Recaps

Liu Ziyun overwhelmed Shinji Hirako during their sparring match, showing how quickly injuries and varied techniques could decide a real fight. He left Shinji gravely wounded and the other onlookers stunned as he asked whether they now understood real sparring.

• Liu Ziyun cut Shinji Hirako's left shoulder, disabling his arm, and urged him to use his other abilities.
• Shinji donned his Visored mask and fired a powerful Cero, but Liu Ziyun stopped it with his palm.
• After Shinji said he could not win, Liu Ziyun continued attacking and inflicted several shallow wounds.
• Liu Ziyun restrained Shinji with Chain Binding and Six Rods Prison of Light, then slashed deeply across his chest.
• Shinji crashed into the training-ground wall and lay motionless as Liu Ziyun asked the stunned onlookers if they understood real sparring.

Liu Ziyun brutally wounded Shinji Hirako during sparring, then healed his worst injury while making Hachigen Ushōda practice healing the rest. After Liu left, the Visored agreed that their training had grown complacent and resolved to become more serious.

• Liu Ziyun left Shinji Hirako with severe but nonfatal wounds and ordered Hachigen Ushōda to practice healing him with Kidō.
• Love Aikawa stopped Hiyori Sarugaki from attacking Liu and agreed with his criticism of Shinji's reliance on his Zanpakuto.
• Liu healed Shinji's deepest wound with Life-Taker but left the others for Hachigen to treat, then departed the training ground.
• Kensei Muguruma and Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi recognized that Liu had held back and urged the group to improve their control and training.
• Shinji admitted the Visored had become complacent, and the others agreed to train seriously because their future enemies would show no mercy.

Liu Ziyun obtained a Reiatsu-concealing Gigai from Kisuke Urahara and prepared to resume his Bankai training. He began the training inside a reinforced Barrier as the Visored and Yoruichi Shihōin watched, while Kisuke worried about the danger his power could pose.

• Liu Ziyun asked Kisuke Urahara for a Gigai without the Hōgyoku and arranged for him to reinforce the training Barrier in two days.
• After receiving the Gigai, Liu Ziyun explored Karakura Town, sensed several Hollows, and chose not to interfere.
• Liu Ziyun declined Kensei Muguruma's offer to spar and meditated while the others continued training.
• Two days later, Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi brought equipment to reinforce the Barrier, and the Visored and Yoruichi Shihōin gathered to watch.
• Liu Ziyun summoned Life-Taker and Tulu, and all three unleashed their full Reiatsu, shaking the chamber and straining the Barrier maintained by Kisuke Urahara, Tessai Tsukabishi, and Hachigen Ushōda.
• Kisuke Urahara hoped Liu Ziyun was truly on their side as Hachigen Ushōda warned that the Barrier might not withstand the intensity for long.

Liu Ziyun pushed himself to the brink fighting Life-Taker and Tulu, then deliberately entered a conscious, destructive state that healed his wounds and greatly increased his power. As he attacked them with renewed ferocity, his companions outside the Barrier realized he trusted them to stop him if he lost control.

• Shinji Hirako and the others remembered Liu Ziyun as a reliable companion who had concealed his true nature while keeping his distance from others.
• Liu Ziyun, Life-Taker, and Tulu fought without holding back, accumulating severe wounds until Life-Taker and Tulu appeared to have the advantage.
• Liu Ziyun revealed that he had never consciously entered his destructive state before and chose to use it because he trusted his companions outside the Barrier.
• Liu Ziyun's Reiatsu turned violent, blood-red light ignited in his eyes, and his wounds rapidly healed.
• Liu Ziyun struck Life-Taker with overwhelming force, then attacked Tulu and began cracking his sword.
• Shinji Hirako and the others were shocked by Liu Ziyun's transformation but were moved by his trust in them.

Liu Ziyun entered a state of madness and attacked Tulu, forcing Tulu and Life-Taker to fight him together without unleashing their own madness. After Liu Ziyun wounded both of them, Life-Taker’s shattered Abyssal Wall transformed into a storm of arrows aimed at him.

• Life-Taker raised an Abyssal Wall to block Liu Ziyun’s strike, but his blade split it as Tulu retreated and avoided serious injury.
• Tulu and Life-Taker attacked Liu Ziyun together, combining Tulu’s soul-directed strikes with Life-Taker’s precise swordsmanship.
• Tulu kicked Liu Ziyun in the abdomen, and Life-Taker thrust her blade through his shoulder; Liu Ziyun seized her wrist and slashed Tulu across the chest.
• Liu Ziyun tore Life-Taker’s blade from his shoulder and attacked her, but she retreated behind another Abyssal Wall.
• Liu Ziyun shattered the wall, and its fragments reassembled into pale golden arrows that flew toward him.

Liu Ziyun fought Tulu and Life-Taker, but Tulu’s Fate Slaughter inflicted a fate-eroding wound before Liu Ziyun defeated him. Liu Ziyun used Life Restoration to heal himself, leaving him weakened as Life-Taker remained standing.

• Liu Ziyun’s Abyssal Wall turned the Shattered Blade Slashes into arrows that wounded Tulu and damaged his spiritual body.
• Tulu charged his blade with Reiatsu and unleashed Fate Slaughter, a black slash that erased Liu Ziyun’s Abyssal Wall and pierced his Fate Shield.
• Liu Ziyun blocked Fate Slaughter but was driven back, while his golden arrows struck Tulu and pinned him to the ground.
• Life-Taker told Liu Ziyun that Fate Slaughter severed fate and would make him vanish, but said she believed he could solve the problem.
• Liu Ziyun insisted he was about to win, plunged his cracked blade into his heart, and used Life Restoration to recover while losing much of his Reiatsu.

Liu Ziyun fought the maddened Life-Taker while gravely wounded, then let her stab him so he could pierce her heart and offer to become her new shackle. As he and Tulu's blade erupted in a new light, the fight's outcome remained unresolved.

• Life-Taker lost control after Tulu's defeat and attacked Liu Ziyun with her full strength.
• Life-Taker shattered Liu Ziyun's sword and slashed him nearly in two, but he seized Tulu's sword and stood ready to fight.
• Liu Ziyun hurled Tulu's sword at Life-Taker, then ran onto her blade and grabbed her sword arm.
• Liu Ziyun stabbed Life-Taker in the heart with his broken blade and told her he would become her shackle, trading his heart to restore her reason.
• Liu Ziyun's Broken Blade, Tulu, and Tulu's distant blade erupted with a warm, unfamiliar light.

After Liu Ziyun completed his Bankai and collapsed, the Visored debated whether he posed a threat, then chose to treat him and wait for him to wake. The chapter left them uncertain about the unprecedented power of his Zanpakuto and the changes to his soul.

• Mashiro Kuna and Lisa Yadōmaru reacted with fear to Liu Ziyun's power, and Lisa suggested killing him before his Zanpakuto caused greater danger.
• Hiyori Sarugaki agreed, but Shinji Hirako and Kisuke Urahara warned that provoking the Zanpakuto could endanger them and Karakura Town.
• Kensei Muguruma checked Liu Ziyun and ordered Hachigen Ushōda to treat him, saying they should wait until he woke before deciding what to do.
• Hachigen Ushōda found Liu Ziyun's Reiatsu stable and his soul structure perfectly reintegrated, while Kisuke Urahara concluded that he appeared to have completed an unprecedented Bankai.
• Kensei Muguruma and the others carried Liu Ziyun to a clean room in the base, where Hachigen Ushōda continued treating him.

After waking from his coma, Liu Ziyun discovered he had been tied up by Hiyori Sarugaki, but he quickly turned the tables on her, Mashiro Kuna, and Lisa Yadōmaru. He then sent Hiyori to fetch Kisuke Urahara so he could investigate why he could not use the Bankai he believed he had mastered.

• Liu Ziyun awoke from his coma hanging upside down with his mouth gagged, while Hiyori Sarugaki mocked him and Lisa Yadōmaru and Mashiro Kuna warned her not to provoke him.
• Liu Ziyun used Bakudō number sixty-three, Chain Binding to restrain the three women, then released Mashiro Kuna and Lisa Yadōmaru after teasing them.
• Mashiro Kuna and Lisa Yadōmaru left the room, and Liu Ziyun asked Hiyori Sarugaki where Hirako and Love had gone.
• Hiyori Sarugaki said Hirako and Love had gone to Kisuke Urahara's place, so Liu Ziyun released her and asked her to bring Urahara back.
• Liu Ziyun told Hiyori Sarugaki that he believed he had mastered Bankai but could not use it, and that he wanted to prepare to fight Aizen; Hiyori agreed to fetch Urahara.

Liu Ziyun visited the Visored’s training ground and criticized their repetitive sparring, urging them to develop their Zanpakuto and understand the Hollows within them. He warned Lisa Yadōmaru and Mashiro Kuna that Aizen was only a minor threat compared with a future enemy endangering the Three Worlds, and left them to consider his advice.

• Liu Ziyun went to the Underground Training Ground and found Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi and Kensei Muguruma repeating the same sparring patterns.
• Liu Ziyun told Lisa Yadōmaru and Mashiro Kuna that they needed to explore new Zanpakuto abilities through more demanding training.
• Liu Ziyun explained that the Visored could develop their powers by communicating with and accepting the Hollows inside them.
• Liu Ziyun said Mashiro Kuna’s Hollow already cooperated with her, allowing her to maintain Hollowfication longer than the others.
• Liu Ziyun warned Lisa Yadōmaru and Mashiro Kuna that Aizen was only a minor threat and urged them to grow stronger for a greater danger to the Three Worlds.

Liu Ziyun asked the Visored to protect the training ground while he used Blade Zen to resolve his incomplete mastery of Bankai. After Life-Taker and Tulu tested him in his Inner World, Life-Taker accepted him and gave him the power he needed, sending him back to finish what he had to do.

• Lisa Yadōmaru asked Liu Ziyun why he had risked so much to help his friends, and he explained that their kindness had moved him and that he could not bear to see them suffer.
• Kisuke Urahara, Shinji Hirako, Love Aikawa, and Hiyori Sarugaki arrived, and Liu Ziyun asked them to conceal his Reiatsu and reinforce the Barrier while he attempted Blade Zen.
• Liu Ziyun’s Reiatsu became violent during Blade Zen, and in his Inner World Life-Taker and Tulu attacked him until they knocked away his blade and left him unable to stand.
• Life-Taker and Tulu confronted Liu Ziyun about the dangerous choice he had made to stab Life-Taker when she had lost control, and he apologized when she admitted she felt hurt.
• Life-Taker thrust her Tang Dao into Liu Ziyun’s chest without harming him, granting him a warm surge of power and telling him to protect the people he cared about before sending him out of the Inner World.

After emerging from Blade Zen, Liu Ziyun revealed his newly learned Bankai, Fate-Deciding God-Slayer, to Kisuke Urahara and the Visored. The chapter ended with Liu Ziyun unsure of its abilities and believing the Bankai might still be incomplete.

• Liu Ziyun awoke from Blade Zen, thanked Kisuke Urahara and the Visored for helping him, and said he had only just learned Bankai.
• Kisuke Urahara asked Liu Ziyun to demonstrate his Bankai, and Liu Ziyun agreed to test it.
• Liu Ziyun released Bankai, naming it Fate-Deciding God-Slayer, as his Reiatsu surged and then vanished.
• Liu Ziyun emerged in a black robe marked with dragon and phoenix designs, with Reiatsu wings and two Tang Dao resembling Life-Taker and Tulu.
• Liu Ziyun said he sensed no special abilities beyond increased Reiatsu and suspected his Bankai was incomplete.

Liu Ziyun’s Reiatsu rose beyond what the Visoreds could perceive, and he discussed his plans to save people connected to the Shiba Clan while keeping a low profile. He warned Kisuke that a future savior would become powerful enough to kill the being who devoured the Soul King.

• Shinji, Kensei, Rōjūrō, Love, Lisa, and Mashiro reported that Liu Ziyun’s immense Reiatsu had vanished from their senses, and Kisuke explained that Liu had reached a level beyond their perception.
• Hiyori reacted in disbelief to Liu’s strength, but Liu joked about taking on the supposed tough people at kindergartens and nursing homes, easing the tension.
• Kisuke asked what Liu planned to do, and Liu said he would train the group, return to Soul Society, and try to save future victims, including people connected to the Shiba Clan.
• Liu told Kisuke that he had kept his head down and left Aizen alive because of a future savior’s power.
• Liu revealed that the future savior would one day be capable of killing the one who devoured the Soul King.

Liu Ziyun explained that a future enemy would devour the Soul King and nearly destroy the Three Worlds, and that Aizen and a powerful child would eventually reach Soul King-level strength. He told the Visored that Aizen would avenge them by slaughtering Central 46, then admitted he might punish corrupt officials himself while claiming he only wanted a peaceful life.

• Liu Ziyun revealed that someone would devour the Soul King and that the child who defeated that being would surpass Aizen in power.
• Liu Ziyun joked with Mashiro Kuna, easing the tension, before explaining that he was getting stronger to survive a future in which someone slaughtered Seireitei.
• Liu Ziyun told Shinji Hirako that Aizen would become powerful after fusing with the Hōgyoku and that the Three Worlds would be destroyed if Aizen were stopped too soon.
• Liu Ziyun said Aizen would avenge the Visored by slaughtering Central 46, and Shinji Hirako acknowledged that this would avenge their unjust sentencing.
• Liu Ziyun admitted he would deal with corrupt officials if he got the chance, while Kisuke Urahara urged him not to go too far.

Liu Ziyun revealed more of the future to Kisuke Urahara, then was forced to stop training in Bankai when Life-Taker warned him that his control was unstable. After returning to the training ground, he advised the Visored on developing their Hollow powers alongside their Zanpakuto.

• Liu Ziyun told Kisuke Urahara to make the two Soul King Substitutes and develop the Kidō that would seal Aizen, then revealed that the BOSS would kill the Zero Division.
• Kisuke Urahara left the training ground with Tessai Tsukabishi while Liu Ziyun entered his Inner World to train in Bankai.
• Life-Taker scolded Liu Ziyun for entering Blade Zen before mastering Bankai and expelled him from his Inner World.
• Liu Ziyun ended Bankai, transformed his Zanpakuto into two bracers, and admitted that he needed to improve his Reiatsu control.
• Liu Ziyun told Shinji Hirako and the Visored to develop their Hollow powers as a second Zanpakuto and explore the human and Quincy powers within them.

Liu Ziyun urged the Visored to train until they could replace Aizen, while explaining why he intended to capture and use Aizen rather than simply discard him. After Shinji Hirako questioned what Liu Ziyun would have done if Aizen had harmed them in the fate he foresaw, Liu promised he would have tried to protect them and urged everyone to prepare for future calamities.

• Liu Ziyun told Shinji Hirako that the Visored would need to reach Soul King Level and create illusions to replace Aizen, and suggested Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi train toward the same goal.
• Liu Ziyun explained that Aizen’s talent and intelligence had helped drive his research, but said Aizen had chosen the wrong path and should be captured, educated, and kept for future help.
• Shinji Hirako challenged Liu Ziyun’s defense of Aizen and asked whether he would have acted differently if Aizen had used them as test subjects in the fate he foresaw.
• Liu Ziyun said he would have tried to keep the Visored out of danger and, failing that, would have done his best to keep them alive because they were his friends.
• Shinji Hirako recalled how the Visored had befriended Liu Ziyun at the academy, and Liu urged them to train so they could protect what mattered when future calamities arrived.

The Visored discussed whether to trust Liu Ziyun and decided to follow his advice for controlling their Hollow powers. Their first attempts to communicate with the Hollows failed, so Liu Ziyun told them to use Blade Zen and seek guidance from their Zanpakuto; the Visored left to try again.

• Shinji Hirako proposed trying Liu Ziyun’s training method, and the Visored defended Liu Ziyun’s trustworthiness to Hiyori Sarugaki.
• Shinji Hirako chose Mashiro Kuna to begin training because her Hollowfication power seemed more accepting of her.
• The Visored entered their Inner Worlds to contact their Hollows, but most faced hostility or silence, and Mashiro Kuna was pushed out by her Zanpakuto.
• Shinji Hirako told Liu Ziyun about their difficulties, and Liu Ziyun advised them to practice Blade Zen and communicate with their Zanpakuto about the rift between them and their Hollows.

Liu Ziyun advised Mashiro Kuna and the Visored on communicating with their inner Hollows, then entered his Inner World to learn how to use Bankai from Life-Taker. After Life-Taker revealed their Bankai forms, she began teaching Liu Ziyun through a measured sword duel.

• Mashiro Kuna told Liu Ziyun that her Zanpakuto drove her out of her Inner World, and he urged her to fight for its recognition and treat it as a partner.
• Liu Ziyun warned the Visored to maintain their resolve while training, then transformed his Wristguards into his Zanpakuto and began Blade Zen.
• In the Inner World, Life-Taker greeted Liu Ziyun warmly and agreed to teach him how to use Bankai, while Tulu remained aloof.
• Life-Taker released Bankai, Fate-Deciding God-Slayer, and explained the powers of Decide Fate and Slay God.
• Liu Ziyun released both Zanpakuto and activated the same Bankai, matching Life-Taker's form.
• Life-Taker began a restrained sword lesson, and Liu Ziyun met her attacks with both blades.

Liu Ziyun understood the power of his Bankai by sensing the many possible outcomes of his attacks, then advised the Visored on training with their inner Hollows. He told them he was preparing to return to Soul Society and left to see Kisuke.

• Life-Taker explained that Liu Ziyun's Bankai united Decide Fate's choice of outcomes with Slay God's ability to transcend limits, and urged him to feel its power.
• Liu Ziyun sensed countless possible paths for his slash and chose one that slipped past Life-Taker's defense, stopping his blade just short of her chest.
• Liu Ziyun advised Mashiro Kuna to fight the Hollow inside her and build a partnership with it, then warned the other Visored to stay true to themselves during training.
• Shinji Hirako asked whether Isshin Shiba would become a test subject, and Liu Ziyun said Isshin's future wife would host one of Aizen's subjects, leading to their child inheriting its fused power.
• Liu Ziyun told the Visored he was preparing to return to Soul Society, urged them to gain strength to protect themselves, and left to see Kisuke.

Liu Ziyun prepared to return to Soul Society, asking Kisuke Urahara for improved concealment gear and buying gifts for Retsu Unohana. He arrived secretly at his Fourth Division quarters, where he planned to visit the captain the next day.

• Liu Ziyun bought hand cream, tea, and a carved hairpin for Retsu Unohana.
• Liu Ziyun told Kisuke Urahara he was returning to Soul Society and asked him to upgrade his Black Cloak and Gigai.
• Liu Ziyun left Karakura Town and, before opening the Senkaimon, deliberately injured his eyes and bandaged them.
• Liu Ziyun used the Black Cloak and Senkaimon Badge to travel to North District 80 of Soul Society.
• Liu Ziyun slipped past the Fourth Division's Barriers and patrols, checked his quarters, and went to bed with plans to see the captain the next day.

Liu Ziyun returned from the World of the Living and told Retsu Unohana he had defeated and trained with the Visored group. Unohana promoted him to Fifth Seat, and he planned to stay inconspicuous until Kaien Shiba and Isshin Shiba reached their future positions.

• Liu Ziyun gave Retsu Unohana gifts and said Kisuke Urahara had taken him to meet the Hollowfied Soul Reapers, whom he had defeated and trained with.
• Retsu Unohana recognized Liu Ziyun's strength and challenged his claim to have a good temper; Liu defended her from the label of villain.
• Retsu Unohana told Liu Ziyun that Fifth Seat Tazawa Kentarō was retiring after an injury and offered Liu the vacant position, which he accepted.
• Liu Ziyun explained that the promotion would help him stay hidden and said he would keep a low profile until Kaien Shiba became lieutenant and Isshin Shiba became captain.
• Retsu Unohana opened Liu Ziyun's gift box, thanked him, and told him she especially liked the hairpin.

Liu Ziyun became the Fourth Division's Fifth Seat, then Kaname Tōsen asked to transfer him to the Ninth Division as lieutenant. Suspecting the request was a probe, Retsu Unohana defended Liu's reasons for accepting his seat, and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto ordered Tōsen to ask Liu what he wanted.

• Retsu Unohana presided over Liu Ziyun's appointment as the Fourth Division's Fifth Seat.
• Kaname Tōsen requested Liu's transfer to the Ninth Division lieutenant position, and Sōsuke Aizen suggested letting Liu decide.
• Retsu Unohana told the captains that Liu had accepted the Fifth Seat to honor his promise to Tazawa Kentarō.
• Gin Ichimaru questioned Liu's motives, while Sōsuke Aizen defended his conduct.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto directed Kaname Tōsen to ask Liu Ziyun whether he wanted the position.

Kaname Tōsen tested Liu Ziyun by offering him the Ninth Division lieutenant position, but Liu refused and explained that he intended to keep his promises to Tazawa Kentarō and Retsu Unohana. Liu later detected a Black Cloak visitor in the Fourth Division Medical Room and identified the encounter as the first round of a larger test.

• Kaname Tōsen offered Liu Ziyun the Ninth Division lieutenant position, but Liu refused, citing his promises to Tazawa Kentarō and his oath to serve under Retsu Unohana.
• Liu told Retsu Unohana that Tōsen was only a stepping stone and that the real test would come from the person behind the scenes.
• Liu continued his predictable daily duties in the Fourth Division, keeping up the appearance of an ordinary medical squad member.
• Liu detected a Reiatsu-concealing figure in a Black Cloak at the Medical Room entrance and recognized that Kyouka Suigetsu made others overlook the visitor.
• The Black Cloak figure watched Liu for about three minutes before disappearing, and Liu silently counted the encounter as the first round ending in a draw.

Sōsuke Aizen questioned Liu Ziyun about joining the Fifth Division and about the Visored, probing his loyalty and motives. Liu refused the transfer and claimed he had no desire or ability to seek revenge, while revealing that saving Hirako and the others had cost him strength; Aizen appeared to confirm something about him.

• Sōsuke Aizen met Liu Ziyun on his way back to the dormitory and invited him to join the Fifth Division.
• Liu Ziyun declined, saying he wanted to remain in the Fourth Division and had focused on Kaidō rather than combat.
• Aizen asked Liu what he thought about Captain Hirako and the others being treated as Hollows, and Liu said he accepted the decisions of the Gotei 13 and Central 46.
• When Aizen pressed him about revenge, Liu said he lacked the strength and standing to pursue it and was not close enough to risk his life for them.
• Liu explained that he had exposed his strength to save Hirako and the others because they had been dragged into trouble through him, and that doing so had reduced his Reiatsu.
• Liu said his only goal had been to serve Captain Unohana, and Aizen's expression subtly changed as if Liu had confirmed his suspicions.

Sōsuke Aizen discussed Liu Ziyun’s answers with Kaname Tōsen and Gin Ichimaru, concluding that Liu had severed ties with Shinji Hirako’s group and likely posed no threat. Aizen dismissed Liu as a slightly bigger ant, though the conversation left questions about Liu’s hidden strength and stalled growth.

• Sōsuke Aizen left Liu Ziyun and met Kaname Tōsen and Gin Ichimaru at their hidden underground base.
• Sōsuke Aizen recounted Liu Ziyun’s statements that he followed Captain Unohana, had no bond left with Shinji Hirako’s group, and would not interfere with Aizen’s plans.
• Kaname Tōsen theorized that Shinji Hirako’s group had tried to recruit Liu away from the Fourth Division, provoking a conflict with Liu’s convictions.
• Gin Ichimaru recalled that Liu Ziyun had once revealed strength near a Lieutenant’s level and suggested that his stalled growth might explain his resentment toward Shinji Hirako’s group.
• Sōsuke Aizen agreed with their assessments and concluded that Liu Ziyun probably posed no threat, calling him a slightly bigger ant.