Recaps

Urahara revealed the Hōgyoku, an indestructible substance he had accidentally created through Hollowfication research, and asked Ye Yang and Yoruichi to help dispose of it. Ye Yang failed to damage it and learned from Silver Rend that the bead was far more dangerous than Urahara understood, leaving its fate unresolved.

• Gin Ichimaru told Aizen that the division's Third Seat was weak compared with Ye Yang, whom he called Teacher.
• Five years after Urahara became captain, Ye Yang and Yoruichi arrived at the Twelfth Division after Urahara summoned them for an urgent discussion.
• Urahara showed Ye Yang and Yoruichi the Hōgyoku and explained that he had created it while researching Hollowfication and could not destroy it.
• Ye Yang struck the Hōgyoku with Silver Rend, but the bead remained unharmed, so he proposed trying to banish it into a Spatial Rift with his Bankai.
• Silver Rend warned Ye Yang that the Hōgyoku was more frightening than Urahara imagined and beyond Ye Yang's power to destroy, then vanished without explaining further.

Ye Yang battled the Hōgyoku, discovered it could sense danger and counter his spatial attacks, then overwhelmed it with Sky-Rending Sword. The Hōgyoku entered his body, acknowledged him as its master, restored and transformed him, and removed the limit on his growth, leaving him confident he could soon surpass Yamamoto.

• Ye Yang attacked the evasive Hōgyoku with Spatial Rifts and discovered it dodged threats but ignored Sōkatsui.
• Ye Yang sealed off the Hōgyoku’s escape routes, but its radiance closed his Spatial Rifts.
• Ye Yang unleashed his full Spiritual Pressure and struck the Hōgyoku with Sky-Rending Sword, dimming its light without damaging it.
• The Hōgyoku suddenly entered Ye Yang’s body and acknowledged him as its master.
• The Hōgyoku healed Ye Yang, absorbed his Spiritual Power, and returned it in a flow that removed his cultivation limit.
• Ye Yang felt stronger than ever and believed that, given thirty years, he could surpass Yamamoto.

Ye Yang rejected the Hōgyoku and fought to drive it from his body, finally forcing it out by threatening to enter a Spatial Rift. He returned to real space with the exhausted Hōgyoku, which Urahara agreed to seal, and discovered that his Spiritual Pressure had increased as he recovered.

• Ye Yang refused to accept the Hōgyoku's power and asked Silver Rend to help remove it.
• Silver Rend sealed the Hōgyoku temporarily, and Ye Yang drew in Reishi to battle it with his Spiritual Power.
• When the Hōgyoku resisted Ye Yang's efforts to expel it, Ye Yang opened a Spatial Rift and threatened to enter, causing it to shoot out of his chest.
• Silver Rend rescued Ye Yang from the rift's pull, and Ye Yang stored the powerless Hōgyoku in a box.
• Ye Yang returned to real space and told Yoruichi and Urahara that he could not destroy the Hōgyoku; Urahara agreed to seal it.
• After recovering some Spiritual Power, Ye Yang noticed it had increased and left the underground base with Yoruichi and Urahara for Seireien.

Ye Yang learned that Rukongai residents were disappearing, then joined the captains’ meeting after the Ninth Division’s Kensei Muguruma and Mashiro Kuna vanished. Yamamoto dispatched a special task force to investigate while Urahara worried about Hiyori, who was already heading to the scene.

• Hirako told Ye Yang, Urahara, and Aizen that Rukongai residents had been disappearing, leaving only their clothes behind.
• Ye Yang informed Yoruichi about the disappearances, but an emergency summons soon announced that Kensei Muguruma and Mashiro Kuna’s Spiritual Pressure signatures had vanished.
• Yamamoto convened the captains and assigned a team to investigate the Ninth Division’s situation.
• Urahara rushed into the meeting and asked to go because his lieutenant was heading to the scene, but Yoruichi urged him to remain composed.
• Shunsui proposed sending Lisa Yadōmaru instead of the Grand Kidō Chief and his deputy, and Yamamoto formed a task force with Lisa, Hirako, Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, Love Aikawa, and Hachigen Ushōda.

Aizen revealed that he had used Kyōka Suigetsu to deceive Hirako and caused the captains and lieutenants to undergo Hollowfication before escaping. Ye Yang helped remove Hirako and the others from the Twelfth Division, while Central 46 condemned Urahara and Tessai and an unknown masked figure freed them.

• Aizen explained his betrayal to Hirako, revealed Kyōka Suigetsu’s Complete Hypnosis, and watched Hirako and the others begin to Hollowfy.
• Urahara and Tessai arrived, confronted Aizen, and failed to stop him from leaving after he blocked Tessai’s Kidō with Dankū.
• Yoruichi told Ye Yang that the missing Soul Reapers had vanished from Spiritual Pressure detection and that Central 46 blamed Urahara.
• Ye Yang secretly removed Hirako, the others, and Urahara’s new gigai from the Research and Development Institute and waited at the underground base.
• Central 46 sentenced Tessai to the Third Underground Prison and Urahara to exile, then a masked figure freed Urahara and took him away.

Ye Yang and Yoruichi brought Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi to the underground base, where Urahara began preparing to hide the Visored and investigate a way to reverse Hollowfication. Yoruichi chose to remain with Urahara, while Soul Society branded him a traitor and issued a kill-on-sight order.

• Urahara asked Tessai Tsukabishi to freeze Hirako and the others and make barriers while he created Spiritual Pressure-blocking Gigai for them.
• Urahara revealed that Aizen had been accompanied by Kaname Tōsen and Gin Ichimaru, leaving Ye Yang shocked and determined to make Gin pay someday.
• Yoruichi decided to stay with Urahara, and Ye Yang returned to the Second Division after she asked him to explain her absence to Soi Fon.
• Ye Yang ordered the Second Division to search for Urahara but not confront him, and he told Soi Fon that Yoruichi might not return that night.
• Central 46 announced Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi had been sentenced for forbidden experiments, declared Urahara a fugitive to be killed on sight, and reported the eight victims missing or presumed dead.
• Shunsui Kyōraku grieved over Lisa Yadōmaru’s disappearance, while Yamamoto raged after learning Urahara could not be found.

Ye Yang helped Soi Fon see Yoruichi before Yoruichi departed for the World of the Living with Urahara and the others. After Yoruichi knocked Soi Fon unconscious, Ye Yang stayed in Soul Society and watched the group leave through the Senkaimon.

• Soi Fon told Ye Yang she suspected Yoruichi had gone to find Urahara and pleaded to see her, so Ye Yang agreed to take her to the underground base.
• Ye Yang brought Soi Fon to Urahara and the others, where Yoruichi revealed herself from her black cat disguise and admitted she was leaving for the World of the Living.
• Yoruichi comforted Soi Fon, promised she would return, and knocked her unconscious before asking Ye Yang to look after her.
• Urahara invited Ye Yang to leave with them, but Ye Yang refused and asked him to take care of Yoruichi.
• Urahara, Yoruichi, Tessai Tsukabishi, Hirako, and the others departed through the Senkaimon, while Ye Yang asked Tsukabishi to record how often Urahara spoke ill of him.

After Yoruichi left Soul Society, Ye Yang comforted the devastated Soi Fon and faced Yamamoto over his role in helping Kisuke Urahara and Shinji Hirako’s group escape. Yamamoto planned to have Ye Yang convicted of knowing about Yoruichi’s actions but failing to report them, hoping to prevent Central 46 from investigating further.

• Ye Yang grieved as Yoruichi and his friends departed, then carried the unconscious Soi Fon back to the Second Division.
• Ye Yang told Soi Fon that Yoruichi had left because she had no choice and would return, and he helped her calm down.
• Ye Yang asked Soi Fon to consider what she would do if Soul Society ordered his death, but a messenger summoned him to the First Division before he could answer her question.
• Yamamoto confronted Ye Yang about Yoruichi’s disappearance and the escape of Kisuke Urahara and Shinji Hirako’s companions, and Ye Yang admitted helping them.
• Yamamoto revealed that Central 46 had not yet learned Ye Yang rescued Hirako’s group and proposed convicting him of failing to report Yoruichi’s actions to stop further investigation.
• Ye Yang agreed to Yamamoto’s plan.

Ye Yang agreed to Yamamoto’s order to join the Expeditionary Force in Hueco Mundo for fifty years, protecting the Shihoin Clan from investigation and giving Soi Fon a chance to become independent. Unable to tell her goodbye in person, he left her a letter and departed Soul Society.

• Yamamoto ordered Ye Yang to join the Expeditionary Force in Hueco Mundo for fifty years and promised to protect the Shihoin Clan while he was away.
• Ye Yang agreed after Yamamoto argued that Soi Fon needed to learn to stand on her own.
• Ye Yang said farewell to Kaien, Kūkaku, and Byakuya, who each wished him well in their own way.
• Ye Yang returned to the Second Division but could not bring himself to tell Soi Fon he was leaving.
• Ye Yang let Soi Fon sleep in Yoruichi’s room, then wrote her a letter explaining his departure and promising to return in fifty years.
• Ye Yang left Soul Society while Soi Fon slept.

Ye Yang led the expeditionary force through a Garganta into Hueco Mundo, where his squad failed to find their headquarters and then sensed a powerful Hollow. As Ye Yang ordered them toward it, some members feared the threat and accused him of using them as cannon fodder.

• Ye Yang joined the expeditionary force despite Ukitake and Shunsui questioning his decision, and Yamamoto appointed him to lead the group.
• Ye Yang ordered the force through the Garganta, reorganized them into groups of five when their Reishi paths proved unstable, and made a solid path himself.
• The expedition reached Hueco Mundo, while Soi Fon learned Ye Yang had left and resolved to become stronger after hearing that he believed in her.
• Ye Yang directed the group to search for nearby expeditionary force members, but nobody found anyone during the half-hour search.
• The group sensed an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande, and when Ye Yang ordered them to investigate, a squad member accused him of treating them as cannon fodder.

Ye Yang led the Shinigami who trusted him to rescue Shusuke Amagai’s squad, killing an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande and helping defeat the Hollows. After learning that the teammates who stayed behind were under attack, Ye Yang and Amagai returned to save them, then drove off the remaining Hollows and began tending to the wounded.

• Several members of Ye Yang’s team refused to follow him, so he left them behind while leading the rest toward the Spiritual Pressure.
• Ye Yang found Shusuke Amagai’s squad surrounded by Hollows and killed the Adjuchas-class Menos Grande, Amos Hebrew, with Silver Rend.
• Ye Yang and the others helped Amagai’s squad defeat the Hollows, and Amagai offered to guide the newcomers to the expeditionary force’s main base.
• When violent Spiritual Pressure came from the team members left behind, Ye Yang and Amagai hurried back and found them nearly wiped out by Hollows.
• Ye Yang cast Raikōhō to destroy many Hollows, then ordered the team to pursue the fleeing survivors no farther than ten li while he, Amagai, and medical personnel treated the wounded.

Ye Yang arrived at the Expeditionary Force camp in Hueco Mundo after helping Shusuke Amagai’s unit survive a Menos Grande attack. Commander-in-chief Ikeda Kawai appointed Ye Yang commander of the Second Corps, and Ye Yang introduced himself to its members.

• In Soul Society, Gin told Sōsuke Aizen that there was no trace of the missing people and that Kaname was training to become Ninth Division Captain.
• Ye Yang and Shusuke Amagai reached the Expeditionary Force camp, where Amagai showed Ye Yang how its concealed barrier worked.
• Ye Yang presented Yamamoto’s letter to Ikeda Kawai, who appointed him commander of the Second Corps and named Shusuke Amagai his deputy.
• Shusuke Amagai explained the Expeditionary Force’s five teams and small, battle-hardened ranks to Ye Yang.
• Shusuke Amagai gathered the Second Corps, and Ye Yang introduced himself as its new commander.

Ye Yang tried to earn the Second Corps’ respect as its new commander and learned from Shusuke Amagai that he needed to demonstrate his strength in Hueco Mundo. He secured an Adjuchas-hunting mission and led the corps toward its target, despite Amagai’s concern that the plan was rash.

• Ye Yang addressed the Second Corps’ mixed reactions to his appointment, and Shusuke Amagai urged the members to cooperate by revealing that Ye Yang could kill an Adjuchas instantly.
• After several days of facing the corps’ indifference, Ye Yang asked Shusuke Amagai for advice and learned that the members valued strength above all else in Hueco Mundo.
• Ye Yang invited Shusuke Amagai to drink cherry blossom wine, but Amagai passed out after one bowl.
• Ye Yang asked Ikeda Kawai for a Hollow-hunting mission, and Ikeda assigned the Second Corps to kill an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande.
• Ye Yang gathered the Second Corps and set out for the hunt, telling Shusuke Amagai that he would handle the Adjuchas while Amagai dealt with the other Hollows.

Ye Yang discovered that the supposed Adjuchas target was actually a Vasto Lorde, then found himself and the Expeditionary Force surrounded by more than twenty Adjuchas. He covered the force’s retreat with Silver Rend, killing one attacker and stopping their Ceros as he warned the remaining Hollows not to cross his line.

• Ye Yang scouted the nest and reported that he had found only one Hollow, then led the Expeditionary Force toward it cautiously.
• Inside the nest, Ye Yang recognized the humanoid Menos Grande as a Vasto Lorde, and dozens of Adjuchas Spiritual Pressures suddenly surrounded the force.
• Ye Yang ordered Shusuke Amagai to lead the members in retreat while he stayed behind to cover them.
• Ye Yang released Silver Rend and killed an Adjuchas with a strike to its shoulder and a Senka attack to its neck.
• The Adjuchas fired Ceros, but Ye Yang opened a Spatial Rift that swallowed them, then cut a trench into the ground and warned the Hollows that anyone crossing it would die.

Ye Yang followed the Menos Grandes to Ulquiorra’s lair and discovered they were trying to force the Vasto Lorde to serve Emperor Baraggan Louisenbairn. After Ulquiorra was wounded and nearly killed, Ye Yang intervened, intending to make him a future undercover agent, and stopped the Menos Grandes from leaving.

• Ye Yang intimidated the Menos Grandes, learned that Baraggan Louisenbairn ruled Hueco Mundo, then secretly followed them to Ulquiorra’s lair.
• The Menos Grandes demanded that Ulquiorra join Baraggan or become his enemy, and they attacked when he refused.
• Ulquiorra fought the group with skill and used a Black Cero, but his old injury flared up and left him unable to defend himself.
• Ye Yang stepped in to save Ulquiorra and refused the Menos Grandes’ threat that Baraggan would come for him.
• As the Menos Grandes tried to retreat, Ye Yang blocked their path with a Spatial Rift.

Ye Yang trapped and killed the Menos Grandes in his Spatial Domain, then offered to treat Ulquiorra’s injury in exchange for watching Sōsuke Aizen. After identifying the wound as Baraggan’s power of decay, Ye Yang sealed it temporarily, leaving Ulquiorra needing a new seal within a year.

• Ye Yang pulled Ulquiorra and the fleeing Menos Grandes into his Spatial Domain, where he killed their leader and slaughtered the rest.
• Ye Yang asked Ulquiorra to watch Sōsuke Aizen in exchange for help with his injury, and Ulquiorra agreed.
• Ulquiorra told Ye Yang that Baraggan had wounded him with decay, the erosion of time, and that High-Speed Regeneration had kept him alive.
• Ye Yang used spatial techniques to halt and seal the decay inside Ulquiorra, warning that the seal would last only a year.

Ye Yang suppressed the decay power afflicting Ulquiorra and arranged for him to watch Aizen, then returned to the Expeditionary Force camp. A false report of his death had made him a celebrated hero, and he left his troops acknowledging him as their commander before meeting Commander-in-Chief Ikeda Kawai.

• Ye Yang sealed Ulquiorra's decay power, recovered his Spiritual Power, and gave him a device to contact him after Aizen appeared or the seal needed reinforcing.
• Ye Yang returned to the camp, where guards initially mistook him for an impostor because they believed he had died; Shusuke Amagai confirmed his identity.
• Ye Yang learned that exaggerated rumors about him holding off more than twenty Menos Grande had spread, and he escaped the crowd of admirers and a bold admirer using Shunpo.
• Ye Yang reassured the Second Corps, whose members declared their loyalty after believing he had sacrificed himself to protect them.
• Ye Yang and Shusuke Amagai met Commander-in-Chief Ikeda Kawai, who thanked Ye Yang and invited him to sit and talk.

Ye Yang recounted how he escaped a group of Adjuchas and a wounded Vasto Lorde, then returned to the Second Corps’ camp for a celebration. The chapter ended with the veterans apologizing for doubting him and Ye Yang accepting their renewed trust.

• Ye Yang told Ikeda Kawai and the others that the Hollows had targeted a Vasto Lorde in a cave, and he escaped during their fight by using the Shihoin Clan’s secret Shunpo.
• Ye Yang explained that his Zanpakuto’s Shikai made it exceptionally sharp and said he had killed a weaker Adjuchas in an instant.
• Ikeda Kawai apologized for the danger the Expeditionary Force had faced, while Ye Yang accepted responsibility for his own actions.
• Ye Yang declined to rest and went with Shusuke Amagai to the Second Corps’ celebration, where the members welcomed him as their trusted commander.
• Shusuke Amagai drank despite his inability to handle alcohol and collapsed, so Ye Yang ordered someone to carry him to his tent.
• Endō Toyoshige apologized on behalf of the veteran members for having doubted Ye Yang, and Ye Yang forgave them as everyone raised a toast.

After Baraggan Louisenbairn tracked down Ye Yang, he launched a surprise assault on the Expeditionary Force’s camp. Ye Yang returned to find the force overwhelmed and its intended retreat route guarded by Baraggan.

• Ye Yang and Shusuke Amagai discussed the unnatural calm around the camp and confirmed that a retreat route had been prepared.
• Unable to sleep, Ye Yang investigated a faint Spiritual Pressure beyond the barrier and uncovered Baraggan Louisenbairn, the Skeleton Emperor of Hueco Mundo.
• Baraggan explained that a special Hollow had marked Ye Yang with Spiritual Pressure, allowing Baraggan to locate the Expeditionary Force, and revealed that his subordinates were already attacking the camp.
• Ye Yang rushed back and found at least fifty Adjuchas and a thousand Gillian assaulting the Expeditionary Force while its members fought to hold them off.
• Amagai told Ye Yang that the force planned to retreat through the weakest part of the attack, and Ye Yang warned him that Baraggan was guarding that route.

Ye Yang and the battered Expeditionary Force fought their way toward their only escape route, where Baraggan, the Skeleton Emperor, awaited them. As Ikeda Kawai prepared to hold Baraggan off with his Bankai, Ye Yang refused to let the old commander sacrifice himself and revealed that he could use Bankai too.

• Shusuke Amagai despaired after Ye Yang identified Baraggan as a Vasto Lorde, but Ye Yang urged him to keep fighting.
• Ye Yang and Shusuke Amagai rescued survivors while the Expeditionary Force gathered at Ikeda Kawai's signal flare.
• Ye Yang rallied the force to break out, and the survivors fought through the Hollows with Ye Yang and Ikeda Kawai protecting them.
• The force reached the barrier entrance with only about a hundred members remaining, and Ikeda Kawai announced he would stay behind to hold Baraggan off.
• Ikeda Kawai named Ye Yang his intended successor, but Ye Yang refused and said he could use Bankai.

Ye Yang left the others behind and confronted Baraggan, using Bankai and Kidō to test why his attacks kept slowing near the king. He concluded that Baraggan’s power of decay manipulated time, while the battle remained unresolved.

• Ye Yang knocked Ikeda Kawai unconscious and ordered the others, including Shusuke Amagai, to escape while he distracted Baraggan.
• Ye Yang opened the barrier and challenged Baraggan, then activated Bankai—Spatial Domain to draw him into his space.
• Ye Yang and Baraggan fought at close range, but Baraggan repeatedly dodged attacks that should have landed.
• Ye Yang tested his theory with Senka and several Kidō spells, then trapped Baraggan with Bakudō and attacked him with Hadō #90—Kurohitsugi.
• Baraggan escaped Kurohitsugi with his body largely unharmed, and Ye Yang identified his ability as the power of decay, which slowed and aged anything approaching him.

Ye Yang battled Baraggan Louisenbairn’s aging power, enduring his attacks before striking back with Spatial Domain—Sky-Rending Sword. When Baraggan survived and trapped him in black aura, Ye Yang attempted his newly devised Spatial Jump to escape through turbulent spatial currents.

• Baraggan attacked Ye Yang with aging aura that could erode even a Spatial Rift, but Ye Yang dodged it and guessed the power took a toll on Baraggan.
• Baraggan unleashed multiple streams of decay aura, and Ye Yang used Utsusemi to escape after the aura aged away his outer garment.
• Ye Yang formed a Spatial Seal and created a colossal sword of light with Spatial Domain—Sky-Rending Sword, striking and badly injuring Baraggan.
• Baraggan survived the attack and surrounded Ye Yang with decay aura, leaving him nowhere to dodge.
• Ye Yang opened a Spatial Rift and stepped into it, attempting Spatial Jump through turbulent spatial currents.

Ye Yang survived Baraggan’s decay by escaping into spatial turbulence, then awakened his Zanpakuto’s true power over time and space. He reversed the decay and restored himself, leaving the battle poised to continue with his newly named Galaxy Rift.

• Ye Yang repeatedly used Spatial Jump to evade Baraggan’s decay, but Baraggan trapped him inside a ten-meter-wide field and revealed he had anticipated the jump’s range.
• As the decay reduced Ye Yang’s limbs to bone, he remembered Soi Fon and used Spatial Seal—Freeze to shield himself temporarily.
• Ye Yang opened a Spatial Rift and entered spatial turbulence, where time stood still and the decay stopped spreading.
• After leaving the turbulence, Ye Yang realized he could form an inner core from his Spiritual Pressure and heard a voice urge him to call out his Zanpakuto’s name.
• Ye Yang awakened Galaxy Rift, used Time Reversal to erase Baraggan’s black mist, and restored his body and clothes.

Ye Yang fully awakened Galaxy Rift’s power over time and space, defeated Baraggan’s attempt to stop him, and chose to enter seclusion. After purifying Ulquiorra’s black mist, he asked him to find a quiet place and was led to the underground entrance of the Forest of Menos.

• Ye Yang fully awakened Galaxy Rift, dispersed Baraggan’s decay power, and revealed that using his new time ability cost him lifespan.
• Ye Yang ended the fight with Baraggan and left after giving his name, Ye Yang Shihoin.
• Ye Yang summoned Ulquiorra, removed the seal on his chest, and used silver light to destroy the black mist afflicting him.
• Ye Yang told Ulquiorra he planned to cultivate in seclusion for at least twenty years and asked him to watch for Aizen.
• Ulquiorra proposed the Forest of Menos as a secluded refuge and led Ye Yang to its underground entrance.

Ye Yang settled in the Forest of Menos to prepare for secluded cultivation while Ulquiorra explained Hueco Mundo’s rival powers and agreed to seek out other Vasto Lordes. On the surface, the surviving Expeditionary Force escaped the Hollows, but its commanders mourned Ye Yang, who had stayed behind to save them.

• Ulquiorra led Ye Yang through the Forest of Menos to a quiet cave and set up a barrier that warned other Hollows away.
• Ulquiorra told Ye Yang that Baraggan ruled only one of many factions and that at least five Vasto Lordes existed in Hueco Mundo; Ye Yang asked him to find them and recruit them if possible.
• Ulquiorra explained that Baraggan had ambushed him after his advancement to Vasto Lorde and that he still could not defeat him, though he could escape.
• Ye Yang revealed that he had forced Baraggan to retreat and said Baraggan would need years to recover, then told Ulquiorra to prepare for Aizen while he entered secluded cultivation.
• A group of Adjuchas discussed Ulquiorra’s return and decided to avoid his cave while he cultivated.
• The surviving Expeditionary Force reached safety in the desert, and its members mourned Ye Yang, who had stayed behind to protect them.