Recaps

Ye Yang was reborn as a conscious infant in the Bleach world and began cultivating his former life's Taiji method before birth. After growing up alongside his twin sister Yoruichi, he finally became old enough to practice Tai Chi and faced the Shihoin clan's expectations for its children.

• Ye Yang realized he had been reborn in the womb of Tsuki and Seigen, and recognized the name Yoruichi as a sign he was in the Bleach world.
• Ye Yang began cultivating his Taiji mental method before birth, and Tsuki gave birth to twins: Ye Yang and Yoruichi.
• As a young child, Ye Yang tricked Tsuki into thinking Yoruichi had bullied him, then persuaded their mother to shorten Yoruichi's punishment.
• Ye Yang spent years cultivating and teasing Yoruichi, who eventually stopped disturbing him while he practiced.
• After ten years, Ye Yang became physically ready to practice External Tai Chi, while the Shihoin clan's children were expected to learn Soul Reaper skills and master Shunpo and Hakuda.

Shihoin Seigen began Ye Yang and Yoruichi’s Soul Reaper training by testing their combat skills, and Nakamura Kei found that both siblings had unusually strong Spiritual Pressure. After hearing the results, Shihoin Tōno ordered the family to raise both as potential successors, leaving the Shihoin family hopeful about its future.

• Shihoin Seigen introduced the four Soul Reaper skills and tested Yoruichi and Ye Yang’s fighting abilities, finding Ye Yang’s instincts and reactions impressive.
• Nakamura Kei tested the siblings’ Spiritual Pressure, which registered deep blue for both, with Ye Yang’s slightly stronger than Yoruichi’s.
• Ye Yang resolved to protect his family after recalling the loneliness of his previous life.
• Nakamura Kei reported the test results to Shihoin Tōno and the family elders.
• Shihoin Tōno ordered that both siblings be raised as potential heads of the family and told the elders to let them decide their future.

Ye Yang adapted the Soul Society’s spiritual-pressure cultivation method to his Taiji training, then discovered that Hakuda teacher Ogawa Kagenashi was secretly teaching him and Yoruichi techniques designed to create lasting weaknesses. Ye Yang warned Yoruichi and decided they should investigate the person directing Ogawa without alerting them.

• Ye Yang combined reishi cultivation with the Taiji Mental Cultivation Method and spent the night refining his spiritual power.
• Ye Yang and Yoruichi talked about his daily training, wrestled, and promised to keep working hard together.
• Shihoin Seigen introduced Ogawa Kagenashi as the siblings’ Hakuda teacher, and Ogawa trained them through the day.
• Ogawa reported to a hidden master that he had tampered with the Hakuda lessons to create weaknesses in Ye Yang and Yoruichi.
• Ye Yang told Yoruichi that Ogawa’s techniques could damage their development over time and urged her not to tell their father while they sought evidence against the mastermind.

Ye Yang sparred with Yoruichi to demonstrate Tai Chi Chuan and Half-Step Crushing Fist, then began teaching her the latter. Yoruichi committed herself to mastering it so she could help carry her little brother’s burdens.

• Ye Yang used Tai Chi Chuan to redirect Yoruichi’s attacks and explained its principles, but she declined to learn it because she preferred direct fighting.
• Ye Yang demonstrated Half-Step Crushing Fist, sending Yoruichi flying with its explosive power, and she decided she wanted to learn it.
• Ye Yang taught Yoruichi the fist art’s stance and footwork, and she quickly grew accustomed to the movements.
• Ye Yang explained the difficult principles behind Half-Step Crushing Fist’s force, and Yoruichi vowed to master it so she could share his burdens.
• Ye Yang and Yoruichi each resolved to grow stronger to protect their family and the dreams they held dear.

Ye Yang and Yoruichi began formal etiquette and noble arts training in preparation for their coming-of-age ceremony. Ye Yang made a guqin and impressed Tsukiyo and Yoruichi by playing “Flowing Water,” while Yoruichi vowed to surprise him with her dancing.

• Shihoin Seigen and Tsukiyo told Ye Yang and Yoruichi to study noble etiquette and special skills for their coming-of-age ceremony in five years.
• Tsukiyo explained that noble heirs needed skills such as music or dancing, so Ye Yang chose to make a guqin and Yoruichi chose to learn dancing.
• Ye Yang received century-old fir wood and spent five days crafting a Fuxi-style guqin with strings made from Reishi.
• Ye Yang found Yoruichi practicing her dance, then teased her about her performance.
• Ye Yang played “Flowing Water” for Tsukiyo and Yoruichi, claiming he had composed it, and Yoruichi promised to give him a surprise of her own.

Ye Yang and Yoruichi held their coming-of-age ceremony, introducing themselves as the Shihoin Clan’s next generation to Soul Society’s nobles and captains. After impressing the guests with a musical and dance performance, they headed to Rukongai District 3 to see the gift Kaien Shiba had prepared.

• Shihoin Tōno told Ye Yang and Yoruichi to represent the Shihoin Clan well at their coming-of-age ceremony.
• Ye Yang and Yoruichi greeted the Kuchiki and Shiba Clans, where Kaien Shiba invited them to Rukongai District 3 that night to see a mysterious gift.
• Ye Yang and Yoruichi visited upper-ranking nobles and the captains and vice-captains of the Thirteen Divisions.
• Ye Yang played “Flowing Water” on the guqin while Yoruichi danced, earning the guests’ admiration.
• Shihoin Tōno praised the siblings and allowed them to enjoy the evening, and Ye Yang and Yoruichi set off for Rukongai District 3.

Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kaien Shiba celebrated their coming-of-age ceremony with the captains and lieutenants at a wine shop, where Ye Yang beat everyone at matching couplets and got Yoruichi drunk. Kaien then revealed the Shiba Clan’s surprise: a fireworks display, and the group arrived at the clan’s unusual house to watch it.

• Kaien Shiba led Ye Yang and Yoruichi to a wine shop, where they joined Kūkaku Shiba, Shunsui Kyōraku, Lisa Yadōmaru, Jūshirō Ukitake, and Isshin Shiba.
• Yoruichi drank freely and urged Ye Yang to drink, while Ye Yang pretended to be drunk and joined the group’s drinking games.
• Ye Yang proposed a couplet-matching game, and the group took turns composing lines as they drank.
• Ye Yang challenged everyone with a difficult couplet and supplied its matching line; Yoruichi drank ten cups and collapsed into Ye Yang’s arms.
• Kaien Shiba revealed that the Shiba Clan was known for its fireworks and led the group to the clan’s house for a grand display.

Ye Yang and Yoruichi attended the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy entrance exam, where their concealed spiritual pressure still earned them S grades. The chapter ended with Ye Yang facing Kaien Shiba in the practical combat test and agreeing to fight seriously.

• Kaien Shiba and Kūkaku set off the Shiba Clan's fireworks, and Ye Yang told Isshin Shiba that he wanted to protect his heart and live an ordinary life with his family.
• The next day, Ye Yang and Yoruichi learned that Seireien had given them the titles Guqin Emperor and Dancing Princess, and they argued about the names.
• Six months later, Ye Yang and Yoruichi registered for the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy entrance exam with Kaien Shiba's help.
• Ye Yang and Yoruichi concealed much of their spiritual pressure but still received S grades on the spiritual pressure test.
• Ye Yang finished the written exam after answering that he wanted to become a Soul Reaper to protect his own heart.
• Kaien Shiba became Ye Yang's opponent in the practical combat test, and Ye Yang accepted his challenge to fight.

Ye Yang fought Kaien Shiba in the entrance exam, using the Half-Step Crushing Fist before turning Kaien’s Zanpakuto-inspired attacks back on him with Tai Chi. Kaien conceded, and the three left to celebrate while Ye Yang’s unusually concealed Spiritual Power remained unexplained to others.

• Ye Yang used the Half-Step Crushing Fist to fight Kaien Shiba, surprising the examiners by holding his own for over ten minutes.
• Kaien unleashed a wave-like fighting style based on his Zanpakuto, broke through Ye Yang’s defenses, and sent him flying.
• Ye Yang used Tai Chi to redirect Kaien’s power and throw him, prompting Kaien to concede and pass him.
• Ye Yang and Kaien joined Yoruichi outside, where Kaien admitted he had lost and questioned Ye Yang’s Spiritual Pressure.
• Ye Yang’s Spiritual Power was revealed to be stored in his dantian, allowing him to conceal his true strength by controlling what he released.
• Kaien suggested celebrating Ye Yang’s admission, and Ye Yang and Yoruichi agreed there would be no problem passing.

After placing first in Shin'ō's entrance exams, Ye Yang began classes with Yoruichi and met Kisuke Urahara, whose friendship he accepted despite his private misgivings. The siblings demonstrated exceptional talent in Kidō, and Yoruichi left school with Urahara to go drinking while Ye Yang went home alone.

• Ye Yang and Yoruichi celebrated finishing their entrance exams with Lisa Yadōmaru and Shunsui Kyōraku at a tavern.
• Ye Yang ranked first overall, while Yoruichi ranked first in Spiritual Pressure and Ye Yang earned an SSS combat-talent rating; both entered Class One at Shin'ō.
• Instructor Murakami introduced the class, and Kisuke Urahara, Ye Yang, and Yoruichi introduced themselves to their classmates.
• Kisuke approached the siblings to make friends, and Ye Yang reluctantly agreed to get along with him after Yoruichi smoothed over his chilly response.
• Yoruichi and Ye Yang demonstrated Byakurai in Kidō class, with Ye Yang piercing the target precisely and Kisuke recognizing his control.
• Yoruichi invited Ye Yang to drink with her and Kisuke after school, but he declined and let the two go together.

Ye Yang sparred with Kisuke Urahara in Hakuda class, then spent the next six months studying and training alongside Urahara and Yoruichi at Shin'ō. As the school holiday began, the three friends agreed to celebrate Urahara’s December 31 birthday and Yoruichi and her brother’s January 1 birthdays together.

• Ye Yang overwhelmed Urahara in a Hakuda spar but learned afterward that Urahara had deliberately lured him into a calculated opening.
• Ye Yang helped instruct the class while Yoruichi sparred with Urahara, and his patient guidance made the other students more comfortable approaching him.
• Over the following six months, Ye Yang ranked first in Hakuda and Zanjutsu, Urahara led in Kidō, and Yoruichi dominated Shunpo; the three trained together as the academy’s Golden Triangle and declined offers to skip grades.
• When the month-long school holiday began, Urahara invited Ye Yang to celebrate his December 31 birthday, and Yoruichi revealed that she and her little brother were born on January 1.
• Ye Yang, Urahara, and Yoruichi agreed to celebrate all their birthdays together from New Year’s Eve until dawn.

Ye Yang and Yoruichi prepared a New Year’s Eve celebration for Kisuke Urahara, then performed a celebrated dance and guqin piece at the New Year Festival. Afterward, the three headed to a tavern to wait for midnight and the Shiba Clan’s birthday fireworks.

• Ye Yang arranged for Kaien Shiba to launch fireworks at midnight and secured a place for himself and Yoruichi to perform at the festival.
• Ye Yang and Yoruichi surprised Kisuke Urahara on his birthday, showed him around the Shihoin Clan estate, and changed into formal attire.
• At the festival, Yoruichi greeted Sōjun Kuchiki and Akatsuki Kuchiki, met their infant son Byakuya Kuchiki, and promised to visit the Kuchiki estate.
• Ye Yang played “Spring Snow” on the guqin while Yoruichi performed the opening dance, earning thunderous applause.
• Kaien Shiba confirmed that the Shiba Clan’s fireworks would celebrate Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Ye Yang’s birthdays at midnight.
• Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke left for a Rukongai tavern to wait for midnight.

Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara celebrated the new year and agreed to build a secret underground training base. Kisuke blasted the first shaft with powerful Kidō, and the three left with plans to continue the work over the next five years.

• Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara celebrated the new year at the Dream Tavern, drank together, and watched Kaien’s fireworks.
• Yoruichi wished for a secret base for the three of them, and Kisuke later led her and Ye Yang to a remote wasteland he had chosen for it.
• Ye Yang used Sōkatsui to blast an opening, then Kisuke unleashed Raikōhō and created a deep shaft, revealing his exceptional Kidō ability.
• Ye Yang and Yoruichi persuaded Kisuke to handle most of the excavation, and he agreed to use Raikōhō once a day as they aimed to finish the base within five years.

Five years after entering Shin'ō, Ye Yang and his friends completed their secret training base and became powerful sixth-year students, though Ye Yang still had not discovered his Zanpakuto's name. When their teacher assigned them to instruct third-years on a practical combat exercise in the World of the Living, Ye Yang led the students through the Senkaimon and then let Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara go off to have fun.

• Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara completed their secret base and spent five years training, while Ye Yang grew to lieutenant-level strength without finding his Zanpakuto's name.
• Their teacher assigned Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara to lead the third-years' first practical combat exercise.
• Ye Yang encouraged the nervous students, then led the thirty-six students through the Senkaimon to the World of the Living.
• Ye Yang instructed the students to form groups of three and hunt simulated Hollows without scattering.
• After the students split up, Ye Yang climbed a tree to sleep while Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara left to explore and promised to bring back sweets.

During a Shin'ō field exercise, real Hollows attacked, forcing Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara to protect the students while awaiting rescue. After the Hollows injured several students and an Adjuchas arrived, Ye Yang prepared to hold it off as Yoruichi and Kisuke fought the Gillians.

• Ye Yang sensed a swarm of real Hollows, contacted Soul Society for backup, and gathered the students at the assembly point.
• Ye Yang rescued Sōsuke Aizen after finding him fighting a Hollow to protect an injured girl, then brought them both back to the group.
• Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara fought the Hollows, but more than ten Gillians and an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande arrived.
• Kisuke used Benihime to block a Gillian Cero, but the blast gravely injured the girl Aizen had been protecting.
• Ye Yang treated the girl and assigned Aizen to watch over her, then agreed to hold off the Adjuchas while Yoruichi and Kisuke attacked the Gillians.
• Kisuke activated Benihime and Yoruichi released Mongoose before charging into the Gillians.

Ye Yang Shihoin awakened his Zanpakuto, Silver Rend, and used its space-cutting ability to wound Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. Grimmjow escaped to Hueco Mundo through Negación, and the group began taking the wounded back to Soul Society.

• Ye Yang fought the leopard-shaped Adjuchas while Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara battled the Gillians, and he switched to Tai Chi Sword techniques to counter his stronger opponent.
• Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez used Claw of Pantera, and Ye Yang released his Zanpakuto as Silver Rend, cutting through the claws and wounding Grimmjow.
• Ye Yang revealed that Silver Rend could cut space, but Grimmjow escaped through a Negación beam after warning that he would fight Ye Yang again.
• Shinji Hirako and Retsu Unohana joined Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara, and the group began transporting the wounded back to Soul Society.

After the Menos Grande invasion, Ye Yang and his companions reported what happened to the captains, received early graduation, and chose to join the Second Division. The meeting ended without a decision on an expedition to Hueco Mundo, and Ye Yang and Yoruichi went to visit Byakuya at the Kuchiki residence.

• Ye Yang learned that the injured girl would lose her Soul Reaper powers and have less than ten years to live, then reassured Aizen that she would wake in about three days.
• Yamamoto summoned Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke to a captains' meeting, where Ye Yang recounted the invasion and the group received early graduation.
• Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke chose to join the Second Division, while the captains debated forming an expeditionary squad to Hueco Mundo and postponed a decision.
• Ginrei invited Ye Yang and Yoruichi to the Kuchiki residence, where they reunited with Byakuya and Ye Yang offered to take him out to celebrate their graduation.

Ye Yang celebrated graduating early with Yoruichi and their friends, then used his Zanpakuto Silver Rend for Jinzen for the first time. Silver Rend told him he was still too weak to train with him and had yet to discover the Zanpakuto’s full abilities.

• Ye Yang brought young Byakuya to a gathering at the Dream Tavern, where the guests congratulated Ye Yang and Yoruichi on graduating early.
• Ye Yang revealed that Silver Rend was a space-type Zanpakuto that coated its blade in a tiny spatial rift, and the guests discussed its strengths and limits.
• Ye Yang and Yoruichi tricked Byakuya into eating spicy food and drinking liquor, leaving him in tears and determined to get revenge.
• After the gathering, Ye Yang entered his consciousness space through Jinzen and met Silver Rend for the first time.
• Silver Rend said Ye Yang was too weak to learn its basic skills and told him to return when he had grown stronger.

Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara joined the Second Division’s Punishment Force and accompanied it on a mission to capture escaped criminals. When the criminals overwhelmed Number One, the three recruits revealed their Shikai and joined the fight, leaving Kisuke pinning his opponent with powerful Kidō.

• Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke reported to Shihoin Tōno and all chose the First Division’s Punishment Force.
• Number One assigned Ye Yang and Kisuke a shared room and told them to observe an afternoon mission to capture escaped criminals.
• An explosion destroyed the criminals’ hideout, leaving Number One injured and facing two escaped Soul Reapers.
• Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke stepped in to protect Number One, and Yoruichi and Kisuke released their Shikai.
• Yoruichi wounded the Soul Reaper wielding Ice Flower while Kisuke used Benihime and binding Kidō to restrain Nishimura’s partner.

After Ye Yang and his allies defeated two Soul Reapers and returned to the Second Division, Shihoin Tōno urged them to enter the Seated Officer Challenge. A month later, Kisuke Urahara won the Fifth Seat, and Ye Yang stepped forward to challenge the Third Seat.

• Ye Yang used Senka to defeat the Soul Reaper who charged him, while Kisuke Urahara had already knocked Nishimura unconscious with Raikōhō.
• Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara took the two defeated Soul Reapers to the Second Division, where Shihoin Tōno recommended they challenge for seats the following month.
• At the Seated Officer Challenge, Kisuke Urahara challenged Ishii Jōgen for the Fifth Seat and used Benihime and Kidō to defeat him.
• After Ishii accepted his defeat, Ye Yang asked Yoruichi whether she would challenge next, then announced that he was challenging the Third Seat.

Ye Yang defeated Kato Hisaya to become Third Seat, then Yoruichi challenged him and won to prove she deserved the lieutenant position. Shihoin Tōno appointed Yoruichi Shihōin as the next lieutenant.

• Kato Hisaya challenged Ye Yang for Third Seat and used Golden Snake’s venom to paralyze him, but Ye Yang released Silver Rend and defeated him.
• Shihoin Tōno warned Ye Yang to learn from his near defeat, and Ye Yang thanked Kato Hisaya before returning to the ranks.
• Yoruichi privately told Shihoin Tōno she wanted to become lieutenant because Ye Yang did not want the demanding role.
• Yoruichi challenged Ye Yang for Third Seat, and they fought with their Shikai while Ye Yang secretly held back so she could win.
• Shihoin Tōno named Yoruichi Shihōin the next lieutenant.

After becoming Third Seat, Ye Yang learned that he would command the Third Unit and guard the Maggot's Nest. He subdued the prisoners with his Hakuda and left them accepting his authority.

• Shihoin Tōno appointed Ye Yang Third Seat, Yoruichi unit captain, and Kisuke Urahara Fifth Seat.
• Shihoin Tōno told Ye Yang he would command the Third Unit, which guarded the Maggot's Nest, and explained that its commander had to subdue prisoners bare-handed.
• Shihoin Tōno brought Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara into the Maggot's Nest without Zanpakuto.
• A prisoner attacked Ye Yang, who threw him aside and then fought off a mass assault from the other prisoners using Tai Chi and Hakuda.
• Ye Yang defeated the prisoners without killing them, accepted their submission, and declared himself in charge.
• Shihoin Tōno recognized that Ye Yang's Hakuda was comparable to a Captain-level fighter's.

Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara settled into their roles in Soul Society as ten years passed, while Ye Yang and Yoruichi became Byakuya’s instructors. The chapter left Byakuya improving through their training as the young trio’s lives and reputations continued to grow.

• Ye Yang explained that he had created Tai Chi, refused to teach it to the Punishment Force, and left the Maggot's Nest with Shihoin Tōno, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara.
• Yoruichi handled lieutenant duties while Ye Yang guarded the Maggot's Nest and Kisuke Urahara developed gadgets, including communicators and Spiritual Pressure controllers.
• Ten years passed, and Ye Yang, Yoruichi, and Kisuke Urahara matured into prominent figures in Soul Society; Sōsuke Aizen also rose through the Fifth Division after graduating first in his year.
• After Sōsuke Aizen’s close female friend died, Ye Yang attended the funeral and offered his condolences, but Aizen remained silent and emotionless.
• Ye Yang and Yoruichi became Byakuya’s teachers, with Ye Yang teaching basic Hakuda and Yoruichi teaching Shunpo through games of tag.

Kisuke Urahara showed Ye Yang and Yoruichi the Tenshintai, a device that materialized a Soul Reaper’s Zanpakuto to help them attain Bankai. Yoruichi fought her catgirl Zanpakuto until the device’s five-hour limit ended, then took out her frustration on Kisuke and planned to try again tomorrow.

• Kisuke Urahara told Ye Yang and Yoruichi he had invented the Tenshintai, which could summon a Zanpakuto’s true form for a wielder strong enough to attain Bankai.
• Yoruichi used the Tenshintai and summoned her Zanpakuto, a catgirl called Mongoose, before challenging her to learn Bankai.
• Yoruichi and Mongoose fought at high speed from afternoon until sunset, with Mongoose holding a slight advantage.
• The Tenshintai’s five-hour limit caused Mongoose to disappear, so Yoruichi challenged Kisuke Urahara and beat him up.
• Ye Yang suggested Yoruichi use his fist technique in her next fight, and Yoruichi resolved to try it against Mongoose tomorrow.

Yoruichi trained to defeat Mongoose and unlock Bankai, developing a dangerous technique that combined Kidō and Hakuda. On the tenth day, Shunkō let Yoruichi defeat Mongoose, who then vanished.

• Yoruichi summoned Mongoose with the Tenshintai and used Half-Step Crushing Fist and Ye Yang’s One-Inch Punch, but Mongoose revealed her superior speed and overwhelmed her.
• Ye Yang and Kisuke Urahara watched Yoruichi collapse after the fight, and Ye Yang carried her home.
• Over the next ten days, Yoruichi fought Mongoose daily and steadily improved, eventually lasting half an hour against her.
• On the final day, Yoruichi gathered Kidō into her limbs and used explosive power to combine it with Hakuda, gaining enough speed and strength to overpower Mongoose.
• Mongoose admitted defeat and asked the move’s name, and Ye Yang suggested Shunkō before Mongoose vanished.