How did Uryu Ishida become so strong in Bleach TYBW? Explained

In Bleach TYBW, Ichigo Kurosaki’s friend and close ally Uryu Ishida seemingly embraced a dark path as he joined the Wandenreich to become a Sternritter in the service of Yhwach, the Quincy Emperor. Uryu quickly climbed the hierarchy of the Quincy as he was admitted into Yhwach’s elite guard, the Schutzstaffel, and was even chosen to become Yhwach’s very successor.

While Uryu’s true aim to infiltrate the Wandenreich to exact personal revenge against Yhwach and stop his plans from within eventually comes to light, his surge in power remains surprising. Uryu went from a fighter on the level of the lower-tier Espada to one with enough power to single-handedly defeat the entire Espada force put together.

Granted, this leap in overall power is mainly attributable to Uryu’s new abilities, which include an almost unstoppable Schrift called “The Antithesis” as well as a formidable Vollstandig transformation. Apart from these stunning powers, Uryu has also shown an extraordinary improvement in all of his basic fighting skills, making his power-up nothing short of astonishing.

Uryu's power surge in Bleach TYBW was insane

The young Quincy became a force to be reckoned with

Uryu Ishida in Bleach TYBW (Image via Pierrot Films)

Above all, Uryu gained the power of "The Antithesis," a Schrift that gives him the unreal ability to reverse anything that has happened between two targets of his choosing. Schrift, or “Sacred Letters,” are designations that Yhwach bestows upon the soul of Quincy. By drinking a cup of Yhwach’s blood, Quincy can obtain a portion of his power, which allows them to activate and develop superhuman abilities of all sorts.

Uryu can use his Schrift to perform a virtually infinite amount of strategic maneuvers to gain an advantage in combat. He can even turn the tides of a losing battle by transferring to his opponent any injury or adverse effect that they have inflicted on him while healing himself at the same time if the opponent was unharmed.

For instance, if someone cut Uryu’s arms without any damage for their part, Uryu would just activate The Antithesis to swap the two situations, transferring his mutilations to the enemy while leveraging their uninjured condition to heal his wounds. If the opponent managed to trap Uryu with some special ability, he would completely invert their fates by freeing himself and ensnaring the opponent in their own technique.

Uryu using The Antithesis (Image via Pierrot Films)

The Antithesis alone makes Uryu a threat to anyone, and he can increase its effectiveness by combining it with the substantial power boost granted by Vollstandig. This transformation drastically enhances Uryu’s combat prowess, augmenting his fundamental parameters as well as his Quincy techniques such as Blut and Hirenkyaku.

The combination of Vollstandig and The Antithesis is the pinnacle of Uryu’s strength, and it was effective enough for him to outclass a foe of the caliber of Senjumaru Shutara, a Royal Guard member. Uryu used his newfound powers to counter Senjumaru’s trump card—her all-powerful Bankai—and killed Senjumaru with a single blow after trapping her.

Uryu can also use Sklaverei to amp his Vollstandig. In this state he is strong enough to beat Renji Abarai, who has become an incredibly powerful fighter—far exceeding the average Captain-level Shinigami—after his training in the Soul King’s palace. Uryu fended off Renji’s formidable attacks, including his devastating Bankai, before using a new Quincy technique to ultimately defeat him.

Uryu as he defeats Senjumaru (Image via Pierrot Films)

While Renji pushed Uryu to use both Vollstandig and Sklaverei, and it was also stated that Renji’s lack of actual killing intent contributed to his downfall, it’s still remarkable that Uryu managed to defeat Renji without needing to resort to his signature Schrift. Another impressive testament to Uryu’s newfound might is the fact that he was able to keep up with Ichigo, who was using his post-Royal Guard Shikai.

Considering this, it’s pretty clear that Uryu underwent a sudden and yet phenomenal upgrade even in terms of raw power. He became a master of Blut, the advanced technique that allows the most skilled Quincy to flow Reishi into their blood vessels to gain exceptional defensive and offensive capabilities. In particular, Uryu’s defensive Blut Vene was strong enough to block both Senjumaru’s and Renji’s attacks.

Uryu using Blut Vene (Image via Pierrot Films)

For example, Renji’s Zaga Teppo, which incinerated and killed the strongest incarnation of Mask de Masculine in one shot—when Mask, even in his earlier and weaker form, was already strong enough to withstand Kensei’s Bankai attacks as if they were nothing—couldn’t overcome Uryu’s defense.

In addition to this, Uryu demonstrated a peculiar Quincy technique called Federzwinger, which he can use to drain his opponent of their Reiatsu, leaving them deprived of it. In Bleach TYBW, Uryu used this frightening asset to sap Renji’s Reiatsu until he was rendered essentially unable to use his Shikai and Bankai.

The potency of Uryu’s Heilig Pfeil techniques also skyrocketed. Moreover, he gained the ability to control his spiritual arrows in order to surround his opponents, akin to how Byakuya Kuchiki does with his Zanpakuto.

Yhwach's blood amplified Uryu's latent potential

Uryu fighting with Ichigo in Bleach TYBW (Image via Pierrot Films)

It was objectively surprising to see Uryu keeping up with Ichigo Kurosaki, considering that before Bleach TYBW, Uryu was significantly weaker than Ichigo, who has since received a major power boost. Most fans expected Ichigo to be in an entirely different league, with the gap between the two being large to the point where the main character should just speed blitz Uryu and pin him to a wall to question his actions.

That said, Bleach author Tite Kubo subtly foreshadowed Uryu’s impending power surge. Quilge Opie—an experienced Sternritter—recognized that his Heilig Pfeil could never be as strong as Uryu’s. Even before, during the confrontation with the Fullbringers, Uryu’s spiritual weapon was shown to appear like a real, solid object, a clear sign that his Reishi control had grown immensely.

Although not on par with Ichigo, Uryu has always been a powerhouse, displaying great potential coupled with innate skill and talent. Among Ichigo’s friends, he was introduced as the closest to the main character in terms of overall strength, a dynamic that remained essentially unchanged throughout the Bleach story.

Uryu's complete Vollstandig transformation (Image via Pierrot Films)

Uryu is the only Gemischt Quincy, i.e., mixed-blood Quincy, to have survived the effects of the Auswahlen that Yhwach cast about nine years before the present Bleach narration. This is all the more impressive given that the Auswahlen is meant to eradicate the Quincy deemed to be impure in order for Yhwach to take back their powers.

Furthermore, Uryu not only survived the Auswahlen process but even maintained all of his Quincy powers, unlike the Sternritter subjected to the same ritual in Bleach TYBW. In addition to this, he has demonstrated an unusual resistance to the effect of Hollow-type Reiatsu, which should be particularly poisonous to Quincy. So, Uryu was always implied to be of a rare caliber, surpassing typical Quincy standards.

When Jugram Haschwalth brought Uryu to stand before Yhwach, the Quincy Emperor immediately declared Uryu as his successor. Yhwach had Uryu drink his blood and claimed that Uryu would soon awaken his powers. So, Yhwach’s blood is the main reason for Uryu’s astonishing power surge, as it gifted him with Vollstandig, Blut, The Antithesis, and other abilities, while also amplifying his overall spiritual powers.

Uryu as he receives power from Yhwach (Image via Shueisha)

From the moment Uryu was depicted to be Yhwach’s successor, there was no way he wasn’t going to be super strong. The narrative trajectory was clear, setting the young Quincy’s path to might. Uryu’s rapid elevation to the ranks of the Schutzstaffel, Yhwach’s closest and strongest warriors chosen among the Wandenreich’s most powerful Sternritter, only underscored his already evident potential.

Following Yhwach’s use of Auswahlen to take power from the Sternritter and use it to revive and permanently strengthen the Schutzstaffel, Uryu’s abilities saw another significant boost. The Auswahlen augmentation was quite massive, considering that it allowed Askin to easily defeat Royal Guard member Tenjiro Kirinji, the same Kirinji who had previously gotten the better of Haschwalth himself.

Impressively enough, Uryu’s power jumps didn’t end with Auswahlen. He was further strengthened after his spiritual powers—likely due to the intrinsic connection between The Almighty and The Antithesis—resonated with Yhwach’s awakening of The Almighty.

Uryu is just special, even by Quincy standards

Uryu's newfound powers are formidable (Image via Pierrot Films)

All things considered, this explains how Uryu has become so powerful in Bleach TYBW. The series consistently showcases the Quincy power-ups as massive, game-changing power escalations. For example, during the Soul Society Arc, Uryu went from a fighter on the level of the weakest Gotei Lieutenants to strong enough to annihilate Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi just by activating his Quincy Letzt Stil.

Uryu’s base power significantly increased since the Soul Society Arc, and while he abandoned Letzt Stil, he obtained a similar, if not better, transformation in the Vollstandig. Yhwach’s blood dramatically boosted his base, which reflected on the strength of his Vollstandig form, and he was also granted Blut, which was stated to be a Bankai-level power increase.

Stacking these augmentations on top of each other, with the addition of further power-ups such as the Auswahlen and the resonance with Yhwach, it’s clear that Uryu’s ascent to extraordinary might in Bleach TYBW makes sense.

Yhwach himself acknowledged Uryu's potential (Image via Shueisha)

That’s not even taking into account the formidable power of The Antithesis, a versatile and highly profitable ability that Uryu can use to overturn the fate of an eventual losing battle.

The fact that Uryu kept getting stronger by receiving additional boosts even after drinking Yhwach’s blood only cements his status as a powerhouse. In the forthcoming Bleach TYBW Part 4, the final installment of the Thousand-Year Blood War anime adaptation, Uryu is set to fight against Jugram Haschwalth and join forces with Ichigo Kurosaki in the final showdown with Yhwach.

Bleach TYBW Part 4 will feature a lot of fully canon new content, so fans can hope to learn more about Uryu’s Quincy potential. Perhaps the story will explore how Yhwach’s blood interacted with Uryu’s Quincy heritage from Katagiri, Soken, and Ryuken. Possibly, this unique lineage is what made Uryu special.

How did Uryu Ishida become so strong in Bleach TYBW? Explained

Uryu's power surge in Bleach TYBW was insane

The young Quincy became a force to be reckoned with

Yhwach's blood amplified Uryu's latent potential

Uryu is just special, even by Quincy standards

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