Chapter Summaries

Ye Yang revealed to Soi Fon that he was Yoruichi’s younger brother and explained why he had trained her in secret. Soi Fon joined Yoruichi’s Bodyguard Corps, and she mistook Kisuke Urahara for a threat when he tried to take Yoruichi out for a drink.

• Yoruichi brought Soi Fon to Ye Yang’s quarters and confronted him about his connection to her.
• Ye Yang told Soi Fon that he was Ye Yang Shihoin, Yoruichi’s younger brother, and explained that he had trained her partly to help Yoruichi and partly because of her talent and persistence.
• Ye Yang told Soi Fon to call him Brother Ye Yang, and she explained that she had taken her grandmother’s name and was now called Soi Fon.
• Yoruichi said Soi Fon had joined her Bodyguard Corps, and Ye Yang encouraged Soi Fon to make Yoruichi lose their next sparring match.
• Kisuke Urahara arrived and tried to take Yoruichi out for a drink, but Soi Fon held her Zanpakuto to his neck until Yoruichi identified him as the Second Division’s Third Seat.

After Soi Fon joined the Punishment Force as Yoruichi's bodyguard, Yoruichi took her and Ye Yang to visit Byakuya at the Sixth Division. Soi Fon's blunt interpretation of Byakuya's name gave Yoruichi a new way to tease him, and Byakuya chased after her in anger.

• Soi Fon questioned Kisuke Urahara's unimpressive appearance, and Ye Yang told her not to judge people by appearances.
• Soi Fon followed Yoruichi to morning training, then joined Yoruichi and Ye Yang on a visit to the Kuchiki Clan.
• Yoruichi startled Byakuya during his sword practice by stealing the ribbon from his hair.
• Soi Fon explained that Byakuya Kuchiki sounded like a meaningless statement about rotten wood, and Yoruichi laughed and used the remark to tease him.
• Byakuya lost his temper and used Shunpo to pursue Yoruichi.

Ye Yang began teaching Shin'ō's new class one and discovered that Gin Ichimaru and Rangiku Matsumoto were among his students. After assessing the students' fighting skills, he began their training with physical conditioning, emphasizing that Soul Reapers needed stamina as well as Spiritual Pressure.

• Ye Yang accepted Yamamoto's order to teach the incoming class and left Soi Fon in charge of the Second Division's affairs.
• Ye Yang introduced himself to class one and learned that the silver-haired student was Gin Ichimaru and the blonde girl was Rangiku Matsumoto.
• Ye Yang took the students to the training grounds and paired them for sparring to assess their abilities.
• Gin Ichimaru defeated Matsushita Ikeda with a sudden strike, and Ye Yang warned Gin not to display killing intent at school.
• Ye Yang praised the students' abilities, then began physical conditioning and explained the importance of stamina alongside Spiritual Pressure.

Ye Yang pushed his Shin'ō students through a grueling stamina lesson of running and sword swings, while Yoruichi and Soi Fon watched. The students finished exhausted, and Ye Yang dismissed them after warning that future training would be even harder.

• Ye Yang explained why physical stamina mattered and ordered the students to run ten laps; after Ueno complained, he increased the assignment to fifteen laps.
• Yoruichi and Soi Fon appeared to watch Ye Yang teach, and Yoruichi lost a bet when Gin Ichimaru returned after only half an hour.
• Rangiku Matsumoto arrived exhausted, and Yoruichi helped her rest while Rangiku kept watching Gin.
• Ye Yang ordered the students to swing their swords five hundred times, adding one hundred swings for each minute they had arrived late.
• Gin finished the exercise and left after Rangiku asked him to wait; unable to stand, she watched him go.
• After the remaining students finished and collapsed, Ye Yang warned them that training would get harder and dismissed the class.

Ye Yang and his companions went drinking, where they met Rangiku Matsumoto and invited her to join them. After Rangiku got drunk, Ye Yang took her to a Shin'ō dorm room and paid six years of fees; she woke there and learned he had already left.

• Yoruichi laughed at Ye Yang's boast, and Ye Yang used their bet to summon Kisuke Urahara to join them for drinks.
• Ye Yang, Yoruichi, Soi Fon, and Urahara met Captains Ukitake and Shunsui Kyōraku, who joined their meal.
• Ye Yang spotted his student Rangiku drinking alone and invited her to the table, where the group teased Shunsui about being old.
• After the group drank, Ye Yang arranged for Soi Fon to take Yoruichi home and left Ukitake with the drunk Shunsui.
• Rangiku told Ye Yang she had no home while drunk, so he carried her to a Shin'ō dormitory and paid six years' fees for a room.
• Rangiku mistook Ye Yang for Gin in her sleep and begged him not to leave; after she woke, Ye Yang explained where she was and vanished with Shunpo.

After three months of punishing physical and spiritual training, Ye Yang began teaching his students Kidō, and they quickly learned basic spells. One month later, Gin demonstrated extraordinary skill with an incantation-free Sōkatsui, leaving Ye Yang and the class stunned.

• Ye Yang finished three months of intensive training with his class, improving their stamina, martial skills, and control of Spiritual Pressure without anyone quitting.
• Ye Yang taught the students basic Hadō and Bakudō, and nearly all of them successfully cast Shō on their first attempt.
• Gin volunteered for demonstrations, learned Byakurai after seeing it once, and asked Ye Yang to teach him more Kidō.
• A month later, the students practiced Shakkahō, with Ye Yang praising Rangiku's control and correcting the others' mistakes.
• Gin cast Sōkatsui without an incantation, destroying the target and leaving a black mark on the protected wall, astonishing the class and Ye Yang.

Ye Yang avoided the vacant Twelfth Division captaincy by persuading Yoruichi to recommend Kisuke Urahara instead. When Urahara’s captain’s exam was interrupted by a report of escaped individuals, Ye Yang and Soi Fon followed him to investigate, and Urahara approached their hiding place.

• Yoruichi told Ye Yang that the Captain-Commander wanted her to recommend him for the vacant Twelfth Division captaincy, but Ye Yang suggested she recommend Urahara instead.
• Yoruichi arranged for Urahara to take the captain’s exam, while Soi Fon objected to his selection and presented a report of his alleged laziness.
• After a member of the Punishment Force reported that Urahara’s target had been found, Urahara left to investigate before the exam.
• Ye Yang and Soi Fon followed Urahara to a hut where escaped individuals were hiding, and Ye Yang protected Soi Fon from their oppressive Spiritual Pressure.
• Urahara said he would handle the situation and used Shunpo to reach the hut’s door.

Urahara effortlessly defeated the fugitives at the hut, then was appointed the new captain of the Twelfth Division after Kirio Hikifune joined the Royal Guard. Three days later, Ye Yang accompanied Urahara to the Maggot's Nest and left him stunned by winning their Hakuda exchange.

• Urahara overwhelmed the fugitives at the hut, and Ye Yang ordered the Punishment Force to take them to prison.
• Ye Yang met Shunsui Kyōraku, Lisa Yadōmaru, Jūshirō Ukitake, and other captains before Kirio Hikifune's promotion to the Royal Guard was discussed.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto appointed Kisuke Urahara captain of the Twelfth Division after Yoruichi Shihōin recommended him.
• Urahara moved his belongings to the Twelfth Division, then requested permission to enter the Maggot's Nest three days later.
• Ye Yang accompanied Urahara and defeated him in a rapid Hakuda duel, impressing Hiyori.

Kisuke Urahara founded the Research and Development Institute under the Twelfth Division with Mayuri Kurotsuchi as deputy director. As Ye Yang returned to teaching, Gin Ichimaru’s early graduation application was approved, and his classmates followed him to watch the exam while Rangiku worried he was leaving her again.

• Kisuke Urahara told Ye Yang he planned to recruit Mayuri Kurotsuchi from the Maggot's Nest to help establish the Research and Development Institute, and Ye Yang accompanied him to retrieve Mayuri.
• Central 46 approved the new institute under the Twelfth Division, naming Kisuke Urahara its director and Mayuri Kurotsuchi its deputy director.
• Ye Yang returned to Shin'ō for the new term and learned that Gin Ichimaru had applied to graduate after one year at Lieutenant Aizen's invitation.
• Ye Yang taught his class about the Gotei 13 and asked the students which divisions they hoped to join; Gin chose the Fifth Division and Rangiku favored the Tenth.
• A Soul Reaper informed Ye Yang that Gin's graduation application had been approved, so Ye Yang led the class to watch the exam while Rangiku stayed behind, wondering if Gin was leaving again.

Gin Ichimaru took his early graduation examination by fighting his teacher, Ye Yang, and demonstrated exceptional skill across the Soul Reaper disciplines. After passing, Gin chose to join the Fifth Division and was ordered to report the next day.

• Yamamoto announced that Gin's examination would be a fight against Second Division lieutenant Ye Yang, who had not been told he would serve as the examiner.
• Gin used Kidō and Shunpo against Ye Yang, but Ye Yang blocked his attacks, saw through his feint, and praised his strategy.
• Gin revealed that his Zanpakuto was named Shinsō, then fought Ye Yang in a Zanjutsu match while Ye Yang coached him.
• Gin activated Shinsō's extension ability at close range, but Ye Yang evaded it with Utsusemi and appeared behind him.
• Yamamoto declared that Gin had passed the examination, and Gin chose the Fifth Division, where he was told to report the next day.

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.