Chapter Summaries

Aizen took Hinamori Momo away while Hoshiryu healed Kūkaku Shiba’s missing arm and accepted her invitation to stay. Yamamoto ordered an investigation into the Spirit King and strict secrecy about Hoshiryu, and Hoshiryu arrived with Kūkaku and Miroku at the Shiba Clan estate.

• Aizen used a Menos Grande to open the Anti-Barrier and disappeared with Hinamori Momo.
• Hoshiryu asked Kūkaku Shiba for lodging and restored her missing arm, earning her gratitude and a warm welcome.
• Hoshiryu left with Kūkaku and Miroku as the gathered Shinigami watched without daring to stop them.
• Shunsui Kyoraku asked Captain-Commander Yamamoto what they should do, and Yamamoto said he would consult Zero Division while Shunsui handled the Ryoka incident and Aizen affair.
• Yamamoto ordered the information about Mr. Hoshiryu classified and left, while Shunsui recognized the incident would bring upheaval to Soul Society.
• Hoshiryu and Miroku arrived with Kūkaku at the Shiba Clan estate, where Kūkaku showed off its towering arm-shaped structures and banner.

Yoruichi visited the Shiba Estate to investigate Hoshiryu, but he saw through her cat disguise and forced her back into human form. After teasing Kukaku about her feelings for Hoshiryu, Yoruichi began a playful scuffle with her, until a new visitor arrived with murderous intent.

• Kūkaku showed Hoshiryu and Miroku around her unusually decorated estate until Yoruichi arrived in her black cat form.
• Hoshiryu caught Yoruichi as she tried to leap onto him, then tossed her and made her revert to her unclothed human form.
• Miroku covered Hoshiryu’s eyes while Kūkaku took Yoruichi away to change into borrowed clothes.
• Yoruichi teased Hoshiryu for seeing through her disguise, then flirted with him, stirring jealousy in Kūkaku.
• Yoruichi guessed that Kūkaku had fallen for Hoshiryu, and the two women began playfully fighting.
• A knock sounded at the door, accompanied by intense killing intent.

Hoshiryu faced Retsu Unohana after her killing intent threatened to overwhelm everyone nearby, while he tried to calm her. When his efforts appeared to intensify her emotions, he sent Yoruichi, Kukaku, and Miroku away, and Retsu Unohana released her Bankai.

• Retsu Unohana's killing intent terrified Miroku, and Hoshiryu comforted her while letting her experience the pressure.
• Retsu Unohana arrived and asked to see Hoshiryu, prompting Yoruichi to worry that the Fourth Division captain might lose control.
• Hoshiryu opened the door and asked Retsu Unohana what she wanted.
• Hoshiryu took Retsu Unohana's wrist and urged her to calm down, but she asked him to call her Retsu Unohana as her emotions surged.
• Hoshiryu sent Yoruichi, Kukaku, and Miroku several kilometers away, and Retsu Unohana released Bankai, Minazuki.

Hoshiryu fought Yachiru Unohana after her thirst for battle drove her into a deadly Bankai frenzy, and his final slash defeated her but destroyed Kukaku’s house. He restored the house by reversing time, leaving Yoruichi stunned by the extent of his power.

• Yachiru Unohana unleashed her Bankai and attacked Hoshiryu in a sea of blood, ignoring his attempts to reason with her.
• Hoshiryu fought back with a short blade, and Yachiru regained her senses as he prepared a potentially fatal strike.
• Hoshiryu’s slash split the sea of blood, shattered Yachiru’s Zanpakuto, and knocked her unconscious as her Bankai dissolved.
• Kukaku returned with Yoruichi and Miroku and lamented that her house was gone, while Hoshiryu realized his slash had destroyed it.
• Hoshiryu restored Kukaku’s house, and Yoruichi recognized that he had reversed time.

Hoshiryu healed Yachiru Unohana after restoring her senses, while Yoruichi reflected on the Spirit King's decision to entrust the world to him. Yachiru grew mysteriously attached to Hoshiryu and ended the chapter offering him everything if he agreed to one condition.

• Yoruichi realized Hoshiryu's power was on the Spirit King's level and considered the Spirit King's choice to make him the world's new ruler.
• Yachiru Unohana woke badly wounded, and Hoshiryu healed her and restored her senses.
• Yoruichi checked on Yachiru, who claimed she had never felt better, while Kukaku and Miroku sensed a hidden danger around her.
• Yachiru discovered Hoshiryu had erased the scar on her chest, then pretended to stumble so he would catch her.
• Yachiru clung to Hoshiryu's arm and offered him everything if he agreed to one condition.

Hoshiryu refused Yachiru’s request to spar, but she schemed her way into staying at Kukaku’s home and impressed him by cooking dinner. Meanwhile, Orihime healed the wounded in Soul Society, and Yamamoto learned from the Zero Division that the Spirit King Palace had been sealed by a mysterious force and that Hoshiryu’s claims were true.

• Yachiru begged Hoshiryu to spar with her regularly, but he refused while Miroku, Yoruichi, and Kukaku laughed at their exchange.
• Yachiru swallowed Kukaku with her Zanpakuto, then secured permission to stay at Kukaku’s home by threatening to treat her again.
• Yachiru cooked a lavish dinner for the group, surprising Hoshiryu with her skill.
• Orihime treated Soul Society’s wounded, and Yamamoto agreed to let her heal his severed arm.
• Yamamoto contacted the Zero Division and learned that a mysterious power had sealed the Spirit King Palace, though communication remained possible.
• The Zero Division confirmed to Yamamoto that Hoshiryu’s claims were true.

Yamamoto learned that Hoshiryu had been surrounded by nobles’ private soldiers and rushed to the Rukongai District after hearing that the clash was turning deadly. Hoshiryu and Retsu Unohana had already slain the soldiers, leaving one noble alive as Unohana asked why Hoshiryu spared him.

• Yamamoto recalled the Spirit King’s warning about a powerful, unknown existence and accepted that the current Zero Division could not intervene.
• Chōjirō reported that nobles’ private soldiers had surrounded Hoshiryu in the Rukongai District and that Hoshiryu seemed to be deliberately escalating the conflict.
• Yamamoto ordered Chōjirō to lead him to the scene, and they rushed there using Flash Step.
• In the Fifth District of Rukongai District, Retsu Unohana reported that she had slain everyone except one noble, as Hoshiryu had instructed.
• Hoshiryu denied giving that instruction, and Retsu Unohana asked why he had spared the surviving noble.

Hoshiryu watched Yachiru Unohana punish a nobleman who threatened them, then pressed Captain-Commander Yamamoto to deal decisively with the noble class. Yamamoto agreed to reform it, while Hoshiryu left the ruined meal without an appetite.

• Yachiru Unohana offered to handle Hoshiryu's undisclosed task, but he ignored her offer.
• The nobleman threatened Hoshiryu and Yachiru Unohana and boasted that he would assault her, so Unohana severed his limbs.
• The nobleman recognized Retsu Unohana as the Fourth Division captain and regretted provoking her.
• Captain-Commander Yamamoto crushed the nobleman's head before he could ask for help, then respectfully addressed Hoshiryu.
• Hoshiryu told Yamamoto that his response was not thorough enough, and Yamamoto promised to reform the noble class and cast its scum into Hueco Mundo.
• Hoshiryu sampled the restaurant's food but lost his appetite after the confrontation.

Captain-Commander Yamamoto killed the armed Honda retainers and accepted Hoshiryu’s demand that privilege would not be tolerated. In Hueco Mundo, Aizen completed the Hogyoku by merging his own with Urahara’s, while Hinamori Momo remained trapped in an illusion of his making.

• Captain-Commander Yamamoto prepared to make concessions to Hoshiryu, but armed men from the Honda Family arrived and threatened him.
• Captain-Commander Yamamoto released Ryūjin Jakka and burned the Honda retainers to ash without damaging their surroundings.
• Captain-Commander Yamamoto proposed investigating the nobles, but Hoshiryu warned that privilege would not be tolerated in his world and left with Yachiru Unohana.
• In Las Noches, Aizen merged his Hogyoku with Urahara’s and celebrated creating the complete Hogyoku.
• Hinamori Momo pleaded with Aizen outside his door, while he recalled using Kyoka Suigetsu to trap her in an illusion.

Hinamori Momo broke through Aizen’s Kyōka Suigetsu hypnosis, but Hoshiryu intervened and warned Aizen not to take what he had not given. Hoshiryu and Hinamori vanished, leaving Aizen to collapse in blood before Kaname Tōsen arrived.

• Hinamori Momo found Aizen despite his concealment and pleaded with him before embracing him.
• Hinamori Momo began removing her clothes, and Aizen shoved her away as he realized she had resisted Kyōka Suigetsu.
• Hoshiryu appeared, mocked Aizen, and warned him that he could only take what Hoshiryu gave him.
• Hoshiryu and Hinamori Momo vanished, leaving Aizen alone and shaken.
• Kaname Tōsen arrived to find Aizen covered in blood and unconscious.

Aizen recovered from his catastrophic injuries and gave Kaname Tōsen the Hogyoku, while admitting to himself that Hoshiryu had exposed his plot and might not spare him next time. Hoshiryu returned to Soul Society with Hinamori Momo, explaining to Retsu Unohana that he had saved her from Aizen.

• Kaname Tōsen tried and failed to heal Aizen, whose wounds then healed completely on their own.
• Aizen reassured Kaname Tōsen, concealed his fear of Hoshiryu, and said he still had a plan to complete.
• Aizen handed the Hogyoku to Kaname Tōsen, who felt it could fulfill his deepest wish.
• Hoshiryu returned to Soul Society with Hinamori Momo and found Retsu Unohana clinging to his arm.
• Hoshiryu told Retsu Unohana that he had brought Hinamori Momo back because Aizen would likely have killed her.

Hoshiryu returned HInamori Momo to Toshiro, who was relieved to have her back and asked Hoshiryu for advice on getting closer to her. Hoshiryu warned that talking would not change Momo’s feelings and suggested a blunt alternative.

• Yachiru Unohana accompanied Hoshiryu as he took HInamori Momo to the Tenth Division.
• Toshiro found them, caught the floating Momo, and thanked Hoshiryu for bringing her back.
• Toshiro recognized Retsu Unohana beside Hoshiryu and admired their closeness, then resolved to ask Hoshiryu for romantic advice.
• Toshiro asked Hoshiryu how to become closer to Momo, acknowledging her attachment to Aizen.
• Hoshiryu told Toshiro he could not talk Momo around and suggested he sleep her into submission.

Hoshiryu told Toshiro that Hinamori Momo could only escape her obsession with Aizen if Aizen disappeared, then revealed she had nearly forced herself on him. As Yachiru Unohana moved to grab Hoshiryu, Kenpachi and Yachiru Kusajishi interrupted to chase Kurosaki Ichigo into a fight.

• Hoshiryu warned Toshiro that Hinamori Momo would not give up Aizen and said she had nearly forced herself on him.
• Toshiro remained stunned, then looked down at Hinamori Momo in his arms and resolved that he could not let her walk toward ruin.
• Hoshiryu told Yachiru Unohana that his proposed method was the only possible hope for Hinamori Momo.
• Yachiru Unohana's possessive feelings for Hoshiryu surged, and she reached to grab him.
• Kenpachi and Yachiru Kusajishi chased Kurosaki Ichigo through the Seireitei and attacked him with a powerful sword slash.

Kurosaki Ichigo fled from Kenpachi, who pursued him until Hoshiryu stopped him and trapped him in an illusion. Kenpachi awakened his former spiritual pressure, but remained caught in the illusion and was blasted away by Hoshiryu.

• Kurosaki Ichigo ran from Kenpachi to avoid fighting, and Yachiru Kusajishi followed them as Kenpachi gave chase.
• Kenpachi paused when he saw Hoshiryu with Yachiru Unohana, but Hoshiryu called him back.
• Hoshiryu used an illusion to make Kenpachi fight Yachiru Unohana, and she realized he was helping sever their bond.
• Kenpachi's spiritual pressure surged to a level comparable to Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's, awakening his former power.
• Hoshiryu dispelled the illusion, but Kenpachi remained disoriented and raised his sword toward him.
• Hoshiryu tapped Kenpachi's forehead, sending him flying backward with a powerful shockwave.

Hoshiryu freed Kenpachi from an illusion, then spent the night gaming with Yachiru Unohana. Meanwhile, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni purged the nobles and began reforming the Gotei 13, while Kurosaki Ichigo and his companions prepared to return to the Living World after rescuing Rukia Kuchiki.

• Kenpachi recovered his clarity, thanked Hoshiryu, and left with Yachiru Kusajishi.
• Hoshiryu and Yachiru Unohana battled through several games in a Pocket Dimension, with Hoshiryu winning after a night of play.
• Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni demanded that the nobles surrender criminals and abolish their privileges, and four great noble clans agreed while the Tsunayashiro Clan refused.
• Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni led the Gotei 13 in a purge that toppled the noble class and left its members awaiting judgment.
• Kurosaki Ichigo and his recovered companions prepared to return to the Living World, relieved that they had saved Rukia Kuchiki from execution.

Kurosaki Ichigo and his companions left Soul Society, where Yoruichi stayed to support the Shihōin Clan and Rukia gave Ichigo a Substitute Soul Reaper Combat Pass. In the Living World, Ichigo discovered that Retsu Unohana, Kukaku, and Hoshiryu had come through with them, and Kukaku remembered she had come to find Isshin Shiba.

• Kurosaki Ichigo questioned Rukia about why she was the only one seeing them off, and Orihime Inoue explained that Soul Society was recovering from turmoil and injuries.
• Yoruichi told Kurosaki Ichigo she had to stay in Soul Society to help the Shihōin Clan, then asked him to deliver a letter to Kisuke Urahara.
• Yoruichi warned Kurosaki Ichigo that Aizen might target him, while Rukia gave him Captain Ukitake's Substitute Soul Reaper Combat Pass and tasked him with protecting Karakura Town from Hollows.
• Kurosaki Ichigo, Orihime Inoue, and their companions passed through the Gate to the Living World, where Retsu Unohana and Kukaku remarked on its prosperity.
• Hoshiryu reminded Kukaku that she had come to find Isshin Shiba, and Kurosaki Ichigo was shocked to realize that Retsu Unohana, Kukaku, and Hoshiryu had followed him through the Gate.

Hoshiryu and his companions went with Ichigo to meet his father, Isshin Kurosaki, after revealing that Isshin was no ordinary man. Kukaku exposed Isshin's disguise and confronted him over disappearing and leaving them behind.

• Hoshiryu told Ichigo that his father was no ordinary man, and Ichigo agreed to take the group home.
• Ichigo introduced his friends to Karin and Yuzu, who could not see the Spirits but understood that Ichigo protected them.
• Isshin returned home and claimed he could not see the Spirits, but Kukaku and the others saw through his lie.
• Kukaku slapped Isshin and angrily called him Isshin Shiba, accusing him of abandoning them and hiding in the Living World.

Kukaku confronted Isshin Kurosaki and Kisuke Urahara for hiding the truth from her, then Hoshiryu explained how Isshin had lost his Death God powers while saving Masaki Kurosaki. Ichigo learned that the Hollow inside him was real, and Isshin reassured him as he faced the revelation.

• Kisuke Urahara arrived and Kukaku kicked him, then knocked Isshin Kurosaki down as well.
• Kurosaki Ichigo took Yuzu Kurosaki away to avoid Kukaku's anger, while Isshin and Kisuke apologized to Kukaku for keeping secrets.
• Isshin explained that Aizen had ambushed him and nearly killed him, and Kukaku felt guilty about her impulsive reaction.
• Ichigo punched Isshin and demanded to know why he had not saved Masaki Kurosaki; Hoshiryu explained that Isshin had lost his Death God powers while suppressing Masaki's Hollowification.
• Ichigo asked whether the Hollow inside him was real, and Isshin confirmed it before reassuring his son.

Hoshiryu asked Isshin Kurosaki to teach Kurosaki Ichigo the Final Getsuga Tensho, warning that Aizen’s power and the Soul Society’s chaos made the technique a necessary trump card. After reading Yoruichi’s letter, Kisuke Urahara inferred Aizen’s strategy and Hoshiryu’s plan, then felt Hoshiryu’s pressure as he noticed him watching.

• Hoshiryu asked Isshin Kurosaki to teach Kurosaki Ichigo the Final Getsuga Tensho, and Isshin hesitated because using it would cost Ichigo his Death God powers.
• Hoshiryu warned Isshin Kurosaki and Kisuke Urahara that Aizen had the complete Hogyoku and that the Zero Division could not intervene.
• Kurosaki Ichigo interrupted the discussion to deliver Yoruichi’s letter to Kisuke Urahara.
• Kisuke Urahara read Yoruichi’s account of Hoshiryu’s impact on the Soul Society and her warning not to investigate him or his companions.
• Kisuke Urahara deduced that Aizen had exploited Hoshiryu’s presence to create disorder and that Hoshiryu wanted Ichigo to learn the technique to bolster their side.
• Kisuke Urahara noticed Hoshiryu watching him with a faint smile and felt pressure tighten around him.

Hoshiryu warned Kisuke Urahara that only Kurosaki Ichigo could defeat Aizen, prompting Urahara to begin preparing Ichigo to face his Hollow. Hoshiryu praised Ichigo's potential and restrained Yachiru Unohana from testing him, while she admitted her jealousy of the attention he received.

• Hoshiryu told Kisuke Urahara that none of them could defeat Aizen and that only Kurosaki Ichigo could do it.
• Kukaku punched Isshin Kurosaki and left, while Kisuke persuaded Isshin to let Ichigo train with him to control his inner Hollow.
• Hoshiryu told Retsu Unohana that he valued Ichigo's directness, resolve, and potential.
• Retsu asked to test Ichigo, but Hoshiryu stopped her, saying Ichigo was not ready to reveal his full strength.
• Hoshiryu embraced and kissed Retsu, then teased her about being jealous of Ichigo; she admitted she wanted to kill him when he received Hoshiryu's attention.