Chapter Summaries

Ryūsaki defeated two Gillians with a single attack, then fought ten Holy Soldiers in a trial arranged by Jugram Haschwalth. He overwhelmed the fighters without being injured, and the battle ended when Jugram ordered both sides to stop.

• Ryūsaki killed two Gillians at once, impressing the Quincy spectators gathered around the Trial Ground.
• Long'an summoned ten Holy Soldiers to test Ryūsaki, and the fighters attacked under rules that allowed only survivors to leave.
• Ryūsaki used his chains and Quincy techniques to defeat or incapacitate several close-combat Holy Soldiers while deflecting their attacks.
• Five Holy Soldiers combined their Reishi to fire three Heilig Pfeil at Ryūsaki, who dodged or redirected the first two and crushed the third with his chains.
• Jugram Haschwalth ordered the fighters to stop, leaving six Holy Soldiers alive and Ryūsaki unharmed.

Ryūsaki gathered intelligence on the Sternritter while Aizen learned that Yhwach was close to awakening, and Masaki and Isshin began a romance. Months later, Yhwach awakened, and Haschwalth led the Sternritter into the Ice Palace as the Quincy celebrated outside.

• Long'an explained that Ryūsaki could join the Sternritter by defeating a member or competing for a vacancy, and Ryūsaki questioned a maid to learn more about them.
• Inaba Kage reported the Wandenreich's ranks and the approaching awakening of Yhwach to Aizen, who began considering how to exploit the news.
• Masaki attended college while Isshin worked as a doctor, and the two started a romance after meeting for a meal.
• Ryūsaki trained in Vollständig, observed the Sternritter, and learned that Yhwach was expected to awaken soon.
• Haschwalth announced that Yhwach had awakened and led the Sternritter into the Ice Palace, while the Holy Soldiers cheered for the Quincy and Ryūsaki noticed some elderly members looked worried.

After Yhwach awakened, he used Auswählen to drain the power of Quincy he considered unnecessary, killing many and frightening Ryūsaki and Yorick. A year later, Yhwach was still weak and the war had not begun, leaving Ryūsaki time to investigate Auswählen and seek a way to advance.

• Yhwach awakened, drew power from Haschwalth, and used Auswählen to drain the elderly, sick, weak, and disabled across the Wandenreich.
• Ryūsaki and Yorick explained the effects of Auswählen as Cang Du led the Eighth Squad to collect the dead in District 19.
• Two youths resisted the corpse collectors and denounced Yhwach, but Cang Du killed them while the neighbors remained passive.
• Ryūsaki and Yorick watched the corpses burned, and Yorick admitted he feared being judged unnecessary and killed by Auswählen.
• Yhwach performed Auswählen again a month later, stripping more than five thousand people of their power, then did not repeat it for a year.
• The Holy Soldiers added over five hundred recruits, while Ryūsaki learned Yhwach remained too weak to stay awake for long and the war was still some time away.

After two years in the Wandenreich, Ryūsaki killed Berenice Gabrielli in a duel and drew Yhwach’s attention. Meanwhile, Yushima Oko regained his original body through fusion and received a new task from Aizen; Ryūsaki ended the chapter outside Yhwach’s Ice Palace, requesting an audience.

• Ryūsaki reviewed the Sternritter’s abilities and agreed to meet Berenice at the Grand Training Ground.
• Inaba Kage and Kujo Nozomi were fused into Yushima Oko, who awoke with powerful Reiatsu and accepted a task from Aizen.
• Ryūsaki silenced Berenice’s Schrift, The Question, by damaging his own hearing, then fought him with chains and Heilig Pfeil.
• Ryūsaki paralyzed Berenice, severed the wrist bearing his star-cross glove, and killed him with a Heilig Pfeil before burning his corpse.
• Yhwach learned that Ryūsaki had killed Berenice, discussed Ryūsaki with Jugram Haschwalth, and prepared to question him about his beliefs.
• Ryūsaki arrived at the Ice Palace and asked the guards to let him see Yhwach.

Yhwach granted Ryūsaki Berenice’s Schrift, Quiescence, and a medal capable of stealing a Captain’s Bankai. After Ryūsaki sparred with Bazz-B and learned how Yhwach’s soul-absorption worked, Yhwach strengthened the Sternritter and bestowed Ryūsaki with the Vollständig title “God’s Stillness.”

• Yhwach questioned Ryūsaki about his Fullbring and his assessment of a war with the Soul Reapers, then gave him Berenice’s Schrift, Quiescence, and a Sternritter Medal.
• Ryūsaki met Bazz-B outside the palace, learned from him that Haschwalth had bestowed blood wine and Schrifts while Yhwach slept, and heard how souls gathered by the Wandenreich had helped Yhwach awaken early.
• Ryūsaki secretly recorded Bazz-B’s explanation as they went to the grand trial grounds, where Bazz-B challenged him to spar before a crowd of Holy Soldiers and Sternritter.
• Three months later, Yhwach performed Auswählen and bestowed stronger Vollständig abilities on the Sternritter, including the title “God’s Stillness” for Ryūsaki.

Amagai helped expose the Kasumioji Clan’s Bakōtō experiments and steered Mayuri toward a possible way to breach the Quincy hideout, while Aizen planned to exploit the coming conflict. A year later, Yhwach’s Auswählen struck Mixed-Blood Quincy in the World of the Living, and Sōken suspected that Yhwach had awakened.

• Yushima delivered Aizen’s plan to Amagai, who burned the instructions and helped lead the operation against the Kasumioji Clan; Kumoi was killed, and Kasumioji Genki was arrested.
• At the Captains’ Meeting, Amagai, Hirako, and Zaraki confirmed the Bakōtō’s abilities, and Amagai gave Yamamoto records of the clan’s experiments with Hollowfied Bakōtō.
• Amagai’s records inspired Mayuri to investigate Hollowfication, while Aizen told Yushima to reveal that Yhwach had revived but withhold intelligence about the Sternritter.
• Masaki Kurosaki and Isshin married after learning Masaki was pregnant, while Ryūken remained with Katagiri Hae despite his mother’s objections.
• Six months later, a white light struck Mixed-Blood Quincy; Masaki’s unborn Ichigo absorbed the light, while Katagiri’s unborn child repelled it and gained a trace of Reiryoku.
• Katagiri found two Ishida Family servants collapsed, and Sōken identified the event as Auswählen and wondered whether Yhwach had awakened.

Ryūsaki led a Wandenreich force into Hueco Mundo to capture Hollows, where Yanis’s Arrancars ambushed them. After rescuing his soldiers, Rei took control of Ryūsaki’s body and confronted Yanis, who refused to believe his old master had returned.

• Ryūsaki saw Yhwach use Auswählen on the remaining Mixed-Blood Quincy in the World of the Living and worried that Masaki had been targeted.
• Ryūsaki led twenty Holy Soldiers into the Menos Grande Forest, where they captured Hollows and met their quota.
• Yanis and his Arrancars killed ten Holy Soldiers, so Ryūsaki used Reishi fire to cover the surviving soldiers’ retreat.
• Ryūsaki immobilized Yanis with Still, then Rei took control of his body and released Yanis after asking if he recognized him.
• Yanis attacked Rei, but Blut Vene stopped his sword, and Yanis rejected Rei’s claim that he was Nangong Ling.

Rei used Ryūsaki Ishida to contact Yanis, convinced him of his identity, and sent him to warn Hueco Mundo’s Espada about the Quincy threat. Five months later, Mayuri tested a modified Bakōtō that could absorb Reishi, while Yoruichi and Tessai confirmed that the Hollow and its Seal had passed into baby Ichigo.

• Rei proved his identity to Yanis with memories of their past and learned that Yanis had been expelled from Hueco Mundo’s council.
• Rei told Yanis to carry a warning to Ulquiorra and the other Espada, then Yanis headed for the ruins of Las Noches.
• Ryūsaki and Rei discussed using the warning to unite Hueco Mundo against the Quincy, with Rei considering an attack by Holy Soldiers if the Espada remained unconvinced.
• Mayuri tested Experimental Subject Three, a modified Bakōtō that steadily absorbed Reishi from a sphere imitating the barrier around the shadow space.
• Yoruichi confirmed that the Hollow power and Seal had passed from Masaki into baby Ichigo, and Tessai offered to reinforce the Seal if needed.

Ryūsaki investigated the Still Silver left in the bodies of Quincy killed by Auswählen, then persuaded Yhwach to send him to Hueco Mundo to negotiate with the Arrancar. Yhwach grew suspicious of Ryūsaki’s motives and decided to use Auswählen to glimpse his future.

• Ryūsaki dissected four former servants and extracted mercury-like Still Silver, then forged it into a Quincy Cross.
• Yushima Oko delivered Aizen’s request for Ryūsaki to provoke the Quincy into attacking Hueco Mundo and gave him a spatial communication device.
• Ryūsaki urged Haschwalth to invade Hueco Mundo so the Quincy could harvest souls and strengthen Yhwach, and Haschwalth brought the proposal to him.
• Yhwach ordered Ryūsaki to take five members to Hueco Mundo and try to recruit the Arrancar into an alliance.
• After Ryūsaki left, Yhwach and Haschwalth questioned his loyalty, and Yhwach decided to use Auswählen to see Ryūsaki’s future.

Yhwach foresaw a future invasion of the Wandenreich and decided to strike Soul Society first to restore his power. Meanwhile, Ryūsaki recruited Bazz-B and four Sternritter for a planned trip to Hueco Mundo.

• Yhwach used The Almighty to glimpse Ryūsaki researching Still Silver and a future Soul Reaper invasion, while Haschwalth warned that he had watched for ten seconds.
• Yhwach weighed the Wandenreich’s defenses against Soul Society and ordered Haschwalth to prepare a first strike in two years.
• Yhwach used Auswählen on ordinary Quincy, and five Sternritter killed a rebellion of five hundred people.
• Ryūsaki invited Bazz-B to accompany him to Hueco Mundo, and Bazz-B agreed after Ryūsaki suggested that negotiations might turn into a fight.
• Ryūsaki recruited Meninas McAllon, Giselle Gewelle, Bambietta Basterbine, and Candice Catnipp, then led the group to report their plans.

Ryūsaki Ishida led a Wandenreich delegation to Las Noches to seek an alliance with Hueco Mundo, where Yanis accused the Quincy of abducting his subordinates. After sending the others away under the pretense of retrieving the missing Arrancar, Ryūsaki enclosed himself and Hueco Mundo’s leaders in a barrier to discuss the real business.

• Ryūsaki and the five others arrived in Hueco Mundo’s core region, where Bazz-B recalled that a Soul Reaper named Nangong Ling had built the ruined fortress and developed the Arrancar.
• Ulquiorra stopped the Quincy at Las Noches, then led them to the palace, where its leaders and Yanis gathered to receive Ryūsaki.
• Ryūsaki offered Hueco Mundo an alliance against the Soul Reapers, but Yanis demanded the return of Haki, Luo, and Aite, whom the Wandenreich had taken.
• Ryūsaki sent Bambi and the others back to find Yanis’s subordinates, while Bazz-B returned to the Wandenreich after Ryūsaki persuaded him not to provoke a war.
• Ryūsaki and Yanis revealed their cooperation, and Ryūsaki expanded a Reishi barrier around himself and the five leaders to begin private negotiations.

Rei revealed himself to his Hueco Mundo followers, who showed their strength and pledged to help him carry out his plans. After Ryūsaki arranged one-time cooperation with Hueco Mundo in exchange for a thousand Spirit Weapons, he reported the Arrancar’s strength to Haschwalth and contacted Yushima.

• Rei revealed himself through Ryūsaki and reunited with Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, Tier Harribel, and Nel.
• Grimmjow released enough Reiatsu to damage space, and Ulquiorra stopped him before he could go further.
• Rei praised his followers’ strength and explained his plan, including a contingency in case anything happened to Ryūsaki.
• Yanis agreed to one-time cooperation in exchange for a thousand Spirit Weapons, and Ryūsaki returned to the Wandenreich with the four girls.
• Ryūsaki told Haschwalth that the Arrancar were powerful enough to challenge all but a few Sternritter, then contacted Yushima with his miniature communicator.

Aizen, Mayuri, and Ryūsaki prepared for the approaching conflict as alliances and weapons took shape. After Yhwach ordered most of the Wandenreich’s Quincy to be sacrificed, a mob attacked Ryūsaki, believing him the weakest Sternritter member.

• Ryūsaki told Yushima that Menos Grande in Hueco Mundo had agreed to cooperate with the Quincy, and Yushima reported the alliance to Aizen.
• Aizen ordered Ginjo to come to him, while Mayuri studied footage of the Quincy in Hueco Mundo and continued growing his unauthorized Devourer Corps.
• Six months later, Ryūsaki delivered Spirit Weapons to Hueco Mundo, learned from Sōken how Still Silver could counter Auswählen, and studied the Sankt Altar technique.
• Yhwach decreed that only ten thousand Holy Soldier and forty thousand Guards Corps positions would remain, prompting protests throughout the Wandenreich.
• More than a dozen Quincy attacked Ryūsaki outside his villa, hoping to kill a Sternritter member and improve their chances of surviving the selection.

Ryūsaki secretly collected mercury from the dead during the Guards Corps selection before Yhwach sent him to Hueco Mundo to summon Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra rejected Yhwach’s offer to join the Wandenreich and escaped the space lockdown, leaving the alliance temporary and Yhwach frustrated.

• Ryūsaki killed wounded survivors and harvested mercury from their hearts while directing Holy Soldiers to burn bodies after Yhwach used Auswählen on defeated contestants.
• A month later, Yhwach ordered Ryūsaki to bring Hueco Mundo’s strongest leader to the Wandenreich, and Ryūsaki chose Ulquiorra Cifer.
• Ulquiorra told Yhwach that Hueco Mundo would fight alongside the Wandenreich only once and would remain its enemy afterward, then refused Yhwach’s offer to join.
• Ulquiorra opened a Garganta despite Wenlai’s space lockdown and shattered its Reishi pillars with a Cero before returning to Hueco Mundo.
• Lille Barro questioned why Yhwach let Ulquiorra leave, and Yhwach replied that Ulquiorra was their partner.

As Yhwach prepared the Wandenreich for war, the Soul Reapers devised a way to breach the Quincy’s hidden Reishi space while the Zero Division stayed behind to guard the Soul King Palace. Mayuri’s Soul-Devouring Beasts began draining the Wandenreich’s Reishi, and Haschwalth ordered the Quincy to prepare for battle.

• Haschwalth announced that Yhwach would sleep for up to six months before the Wandenreich attacked Soul Society, and Ryūsaki passed news of the Quincy’s plans to Aizen’s side.
• Urahara and the Zero Division discussed the threat from the Quincy and decided not to join the war, while Urahara continued providing technical support from below.
• Mayuri proposed requisitioning noble forces and using Soul-Devouring Beasts to drain the Wandenreich’s Reishi until its hidden space connected to Seireitei; the Captain-Commander approved taking seventy percent of the nobles’ forces and ordered combat readiness.
• Soul Reapers across the World of the Living and Rukongai returned to Seireitei, and Mayuri sent the Soul-Devouring Beasts through a shadow passage into the Wandenreich.
• Haschwalth noticed the Wandenreich’s Reishi thinning, went to investigate, and ordered all Quincy to prepare for battle.

Soul-Devouring Beasts broke into the Wandenreich and unleashed Hollows, forcing its defenders to fight while Yhwach prepared for the coming invasion. In the Seireitei, Kōga joined the Thirteenth Division as the Gotei 13 prepared to attack.

• Yhwach learned that Soul-Devouring Beasts were destabilizing the Wandenreich and ordered Wenlai to withdraw his ability, battle formations to be established, and allies to be notified.
• Byakuya Kuchiki gave Kōga a letter of recommendation, and Kōga decided to join the Thirteenth Division after saying goodbye to his wife.
• Kōga met Rukia and Kaien Shiba, who made him a Third Seat in the Thirteenth Division.
• The Soul-Devouring Beasts broke through fissures across the Wandenreich, spawning Gillians and other Hollows as the Guards Corps fought them.
• A Sternritter member destroyed a Soul-Devouring Beast, while Yhwach absorbed the souls of the fallen and welcomed the chance to recover his strength.

The Soul Reapers launched a coordinated assault on the Wandenreich after the Soul-Devouring Beasts drew the two realms close together. The divisions fought through ambushes and heavy losses, while Kenpachi Zaraki forced Cang Du to unleash his Vollständig and Byakuya Kuchiki faced As Nodt.

• Ryūsaki and the Holy Soldiers fought the Soul-Devouring Beasts as the Wandenreich neared the Seireitei, and Yamamoto ordered the Soul Reapers to wait six more hours before attacking.
• Yhwach and Jugram Haschwalth prepared for the invasion, and eleven passages opened across the Wandenreich as Soul Reaper divisions entered.
• The First Division fought the Quincy Guards Corps and Holy Soldiers; Chōjirō Sasakibe ordered the First Division to kill every enemy, and they quickly cut down half the defenders near their entrance.
• Kenpachi Zaraki and the 11th Division attacked Cang Du's forces; Zaraki overwhelmed Cang Du, who revealed his Vollständig, God's Fortitude.
• The Fourth Division established a concealed treatment station under Retsu Unohana's protection, while the Fifth Division appeared near Silbern with Hirako missing and Momo Hinamori leading.
• The Sixth Division suffered heavy casualties from Reishi mines, and As Nodt confronted Byakuya Kuchiki.

Byakuya Kuchiki, Soi Fon, and Sajin Komamura had their Bankai stolen by the Sternritter, prompting Yamamoto to order the affected Captains to retreat while Mayuri investigated. Kensei Muguruma discovered that Hollow power prevented Bankai theft, and Kenpachi Zaraki arrived carrying two slain Sternritter as the fighting continued.

• Byakuya Kuchiki fought As Nodt, whose ability made Byakuya's leg tremble, and Askin stole Byakuya's Bankai with a Quincy Medallion.
• Nianzol Weizol's attacks killed Izuru Kira, and he stole Soi Fon's Bankai when she used Jakuhō Raikōben.
• Wenlai Gelson stole Sajin Komamura's Bankai, and Ginjiro warned the Soul Reaper forces that the Sternritter could steal Bankai.
• Yamamoto ordered the affected Captains to retreat and told Mayuri Kurotsuchi to find a countermeasure; Mayuri later learned that Kensei Muguruma's Bankai could not be stolen.
• Kensei Muguruma Hollowfied while fighting BG9, revealing that Hollow power prevented Bankai theft and strengthened his Bankai.
• Kenpachi Zaraki arrived near Silbern carrying the bodies of Steel Cang Du and Jerome, leaving Driscoll Berci shaken.

Yhwach learned of his losses as Kenpachi confronted Gremmy and Ryūsaki kept Hirako occupied while revealing that Ginjo’s forces were heading for Soul Society. Meanwhile, Aizen’s allies freed Gin Ichimaru and began a plan in West Rukongai to create the Ōken and attack the Soul King Palace.

• Yhwach discussed the fallen Sternritter with Jugram Haschwalth and questioned why the forces from Hueco Mundo had not arrived.
• Gremmy drove Driscoll away and faced Kenpachi, who charged at him after introducing himself.
• Ryūsaki told Hirako that Ginjo had joined the force that created Togabito and was likely headed for Soul Society, then kept Hirako from leaving as the battle continued.
• Mayuri received Kisuke Urahara’s letter explaining the Quincy Medallion and angrily discovered that Urahara had monitored his laboratory.
• Amagai Shūsuke freed Gin Ichimaru from Resurrection and gave him a reforged Zanpakuto for Aizen’s forces.
• Aizen led his allies into West Rukongai, where they dropped pillars to seal in the souls and prepare to create the Ōken.

Mayuri redirected the Soul Reapers’ reserves to support the assault on the Wandenreich while Aizen prepared to capture the Soul King Palace’s entrance in West Rukongai. The Quincy battle left Byakuya and Soi Fon presumed dead, while Komamura survived after Iba rescued him, and Mayuri continued developing a Bankai-restoring drug.

• Mayuri detected Aizen’s assault in West Rukongai and sent Yoruichi and the other reserves to support the fight in the Soul King Palace, while he worked on a drug to restore the Captains’ Bankai.
• Aizen learned that the Soul Reapers had committed their forces elsewhere, and Tōsen reported that the Shiba Clan had been captured, leaving Aizen ready to begin his operation.
• Askin used Byakuya’s stolen Bankai against him, but Byakuya and Ginjiro fought back; Byakuya’s counterattack wounded Askin before both Byakuya and Ginjiro fell.
• Nianzol defeated Soi Fon after stealing her Bankai and pierced her Saketsu with a Heilig Pfeil.
• Wenlai overwhelmed Komamura, but Iba used his mist-producing Shikai to conceal their escape and carry the wounded Captain away.
• Akon reported that Byakuya, Komamura, and Soi Fon’s Reiatsu had disappeared, and Mayuri cursed the Captains for fighting before his drug was ready.