Chapter Summaries

Liu Hao fought Griffith while Aizen’s seal gradually spread across the Imperial Sword and obstructed its Reiatsu. Liu Hao froze Griffith in a sphere of heavy water and charged to finish it, while Aizen revealed that each ability Liu Hao used strengthened the seal and prevented the sword from using that ability again.

• Griffith regenerated its severed arms and repeatedly healed wounds inflicted by Liu Hao’s sword and Byakurai.
• Liu Hao severed Griffith’s claw, punched it through a ruined wall, and blasted away its lower body with Sōren Sōkatsui, but Griffith began regenerating again.
• Liu Hao noticed black patterns spreading across the Imperial Sword, and Aizen explained that Griffith’s seal accumulated through contact and accelerated when Liu Hao attacked with the sword.
• Liu Hao said he would accept the seal and continued fighting Griffith, blocking its attacks and splitting its Cero before throwing it into a crater.
• Liu Hao trapped Griffith in heavy water and froze it into a sphere of ice, then charged to kill it before the seal fully took hold.
• Aizen explained that the seal adapted to Liu Hao’s displayed abilities and would prevent the Imperial Sword from using them again.

Liu Hao destroyed Graphees with his Imperial Flame—Frost as Flame, then confronted Sōsuke Aizen and began a fierce sword fight. Their first exchange ended with both standing apart, ready for the real battle to continue.

• Liu Hao cleaved Graphees in half, but Graphees began regenerating through a pale substance that pulled his body back together.
• Liu Hao unleashed Imperial Flame—Frost as Flame, breaking Graphees down into Reishi while black specks from Graphees spread across the Imperial Sword and turned it completely black.
• Sōsuke Aizen applauded and questioned Liu Hao about the sealed Zanpakuto, while Liu Hao kept its ability secret and challenged Aizen to a fight.
• Liu Hao attacked Aizen, who blocked with Kyōka Suigetsu, fired Byakurai, and raised a multicolored shield against Liu Hao's strikes.
• Liu Hao blasted Aizen backward with compressed Reiatsu, and the two traded rapid sword attacks until Aizen withdrew and both fighters paused several yards apart.

Liu Hao fought Aizen among the ruins and manifested prismatic imperial robes that repelled Aizen’s attacks while allowing Liu Hao to wound him. Aizen revealed that the Hōgyoku was healing his injuries, and the two resumed their fight in a brutal exchange of blows.

• Liu Hao and Aizen clashed at high speed, trading sword strikes across the ruins.
• Liu Hao let Aizen’s blade strike his body and wounded Aizen with the Imperial Sword as prismatic imperial robes formed around him.
• Liu Hao explained that the robes could withstand attacks unless an opponent’s Reiatsu overwhelmed his, but maintaining them consumed substantial Reiatsu.
• Aizen exposed the Hōgyoku in his chest, which sealed his wounds and began healing them.
• Aizen attacked from every direction while Liu Hao let the robes absorb his slashes and repeatedly wounded him, as the Hōgyoku healed Aizen again.

Liu Hao and Kisuke Urahara tried to stop Aizen as he evolved through his subjugation of the Hōgyoku, but Aizen survived Urahara’s attacks and began overpowering them. The battle shifted when Urahara sealed Aizen’s Reiatsu vents, and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto arrived to join the fight.

• Liu Hao and Aizen fought to exhaustion, and Aizen’s body began transforming as he reached his limit as a Soul Reaper.
• Kisuke Urahara ambushed Aizen, restrained him with layered Bakudō, and struck him with Hadō #91, Senju Kōten Taihō.
• Aizen emerged transformed, wounded Kisuke Urahara, and claimed that his new power made even high-level Kidō unworthy of dodging.
• Kisuke Urahara revealed that he had sealed the Reiatsu vents in Aizen’s wrists, causing Aizen’s Reiatsu to erupt inside his body.
• Wonderweiss’s severed head landed beside Liu Hao and Kisuke Urahara, and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto arrived after defeating him.

Aizen emerged in a new, Hōgyoku-enhanced form and challenged Kisuke Urahara, Isshin Kurosaki, and Yoruichi Shihōin to defeat him. Their coordinated attacks damaged him only briefly before he healed, and he left Yoruichi reeling after overpowering her with a sword strike.

• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto told Liu Hao to show the strength he had been hiding, while Aizen emerged and declared that he would defeat the Captain-Commander after dealing with the others.
• Kisuke Urahara attacked Aizen with Benihime as Isshin Kurosaki struck from behind, but Aizen blocked both swords and knocked the two men away.
• Kisuke Urahara and Isshin Kurosaki restrained Aizen with chains, allowing Yoruichi Shihōin to stomp and repeatedly punch him until cracks spread across his Hierro.
• Aizen slashed through Yoruichi Shihōin's special iron armor, then healed his damaged body and challenged the group to continue attacking.
• Aizen rushed Yoruichi Shihōin and struck her raised arm with Kyōka Suigetsu, sending her flying backward.

Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihōin, and Isshin Kurosaki attacked Aizen in succession, but the chapter ended before the dust from Isshin’s powerful Getsuga Tenshō cleared and revealed what happened.

• Kisuke Urahara checked on Yoruichi Shihōin’s injured hand while Aizen watched them and said he was observing Kisuke.
• Kisuke Urahara fired Yellow Flash at Aizen, but Aizen blocked it and caught Yoruichi Shihōin’s punches.
• Yoruichi Shihōin used Shunkō to break Aizen’s chest Hierro and send him flying, but his armor quickly began to regenerate.
• Kisuke Urahara bound Aizen with Benihime and detonated the red web, filling the battlefield with explosions.
• Isshin Kurosaki emerged from the dust and struck Aizen with Getsuga Tenshō, prompting Kisuke Urahara to ask what had happened as the dust continued to churn.

Aizen emerged from the dust with shattered Hierro and strange purple light beneath it, then overwhelmed Isshin Kurosaki and Kisuke Urahara with his speed and power. Ichigo Kurosaki struck Aizen with Getsuga Jūjishō, but Gin Ichimaru confronted him and unleashed Bankai, sending its blade toward him.

• Isshin Kurosaki said he could no longer sense Aizen's Reiatsu and described the emptiness he felt when attacking him.
• Aizen emerged with cracked Hierro exposing purple light, said he had understood Isshin's attack, and struck Isshin and Kisuke Urahara down.
• Ichigo Kurosaki attacked Aizen from behind with Getsuga Jūjishō, engulfing him in golden and white light.
• Gin Ichimaru appeared between Ichigo Kurosaki and Aizen, identified himself as Aizen's subordinate, and taunted Ichigo about Shinsō's reach.
• Gin Ichimaru activated Bankai, Kamishini no Yari, and its rapidly extending blade cut through the ruined buildings toward Ichigo Kurosaki.

Ichigo uncovered the true speed of Gin Ichimaru’s Kamishini no Yari, but the battle shifted when Liu Hao’s three allies fell and Aizen revealed his next stage of evolution. Gin stopped Aizen from attacking and prepared to face Ichigo and the wounded Liu Hao, while Yamamoto readied himself nearby.

• Ichigo blocked Gin’s Bankai and deduced that its greatest danger was its rapid extension and retraction, not its length or power.
• Gin claimed Kamishini no Yari was five hundred times faster than Ichigo had just seen and said that even knowing its speed would not let Ichigo dodge it.
• Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihōin, and Isshin Kurosaki lay gravely wounded after Liu Hao fought Aizen, and Liu Hao told Ichigo to look after them.
• Aizen’s face and appearance changed as the Cocoon Basket’s time ended, and he declared that his evolution had advanced and Liu Hao’s last chance was gone.
• Gin stopped Aizen from raising Kyōka Suigetsu and insisted that his fight with Ichigo was unfinished; Aizen ordered Gin to finish Liu Hao as well.
• Ichigo braced himself against Gin while Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai prepared to fight, and Liu Hao remained standing motionless.

Gin Ichimaru stabbed Aizen and used the poison hidden in Kamishini no Yari to dissolve the flesh around the Hōgyoku, which he took before escaping to Liu Hao. Though Aizen appeared defeated and Gin reunited with Rangiku Matsumoto, Aizen suddenly roared and unleashed a surge of purple Reiatsu.

• Gin Ichimaru stabbed Aizen and explained that the only escape from Kyōka Suigetsu was touching the blade before Complete Hypnosis began.
• Gin revealed that Kamishini no Yari left a fragment of its blade and deadly cell-dissolving poison inside Aizen, then activated it to melt open Aizen's chest.
• Gin seized the Hōgyoku and fled to Liu Hao, while Aizen grabbed Gin's arm and tore away a chunk of flesh before collapsing.
• Liu Hao told Gin that Aizen could not be killed, and Ichigo Kurosaki and Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai doubted that Aizen was truly dead.
• Rangiku Matsumoto arrived, and Gin showed her the Hōgyoku, saying he had recovered what she lost.
• Aizen roared from the ground and released a dazzling surge of purple Reiatsu.

Aizen reclaimed the Hōgyoku and prepared to face Liu Hao, who released the seal on his power through the Imperial Princess and transformed the Imperial Sword. The chapter ended with Liu Hao standing against Aizen as Ichigo wondered whether he could ever surpass them.

• Aizen transformed with three pairs of purple wings and attacked Gin, but the Imperial Princess appeared and caught Kyōka Suigetsu’s blade.
• The Imperial Princess’s Reiatsu forced Aizen to retreat, allowing the Hōgyoku to return to the recess in his chest.
• The Imperial Princess transferred her power into the Imperial Sword, breaking Griffith’s seal and restoring the blade to its seven-colored form.
• Liu Hao revealed that he had sealed his Reiatsu and that the Imperial Princess held the key to releasing it, then unleashed a power that made Aizen sense danger.
• Liu Hao’s Reiatsu vanished as the Imperial Sword merged with him, while Isshin told Ichigo that being able to sense Liu Hao and Aizen meant Ichigo was on their level, though his power was still immature.

Liu Hao confronted Aizen, revealed his long-held desire to kill him, and vowed to stop Aizen from achieving his goal before they clashed in a fierce battle. As Retsu Unohana treated the injured, she explained that Liu Hao had sealed his steadily growing power to keep others from fearing him.

• Aizen acknowledged Liu Hao's strength but argued that his injuries, spent Reiatsu, and sealed Zanpakuto had left him too weakened to win.
• Liu Hao confessed that he had feared being caught up in Aizen's plans, but Renji's Hollowfication made him want to kill Aizen; he then vowed to prevent Aizen from achieving his goal.
• Liu Hao and Aizen began fighting in midair, and their blade clashes shook the false Karakura Town and reduced its damaged buildings to rubble.
• Retsu Unohana finished treating Hiyori Sarugaki, then treated Isshin Kurosaki, Kisuke Urahara, and Yoruichi Shihōin with help from Ichigo Kurosaki and Gin Ichimaru.
• After waking, Kisuke Urahara asked whether Liu Hao could win, and Retsu Unohana said he could, explaining that he had sealed his steadily growing power to keep others from fearing him.
• Ichigo Kurosaki asked why people would fear a strong member of the Gotei 13, drawing bewildered and amused reactions from those around him.

Gin Ichimaru explained to Ichigo Kurosaki why Liu Hao had hidden his strength and warned that Soul Society’s nobles might fear him, while Retsu Unohana agreed that Liu Hao could now overturn their schemes. In the sky, Liu Hao overwhelmed Aizen, severed one of his wings, and outmaneuvered his counterattack, leaving Aizen facing another unseen strike.

• Gin Ichimaru told Ichigo Kurosaki that powerful people beyond Yamamoto’s control, especially the nobles, might try to control or kill Liu Hao to protect their interests.
• Retsu Unohana agreed that Liu Hao now had the strength to defy schemes in Soul Society and hoped its people would not act foolishly.
• Liu Hao revealed that his earlier fight with Aizen had only been a warm-up, then attacked him with a swift sword-energy slash and vanished behind him.
• Liu Hao seized one of Aizen’s wings and cut it off, leaving a deep wound across Aizen’s back.
• Aizen reappeared behind Liu Hao and attacked, but Liu Hao blocked him, then vanished again and left an afterimage for Aizen to cut apart.
• Aizen realized Liu Hao’s afterimage was a decoy and tried to escape, but Liu Hao had already made his next move.

Liu Hao continued to overwhelm Aizen, whose Hōgyoku-driven evolution gave him a new form and powerful attacks. After Liu Hao broke Aizen’s strongest restraints, he began releasing Bankai, leaving their fight poised to escalate.

• Liu Hao severed another of Aizen’s wings, and Aizen’s fury triggered a transformation as cracks spread across his body and the Hōgyoku engulfed him in purple light.
• Aizen emerged with a black face, a vertical eye, six skull-bearing wings, and a Zanpakuto fused to his right arm, then attacked Liu Hao with Radiant Break.
• Liu Hao caught and crushed Radiant Break with one hand, then vanished behind Aizen and swung the Imperial Sword as Aizen narrowly dodged and seized the blade.
• Aizen used Hadō #99—Five Dragon Destruction and surrounded Liu Hao with two rings created by Ultimate Radiant Break, boasting that he had continued to evolve.
• Liu Hao burst free of Aizen’s grip and shattered the rings with the Imperial Sword, then announced that he would show Captain Aizen whether he could defeat him and began Bankai.

Liu Hao released his Bankai, manifesting an Imperial Throne and an Emperor’s Aura that overwhelmed Aizen and healed the wounded across the battlefield. As the final confrontation approached, the others realized they could not intervene, and Starrk and Lilynette decided to protect Hueco Mundo.

• Liu Hao’s Bankai transformed him into an emperor seated on an Imperial Throne, and Aizen sensed that Liu Hao’s existence surpassed his own.
• Liu Hao used an Imperial Decree to heal the injured Soul Reapers, Visored, and Arrancar, including Kisuke Urahara, Isshin Kurosaki, Yoruichi Shihōin, and Hachigen Ushōda.
• Yoruichi asked Kisuke whether they should help Liu Hao, but Kisuke said they could only watch as his battle with Aizen began.
• Tier Harribel told her Fracción that they could not intervene in Liu Hao and Aizen’s fight.
• Lilynette reflected that Liu Hao had healed the Arrancar, and Starrk agreed that they should protect Hueco Mundo as their home.

Liu Hao revealed his Bankai’s imperial power as he faced Aizen, while the seven-colored light appeared to restore Jūshirō Ukitake’s health. After Liu Hao redirected Aizen’s Fragor back at him, he summoned the Imperial Guard and ordered him to defeat Aizen; the Guard launched a swift sword strike at Aizen’s throat.

• The Four Beast Gate Block dissolved, allowing the Gotei 13 and Visored to emerge, while Shunsui Kyōraku warned Tōshirō Hitsugaya that they could not help Liu Hao.
• Jūshirō Ukitake felt his long-standing illness might be gone and believed Liu Hao’s power had finally become sufficient to cure him.
• Aizen fired six Fragor at Liu Hao, who used Imperial Decree, Space Transfer to send the attacks back at Aizen.
• Aizen emerged battered from the explosions, but his damaged wings and skulls regenerated as his Reiatsu surged.
• Liu Hao summoned the Imperial Guard and ordered him to defeat Aizen.
• The Imperial Guard approached Aizen, drew his Tang Dao, and slashed at Aizen’s throat.

Aizen confronted Liu Hao’s Imperial Guard and realized that its swordsmanship could threaten his life. Liu Hao then revealed his analysis of the Hōgyoku and the Soul King fragments within Aizen’s creation, leaving Aizen visibly unsettled.

• The Imperial Guard’s first slash narrowly cut Aizen, and Aizen felt fear after realizing how close he had come to death.
• The Imperial Guard struck again, forcing Aizen to retreat and leaving another shallow cut on his cheek.
• Liu Hao called out Aizen’s hope of evolving by fighting against overwhelming power, making Aizen realize his gamble had been seen through.
• The Imperial Princess gave Liu Hao a glowing sphere, which Liu Hao used while explaining his analysis of the Hōgyoku.
• Liu Hao said Aizen’s Hōgyoku contained Soul King fragments whose will guided its owner toward the Soul King and the pinnacle of Soul Society.

Liu Hao told Aizen that the Hōgyoku had guided his desire to surpass the Soul King, then traced how Aizen’s loneliness and search for someone who understood him shaped his ambitions. The chapter ended with Liu Hao explaining that Aizen planned to take Kisuke Urahara’s Hōgyoku and merge it with his own.

• Aizen questioned whether the Hōgyoku’s consciousness had guided his ambition to replace the Soul King, and Liu Hao confirmed it.
• Liu Hao recalled Aizen’s youthful genius and his growing isolation from people he considered unable to understand him.
• Liu Hao explained that Aizen sought to surpass the Soul King after discovering the Soul King’s fragments and used them to create the Hōgyoku.
• Liu Hao said the Hōgyoku’s need for power pushed Aizen to seek powerful souls and Reiryoku, while Kisuke Urahara’s arrival gave Aizen hope of finding a kindred genius.
• Liu Hao said Aizen was disappointed that Kisuke chose to fit into society, but decided to take Kisuke’s Hōgyoku and have his own Hōgyoku consume it.

Liu Hao recounted how Aizen’s schemes led to Ichigo’s birth and the hunt for the Hōgyoku, before explaining that fragments of the Soul King developed their own instincts. Aizen questioned why the Soul King had never contacted him, and Liu Hao answered that the fragments sought either to reunite with the Soul King or replace him.

• Liu Hao described how Aizen’s Hollowfication experiments and plans to seize the Hōgyoku were disrupted by Yoruichi Shihōin and Isshin Kurosaki.
• Liu Hao explained that Aizen watched Masaki Kurosaki become the host of his experimental Hollow and grew curious about Ichigo Kurosaki’s mixed heritage.
• Liu Hao recounted how Aizen discovered the Hōgyoku was hidden in Rukia’s soul and orchestrated her death sentence to draw Ichigo and his companions into Soul Society.
• Liu Hao revealed that he had taken the Hōgyoku from Rukia and placed it in Momo Hinamori, upending Aizen’s plan beneath the Sōkyoku.
• Aizen challenged Liu Hao to explain why the Soul King and Zero Division had never contacted him if the Soul King’s will had guided him.
• Liu Hao said Soul King fragments developed independent instincts to return to the Soul King or replace him.

Liu Hao explained that Soul King Fragments acted through instinct and demonstrated his control by destroying Kisuke Urahara’s Hōgyoku. Aizen realized Liu Hao could destroy the Hōgyoku fused with him, which began shining in fear and desperation.

• Liu Hao told Aizen that Soul King Fragments instinctively guided and granted wishes, using people who believed they controlled them.
• Aizen challenged Liu Hao to prove his claims about the fragments and the Soul King.
• Liu Hao distinguished a fragment’s instinct from the Soul King’s will and raised the Hōgyoku in his hand.
• The Hōgyoku wailed as Liu Hao’s light consumed its power, then reduced it to dust.
• Kisuke Urahara reacted with shock as Aizen feared Liu Hao could destroy the Hōgyoku inside him.
• The Hōgyoku fused with Aizen began shining uncontrollably, driven by fear and the instinct to survive.

Aizen’s attempt to evade the Imperial Guard’s strike failed, and he was cleaved in two. He regenerated without the Hōgyoku and declared that it had evolved him beyond the need for Kyōka Suigetsu or any other weapon.

• The Hōgyoku poured power into Aizen to force another evolution, but the Imperial Guard struck before the transformation could finish.
• Aizen’s Light-Form Movement failed, and the Imperial Guard cut him in half with the Tang Dao.
• Kisuke Urahara watched in shock as Aizen’s two halves fused back together, leaving the spot in his chest where the Hōgyoku had been empty.
• Aizen stood and told Liu Hao that the Hōgyoku inside him had been perfect and had made him evolve.
• Kyōka Suigetsu began to dissipate, and Aizen proclaimed that he no longer needed a Zanpakuto or outside assistance because he was a god.