Jiūkǔndao

A Jiūkǔndao (阄捆刀, "Fate-Rending Sword") is the signature weapon of the and Sōzōshin that served the Balancers of Souls. It is the weapon that preceded the. The art of wielding a Jiūkǔndao, like its successor, is (斬術, swordsmanship).

Overview
They are said to have been forged by the.

The trademark weapon of the Balancers. It is capable of cutting spiritual bodies, and is one of the few weapons which can be used to combat s. Every Balancer carries a Jiūkǔndao, and each one is unique: they are physical manifestations of fate molded into the form of a blade. A Jiūkǔndao's shape and abilities are based upon the fate of the wielder, particularly the moment that brought them to, the moment they died as s.

The power of a Jiūkǔndao is remarkable, as "fate" is said to stand on a higher plane than spirits, the blades are physically unbreakable, though they can be damaged and there are ways to render them unusable if only temporarily. Jiūkǔndao are capable of harming, and even killing the of.

Every Jiūkǔndao has its own name which must be learned before its wielder can access its full power. The form it takes varies between users with no two Jiūkǔndao being the same, though -style weapons are more common than other types. The weapons are semi-sentient and can only be wielded by the one that the blade was created for, outside of specific circumstances, they will also naturally seek out their wielder through various means. Jiūkǔndao have their own source of which can be sensed by others, the weapons can amplify their Reiryoku like a beacon should they become lost in order for their wielder to find them. Others have reported their blades "whispering" to them and some have even emitted auras of.

Powers

 * Konsō (魂葬, Soul Burial): the process by which a Shinigami sends wandering s in the living world to their respective place. Either if they are good in life, or to  if their life was full of evil acts (such as murders, theft, etc). Konsō is performed by using the pommel of the Jiūkǔndao to tap the head of the soul, thereby transporting them to the afterlife.
 * Shōka (昇華, Sublimation): When a Hollow is dealt a fatal wound by a Jiūkǔndao, it is cleansed of the sins it had committed as a Hollow, and is led into Soul Society. Souls that live in Soul Society are reborn again in the Human World.
 * Transference: Though frowned upon amongst the Balancers of Souls, its wielders are capable of imprinting the spiritual energy of another into the blade causing it to recognize them as its wielder.
 * Unique Powers: Like Zanpakutō, each Jiūkǔndao has access to a power specific to each wielder. This power is an interpretation of their last moments, a manifestation of their fate as Humans. Though many deaths are common, the way a Jiūkǔndao interprets that event are rarely the same, as such one who was struck by lightning may be granted the ability to generate and manipulate lightning or they might be granted the power to liquify flesh, a representation of the damage that high-intensity lightning can cause. While Zanpakutō limit their wielders access to their power through the use of, the Jiūkǔndao do not, allowing their users free access at all times, as such they could be considered a parallel to the rare constant release-type Zanpakutō.

Shìfàng
Though Jiūkǔndao allow constant access to their powers, they too have a release form, considered an equal to. This release form is known as Shìfàng (釋放, "Release"). It is the truest expression of a Jiūkǔndao and is many magnitudes more powerful than when unreleased. At its lowest point, the release of a Jiūkǔndao is said to grant its wielder power ten times greater than what they had before and even greater for those on a higher level. In order to utilize Shìfàng the wielder must recite the phrase "Oh Ye Manifestation of Fate, Shìfàng!".

The one weakness of using Shìfàng is that it requires the wielder to be "close to their fate" in order for it to awaken. This means that the user must be heavily wounded and in critical condition for Shìfàng to work, as such, it is rare that a wielder will utilize this power more than once in their life time.