Recaps

Haruto fought a powerful goat-headed Hollow whose spatial abilities let it swallow and redirect his Kidō. The Hollow broke Haruto’s back and left him unable to move, then spoke to him as Haruto tried to stall for time.

• Haruto trapped the goat-headed Hollow with Bakudō and attacked it with Raikōhō, but it swallowed the blast and spat it out through a phantom mouth.
• Haruto unleashed Hyōga Seiran, but the Hollow broke free, swallowed the ice, and redirected the attack at him.
• Haruto blocked the returned Hyōga Seiran with Dankū, then drew Zanka no Tachi as the Hollow charged.
• The Hollow dodged Haruto’s strike with Sonído and smashed into his back, breaking his bones and leaving him badly injured and unable to move.
• Haruto tried to buy time while recovering, and the goat-headed Hollow told him that his combat strength ranked among the top three in the hunting ground.

Haruto discovered that the goat-headed Hollow was a Gillian who had regained its self-awareness by using Soul Reapers and their Reiatsu to forge armor. With Haruto badly injured and the Hollow transformed, Daijiji arrived to fight beside him.

• Haruto learned that the goat-headed Hollow had adjusted its Reiatsu to deceive Soul Reapers and that it had used its clones to gather Reiatsu.
• The Hollow revealed that it was a self-aware Gillian, then transformed into an armored Menos Grande using spatial vortices.
• Isane and the others told Haruto that Hollows had self-destructed and drawn sixth-years into spatial vortices; Haruto told them to return to the stands while he handled his opponent.
• Haruto used Reiatsu to force his damaged body upright and insisted that he still had a chance against the Menos Grande.
• Daijiji arrived and joined Haruto, who confirmed that their earlier plan was still possible.

Daijiji revealed that he had helped the Twelfth Division capture the sheep-headed Menos Grande and joined Haruto in fighting it. After the Hollow nearly killed Daijiji by turning his attack against him, Haruto saved him with Bakudō, and the two recognized that they had underestimated their opponent and each other.

• Daijiji told Haruto that the Hollow's spatial ability could be suppressed with Bakudō and revealed he had helped the Twelfth Division capture it decades earlier.
• Daijiji released his Zanpakuto, Stele, and overwhelmed the sheep-headed Menos Grande with his strength and speed.
• Haruto realized the Hollow had reflected his controllable Hyōga Seiran before, and warned Daijiji that its ability had more uses than Daijiji expected.
• The sheep-headed Menos Grande opened a spatial vortex that redirected Daijiji's own slash toward his neck.
• Haruto cast Rikujōkōrō to briefly restrain Daijiji's slash and save his life.
• Daijiji thanked Haruto, admitted he had underestimated the Hollow and Haruto, and prepared to continue facing their opponent.

Daijiji unleashed Gravestone’s army of captured souls against the goat-headed Menos Grande, but the Hollow opened a Garganta and used Gillians to consume the spirits. After devouring the Gillians, it evolved into a humanoid Adjuchas and erased Daijiji with a crimson blast, leaving Haruto stunned.

• Daijiji aged himself and summoned the souls stored in Gravestone, then asked Haruto to keep the Zanpakuto’s ability secret.
• Daijiji sent the hundred souls against the goat-headed Menos Grande, whose ability opened a Garganta and brought forth Gillians.
• The Gillians devoured the summoned souls despite their counterattacks, leaving Gravestone as a lifeless stone.
• The goat-headed Menos Grande devoured the Gillians and transformed into a humanoid Hollow with a white goat skull mask.
• The newly evolved Hollow fired a crimson blast that erased Daijiji and his Zanpakuto while Haruto watched.

Haruto faced a cunning Adjuchas that had engineered its capture to reach Soul Society and feed on souls raised by Daijiji’s Zanpakuto, while cutting off communications and attacking the assembled nobles. With help still unreachable, Haruto tried to hold it back, but the Adjuchas overwhelmed his Kidō and blasted him away.

• The Adjuchas revealed that it had spent decades observing a Soul Reaper who could provide the souls it needed to evolve, then arranged to be captured and brought into Soul Society.
• The Adjuchas sent five energy spheres in different directions, including two toward the stands where sages and nobles were gathered, and cut off Haruto’s means of communication.
• The Adjuchas explained that it had disrupted the Twelfth Division’s observation post and achieved the balance needed for its evolution.
• Haruto cast Rikujōkōrō, but the Adjuchas evaded it with Sonído and attacked from behind.
• Haruto layered Tōzanshō shields and used Dankū to create an opening, then attacked with Hyapporankan and Sajō Sabaku, but the Adjuchas shattered his defenses and sent him flying with a red blast.

Haruto was nearly killed by an Adjuchas, but Isane, Ayaka, Kiyone, and Nanao arrived to help him. The Adjuchas overpowered the group and left Haruto desperately defending them from a barrage of Bala.

• The Adjuchas charged a Cero as Haruto lay too injured to escape, but Isane arrived and used Itegumo to obstruct the Hollow while healing Haruto.
• Ayaka used Makeup to blur the Adjuchas’s black-and-white coloring and weaken its Reiatsu, while Kiyone struck it with her war hammer.
• The Adjuchas sent Kiyone flying and attacked Ayaka, but Nanao arrived and protected her with Dankū as Haruto raised Tōzanshō.
• The Adjuchas shattered their defenses, grabbed Nanao and Ayaka, and slammed them into the ground, reducing their life signs to less than a tenth.
• Haruto caught the two girls with Tsuriboshi, then raised an earthen slope and reinforced it with ice to shield the group from the Adjuchas’s many Bala.

Mutsuki Shōkaku saved Haruto and his allies from an Adjuchas’s Cero with her Zanpakuto, but her devastating counterattack left her apparently dead and barely injured the Hollow. As the Adjuchas prepared to attack again, Haruto stood up beside Isane.

• The Adjuchas’s Cero overwhelmed Haruto’s Kidō defenses, and Mutsuki Shōkaku arrived to absorb it with her Zanpakuto.
• Mutsuki Shōkaku released her Zanpakuto and struck the Adjuchas with a blood-moon slash that split the forest and destroyed half its body.
• The Adjuchas regenerated, explained how Mutsuki’s attack had nearly defeated it, and concluded that her power had cost her life.
• Haruto saw Mutsuki’s shattered Zanpakuto and lifeless body while Nanao, Ayaka, and Kiyone lay unconscious and Isane tried to treat her.
• The Adjuchas prepared another Cero, and Haruto braced himself against Isane and slowly stood up.

After Mutsuki fell, Haruto understood his sorrow and responsibility, united with his other self, and released his Zanpakuto, Seisen. He survived the Adjuchas’s Cero and stood ready to fight while Isane treated the others.

• Haruto realized that accepting sorrow and becoming part of Soul Society would let him release his Zanpakuto.
• Haruto gripped his Asauchi, united with his other self, and released a vast surge of Reiatsu that broke through to Fifth-Class Reii.
• Haruto drew his Zanpakuto and called its Shikai, Seisen, as the Adjuchas prepared its Cero.
• The Adjuchas fired its Cero, but Haruto protected Isane and the others inside a Tōzanshō shield.
• Haruto asked Isane to heal the others, then told the Adjuchas that its Cero had been full of openings.

Haruto explained his Zanpakuto’s flowing-water ability and used its speed and cutting power to overwhelm the Adjuchas. After reflecting a powerful Hadō back at his opponent, Haruto pursued him through the smoke and landed another slash.

• Haruto taunted the Adjuchas and explained that his Zanpakuto attached flowing-water Reishi to nearby targets, letting him move rapidly with a technique he called Waterfall.
• The Adjuchas threatened the injured Kiyone and the others, but Haruto assured him that Tōzanshō would protect them.
• Haruto appeared behind the Adjuchas and cut through his Hierro, nearly bisecting him before he could dodge.
• Haruto fired Senju Kōten Taihō, and the Adjuchas swallowed and redirected the Kidō projectile with his spatial ability.
• Haruto blocked the redirected attack with Kyōmon and reflected it back, then met the Adjuchas as he fled the blast and slashed him again.

Haruto defeated the armored Adjuchas by combining his Zanpakuto’s flowing-water ability with a reverse strike, then cleared the barrier as the sun came out. He walked toward Isane and asked Seisen to keep working with him, though the Zanpakuto did not answer.

• The Adjuchas transformed into a heavily armored form, increasing its Reiatsu and trapping Haruto’s Zanpakuto in its bone armor.
• Haruto revealed that he could still use his Zanpakuto’s ability while attacking at close range and struck the Adjuchas with Zanka no Tachi.
• Haruto followed with a reverse strike using Seisen’s spine, shattering the Adjuchas’s body.
• Haruto waved away the bloodied Tōzanshō, letting sunlight shine over the ravaged land.
• Haruto approached Isane and asked Seisen to keep working with him, but the Zanpakuto stayed silent.

Haruto helped Isane stabilize the injured students after defeating the Adjuchas, then explained the battle to the arriving reinforcements. He revealed his newly attained Fifth-Class Reii and Senju Kōten Taihō, leaving the others to reckon with his strength and his ties to the Kuchiki Clan.

• Haruto reassured Isane as she treated the wounded, then reflected on his muted grief and his Zanpakuto’s emotions.
• Kuchiki Sōjun, Byakuya, Kotetsu Nanako, Kiyōnosuke Yamada, Lisa Yadōmaru, and Shinji Hirako arrived to provide aid and investigate.
• Kiyōnosuke Yamada determined that Mutsuki Shōkaku had died from exhausting her Reiatsu while protecting the students, not from a Hollow attack.
• Haruto told Byakuya and the others that the Adjuchas had targeted Captain Daijiji’s Zanpakuto and had been weakened by Mutsuki’s attack.
• Haruto disclosed that he had reached Fifth-Class Reii, mastered Senju Kōten Taihō, and had previously learned Hyōga Seiran, making his connection to the Kuchiki Clan explicit.

Haruto avoided joining the Sixth Division and reflected on Seisen’s versatile abilities and his growing strength, while wondering whether his fused souls might let him wield two Zanpakuto. The next day, he and the others carried Mutsuki’s belongings to the graveyard, where Hoshino Kurumadani completed the sending-off ceremony.

• Kuchiki Sōjun defended Haruto’s use of Senju Kōten Taihō, and Shinji Hirako stopped Lisa Yadōmaru from pressing him about it.
• Kuchiki Sōjun said he did not intend to invite Haruto into the Sixth Division, and Haruto agreed to wait until he had caught up with Kōga.
• Haruto considered Seisen’s ability to alter the flow of things, enhancing his attacks and movement, and wondered whether he could wield two swords because his soul was fused.
• Haruto and the others carried Mutsuki’s clothes to the graveyard at Ayaka Kurumadani’s home, where Hoshino Kurumadani ended the sending-off ceremony.

After the Adjuchas attack killed fifty Shin'ō Academy students, Haruto and the surviving graduates attended their graduation ceremony and chose divisions. Nanao and Ayaka joined the Eighth Division, while the other graduates’ choices remained to be made.

• The Central 46 Chambers dismissed the Twelfth Division vice-captain posthumously and barred Mutsuki Shōkaku and Daijiji Kū Seigen from burial in the Gotei 13 cemetery, so Ayaka’s family handled Mutsuki’s burial and the Tenth Division had to arrange Daijiji’s.
• Haruto and the other survivors returned to the Shin'ō Academy, where the Seventh Division escorted the coffins of fifty students killed in the graduation exam to the Gotei 13 cemetery.
• Haruto and his injured companions arrived at the graduation ceremony as representatives from across the Gotei 13 and the Kidō Corps gathered to recruit the five surviving graduates.
• Nanao chose the Eighth Division, and Shunsui Kyōraku accepted her despite his initial awkwardness.
• Ayaka also chose the Eighth Division, explaining that she wanted to be independent rather than follow Haruto around.

Haruto refused Tessai Tsukabishi’s offer to join the Kidō Corps and chose to pursue a place in the Gotei 13. Tessai gave him a Kidō Orb for a powerful lightning Hadō, and Haruto continued toward the divisions as Marechiyo Ōmaeda greeted him.

• Tessai Tsukabishi offered to teach Haruto the pinnacle number ninety-nine Kidō if he joined the Kidō Corps.
• Haruto declined Tessai’s invitation, saying he preferred to join the Gotei 13.
• Tessai gave Haruto a Kidō Orb for his number eighty-eight Hadō, Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō, and Haruto accepted it.
• Haruto continued past the First Division, where Genshirō Okikiba nodded to him.
• Marechiyo Ōmaeda greeted Haruto, and Haruto showed him the Kidō Orb.

Haruto declined the Fifth Division and accepted gifts and attention from several divisions before telling Jūshirō Ukitake he was interested in joining the Thirteenth Division. Ukitake acknowledged the division’s desperate need for members and recognized that Haruto had been promised two number ninety-nine Kidō.

• Marechiyo Ōmaeda gave Haruto a Kukai Box from Yoruichi, who had inferred that he needed it.
• Chikane Iba praised Haruto’s training, while Captain Unohana left with Isane and Kiyone to return to the busy Fourth Division.
• Haruto declined Shinji Hirako’s offer to join the Fifth Division, and Shinji blamed himself for failing to help Komatsuzuru.
• Ginjiro gave Haruto glasses chosen by Byakuya, and Jin'emon Kotsubaki praised Haruto’s sword before inviting him to visit the Seventh Division.
• Haruto told Jūshirō Ukitake he wanted to join the Thirteenth Division, and Ukitake noted that the division was severely short-staffed.
• Ukitake guessed that Tessai Tsukabishi had promised Haruto two number ninety-nine Kidō, and Haruto confirmed Kuryūtenmetsu and Bankin Taihō.

Haruto negotiated with Jūshirō Ukitake to join the Thirteenth Division as its Fourth Seat in exchange for access to advanced Kidō. After the meeting, several fifth-year students discussed Haruto’s strength and considered asking him to keep teaching them.

• Ukitake offered Haruto several advanced Kidō, including Kuyō Shibari, Fūsatsu Kakei, Shisō Kekkai, and Ittō Kasō, along with the possibility of asking Yamamoto for secret techniques.
• Ukitake proposed that Haruto become the Thirteenth Division’s lieutenant, but Haruto refused and accepted the Fourth Seat instead.
• Haruto and Ukitake agreed to work together, with Haruto choosing the division partly because its missions could take him to the World of the Living and away from Aizen’s notice.
• After the ceremony, Gyōkaku Kumoi, Togakushi Riku, and Gori Takezuna discussed Haruto’s reported victory over an Adjuchas and his Captain-level strength.
• Togakushi decided that the fifth-years should ask Haruto to continue teaching them, while Gori wondered what Haruto would gain from doing so.

After a drunken celebration, Haruto woke beside Isane and used his new Zanpakuto, Seisen, to clean the room before sneaking out to shower. The liquor had boosted his Reiatsu and healed the group, while Byakuya remained asleep; Haruto was interrupted by A-Qing at the bathroom door.

• Gyōkaku Kumoi agreed to ask his father for Soul Gold and try Togakushi’s suggestion for reaching Captain-level strength.
• Haruto and his friends celebrated at the dormitory with liquor Byakuya brought from his family cellar, and most of them became heavily drunk.
• Haruto woke beside Isane, recalled her drunken kiss, and realized they had spent the night together.
• Haruto used Seisen to clean the bedroom and noticed the liquor had increased his Reiatsu and healed the others.
• Haruto found Byakuya still asleep in the living room, then headed to the bathroom, where A-Qing appeared at the door.

Haruto and Ayaka shared a playful morning and toasted their teacher before Haruto attended a Thirteenth Division meeting. He learned how badly the division had been depleted and was told to familiarize himself with its work and library.

• Ayaka teased Haruto about the previous night, then persuaded him to be intimate with her before they returned to the living room.
• Ayaka urged Haruto to celebrate life and the future of Soul Society, and they toasted their teacher and the present.
• Haruto attended a Thirteenth Division meeting in his new uniform and found only Captain Ukitake and Sixth Seat Kajōmaru Hideasa there with him.
• Ukitake explained that the division's lieutenant was confined and several senior officers were dead, away on missions, or occupied with other duties.
• Ukitake told Haruto to familiarize himself with the division and gave him access to its library, prompting Haruto to wonder which seniors' writings it contained.

Haruto began his work as the Thirteenth Division's Fourth Seat and headed to its training ground to study advanced Bakudō. After testing Kuyō Shibari on a Giant Hollow, he destroyed it while trying to send it away.

• Haruto told Ukitake that he planned to study Kidō in seclusion and could receive assignments by Hell Butterfly.
• Haruto met Kanemitsu and Gonshida and asked them to take him to the Thirteenth Division's captured Hollows.
• Haruto brought a Giant Hollow to the training ground and examined the metal net used to contain it.
• Haruto used Kuyō Shibari to bind the Giant Hollow and assessed the Bakudō's ability to restrain Hollows.
• Haruto released the Giant Hollow and urged it to leave, but it burned to ashes after he pointed Byakurai at its mask.

Haruto tested powerful Kidō at the Thirteenth Division and was confronted by Soi Fon’s Stealth Force for using a high-ranked spell in the Seireitei. After clearing up the misunderstanding, he decided to visit Yoshiwara in the Rukongai, but Ayaka arrived before he could leave.

• Haruto tested Fūsatsu Kakei on a bear Hollow and vaporized it with a fraction of the Bakudō’s power.
• Haruto demonstrated Byakurai, Raikōhō, and Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō in the Thirteenth Division’s training ground.
• Haruto restrained his eager Zanpakuto, Seisen, when six Stealth Force members surrounded him.
• Soi Fon accused Haruto of breaking the Seireitei’s restrictions, and Haruto explained that he had used number eighty-eight Hadō and aimed it toward the Rukongai.
• Haruto decided to visit his business partner in Yoshiwara, but Ayaka arrived from the Eighth Division and called out to him.

Haruto caught up with Ayaka, learned about several Soul Reapers’ new posts, and met Yayahara Yuyu before the two left for the World of the Living. He declined Ayaka’s invitation to join them and traveled to Yoshiwara to train, where he noticed that the area’s Plus population had sharply declined.

• Ayaka told Haruto that Nanao had become Sixth Seat, Isane had become Fifth Seat, and Kiyone was assigned to sanitation work in the Fourth Division.
• Ayaka introduced Yayahara Yuyu, who said Haruto seemed like someone who had killed many people and was not her type.
• Ayaka and Yuyu left for the World of the Living to gather intelligence on the Quincy, while Haruto declined to accompany them.
• Haruto left a letter for Captain Ukitake and traveled to East Rukongai to train his Kidō and develop Seisen’s abilities.
• Haruto reached Yoshiwara and sensed that its Plus population was far lower than before, prompting him to wonder whether Hollows had attacked the area.

Haruto sensed something wrong in Yoshiwara and moved toward the establishment while Naa Ichihara confronted Twelfth Division Shinigami trafficking Pluses for experiments. Naa challenged their newly appointed Vice-Captain, Sakai Shukugo, and attacked him as he insulted Kirio Hikifune and Hiyori Sarugaki.

• Haruto quietly used Shunpo to reach the top floor of the establishment in Yoshiwara.
• In a forest warehouse in East District 46, Sakai Shukugo accepted a shipment of more than two thousand captive Pluses from a frightened old man and demanded another delivery.
• Naa Ichihara arrived, killed the old man by setting him ablaze, and learned that the Shinigami leader was Sakai Shukugo, the Twelfth Division's newly appointed Vice-Captain.
• Naa confronted Sakai over the captive Pluses and mocked his claim to authority, while he defended the Shinigami's power over Rukongai and insulted Kirio Hikifune and Hiyori Sarugaki.
• Naa vanished as Sakai spoke, and her pipe became a sword hilt as she began her attack.

Naa Ichihara fought Sakai Shukugo, whose Zanpakuto countered her illusions and drained Reiatsu until its poison took effect. Just as Sakai moved in to finish her, Haruto arrived, severed Sakai’s arm, and began restoring Naa’s Reiatsu.

• Naa Ichihara’s Black Swallowtail put the surrounding Soul Reapers to sleep, but Sakai Shukugo resisted the dream and revealed he had prepared to counter her Zanpakuto.
• Naa Ichihara and Sakai exchanged Kidō attacks, with Sakai’s Shuten Shuten toxin accelerating her Reiatsu consumption and eventually making her cough blood.
• Sakai explained that his toxin would kill anyone whose Reiatsu dropped below one-fifth of his, then approached Naa with his blade.
• Haruto appeared beside Naa, cut off Sakai’s sword arm, and used his Reiatsu to suppress the toxin inside her.
• Naa greeted Haruto, who teased her about calling him “young man” before she remarked that they had shared a life-or-death situation.

Haruto confronted Sakai Shukugo, a Twelfth Division officer responsible for experimenting on Pluses, after rescuing Naa Ichihara. Haruto rejected Sakai’s attempt to bargain and challenged him to fight, leaving Sakai reaching for a hidden weapon.

• Haruto severed Sakai Shukugo’s arm and leg, then learned from Naa Ichihara that Sakai claimed to be the Twelfth Division’s vice-captain.
• Haruto identified Sakai as the Fourth Seat of the Twelfth Division and learned he had used another officer as a pawn while conducting experiments on Pluses.
• Sakai regenerated his limbs with a Flesh Supplement and revealed his resentment that Kirio Hikifune had become captain of the Twelfth Division.
• Haruto introduced himself as Haruto, Fourth Seat of the Thirteenth Division, and considered Sakai’s offer of Twelfth Division resources.
• Haruto demanded that Sakai show his real ability and threatened to leave no whole corpse if the fight failed to entertain him.
• Sakai rejected Haruto’s threat and drew a metal syringe from his sleeve.

Haruto battled Sakai Shukugo after he transformed into Tsuchigumo, a giant spider built from ten thousand Pluses and capable of recovering from devastating attacks. Haruto unleashed multiple Senju Kōten Taihō, but Tsuchigumo survived and began restoring its Reiatsu.

• Haruto exposed Sakai Shukugo's syringe as a pretense and watched him transform into the spider monster Tsuchigumo.
• Sakai Shukugo explained that Tsuchigumo was made from ten thousand Pluses and could recover from attacks that did not destroy it in one blow.
• Haruto provoked Sakai Shukugo by revealing Kirio Hikifune's Second-Class Spiritual Pressure, then struck Tsuchigumo with Senju Kōten Taihō.
• Tsuchigumo regenerated the damage from Haruto's first blast, and Sakai Shukugo explained that it could spend souls to recover from attacks.
• Haruto fired six Senju Kōten Taihō at once, devastating the forest but leaving part of Tsuchigumo alive as its Reiatsu began to recover.