Who Is Ōetsu Nimaiya in Bleach? Powers and Abilities Explained

The Royal Guard has, for a long time, been an enigma in the world of Tite Kubo’s Bleach, but with the threat of Yhwach’s Sternritter becoming real, the Royal Guard descended from the Soul King Palace to help rebuild the Seireitei. Thus, we saw its five Captains for the first time, and among them was Ōetsu Nimaiya, the quirky creator of the Zanpakutō, and one of the most skilled and knowledgeable Zero Division members. Nimaiya had a very eccentric and unpredictable approach to stuff, which is why he is so specific, even among the Royal Guard.

The rest of this article is going to focus, as you’ve probably deduced for yourselves, on Ōetsu Nimaiya, the inventor of the Zanpakutō and a member of the Royal Guard. He is a very interesting character who appeared late in the story and had a major impact on the story, which is why we are going to tell you everything you need to know about him. Spoilers from the manga are going to be present, so be careful how you approach the article.

Who is Ōetsu Nimaiya?

Ōetsu created the Zanpakutō many years ago, which became the primary weapon of many shinigami. The Spirit King found this invention essential to the protection of Soul Society, and Ōetsu was subsequently drafted into the Zero Division. After Soul Society was attacked by the Wandenreich, killing Yamamoto and several other Shinigami, the Royal Guard appeared to help build Soul Society.

The surviving commanders saluted the members of the royal guard. Ōetsu stayed in the background most of the time. Again in Reioukyuu, Ichigo and Renji came to him during their training tour to have him reforge their zanpakutō as they were damaged in the bankai state, making repairs impossible. Ōetsu first welcomed her to his fake job with a group of beautiful women.

After mostly joking around and playing pranks on Ichigo and Renji, Mera showed up and said it was time to get back to work. They then went to Ōetsu’s real job, which was just a small wooden hut. However, when he opened the door, they saw a large dark room, and Ōetsu pushed Ichigo and Renji into it. He took their zanpakutō from them beforehand and saw that they didn’t have much love for them, so he completely destroyed them.

An eye appeared in the dark room, and Ōetsu explained that this was the wrath of the Zanpakutō. He further stated that he would reforge the swords if Ichgio and Renji managed to get out. After a while, Ōetsu’s patience ran out. Renji had managed to pass his test by now, but Ichigo hadn’t. Ōetsu said he now sees which of the two is a true Shinigami, which is why Ichigo should go away.

He opened a gate to the human world and sent Ichigo back, saying not to return since Zanpakutō and Soul Society are only for shinigami. After Ichigo left, Ōetsu added that he should be aware of his roots first. After Ichigo heard his mother’s story, Ōetsu sent Mera to bring him back. Ōetsu, wanting to give Ichigo a second chance now that he is fully aware of his origins, brought Ichigo back into the dark room.

Before Ōetsu could turn and leave, all of the Asauchi spirits inside the room bowed to Ichigo. He then chose one as his new zanpakutō. Shortly thereafter, Oetsu brought Ichigo and selected Asauchi to his forge, which was behind a waterfall. Ōetsu sent for his 5 helpers (the Zanpakutō girls Mera, Toki, Sato & two others) to help him with his work.

While Ōetsu focused on forging, Ichigo should focus on his Zanpakutō spirit. Ōetsu revealed to Ichigo that the one he thought was Zangetsu’s ghost wasn’t Zangetsu at all. After Ichigo became aware of this but didn’t want to lose either the real Zangetsu or the one posing as Zangetsu, Ichigo intervened in the forging process, which according to Ōetsu was correct, and thereby created two Zangetsu, which was the true form of Zangestu represented.

Pleased with the result, Ōetsu asked if Ichigo could handle both of them as well. After thanking Ichigo, he proceeded to Senshumaru Shutara’s realm. The next day, when Yhwach, Uryu Ishida, and Jugram Haschwalth arrive at the palace, he senses their presence. Later, after imprisoning the Sternritter in the Cage of Life, Hikifude confronts them and draws his Zanpakutō, saying that now the real fight is about to begin.

Nimaya, pointing with his Zanpakutō to the Sternritters, asks them what they expect, and at that moment, Gerad Valkyrie launches the attack. Nimaya, dodging Quincy’s attack, tells him that he hasn’t fought in a while and that he’s a little rusty. Nimaya proceeds to praise the Sternritter for his skill; however, Quincy implies to him that he is only evading him, and then Nimaya tells him that it is very easy to dodge the one-armed attack.

Then Gerad, very confident, tells him that he is going to die while Ōetsu changes his mind and, with a straight face, tells Quincy that the game is over and quickly manages to cut Quincy off to the surprise of his fellow Sternritters and then explains the meaning of his name to the Quincys.

Lille Barro is surprised by Ōetsu’s abilities and proceeds to attack him with his weapon, but the bullets do not reach him, so Lille, very upset, attack him again, but Ōetsu manages to counter the attack with his Zanpakutō and quickly approaches Lille and cuts his arm leaving the Quincy bleeding to death.

Then the Shinigami goes for Pernida Parnkgjas, and launches his Zanpakutō, which falls on the Quincy’s face to the surprise of his partner Askin Nakk Le Vaar and then attacks Le Vaar, who receives an accurate cut on the chest, but it is not enough for the Shinigami who approaches his enemy and proceeds to continue stabbing him in the chest after that he briefly explains about the Zanpakutō that he carries in his hand and looks at Yhwach.

However, something seems to affect the Shinigami; Askin moves and tells the Shinigami that he is not going to die with that attack, and then he explains to him, while he is licking the blood that is on the back of his hand, that the reason why His Majesty brought him here is that he had not died when Yhwach found him and that when he uses that power, he feels that he is really going to die.

He begins to get up and explain what his ability to manipulate lethal doses of poison consists of affecting the Shinigami’s health, so Ōetsu calls Kirinji to help him; arriving, Kirinji uses his hot springs to cleanse Ōetsu’s body and eliminate the dose of poison achieving the improvement of the Shinigami then Ōetsu launches the attack and makes a deep cut on Quincy’s neck, so Askin vanishes to the ground.

Ōetsu challenges Yhwach to fight. However, the Shinigami is surprised to see how the Sternritters he defeated rise from the ground with a different energy, so Jugram explains his Majesty’s Auswählen power, leaving the Shinigami even more surprised. He then receives an impact in the arm, leaving a huge hole for Lille, who also attacks him again, but this time Kirio and Kirinji intervene, but in vain Lille’s power managed to pierce Kirio and Kirinji’s Zanpakutō to cross Nimaiya’s chest. Nimaiya is defeated by the Elite Quincy along with the other members of the Royal Guard who were fighting the Quincy.

After being revived by Ichibē Hyōsube, Ōetsu realizes the terrible blows he received in the war against the Wandenreich. Nimaiya realizes that there was a sealed Zanpakutō in the basement of Nimaiya’s palace. However, this seal was destroyed, and there were no traces of said Zanpakutō. Then Nimaiya began to search and ask what had happened. Nimaiya tried to summon the Zanpakutō while he mentioned its name; however, it did not work and he was sad to think what would happen if said Zanpakutō fell into the wrong hands.

What are Ōetsu Nimaiya’s powers and abilities?

As a member of the Royal Guard (i.e., the Zero Division), Nimaiya is one of the most powerful characters in the entire Bleach universe, possessing a large amount of Reiatsu. Ōetsu’s power is evident when he is able to easily defeat three members of Yhwach’s elite Schutzstaffel unit. Being the inventor of the Zanpakutō, Ōetsu is the greatest exponent in the knowledge, operation, and creation of the same. Ōetsu is the only person in the entire Soul Society who is capable of being able to reforge a Zanpakutō.

In addition to this, Ōetsu is also the only one who knows how to create the Asauchi. Due to his status as the creator of the Zanpakutō, Ōetsu has the ability to track the location of any Zanpakutō he has created. It is through this ability that Ōetsu can know as much as the location of the Zanpakutō as well as its current bearer. Ōetsu has proven to be an expert in the use of Shunpo, being able to move at great speeds, as he did when he defeated a total of three members of Yhwach’s elite Schutzstaffel, who are considered the strongest among the Sternritter in the blink of an eye.

The level of expertise in the handling of the Kidō arts by Ōetsu is a mystery. However, he was seen using an Instantaneous Transportation Kidō with which he can transport any object or person just by aiming at his target; this method of Instant Transportation is capable of transporting bodies between different dimensions, as demonstrated by transporting Ichigo from the Soul King’s Palace to the Human World.

Ōetsu is a master in the use of the arts of Zanjutsu, possessing incredible reflexes, as well as being extremely agile, being able to dodge quick melee attacks and launch a counterattack with his Zanpakutō in a matter of seconds, but his reflexes aren’t just limited to countering melee attacks, as Ōetsu is also capable of deflecting long-distance attacks as demonstrated when he was able to effortlessly deflect Lille Barro’s Heilig Pfeil.

In addition to his incredible agility and speed, Ōetsu displays a very particular style when it comes to using his Zanpakutō, since it usually catches his enemies off guard in order to disable them from taking the initiative during a battle; this has led to Ōetsu being able to throw his Zanpakutō at his opponents in order to catch them off guard.

Sayafushi is the name of the Zanpakutō that Ōetsu uses. This Zanpakutō has an excessively large edge, this being the reason why Ōetsu shelters it in a container with a gelatinous fluid. The cutting ability of this Zanpakutō is such that no matter how much he cuts, the blade will not wear away, and not a single drop of blood will remain on it, Nimaiya refers to Sayafushi as his worst creation.