Recaps

After killing three Seated Officers, Rei fled across South Rukongai while building his strength and evading the Seireitei’s investigation. In the impoverished outer districts, he encountered people who sought death out of despair over their exclusion and powerlessness, then decided to train in Hueco Mundo before eventually joining the Gotei 13.

• Rei killed the three Seated Officers whose Reiryoku he had absorbed, while Captains Shunsui Kyōraku and Shiba Kūsei investigated the deaths and chose to watch for him discreetly.
• Rei traveled to South District 24, using Yanis’s Hollow abilities and sharing candy with him as they continued their journey.
• After reaching impoverished Inuzuri, Rei learned that a powerful local fighter had died and discussed going to Hueco Mundo with Yanis.
• Rei decided to explore South District 80, return home, and then travel to Hueco Mundo to grow stronger before joining the Gotei 13.
• In South District 79, Rei defeated another group of attackers and heard their one-eyed leader explain that discrimination and despair had driven him and others to seek death.
• Rei absorbed the leader’s Reiryoku and killed him, then resolved that people had to gain strength to challenge the old system.

Rei encountered Kenpachi Zaraki in a ruined village, where the two fought after Rei released Blood Drink. Rei initially held the advantage, but Zaraki’s battle instincts kept raising his strength as the fight intensified.

• Kenpachi Zaraki sensed Rei’s powerful Reiatsu and hurried to the ruined village with Yachiru Kusajishi, eager to find an opponent.
• Rei told Blood Drink he planned to train his Bankai, but the Zanpakuto warned that he lacked the Reiatsu to use it safely.
• Kenpachi introduced himself and challenged Rei, who revealed his name as Nangong Ling and released Blood Drink’s Shikai.
• Rei wounded Zaraki several times and healed from Zaraki’s attacks, while Zaraki gradually increased his strength and grew more excited.
• The two caught each other’s blades, smashed their heads together, and were thrown apart; Rei healed while Zaraki’s Reiatsu rose again.
• Rei’s Blood-Coagulating Slash was shattered by Zaraki’s golden Reiatsu as Yachiru watched happily and nearby Hollows and groups of people were crushed or driven back by the fighters’ power.

Rei and Kenpachi Zaraki fought until Rei used his own blood to empower Blood Drink, manifesting Kurenai and reaching a power sufficient to defeat Zaraki in a final clash. Both collapsed, and after Yanis helped Rei recover, scavengers found them as Rei and Yanis prepared to fight again.

• Kenpachi Zaraki overwhelmed Rei, severed his left hand, and taunted him as Rei's blood gauge and Reiatsu dwindled.
• Rei fed Blood Drink his own blood, and Kurenai appeared as Rei's Reiatsu surged to four times the standard Captain-level.
• Rei and Kenpachi Zaraki exchanged a final strike; Zaraki collapsed with a grievous wound, and Rei fell after his heart and ribs were injured.
• Yachiru Kusajishi thanked Rei for giving Zaraki the joy of battle, then carried Zaraki away while Yanis dragged Rei to conceal him.
• Rei woke hours later, learned Yanis had become his symbiote, and hid as scavengers approached.
• Yanis struck a scavenger's Hakusui to restore Rei's Reiryoku, then fired Bala at attackers while Rei fought the remaining three.

Rei survived a deadly fight, recovered by devouring Reiryoku, and continued training with Blood Drink in an attempt to learn Bankai. After traveling through much of Rukongai and growing stronger, he encountered many secluded martial schools and a hidden werewolf clan.

• Rei killed the three men who ambushed him, then absorbed their remaining Reiryoku and left with a serious shoulder wound.
• Yachiru told the recovering Kenpachi Zaraki that Rei was probably still alive, inspiring Kenpachi to seek greater strength and fight Nangong Ling again.
• Kisaragi Shingetsu tracked Rei after sensing his Reiatsu, but Rei threatened him and refused to join the Gotei 13.
• Rei repeatedly fought Blood Drink in his inner world to learn Bankai, but his white Asauchi shattered and he was expelled before he could understand the clue.
• Rei spent months traveling through Rukongai, devouring more than a hundred experts and learning Shunpo as his Reiatsu grew beyond that of standard captains.
• Rei encountered numerous secluded fighting schools and discovered cursed races, including a werewolf clan.

After returning home, Rei revealed Captain-level Reiatsu to Maki and rejected an immediate captain challenge until he had mastered Bankai. A sunset conversation with Kuruyashiki Kenpachi restored Rei’s inspiration, and he entered his inner world to ask Blood Drink how to achieve Bankai.

• Maki learned that Rei’s Reiatsu had grown stronger than a captain’s and urged him to join the Gotei 13 and challenge a captain.
• Rei asked Maki about the ways to become a captain, then said he would wait until he had learned Bankai before taking on a captain.
• A Ragged Hollow interrupted Rei’s thoughts about Bankai, and he defeated it before Kuruyashiki Kenpachi arrived to ask about Rei’s battle with Kenpachi Zaraki.
• Rei told Kuruyashiki that he planned to learn Bankai, defeat the Captain-Commander, and unite the Seireitei, then regained his Bankai inspiration from Kuruyashiki’s words about the sunset.
• Rei entered his inner world, stained the Asauchi red with his blood, and asked Blood Drink how to achieve Bankai.

Rei achieved Bankai after fighting Blood Drink, but was warned that using it would strain his body, so he spent the next year building his strength. At a meal with Captains Kuruyashiki and Shunsui Kyōraku, he agreed to spar with Kuruyashiki as both sides sought to assess each other.

• Rei raced to a secluded valley and fought the materialized Blood Drink, enduring a brutal battle until Blood Drink acknowledged his resolve and taught him how to achieve Bankai.
• Maki and Kuzō found Rei badly wounded in the valley, and Rei told them his injuries came from training.
• Blood Drink warned Rei that Bankai would place a heavy burden on his body, so Rei delayed using it and trained while eating and sleeping to build his strength.
• A year later, Rei trained Kuzō and Maki at the Nangong Family's new Training Ground, then visited the family's Hot Pot Restaurant in Kugawa Castle.
• Kuruyashiki summoned Rei to a private room, where Rei met Shunsui Kyōraku and discussed his strength and progress toward Bankai.
• Kuruyashiki proposed a spar with Rei, who accepted so he could measure a Captain's strength while Kuruyashiki and Kyōraku assessed how dangerous he was.

Rei fought Kuruyashiki and, recognizing how much he could learn as a Soul Reaper, agreed to join the Seireitei. After promising to challenge Kuruyashiki in twenty years, Rei arrived at the Seireitei the next morning to register and choose a division.

• Rei and Kuruyashiki fought with their unreleased Zanpakuto until Kuruyashiki defeated Rei with Bakudō #61, Six-Rod Light Prison.
• Kyōraku urged Rei to become a Soul Reaper, and Rei decided he wanted to learn more combat skills by joining the Seireitei.
• Rei and Kuruyashiki promised to fight again in twenty years, and Rei said he would report to the Seireitei the next morning.
• Rei returned home, reflected on the fight, and learned that Shinji Hirako had graduated from the academy in one year to become the Fifth Division's eighth seat.
• Rei entered through the Black Ridge Gate, where his Reiatsu overwhelmed the guard Danzōmaru, then followed two lieutenants to register as a Soul Reaper and choose a division.

Rei defeated Gosuke in a duel and was appointed lieutenant of the 11th Division by Kuruyashiki. After half a month of avoiding the noble clans’ attempts to recruit him, Rei accepted his first mission, joining the Third and Fifth Divisions to clear an area containing mid-level Menos Grande.

• Rei challenged Gosuke, dodged his Shikai attacks, dispelled his Bakudō, and wounded him with a slash between the ribs.
• Kuruyashiki appointed Rei as lieutenant of the 11th Division and demoted Gosuke to a regular member.
• Over the next half month, Rei accepted gifts from the noble clans but avoided meeting their heads, while Gosuke claimed the Third Seat.
• Kuruyashiki assigned Rei to a mission with the Third and Fifth Divisions to deal with reported mid-level Menos Grande, and Rei agreed to go.
• Rei learned that Shusuke Ihana was the Fifth Division's lieutenant and that the Third Division's lieutenant was a woman.

Rei joined Chitetsu Iba and Shusuke Ihana’s forces in West Rukongai, where he tracked a powerful Hollow with Kidō. Yanis identified the Hollow as Daruston, and Rei confronted him in a cave as Daruston sent his underlings to attack.

• Chitetsu Iba and Shusuke Ihana proposed dividing the forces to search the seventeenth district, while Rei complained about the mission and the squad members.
• Ihana rebuked Rei for dismissing the need to protect ordinary Pluses, and Rei apologized before suggesting he pursue the Menos Grande alone.
• Rei cast Bakudō number fifty-eight, Kakushitsuijaku, and used it to detect a powerful Reiatsu in the district.
• Yanis identified the Reiatsu as Daruston, an Adjuchas subordinate of Baraggan who could survive by splitting into pieces.
• Rei found Daruston in a cave, where Daruston ordered dozens of Ragged Hollows to attack while preparing a green Cero.

Rei returned from a mission after defeating Daruston and learned more about Baraggan and Hueco Mundo from Yanis. He secured permission to join the Expeditionary Force, but recruitment began slowly as Soul Reapers feared the previous expedition’s heavy losses.

• Rei defeated Daruston with Yanis’s help, and the Gates of Hell dragged Daruston away as Ika and Chitetsu arrived.
• Rei discussed Vasto Lordes, Baraggan, and the value of Reiatsu with Yanis, then decided to reach Hueco Mundo through the Expeditionary Force.
• Rei asked Kuruyashiki about joining the Expeditionary Force, and Kuruyashiki agreed to let him investigate Hueco Mundo.
• The Expeditionary Force began recruiting sixty fighters and five Kidō Corps members for a mission to kill thirty thousand Hollows.
• Rei slept beside the recruitment chair while his underlings collected only six names in a day, as Soul Reapers hesitated after the previous expedition’s losses.

Rei was appointed captain of the Expeditionary Force after passing Captain-Commander Yamamoto’s reiatsu test, then assembled his recruits for the journey to Hueco Mundo. He punished the late-arriving noblemen and ordered the force to prepare to depart, while Kasumioji Yakumo watched in anger.

• Rei recalled meeting Captain-Commander Yamamoto, who tested his reiatsu and appointed him captain of the Expeditionary Force bound for Hueco Mundo.
• Rei reviewed the roster of fifty-nine recruits, including Kuchiki Sōjun and Tsunayashiro Tokinada, and warned that everyone would have to obey his orders.
• At the assembly, Rei knocked Tokinada unconscious for arriving late and intimidated the other recruits with his reiatsu.
• Rei showed the recruits Yamamoto’s appointment letter and declared that strength, not noble status, would determine who commanded them.
• Rei ordered the five latecomers listed as deserters, told the others to rest, and directed the Kidō Corps to prepare a Garganta as Kasumioji Yakumo watched.

Rei led an expeditionary force through the Garganta into Hueco Mundo, where the Soul Reapers faced immediate Hollow attacks and struggled to organize. After reaching rocky hills, they encountered three Adjuchas who targeted Rei.

• Kasumioji Yakumo learned that Rei had escaped to Hueco Mundo, while Tokinada and the others who had defied a captain were sent to Rukongai.
• Rei guided the expedition through the Garganta and told Yanis that they would grow stronger together, persuading him to support Rei's ambitions.
• The Soul Reapers arrived in Hueco Mundo, where a scorpion Hollow killed one of them before Rei killed it and ordered Sōjun Kuchiki to organize the fighters into groups.
• Rei and the Soul Reapers defeated a horde of Hollows, then traveled for about ten hours toward rocky hills while suffering more casualties along the way.
• Three Adjuchas and their Hollow horde confronted the expedition at the hills, and the horse-shaped Adjuchas charged at Rei.

Rei defeated two of the Adjuchas attacking his expedition, while Second Brother Rat escaped through quicksand that led to the Menos Grande Forest. On the seventh day, Rei led ten Soul Reapers underground, where Second Brother Rat ambushed them with Gillians and Ragged Hollows; Rei ordered his team to break through.

• Rei killed the turtle Hollow, wounded Boss Horse, and drove Boss Horse and Second Brother Rat to flee; Second Brother Rat escaped into quicksand after splitting into a swarm of rats.
• Yanis explained that the quicksand led to the underground Menos Grande Forest, and Rei returned to camp, where Sōjun Kuchiki reported three dead, twelve lightly wounded, and four seriously wounded.
• Rei established a guarded camp among four rocky mountains and, after six days in Hueco Mundo, led ten capable Soul Reapers into the quicksand to explore the Menos Grande Forest.
• Rei and his team landed among enormous quartz trees, then came under a Cero volley from Gillians controlled by Second Brother Rat.
• Rei killed a Gillian and cleared a path through the attacking Hollows, then ordered his team to break through.

Rei led his wounded subordinates through the Menos Grande Forest, where they encountered swarms of Hollows and a deadly group of Gillians. After Yuanshan was captured during their escape, Rei pursued him alone and found himself surrounded by seven Adjuchas led by Zommari Rureaux.

• Rei explained that Ragged Hollows evolved by devouring one another, then led his exhausted squad to shelter beneath a quartz tree, where Yuanshan collapsed after eating poisonous red mushrooms.
• After resting, Rei guided the Soul Reapers toward higher ground and a rock face, where they discovered more than two hundred Gillians and four watching Adjuchas.
• Rei released Blood Drink and attacked the Adjuchas while his subordinates fought through the Gillians, but a Cero volley killed one Soul Reaper and an ape-like Adjuchas seized Yuanshan.
• Rei ordered his remaining subordinates to rest and pursued the ape-like Adjuchas alone, then encountered seven Adjuchas, including Jemirri and Zommari Rureaux.
• Rei demanded that Zommari release Yuanshan and called him a garlic Hollow, while Zommari introduced himself and demanded Rei's name.

Rei fought Zommari and his Hollows while trying to rescue Yuanshan, then survived Zommari’s staged ambush and killed him. He collected Zommari’s mask and fed it, along with five other Adjuchas masks, to Yanis.

• Zommari ordered Gillians and Adjuchas to attack Rei, and Rei killed several while resisting Zommari’s body-controlling ability with his Reiatsu.
• Rei wounded Zommari, but Zommari marked Rei’s heart and blasted him with a Cero before Rei suppressed the mark and charged back.
• Zommari threatened Yuanshan, so Rei stopped pursuing him; after Zommari and Jemirii fled, Rei rescued Yuanshan from a Giant Hollow.
• Yuanshan slashed Rei’s neck when Rei caught him, and Rei struck Yuanshan away and collapsed as Zommari and Jemirii watched from hiding.
• Rei revealed he had survived the staged attack, wounded Zommari, and explained that Yuanshan’s strike could not have killed him.
• Rei killed Zommari, while Jemirii fled as rats, then pocketed Zommari’s mask and let Yanis eat it with the masks of five other Adjuchas.

After six months in Hueco Mundo, Rei brought the Expeditionary Force home, where its members received rewards and promotions. Rei returned to his family and learned that something had happened while he was away, as Maki began explaining.

• Rei found the camp had been attacked by an Adjuchas, then arranged a patrol that followed and hunted it.
• After eight months in Hueco Mundo, Rei ended the expedition and opened a Garganta to lead the survivors back to Soul Society.
• The Expeditionary Force returned to Seireitei, where Old Man Yamamoto assigned rewards and promotions to its members.
• Rei went home, discovered Maki had become the 11th Division's Eighteenth Seat, and rested before attending a welcome-home banquet.
• Rei noticed his subordinates were uneasy, and Maki began telling him what had happened during his absence.

Rei visited the Tsunayashiro Clan after its retaliation against his forces left several guards dead and Kuzō captured. Hideaki Tsunayashiro proposed that Rei marry into the clan, but Rei privately rejected the offer as the elders waited for his answer.

• The Tsunayashiro Clan retaliated against Rei’s forces in North District 10, killing guards, capturing Kuzō, and sabotaging his businesses.
• Rei told Maki to send the clan a calling card and announced he would visit the next afternoon; Maki calmed the guards who feared Rei would be humiliated.
• Rei met Hideaki Tsunayashiro and the clan elders, then mocked them for capturing his subordinate in retaliation for Tokinada’s beating.
• Hideaki ordered his guards to stand down and proposed that Rei marry his daughter and join the Tsunayashiro Clan.
• The elders offered Rei the prospect of succeeding Hideaki as Ninth Division captain and gaining great noble status, while Rei privately decided to refuse.

Rei refused to swear a Kotodama oath to the Tsunayashiro Clan, and the failed negotiations escalated into a confrontation with Hideaki Tsunayashiro. After Hideaki tried to frame him for assassination, Rei announced he would visit the Ninth Division barracks the next day, leaving a deadly duel looming.

• Rei rejected Hideaki Tsunayashiro’s demand that he swear loyalty to the Tsunayashiro Clan with Kotodama, and challenged Hideaki’s threats.
• Hideaki erupted in anger, but when Rei drew his Zanpakuto, he accused him of attempting an assassination and ordered the Guards to seize him.
• Shunsui Kyōraku emerged from Rei’s shadow and challenged Hideaki’s claim that the matter was a private affair, forcing him to dismiss the Guards.
• Hideaki refused to release Rei’s subordinates, so Rei said he would visit the Ninth Division barracks the next day; Rei and Kyōraku then left.
• Rei told Kyōraku that he could kill Hideaki with Shikai, while Kyōraku reported to Yama-jii that Rei seemed eager to fight.
• Yama-jii recognized that intervening would be difficult and hinted that Kyōraku should act against the Great Nobles’ hold over the Gotei 13.

Rei faced Captain Hideaki Tsunayashiro in a public duel after Tsunayashiro killed Rei’s vassals, and the two traded Shunpo, sword strikes, and Kidō before Hideaki activated his Shikai. The fight continued with Rei wounded but still pressing Hideaki to use Bankai.

• Soul Reapers gathered to watch the duel, and Maki boasted that Rei could become the next Captain-Commander.
• Rei and Hideaki exchanged threats before their Reiatsu clashed, forcing the Kidō Corps to shield the spectators.
• Rei outlasted Hideaki in their Shunpo contest and wounded him, then blocked Hideaki’s Byakurai with Enkōsen.
• The two traded powerful Kidō until Rei dodged Hideaki’s Sōren Sōkatsui and struck him with his sword.
• Hideaki used Sekienton and then released his Shikai, Kyūryūmaru, cutting Rei in several places.
• Rei summoned his Shikai, Blood Drink, and the two resumed their clash, with Rei urging Hideaki to use Bankai.

Rei fought Hideaki Tsunayashiro, whose Bankai transformed the battlefield into a forest of enormous, mobile willows. After Rei’s blood-filled Shikai strengthened him enough to damage the trees, Hideaki shifted between them and trapped Rei in a storm of leaves.

• Rei’s Blood Drink Shikai absorbed blood from his wounds to increase his Reiatsu, and Rei wounded Hideaki and healed himself with Hideaki’s blood.
• Rei urged Hideaki to use Bankai, but Hideaki believed Rei could not use Bankai and unleashed Nine Willow Forest Burial.
• Hideaki’s Bankai created nine enormous willows that moved through the earth and attacked Rei with hundreds of Reiatsu whips.
• Rei filled his sword’s blood grooves, gained a surge of Reiatsu, and began targeting the willow trunks with Blood-Coagulating Slash and Blood-Coagulating Piercer.
• Hideaki moved between the willows and activated Ten Thousand Leaves Dance Together, surrounding Rei with a tornado of leaves.

Rei defeated and killed Hideaki Tsunayashiro in their duel, surviving the mutual injuries caused by Black Coffin. Afterward, the Captain-Commander confronted Central 46 over its corruption and its protection of the Tsunayashiro Clan.

• Hideaki Tsunayashiro bound Rei with willow branches, but Rei escaped with Yanis’s help and struck him with Raikōhō.
• Rei and Hideaki stabbed each other, then Rei trapped them both inside Black Coffin.
• Rei recovered as Blood Drink absorbed Hideaki’s blood energy, then killed Hideaki with Blood-Coagulating Slash while First Division Soul Reapers blocked the Tsunayashiro Clan’s supporters from interfering.
• Rei left the Ninth Division’s training ground with the members of the 11th Division, while the Ninth Division’s members reacted to Hideaki’s death.
• The Captain-Commander challenged Central 46 over the Tsunayashiro Clan’s crimes and accused some of its members of taking bribes and shielding nobles from punishment.

After defeating Hideaki Tsunayashiro, Rei learned that Central 46 had released his subordinates but barred him from dueling captains for a hundred years. Still stuck as a lieutenant six months later, he secured ten years’ leave and opened a Garganta to Hueco Mundo.

• Central 46 replaced seven sages and began correcting some of its abuses after its secret discussion with Yama-jii.
• Rei recovered from exhausting himself in battle, then met Yama-jii and several captains, who told him his subordinates had been released and ordered him not to duel captains for a hundred years.
• Yama-jii explained that the restriction came from Central 46, which wanted Rei restrained after he killed Hideaki Tsunayashiro; meanwhile, the Tsunayashiro Clan lost influence and the Ninth Division captaincy remained vacant.
• After six months without a transfer order, Rei asked Kuruyashiki for ten years’ leave to hunt in Hueco Mundo, and Kuruyashiki approved it.
• Rei said goodbye to his subordinates, loaded their supplies onto his back, opened a Garganta, and entered Hueco Mundo.

Rei hunted Hollows in the Menos Grande Forest while feeding Yanis the Reiryoku needed to evolve, then recruited two Adjuchas as mounts. After learning of a nearby alliance of dozens of Adjuchas, Rei reached their rocky mountain stronghold and captured eleven of its fighters alive, leaving their leader to escape.

• Rei and Yanis spent months hunting Hollows, but Yanis's growing power showed no sign of evolution.
• Rei spared Hidri and Moros after they begged to become his slaves, and they agreed to serve as his mounts.
• Hidri told Rei about an alliance of dozens of Adjuchas living in a hollowed-out rocky mountain.
• Rei traveled with Hidri and Moros, sharing seasoned Hollow meat with them along the way.
• Rei attacked the mountain group's sentries, used Shikai and Cero to defeat them, and captured eleven Adjuchas while their minor leader fled.

Rei slaughtered the Adjuchas gathered at the rocky mountain and captured the white leopard who had eaten his two mounts. As Yanis transformed Rei’s left hand further, they discussed the leopard’s potential to become a Vasto Lorde, until he revealed his name as Grimmjow and attacked again.

• Rei fought the Gillians and Adjuchas at the rocky mountain, killing several and devouring them while Yanis ate alongside him.
• Rei sensed that his mounts, Hidri and Moros, had been killed and eaten by a powerful white leopard Adjuchas.
• Rei caught the leopard, defeated him with Shunpo and a Cero, bound him, and dragged him back to the mountain.
• Rei and Yanis continued devouring the captured Adjuchas, and Yanis explained that eating them had transformed Rei’s left hand into a Hollow-like limb.
• Rei asked Yanis about the leopard’s chance of becoming a Vasto Lorde, and Yanis cited Szayelaporro’s research on Hollow potential.
• The leopard revealed that his name was Grimmjow, fired a Cero at Rei, and threatened to kill them all.

Rei pressured Grimmjow into joining him by revealing his overwhelming power and promising a faster path to evolution. They hunted Hollows together, but Grimmjow grew increasingly frustrated as Yanis took most of their prey and Rei repeatedly claimed they were searching for Vasto Lorde.

• Rei freed Grimmjow and challenged him to a wager, but Grimmjow refused and threatened to return after becoming a Vasto Lorde.
• Rei unleashed his Reiatsu and described his Bankai, convincing Grimmjow that he could become stronger by learning from him.
• Rei offered Grimmjow a place as his subordinate ally, and Grimmjow agreed in exchange for the chance to evolve quickly.
• Rei and Grimmjow set out to hunt Hollows, and Rei said they would find and devour Vasto Lorde to accelerate their evolution.
• Yanis ate most of their first day's prey, leaving Grimmjow angry, and Rei repeatedly promised that Grimmjow could eat while he fought any Vasto Lorde they found.
• After more than a hundred hunts without finding a Vasto Lorde, Grimmjow became fed up with Yanis taking so much of the food.