Bleach: Will Yhwach Destroy the World in 9 Days?

Bleach is finally back with its second cour of episodes from the Thousand-Year Blood War Arc. Now, the continuing conflict between the Shinigami and the Quincy will certainly bring us many exciting moments but also many interesting questions, and in this article, we will answer one such question for you. Namely, in the first episode of the second cour, Yhwach recites the full version of the Kaiser Gesang, which states that the fallen Quincy ruler would take over the world in nine days after regaining his powers. He then told Ishida and Jugram that they would conquer this world and create a new one. Did Yhwach succeed? Well… keep reading to find out the answer to this question.

And while the Quincy Blood War took place over nine days, Yhwach ultimately failed in his intention, as he was unable to destroy the world in nine days. After merging with the Soul King, Yhwach actually began destroying the worlds – he wanted to destroy the three realms and create a single world where death wouldn’t be an issue, ruled over by him (of course) – but he was stopped by the combined efforts of Renji, Aizen, Ishida, and Ichigo, with the latter ultimately killing Yhwach.

The rest of this article will bring you a short overview of the Quincy Blood War, both the symbolism of the war and the actual factography. We are going to discuss Yhwach’s plans, as well as how effective he was in making them come to fruition. The article is, due to the fact that it will be a thorough overview, going to contain a lot of spoilers, so be careful how you approach it.

The Kaiser Gesand foresaw the end of the world in nine days after Yhwach’s resurrection, but that – luckily – never happened

Okay, we know that Yhwach was the main villain in the final saga, and he never really hid his intention of conquering the world and creating a new one he ruled over. This was quite obvious, and Yhwach never gave the impression that he wanted anything else. But, a lot of his actions, especially when it came to the timeline, were influenced by the Kaiser Gesang, a poem about his resurrection that goes like this:

The sealed King of the Quincy.

Over 900 years, he shall recover his heartbeat.

Over 90 years, he shall recover his intellect.

Over nine years, he shall recover his power.

And over nine days, he shall recover the world.

He bolded the final verse because it is important for this article. The full text of the Kaiser Gesang was recited by Yhwach himself, after which he called on Ishida and Jugram to follow him as he was going to destroy this world and create a new one in nine days.

Interestingly, the timeline of the Quincy War Arc takes place over just nine days (from June 10 to June 19, 2003), which coincides with Yhwach’s plan and the text of the Kaiser Gesang. But did Yhwach succeed? Was the world really destroyed in nine days? Let us see!

On June 10, 2003, about two months after Ichigo regained his powers in the Fullbringer Arc, the Sternritter began the first invasion of Soul Society, killing, among others, Lieutenant Sasasibe.

This was a sneak attack that also included a declaration of war issued to Yamamoto himself. Yhwach had, in the meantime, invaded Hueco Mundo and trapped Harribel, the current ruler of Hueco Mundo (as Starrk and Baraggan died, she was left as the strongest Espada in Hueco Mundo), while Nel called Ichigo to Hueco Mundo to help them; a bit earlier, Ichigo had a run-in with an Arrancar called Asguiaro Ebern, who claimed to be a Quincy.

While Ichigo is fighting Quilge Opie in Hueco Mundo, Yhwach decides to launch the first full invasion of Soul Society before the scheduled date and attacks Soul Society, stealing several Captains’ Bankai (Byakuya Kuchiki, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Soifon, and Sajin Komamura) and succeeding in killing Yamamoto in the process, albeit only after using a vile trick.

Yhwach also tried to recruit Aizen for his cause, but Aizen coldly rejected him. After Ichigo, who managed to return from Hueco Mundo, failed to defeat him, Yhwach decided to retreat because they could not remain too long in Soul Society, with the shadows of the Wandenreich calling them back.

Later, Captain Shunsi Kyoraku is appointed as Yamamoto’s successor. After this event, the Royal Guard came down from the Soul King’s Palace and decided to help rebuild Soul Society while they also decided to heal the heavily wounded Rukia, Renji, and Byakuya, as well as reforge Ichigo’s Zanpakuto.

Before Ichigo discovers the true nature of his Zanpakuto, he discovers the truth about his mother and that he is actually a part-Quincy, which enables him to both escape Hueco Mundo and survive his first clash with Yhwach. While Ichigo was training in the Soul King’s Palace, and while the Gotei 13 were preparing for a second attack, Yhwach actually launched what he thought would be his final invasion, replacing the Seireitei with his Wandenreich.

Although Urahara managed to return the Bankai to the Captains in the meantime, the fights were quite tough, and there were heavy losses on both sides, although the Shinigami managed to, somehow, retain most of their members with the help of the 4th Division, now led by Isane Kotatsu after Unohana died.

Several Sternritter were killed (Cang Du, BG9, Mask De Masculine, As Nodt), while the Shinigami only suffered the loss of Captain Komamura, who was turned into a wolf after his final battle, but remained living; a lot of others (Toshiro, Muguruma, Otoribashi, Kenpachi) were heavily injured, but they all survived.

As Ichigo returned from the Palace to help his friends, Yhwach used this fact to travel to the Palace of the Soul King himself, accompanied by his loyal Schutzstaffel. There they had to fight the Royal Guard; in the meantime, Ishida has seemingly betrayed his friends and joined Yhwach, but he suspiciously never fought any of the opponents that the Schutzstaffel faced.

After taking care of the Sterntirrer left behind by Yhwach, the surviving ones decided to join the Shinigami as they felt betrayed by their lord, who used Auswahlen to power up his Schutzstaffel, while not caring about the lives of the others.

This was an important moment in the war. Also, Kyoraku decided to free Aizen, as he knew that they would need his help to defeat Yhwach. In the meantime, Yhwach managed to defeat Ichibei Hyosube, the leader of the Royal Guard, and absorb the Soul King, his father, and it seemed that his plan was actually going to become a reality. As he replaced the Soul King’s Palace with Wahrwelt, he rested and consolidated his new powers.

The alliance manages to enter Wahrwelt, and they can defeat the members of the Schutzstaffel; Ishida, in the meantime, reveals that he was only pretending to be close to Yhwach, and he readily betrays him to help Ichigo and the others.

With the help of Ishida, Renji, and Aizen, Ichigo manages to finally defeat and kill Yhwach. This happened on June 19, 2003, exactly nine days after Yhwach’s invasion. As you can see, the timeline of the Kaiser Gesang was true, but instead of reclaiming and reshaping the world, Yhwach lost it, as well as his own life.