SNK revealed that Chizuru Kagura is ready to enter The King of Fighters XV forming Team Sacred Treasures with Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami. He deviated from the usual weekly schedule of a new character trailer every Wednesday night, like Chizuru’s revelation in KOF XV was made in the second stream of the Japan Fighting Games Editor’s Roundtable.
Chizuru debuted as the penultimate deputy in The King of Fighters ’96, the third game in the annual series. Chizuru’s last playable appearance before XV was in the tenth game, KOF 2003. This is the first time that we see her fighting in a KOF game with 3D models as it was not playable in THE King of Fighters XIV.
According to the background configurations of the series, Chizuru, Kyo and Iori are descendants of the three clans, each holding a sacred treasure to seal the serpent monster Orochi. Although the three literally came together in KOF 2003, they were not considered an official team because Chizuru also appeared as the deputy chief there. This marks the first time that the three iconic characters are officially grouped in a main line KOF title.
Confirmation from Team Sacred Treasures further shook expectations that KOF XV the characters would be grouped based on the order in which the trailer was revealed. Although Joe Higashi’s trailer was between Iori and Kyo, he is not grouped with them.
The King of Fighters XV is currently in development by SNK with a 2021 launch window.