Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War spotlighted Isshin Kurosaki’s history of how he was once the Captain of the 10th Division and then became a humble clinic owner in Karakura Town. Audiences were shown just how Isshin and Masaki Kurosaki met, how their bond formed over time, how Isshin lost his Soul Reaper powers and the birth of White within Ichigo Kurosaki’s soul. This timeline of events would have Isshin leaving the Soul Society perhaps 40 years prior to the beginning of the story. In the lifespan of a Soul Reaper, 40 years is a mere blink.
It raises the question: how come no one in the Soul Society recognized Isshin throughout the series? Both Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto were in his squad — ranking third seat and Vice-Captain respectively — and many of the Gotei 13’s current captains held that position alongside Isshin. Being a captain within the Gotei 13 is practically celebrity status in the Soul Society, their names, faces and spiritual pressure being recognizable by even the lowest-ranking Soul Reapers. Some factors that may have contributed to ensuring Isshin’s secrecy in the Human World, even if it was not fully fleshed out.
The Method and Effects of Isshin Losing His Soul Reaper Powers
It is explained that for Isshin to save Masaki’s life from the Hollow within her soul, he would need to have his powers used to suppress White’s infection. It was more than simply weakening him; the method of saving Masaki would rob him of every drop of spirit power he had. This meant he would be unable to use any Soul Reaper powers, detect others with a spiritual presence and would even lose the ability to see ghosts. Isshin would become completely human without even an inkling of the spiritual world. Upon losing his power, it is only natural he would then be impossible to sense by those who do have spiritual pressures.
The gigai created by Kisuke Urahara completely hid Isshin from the Soul Society, who had committed a punishable crime by transferring his powers to Masaki. However, there was a secondary effect to the transformation. Isshin was not only human in regard to his power but to his mortality. The fact that 40 years is a brief time for a Soul Reaper is relevant to their perception of aging.
To them, there would be little change in a Soul Reaper’s appearance after 40 years — but a human’s appearance from that of a teenager to a middle-aged man can make someone unrecognizable. While it may seem like a silly point that those who saw him simply did not recognize him due to age, the very perception of time to Bleach’s Soul Reapers makes this point believable.
Not Many Soul Reapers Crossed Isshin Kurosaki’s Path
Concerning the Soul Reapers who actually came into contact with Isshin, there were very few. Just after he started to regain his power, there were only a handful even within his presence, let alone those who had a face-to-face interaction. While Rukia Kuchiki was close with Kaien Shiba before coming to the human world, she was a low-ranked and recently graduated Soul Reaper in the 13th Division, and it was unlikely that she even saw Isshin before he departed the Soul Society.
While Hitsugaya and Matsumoto were in the Kurosaki Clinic, there were no moments of Isshin being present at the same time. Even if they could recognize him, there were no opportunities for a reunion. This was likely by Isshin’s design; they snuck into the clinic, straight into Ichigo’s room and then departed, but Isshin remained away from those interactions. Due to his gigai and only recently returned powers, he was likely still completely hidden from being sensed. Isshin would soon be in the presence of many Soul Reapers while using his powers, but even then, the Soul Society did not mention who he truly was.
Why Isshin’s Spiritual Pressure Was Not Flagged Up in the Soul Society
Many Bleach characters, including Urahara and the Visored, acted within Karakura Town undetected by the Soul Society. This could be due to the Soul Society not having ‘current time’ spiritual energy tracking in the Human World, Karakura Town being a hotbed of spiritual activity making it harder to pinpoint exact spiritual energies not already dispatched by the Soul Society, or another method of Urahara to shield those in Karakura from the Society’s watchful gaze.
It is also implied that Ichigo and Isshin’s power is very similar through their shared use of Getsuga Tenshō. Ichigo received all his power from Masaki — her Quincy powers, White’s Hollow powers and Isshin’s Soul Reaper powers suppressing the hollow in Masaki. This implies than when Isshin’s powers returned and he slew Grand Fischer, it is not impossible that the Soul Society considered the spiritual pressure to be Ichigo, if they could detect it at all.
The same goes for the battle in Fake Karakura Town. While many Soul Reapers were present, they were badly beaten or unconscious, likely making them unaware of the specifics of Isshin and Sōsuke Aizen’s combat.
Isshin Kurosaki’s Relationships With the Rest of the Gotei 13
A smaller but noteworthy fact about Isshin in his time as a captain was his lack of interaction with his peers. It is mentioned in Bleach’s “Turn Back the Pendulum” arc that the 10th Division Captain rarely attended meetings or took his position seriously. Considering these minimal meetings with the rest of the Gotei 13 and his aloof nature, it appeared as if Isshin was not the friendliest with the other captains. While this would not explain a complete unawareness of him or his spiritual energy, it would explain how many who knew him in passing or brief moments would not recognize his 40-year aged features.
It is not impossible that after the Fake Karakura Town battle, the Gotei 13 knew of Isshin but chose to do nothing about it. Many traditions expected of the Soul Society were bent to support Ichigo and remit some Visored back into their ranks. As Ichigo was such a valuable ally, it made no sense to go after Isshin. The reason this theory is hard to consider is due to the relationship shown between Isshin and his subordinates, and not even a mention of any interactions makes the situation questionable.
It could be that Bleach creator Tite Kubo contradicted his story by not integrating this point earlier and ignored possible plot holes. But with the in-universe evidence presented, it is certainly possible Isshin was able to keep his identity secret all the way until the conclusion.
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