Recaps

Araki agreed to let the Monk reshape his body and unify his powers, but discovered the Monk intended to prepare him as a replacement Soul King. Araki had anticipated the scheme and planned to take Ikkomikidō’s power for himself.

• The Monk explained that Araki’s many powers needed to be unified and offered to reshape him using the Soul King’s power, and Araki agreed after testing the Monk for lies.
• The Monk began the trial, and Araki was transported to a familiar path beyond the reach of his future sight.
• Araki realized the Monk meant to make him a replacement Soul King and gather the scattered Soul King Fragments.
• Oetsu brought the Monk a Zanpakuto, and the Monk explained that Division 0 needed a new Soul King if Yhwach won.
• The Monk removed the seal from Ikkomikidō, while Araki revealed that he had anticipated the plan and intended to steal the Hollow Eater’s power.

Araki's Zanpakuto subdued Ikkomikidō, who was renamed Kumbhira, while the Soul King's power and Kumbhira's strength helped Araki fuse his Haki with his Spiritual Pressure. Araki's Spiritual Pressure reached first-class, and Monk fled rather than risk facing him.

• Araki's Zanpakuto struck Ikkomikidō with lapis lazuli light, and Ikkomikidō recovered his memories and began to announce his true name.
• A formless Buddha subdued Ikkomikidō and bestowed on him the name Kumbhira.
• Monk feared Araki might use Yakushi Rurikō to subdue him too, so he fled and left Oetsu Nimaiya behind.
• Araki fused his Haki and Spiritual Pressure with the Soul King's power, his accumulated rewards, and the power Yakushi Rurikō drew from Kumbhira.
• Araki's Character Panel showed that his Spiritual Pressure had reached first-class.

After completing his training, Araki realized his reconstructed Oken body would draw powerful enemies, but he remained determined to return to the Seireitei. He rejected Oetsu Nimaiya’s offer to join Division 0 and left the Soul King Palace, while Hyosube Ichibei stayed hidden in the Soul King’s Great Inner Palace.

• Araki reviewed his strengthened character template and recognized that his Oken body could make him a target for those seeking access to the Soul King Palace.
• Araki learned that Hyosube Ichibei had gone to the Soul King’s Great Inner Palace and planned to remain there for over a thousand years.
• Oetsu told Araki the Great Inner Palace was closed and that the Soul King had already blessed Araki’s ability to deal with scattered Soul King fragments.
• Araki asked Oetsu where the Tenchuren was and declined to remain in the Soul King Palace or join Division 0, saying the Soul King, Soul Society, Yhwach, and Central 46 did not matter to him.
• Araki rode the Tenchuren down from the Soul King Palace, and Hyosube appeared after his departure.

Araki learned that his transformation had created a palace bound to his life, then considered three dangerous missions involving the Soul King and Yhwach. He decided to use Aizen to reshape Soul Society and later revealed that he had anticipated Aizen’s plans and could overpower him.

• Hyosube Ichibei told Oetsu Nimaiya that Araki’s new palace was inseparable from him, making each impossible to destroy while the other survived.
• Araki reviewed his three missions: serve in the Gotei 13, help Yhwach remake the Three Worlds, or gather the Soul King’s fragments and restore him.
• Araki rejected all three missions and decided that Aizen Sōsuke should become Captain-Commander and eliminate Soul Society’s enemies under his control.
• Years later, Araki offered Aizen the Captain-Commander position as Aizen prepared to defect with the Hogyoku.
• Araki revealed that he knew about Aizen’s plans and challenged him to try defeating him with Kyoka Suigetsu, half a Hogyoku, and his Hollows.

Araki returned to the 11th Division and discovered that Saito Furofushi had been dismissed as Sixth Division captain and left without a division. He accepted her into the 11th Division as Third Seat Officer, then left to demand an explanation from Yamamoto for the nobles’ treatment of his people.

• Araki crashed the Tenchuren through the 11th Division barracks, greeted his members, and ordered them to send the transport to the Shiba Clan estate and repair the damage.
• Araki found Saito Furofushi in his Captain’s Office and learned from Unohana Retsu that Saito had abandoned her Sixth Division members during Yhwach’s invasion and been stripped of her position.
• Saito admitted she was homeless, and Araki approved her enlistment in the 11th Division as Third Seat Officer, telling her she could become vice-captain if she defeated Retsu.
• Araki left to confront Yamamoto and demand an explanation for the way Saito had been treated, while Retsu kept Saito in the office for tea.

Araki confronted Genryūsai about the First Generation Gotei 13’s captain positions and secured permission to take the dangerous former captains under his control. After summoning Ikkomikidō to tease Genryūsai about their past, Araki provoked his master into drawing his Bankai to test his strength.

• Araki released his Spiritual Pressure at the 1st Division Barracks, incapacitating the members in his way and impressing Oshiba Genshirō before entering Genryūsai’s office.
• Araki demanded to know why Genryūsai had handed the Gotei 13 captain positions to the nobles, and Genryūsai explained that the Seireitei needed to move beyond its First Generation’s bloodshed.
• Araki asked to take responsibility for the dangerous former captains, and Genryūsai agreed as long as Araki kept them from threatening the Seireitei.
• Araki drew his second Zanpakuto and awakened Kumbhira, revealing Ikkomikidō and prompting it to mock Genryūsai about their past encounter.
• Araki laughed at Genryūsai’s embarrassment, so Genryūsai released his Bankai and advanced to test his disciple’s strength.

Araki returned to the 11th Division after fighting Yamamoto, whose office was damaged and whose eye was bruised. Araki told Unohana and Saito that he had provoked the clash to draw the noble factions into trying to recruit him, leaving him ready to turn their schemes against them.

• Araki and Yamamoto fought in the 1st Division Captain's Office, and their clash blasted away the roof and left Yamamoto with a swollen eye.
• Sasakibe told the concerned 1st Division members that Yamamoto had subdued a large mosquito, and Yamamoto backed up the explanation before sending them away.
• Yamamoto praised Araki's rapid growth and questioned Sasakibe about what he had heard and seen, while Sasakibe denied knowing anything about the fight.
• Araki returned to the 11th Division and explained to Saito that Yamamoto had bruised his eye, then drank a pot of tea poured by Unohana.
• Araki told Unohana and Saito that the nobles were their real enemies and that he had fought Yamamoto to make the noble factions approach him with offers.

Araki confronted a Central 46 judge who tried to use the law to pressure him and the 11th Division. He revealed his Division 0 affiliation, leaving the judge speechless while Fake Monk noticed a section of haori missing from a cabinet in Soul King Palace.

• Araki sensed the nobles' retainers arriving and led Unohana and Saito to meet them outside the 11th Division Barracks.
• A Central 46 judge used an 11th Division member's threat against him to pressure Araki into choosing between the law and his subordinate.
• Araki slapped the judge twice, then removed his 11th Division haori and put on a Division 0 haori.
• Araki asked whether Soul Society's rules could control Division 0, and the judge fell silent.
• In Soul King Palace, Fake Monk noticed that a section of haori was missing from a cabinet.

Araki used his Division 0 authority to end the judge’s attempt to intimidate him and protect the 11th Division soldier he had targeted. He then made the judge lead him to the nobles who had arranged the confrontation, preparing for a bloody reckoning.

• Araki taunted the judge and his retainers about trying to prosecute a Royal Guard, while the judge kicked a retainer who threatened Araki.
• The judge explained that Division 0 served the Soul King, prompting the retainers to kneel and beg Araki for forgiveness.
• Araki used his Spiritual Pressure to keep the retainers pinned down and helped the 11th Division soldier to his feet.
• Araki revealed that he had ordered the soldier to defend the barracks and said he had come on the Soul King’s orders to meet Captain Unohana and Vice-Captain Saito.
• Araki reminded the judge why he had come, and the judge realized Araki had seen through the nobles’ attempt to intimidate him before recruiting him.
• The judge agreed to lead Araki onward, while Araki smiled and touched his Zanpakuto, anticipating bloodshed.

Araki led Unohana Retsu into Central 46, killed Tsunayashiro Yasushuku, and used Kiba to slaughter the gathered Sages and judges while leaving one judge alive until Kiba ate him. He arranged for the massacre to be blamed on a Menos Grande and planned a Hueco Mundo expedition, while Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni received secret reports of the events.

• Araki ordered Saito to prepare the 11th Division for battle and took Retsu and a judge to Central 46.
• Araki entered Central 46 with Retsu and the judge, where Tsunayashiro Yasushuku introduced himself.
• Araki killed Tsunayashiro Yasushuku, then released Kiba, who slaughtered the Sages and judges and swallowed the surviving judge.
• Araki told Retsu to report that a Menos Grande had attacked Central 46 and request Division 0 investigators, while Kiba escaped after firing a Cero.
• Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni received secret reports that Central 46 had been wiped out and that Araki planned a Hueco Mundo expedition.

Araki fabricated Division 0 authority to organize an expedition to Hueco Mundo, and Genryūsai approved the plan while changing which captains would accompany him. When Araki found the unexpected team assembled, Sasakibe delivered Genryūsai’s challenge: defeat him if Araki wanted his authority.

• Araki approved Unohana Retsu’s report under his assumed Division 0 identities, blamed Ikkomikidō for Central 46’s deaths, and ordered a Hueco Mundo expedition.
• Genryūsai accepted Araki’s Royal Guard status and approved the expedition, but assigned captains from the 4th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 13th Divisions instead of the captains Araki requested.
• Genryūsai told Sasakibe to remind Araki that the Gotei 13 remained under his command and that Araki would have to become stronger than anyone to take his position.
• Araki arrived at the Senkaimon and found the unexpected captains assembled, then pulled Sasakibe aside to demand an explanation.
• Sasakibe relayed Genryūsai’s challenge to Araki: defeat him to claim his authority.

Araki led the 11th Division and other captains through a makeshift Senkaimon into Hueco Mundo to hunt Ikkomikidō, while Genryūsai reorganized the depleted Gotei 13 and founded the Soul Reaper General Academy. In Las Noches, Barragan learned that Ikkomikidō had returned and raged at the Soul Reapers for failing to kill him.

• Araki rallied the 11th Division by recounting Ikkomikidō’s crimes and led the expeditionary force through a wooden Senkaimon into Hueco Mundo.
• Genryūsai appointed new captains from the Kirinjū, Kuchiki, Tsunayashiro, and Shiba families as the Gotei 13 filled vacancies left by the expedition.
• Genryūsai gathered support from the noble clans and officially founded the Soul Reaper General Academy.
• Barragan recalled his past rivalry with a powerful white beast and concluded that it had failed to destroy Soul Society.
• Ikkomikidō announced his return with a roar from the Forest of Menos, then ate lower Menos Gillian while Barragan fumed in Las Noches.

Ikkomikidō devoured Hollows in the Forest of Menos and fought Barragan’s forces before Barragan confronted him. The two ancient Great Hollows clashed, with neither gaining a clear advantage.

• Barragan learned that an enormous white Great Hollow had appeared in the Forest of Menos and set out to deal with it himself.
• Ikkomikidō devoured Gillians, then seized and ate Dean Suez, Barragan’s general, and swallowed the Adjuchas accompanying him.
• Barragan confronted Ikkomikidō and demanded to know what had happened to his subordinates.
• Ikkomikidō mocked Barragan’s claim to kingship, and Barragan attacked him with his aging ability.
• Ikkomikidō countered Barragan’s deathly aura with a flood of tentacles, and the two began a fierce battle at the edge of the Forest of Menos.

Baraggan and Jiba battled fiercely in Hueco Mundo, where Jiba invited Baraggan to join Araki’s gathering of Vasto Lorde before resuming their fight. Araki arrived with the Gotei 11th Division and decided to begin his plan by subduing Baraggan and raising Hollows in Hueco Mundo.

• Baraggan and Jiba fought until Baraggan began to tire, and Jiba revealed that he had attained enlightenment and taken the name Kumbhira.
• Jiba invited Baraggan to join Araki, but Baraggan rejected him, giving Jiba an excuse to attack again.
• Jiba’s relentless Cero battered Baraggan, who finally addressed him as Kumbhira before the two began another round of fighting.
• Araki led the Gotei 11th Division through a Garganta into Hueco Mundo, where the Soul Reapers felt the dense Reishi and sensed two powerful Menos battling nearby.
• Araki identified Jiba and suspected the other fighter was Baraggan, then decided to make Baraggan the next Menos he would enlighten.

Araki explained that the 11th Division’s expedition would target Menos in the Forest of Menos, then used his Bankai to create a healing pool and a points leaderboard that ignited a fierce competition. As the division rushed into the forest to hunt Hollows, Araki left Unohana Retsu in charge and set out to capture Barragan.

• Araki told the 11th Division that the Forest of Menos housed powerful Hollows and was the expedition’s hunting ground.
• Araki created the Lapis Lazuli Pool, which used Reishi and Hollow corpses to produce restorative water.
• Araki displayed a points leaderboard, then returned with thirty-two Gillians whose deaths earned him 320 points.
• The 11th Division members and Squad Leaders raced toward the forest to compete for points, while Unohana Retsu agreed to keep them alive.
• Araki set off to capture Barragan.

Barragan and Jiba’s battle ended in a standoff until Araki appeared and Jiba recognized him as the Holy King. Araki reached out to Barragan, who found himself in a strange Lapis Lazuli Pure Land and realized Araki’s power had influenced him before he noticed it.

• Jiba devoured Barragan’s Adjuchas subordinates, recovered his stamina, and battered Barragan with another Cero.
• Barragan proposed peace, but Jiba refused and threatened to eat Barragan’s subordinates; the two Hollows prepared to continue their standoff.
• Araki appeared before Barragan and Jiba, and Jiba knelt to greet him as the Holy King.
• Barragan tried to recruit Jiba against Araki, then declared he would never submit to a Soul Reaper.
• Araki said he had come to persuade Barragan to convert and reached out as bells rang around them.
• Barragan found himself in a Lapis Lazuli Pure Land and realized Araki’s power might have influenced his behavior throughout the encounter.

Barragan endured a ten-thousand-year cycle in the Lapis Lazuli Pure Land, where an old monk led him to understand that the bell and monk were manifestations of his own heart. After gaining enlightenment, Barragan received the true name Vikarala from the Holy King, joining Ikkomikidō in a new cycle.

• Barragan attacked the old monk and repeatedly destroyed the bell tower, but the bell kept ringing and his own aging power revealed his inevitable death.
• The old monk told Barragan that the bell had taken root in his heart, while the skeleton destroyed by aging showed him his own fate.
• After countless repetitions over ten thousand years, Barragan admitted he could not distinguish reality from illusion, and the old monk urged him to look at himself.
• Barragan discovered he wore a monk's robe and held the clapper, realizing the monk and the Heart Bell were aspects of himself.
• Ruriko blossomed across the sky, and the Holy King named Barragan Vikarala as Ikkomikidō received the true name Kumbhira.

After Barragan returned from his enlightenment, Araki divided Hueco Mundo between Barragan and Jiba and tasked Barragan with finding Hollows who could become Vasto Lordes. Araki built an Evolution Pool in Las Noches, and Barragan ordered his followers to collect Grand Fisher-like Hollows to light his palace.

• Barragan returned to Hueco Mundo, but he and Jiba resumed arguing over who should be chief until Araki stopped them.
• Araki assigned Barragan the western side of the Forest of Menos and Jiba the eastern side, then asked Barragan to find promising Hollows for his planned organization.
• Araki followed Barragan to Las Noches and created an Evolution Pool that could help Hollows evolve and reveal their potential.
• After Araki left, Barragan killed an Adjuchas who had spoken without permission and ordered his followers to bring him one hundred light-bearing Hollows.
• Barragan planned to use the glowing heads of Hollows related to Grand Fisher as lamps in Las Noches so Araki would see his respect.

After the First Generation Gotei 13 struggled against the Great Hollows in the Forest of Menos, Araki restored the 11th Division’s morale and led them back into battle. The division charged into the forest, beginning the campaign that later records remembered as its awakening.

• Araki returned to camp and learned from Unohana that the captains and 11th Division members had suffered a humiliating first campaign against the Great Hollows.
• Unohana explained how Sanjōji Yuhō, Shigyō Nobutsuna, and Saito Furofushi had been injured or exhausted, while other captains had failed to contribute effectively.
• Araki presented the 11th Division with the head of an Ikkomikidō clone and reminded them that he had killed the powerful Hollow, restoring their confidence.
• Araki urged the division members to focus on fighting bravely rather than comparing themselves to him, and they rallied around him.
• Araki led the 11th Division back into the Forest of Menos, where they charged at the Great Hollows with renewed determination.

Araki trained the 11th Division to defeat Gillians by countering their Ceros and using coordinated tactics, while restoring the Soul Reapers between battles. After the Division mastered hunting Gillians, Araki and Baraggan raised the stakes by sending Adjuchas into the Forest of Menos, where they confronted the original captains.

• Araki blocked the Gillians’ Ceros, then hurled the suspended blasts back at them and destroyed the attackers.
• Araki restored the 11th Division with Ruriko and drove its members to continue fighting until they learned to hunt Gillians in coordinated squads.
• The 11th Division successfully killed three Gillians without Araki’s direct help, using bait, evacuation, and finishing teams.
• Araki told Baraggan to send promising Adjuchas into the forest after the Gillians had been defeated.
• The original captains cut through Gillians before Adjuchas appeared before Saito and the other captains, prompting them to prepare for battle.

Araki had Baraggan send more Adjuchas to the Forest of Menos after the Soul Reaper captains defeated the first attackers with ease. Baraggan’s forces surrounded the captains, who prepared to unleash their Bankai as the battle began.

• Unohana Retsu split Baraggan’s third war general in two with a single slash, while Araki realized the Adjuchas were too weak to challenge the captains.
• Shijima Tomokiri released his Bankai against two Adjuchas, and Saito Furofushi, Shigyō Nobutsuna, and Sakagashira Saizou quickly defeated their own opponents.
• Araki told Baraggan to send more Adjuchas, and Baraggan summoned his warriors to attack the Soul Reapers and bring their fallen comrades’ corpses to the Spring of Evolution.
• More than twenty Adjuchas charged into the Forest of Menos, ignoring ordinary squad members and converging on the five captains.
• Sanjōji Yuhō, Shigyō Nobutsuna, Furofushi, Sakagashira Saizou, and Retsu faced groups of Adjuchas and nearly released Bankai at the same time.

Unohana and the First Generation Gotei 13 fought off Adjuchas whose control of Gillians threatened to overwhelm the captains. After the Hollows fled, Araki decided to put the 11th Division through even harsher training by having them hunt Adjuchas.

• Dihyera warned the Adjuchas not to confront the Soul Reapers directly, but a boastful mantis-shaped Hollow charged Unohana and was killed with one slash.
• Unohana attacked Dihyera, who used his companions as shields, while Gillians fired Ceroses at the captains under apparent Adjuchas control.
• Unohana used Tenteikūra to warn the division, and 11th Division members released their Zanpakuto and struck down the Gillians disrupting the captains' fights.
• Unohana's side wiped out the Adjuchas except for Dihyera, who fled carrying his comrades' bodies, while the other Hollows also retreated after suffering losses.
• Araki watched the squad celebrate and resolved to raise the pressure by organizing the ordinary members to hunt Adjuchas.

After the Menos invasion, Araki deflected Shijima Tomokiri’s questions with threats and jokes, then the Soul Reapers recovered in their hot springs while Baraggan’s Adjuchas used an Evolution Pool made from Menos corpses. Both sides discovered their pools could help them grow stronger, setting up a joint hunt for Gillians.

• Araki ordered the 11th Division to carry the Menos corpses away, then unnerved Shijima Tomokiri with questions about a supposed spy before telling him to watch the team.
• Sakagashira Saizou prodded Shijima into thanking Araki and silently warned him that some suspicions were safer left unspoken.
• Baraggan praised the defeated Adjuchas and ordered them to throw the collected Menos corpses into the Evolution Pool.
• The injured Adjuchas soaked in the pool, recovered their strength, and found that it could help them evolve using Gillian corpses.
• The 11th Division members recovered in the hot springs and discovered that the water strengthened their Spiritual Bodies and Spiritual Pressure.
• After both groups exhausted their restorative pools, the Soul Reapers and Adjuchas set out to hunt Gillians.

The Soul Reapers and Las Noches Adjuchas fought repeatedly over Gillian corpses in Hueco Mundo, while Unohana drove Dihyera away during their first clash. Ten years later, Araki’s report prompted Genryūsai to send more captains to Hueco Mundo, despite Araki specifically asking him not to send Ōtokawa Uki.

• The 11th Division members charged the Adjuchas to protect Gillians, but the Adjuchas attacked the Gillians and tried to escape with their corpses.
• Unohana arrived, cut down attacking Gillians, and struck at Dihyera, who escaped by using a Gillian corpse as a shield.
• The Soul Reapers took the remaining Gillian corpses to the hot spring, and both sides continued fighting over Gillians for ten years.
• Araki reported that five captains assigned to help exterminate Ikkomikidō had died and requested five replacements, recommending Katori and opposing Ōtokawa Uki.
• Genryūsai ordered Iwahara Kinra, Obana Danjirō, Katori Bakuunsai, and Ōtokawa Uki to Hueco Mundo, then told Sasakibe to warn Araki that he would send no more captains if another died.

Sasakibe and Shihoin Sennichi saw off four captains sent to Hueco Mundo, while Araki invited them to join his personal guard at the Soul King Palace. The captains accepted and toured the expeditionary force’s base, and Wang Tuchuan finally agreed to join after being left behind.

• Sasakibe escorted Ōto Kawa Uokihime, Obana Danjirō, Iwahara Kinra, and Katori Bakuunsai through the Senkaimon to Hueco Mundo.
• Shihoin Sennichi comforted Sasakibe by suggesting they celebrate their friends’ new work over a meal.
• Araki welcomed the arriving captains and explained that Soul Society no longer had room for them, then invited them to become his personal guard at the Soul King Palace.
• Obana Danjirō, Iwahara Kinra, and Katori Bakuunsai agreed to join Araki, while Wang Tuchuan was ignored as the group headed to the base.
• Araki showed the captains the dormitories and hot springs, then Wang Tuchuan ran after them and agreed to join so he would not be left alone.