Chapter Summaries

At the captains’ meeting, Kisuke Urahara sought approval to have Hollows captured alive for a secret experiment, and Yoruichi and Xuanxin backed his request. Captain-Commander Yamamoto was about to reject the proposal when their support changed the room’s response, leaving his decision unresolved.

• Kisuke Urahara proposed that patrols capture Hollows alive and deliver them to the Twelfth Division for research.
• Several captains reacted warily because capturing Hollows alive was dangerous and uncommon.
• Captain-Commander Yamamoto began to object to Urahara’s proposal.
• Yoruichi and Xuanxin stepped forward and declared their support for the experiment.
• The other captains dropped their objections, and Yamamoto struck his cane down as he considered the proposal.

Xuanxin’s sword spirit, Musashi, appeared in the real world and challenged him to a spar to help him break through his bottleneck. Their duel began in the Shihoin Clan’s secret training ground, drawing the attention of Retsu Unohana.

• The 11th Division efficiently captured Menos Grande, while Xuanxin felt his swordsmanship and Reiatsu had reached a bottleneck.
• Musashi appeared before Xuanxin and drained his Reiatsu to manifest within a small domain, then proposed a spar.
• Xuanxin went to the Shihoin Clan’s underground training ground, where Yoruichi Shihōin entered and discovered that Musashi was his sword spirit, Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami, Fujiwara Genshin.
• Musashi and Xuanxin took matching stances and unleashed intensely compressed sword intent, which Retsu Unohana sensed from the Fourth Division.
• Musashi and Xuanxin began a fast, blade-to-blade duel, with Musashi using Niten Ichi-ryū while Xuanxin resisted her storm of attacks more effectively than before.

Xuanxin continued his duel with Musashi in the Shihoin Clan’s secret training ground, where his refined swordsmanship impressed her before Retsu Unohana arrived. After Musashi teased Xuanxin about his relationships, he resumed their second round, and the chapter ended as he released his Shikai to face her overwhelming assault.

• Xuanxin countered Musashi’s attack with a precise strike that nearly reached her throat, earning her praise for his swordsmanship.
• Musashi sensed Retsu Unohana outside the training ground, and Yoruichi agreed to let her enter.
• Retsu Unohana joined Yoruichi at the edge of the training ground and promised to keep Xuanxin’s secret.
• Musashi teased Xuanxin about the Reiatsu he shared with Yoruichi, embarrassing him and the two women.
• Xuanxin and Musashi resumed their duel, and Xuanxin released his Shikai as Musashi launched a powerful attack.

Xuanxin and Musashi continued their training duel, trading advanced Kidō and Bankai techniques as Musashi revealed the advantages of compressing her Wisdom King manifestation. Musashi pushed Xuanxin to the edge of his limits and prepared to end the lesson with one final strike.

• Xuanxin trapped Musashi with Rikujōkōrō and attacked with Sōren Sōkatsui, but Musashi blocked the flames with her transparent, improved Dankū.
• Musashi explained that she had modified Dankū herself, prompting Yoruichi to wonder whether Genshin was secretly as flashy as his sword spirit.
• Xuanxin cast Kurohitsugi, but Musashi shattered it and summoned a Wisdom King phantom; Xuanxin responded by activating Bankai, Rikudō Gorin, Kurikara.
• Xuanxin initially gained the advantage with his enormous six-armed Wisdom King, but Musashi compressed her own manifestation into a Reishi cloak and overwhelmed him with speed and powerful strikes.
• Musashi stopped the fight when Xuanxin neared his limit, then fused her long and short Zanpakuto into a single blade for a final strike.

Musashi told Xuanxin that a life-or-death battle with Retsu Unohana could break his bottleneck, and Xuanxin agreed to face her. After he recovered, they asked Captain-Commander Yamamoto for permission to fight in a remote part of Rukongai, and he began describing a desolate area near Zaraki District.

• Musashi suggested that Xuanxin break through his bottleneck by fighting Retsu Unohana in a genuine battle for survival, and Unohana eagerly agreed.
• Yoruichi accepted that she could not risk killing Xuanxin, while Xuanxin solemnly agreed to rely on Unohana.
• Musashi drained Xuanxin's remaining Reiatsu before leaving to explore Seireitei, and Xuanxin passed out; Unohana healed his wound and told Yoruichi she would await his challenge.
• Yoruichi took Xuanxin home, and Soi Fon relayed Seigen's warning that Yoruichi should exercise restraint, prompting Yoruichi to angrily protest.
• After several days of recovery, Xuanxin and Retsu Unohana asked Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai for permission to hold a breakthrough battle in Rukongai, and he named a barren desert north of Zaraki District.

Xuanxin and Unohana began their deadly duel in a remote desert, immediately unleashing their Bankai instead of following the measured stages Komamura expected. Unohana’s blood sea and relentless healing pushed Xuanxin onto the defensive as she urged him to fight without hesitation.

• Yoruichi, Urahara, Shunsui, Ukitake, Komamura, and other spectators gathered to watch Xuanxin and Unohana’s duel, while Aizen secretly observed from the sandstorm.
• Unohana appeared in her old 11th Division haori and warned Xuanxin that she would not hold back; Xuanxin accepted the challenge, and both released overwhelming Reiatsu.
• Unohana activated Bankai: Minazuki, covering the desert in corrosive blood, while Xuanxin answered with Bankai—Six Paths and Five Rings, Kurikara.
• Unohana attacked Xuanxin’s vital points, using the blood to corrode their bodies and her Kaidō to instantly heal her own injuries.
• Xuanxin’s Reiatsu dwindled as he struggled against Unohana’s suicidal, relentless fighting style, and she urged him to stop hesitating and strike harder.

Xuanxin awakened in the Fourth Division after defeating Retsu Unohana in their duel and refusing to kill her, declaring that her life now belonged to him. He found his old Captain's Haori folded beside his bed.

• Xuanxin compressed his Wisdom King manifestation, growing faster and denser as he counterattacked Retsu Unohana.
• Their brutal fight pushed Xuanxin to the edge of death, and he grasped a new sword technique inspired by Musashi's strike.
• Xuanxin defeated Retsu Unohana in their final clash but spared her, saying he would not allow her to die.
• Xuanxin and Retsu Unohana both collapsed, and the captains and lieutenants rushed them to the Fourth Division for emergency treatment.
• Xuanxin woke in the Fourth Division and noticed his old Captain's Haori folded on the bedside cabinet.

After waking from his battle with Retsu Unohana, Xuanxin recovered, discovered that his Reiatsu had become liquid, and received a lesson from Yamamoto about concealing his strength. He spent a comfortable month on leave while Yoruichi and Retsu handled the 11th Division’s work, leaving him to practice calligraphy and play as a cat.

• Xuanxin awoke in the hospital, learned Retsu Unohana had recovered, and found that his Reiatsu had transformed into a dense liquid state.
• Yoruichi and Retsu told Xuanxin they were covering the 11th Division’s work during his long leave.
• Kisuke Urahara and Sōsuke Aizen each became more convinced of their research after witnessing Xuanxin’s breakthrough.
• After his discharge, Xuanxin visited Yamamoto, who taught him to restrain his strength and assigned him calligraphy practice.
• During his leave, Xuanxin practiced calligraphy and played as a white cat with Yoruichi’s black cat, while Marechiyo Ōmaeda’s workload worsened.

After returning from vacation, Xuanxin and Yoruichi resumed their duties while forbidden experiments and promising students advanced in the background. Kisuke Urahara summoned them to his secret laboratory, where he admitted that an experiment had produced something he could no longer control.

• Soi Fon woke Xuanxin and Yoruichi, who had turned into cats to avoid the noise and sleep through their captains' meeting.
• At the meeting, Xuanxin noticed Retsu Unohana's changed appearance and healed scar, while Yoruichi regarded her as a rival for Xuanxin's affection.
• Xuanxin's breakthrough encouraged Kisuke Urahara and Sōsuke Aizen to pursue their forbidden experiments, while Gin Ichimaru and Rangiku Matsumoto began showing exceptional talent at Shin'ō Academy.
• Yoruichi received Kisuke Urahara's urgent message asking her and Xuanxin to meet him at the secret base late that night.
• At the laboratory, Xuanxin and Yoruichi found the room wrecked, and Kisuke admitted that a dangerous experiment had created something he could not control or harm.

Kisuke Urahara revealed that his experiment had created the Hōgyoku, a conscious and indestructible object that could break the boundary between Shinigami and Hollows. Xuanxin agreed to keep it under watch, then privately asked Musashi why she wanted him to take it and learned it could help him reach his next step.

• Xuanxin and Yoruichi discovered a glowing sphere in Kisuke Urahara’s isolation chamber, and Kisuke identified it as the Hōgyoku, a dangerous creation with a faint consciousness.
• Kisuke explained that the Hōgyoku had formed when he combined an unusual soul fragment with concentrated Hollow and Shinigami Reiatsu, and that he could not destroy it.
• Yoruichi attacked Kisuke for creating the Hōgyoku, then Xuanxin tried to destroy it with Mumyō but failed.
• The Hōgyoku floated toward Xuanxin and tempted him, but he resisted and proposed keeping it in a portable isolation chamber under their watch.
• After Kisuke left to build the chamber and Yoruichi departed, Xuanxin summoned Musashi and asked why she wanted him to keep the Hōgyoku.
• Musashi told Xuanxin that the Hōgyoku’s power could serve as the foundation for his next step.

Xuanxin and Yoruichi guarded the Hōgyoku until Kisuke Urahara created tiny cubes that completely sealed its Reiatsu, and they wore the cubes as matching accessories. When Aizen noticed the matching bracelet and pendant, he assumed they were ordinary tokens exchanged by the engaged couple.

• Xuanxin cleaned the damaged underground base and fell asleep in cat form, then woke the next evening when Yoruichi arrived with food and took over the watch.
• Xuanxin and Yoruichi established a day-and-evening guard rotation while Kisuke Urahara worked on a portable container to seal the Hōgyoku's Reiatsu.
• Three days later, Kisuke Urahara demonstrated cubes that swallowed the Hōgyoku and prevented any Reiatsu from escaping; he also explained that the cubes could serve as communication devices.
• Xuanxin made a bracelet from a cube containing the Hōgyoku, and Yoruichi wore a matching pendant as a decoy.
• At the captains' meeting and afterward in his office, Xuanxin wore his bracelet openly; Aizen noticed it and then spotted Yoruichi's matching pendant, mistaking them for couple's accessories.

Xuanxin advanced his noble reforms while Aizen grew more suspicious and the Hōgyoku slowly fed Musashi’s power to him. When Hollows surged in Hueco Mundo, Yamamoto ordered a Gotei 13 expedition and assigned Xuanxin’s 11th Division to lead the vanguard, leaving Aizen watching the preparations.

• Aizen recalled sensing Xuanxin’s Reiatsu underground and wondered what he had encountered before deciding to accelerate his plans.
• Musashi gradually absorbed energy from the Hōgyoku and broke it down to safely strengthen Xuanxin.
• Xuanxin and Yoruichi presented the nobles with a treaty imposing greater duties and penalties while funding scholarships for Rukongai commoners; the Shihoin and Kuchiki Clans approved it.
• Xuanxin watched familiar figures rise through the Gotei 13 as Soul Society remained peaceful until the First Division’s alarm announced a Hueco Mundo uprising.
• Kisuke Urahara reported an explosive increase in Hollows and Menos Grande, prompting Yamamoto to order an expedition and send Xuanxin’s 11th Division as its vanguard.
• Aizen secretly watched Xuanxin and Yoruichi inspect supplies as the expedition assembled.

Xuanxin’s expedition to Hueco Mundo continued while Aizen and Kaname Tōsen triggered the Hollowfication of several captains and framed Kisuke Urahara. After learning of the crisis in Soul Society, Xuanxin halted the expedition and used his Bankai to erase a vast force of Hollows.

• Xuanxin led the 11th Division through the Senkaimon, repelled an ambush by low-level Hollows, and established a fortified camp near the gate.
• Kensei Muguruma discovered evidence that Shinigami were behind the Rukongai soul disappearances, but Kaname Tōsen stabbed him and injected him and Mashiro Kuna with a substance that began their Hollowfication.
• Gin Ichimaru secretly witnessed Tōsen’s betrayal, while Aizen’s mist trapped Shinji Hirako and the rescue team and caused them to undergo Hollowfication.
• Kisuke Urahara tried to stabilize the affected captains, but Central 46 arrested and condemned him; Yoruichi Shihōin rescued him, Tessai Tsukabishi, and the eight unconscious Visored, then fled Soul Society with them.
• Aizen failed to find the Hōgyoku in Urahara’s laboratory and concluded it had gone to the World of the Living with Yoruichi’s group.
• After receiving news of the Hollowfication, Urahara’s arrest, and Yoruichi’s defection, Xuanxin ordered his force to assemble, activated Bankai, and annihilated numerous Hollows, Gillians, and several Adjuchas with one strike.

Xuanxin returned to Soul Society after swiftly clearing the Hollow horde in Hueco Mundo, then confronted Central 46 over its treatment of Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi. He suppressed Yoruichi’s arrest warrant and gave her the Hōgyoku so she could help the Hollowfied captains, while he stayed to protect the Shihoin Clan.

• Xuanxin’s sword strike wiped out the Hollow horde in Hueco Mundo, and he led the 11th Division back to Seireitei.
• After returning, Xuanxin heard Soi Fon’s account of the cases against Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi, then entered Central 46 and stopped the nobles from carving up the Shihoin Clan.
• Xuanxin ordered Soi Fon to punish a noble who insulted him and forced Central 46 to cancel Yoruichi’s arrest warrant, replacing it with an investigation.
• Yoruichi told Xuanxin that the Hollowfication Incident’s culprit remained unknown and that the Hōgyoku might be needed to cure the afflicted captains, so they exchanged their Hōgyoku containers.
• Three days later, Yoruichi reported that the Hollowfied captains were stabilizing, returned the Hōgyoku, and left to help Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi while Xuanxin stayed with the Shihoin Clan.

Yoruichi gave Retsu Unohana and Soi Fon matching cubes and secretly tasked Soi Fon with keeping potential rivals away from Xuanxin. During martial law, Xuanxin led security operations across Seireitei, and the chapter ended with the Gotei 13 filling several vacant captain positions while the Second Division appointment remained unresolved.

• Yoruichi visited Retsu Unohana and left her a cube, then gave Soi Fon a matching cube and ordered her to drive away anyone who pursued Xuanxin.
• Captain-Commander Yamamoto declared martial law and placed Xuanxin in command of the 11th and Second Divisions, with authority over Seireitei security and arrests.
• Soi Fon noticed Retsu Unohana wearing a cube like her own and grew distressed as Unohana and Xuanxin exchanged knowing looks.
• Xuanxin's patrols arrested noble clans that released deathsworn, exposing their past misdeeds and earning support from ordinary citizens.
• Aizen persuaded Kaname Tōsen to join his vision of a world without darkness while criticizing the limits of the Captain-Commander's actions.
• Gin Ichimaru, Sōsuke Aizen, Sajin Komamura, Kaname Tōsen, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi took vacant captain posts, but Shihoin Seigen refused to become Second Division Captain in Xuanxin's place.

Captain-Commander Yamamoto appointed Xuanxin captain of both the 11th and Second Divisions, while new evidence implicated Aizen and Tōsen in the Hollowfication Incident. After the Seireitei returned to peace and Byakuya became captain of the Sixth Division, Kenpachi Zaraki arrived at the 11th Division and challenged its captain.

• Captain-Commander Yamamoto appointed Xuanxin captain of the 11th and Second Divisions and commander-in-chief of the Stealth Force until a new Kenpachi was chosen.
• Xuanxin read Yoruichi's message that Shinji Hirako had identified Sōsuke Aizen as the mastermind behind the Hollowfication Incident.
• Gin Ichimaru told Xuanxin that he had witnessed Kaname Tōsen stab Captain Muguruma, and Xuanxin asked Gin to keep the secret and quietly build his strength.
• The Soul Society lifted martial law, Ginrei Kuchiki retired, and Byakuya Kuchiki succeeded him as captain of the Sixth Division.
• Xuanxin's relationship with Sister Hana grew closer while Yoruichi investigated Aizen, and the Tenth Division captain considered Rangiku Matsumoto and Isshin Shiba as possible successors.
• Kenpachi Zaraki arrived at the 11th Division with a little girl, struck its gate, and challenged its captain to a fight.

Kenpachi Zaraki challenged Shihoin Genshin for the Kenpachi title and fought him fiercely at the 11th Division. Zaraki lost and collapsed from his injuries, but Genshin invited him to stay and grow stronger, leaving Zaraki determined to challenge him again.

• Kenpachi Zaraki defeated Xuanxin’s lieutenant, who alerted the First Division and summoned Captain Shihoin.
• Shihoin Genshin accepted Zaraki’s challenge as Retsu Unohana arrived and recognized the man who had once scarred her.
• Zaraki and Genshin clashed with their swords, and Genshin revealed a second blade to narrowly wound Zaraki.
• Genshin realized Zaraki had reached Kenpachi-level strength through instinct and Reiatsu despite being unable to use Shikai.
• Genshin broke Zaraki’s Asauchi with a final strike, and Zaraki admitted defeat.
• Genshin invited Zaraki to stay and get stronger; Zaraki vowed to take his life one day before collapsing and being taken to the Fourth Division for treatment.

Xuanxin left the 11th Division as Kenpachi Zaraki prepared to take over, while his longtime lieutenant and other veteran officers retired. Retsu Unohana spent the night with Xuanxin, and he promised to take responsibility for her before returning to his duties in the Shihoin Clan.

• Sister Hana accepted that Xuanxin had freed her from her old burdens and left the 11th Division smiling.
• Xuanxin approved his lieutenant's retirement and agreed to hold a farewell party for him and the other veteran officers.
• After Xuanxin returned from the party, Sister Hana used pink powder to make him collapse into her arms and took him to his room.
• Soi Fon found Sister Hana leaving Xuanxin's room in the morning and was told to notify the Fourth and 11th Divisions that the captains were taking the day off.
• Xuanxin woke beside Sister Hana, promised to take responsibility for her, and spent the day with her.
• Kenpachi Zaraki received his appointment as captain of the 11th Division, and Xuanxin returned to the Second Division.

After Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi discovered artificially modified Hollows, Xuanxin began investigating unusual activity in Soul Society. He saved Hisana by nourishing her soul with his Reiatsu, helping her reunite with her sister Rukia, while the disappearance of Isshin Shiba remained unresolved and Rangiku sought Xuanxin’s help training a new captain.

• Kisuke Urahara examined a captured Hollow and found signs it had been artificially modified, prompting Xuanxin to investigate abnormal data from Rukongai.
• Byakuya Kuchiki asked Xuanxin to save Hisana, whose soul was collapsing, and Xuanxin stabilized her with his Reiatsu before Retsu Unohana continued her treatment.
• After recovering, Hisana told Byakuya about the younger sister she had abandoned, and Byakuya found Rukia at Shin'ō Academy and brought her to meet Xuanxin.
• Kaien Shiba died on a Hollow-eradication mission, and Isshin Shiba disappeared while investigating in the World of the Living.
• The Captain-Commander refused Xuanxin permission to investigate Isshin’s disappearance, which became an unsolved case.
• Rangiku Matsumoto began bringing the Tenth Division’s Third Seat to Xuanxin for lessons, hoping he would attain Bankai and become captain.

Xuanxin discovered that Rukia’s soul carried a fluctuation resembling the Hōgyoku, then recognized Central 46’s rapid decision to sentence her to execution as a sign that Aizen was making his move. As an unfamiliar Reishi disturbance reached Seireitei, Xuanxin headed for the White Road Gate and stopped Gin Ichimaru from attacking Jidanbō.

• Byakuya Kuchiki returned from the World of the Living with Rukia and Renji, and Rukia was imprisoned in the Senzaikyū.
• Xuanxin questioned Rukia, learned that Kisuke Urahara had helped her, and sensed a fluctuation in her soul resembling the Hōgyoku.
• Central 46 sentenced Rukia to the Sōkyoku Execution in thirty-five days, prompting Xuanxin to order Soi Fon to prepare trusted forces for battle.
• Xuanxin sensed an unfamiliar Reishi disturbance and hurried toward the White Road Gate, where Jidanbō was raising the gate.
• Gin Ichimaru prepared to attack Jidanbō, but Xuanxin placed a hand on Gin Ichimaru’s and stopped him.