Forbidden Zanpakutō that copies others

Key takeaways

• In the BLEACH novels Tokinada Tsunayashiro uses the Enrakyōten, a powerful Zanpakutō, to copy various abilities including Kyōka Suigetsu and Ryūjin Jakka.
• An Enrakyōten can copy multiple Zanpakutō abilities simultaneously, but also inherits their weaknesses and fades during its wielder's lifetime.
• Some Zanpakutō, such as Ichigo's Zangetsu, cannot be fully replicated by the Enrakyōten, reflecting the Buddhist symbolism of wisdom and the illusion of reality.

The following are major spoilers for the BLEACH: You Can't Fear Your Own World novels by Ryohgo Narita, as well as heavy spoilers for BLEACH: The Thousand-Year Blood War available on Hulu and Disney+..

The BLEACH: Can't scare your world Reveals many important details about novels by Ryohgo Narita Bleach The universe, including the truth behind the structure of the three realms and the dark history of Soul Society related to the Soul King.

The antagonist of the novel series is a sadistic, sociopathic man named Tokinada Sunayashiro, who through a complex series of stories has risen from branch family member to head of the Sunayashiro clan – one of the four great noble families. Atma Samaj is responsible for preserving its history. Tokinada used his influence to gain access to the Tsunayashiro archives and unleash a powerful Zanpakuto capable of copying any other Zanpakutō that had ever existed: the Enrakyōten.

A family Zanpakutō

Enrakyōten is an ancestral Zanpakutō

When Tokinada frees Enrakyoten from the Tsunayashiro family archives, he does so because he lacks his own Zanpakutō. He is the husband of a woman named Kakyo – a friend of Kaname Tosen who was killed by her husband, a Shinigami and officer in the Gotei 13 who was pardoned because he belonged to one of the Four Great Noble Families. After his trial, Tokinada's Zanpakutō is confiscated, and its abilities are unknown. Specifically for the family charged with recording and documenting history, through the visual and surveillance department, the Tsunayashiro family Zanpakutō reflects this ability as it is able to assume the form and abilities of any other Zanpakutō.

It is a Zanpakutō that is similar to and shares the Shinken Hakkyōken of the Ise family.“Divine Eight Mirror Sword”). It is one of the oldest Zanpakutō in existence. There is a belief that the blade is cursed, and using the Enrakyōten eats into the wielder's lifespan. However, given the incredible potential of the ability, Tokinada thought it was worth its use.

in the course of Cannot fear your world novels, Tokinada uses the Enrakyōten to copy the abilities of various Zanpakutō, including Sōsuke Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu, former Captain-Commander Genryūsai Yamamoto Shigekuni's Ryūjin Zakka. The name Enrakyōten translates to “Law of the Bewitching Lucid Mirror”. Tokinada liked to hide Enrakyoten's true power, so he half-released it under a false name: Kuten-Kyokoku; “Nine Heaven Mirror Valley”. He named it to reflect Shinsui Kyoraku's binomial nomenclature of Katen Kyokotsu. This gives it the ability to reflect attacks back at the attacker; However, the Enrakyōten is a very destructive weapon, especially in the hands of someone like Tokinada who has access to the records of Soul Society's entire history.

Enrakyoten's special ability

A true blade of reflection

Enrakyōten's Shikai activates with the phrase, “Sip on the world and wear the horizon. Copy and cut… all creation alike,” at which point the blade emits a brilliant light before becoming invisible to the naked eye. Shikai enables the wielder to manifest the potential of any Zanpakutō ability they have seen before, and Tokinada has seen the ability of the 7th Kenpachi Kuruyashiki's Gagaku Kairo; Hanataro Yamada's Hisagomaru; Senbonzakura of Byakuya Kuchiki; Tsuchinamazu of Genosuke Kurumadani; Gegetsuburi of Omeda; Jin Ichimaru's Shinsō; Rangiku Matsumoto's Haineko, and many others.

What's devastating about it is that it can not only copy multiple Zanpakutō abilities at once, and scale their power based on the wielder's reiatsu. For example, Tokinada's Kyoka Suigetsu is much less powerful than Aizen's, but Matsumoto's copy of Haineko is much stronger than the original. While the Enrakyōten can be a truly powerful weapon in the right hands, it still has its weaknesses. The ability to copy any Zanpakutō's strengths means that it also copies their weaknesses, and unless the wielder firmly grasps these weaknesses, they can be caught off guard.

Although it can copy any Zanpakutō the wielder sees, some cannot be copied. For example, Ichigo Kurosaki's Zangetsu can only be copied in form, and its unique abilities cannot be replicated by the Enrakyōten, possibly due to the different types of reiatsu in the form of Zangetsu and its abilities. The fact that the Enrakyōten feeds off of its wielder's life force is also a significant weakness, and possibly the main reason why the Tsunayashiro family kept it locked away in the first place. In Buddhism, mirrors carry a certain level of significance as objects that depict the “illusion of reality”, and are therefore objects that symbolize wisdom. Because reality is more than what we can see. These connections are also possible as to why the Enrakyōten has no visible blade when active, and how this relates to its function.