Highlights
- In the latest episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2, Renji Abarai returns to the battlefield with a brand-new Bankai, easily defeating the Quincy threat Mask De Masculine.
- Renji's training with Royal Guard officer Hyо̄sube has transformed him, allowing him to deflect Mask De Masculine's attacks with ease and display a blasé attitude throughout the encounter.
- Renji's Bankai, Sо̄'о̄ Zabimaru, is a powerful combination of a snake and an ape, giving him two offensive options. He uses it to devastate Mask De Masculine and ultimately defeat him using his ultimate ability, Zaga Teppо̄.
The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2, Episode 5, "Rages at Ringside" available for streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
In the 5th episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2, "Rages at Ringside", 6th Squad Lieutenant Renji Abarai returns to the battlefield after training with the Royal Guard officer Ichibe Hyо̄sube, "The Monk Who Calls the True Name". Like various other high-ranking officers of the Gotei 13, Renji had his work cut out for him against a Quincy threat that not only took them by surprise, but also managed to land several significant blows on the Shinigami in their last outing.
Having healed his injuries and prepared himself for the second-coming of the Wandenreich, Renji entered the fray just in time to save his colleagues 3rd and 9th Squad Captains Rojūrо̄ Ōtoribashi and Kensei Muguruma from being finished off by Sternritter S – The Superstar, Mask De Masculine. Revealing a brand-new Bankai, Renji made quick work of the wrestler.
Villainous Confidence
While the strengths of the high-ranked Shinigami officers vary depending on the situation, it has been rule of thumb in the BLEACH universe that Captains are incredibly powerful and are a kind of power benchmark. For that reason, Mask De Masculine's decimation of Rose and Kensei (before even getting serious) is proof of his overwhelming power; however, Renji, a Lieutenant with a penchant for losing significant battles, was completely unfazed by the Quincy. Before leaving, Rukia says that the opponent should be no problem for Renji as he is now, an obvious nod at some kind of power-up. As we've been seeing throughout this second cours of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War, the Captains who were thoroughly bested in the previous clash came up with various ways to compensate for the combat potential lost from the plundered Bankai.
We know about Renji's training with Hyо̄sube, the nature of which was not fully revealed because Renji's training was split off from that of Ichigo's, who we followed back to Karakura Town at the time to get insight about Ichigo's true identity. Renji's ability to deflect a "Star Flash" from Mask De Masculine with a Shikai-state Zabimaru; his blasé, somewhat incredulous attitude throughout the encounter is more evidence that he has completely changed from his previous encounter with the Quincies. Mask De Masculine unleashes the full brunt of his offensive capabilities against Renji; a flurry of attacks that the wrestler claims will have him juggling the Lieutenant ad infinitum without hope of ever touching the ground or getting the chance to recover his stance, finishing with his ultimate attack that he unleashes while Vollständig: Star Flash Supernova. This attack sends a 5-point star-shaped mass of his reiatsu careening towards the opponent on the ground before blowing it up, incinerating everything even his source of near-infinite power: James.
Bankai
A flashback to a conversation with Hyо̄sube, the individual responsible for all nomenclature in Soul Society, reveals that Renji's Zanpakutо̄, Zabimaru ("Snake Tail"), had not developed complete respect for Renji. With only partial trust in Renji, Zabimaru only revealed half of its true name, making its true potential inaccessible to Renji until now. As a result, Renji had actually been using an incomplete Bankai, Hihiо̄ Zabimaru ("Baboon King" Zabimaru), which was effectively just a bigger version of its Shikai in the form of a bony serpent. An ape-fur cowl would also materialize over Renji's left shoulder and extend down to his right arm, a motif that has remained in the construction of Renji Abarai's true Bankai: Sо̄'о̄ Zabimaru ("Two Kings" Zabimaru). The Zanpakutо̄ becomes more of a wearable construction, with Renji gaining a gauntlet that looks like the upper part of a snake skull, a tuft of red fur on the forearm of the gauntlet with vertebrae-like extensions coming off the skull like a sash. A two-tone blade resembling a machete is produced from the "mouth" of the snake skull. A cowl of green fur covers his right arm, and an armoured collar similar to that of Ichigo's Shinigami attire in the beginning of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc now adorns his shoulders.
Sо̄'о̄ Zabimaru's special abilities completely devastated Mask De Masculine, snuffing out the Quincy in only a few blows. As implied by its name, Zabimaru's Bankai is made up of two significant parts – the snake and the ape, which give rise to two separate offensive options for Renji. Hihiо̄ is the ape aspect, which enables the cowl to become a giant skeletal ape arm that mirrors the movements of Renji's own. The raw power of this extension in "Rages at Ringside" as Renji effortlessly throws around an opponent who only a few seconds prior was fully convinced that he'd steamrolled the Shinigami. Orochiо̄ ("Great Serpent King") is the snake aspect, and refers to the activation of the vertebrae construction wrapped around Renji's waist, which has it extend like a tail. The blade Renji wields gains teeth much like its Shikai form, and after making use of Hihiо̄ to throw De Masculine around like a ragdoll, Renji activates Orochiо̄ to intercept the Quincy who had been charging towards him, using his Bankai's ultimate ability: Zaga Teppо̄ ("Snake Fang Iron Gun"). Impaling De Masculine with the blade produced from his gauntlet's mouth, a spectral set of snake jaws appears. Renji turns his fist in place like a key, causing the reiatsu jaws to close in on De Masculine in a manner reminiscent of a Super Dragon Fist from the Dragon Ball franchise.
Falling Star
What's significant about the encounter is how much Renji has grown since the last Quincy invasion, and what illustrates the gulf in class between not only past and present Renji, but the gulf between Renji and the defeated Captains as well. Kensei and Rose were introduced to the BLEACH story as Visored, Shinigami with access to Hollowfication, reiatsu that is toxic to Quincies; however, despite this inherent advantage, they were easily trounced by the Superstar. Mask De Masculine is one of the opposing force's most industrious officers, having bested a few other seated officers prior to destroying Kensei and Rose, and he does so without even activating his trump card or mask transformation. After dropping his ultimate attack and incinerating James, Mask De Masculine's far more aggressive form affected his thinking, and hubris had him seeing the glowing serpentine eyes of Renji's Bankai behind the columns of dust and smoke without the appropriate reaction of someone deep in the throes of combat. He tells himself that he's staring at the posthumous activation of a Shinigami's ultimate ability, leaving Renji with a very easy opening to exploit with his new Bankai.