The combat system of Bleach is made up of several major components, with zanpakuto, or soul-cutting swords, being chief among them. All Soul Reapers carry zanpakuto, but they can also use diverse kido spells in combat, both on offense and defense. Kido spells can easily round out a Soul Reaper's combat style and fight off any foe.

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Some Soul Reapers are better at using kido spells than others, and the masters are able to cast the highest-level spells with ease and turn the tide of any battle. Another sign of kido expertise is the ability to merely say the kido spell's name, without even needing to speak the poetic incantation. Which ten Soul Reapers show the rest how it's done?

10 Isshin Kurosaki, The Former Captain Of Squad 10

isshin kurosaki bleach

Many of the most powerful and proficient kido users are either Captains or former Captains, and that includes Ichigo's father, Isshin Kurosaki/Shiba. Isshin is rarely seen using kido spells in the main story, but he still has the talent for it, and he is not to be taken lightly.

Most often, Isshin used his kido abilities defensively, enchanting items to ward off Hollows or create barriers that negate all traces of spirit energy inside. In that way, Isshin acts as a support kido user, rather than an offensive wizard. Isshin is an expert in kido, but ultimately, he's better known for his swordsmanship.

9 Captain Kaname Tosen, Who Seeks True Justice

tosen bankai bleach

Captain Kaname Tosen of Squad 9 is a capable swordsman, but he is at his best when using kido spells or his magical shikai and bankai. When Tosen betrayed the Soul Society with Sosuke Aizen and Gin Ichimaru, he became Aizen's kido user of choice.

Tosen can easily cast kido spells to open up portals, communicate with large numbers of people at once, or vaporize his enemies with powerful hado-type spells. It was Tosen who sliced off Grimmjow Jaegerjaques' arm and obliterated it with a quick kido spell. Not just anyone could pull that off.

8 Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, The Noble Commander Of Squad 6

byakuya from bleach flower petals

The aristocratic commander of squad 6, Byakuya Kuchiki, is a man of many talents. He can perform shikai and bankai to devastate his foes, and he is also a master swordsman and a calligraphy expert as well. He complements all this with his arsenal of kido spells to round things out.

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Byakuya used a few kido spells when fighting Ichigo Kurosaki in the Soul Society arc, and he used more when fighting the 7th Espada, Zommari Rureaux. With a simple Danku spell, Byakuya blocked Zommari's technique and turned the tide of the battle.

7 Ichibe Hyosube, Who Names All Things

Ichibei Hyosube unleashes his Ichimonji

This member of squad 0 is vastly powerful, arguably one of the strongest Soul Reapers to ever exist. However, while he is an effective kido user, his kido is a bit weak relative to his vast power. Instead, he makes heavy use of his shikai, though his kido is still potent.

Being the master of names, Ichibe can cast any kido spell to full effect while only saying its name, type, or just its number. Very few, if any, other Soul Reapers could say so little but achieve such an effect.

6 Captain Retsu Unohana, The Ultimate Healer

Retsu Unohana in Bleach.

The commander of squad 4 is the seemingly gentle and pacifistic Retsu Unohana, though she was once the thuggish Captain of squad 11 many centuries ago. Now, she has given up her warlike ways in favor of medical kido and her shikai, which can also heal injured parties with ease.

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Retsu, like Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake, is a longtime veteran who has had plenty of time to practice her craft. She is second to none with defensive and medical kido spells, and she can cast offensive spells with equal ease, if she has the occasion to.

5 Hachigen Ushoda, The Former Kido Corps Lieutenant

Hachigen Ushoda looking up with the sky in the background

The Soul Society is home to the Kido Corps, and true to its name, this organization is made up entirely of kido practitioners and experts who can support other Soul Reapers in a wide variety of situations. About 110 years ago, Hachigen Ushoda was the Kido Corps' lieutenant, which is saying a lot.

This large fellow can easily cast an astonishing variety of kido spells, many of which were never seen in Bleach until Hachigen himself cast them. With kido alone, he faced the fearsome Barragan Luisenbarn and narrowly defeated him. That's the power of kido.

4 Tessai Tsukabishi, The Former Kido Corps Captain

Tessai killing a Hollow bleach

Tessai Tsukabishi once led the entire Kido Corps, with Hachigen Ushoda as his loyal Lieutenant. In the present day, Tessai is an exiled Soul Reaper who's friendly with Kisuke Urahara, and when Ichigo first met him, he had no idea just how talented Tessai was

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As the Kido Corps' former commander, Tessai can easily cast any variety of mid to high-level kido spells with ease, even without their incantations, and use them to devastating effect to obliterate his enemies. Even if his powers are restrained somehow, they are still potent.

3 Captain Sosuke Aizen, The Soul Society's Betrayer

Bleach Aizen Reveal

The former Captain of squad 5 likes to use his zanpakuto and its shikai in combat, and he's not afraid to back it up with some serious kido spells. Even as a Lieutenant, Aizen could stand up to Tessai himself and block a devastating hado spell with a hastily-erected Danku barrier. That's no mean feat.

In the present day, Aize can cast hado #90, Kurohitsugi, and defeat Captain Sajin Komamura with a single, non-lethal blow. According to Aizen himself, that was only about one-third of that spell's power. Scary.

2 Kisuke Urahara, The Framed Ex-Captain

Anime Bleach Kisuke Urahara Lifting His Hat To Look Up

Like his friend Tessai, Kisuke Urahara is far more powerful than his initial appearance would suggest. Kisuke has a powerful shikai and bankai, and his best asset is his arsenal of kido spells. Even Sosuke Aizen might have lost to him without the Hogyoku's power being a factor.

Kisuke can cast practically any spell in existence with just its name, and hit his opponents with an overwhelming show of force with kido. When Kisuke fought Aizen alongside Ichigo Kurosaki, it was Kisuke's kido work that finished the job.

1 Captain-General Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, The Gotei Commander

Captain Yamamoto During A Captains Meeting

The supreme commander of all Soul Reapers is Yamamoto, who is a vastly powerful Soul Reaper in all regards. Not only is he a barehanded combat expert and an elite swordsman, but he is also capable of peerless feats of kido.

In the story, Yamamoto typically fights with his zanpakuto, but if he must, he will cast enormously powerful kido spells, even without saying their names at all, and use them to full effect. He can make barriers that block all but the strongest enemies, for example. Any conceivable kido spell must be child's play for him.

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