Recaps

After Captain-Commander Yamamoto fell, Gin Ichimaru was released from his shackles and headed to the Soul King Palace to join the battle. At the Phoenix Palace, Ōetsu Nimaiya killed several Sternritter with Sayafushi, but Mask revived and overwhelmed him with a powerful attack.

• Tokoyo Misao released Ryūjin Jakka to follow Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, and Soul Reapers across Soul Society sensed the Captain-Commander's death.
• Rangiku Matsumoto unlocked Gin Ichimaru's shackles, and Gin raced toward the Soul King Palace while Akon confirmed that they had been opened.
• Ōetsu Nimaiya fought Gerard Valkyrie, Askin Nakk Le Vaar, PePe Waccabrada, Mask de Masculine, and James, killing Gerard, PePe, and Askin with Sayafushi.
• James's cheers revived Mask, who reattached his severed arm and struck Ōetsu Nimaiya with powerful shock waves.
• Mask transformed after Ōetsu Nimaiya cut down James, then unleashed Star Flash: Superstar, which engulfed Ōetsu Nimaiya in an explosion.

The Visored arrived to help Ōetsu Nimaiya, but Mask overwhelmed most of them before Shinji Hirako killed him with Sakanade. The Sternritter revived, and PePe Waccabrada and Gerard began threatening the surviving Soul Reapers as Ōetsu considered the cost of Squad Zero using its full strength.

• Shinji Hirako and the Visored joined the battle and attacked Mask with Cero, but Mask’s Star Flash knocked most of them from the sky.
• Kensei Muguruma and Love Aikawa attacked Mask, but he crushed Kensei and struck Love down.
• Shinji Hirako used Sakanade coated with Hollow power to stab and kill Mask, causing the cheering Jameses to vanish.
• The supposedly dead Sternritter revived, while PePe Waccabrada struck Shinji Hirako with arrows and sent him falling.
• Gerard approached the injured Ōetsu Nimaiya and said that The Miracle would let the Sternritter defeat Squad Zero and kill its leader.
• Ōetsu realized that Squad Zero members other than Ichibē could use their full power only if the other three members died.

The Soul Reapers and Espada arrived in the Riden and faced Gerard, Askin, and PePe. While Sajin Komamura attacked Gerard with Bankai, Zommari defeated PePe and took control of Askin.

• Ōetsu Nimaiya killed himself with Sayafushi as Gerard watched, and Soul Reapers and Espada arrived in the Riden.
• Askin counted the fighters and worried about being outnumbered, while Gerard welcomed the disadvantage and challenged them to attack.
• Sajin Komamura activated Bankai and repeatedly struck Gerard, who blocked the blows and celebrated his disadvantage.
• PePe and Zommari clashed over their ideas of love, and Zommari used his control ability to twist PePe's body until he died.
• Zommari marked Askin with his ability and forced him to choke himself, while Askin pleaded to change his hairstyle.

Askin adapted to Zommari’s Hōgyoku transformation and trapped him in poison while Gerard fought Sajin Komamura and then faced Yammy. Yammy revealed his true Espada rank as zero and crushed Gerard, though the battle’s outcome remained uncertain.

• Zommari transformed into his Hōgyoku form, but Askin adapted to his control and poisoned him inside a purple sphere.
• Gerard wounded Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō and Sajin Komamura, knocking them both down.
• Ulquiorra sent Yammy to fight Gerard while Szayelaporro examined Askin’s poison sphere.
• Yammy blasted Gerard with repeated Bala, but Gerard healed and grew into a giant.
• Yammy released Ira, revealed that the Espada were ranked from zero to nine, and crushed Gerard with a single punch.

Gerard repeatedly revived through The Miracle, growing powerful enough to defeat Yammy and withstand the Soul Reapers’ attacks. Byakuya and Renji fell, Tōshirō struggled to evade Gerard, and Gerard finally turned his attention to the still-standing Ulquiorra.

• Gerard revived after Yammy’s attacks, grew to Yammy’s size, cut off Yammy’s arm, and pierced his chest with a Heilig Pfeil.
• Byakuya Kuchiki, Tōshirō, and Renji attacked Gerard with their Bankai, but Gerard broke free and survived their combined assault.
• Gerard struck Renji with a Heilig Pfeil; Byakuya shielded him, and both Soul Reapers fell unconscious toward Soul Society.
• Tōshirō evaded Gerard’s attacks and drew his attention away by reminding him that Ulquiorra was still present.
• Gerard stopped chasing Tōshirō and turned toward Ulquiorra.

Yammy transformed and defeated Gerard, but Gin Ichimaru destroyed the emblem that let Gerard revive. Gin then fought Ulquiorra alongside Tōshirō, who was left weakened as his final ice flower petal began to crack; Ulquiorra questioned whether Gin was as strong as he expected.

• Yammy transformed and overpowered Gerard, reducing him to ash before Gerard revived as the Giant of Light and defeated Yammy.
• Gin Ichimaru struck Gerard and Ulquiorra with Kamishini no Yari, destroying Gerard’s emblem and killing him, while Ulquiorra survived because the blade passed through his Hollow Hole.
• Gin and Ulquiorra resumed their fight, and Tōshirō joined in but was knocked into Riden with a broken left arm.
• Tōshirō asked Gin to hold Ulquiorra off, and Gin used Kamishini no Yari’s speed to keep Ulquiorra at bay.
• Ulquiorra questioned Gin’s strength, and Gin replied that Ulquiorra might simply be too strong.

Tōshirō and Gin fought Ulquiorra, who revealed his Segunda Etapa and overwhelmed Tōshirō with his superior Reiatsu. Gin poisoned Ulquiorra with Kamishini no Yari, but Ulquiorra began a new transformation as he declared that Gin would still fail.

• Gin used Kamishini no Yari to break apart Ulquiorra’s King’s Cero while Ulquiorra wounded Gin, and adult Tōshirō arrived to take over the fight.
• Tōshirō froze Ulquiorra’s legs, but Ulquiorra broke free by releasing his Segunda Etapa and injured Tōshirō with a Lanza del Relámpago.
• Ulquiorra charged a spatially locked Black Cero, but Tōshirō froze him within the four-step range of Shikai Hyōketsu.
• Ulquiorra’s Black Cero exploded, gravely injuring both fighters, and Gin pierced Ulquiorra’s head with Kamishini no Yari before revealing that its poison was intended for Aizen.
• As the poison overcame his High-Speed Regeneration, Ulquiorra declared Gin would still fail and transformed again, with white hair and green-flamed horns.

Ulquiorra fought Askin after transforming into his Hōgyoku form, while Szayelaporro examined the poison sphere and Nemu watched from hiding. Ulquiorra overcame Askin’s adaptation by changing the nature of his Reiatsu and struck him with a new Hōgyoku Cero.

• Ulquiorra’s black lightning pierced Gin Ichimaru’s chest, and Gin died thinking of Rangiku and apologizing for not being strong enough.
• Rangiku caught Gin’s falling body, carried him to the Tenth Division’s courtyard, and sent the division members out to rescue the wounded.
• Szayelaporro destroyed the poison sphere and found Zommari dead inside, while Askin asked to surrender and Ulquiorra identified him as a threat.
• Askin used The Deathdealing to adapt to Ulquiorra’s Reiatsu, but Ulquiorra explained the ability’s limits and changed his Reiatsu’s nature.
• Ulquiorra fired a Hōgyoku Cero through Askin’s chest, filling the wound and Askin’s mouth with black smoke.

Askin defeated Ulquiorra and Szayelaporro, but Mayuri appeared and injected him with Tokoyo Misao’s power of Hell, causing Askin to fall. At the Gatonden, Kirio Hikifune trapped Giselle, Bambietta, Liltotto, Meninas McAllon, and Candice in the Cage of Life, and the Bambies debated how to escape without wasting their limited reishi.

• Askin explained that he had lowered Ulquiorra’s tolerance to Quincy power, then defeated Szayelaporro despite his immunity to poison.
• Nemu tried to take the injured Ulquiorra, but Mayuri arrived and declared the Arrancar and Askin his spoils.
• Askin stabbed Mayuri, who injected him with Tokoyo Misao’s power of Hell; Askin collapsed as his poison balls exploded and turned Mayuri to ash.
• Giselle, Bambietta, Liltotto, Meninas McAllon, and Candice confronted Kirio Hikifune at the Gatonden.
• Kirio trapped the Bambies in her Cage of Life, which absorbed their spiritual attacks and rapidly healed.
• Candice prepared to attack, but Giselle warned that the cage held too little reishi for them to waste it recklessly.

Kirio Hikifune defeated the Bambies’ assault, though Liltotto died after consuming too much of Hikifune’s spiritual energy before Giselle revived her as a zombie. As the Soul Reapers and Arrancar gathered in the Riden, Hikifune warned that Unohana was not suited to fight because of her pregnancy.

• Candice, Bambietta, and Liltotto attacked Kirio Hikifune, but Hikifune’s body absorbed and withstood their assaults.
• Liltotto devoured Hikifune’s spiritual energy until she exploded, and Hikifune restored the scattered remains before declaring her dead.
• Giselle turned Liltotto into a zombie, while Bambietta and Meninas argued over the choice.
• Tier Harribel and Nelliel arrived, followed by Retsu Unohana, Soi Fon, and Ōmaeda.
• Hikifune warned Unohana against fighting, and Soi Fon kicked Ōmaeda away to help below.

Unohana and Kirio Hikifune turned a tense standoff with the Bambies and Arrancar into a meal, but the groups ultimately chose to resume fighting. Kirio was left depleted, and the Soul Reapers faced an unfavorable battle with Unohana still pregnant.

• The women questioned Unohana about her pregnancy, and the Bambies agreed not to attack her until Giselle grew hostile over the possibility that the child’s father had been a Soul Reaper.
• Unohana offered tea, while Kirio Hikifune cooked spiritual food and persuaded the gathered women to eat together.
• Unohana drank Kirio’s soup and ate sixteen pots of food, while the Bambies and Arrancar joined her and Soi Fon eventually stopped eating.
• The others noticed Kirio had shrunk to a child after exhausting her stored spiritual energy, much of which had nourished Unohana’s fetus.
• Giselle reminded the Bambies that their fight still had to continue, and the Bambies and Arrancar stepped forward to battle as Soi Fon retreated and concealed herself.

Tokoyo Misao confronted Aizen’s Transcendent form and argued that coolness was the proper direction for evolution. After both unleashed powerful Kidō, Misao trapped Aizen in a seemingly boundless dark space, while Unohana’s overwhelming Reiatsu had already forced Harribel and Nelliel to surrender.

• Unohana’s unborn child’s heartbeat preceded a surge of bloody Reiatsu that knocked out the Bambies and overwhelmed Harribel and Nelliel.
• Harribel surrendered and discarded Tiburón, and Nelliel laid down her weapon, so Unohana withdrew her Reiatsu.
• Tokoyo Misao challenged Aizen’s moth-like evolved form, calling it a distortion rather than true evolution.
• Aizen combined Hadō #90 and Hadō #91 against Misao, who answered with a modified Black Coffin that trapped Aizen in darkness.
• Aizen tried to break out by spreading his Reiatsu but found no boundary, while Misao endured the attack by releasing his restraints and drawing on Hell’s power.

Tokoyo Misao fused with Causal Principle to absorb the power of Hell, then defeated Aizen and helped Kisuke Urahara seal him. As Tokoyo and Kisuke discussed the young people they had protected, a strange black Reiatsu erupted from the Spirit King Palace.

• Tokoyo Misao fused with Causal Principle, combining the power of Eternal Eyes with the power of Hell and restoring his inner world.
• Tokoyo Misao broke free of Aizen's attacks, severed his wings, and weakened him enough for Kisuke Urahara's trap inside the Hōgyoku to bind him.
• Tokoyo Misao told Kisuke Urahara to take Aizen to Muken before Yhwach could cause trouble.
• Tokoyo Misao and Kisuke Urahara discussed Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Inoue, agreeing that children should be allowed to be children.
• A strange black Reiatsu surged from the Spirit King Palace, and Kisuke Urahara shouted to Tokoyo Misao.

Tokoyo Misao confronted Yhwach after Orihime accidentally broke the Soul King's seal and Yhwach absorbed its remains. Misao defeated and sealed Yhwach, then helped Urahara and Tessai prepare a device to make him the new wedge stabilizing the Three Worlds.

• Urahara asked Mayuri to help secure Aizen in Muken, and Tessai carried Aizen there while Urahara returned to the Research and Development Institute.
• Orihime told Misao that her Twin Heaven Slash had struck and broken the Soul King's seal, and Misao sent her to Soul Society with the injured Ichigo.
• Yhwach explained that he planned to return the Three Worlds to chaos, while Misao questioned whether Yhwach could overcome Hell and challenged his claim to godhood.
• Misao revealed that Yhwach had absorbed only a fraction of the Soul King, broke his Reishi sword, and sealed him inside a modified Black Coffin Spirit-Sealing Pivot.
• Misao told Urahara that Yhwach had to become the new wedge, and Urahara and Tessai brought their machinery to the palace and placed the coffin inside it.

Tokoyo Misao and Unohana entered the postwar captains' meeting, where Shunsui Kyōraku was chosen as Captain-Commander and began addressing the Soul Society's recovery. The meeting ended with plans to limit the Royal Guard, preserve the Three Worlds' balance, and send five surviving Arrancar back to Hueco Mundo.

• Shunsui Kyōraku, Soi Fon, Byakuya Kuchiki, and other Soul Society members congratulated Tokoyo Misao on Unohana's pregnancy, while Byakuya insisted Rukia's child should be the eldest heir.
• Tokoyo Misao promised that Unohana's child would inherit his estate, and Unohana accepted his support as they entered the captains' meeting together.
• Tokoyo Misao proposed Shunsui Kyōraku as Captain-Commander, and the captains voted in agreement after Tokoyo declined the position.
• Shunsui Kyōraku told the Royal Guard that their immortality would end and that the Soul King Palace would be sealed; Ōetsu Nimaiya agreed to move the Guard's quarters to Noble Street and stay out of Soul Society's governance.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi reported that the Three Worlds remained balanced as long as the captured Arrancar survived, so Shunsui ordered Starrk, Tier Harribel, Ulquiorra, Nelliel, and Grimmjow returned to Hueco Mundo.

Tokoyo Misao and the captains arranged Soul Society’s postwar leadership and recovery, while Rukia took charge of the Tenth Division. Meanwhile, souls arriving from the World of the Living were welcomed into new residential complexes, and Ōmaeda helped distribute sweets to the children.

• Shunsui Kyōraku led the captains in planning funerals and filling vacant posts, approving Kaien Shiba for the Thirteenth Division and Lisa for the Eighth Division, while Love Aikawa and Kensei Muguruma were considered for the Seventh.
• Tokoyo Misao comforted Rangiku Matsumoto, who revealed that Rukia was handling the Tenth Division’s affairs before taking his wallet and leaving for a drink.
• Tokoyo Misao found Rukia efficiently processing documents in the captain’s office and offered her chocolate osmanthus cakes before asking her to have a baby.
• Soul Reapers welcomed souls from the outer districts into the first thirty districts and assigned them rooms in the Happiness Residential Complex.
• Shūhei Hisagi explained to Ōmaeda why Tokoyo Misao had created comfortable housing for souls awaiting reincarnation, and Ōmaeda gave sweets to children before ordering more from Junrinan.

At Tokoyo Misao and Rukia Kuchiki’s wedding, Shunsui Kyōraku and the guests celebrated amid reforms that had improved life in Rukongai. The chapter then shifted to the World of the Living Chamber of Commerce, where Misao confronted Orihime Inoue over her poor mock-exam score, and Sora tried to defend her.

• Shunsui Kyōraku and Nanao Ise traveled through Junrinan and discussed how the new rules had improved conditions and reincarnation arrangements in Rukongai.
• Shunsui Kyōraku joined Rangiku Matsumoto and other guests at the wedding, where Nanao Ise drank too much and passed out against him.
• Byakuya Kuchiki gave Rukia’s hand to Tokoyo Misao, and Renji Abarai, Orihime, and Byakuya performed a celebratory display before the couple greeted their guests.
• At the World of the Living Chamber of Commerce, Tokoyo Misao reprimanded Orihime Inoue for earning a D on her mock exam, while Ichigo Kurosaki apologized and Sora Inoue tried to defend her.

Tokoyo Misao confronted Orihime about her declining grades and helped her commit to studying for college, then discussed Soul Society’s changes with the Kurosaki family. At the Division Funeral Ceremony, Misao learned that captain-level Soul Reapers were sent to Hell to preserve reincarnation and watched the gate in the sky grow larger.

• Tokoyo Misao questioned Orihime about her future, and she chose to attend college and began studying in the secret base.
• Ichigo Kurosaki promised to study as well, while Isshin Kurosaki discussed the upcoming births of Tokoyo Misao and Unohana’s child and Rukia’s child.
• Tokoyo Misao explained how Soul Society’s Hell tours had encouraged wealthy visitors and political leaders to improve conditions and avert conflict.
• Tokoyo Misao returned to Soul Society for the Division Funeral Ceremony, where Shunsui Kyōraku explained that captain-level Soul Reapers were sent to Hell because their powerful souls could obstruct reincarnation.
• As the ceremony continued for three days and nights, the opening to Hell above Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai’s body expanded from a grain of rice to the size of a watermelon.

Jūshirō Ukitake, Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, and Gin Ichimaru awoke in Hell with marked, flesh-and-blood bodies that could not use Reishi. As Gin discovered that fatal injuries drained the Reishi in their hearts and weakened their reason, the three fought Arrancar and tested what would happen when that Reishi ran out.

• Jūshirō Ukitake woke in Hell and found Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai and Gin Ichimaru there with him, each bearing a black mark of Hell.
• Gin Ichimaru explained that Hell had changed their bodies and that an urge to attack everything around him was growing; Yamamoto and Ukitake prepared for approaching enemies.
• Nnoitra charged Gin, who fought him with hand-to-hand attacks and a shard of Hollow-white material before Nnoitra pierced him with his arms.
• Gin realized that fatal wounds released Reishi from the heart and intensified Hell’s influence, and he warned Yamamoto and Ukitake that they might eventually lose their identities.
• Yamamoto pinned Baraggan down and repeatedly punched him while Ukitake fought Zommari, then asked Yamamoto to test what happened when Baraggan’s Reishi ran out.
• After roughly two or three hundred punches from Yamamoto, a wisp of pure black aura burst from Baraggan’s mouth.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Gin Ichimaru learned that the black aura consuming Baraggan and Nnoitra was called Rinki before Saitō Furofushi, the first captain of the Sixth Division, appeared. As Yamamoto and Saitō began fighting, Gin stepped in front of Ukitake and said he had just learned something.

• Baraggan and Nnoitra were consumed by the black aura and left as skeletons, while Gin Ichimaru and Yamamoto identified the aura as Rinki.
• Saitō Furofushi appeared and explained that Hell's residents kept their minds by cutting down enemies without getting hurt.
• Yamamoto and Saitō challenged each other, and Ukitake and Gin decided to fight together as Zommari tried to escape.
• Saitō and Yamamoto unleashed their killing intent and clashed with One-Sword Heart Slash and Sōkotsu, sending bloody force across the battlefield.
• Ukitake urged Gin to get behind him and avoid further injury, but Gin stepped in front of him and said he had just learned it.

Tokoyo Misao kept the Tenth Division training hard because he was frustrated that Unohana and Rukia were keeping him at a distance. He explained his concerns about the squad’s losses and admitted he had paid to get Orihime into college, then dismissed Rangiku’s request for a reward.

• Tokoyo Misao made the Tenth Division shout and begin its daily training while Rangiku asked why he had been pushing the squad so hard.
• Tokoyo Misao privately brooded over being unable to visit Unohana for duels or get close to Rukia, and he had assigned Rangiku the division’s paperwork.
• Tokoyo Misao said the squad needed more training after members had died in the previous battle’s crossfire, and Rangiku noted the division’s generous benefits kept its members from transferring.
• Rangiku asked whether Orihime had gotten into college, and Tokoyo Misao revealed he had donated ten million to secure her admission despite her average grades.
• Rangiku asked Tokoyo Misao for a reward for her hard work, but he accused her of doing only what was expected and letting others handle much of the paperwork.

After Orihime Inoue reported that a voice from the Gates of Hell had declared the Child of Hell was born and the gates would open wide, the captains connected the warning to Tokoyo Misao and Unohana’s unborn child. Misao rushed to the Fourth Division as the child was born, and Soul Reapers gathered around the delivery room to prepare for the Gates of Hell to open.

• Orihime Inoue told Tokoyo Misao that a criminal had quickly become a Hollow and that a voice from the Gates of Hell had warned that the Child of Hell was born and the gates would open wide.
• At a captains’ meeting, Tokoyo Misao, Kisuke Urahara, and Shunsui Kyōraku speculated that the voice belonged to Captain Ukitake and that the warning referred to Misao and Unohana’s child.
• Tokoyo Misao left for the Fourth Division after two powerful waves of Reiatsu surged across Soul Society, while Shunsui Kyōraku ordered the captains to gather there.
• Misao reached the delivery room and heard Rukia say the child was healthy and Unohana say he seemed to want to fight.
• Misao waited on the roof as figures arrived around the Fourth Division and took positions in different directions.

The Gates of Hell appeared, and Tokoyo Misao tried to force one shut while the captains watched. A second gate opened beside Rukia and seized her and her child; Misao freed himself from the chains and plunged toward the gate.

• Tokoyo Misao struck the skyward Gates of Hell with Sōkotsu and used a lightning-and-fire technique to hold them nearly closed.
• A second Gates of Hell appeared beside Rukia, and its chains bound her and her child despite the captains’ attacks.
• Kenpachi Zaraki transformed into his Bankai form and pulled several meters of chain from the gate, but could not stop it dragging Rukia closer.
• The skyward gate’s skeletons seized Tokoyo Misao and bound him in Chains of Fate.
• Tokoyo Misao bit off part of a chain, analyzed it with Causal Principle, and freed himself.
• Tokoyo Misao descended like a comet toward the Gates of Hell below.

The captains discovered the Land of Reincarnation was erupting and might send souls to Hell, prompting Shunsui Kyōraku to enlist Sōsuke Aizen’s help. In Hell, Shizuka Tokoyo’s crying unsettled the skeleton soldiers, and Yamamoto picked her up to soothe her.

• Kenpachi Zaraki asked how to reach Hell so he could fight there, while Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kisuke Urahara went to investigate the Land of Reincarnation.
• Mayuri sent Nemu Kurotsuchi into the Light of Reincarnation, which dragged her into the black hole and triggered a vast eruption of light.
• Urahara warned Shunsui that the eruption could send Soul Society’s souls to Hell, and Shunsui went to Muken to ask Aizen for help.
• Aizen agreed to go to Hell after Shunsui told him Tokoyo Misao had dismissed fears that Aizen would slaughter indiscriminately.
• In Hell, Shizuka Tokoyo’s crying scattered the skeleton soldiers while Rukia Tokoyo remained unconscious.
• Ukitake explained that Rukia had been weakened by Hell’s blood aura, and Yamamoto lifted Shizuka and gently rocked her.

Shizuka Tokoyo’s cries overwhelmed the Soul Reapers and drew Hell’s skeletons closer, while the group debated whether to feed him Gin Ichimaru’s Rinki. After Yamamoto urged them to act, Ukitake gave the child Gin’s severed little finger, and the crying stopped.

• Shizuka Tokoyo’s cries tormented Saito and the others, and he kept reaching for Gin Ichimaru’s Rinki arm.
• Gin Ichimaru snapped off his little finger and offered it as a way to quiet the child.
• Ukitake hesitated over the risk that Shizuka Tokoyo might become a Hell Togabito, but Yamamoto encouraged him to try.
• Ukitake placed Gin Ichimaru’s Rinki-coated finger before Shizuka Tokoyo, who swallowed it and immediately stopped crying.
• Saito and Katori Batsu'unsai relaxed as the group finally got a reprieve from the child’s cries.