Bleach: What Is Operation Millefeuille?

The second invasion of the Seireitei has just begun, and the Sternritter are slowly beginning their new or old fights against the Gotei 13. And while we are going to see a rematch between BG9 and Soifon, as well as one between Komamura and Bambietta, the scheduled rematch between Cang Du and Toshiro Hitsugaya was actually cut short because the Captain of the 10th Division faced Bazz-B before Cang Du could find him. The battle was both fierce and interesting. In this article, we will tell you about Toshiro’s new tactical approach, which Rangiku dubbed Operation Millefeuille.

Operation Millefeuille was the name of the tactical approach that Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto came up with while preparing to fight the Sternritter once again. The name was not official, and it was actually Rangiku who, much to Toshiro’s annoyance, came up with the name. Since the tactical approach consisted of combining layers of ice with layers of Haineko’s ash, it obviously reminded Rangiku, a gourmand, of the cake of the same name (millefeuille), so she gave the approach the name Operation Millefeuille. Toshiro stressed out that he never actually agreed to such a name for his approach.

The remainder of this article is going to tell you the details of Toshiro’s and Ranfiku’s fight against Bazz-B in Bleach, which is when the tactical approach known as Operation Millefeuille was first used. We are going to tell you how it was devised, when, how it played out in battle, and why this name was chosen specifically. Be careful, though, as the article will contain many spoilers, so if you don’t know all the details, be careful how you approach the text.

Operation Millefeuille was a name chosen by Rangiku Matsumoto, much to Toshiro Hitsugaya’s annoyance, but it had some nice symbolism to it

During the first invasion of the Seireitei, Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto faced Cang Du, the Sternritter “I” (“The Iron”). Knowing that the Sternritter could seal their Bankai, Toshiro decided to risk his own to discover how they were doing it but was shocked to discover that the Sternritter were actually stealing their Bankai using the medallions.

Without his Bankai, Toshiro was easily defeated by Cang Do, who used Daiguren Hyorinmaru. He wasn’t killed, but he was severely injured in the fight. Upon recovering, Toshiro decided that he had to find a way to be useful in a fight even without his Bankai, so he returned to his barracks and went back to the basics of sword fighting, training with the other Shinigami of his Divison like an unseated officer.

As Toshiro later revealed, we now know that his Zanpakuto has the smallest difference between the Shikai and the Bankai. The only real difference is that the Bankai produced much more ice than the Shikai, but everything else remained the same.

So, to be effective in battle, he had to devise a way to make his skills useful even with little ice. This was when he devised a plan to combine his powers with the powers of Haineko, Rangiku Matsumoto’s Zanpakuto. She would use her ashes to create layers of ash, which Toshiro would freeze and create a strong wall of ice that could be used for attack and defense. Matsumoto would then withdraw her ashes, creating a vacuum within the ice that seemingly made it much sturdier.

And while this worked effectively against the Soldaten, when Bazz-B came, the approach was really tested. Realizing that he wouldn’t be able to defeat Bazz-B without her help, Toshiro summoned Rangiku, and she then said that Operation Millefeulle could begin; Toshiro was angry with the name, stressing out that he never agreed to that name.

So, what happened? Hitsugaya started off by blocking Bazz-B’s fire with a wall of ice before it reached the Shinigami he was attacking. He stalls Bazz-B for a while while Matsumoto gets the soldiers to safety. Meanwhile, he makes fun of Hitsugaya’s thin ice walls and claims he can easily destroy them.

However, when Matsumoto joins him again, Hitsugaya uses her to create an ice wall that cannot penetrate Bazz-B’s fire. It is a multi-layer vacuum ice wall. Hitsugaya then explains to Bazz-B what we’ve already told you, namely that his Zanpakuto differs between Shikai and Bankai almost exclusively in the amount of ice it generates, so he was looking for a way to fight with little ice. Eventually, he also manages to supposedly knock down Bazz-B with an ice attack.

Bazz-B is unharmed, however, and when Hitsugaya realizes he can’t win without his Bankai, he orders the retreat. However, the Sternritter pierces the ice wall and the Captain’s chest with his “Burner Finger” technique. As the injured Captain tries to flee, Bazz-B knocks him out with a second Burner Finger attack.

However, Hitsugaya is “saved” by Cang Du, who arrives and reminds Bazz-B that he can kill Hitsugaya since he stole his bankai. Cang Du activates the stolen Bankai, but it disintegrates and damages the Quincy after Hitsugaya touches Urahara’s black pill, which briefly Hollowifies a Bankai. Using his Hollowfied, recovered Bankai, the injured Commander narrowly manages to defeat Cang Du before collapsing unconscious.

So, Operation Millefeuille was effective up to a point, and we have to praise Captain Histugaya for doing the best he could under the circumstances. He was able to defeat weaker opponents and even do some slight damage to Bazz-B, but when faced with the full power of a fire-based power, he was helpless without his Bankai, but that was to be expected. The tactical approach still deserves praise.

Before we finish, let us just tell you what the name means. Millefeuille is a French word meaning “a thousand leaves” or “thousand sheets.” And while this also makes sense, millefeuille is also the name of a layered cake that is made in a way that is similar to Hitsugaya’s layered approach to battling.

Since Rangiku Matsumoto came up with the name, and it is a known fact that Rangiku is a known gourmand (she and Orihime have equally strange taste when it comes to food), we assume that the name was a reference to the cake, rather than the literal translation of the phrase. And that is the story of the name of this operation.