Byakuya's Zanpakutō

Name of Zanpaktou: Senbonzakura
Senbonzakura (Thousand Cherry Blossoms): A regular katana with a square hand guard and light blue handle.

Appearence of Zanpkatou:

Call Sign * Shikai: It is triggered by the command "Scatter".


Shikai Special Ability: In its Shikai, Senbonzakura's blade separates into a thousand slender tiny blade fragments, which then fly away from the hilt, leaving only the sword's handle in Byakuya's hand. The release can be negated before it completes. However, if the release completes itself, then Senbozakura is rendered near-unstoppable as a result. While the blades are supposedly too small to see normally, they reflect light in such a way as to appear as cherry blossom petals. By swinging Senbonzakura's hilt Byakuya can control the blade fragments at will, allowing him to shred opponents at a distance and break through almost any defense.


Senbonzakura Kageyoshi's release

* Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi (Vibrant Display of a Thousand Cherry Blossoms): is essentially a much larger version of Senbonzakura's Shikai. To activate it, Byakuya needs to drop his sword straight down. The sword phases into the ground, as though it were a pool of water. Energy ripples expand out, turning the surrounding area dark, and within seconds two rows of giant blades rise up from the ground. These giant blades then explode, and scatter into a near-infinite number of tiny blades. The number of blades is great enough that Byakuya can use them for defense as well as offense at the same time. He commonly forms them into large masses, designed to obliterate opponents instantaneously. Byakuya's defensive use allows him to cover himself entirely in these tiny blades, and form a body shield. Unlike his Shikai, his Bankai is entirely mentally controlled. As it moves through the air like torrents of waves, it gives the appearance of cherry blossoms flowing swiftly along the wind. While Byakuya can control the blades with his mind alone, using his hands allows him to do so more effectively, making the blades move almost twice as fast. Like with his Shikai, its attack is triggered with the phrase Scatter.

Bankai Special Ability: Byakuya's Bankai has several forms, achieved by arranging the blades in different patterns. Each form presents a different advantage, such as increasing offense at the expense of defense. This makes Senbonzakura Kageyoshi one of the most versatile Bankai in the series. These techniques are activated by saying the name of the technique, followed by the name of his Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.

Senkei

* Senkei ( "annihilate"): The true form of Senbonzakura is seemingly created by his blood, which glows and turns into spiritual energy mixing with the tiny blades of his Bankai. This unites the scattered petals into complete glowing swords, numbering in the thousands, that form four rows. These rows float just above the other, and circle around Byakuya and his opponent in a continuously moving, column-like array. It abandons defense in favor of a concentrated offense. Though visually menacing, this form is not meant for attack from all sides; rather, it is to concentrate his power into fewer blades, thus increasing his attack power. While Byakuya can mentally control these swords as he does his regular blades, he commonly calls them to his hands for actual melee combat. When in his hand they lose their glow, and take the form of his sealed zanpakuto. While they seem solid in this state, the swords can just as easily dissipate back into the multitude of tiny blades that they are made of. It seems to take fewer blows from a Senkei blade to gravely injure an opponent than the multiple cuts needed from the unfocused Bankai. The Senkei also cages himself with his enemy, allowing neither combatant to move very far from each other, though the area is still large enough for maneuverability. The most effective use of the Senkei form is that it allows for use of all the swords at the same attack level, making it highly versatile as a way to effectively defeat an enemy unaware of the danger of the situation. It is extremely rare for him to use this ability, doing so only when he has sworn to cut down the opponent with his very own hands. Ichigo was the second being to ever witness the ability. In Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion, it was also seen that Senkei can be used as a powerful shield, blocking several Cero blasts from Menos-class Hollows at once.


Gokei

* Gōkei (吭景, Pivotal Scene): This form increases the number of tiny blades immensely. It creates a spherical formation of over 100 million tiny blade fragments, which swirl around the opponent like a cloud. It then flies into them from every possible angle, leaving no blind spots and no possibility to escape. It was strong enough to completely obliterate a very large building from the inside out, and the resulting shockwave generated by the attack is so powerful that Byakuya himself has to Flash Step away (Byakuya is normally immune to the cutting effects of his own Bankai, evident by the fact that he could wield the swords generated by its Senkei formation with bare hands without cutting himself).


Hakuteiken

* Shūkei (終景, Final Scene; Viz: "last sight"): This condenses each and every single one of his blades into a single, potent sword, drastically increasing its cutting power. The spiritual energy and pressure of this form released is immense. The blade appears bright white and its aura takes the form of a bird, earning it the name Hakuteiken (白帝剣, White Imperial Sword; Viz: "white emperor sword"). Pure white wings form on Byakuya's back, as well a halo-like circle, made of concentrated spiritual energy. It is unknown whether these wings are merely an aesthetic effect or if they can be used to fly. The blade in this form is dangerous enough to cause aggravated injuries in one single blow. Whether or not this form allows only one single attack or more is as yet unknown.

Approved.