Chapter Summaries

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.

Rei and Grimmjow traveled from Hueco Mundo to the World of the Living to restock their seasonings, with Yanis warning that the world held dangers beyond Hollows. After arriving, Rei sent Grimmjow to intercept two approaching Quincy while he went to find a seasoning shop.

• Rei and Grimmjow spent their time hunting and training, and their repeated ambushes turned their sparring into a dangerous contest.
• After Grimmjow complained that his Cero-roasted Hollow tasted awful without pepper salt, Yanis suggested going to the World of the Living to get more seasonings.
• Rei realized Grimmjow and Yanis could open Garganta accurately, and the group traveled through one to the World of the Living.
• Grimmjow and Rei fell from the sky, drawing the attention of two Quincy who sensed their powerful Hollow Reiatsu.
• Rei concealed his identity with Yanis's Reiatsu and ordered Grimmjow to keep the Quincy occupied while he searched Taro City for seasonings.
• Grimmjow confronted the two Quincy and attacked them, intending to devour them.

Rei entered Taro City seeking seasonings and killed the Quincy who attacked him, while Grimmjow fought Mode, who unleashed Quincy: Letzt Stil. Cairo confronted Rei as the battle continued, and Rei claimed he had only stolen sacks of spices.

• Rei sensed Grimmjow and two Quincy nearby, then killed the Quincy who shot at him when the man ignored his question about where to buy seasonings.
• Rei learned from a boy’s soul where seasonings were sold, looted the shop, and killed the four remaining Quincy foot soldiers.
• Grimmjow fought Mode and Cairo, while Mode used Ransōtengai to keep fighting despite his injuries and sent Cairo toward Taro City to stop Rei.
• Mode removed his glove, transformed his power with Quincy: Letzt Stil, and continued battling Grimmjow with greatly increased Reiatsu.
• Cairo stopped Rei with Reishi arrows, and Rei explained that the three sacks on his back held seasonings he had stolen.

Rei fought Cairo after he removed his Sanrei Glove and unleashed the Quincy's Final Form, while Grimmjow battled Mode nearby. After Rei and Grimmjow killed the Quincy and escaped, Yanis absorbed their souls and learned that the Quincy included at least twenty Final Form fighters and stronger Sternritter.

• Cairo removed his Sanrei Glove, unleashed the Quincy's Final Form, and fired a powerful arrow at Rei.
• Rei tested Cairo's strength, then released Blood Drink and killed him after the battle drew other Quincy toward them.
• Mode used Sklaverei against Grimmjow, but Rei struck Mode down and Grimmjow crushed his head.
• Yanis devoured Cairo and Mode before they fully became souls, absorbing their Reiryoku and Reishi.
• Rei and Grimmjow retrieved their items and escaped through a Garganta as stronger Quincy approached.
• Yanis learned from Cairo's memories that at least twenty Quincy could use the Final Form and that the stronger Quincy were called the Sternritter.

Rei, Grimmjow, and Dordoni tracked down a powerful, enormous Adjuchas that might be a Vasto Lorde. Rei sent Grimmjow and Dordoni to deal with its followers while he went ahead to challenge the giant alone.

• Quincy mourned two experts killed by a Menos Grande and considered strengthening their Letzt Stil while waiting for their Emperor to awaken.
• Grimmjow defeated the humanoid Adjuchas Dordoni and nearly killed him with his new Slacking-Off Missile before Rei intervened.
• Rei persuaded Dordoni to guide them to a powerful Hollow in exchange for letting him join their search for a Vasto Lorde.
• Dordoni explained that their target had immense Reiatsu despite being much larger than a Gillian and was fed Hollows by more than a dozen subordinates.
• Rei sent Grimmjow and Dordoni to hunt the subordinates and went to challenge the giant Adjuchas by himself.

Rei fought the giant Adjuchas Yammy Llargo in Death Canyon, gaining the upper hand with his speed and Blood-Coagulating Slash. As Yammy’s injuries drove him into a new transformation, his Reiatsu surged and he grew into a roughly three-hundred-meter behemoth, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Rei and Yanis reached Death Canyon and identified a gigantic, sleeping Adjuchas whose Reiatsu rivaled a Vasto Lorde’s.
• Yammy woke and attacked Rei with a Cero, but Rei survived behind Dankū and counterattacked with his Blood Drink sword.
• Yammy pinned Rei with Bala and a punch, but Rei’s blood gauge filled, boosting his power enough to sever three of Yammy’s fingers.
• Rei used Shunpo to slash Yammy repeatedly, then opened a deep wound across his left side with Blood-Coagulating Slash.
• As Rei called Grimmjow and Dordoni to help finish Yammy, Yammy’s Reiatsu erupted and transformed him into a towering behemoth.

Rei fought Yammy, whose power grew with his anger, while Abirama arrived to scout the battle for Baraggan. After Kukkapuro died and Yammy’s Reiatsu surged, Rei released Bankai and charged back into the fight, intending to finish it within ten minutes.

• Yammy explained that his anger continually increased his power, and he and Rei released immense Reiatsu as they began fighting seriously.
• Abirama was knocked from the sky by the clashing Reiatsu, then approached the battlefield and saw Rei battling a Hollow hundreds of meters tall.
• Yammy disrupted the Reishi in the air and struck Rei with his tail, but stopped when he sensed Kukkapuro had died from his Reiatsu.
• Yammy blamed Rei for Kukkapuro’s death, and his Reiatsu rose further as Grimmjow and Dordoni retreated.
• Rei released Bankai: Blood Blade: Peerless, transforming his body and raising his Reiatsu to 11 despite the strain it placed on him.
• Rei charged Yammy with his greatsword and said he would cut him down in ten minutes, while Yammy’s punch tore through the desert beneath them.

Rei defeated Yammy with his Bankai, then began evolving in seclusion after the group devoured Yammy’s mask. Meanwhile, Baraggan led a search for the powerful Hollows, and Grimmjow hunted Adjuchas to fuel his own evolution.

• Rei used his Bankai’s abilities to overcome Yammy’s Cero and inflict wounds that would not stop bleeding, eventually exhausting himself before Yammy finally fell.
• Yammy briefly raised his hand but died without rising again, and Rei realized that Kukkapuro’s death had driven Yammy to give up fighting.
• Seven days later, Yanis began evolving after eating most of Yammy’s mask, while Rei left to evolve alone and Grimmjow went hunting.
• Rei hid in the Menos Grande Forest, concealed his Reiatsu, and entered seclusion as Yanis’s markings spread across his body and Yanis’s mask changed.
• Abirama reported the battle to Baraggan, who believed powerful Vasto Lorde had fought there and led more than seventy Adjuchas to investigate.
• Baraggan’s Adjuchas spread out to search the area, giving Grimmjow an opportunity to hunt them.

Grimmjow hunted Baraggan’s Adjuchas forces until Baraggan cornered him and tried to recruit him. After Baraggan’s Respira decayed Grimmjow’s limbs, Grimmjow severed them and replaced them with Ceros, preparing to attack again.

• Baraggan ordered his Adjuchas to regroup and form a detection net after fourteen of them were killed, while Grimmjow continued hunting his subordinates.
• Grimmjow warned Dordoni to flee with their seasonings, then escaped as Baraggan’s forces pursued them for days.
• Baraggan’s forces trapped Grimmjow with a hundred Adjuchas, and Baraggan offered him a position as a general, which Grimmjow refused.
• Grimmjow fought Baraggan, but Respira dispersed his Cero and Slacking-Off Missiles and slowed his movements.
• Grimmjow risked a close-range attack, but Baraggan dodged and Respira began decaying Grimmjow’s limbs.
• Grimmjow bit off his front paws, blasted away his hind paws, and formed Ceros in their place as he vowed to bite through Baraggan’s neck.

Rei rescued Grimmjow from Baraggan and Wonderweiss, then spent several years in Hueco Mundo as Yanis's evolution transformed Blood Drink and helped Grimmjow grow stronger. After Grimmjow began evolving, Rei prepared to return to Soul Society, leaving Dordoni with a message that he wanted Grimmjow to become Hueco Mundo's king as Pantera.

• Rei attacked Baraggan but retreated with Grimmjow after learning Wonderweiss could seal his Zanpakuto abilities.
• Rei and Yanis evaded Baraggan and Wonderweiss with Bakudō, and Yanis explained why fighting them had been too dangerous.
• Yanis evolved and merged with Blood Drink, granting Rei the Power of Plunder and Homologous Reconstruction in exchange for the sword's Reiatsu burst and ordinary sealed state.
• Over the following years, Rei, Grimmjow, and Dordoni hunted Hollows, and Grimmjow devoured Yammy and half a Vasto Lorde.
• Grimmjow began evolving, and Rei told Dordoni to tell him to become Hueco Mundo's king as Pantera before Rei left for Soul Society.

Rei returned to Soul Society after leaving Grimmjow and Dordoni behind, only to discover that he had been presumed dead, the Nangong Family had declined, and Kuruyashiki had been killed by Azashiro Sōya. Kyōraku explained that the Gotei 13 had been preserving Captain-level strength because the Quincy threat was growing, leaving Rei to consider Azashiro’s victory and his own hundred-year ban.

• Dordoni told Grimmjow that Rei had left, and Grimmjow refused to unite Hueco Mundo as Rei had urged him to do.
• Grimmjow completed his transformation after seven days, and he and Dordoni planned to recruit companions.
• Rei returned to North Rukongai, learned that the Nangong Family had fallen into decline, and reunited with Kuzō and the remaining Vassals.
• Kuzō told Rei that Kuruyashiki had been killed by Azashiro Sōya, who had also removed Rei from his position as Vice-Captain.
• Rei visited Kyōraku, who explained that Azashiro had defeated Kuruyashiki before he could use Shikai and that the Gotei 13 had been stockpiling Captain-level strength against the rising Quincy threat.