The other factions

[Entenie]

Couldn't find if there is a topic about this already, so forgive me if there already is.

With the opening of episode 60 telling about the position of Central 46 as the supreme governing board.
It also mentioned that the Gotei 13 is to abide by its orders.
Then Hitsugaya-taichou tells that even the military forces and special forces follows the orders.
Now I'm wondering what the role of these special and military forces are and wich of the three are the strongest.

Then it shows the three crests, one of them is distinctly for the Gotei 13. The other one looks like the crest of the Shihouin house, so I figured this belongs to the military force as Yoruichi was supposed to be its supreme commander.
So I'm guessing the other one belongs to the special forces.
These are the crests I'm talking about
http://www.bleachportal.net/gallery/images/Bleach%2060/Bleach%2060_020.jpg
Does any of you have more info on these factions?

[animalistic]

i have no idea, but im guessin that in the military forces they are huge in number, but in the special forces there are less ppl but stronger, but thats all just a guess :p

[Entenie]

So I checked the manga again and strolled down some other bleachforums and come up with the following.
Shihouhin Yoruichi was the Tenshi Heisouban (princess of Shihouhin).
This made her commander of the Onmitsu Kidou (Covert Ops Brigade), which is now run by Soi Fon.
The Onmitsu Kidou consist of five teams/divisions, The Keigun division (Executioners division) being the number one division.
The job of Onmitsu Kidou is to shadow corrupt officials and eventually turn them in. The Keigun division however is also allowed to track spying Hollows and assasinate/execution them immediately.
Clearly the Onmitsu Kidou failed to suspect Aizen an Ichimaru.
So the crest matching the one of Shihouhins house, is supposedly the crest of the Onmitsu Kidou.

This forum (http://www.bleachforums.com/printthread.php?t=4630&pp=40) also mentioned there is an Kidoushuu (Demon arts brigade), but I don't know in which episodes the Kidoushuu is talked about.
Does anyone have any clue

[Injektilo]

If I was to have a guess I'd say that it went like this:

1st Division = In charge of all of the military forces, even including the Special Ops and suchlike. The Supreme Commander.

2nd Division = In charge of the... uh... Ninja Squads.

3rd Division = Some kind of Secret Police, it makes sense numerically that 1st to 5th would have special duties and Ichimaru is the devious bastard sort.

4th Division = Healing and supplies.

5th Division = Kidoh specialists is my guess, Hinamori is known as a master of Kidoh, and the same would apply to Aizen and Kira I'd guess (Both of whom were at one point in 5th).

My guess is that the special forces people are just Shinigami with specialised capabilities and that whilst they have their own command structure, they are still fundamentally under the command of Yamamoto above all others. The reason for my reckoning is because whilst Soi Fong would theoretically be his equal in rank being head of another military branch, she stands amongst the other Captains whilst the old guy sits on his chair.

This is all just theory and speculation, and I'd actually reckon that all the squads have a special duty that mostly haven't been revealed yet.

[jonat3]

The onmitsu kidou and the kidoushuu are seperate from the gotei 13. Soi Fong merely holds two positions at once. The onmitu kidou is not part of the 2nd division.

The onmitsu kidou possesses 5 divisions, the first and most important being the keigun brigade. They punish and/or assasinate former comrades that broke the law or act as scouts during battles with hollows.
The 5th division of the onmitsu kidou are responsible for communications. These guys were used to notify all the captains that Aizen died.

[Entenie]

I also go with jonat3. I also think the other two are seperate enteties.
Ya also kind off confirmed what I wrote earlier.
So theoretically speaking, Soi Fong has the authority to arrest Yamamoto taicho, if Central 46 wished for it.

As for the sitting on the chair thing. If we look back on Soi Fong memories, we also see a Tenshi Heisouban (ie Yoruichi) sitting on a chair/seat. Come to think of it, was Yoruichi even in the Gotei 13.

But why do you think the Onmitsu Kidou 5th division is responsible for the communications. Is it because the ninja outfit? And why do you say the 5th and not the 4th division, for instance?

For what its worth, the jobprescriptions Injektilo mentioned sounds nice.

[jonat3]

I also go with jonat3. I also think the other two are seperate enteties.
Ya also kind off confirmed what I wrote earlier.
So theoretically speaking, Soi Fong has the authority to arrest Yamamoto taicho, if Central 46 wished for it.

As for the sitting on the chair thing. If we look back on Soi Fong memories, we also see a Tenshi Heisouban (ie Yoruichi) sitting on a chair/seat. Come to think of it, was Yoruichi even in the Gotei 13.

But why do you think the Onmitsu Kidou 5th division is responsible for the communications. Is it because the ninja outfit? And why do you say the 5th and not the 4th division, for instance?

For what its worth, the jobprescriptions Injektilo mentioned sounds nice.

The 5th division of onmitsu kidou became known when a guy from that division notified Shunsui of Aizen's death. This was right after Shunsui beat Chad. The rank and position of this guy was revealed there. This same guy proceeded to notify the other captains and VC of Aizen's death.

[Entenie]

Ah I see, thanx. Just checked the anime ep. but couldn't follow due to the subs. So I will check the manga later on (need to download the eps again, unfortunately bleach msn group doesn't have these eps.)
Guess its better 4 me to learn Japanese eh.

Well now that the Onmitsu Kidou is cleared (more or less), the one that is left are the Kidoushuu.
Whats the use of them, except that they are masters at demon arts.

BTW found some interesting info about the Onmitsu in Japanese history
http://www.ninpo.org/ninpohistory/ninpohistory3terms.htm
So to compare, the Gotei 13 would be a Samurai-like unit and the Onmitsu a Ninja-like unit.

[jonat3]

Nothing is known about the kidoushuu. We have never seen a member from that branch. We have only heard through speech that they exist. Because so little is known about the kidoushuu, i find it likely that one of the 2 unknown noble families leads it.

[JamesThePhox]

The other crest is a Police Force. I'm guessing they control what happens in the slums of Soul Society, spotting for disturbances or potential Shinigami.

However I cannot confirm this, since they don't mention what they do in it. Also I don't think they've shown anyone with that symbol (however, I think that Symbol is awesome). There are probably multiple Divisions and what not. But it's interesting. They have a Force that is used in Military/Earth Issues (on Earth it'd be the army). Force used as like a Spy agency (CIA). And a Force for domestic issues (Police Force). Eh eh?

[Entenie]

The other crest is a Police Force. I'm guessing they control what happens in the slums of Soul Society, spotting for disturbances or potential Shinigami.

However I cannot confirm this, since they don't mention what they do in it. Also I don't think they've shown anyone with that symbol (however, I think that Symbol is awesome). There are probably multiple Divisions and what not. But it's interesting. They have a Force that is used in Military/Earth Issues (on Earth it'd be the army). Force used as like a Spy agency (CIA). And a Force for domestic issues (Police Force). Eh eh?
That's an interesting theory you got there. I too thought the Onmitsu as an CIA-like organisation.
The Kidoushou symbol is indeed awesome, it really looks demon like, with the two horns and pointy chin.
However to say that they would be like a normal police organisation I dunno.
I expect them to be more than that. Perhaps something more FBI like.
But hey this speculating is fun, anyone more ideas.

Anyway I collected all the info out there and made this li'l guide about the Onmitsu Kidou for some complete in dept information.
Hey perhaps its even worth to put on bleachportal.net. Hope ya'll find it usefull.

Bleach Onmitsu Kidou Guide

Onmitsu Kidou (Covert Ops)
The Onmitsu Kidou is the name given to the 5 divisions of Covert Operations in Soul Society. The Onmitsu Kidou duties consist of several tasks within Soul Society. They sometimes assist the Gotei 13 in their duties. The Covert Ops generally stay within Soul Society.

Like the Gotei 13 the Onmitsu Kidou divisions has a Captain and Vice Captain. It is yet to be revealed what the prerequisites are to become a Captain of the Covert Ops. The overall decisions are made by the Supreme Commander of the Onmitsu Kidou.

All members wear black ninja outfits, with their faces masked. Only the Supreme Commander and the members of the 5th division wear different outfits, also their face is not fully masked.

The main duties of the Covert Ops are
+ Spy and arrest corrupt officials or report them to Central 46
+ Track and punish/assassinate rogue Shinigami or Hollow spies
+ Deliver Priority 1 Urgent messages to the Gotei 13 Captains

The Supreme Commander
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/8641/tenshi1yh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6861/soifon1ez.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
For over 22 generations the Onmitsu Kidou was ruled by the Tenshi Heisouban. This person was the prince/princess of the great noble House of Shihouin. Due to her powerful skills Shihouin Yoruichi was the first female ever to be granted this title. However when Yoruichi was banished from Soul Society, a non-noble for the first time became the Supreme Commander. This person is Yuroichi former apprentice Soi Fon, who is currently also the captain of the 2nd Division of the Gotei 13.
The Supreme Commander is also the direct Commander of the Onmitsu 1st Division, the Keigun or Executor Division

1st Division / Keigun
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7111/bleach561145cu.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Led by the Supreme Commander and is the strongest Division of the Covert Ops. This unit has the authority to track down and prosecute rogue Shinigami. They also hunt down Hollow spies and assassinate them on the spot.
The Keigun mainly consist of members of the House of Fon. Every member of the Fon clan must become part of the Keigun or they will be banished from the clan.

2nd Division – 4th Division
Not much is known about these Divisions, except that their main task consists of shadowing corrupt officials within the Seireitei.

5th Division / Communications
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3235/communications7rq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Their task as well as their uniform differs from the other Divisions. Their duties are to deliver urgent messages, which are Priority 1 Class, to the Captains of the other Divisions as well to the Captains of the Gotei 13.

[AznPoi]

Maybe Kubo made three different divisions so he could make the possibility that some random dude from one of these division is even stronger than Yama-jii to give it some plot twist. So it could be that the Gotei might be the weakest being that they are introduced first. As we learn more about other divisions, Kubo like I said before might use them to introduce some random strong ass guy.

[Entenie]

Here's a funny thought.
What if these guys are part of the Kidoushou (Demon Art Brigade)
http://www.bleachportal.net/gallery/images2/Bleach%2054/Bleach%2054_059.jpg

[jonat3]

Two things that must be noted. Onmitsu kidou doesn't have a captain and a VC as fas as i know. Only a supreme commander.

The other is that Soi Fong belongs to a minor noble family.