Chapter Summaries

Rei argued that Kōga needed to experience failure before he could become a qualified captain, while factions in the First Division plotted against Kōga’s rising influence. During Kōga’s assessment mission to suppress a noble rebellion, his own subordinates betrayed him, and he unleashed Bankai as Ginrei rushed to his immense Reiatsu.

• Rei told Yama-jii and Ginrei that Kōga’s strength and pride were not yet balanced, and suggested letting him fail before making him a captain.
• Rei met Kōga in the First Division corridor and learned that Kōga felt his efforts had gone unrecognized; Rei suspected he could not see Yama-jii’s intentions.
• Three First Division Seated Officers plotted to prevent Kōga from becoming captain because they feared his growing prestige.
• Ginrei accompanied Kōga on an assessment mission to put down a minor noble family’s rebellion, where Kōga quickly defeated several enemy fighters.
• Three of Kōga’s subordinates were ambushed and killed, and four Soul Reapers revealed their plan to assassinate him.
• Kōga released Bankai, summoned Muramasa, and used it to materialize and turn the attackers’ Zanpakuto against them; Ginrei sensed Kōga’s powerful Reiatsu and hurried over.

Kōga was framed for killing his comrades, sentenced by Central 46, and driven by Muramasa’s influence to flee to the World of the Living and attack Soul Reapers. Rei confronted him, and Muramasa failed to bewitch Rei’s Zanpakuto.

• Three First Division men accused Kōga of murdering his comrades, and Ginrei stopped the patrol from seizing him while promising to handle the case.
• Central 46 rejected Ginrei’s appeals and sentenced Kōga to lose his Seated Officer position for a hundred years and have Muramasa’s ability taken away.
• Muramasa materialized as Kōga’s anger overwhelmed him, and Kōga killed the men who had framed him before fleeing to the World of the Living.
• Kōga killed more Soul Reapers in the World of the Living, where Rei confronted and challenged him.
• Kōga released Bankai and sent Muramasa into Rei’s inner world, but Muramasa failed to bewitch Blood Drink and Yanis.

Rei defeated Kōga and Muramasa despite their illusions and shadow-binding, then tried to provoke Kōga into recognizing the limits of his power. With Yama-jii and Ginrei Kuchiki arriving, the chapter ended as Kōga broke down and demanded that Muramasa answer him.

• Muramasa failed to enter Rei’s memories because Yanis and Blood Drink drove him out of Rei’s inner world.
• Rei gained the upper hand against Kōga, whose Bankai illusions briefly let him wound Rei before Rei countered.
• Muramasa bound Rei with shadow threads, but Rei broke free, defeated Muramasa, and wounded Kōga when Muramasa returned to him.
• Yama-jii and Ginrei Kuchiki arrived to find Kōga badly injured and Rei still fighting Muramasa.
• Rei mocked Kōga and endured his weakened attack, while Ginrei hoped Kōga would come to his senses; Kōga then broke down and demanded that Muramasa answer him.

Rei stopped Kōga from killing himself and persuaded him to accept punishment, while Ginrei worked with the Great Noble Clans to spare his life. Six months later, Kōga was sentenced to two hundred years in Muken, and Tokinada Tsunayashiro was released through the same political bargain.

• Rei restrained Kōga after his defeat, challenged his anger at Central 46, and convinced him that Ginrei wanted him to live.
• Kōga admitted his guilt before Yama-jii and Ginrei, and the divisions escorted him back to Soul Society.
• Yama-jii warned Rei about the danger Kōga might pose, and Rei promised to deal with him if he threatened Soul Society.
• Ginrei secured secret support from three noble clans and agreed to the Tsunayashiro Clan's demand to help acquit one of its branch-family members.
• Central 46 sentenced Kōga to two hundred years in Muken and ordered his Zanpakuto destroyed.
• Tokinada Tsunayashiro was released after the Kuchiki Clan's negotiations, following his account of marrying and killing Kakyō.

Haschwalth set Yhwach’s revival in motion by gathering powerless Quincy and planning to feed him the souls of Hollows killed by new Sternritter. In Soul Society, Kiganjō challenged Rei for the Kenpachi title, and Rei exposed the mechanics of Kiganjō’s Bankai after their first exchange.

• Haschwalth explained that the Quincy stripped of their Reiryoku would produce descendants, while the strongest mixed-bloods would be selected as Sternritter and sent to kill Hollows for Yhwach.
• Rei went to meet Kiganjō, the former leader of the Starving Ghosts, who had returned to challenge him for the Kenpachi title.
• Kiganjō activated his Bankai, Tengu Stone Gargoyle, and Rei blocked its opening attack before sending him flying with a strike.
• Rei battered Kiganjō’s armored form with six slashes, and Kiganjō revealed a stone body that released the force of attacks it had absorbed.
• Rei blocked Kiganjō’s Tengu Cross Slash and realized that the Bankai’s armor absorbed attacks while its stone body stored and returned their power.

Rei defeated Kiganzō, and Gosuke became captain of the Seventh Division as the Soul Reapers gathered to welcome new officers. Years later, Rei led the 11th Division against an outbreak of powerful Hollows in the World of the Living and captured an Adjuchas, who began explaining a major event in Hueco Mundo.

• Rei defeated Kiganzō, leaving him alive but unable to fight, and Kiganzō later joined the 11th Division and took the vice-captain position from Maki.
• Gosuke demonstrated his Bankai and became captain of the Seventh Division, then held a party where Kirio Hikifune introduced her new vice-captain, Hiyori Sarugaki.
• Ten years later, Rei learned that Sōsuke Aizen was studying at the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy while facing discrimination as a student from Rukongai.
• After Menos Grande and other powerful Hollows appeared in the World of the Living and Soul Reapers went missing, Yama-jii sent several divisions to reinforce the area.
• Rei's forces cleared a city of Hollows, and Rei captured an Adjuchas after it killed three of his subordinates.
• The Adjuchas tried to ambush Rei with Bala, failed, and began telling him about a major event in Hueco Mundo.

Rei learned that the Blood Panther Group was losing its war against Las Noches as Hollows spread into both the World of the Living and Soul Society. After the Quincy abducted Captain Sabi-men Gosuke to advance their Bankai-stealing research, Grimmjow sent Arafi to ask Rei for help.

• An Adjuchas told Rei about Hueco Mundo’s war and the Hollows fleeing into the World of the Living and Soul Society, and Rei let his squad kill the restrained informant.
• Rei, Kensei, and Shiba Kūsei investigated Gosuke’s disappearance and concluded that Quincy had abducted him after killing the squad members at the scene.
• In the Wandenreich, Jugram Haschwalth welcomed Bazz-B and another Sternritter back after their Vollständig experiment succeeded, and ordered Gosuke’s corpse prepared for zombie research.
• Soul Society recalled the captains and Vice-Captains to confront Menos Grande appearing in Rukongai, while Rei continued fighting Hollows in the World of the Living.
• Arafi approached Rei with Grimmjow’s Slacking-Off Missile and pleaded for help, explaining that the Blood Panther Group was near defeat; Rei sent him back with a tracking Kidō.

Rei entered Hueco Mundo to intervene in the war between Grimmjow’s Blood Panther Group and Baraggan’s Las Noches, despite leaving Soul Society without permission. As Grimmjow’s forces faced another attack, Rei approached the battlefield while Ulquiorra delayed the enemy and awaited his arrival.

• Grimmjow’s reports of mounting losses enraged him, while Ulquiorra and Dordoni kept him from charging into battle.
• Arafi returned from seeking Rei and told Grimmjow’s group that Rei would arrive later.
• Rei gave Kiganjō a report asking permission to go to Hueco Mundo, then entered a Garganta before Kiganjō could stop him.
• Yama-jii scolded Kiganjō after reading Rei’s report but decided not to send anyone after Rei because Soul Society needed its captains.
• Rei crossed Hueco Mundo and saw the enormous rift left by the fighting before following the Reiatsu of Arafi’s group.
• Picaro found Grimmjow’s hiding place, and Ulquiorra ordered the Blood Panther Group to retreat and hunt the enemy individually.

Rei reunited with Grimmjow, learned that Quincy were appearing in Hueco Mundo, and set out to rescue Ulquiorra and Dordoni from Picaro and Las Noches forces. The rescue party raced toward the battlefield as Ulquiorra was overwhelmed and captured by the Picaro.

• A masked Rei defeated Grimmjow’s attack with ease, then asked about Quincy sightings in Hueco Mundo and learned they had been fighting Adjuchas in the Menos Grande Forest.
• Grimmjow reported that Ulquiorra and Dordoni had been tracked by Picaro, prompting the group to organize a rescue.
• Rei, Grimmjow, and Yaxiao raced ahead, and Rei planned to use Yaxiao’s Interdimensional Space to ambush the enemy’s Vasto Lorde.
• Dordoni struggled to hold off Picaro and Adjuchas while Ulquiorra fought Wonderweiss and the regenerating Picaro.
• Ulquiorra used Resurrección and threw a Reishi spear at Wonderweiss, but Coco Paradise absorbed it and the surrounding Picaro captured Ulquiorra.

Baraggan’s trap nearly captured Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, but Rei’s sudden arrival turned the battle against the Vasto Lorde. Baraggan and Szayelaporro escaped despite their apparent defeats, and both were revealed to have recovered or replaced their damaged bodies.

• Wonderweiss and the Picaros overwhelmed Ulquiorra while Szayelaporro captured Grimmjow, as Baraggan’s reinforcements surrounded the battlefield.
• Yaxiao spat out Rei and a Rei homologue controlled by Yanis; Rei killed Wonderweiss, while Yanis’s homologue struck down Baraggan’s skeletal disguise.
• Szayelaporro was cut apart, but Lojia stitched him together and helped him escape with a Negación, while Baraggan’s forces retreated through a Garganta.
• Rei realized that Baraggan, Szayelaporro, and the Picaros had escaped through their unusual abilities, though he believed the enemy had suffered serious injuries.
• Szayelaporro healed himself by devouring a Menos Grande, and Baraggan revealed that the body Yanis had destroyed was only a disguise.

After absorbing Wonderweiss, Rei crushed three Hollows who challenged his authority and took command of the gathered force, laying out plans to recruit and train fighters for an attack on Las Noches. Baraggan and Szayelaporro prepared countermeasures, including devices meant to weaken Rei and Ulquiorra, as both sides readied for war.

• The Hollows celebrated their victory, and Rei received Wonderweiss's remaining energy while Ulquiorra joined the group.
• Patros and two other Adjuchas objected to Rei leading them, so Rei crushed all three with his Reiatsu and forced the others to submit.
• Rei ordered the group to spend a month recruiting Hollows, prepare for a surface battle, and identify promising Adjuchas to train toward becoming Vasto Lorde.
• Szayelaporro moved his laboratory to a remote location, then met Baraggan to discuss how to counter Rei's Bankai and abilities.
• Szayelaporro proposed sealing Rei's Zanpakuto and part of his Reiatsu, and said he had also made a device to deal with Ulquiorra; Baraggan agreed to use the Picaro in the coming fight.

Szayelaporro tricked Picaro into an experiment to fuse them into one, and a humanoid being began to form in his laboratory. Meanwhile, Rei’s group gathered forces for the march on Las Noches and found a Mushroom Hollow capable of producing Gillians, whom Rei decided to recruit.

• Szayelaporro and Baraggan lured nearly two hundred Picaro to the laboratory, where Szayelaporro sealed them in a coffin-like device and began breaking them down to fuse them.
• Picaro’s Reishi was filtered through pipes and condensed in a blue tank as a humanoid figure took shape and its pressure grew stronger.
• The Blood Panther Group spent a month gathering more than one hundred and fifty Adjuchas and over two thousand Gillians, while Grimmjow argued with Ulquiorra about the slow pace of their march.
• Arafi discovered a giant mushroom-shaped Adjuchas guarding more than a hundred Gillians, and Rei’s group quickly arrived at its pit.
• The Mushroom Hollow produced another Gillian from black gel, and Rei suppressed it with his Reiatsu and decided to bring it into their ranks.

Rei’s growing Hollow force reached Las Noches and confronted Baraggan’s army, while Soul Society dealt with serious Captain injuries and Yoruichi took command of the Second Division. The chapter ended as Baraggan’s Adjuchas charged and Dordoni ordered the Gillians to fire Ceros.

• Rei befriended the slow-moving Menos Grande Mushroom Head, named him, and had Gillians carry him across the desert.
• After Hollow arrivals dropped, Yama-jii learned that Kiyoyasu had lost his left arm in an attack by three Adjuchas and that Senjumaru Shutara had also been injured.
• Yama-jii confirmed that Yoruichi Shihōin would lead the Second Division while Kiyoyasu recovered.
• Rei and his companions reached the walls of Las Noches and challenged Baraggan to surrender, but Baraggan declared himself King of Hueco Mundo and ordered his Adjuchas to attack.
• Dordoni commanded the Gillians to fire Ceros as Rei, Ulquiorra, and Grimmjow held back, wary that Szayelaporro and Picaro might launch a surprise attack.

The Blood Panther Group and Las Noches fought a massive battle as thousands of Gillians traded Ceros and Adjuchas clashed across the battlefield. Rei and Ulquiorra attacked Baraggan after Las Noches’s wall collapsed, while Ulquiorra was trapped by Baraggan’s Guards.

• The Blood Panther Group rotated its Gillian ranks to bombard Las Noches, while Fure and Lugurangaka brought out more Gillians to attack from behind.
• The Blood Panther Group’s Gillians turned and fired on the rear attack, while Arafi killed the flying serpent with their help before a tentacle pierced his chest.
• Yaxiao transported Mushroom Head inside Las Noches, where he released Gillians to blast open the wall from within.
• Rei told Ulquiorra that they would attack Baraggan, while a Half-Human Sheep Vasto Lorde watched the fighting and chose to stay out of it.
• After the wall collapsed, Rei charged Baraggan and Ulquiorra intercepted the Guards, but a thorn Hollow bound Ulquiorra’s feet as the other Guards attacked.

Ulquiorra was sealed while Rei fought Baraggan, Szayelaporro, and the merged Picaro. After Picaro unleashed his power, Rei’s Bankai suddenly ended, leaving him surrounded by Picaro’s copies as Szayelaporro watched with satisfaction.

• Big-Horned Bull slowed Ulquiorra, and Thorn Hollow trapped him inside a sealing cube.
• Rei activated Bankai and pursued the retreating Baraggan, but Picaro appeared and struck at him.
• Szayelaporro revealed that Picaro had merged into one and grown powerful, while Picaro chose Rei as his target.
• Rei badly wounded Picaro, but Baraggan’s Respira began to age Picaro until Picaro released his Zanpakuto and summoned hundreds of copies.
• Picaro’s copies attacked Rei, whose Bankai suddenly vanished along with his wings and attire.

Rei fought Szayelaporro, Picaro, and Baraggan inside a device that disabled his Bankai, while Ulquiorra escaped his own confinement and turned the outside battle in the Blood Panther Group’s favor. Picaro’s Devouring Fruit consumed Rei’s lower body, but as Szayelaporro moved to claim him, Rei appeared to reveal that the apparent defeat was not the end.

• Rei recognized Szayelaporro’s four-pillar device as a temporary seal that disabled his Bankai and isolated the battlefield.
• Szayelaporro, Picaro, and Baraggan attacked Rei, but Rei killed several spirit-body Picaros and used Kidō to restrain Baraggan while Yanis’s Plunder healed his wounds.
• Ulquiorra escaped his confinement, and he and Grimmjow swept across the battlefield, shifting the fight toward the Blood Panther Group.
• Picaro formed Devouring Fruit, which absorbed Rei’s lower body after the spirit-body Picaros bound him; Szayelaporro knocked Picaro unconscious when he tried to devour the rest of Rei.
• Baraggan blocked Szayelaporro from taking Rei until he was certain Rei was dead, but Szayelaporro saw Rei dripping blood from his body and heard him ask whether they had enjoyed fighting him.

Rei’s faction defeated Baraggan’s forces, but Baraggan and Szayelaporro escaped through a Negación-protected Garganta. Rei then reorganized his followers as the Arrancar Army and urged Ulquiorra to become closer to his comrades.

• Szayelaporro and Baraggan realized Rei had left a double in the sealed space, while the battle outside ended in victory for Rei’s side.
• Lojia blocked Rei from pursuing the escaping Baraggan, Szayelaporro, and Picaro through the Garganta with Negación Threads.
• Ulquiorra’s spear attack widened the Garganta but failed to break the Negación, and Baraggan and Szayelaporro threatened to return before escaping.
• Over the following days, Rei renamed his faction the Arrancar Army and encouraged Menos Grandes to join by presenting himself as an Arrancar.
• Rei asked Ulquiorra about his past, pointed out his distance from the others, and asked him to help build the faction before they later visited Soul Society together.

Rei organized the Arrancar Army’s expansion in Hueco Mundo and ordered his forces to capture Ashido alive so he could return him to Soul Society. The chapter ended with Ashido fighting a horse-faced Adjuchas in the Menos Grande Forest as Bala struck him.

• Ulquiorra explained that Grimmjow and Rei had given him companionship and purpose, and Rei placed him in charge of the Arrancar Army.
• Rei set goals to unite nearby Menos Grande factions, cultivate stronger fighters, and pursue scientific research, while his forces expanded Las Noches and captured Adjuchas.
• Rei questioned Dordoni about the Quincy and a concealed Vasto Lorde, then learned that Yaxiao had encountered the Soul Reaper Ashido.
• Rei ordered his forces to drive Ashido away without killing him, intending to bring him back to Soul Society at Kuruyashiki’s request.
• Ashido, who had survived alone in the Menos Grande Forest for over a century, fought a horse-faced Adjuchas and was hit by a barrage of Bala.

Rei rescued Ashido from a group of Hollows in Hueco Mundo, convinced him to return to Soul Society, and defended his decision to leave his post before the Captains. Ashido joined the formidable 11th Division, while ten years later Aizen grew disillusioned with Soul Society and began plotting how to gain strength and pursue reform.

• Rei killed four Adjuchas attacking Ashido, revealed himself as the 11th Division Captain Nangong Kenpachi, and persuaded Ashido to leave Hueco Mundo with him.
• Ashido explained that he had stayed in Hueco Mundo to kill Hollows and protect the living, but Rei argued that he could not make a meaningful difference alone and opened a Garganta to take him back.
• After Rei returned to Seireitei, Yama-jii reprimanded him for abandoning his post, but Kyōraku defended his achievements, and Rei received no punishment.
• Ashido reclaimed his former seat in the 11th Division after defeating Maki, strengthening a division already led by Rei and staffed by powerful officers.
• Ten years later, Aizen had reached Captain-level abilities while concealing his strength, burned his resignation request, and began considering how to grow powerful enough to pursue reform.

Rei’s covert experiments in Hueco Mundo led to Menos Grande attacking scientists in the World of the Living, while Baraggan and Szayelaporro’s followers struggled at Hueco Mundo’s barren edge. After two modified Adjuchas escaped their laboratory with the scientists’ help, Rei went to the arena to assess their combat power.

• Rei sent Ashido and Maki to investigate Menos Grande attacks in the World of the Living after the Ninth Seat reported an Adjuchas had wounded him and stolen souls.
• Rei questioned Ulquiorra through his hand-chicken and learned that captured scientists were studying soul bodies and Reiryoku in a sealed laboratory in Hueco Mundo.
• Baraggan and Szayelaporro’s followers continued surviving in the low-Reishi Desperate Cliff region while Lojia recorded the two leaders’ progress in natural Arrancar experiments.
• Rei learned that scientists had used a device made from Hollow organs to control two modified Adjuchas and escape, but Yanis stopped them before they could succeed.
• Ulquiorra told Rei that he had spared the test subjects and was testing them in the arena, so Rei went to observe their combat power.