‘Bleach’: What Is Yoruichi’s Cat Form & How Powerful Is It?

Yourichi from Bleach is a character who was initially introduced as a talking black cat with a male voice and whom everyone called “Mr. Yoruichi.” The cat was benevolent, although sometimes strict towards Ichigo and his friends, and it seemed to be friends with Urahara. But, when Ichigo and his friends invaded Soul Society to save Rukia, it turned out that Yoruichi was actually a woman with the ability to transform into a cat, and not only that – she was the former Captain of the 2nd Division and a very powerful fighter. But, aside from her black cat transformation, Yoruichi can use yet another feline transformation called the Shunkō: Raijū Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senki. In this article, we are going to explain that form to you.

The Shunkō: Raijū Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senki is Yoruichi Shihoin’s ultimate technique and the pinnacle of her powerful Shunkō: Raijin Senkei technique. Yoriichi gains a significant power boost. While she retains her human shape, her personality becomes completely feline, as well as her Reiatsu, which is so unstable that it changes 48 times per second. Kisuhe Urahara is actually the only person who can control her while she is in this state, and due to the changes in her personality, Yourichi herself hates this form.

The rest of this article is going to be dedicated to Yoruichi Shihoin and her powers and abilities. We are going to focus on her powerful Shunkō: Raijū Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senki, but we are also going to give you a general overview of her powers and abilities, as Yourichi is a truly powerful character, despite giving off a completely different air to her. The article is, of course, going to have a lot of spoilers from the Quincy Blood War saga, so be careful how you approach it.

The Shunkō: Raijū Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senki is Yoruichi’s ultimate form, and it is as powerful as it is unstable

Yoruichi Shihōin is the former commander of the 2nd Company of the Gotei 13 and the former head of the Onmitsukidō. Her vice commander was Marenoshin Ōmaeda. She was a skilled yet very laid-back captain; she was the former Captain of both Soifon, who would succeed her, and Kisuke Urahara, whom she nominated for the Captain of the 12th Division after Kirio Hikifune was promoted.

After Urahara was sentenced for his supposed role in the Hollowfication incident, she gave up both of her positions and decided to team up with Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi, who work at the Urahara Shop in the human world.

This is how she came into contact with Ichigo and his friends, initially as a talking black cat with a male voice whom everybody, including Urahara (who knew her secret), addressed as Mr. Yoruichi. Mr. Yoruichi quickly became an ally and later helped mentor Orihime and Chad.

When it was time for the protagonists to go to Hueco Mundo to save Rukia, Mr. Yoruichi accompanied them. And while they ended up splitting up, Mr. Yoruichi watched over Ichigo, and it was to him that Mr. Yoruichi revealed her true identity as that of Yoruichi Shihōin. Her story was revealed later on, and her fight with her former ally, Sofion, revealed just how powerful she was.

She would later help in the fight against Aizen, but her most important battle by far was the one against Askin Nakk Le Vaar in the transformer Soul King Palace.

Askin Nakk Le Vaar was a very specific Sternritter. His ability was called “The Deathdealing” (he was the Sternritter “D”), and it allowed him to control the lethal dose of any substance, i.e., to develop immunity to everything, including another characters Spiritual Pressure.

In that aspect, Askin Nakk Le Vaar was, given enough time, able to become immune to anything. This made him dangerous, as he could be injured, but he could also become immune quickly, as his opponents had little to no time to actually murder him.

This is why Yushiro, Yoruichi’s brother, failed to kill him despite landing a very powerful blow. During the fight, Yoruichi activated her Shunkō: Raijin Senkei, which seemed to be the most powerful form of her Shunko. With it, she was able to take Askin by surprise, but she was not quick enough, and he became immune to her Spiritual Pressure.

He then poisoned her, and as she was weak, Kisuke Urahara appeared and gave her an improvised medicine that would give her a power boost lasting five minutes. He then suggested that she transform into “that form,” which Yoruichi strongly rejected, claiming she hated it.

She tried to fight Askin without it, but she was unsuccessful, and Urahara forcibly activated the form, known as Shunkō: Raijū Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senki. Yoruichi retained her human form, but her Reiatsu became unstable, so her form changed as the Reiatsu created illusions of her having feline ears, paws, claws, and a tail. She gained a significant power boost and a boost in speed, but while she did not become a cat in the literal sense, she did become a cat in a metaphorical sense.

Her personality changed completely, and she was now completely like a cat. Moody and with mood swings, she would kill an opponent only if she wanted to. Urahara revealed that he was the only person who could control her in this state, and that was shown to be true in the series.

Now, even with this, Askin was pretty sure that Yoruichi would not be able to harm him, as he became immune to her spiritual pressure, but when Yoruichi used her Shunkō: Raijū Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senki form to attack him, he was surprised because he was getting beaten without any major problems. Yoruichi had once again gained the upper hand and had Askin not activated his Quincy: Vollständig, Hasshein. He would certainly have died. Why?

Well, the reason why Askin’s immunity to Yoruichi disappeared lies in the special trait of the Shunkō: Raijū Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senki form. Namely, like her personality, Yoruichi’s Reiatsu also becomes unstable; in fact, as Urahara stated, it changed 48 times in a second.

So, as he explained to Askin, just like the flu – the base is there, but each new variant changes only one little segment, and that is enough for the new strain to avoid one’s immunity. This is what happens to Yoruichi as well – she changes only a little bit of her Spiritual Pressure each second, becoming highly unstable, and it allowed her to escape Askin’s immunity.

Now, as we’ve said, Askin activated his Hasshein, which further increased his ability, and this resulted in Urahara having to activate his Bankai, while Grimmjow later arrived to kill Askin by ripping his heart out. Be that as it may, Yoruichi’s Shunkō: Raijū Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senki is her strongest form, and it is, as we’ve said, as powerful as it is unstable, making Yoruichi even more dangerous than she originally was, as we know that she is one of the series’ most skilled characters.