Bleach Just Revealed One of Its Soul Reapers Is Way Stronger Than We Ever Imagined
The bar for Soul Reaper power has truly been raised.
Bleach has revealed some stunning abilities for its most powerful Soul Reapers in the past, but a recent question asked of series creator Tite Kubo has unveiled just how powerful one such Soul Reaper is. This Soul Reaper is, of course, none other than the original Head Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto.
Captain Yamamoto is already regarded as one of the most powerful figures in all of Bleach. His Bankai, Zanka no Tachi, is extremely powerful, releasing heat so intense that it could incinerate the entirety of the Seireitei in mere moments if left active too long. He can also reanimate the burnt corpses of his enemies to turn them against their former allies, and his blade is said to be hotter than the sun. As the only Soul Reaper who could stand up to Yhwach for even a moment, Yamamoto proved his strength, despite apparently fighting at a major disadvantage for the entire battle.
Yamamoto's Missing Arm Caused Him Problems
In a question answered by Kubo on his Klub Outside platform, Kubo was asked what happens if a Soul Reaper loses an arm, given that he had established that Soul Reapers have vents for spiritual pressure on their wrists. Kubo revealed that the spiritual pressure will leak out of the missing arm's socket, which keeps them from dying, but has the unfortunate effect of making it difficult to control the spiritual pressure as finely as a Soul Reaper with two arms could. Yamamoto was explicitly called out as an example by the questioner, meaning that Kubo's answer definitely reflects Yamamoto's situation directly.
Yamamoto lost his left arm in battle with Sosuke Aizen, leaving him crippled when it came time to do battle with Yhwach. With massive amounts of spiritual pressure apparently constantly leaking out of his body, it's all the more impressive that Yamamoto was able to stand toe-to-toe with Yhwach at all, much less perform as well as he did. It proves that Yamamoto's control over his spiritual pressure was extremely advanced if he was able to make up for the leak. It also raises the question: how well would Yamamoto have done against Yhwach if he still had both arms?
Yamamoto's Disability May Have Cost Him the Fight
In Yamamoto's battle with Yhwach, he was still able to use all his standard abilities, but he must've been concentrating greatly on his spiritual pressure control. Without that distraction, it's entirely possible Yamamoto could've gained the upper hand and won the fight--although it may not have made a difference, since Yamamoto was actually fighting Royd Lloyd, a Quincy who could use all of Yhwach's memories and powers. Once the real Yhwach showed up, Yamamoto may well have been too exhausted regardless of his spiritual pressure control.
One thing's for sure, though: a healthy, able-bodied Yamamoto in his younger days must have been a truly terrifying presence on the battlefield, once again securing him a place as one of Bleach's best.