Touken Ranbu ＞ by Character ＞ Heshikiri Hasebe

Heshikiri Hasebe is a sword that was forged by a swordsmith named Hasebe Kunishige in 1312. At some point, he belonged to infamous daimyo Oda Nobunaga and, through disputed means, eventually came into the possession of the Kuroda clan. At one point in time, Nobunaga used the blade to kill a young tea servant named Kannai who made a mistake, thereafter naming it Heshikiri ("forced cutter"). Legend says that Nobunaga was insulted by Kannai and became so enraged that he attacked. Kannai tried to hide in a cupboard but Nobunaga cut through the wood and killed him simply by letting the weight of the blade fall down. In Touken Ranbu, Heshikiri dislikes recalling this incident, as it fuels his hatred for Nobunaga.

There are two theories of how the sword came into the possession of Kuroda clan. Some believe that the blade simply went from Nobunaga to Hideyoshi and then to Kuroda Nagamasa. The other widely believed theory is that Nobunaga imprisoned a traitor named Araki Murashige and mistakenly assumed that Nagamasa's father, Yoshitaka, was also involved. He took Nagamasa hostage and ordered his execution. The mistake about Yoshitaka's involvement was clarified and Nagamasa managed to escape execution. As rectification for the dire misunderstanding, Nobunaga presented the sword to the clan. The blade was eventually shortened and received an inscription that marked it as a sword crafted by Hasebe Kunishige and a possession of the Kuroda clan.

Fans tend to portray Heshikiri as the one in charge of cooking duty in the citadel, along with Shokudaikiri Mitsutada and Kasen Kanesada, most likely in relation to their quotes about internal affairs. Some fanworks depict Heshikiri with Nihongo and Hakata Toshiro. This is due to Nihongo being given to Fukushima Kuroda, as a reward for winning a drinking bet. As for Hakata, he was owned by Tadayuki Kuroda. These three together are known as Kurodagumi.