupid filtering wipes out one of the most common past tense endings in Japanese, poop-a, so to speak***
Masamori and Shigemori were both amazed that Yoshimori came up with the zekkai on his own, regardless of age and without even really reading the training scrolls. I believe it was Masamori that attributed Yoshimori's massive power reserve for that achievement. And it's true that Yoshi wasn't a negative person, perhaps one of the reasons that he received the houin. And by having a formal name, i.e. zekkai, it was an established technique, and one that the founder was shown or mentioned several times, including by Kaguro, to have engaged it himself. He did have plenty of reasons for negativity in his life, though, much of it perhaps of it due his own doing. I have a feeling that "zekkai" is a bastardization of "kekkai" (which is also used in many other shows for magical barriers), although my Japanese isn't good enough to make that inference definitive.
And probably so, every Kekkaishi could do any technique, if so trained. In fact, Yoshimori's first successful "zekkai" was unusual in the sense that it didn't immediately anihilate everything else inside or anything touching it. It could be a result of the "wild" way he developed it on his own, teachable only if he understood what he did, which is not a given.
I used "strained" in reference to that even only because I thought it seemed like Toshimori didn't have the confidence that he could truly control his own kekkai's. He did it in that case in a sort of panicky lashing-out to keep his friends from rampaging through the house. He did do well under pressure though to zap Shion's minons, but I would have to say that probably wasn't his first metsu, just his first in combat. Ayakashi aren't the only thing to metsu - cockroaches could do as well, but don't do it in the house! The bits would get everywhere! At least, Tokine believes so. But if metsu was an anihilation technique instead of merely a destruction one, tenketsu wouldn't be needed, so her fears are probably well founded.
As for every kekkaishi potentially being of equal strength, it could be like the difference between people being able to play sports. Everyone can learn to play, and someone can get better with practice, but there's still an inherent talent component that allows one person to excel in a sport over another of lesser ability.
And it was funny that the competition between families and the houin was a hoax. Yet another toy for Chushinmaru given to him by Tokimori - what a good dad! But that process did produce Sumiko, and if you subscribe to the alternate offspring theory, then the middle child in Yoshimori would be the one to inherit the bulk of her own powers. Yes, the houin was bestowed as a whim, and it certainly was possible that all three Sumimura's could have received it, but as the story was developed, there was a clear difference in the personalities of the children (with Toshimori's being the least developed). Who knows, maybe a centuries-old spirit of a soul-draining child can read babies better than us, especially when it comes to who might be most interesting in the future. And maybe he decided to only burn every third ant with his houin-bestowing magnifying glass to see how the others would react.
Tokine is the most efficient kekkai user out of all of them. She makes up for being the weakest one out of all of them by diligent training and using what power she has judiciously. It's hard to say how Toshimori compares to her, though, since he's immature in technique and perhaps doesn't use whatever power he has to the fullest.
And perhaps the Kekkaishi families that no longer exist were spread out in the field in little bits after a family vs. family duel 
Without Chushinmaru occupying the castle under Karasumori, there's no need for Kekkaishi...Toshimori can go about his merry kid-ly way and mess with his friends using kekkai's 
, never having to use his power for serious purposes.
ritster21 wrote:This is the first story I read where the main heroes are nowhere near the strongest. Heck, Yoshi and Tokine are only better than 9 year old Toshimori. That is just 1 person.
Tsuyoku naritai - "I want to become strong"
If you listen carefully to the opening songs of many anime, including the Kekkaishi and FMA:B ones (the ones I'd wager that the songs were composed in particular for the series - for example, they mention ayakashi in the full opening of Kekkaishi. Bleach tends to use current pop music in the openings and closings.), you'll hear this phrase. But in order to be stronger, you can't be all that strong to being with, haha. Yoshimori and Tokine do seem particularly weak in relation to other shounen protagonists, although each has strong potential. What would their offspring be like? And would Uncle Toshimori be a match for them by then 
?
We also haven't even been considering Tokimori in the ranks. He's the original kekkaishi after all, and still quite powerful despite being on the downslope. I think Sumiko is stronger in terms of raw power than him at his peak, even though I'm sure the centuries have made him a wily bastard.
I think they only seem weak because it is more of a realistic show in terms of pain.
If Yoshi or Tokine were to get stabbed or physically attacked, they would get extremely hurt. Throughout the series, Yoshi never ever got punched, energy blasted at, or other things like that. Because if he did, he would die.
BUT, I actually think that the Kekkai technique is one of the most powerful moves I have ever seen.
I can see Yoshimori killing Goku by Metsu and Shinkai.
I can see Masamori Zekkaing Vegeta.
I can see Tokine Kekkai spearing Krillin.
Yoshimori and Tokine would make beautiful children. Yoshimori was adorable when he was 5,7,9 years, and he even looked like Toshimori at that same age. I liked how Yellow Tanabe actually took the time to make the brothers look similar to each other at similar ages like in real life. Yoshimori at 9 years old looks like 9 year old Toshimori.
I am sure Uncle Toshimori would be stronger than his future nephews and nieces. If not, then I would 
That is another thing. Does Yoshimori have cousins? Did Sumiko have any brothers or sisters?
We know Tokiko had a brother. He would be Tokine's Granduncle. Did he have kids? If he did, then those kids would be 1st cousins to Tokine's dad, Tokio. And if those kids had kids, then Tokine should have 2nd cousins that are Kekkaishis.
Well, Tokimori did say he was to weak to even cast a Kekkai. Although, at his prime, I don't know. He would definetly have to had been a pro. He was able to perform Shinkai. Although, I don't remember if the reason Chushinmaru was not sealed properly was because Tokimori was not strong enough or he did it wrong via not sealing himself inside.
Yeah, I think Sumiko was stronger. I think the only reason she did not perform Shinkai was because of the whole connection to Chushinmaru thing. Yeah, they could have sealed him up by force. He looks like he is 5, so he shouldn't be that strong. Heck, Toshimori should be able to easily pin Chushinmaru down with his 9/10 year old strength.
But, Tokimori wanted Chushinmaru happy and for him to be sealed up in his own terms. Somebody to understand Chushinmaru's feelings. That person was Yoshimori.
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