The Thousand Year Blood War arc begins with the Quincies annihilating the Shinigami armies. They have an overwhelming advantage over the shinigami armies almost killing several Captains and stealing their bankai’s. However, the quincy army was still wary of the 5 special war powers in Bleach.

These 5 special war potential in Bleach Thousand Year Blood War arc were feared to be able to change the tide of the battle against the Quincy army.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!

Who Were The 5 Special War Powers In Bleach?

The 5 Special War Talent in Bleach are Ichigo Kurosaki, Aizen Sosuke, Ichibei Hyosube, Kisuke Urahara and Kenpachi Zaraki.

Why Are They The 5 Special War Powers In Bleach? What Are Their Powers?

All 5 special war Powers were chosen for the individual qualities they possessed. Each of them had enough power to change the outcome of the war in the favour of Shinigami. Let’s dwell deep into the individual qualities of the 5 Special War Powers.

5. Ichigo Kurosaki

Now I know many will think that this is plot armor and Ichigo shouldn’t be there on the list. However, many forget that it was the Soul Society who wanted Ichigo to fight alongside them. Even Yhwach was cautious about how much damage Ichigo could do to the Quincy armies hence he sent an Arrancar-Quincy to steal his bankai even before the war actually began.

The individual quality that Ichigo possessed which Yhwach was afraid of was Ichigo’s “Latent Potential”. This ability gained Ichigo a spot in the 5 special war Powers in Bleach.

But what exactly is Ichigo’s “Latent Potential”?

Ichigo’s Latent Potential comes from the fact that his lineage is of mixed heritage. Ichigo’s mother being a Quincy awakened the Quincy abilities of ‘Blut’ in him. His father being a shinigami by default granted him Shinigami powers. In addition, the hollow that led to Ichigo’s birth was made from the experimenting of several strong Shinigami souls.

Thus, granting him hollow powers in conjunction with Shinigami powers.

Being a person made of multiple species in one, Ichigo’s powers can be developed to any limits and can be merged and utilized to develop of totally new kind of power. Also, the heights of his Reiatsu and reishi would become unknown.

In addition, the new power could alone take down all the quincies at once as well. Not to forget, Ichigo is a prodigy in battles. It is proved by the tremendous growth in his powers since he became a shinigami. Also, he achieved Bankai within 3 days and reached captain level.

Furthermore, post fullbring arc, when all the captains and Captain General helped Ichigo regain his powers by giving him a sliver of their own, pushed Ichigo to a whole new level.

One such example from the manga is when Tenjiro punches Ichigo to check whether he’s healed or not. Ichigo reflexively slapped his hand back and broke his wrist.

This may seem like a regular feat but know that Tenjiro is said to be the fastest Shinigami across all Shinigamis.

Another example displaying Ichigo’s prowess is Yhwach breaking Ichigo’s new bankai the moment he activated it. Yhwach openly acknowledged Ichigo’s power and called it terrifying enough that he did not want him to use it.

Please note, this is the Yhwach who has absorbed the God of Bleach Universe and can see and alter all possible futures.

This is enough testament to Ichigo’s “Latent Ability”.

4. Kenpachi Zaraki

I guess it’s not a shock seeing him here. Since the beginning of the show, Kenpachi is shown as a brute who loves fighting and has exceptionally strong reiatsu.

Yhwach chose Zaraki as one of the 5 special war Powers due to his “Immense Combat Strength”.

This is an apt reason to choose Zaraki as we have seen throughout the story we have seen Kenpachi’s strength turning the war tide in the Gotei 13’s favour.

In his fight against Nnoitora, Kenpachi had to resort to sword-fighting martial arts to defeat him. Meaning, his power was very much sufficient since the beginning. He was dragging the fight to enjoy it.

Also, Central 46 ordered Yamamoto Shigekuni to stop teaching Zaraki sword fighting after a day. They feared that Zaraki might get so strong that no one even within the Shinigami ranks could counter him.

Furthermore, Central 46 were fiercely against when Shunsui Kyouraku ordered Zaraki to learn the “Art Of Killing“.

They had to give in when Shunsui countered them by asking “Will YOU be able to protect YOURSELVES?” and “How will YOU protect Soul Society?”. To which they had no answer. Thus, showcasing how important and massive is Zaraki’s Combat Strength.

One of the biggest hype moments about his power is when Yhwach lists Kenpachi as the 5 special war Powers in Bleach when the latter isn’t even aware of his Zanpakuto’s name nor Shikai, let alone Bankai.

He is the only captain to have maximum Sternritter kills. While many captains and vice captains struggled with single sternritters, Kenpachi without knowing his Zanpakuto abilities killed three of them before his taking on Yhwach himself.

Furthermore, after learning the true name of his sword and Shikai, Kenpachi defeats another Sternritter whose power is to bring life to anything he imagines. During the fight, Kenpachi slashes a meteorite hurled at Soul Society in a single move.

Another instance where Zaraki’s overwhelming power is displayed is during his fight against Schutzstaffel (Imperial Warriors and personal guards of Yhwach) Gerrard Valkyrie.

Gerrard has the ability to heal and regenerate himself and become stronger than the previous wound. Hence, during his fight with Hitsugaya and Byakuya, Gerrard has become significantly stronger than he was already.

Zaraki fights with Gerrard on almost equal grounds only to be incapacitated by his own monstrous strength after unleashing his bankai.

Such is the power of Kenpachi Zaraki. Thus, making it apt for him to be present in the list of 5 special war Powers in Bleach.

3. Kisuke Urahara

Kisuke Urahara’s characterization is mostly of that of a comic relief. However, we all know how important is Urahara and his big brain.

After Aizen absorbed Hogyoku and practically became immortal and ever-evolving. Despite Ichigo’s awesome transformation into Getsuga Tensho and showing us his sexiest transformation, it was Urahara who took precautionary measures and sealed Aizen.

Not to forget, Urahara healed and saved the lives of all Shinigami captains and vice captains who were affected by Aizen’s Hollowification experiments.

Yhwach took note of this and thus labelled him as one of the 5 special war Powers due to Urahara’s ability to “come up with a solution for every problem”. Yhwach calls them as ‘tricks’.

It is due to these tricks Kisuke Urahara can change the outcome of the war. This was proved when Kisuke Urahara came with a trick of regaining stolen Bankai’s back from Quincies.

Another example of Urahara’s brilliance is when he calculated every possible outcome of the battle between him and Schutzstaffel Askin Nakk Le Varr. Urahara planned the battle so well that he had kept Grimmjow Jaggerjack and Nel on standby for 2 different occasions amidst the battle.

Yhwach judged Urahara based solely on his battle IQ. However, that does not mean Urahara was a weak fighter, his Bankai is one of the most horrid Bankai’s in all of Gotei 13.

His bankai just like him, will manipulate everything and anything to benefit himself and his goal.

When Urahara lost his eyes in the battle his bankai restructured his eyes from scratch.

If this doesn’t scare the enemy then the Bankai’s appearance will definitely scare them.

Thus, Urahara has earned his place amongst the 5 special war Powers in Bleach.

2. Aizen Sosuke

The sexiest man in all of Bleach! Aizen is the mastermind of everything that happens in Bleach until the Fake Karakura Town. This earned him the title of Mastermind Villain and is considered on par with Johann Liebert, Light Yagami and Lelouch Lamperouge.

His master plan also leads him to become an immortal being who cannot be stopped unless you’ve Urahara’s brains.

Yes, even Aizen was scared of Urahara’s brilliance. Makes one appreciate Urahara’s character more.

Although, Aizen was sealed his powers and his “Spiritual Pressure” were still extraordinary. It almost paralleled the God King’s Spiritual Pressure.

Thus, for having extraordinary “Spiritual Pressure” Yhwach chose Aizen Sosuke as the 4th member of the 5 Special War Powers in Bleach.

Aizen’s spiritual pressure is so intense and immense that if you do not have any resistance to it, your body will simply evaporate in thin air.

There are two such instances where this actually happened, the first was when Aizen merged with Hogyoku and the second one was when he was sealed in Chamber 46’s prison.

He was tasked to bring down the palace of God King in the TYBW arc. This palace is bigger than multiple cities combined.

Aizen said he could do it while having only his mouth, ankles and left eye unsealed.

Such is the power of Aizen’s Spiritual pressure. Along with that Aizen is a master of Kido spells, he can cast spells of over level 90 without any incantations.

Not to forget, he became stronger than he was while fighting Ichigo.

His immense spiritual pressure is also the reason why Ichigo could ultimately defeat Yhwach as Aizen’s Kyouka Suigetsu could cast an illusion on Yhwach. Without his spiritual pressure Aizen could have never put Yhwach in an illusion.

1. Ichibei Hyosube.

The Captain of the newly introduced Zero Squad. The strongest squad of Shinigamis. It consists of 5 people in total in the zero squad.

Each squad member in Zero Squad has given something extremely extraordinary to the world of Shinigami.

One of them gave healing techniques, one of them created Zanpakuto’s for everyone, one of them created techniques to use Reishi properly, and one of them created technology that Urahara and Mayuri use to date.

While all these creations are amazing. Ichibei contributed the most important thing, he gave ‘names‘ to everything that was ever created and thus in return the ‘attributes‘ of the name.

For example, he named Yhwach an Ant and thus made him as strong as an ant as well as his lifespan was shortened to that of an ant.

However, this wasn’t the reason why Ichibei was in the 5 special war Powers.

Yhwach chose Ichibei Hyosube as one of the 5 special war Powers in Bleach due to his immense “Wisdom“.

As the leader of the Zero Squad and one of the oldest Shinigami’s, Ichibei has immense knowledge of the working of the Soul Society and the God-Kings Palace. His overall experience as the leader of various squads makes him a great strategist combined with his immense knowledge of things.

He knows the reishi and the working of the entire Bleachverse down to its every intricate detail.

He is the one who came up with the names “Zanpakuto”, “Shikai”, “Bankai” etc. Thus, giving them the attributes they have now.

With his knowledge of the workings of things, Ichibei pushed Yhwach to a corner without even releasing his sword. After he released his sword he almost killed Yhwach.

The only reason Yhwach survived is due to his ‘Almighty‘ ability allowing him to see the future in addition to his already immense strength and powers paralleling Yamamoto Shigekuni.

Not to forget, Yhwach had just performed an “Auswählen” i.e. Holy Selection of Quincies where he absorbs the power and reishi of hundreds of other quincies under him.

Winding Up:

These 5 Special War Powers in Bleach although may not be stronger than Captain General Yamamoto Shigekuni, who was killed only because of his arrogance and Yhwach cheating, each of those 5 possesses a unique ability that tilted the entire war in the favour of Shinigami. These 5 are the major reason why the quincies lost the war and Tite Kubo the manga author of Bleach have brilliantly charted the roles of each of them.

I mean he came up with Aizen’s plan. So, that is enough to prove his mettle.

Do you feel like someone else should have been in the list? Let us know in the comments!

Image Copyrights: @VIZ MEDIA/BLEACH PROJECT/TITE KUBO