Byakuya is a master of bleach swords, capable of flawless precision and extremely lethal attacks without having to use much effort. He is very well-known for his ability of Flash steps.
He was taught this skill by the “Goddess of Flash steps” Yoruichi Shihoin, and his abilities are almost on par with hers, just slightly below her. Among the shinigamis of the Soul Society however, he is the master. His bleach sword Senbonzakura is also called Thousand Cherry Blossoms and is a very powerful katana, with a basic cross guard with an open frame, much like a four-pane window.
In its Shikai form, Senbonzakura’s blade separates into a thousand blades, turning into very tiny blade fragments that will fly away within the hilt, leaving just the handle to hold. The fragmenting of the sword blades can be negated just before it bursts, as seen when when Yoruichi Shihoin wraps the blade in cloth during the course of Byakuya’s brief battle with Ichigo. Nevertheless, if the blade dispersion completes, then Senbonzakura will be nearly unstoppable. When dispersing the blades reflect the light in such a way that they seem to appear as cherry blossom flower petals, however they are not soft and sweet, but quite deadly.
When he swings Senbonzakura’s hilt, Byakuya can control the blade parts at will, allowing him to shred his enemies at a distance and breakdown virtually any form of defense. Its Bankai “Senbonzakura Kageyoshi” form is basically a considerably greater version of Senbonzakura’s Shikai. In order to activate the cycle of attack, Kuchiki Byakuya drops his sword straight down. The sword sinks down into the earth, as easily as dipping one’s hand into a pool of water. Power ripples expand out from the blade, turning the surrounding immediately surrounding area to dark, and inside of seconds, two rows of the thousand great blades shoot out from the soil. Thousands of individual swords fly and pierce the opponents. Enemies are usually unaware of what is about to him them, and even if they are they cannot track the movements of the individual blades or dodge them.
The quantity of blades is more than sufficient so for Byakuya to use them for defense as well as offense at the exact same time. He generally gathers them into large masses, used to pierce enemies almost instantaneously. Since Senbonzakura moves through the air like the torrents of a tidal wave, it can be likened to cherry blossoms flowing along using the wind. Kuchiki’s can defend himself by covering himself with these killer tiny blades, and form a shield system.
In contrast to his Shikai, the Bankai is solely mentally manipulated. Although Byakuya can control the blades of his bleach sword with his thoughts alone, using his hands permits him to accomplish control even more efficiently, thus producing rates of speed and control that are three times greater than with just his mind alone. As with his Shikai, the assault is mainly triggered using the word Scatter.
