Getsuga Tenshō

Getsuga Tenshō, the crescent slash most associated with Ichigo Kurosaki, is a Zanpakutō technique shared by his Zangetsu and his father Isshin's Engetsu. It sends a wave of condensed spiritual energy flying from the sword, and across the course of Ichigo's growth it branches into a wide array of stronger and specialized forms.

The instant a slash lands, the blade draws in and compresses the wielder's Reiatsu, then discharges it from the tip so that the cut itself is magnified and launched forward in the shape of a crescent moon or wave. Ichigo first loosed it without knowing what it was, mastering it only during his Bankai training, and as Zangetsu explained, naming an attack sharpens its strength. The energy can be shaped many ways, from an omnidirectional burst driven into the ground to a landscape-upturning sweep. Isshin's take is a shorter-ranged variant that laces the slash with fire, potent enough to gouge Aizen's head and crater a wide stretch of the fake town.

The core wielders are Ichigo Kurosaki, his father Isshin, and the Zanpakutō spirit Zangetsu, from whom the black-hued Bankai variant originates. Kūgo Ginjō also gained the ability after absorbing the remnants of Ichigo's Fullbring. Ichigo's own repertoire branches into forms such as the golden true-Shikai and true-Bankai blasts, the cross-shaped Getsuga Jūjishō, and the power-consuming final technique Saigo no Getsuga Tenshō, which closes with Mugetsu and the loss of his Shinigami powers.