Chapter Summaries

Aizen used the Garganta and the threat to the balance of the Three Worlds to limit Yamamoto’s power, so Yamamoto divided the captains between fighting Aizen and defending against the Gillians. The captains believed they had cornered Aizen and marked him with Soi Fon’s Suzumebachi, but Ichigo’s warning exposed that Kyōka Suigetsu had deceived them, leaving Hu in danger from the activated mark.

• Aizen warned Yamamoto that unleashing Ryūjin Jakka would destroy tens of thousands of Gillians and threaten the balance of the Three Worlds.
• Yamamoto assigned Kyōraku, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, and Komamura to subdue Aizen, while Ukitake, Byakuya, Kenpachi, and Uryū defended against the Gillians; Hu was told to observe.
• Komamura’s Bankai split the battlefield, and Kenpachi intercepted Gin while Kyōraku’s squad attacked Aizen; the defenders fought off the Gillians with their Zanpakuto and Uryū’s arrows.
• Komamura, Yoruichi, and Soi Fon drove the apparent Aizen into a trap, and Soi Fon engraved Bee-Crest Flower on his ribs before preparing a second strike.
• Ichigo’s shout shattered the illusion: the captains had been attacking Uryū and Hu, while Aizen, Tōsen, and Gin were beneath the Garganta; Bee-Crest Flower had been activated on Hu.

Unohana treated the wounded and taught Ichigo to sense Spirit Veins, which helped him realize the battle’s events were not as they seemed. Aizen’s hypnosis was revealed after the captains attacked Hu, and Aizen escaped while Hu underwent Hollowfication, leaving the Soul Reapers preparing to fight him.

• Orihime restored Yumichika’s hair, and Unohana explained that Sōten Kisshun rejected damage rather than simply healing it.
• Unohana taught Ichigo to sense Spirit Veins, and Ichigo noticed that Ishida’s strength fluctuated alongside Hu’s and the captains’ battles.
• Unohana and Ichigo reached the summit as Aizen’s Negación began to retrieve him, then Ichigo saw the captains attacking Hu instead of Aizen after Kyōka Suigetsu’s hypnosis ended.
• Aizen revealed that he had distorted the captains’ perception of time and infected Hu with Hollow Poison, while Gin sent Rangiku a message to come to Sōkyoku Hill.
• Aizen escaped through the Garganta as Hu was consumed by Hollowfication, and Captain-Commander Yamamoto ordered the captains to prepare to engage him.

Hu transformed into a feral Hollow and attacked the gathered captains, while Fon Shaoling pleaded for them to save him. After Rangiku revealed that Jiku'a could remove the Hollow poison, Captain-Commander Yamamoto fought Hu and shattered his mask, restoring his silver eyes.

• Hu's Hollow transformation completed, and he attacked Fon Shaoling before Yoruichi rescued her.
• Captain-Commander Yamamoto ordered the captains to prepare for battle as Hu lunged at him, then attacked Kyōraku, Ukitake, Kenpachi, Komamura, Byakuya, and Yoruichi in turn.
• Rangiku Matsumoto arrived and explained that Hu could use Jiku'a to strip the Hollow poison from his body if they could wake him and make him wield it.
• Fon Shaoling recognized Jiku'a as their chance to save Hu, and Captain-Commander Yamamoto announced that he would remove Hu's mask himself.
• Captain-Commander Yamamoto fought Hu, wearing him down as cracks spread across his armor and mask.
• Captain-Commander Yamamoto struck Hu's faceplate with Ryūjin Jakka, shattering the mask and revealing Hu's silver eyes.

Hu learned from V how to reunite his fractured selves, then used the Blade of Power to merge with Mōcāng and the Hollow Beast and break free of his Hollow state. Afterward, Hu stabbed himself with Jiku'a and vanished in a pillar of Reishi, leaving the sword behind as Fon Shaoling and the others feared he was gone.

• The Hollow Beast wounded Mōcāng while pale roots poisoned the Demon World Tree and swallowed the inner city, and Jiku'a explained that Aizen had created the beast from pure bestiality using the incomplete Hōgyoku.
• The Blade of Power connected Hu to V, who instructed him to pierce himself, Mōcāng, and the Hollow Beast together, then separate and reunite their fragments; V gave Hu a poetry collection before sending him back.
• Hu and Mōcāng pinned down the Hollow Beast, and Hu stabbed all three with the Blade of Power as Captain-Commander Yamamoto struck Hu's mask, causing the mask to shatter and the three Reiatsu streams to unite.
• Hu regained his consciousness and silver eyes, told Fon Shaoling he would return, then stabbed himself with Jiku'a and vanished in a pillar of blue Reishi, leaving the sword planted in the execution platform.
• Kyōraku sensed that both Hu's and the Hollow's Reiatsu had disappeared, while Fon Shaoling cried out for Hu and Kenpachi Zaraki said he did not believe Hu would die so easily.

After the battle, Soul Society held a Konsō Ceremony for Yexing Hu, whom Fon Shaoling refused to believe was dead. As Gin Ichimaru revealed that Hu might still be alive, a raven and a black cat offered further signs of his return, and Sylvain appeared at Qinghui Clothing Shop before collapsing.

• Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai named Sōsuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, and Kaname Tōsen as traitors, cleared Rukia Kuchiki and Kisuke Urahara, and declared Yexing Hu fallen despite Fon Shaoling's insistence that he would return.
• Fon Shaoling delivered Hu's eulogy at the Konsō Ceremony, where fifteen Hollows were offered in tribute; afterward, the raven Rain watched the ceremony and said Hu was not dead.
• Gin Ichimaru met Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai in secret, gave him information about Aizen's Arrancar forces, and said he could sense that Hu was still alive.
• A black cat named Oren appeared at Fon Shaoling's office window, and she recognized the silver eyes it shared with Hu.
• Sylvain arrived at Qinghui Clothing Shop, called out to Shimizu, and collapsed into his arms.

As the Gotei 13 prepared for an expedition to Hueco Mundo, Renji Abarai fought Byakuya Kuchiki and Tōshirō Hitsugaya discovered that several Soul Reapers’ Zanpakuto were behaving strangely. After a mysterious group entered the Captain-Commander's office and Hell Butterflies summoned Shikai users across Seireitei, Sylvan left Shimizu and Keiko and set out for Seireitei.

• Renji Abarai released Baboon King Zabimaru during his joint training match with Byakuya Kuchiki, who answered with Bankai; Byakuya also noticed a cut caused by a petal that had slipped from his control.
• Tōshirō Hitsugaya was forced out of his Inner World when its ice dragon shattered, then learned that Rangiku Matsumoto’s Haineko and Isane Kotetsu’s Tōun were also acting strangely.
• A regal woman, two twins, and a cloaked figure entered the Captain-Commander's office, and a flood of Hell Butterflies later summoned every Soul Reaper capable of using Shikai.
• Sylvan thanked Shimizu and Keiko for caring for him, then left Bamboo Creek Plain with Rain to travel toward Seireitei.

Sylvan learned that the cane he carried was the Blade of Power, which only he could wield, while Rain explained that his low Reiatsu had caused it to shrink. At the Qinghui Clothing Shop, Shimizu’s Zanpakuto Daku appeared and demanded that Shimizu give up his power before attacking him.

• Sylvan worried that his weak Reiatsu would prevent him from leading the fragments’ unification as Rain carried him through the air.
• At the Qinghui Clothing Shop, Keiko confirmed to Shimizu that Sylvan was a fragment of Hu, and Rain arrived and introduced itself as another fragment.
• Rain identified Sylvan’s cane as the Blade of Power and found that it was too heavy for anyone but Sylvan to lift.
• Daku emerged from Shimizu’s Zanpakuto and told him to abandon his power and live peacefully with Keiko.
• Shimizu refused to give up his power, and Daku transformed its water body into a giant blade and charged at him.

Shimizu faced Daku, who tried to force him to abandon his power, while Sylvan and Rain joined the fight. Shimizu accepted Daku as part of himself, and the three of them defeated Daku and restored him as Shimizu’s Zanpakuto, leaving the exhausted Shimizu resting on a waterbed.

• Daku attacked Shimizu with water blades and needle-sharp droplets, wounding him and demanding that he give up his power.
• Sylvan stepped between Daku and Shimizu, but Daku struck him down and blamed him for Shimizu’s suffering; Rain intervened before Daku could finish Sylvan.
• Shimizu revealed that Daku had formed from the part of the Sizhuzhai Hollow that remained inside him, and told Daku he was grateful for the power and experiences they shared.
• Sylvan and Rain awakened their connection to Hu’s power, while Rain regained access to Kidō and Sylvan’s cane transformed into the Blade of Power.
• Sylvan, Rain, and Shimizu attacked Daku together, and Shimizu urged him to return as his Zanpakuto; their final strike cracked Daku’s core without extinguishing it.
• Daku returned to Shimizu’s Zanpakuto, then emerged as a waterbed so the wounded and exhausted Shimizu could lie down.

Daku’s strange behavior led Rain and Sylvan to suspect Muramasa was manipulating Zanpakuto, with Jiku'a and the power-fragment Dagon at risk. Sylvan and Rain reached the Seireitei to find Muramasa’s uprising already underway, and headed for Sōkyoku Hill.

• Rain discovered that an unknown reiatsu was separating Daku’s power from Shimizu’s, and Daku revealed that he had heard whispers urging him to free Shimizu from fighting.
• Rain and Sylvan suspected Muramasa was behind Daku’s behavior and feared he might target Jiku'a, where Dagon was hidden.
• Rain told Sylvan that Jiku'a had been left unguarded at Sōkyoku Hill and that Dagon’s power could become a dangerous weapon if Muramasa controlled Jiku'a.
• Keiko gave Sylvan a black vest and dark gray trousers made from Shihakusho fabric, and Sylvan thanked her before leaving for the Seireitei.
• Sylvan and Rain arrived to find Zanpakuto rampaging across the burning Seireitei and fighting Soul Reapers, confirming their suspicions about Muramasa.
• Rain told Sylvan to hold tight as they headed for Sōkyoku Hill.

Sylvan and Rain confronted Muramasa at Sōkyoku Hill and discovered that the sword embedded there was a counterfeit Jiku'a. After Muramasa invaded Sylvan’s Inner World and attacked them, Rain rescued the wounded Sylvan, leaving them to search for Jiku'a while avoiding Muramasa.

• Sylvan and Rain found that the sword at Sōkyoku Hill was not Jiku'a, and Muramasa appeared and questioned how Sylvan recognized it.
• Muramasa trapped Sylvan and Rain, then invaded Sylvan’s Inner World, where he glimpsed a strange face before being expelled.
• Rain broke free and fought Muramasa with Kidō while Sylvan attacked, but Muramasa overpowered them and wounded them both.
• Rain sacrificed feathers to cast Ittō Kasō, creating an opening to carry Sylvan away from Sōkyoku Hill.
• Sylvan and Rain concluded that Muramasa had not taken Jiku'a and decided to investigate its whereabouts while collecting fragments.

Sylvan collapsed after Rain exhausted her Reiatsu and returned to the Featherlike Pattern on his arm. Yoruichi found him in the ruins of Seireitei, and Unohana identified his body as Yexing Hu’s while treating him; he remained unconscious as the Soul Reapers prepared to investigate the Zanpakuto rebellion.

• Rain ran out of Reiatsu and dissolved into the Featherlike Pattern on Sylvan’s arm, leaving him gravely injured and unconscious.
• Yoruichi searched the devastated Seireitei, sensed an unusual Reiatsu, and found Sylvan in the woods below Sōkyoku Hill.
• Yoruichi carried Sylvan to the Fourth Division, where Unohana brought him to her office for emergency treatment.
• Ukitake and Kyōraku told Yoruichi that the vanished Zanpakuto had attacked Seireitei and that the divisions were organizing a response.
• Unohana recognized Sylvan’s body as Yexing Hu’s and said his soul was shattered and his recovered Reiatsu had not fully fused.
• Yoruichi left for the World of the Living to consult Urahara about the Zanpakuto rebellion and Hu’s condition.

After waking in the Fourth Division, Sylvan told Retsu Unohana why he believed himself to be the weakest of Yexing Hu’s five soul fragments. Unohana challenged his despair and sent him to train, where he began practicing Zanjutsu with the Blade of Power.

• Sylvan woke in Unohana’s office, where she recognized him as Yexing Hu and asked about his weakened condition.
• Sylvan explained that Yexing Hu had split his soul into five parts to dissolve Aizen’s Hollow poison, and said he felt unfit to help complete their integration.
• Unohana recognized the cane as the Sōkyoku and told Sylvan that the five fragments had received equal shares of the soul, while Reiatsu was only one part of a Soul Reaper’s abilities.
• Unohana demonstrated how killing intent could suppress an opponent without Reiatsu and explained that Reiatsu growth had limits, urging Sylvan to stop letting fear hold him back.
• Unohana directed Sylvan to the Fourth Division training hall and revealed that two captains had risen through Zanjutsu alone, including herself.
• Sylvan went to the training hall and began practicing strikes with his cane, resolving to keep training despite his fear and weak body.

Rukia recounted how Muramasa freed the Zanpakuto and led their assault on Seireitei, where Byakuya went missing. After Rukia returned to Soul Society, Ichigo and Yoruichi followed her through the Senkaimon while Urahara prepared to support them and wondered whether Ye Xing was still alive.

• Rukia told Ichigo and the others that Muramasa had freed the Zanpakuto, disabled the Soul Reapers’ Shikai, and led an attack that scattered them across Seireitei.
• Yoruichi reported that the fighting had subsided, but Seireitei was badly damaged and Byakuya’s whereabouts remained unknown.
• Uryū left the Urahara Shop despite Ichigo noticing that his Quincy powers were draining away after he removed the Sanrei Glove.
• After Ichigo returned home, Urahara’s group discovered that Rukia had opened the Senkaimon and gone back to Soul Society.
• Ichigo persuaded Urahara to open the Senkaimon, and he and Yoruichi entered Soul Society to find Rukia.
• Urahara asked Yoruichi to bring back the person she had mentioned if he woke, then wondered whether Ye Xing was still alive.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi discovered that the Zanpakuto had become separate beings, while Sylvan told Shunsui Kyōraku that Muramasa had caused the rebellion through brainwashing and forced manifestations. Kyōraku learned that defeating a Zanpakuto in Zanjutsu meditation could break Muramasa’s influence, then agreed to spar with Sylvan.

• Retsu Unohana, Shunsui Kyōraku, and Jūshirō Ukitake worried over Sajin Komamura’s injuries and the strain of fighting a Zanpakuto partner.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi concluded that Zanpakuto souls had completely separated from their Soul Reapers, and Nemu Kurotsuchi brought his findings to the Fourth Division.
• Nemu said the consequences of defeating a manifested Zanpakuto were unknown, and Unohana agreed to provide medical records and go to the Twelfth Division for testing.
• Unohana told Kyōraku and Ukitake that an injured young man named Sylvan had woken, and Kyōraku went to question him in her Dōjō.
• Sylvan told Kyōraku that Muramasa used whispers to brainwash Zanpakuto and could forcibly draw them out of Soul Reapers’ Inner Worlds.
• Sylvan explained that speaking with and defeating one’s Zanpakuto could break Muramasa’s influence, citing Shimizu and Daku as a successful case, and Kyōraku invited him to spar.

Ichigo and Yoruichi entered the damaged Seireitei, while Rukia found Sode no Shirayuki attacking Sixth Division members and was challenged by her Zanpakuto. In Unohana's Dōjō, Kyōraku pushed Sylvan to abandon fighting habits unsuited to his weakened body, and Sylvan rediscovered his own technique, Nadegiri.

• Ichigo and Yoruichi returned to the Seireitei, and Yoruichi warned Ichigo to retreat if anything strange happened to Zangetsu.
• Rukia visited the Sixth Division and learned from Renji that search parties had found no sign of Byakuya.
• Rukia discovered Sode no Shirayuki had frozen several division members and tried to stop her, but Sode no Shirayuki refused to obey her.
• Kyōraku told Sylvan that his old fighting habits endangered him and attacked him to force him to adapt to his weakened body.
• Sylvan remembered promising Fon Shaoling he would return, then used his own Reiatsu-based Nadegiri to cut Kyōraku's Shihakusho.

Rukia fought Sode no Shirayuki, who had broken free and turned against her, until Ichigo intervened. Rukia chose to release her Zanpakuto rather than keep fighting her, while Muramasa rescued Sode no Shirayuki; the chapter ended with Kyōraku and Ukitake learning that Rukia and Ichigo were battling inside the Seireitei.

• Sode no Shirayuki attacked Rukia with her own Zanpakuto techniques, and Rukia struggled to defend herself without Shikai.
• Ichigo arrived and fought Sode no Shirayuki, but held back because she was Rukia's Zanpakuto.
• Rukia told Sode no Shirayuki she was free, then used Rikujōkōrō and fully chanted Sōren Sōkatsui to let her go.
• Muramasa pulled Sode no Shirayuki out of the blast and rekindled the whispers that had turned her against Rukia.
• Ukitake helped Isane's Fourth Division care for the wounded and encouraged the medical staff to keep going.
• A Soul Reaper reported to Kyōraku and Ukitake that Rukia and Ichigo were involved in a large-scale battle inside the Seireitei.

After Rukia was badly injured fighting Sode no Shirayuki, Muramasa confronted Ichigo and explained his plan to free Zanpakuto, then led Ichigo away. Sylvan revealed that Jiku'a had been switched out and that Yexing Hu was alive, leaving Rukia to return to the Fourth Division with Sylvan and Rain, who were fragments of Hu's soul.

• Muramasa appeared after Rukia's full-incantation Sōren Sōkatsui left her near death, and Ichigo confronted him about the Zanpakuto rebellion.
• Muramasa claimed Zanpakuto were independent souls and said he intended to free them from Soul Reapers; he then challenged Ichigo and led him away.
• Jūshirō Ukitake arrived and treated Rukia, while Sylvan argued that Muramasa's claim about abuse did not explain why Zanpakuto across Seireitei had rebelled.
• Sylvan told Ukitake and Rukia that Muramasa had sought Jiku'a, but the sword on Sōkyoku Hill had been replaced by a blank Asauchi and Jiku'a's whereabouts were unknown.
• After Ukitake left to help Ichigo, Sylvan told Rukia that Yexing Hu was alive and introduced Rain, revealing that they were fragments of Hu's soul.

Muramasa defeated Ichigo and extracted Zangetsu, who turned against his former wielder until Jūshirō Ukitake intervened. After Rain and Sylvan brought the injured Rukia to the Fourth Division, they saw Ichigo’s Reiatsu erupt and went to help him.

• Ichigo overwhelmed Muramasa with his Bankai, but Muramasa warped his senses, pinned him down, and extracted Zangetsu from his soul.
• Zangetsu attacked Ichigo and struck him with Getsuga Tenshō, but Jūshirō Ukitake blocked the next attack with Dankū and confronted Muramasa.
• Rain and Sylvan carried the injured Rukia to the Fourth Division, where Isane Kotetsu took her inside for treatment.
• Rain noticed that Ichigo’s Zangetsu had reverted to its Asauchi state and feared Ichigo might go berserk without White’s help.
• Rain lifted Sylvan toward the distant eruption of Ichigo’s Reiatsu so they could help him.

Ichigo fought Zangetsu on a bridge while Ukitake and Muramasa considered retreat, but Ichigo suddenly became a Hollow. Muramasa escaped as Rain and Sylvan arrived, and Sylvan saw a possible way to save Ichigo in the Asauchi he carried.

• Ichigo refused to retreat and fought Zangetsu despite his injuries, while Ukitake agreed to hold Muramasa back.
• Zangetsu unleashed Bankai and struck Ichigo with Getsuga Tenshō, leaving him badly wounded.
• As Ichigo charged Zangetsu, he became fully Hollowfied, and Ukitake froze in grief over the transformation.
• Muramasa used Ukitake's distraction to escape and went to seek Jiku'a.
• Rain and Sylvan arrived and noticed that Ichigo's sword had reverted to an ordinary Asauchi, giving them hope that he could be saved.

Ukitake recalled Kaien Shiba’s death as Ichigo’s Hollow form fought Zangetsu on the High Bridge. Sylvan and Rain stabilized Ichigo’s Reiatsu, but the Blade of Power then pulled their consciousnesses into a world of towering skyscrapers.

• Ukitake awoke from his memory of Kaien’s death and learned from Sylvan that Rukia had reached the Fourth Division safely.
• Hollow Ichigo attacked Zangetsu with overwhelming force and fired a Cero, leading Ukitake to believe Ichigo had become a Hollow.
• Sylvan stopped Ukitake from attacking Ichigo and persuaded him to allow an attempt to save him.
• Rain and Ukitake used Rikujōkōrō to restrain Hollow Ichigo while Ukitake fought Zangetsu and Sylvan stabbed Ichigo with the Blade of Power.
• Sylvan and Rain used their Reiatsu to stabilize Ichigo, but the Blade of Power drew their consciousnesses into a world of skyscrapers.