The Quincy invading army in Bleach has a few tricks up their sleeves.

The Soul Reapers are a formidable military, but the Wandenreich has proved that they can take down even Captains in the Soul Society. One of those techniques is Blut — an internal power-up accessible only by Quincies.

Two forms of Blut exist — Blut Vene and Blut Arterie. Vene boosts the user’s defense, while Arterie increases attack power.

While pure-blooded Quincies naturally acquire Blut, mixed-blooded Quincies have to train to obtain Blut.

Blut Vene

Bleach Thousand Year Blod War anime Sternritter
Credit: Pierrot

Blut Vene, translated as Calm Blood Dress, is the defensive form of the technique, which manifests as blue, blocky, and angular lines that shine through the surface of the skin when struck by an attack.

In Bleach, Blut Vene has been shown to successfully block attacks, and even stop the bleeding from wounds.

Apparently, this defensive technique is so powerful that it can even negate blows from a Soul Reaper’s Bankai.

Yhwach has an alternate form of this technique, named the Blut Vene Anhaben. Extending the Vene outside his body and consuming almost everything in his path, he’s then able to generate a force field that can block incoming attacks.

Blut Arterie

Blut Arterie, translated as Active Blood Dress, grants the user attack power. According to Quilge Opie, it’s the only way to ensure that a Quincy’s non-Schrift attack can successfully affect a Bankai-wielding Soul Reaper.

Blut Arterie doesn’t have a visible form.

Blut weakness

Blut is a powerful technique that gives straight boosts to its users, but there are some downsides.

A major flaw of Blut is that both techniques cannot be used at the same time, limiting the user to focus fully on one or the other. This means that increasing your offense leaves a Quincy vulnerable, but going on the defensive means that attacks simply won’t affect opponents.

Yhwach can also adjust the strength of Blut for the Wandenreich under his control, according to Quilge Opie. This likely means it can be strengthened, but also taken away — which seems in line with Yhwach’s personality and powerset.

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