Kidō

is one of the four basic Shinigami combat forms, at least according to Captain Sōsuke Aizen.

Kidō is the technique that Shinigami use to focus their magical power into spells of various powers. These spells serve a wide variety of uses such as healing, defense, or combat.

These spells are graded on a scale of 1 to 99, the latter being the most powerful and the most difficult to perform. In order to use kidō one must say the incantation and state the name of the spell and it's number. For someone skilled enough in kidō, the incantation is not necessary. There are two main types of kido: binding art and destruction art. Binding art can be used to heal, defend, or restrain whereas destruction art is used to inflict damage.

Binding(縛道, bakudō, literally "way of binding") Spells
1. Restrain (塞, Sai)— Locks a target's arms in place behind their back. Incantation: Unknown/none.

4. Crawling Rope (這縄, hainawa)— An energy rope entangles a target's arms. Incantation: Unknown/none.

9. Strike (撃, geki)— Engulfs a target in red light, completely paralyzing them. Incantation: Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat!

58. Summoning of the Tracking Sparrows (摑趾追雀, kakushitsuijaku)— Tracks and locates any spiritual force the user focuses on. To activate it, the user must draw a circle on the ground, cut into four parts with a specific character in each. The incantation animates the circle, causing various numbers to appear within until the specific set is found. The number set seems to be a variation on longitude and latitude. Incantation: Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain.

61. Six Rods Prison of Light (六杖光牢, rikujōkōrō)— Summons six thin, but wide, beams of light that slam into a target's midsection, holding them in place. Incantation: Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six!

63. Locking Bondage Stripes (鎖条鎖縛, sajo sabaku)— Binds the arms of a target. According to Hachigen Ushōda, physical strength alone should not be enough to brake level 60 Bakudō, however Kensei Muguruma was able to free himself from this kidō while in his hollow form. Incantation: Unknown/none.

75. Quintet of 1 kan Iron Pillars (五柱鉄貫, gochūtekkan)— Summons five incredibly tall and thick pillars to pin a target to the ground. Incantation: Walls of ironsand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, silent to the end.

77. Heavenly Rickshaws in Silken Air (天挺空羅, tenteikūra)— Transmits messages to anyone within Soul Society. In addition to reciting the spell, the user must draw specific markings on their arms, which are animated by the spell to convey the messages. Incantation: Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts. Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly though the heavens.

81. Splitting Void (斷空, danku)— Creates an energy barrier in the form of a rectangular wall. According to Byakuya, it is capable of stopping destructive spells up to #89. Incantation: Unknown/none.

99, Part 1. Seal (禁, kin) — Binds the arms of a target with spiritual fabric and iron shafts. Incantation: Unknown/none.

99, Part 2. Great seal (卍禁, bankin)— This spell covers a target from head to toe with spiritual fabric (first song), stabs them with numerous metal blades (second song), and then smashes them with an immense metal cube (final song). Incantation: First song: Halting Fabric. Second song: hundred linked bolts. Final song: Great seal of 10,000 forbiddings

Destructive (破道, hadō, literally "way of destruction") Spells
1. Thrust (衝, shō)— Pushes the target away from the caster. Incantation: Unknown/none.

4. White Lightning (白雷, byakurai)— Fires a concentrated bolt of lightning from the caster's forefinger. Incantation: Unknown/none.

31. Shot of Red Fire (赤火砲, shakkahō)— Fires a ball of red energy at a target. Incantation: Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bares the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!

33. Blue Fire, Crash Down (蒼火墜, sōkatsui)— Fires a burst of blue spiritual energy at a target in a similar manner to 31, but over a wider area and with more power. Incantation: Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bares the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws.

54. Abolishing Flames (廃炎, haien)— Fires a blast of purple spiritual energy that will incinerate a target completely when it makes contact. Incantation: Unknown/none.

63. Thunder Roar Cannon (雷吼炮, raikōhō)— Fires a massive wave of yellow energy at a target. Incantation: Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!

73. Twin Lotus Blue Fire, Crash Down (双蓮蒼火墜, sōren sōkatsui?)— Essentially a doubled version of #33, this spell fires two shots of blue fire with greater potency than the single-shot variety. Incantation: Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bares the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens.

88. Hidden Azure Dragon's Lightning Wave (飛竜撃賊震天雷砲, hiryuu gekizoukuu shinten raihou)— Fires a gigantic blast of spiritual energy resulting in a truly enormous explosion. Incantation: Unknown/none.

90. Black Coffin (黒棺, kurohitsugi)— Forms a box of black energy around a target, which is then pierced by dozens of energy "spears", lacerating the one inside from head to toe. Its appearance and function is reminiscent of a common magician's trick, as well as certain torture devices used during the Spanish Inquisition. Incantation: Unknown/none.

Other
These spells are not explicitly stated to be in one category or the other.


 * White Crawl (白伏, hakufuku)— Momo Hinamori uses this spell while imprisoned to knock out a guard and destroy everything within a certain radius of herself. The anime suggests that it is a binding spell, but doesn't number it.


 * Mirror Door (鏡門, kyōmon)— Tōshirō Hitsugaya used this to seal Momo Hinamori's hospital room. It creates a glass-like barrier which is difficult to break from the outside, but quite simple to break from the inside.


 * Reverse Demon (反鬼, hanki)— This technique nullifies an opponent's kidō by hitting them with a perfectly opposite surge of energy. Yoruichi uses this against Soifon's shunkō.


 * Kidō Cannon (鬼道砲, Kidōhō)— As the name suggests, the Kidō Cannon is basically a high-intensity energy weapon powered by kidō in Bleach: Memories of Nobody. It consists of a crystalline focus point attached to the top of a massive pole, with several smaller crystal structures circling up towards the main one. It is powered by hundreds of shinigami working in concert, creating an energy blast capable of obliterating a small dimension. The blast forms into several animal shapes which roar just before contact. The power of the blast is such that, in addition to destroying its target, it also causes a small amount of damage to both the human world and Soul Society. Despite its power, it is not a reusable weapon, as it burns into a pile of scrap after being fired.