Bleach: Is Kirinji the fastest shinigami? Explained

In Bleach, speed is perceived as one of the most significant factors in a battle that gives a combatant a considerable advantage in defeating their opponents. Every Shinigami, Quincy, and Arrancar utilize a unique ability that boosts their speed, making their movements imperceptible to others. Where Quincy and Arrancar use Hirenkyaku and Sonido, Shinigami depends on Shunpo, which literally translates to “Flash Steps.”

Shunpo has branched out from Hohō, a defensive fighting technique related to footwork, regarded as one of Shinigami’s four basic combat skills. There haven’t been many prodigies in the Shunpo technique among the Shinigami, but Soifon is regarded to be the fastest in Gotei 13.

Tenjiro Kirinji, one of the Royal Guards, was unexpectedly overwhelmed by someone like Soifon in her own game. Kirinji managed to maneuver behind Soifon and grabbed her hand without her noticing. Despite being a proficient Shunpo user, Soifon had difficulty understanding Kirinji’s movement, as if it was a technique she had never encountered.

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In Bleach, Tenjiro Kirinji was renowned as “Lightning Fast Tenjiro” during his time in Soul Society

Kirinji constraining Soifon with Shunpo technique (Image via Studio Pierrot/Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War)

Before being personally chosen as one of the Royal Guards for Soul King, Kirinji was a Shinigami captain in the Soul Society. During that time, he had mastered all four primary techniques, especially Hohō. Given his proficiency, he eventually managed to take Hohō’s most significant expression, Shunpo or the Flash Steps, to a formidable level and earned the moniker “Lightning Fast Tenjiro.”

Like most of the intriguing characters in Bleach, Tenjiro Kirinji’s days of glory didn’t get explored in anime or the original manga series. When Kirinji came to get Ichigo, he overpowered Soifon with his Shunpo technique. However, at Kirinden, he was shocked after finding out that a Substitute Shinigami like Ichigo was capable of countering his speed.

When Kirinji tried to check on Ichigo’s wounds by punching him in the face, he learned that his hand was fractured. According to the former, the latter reflexively struck his fist to minimize the impact and bruised it in a way. Besides worrying about losing his touch in Shunpo, Kirinji was utterly impressed by Ichigo and his willpower.

However, the most powerful Shunpo user in Bleach is Yoruichi Shihouin, the former 2nd Division captain and the commander of Onmitsukidō. Yoruichi holds the title of “Flash Goddess” since she has mastered Hoho and its branched technique, Shunpo, to the point where she can appear at several places at once.

During Bleach’s Soul Society Infiltration arc, Yoruichi was seen defeating an entire army of Onmitsukidō squad (Stealth Force), the fastest covert ops, in the blink of an eye. She even overpowered Byakuya Kuchiki, a Shunpo master, by outrunning him while carrying an unconscious Ichigo on her shoulder.

Despite being 100 years out of practice, Yoruichi performed 300 steps. She can leave afterimages while dodging or escaping an attack by using an advanced Shunpo technique called Utsusemi (Cicada Shell), which only Byakuya and Soifon can perform besides her.

Despite Soifon getting overwhelmed by Kirinji in terms of speed, she still remains to be highly proficient in Shunpo due to being the commander-in-chief of the Onmitsukidō and the captain of the 2nd Division. Using her Shunpo technique in conjunction with her Zanpakuto, it becomes hard for her opponents to distinguish her movements. However, she still couldn’t surpass Yoruichi.

Due to her mastery of the technique, Soifon created a branched ability called the Speed Clones, in which she can conjure 15 indistinguishable clones that mimic her speed and movement with utmost precision. The protagonist of Bleach, Ichigo Kurosaki, is naturally fast without ever learning Shunpo. Although he didn’t spar with Yoruichi, he managed to dominate Soifon and Byakuya in terms of speed.