Recaps

Chiba Makoto led Ichigo, Uryū, and Orihime into Soul Society to rescue Rukia while confronting Aizen and recruiting Sōya Azashiro to his plan for reform. He returned to the Seireitei to prepare against its leadership, leaving Soi Fon defeated but alive after their battle.

• Chiba Makoto helped Tier Harribel and Yammy escape to Hueco Mundo, then learned that Nemu Kurotsuchi had returned to the Seireitei and that Rukia had been taken there.
• Chiba Makoto studied Urahara Kisuke’s Hogyoku research, agreed to help Ichigo, Uryū, and Orihime enter Soul Society, and trained Ichigo to reclaim his resolve and Shinigami powers.
• Chiba Makoto led Ichigo, Uryū, and Orihime through the Dangai, where they escaped the Kōtotsu and entered Soul Society near western Rukongai.
• Ichigo defeated Ichigōka Jidanbō at Hakutōmon, while Chiba Makoto stayed behind to fight Aizen and let Ichigo, Uryū, and Orihime enter the Seireitei.
• Chiba Makoto pinned Aizen to Hakutōmon with a Reishi Arrow, then escaped into the Seireitei as Unohana arrived and Hinamori accused her of conspiring with the Ryoka.
• Chiba Makoto visited Sōya Azashiro in Muken, challenged his plan to eradicate Hollows, and persuaded him to join a campaign to reform Soul Society and confront the Soul King Palace.
• Chiba Makoto revealed to Unohana that Aizen’s apparent corpse was an illusion, explained Kyōka Suigetsu’s effect, and asked her to become Captain-Commander as he prepared to challenge the Seireitei’s leadership.
• Soi Fon confronted Chiba Makoto over Aizen’s death, but her Bankai destroyed his Quincy formation and devastated the forest, and Chiba Makoto survived and held the exhausted Soi Fon beneath the crater.

Chiba Makoto diverted the captains and helped Ishida Uryū and Inoue Orihime search for Kurosaki Ichigo while manipulating Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Nemu. After Uryū was cornered in the Fourth Division Barracks, Makoto intervened and escaped with him, leaving Kyōraku Shunsui to realize Makoto knew his Zanpakuto’s abilities.

• Chiba Makoto carried the exhausted Soi Fon to Yoruichi Shihoin’s hidden training space, then calmed and treated her after she used Bankai.
• Kurosaki Ichigo held off Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Hitsugaya Tōshirō while Ishida Uryū and Inoue Orihime searched for Makoto in the Technological Development Department.
• Ishida Uryū defeated Mayuri with a Reishi Arrow, and Chiba Makoto helped Nemu Kurotsuchi leave the laboratory before revealing himself to the imprisoned Mayuri.
• Zaraki Kenpachi defeated Kurosaki Ichigo, and Unohana Retsu took the wounded fighters to the Fourth Division Barracks for treatment.
• Disguised as Yamada Hanataro, Chiba Makoto treated Hitsugaya Tōshirō and secretly guided Ishida Uryū through the barracks toward Ichigo.
• Ukitake Jūshirō and Ise Nanao intercepted Ishida Uryū beside Ichigo’s ward, and Uryū escaped through the wall before Kyōraku Shunsui blocked his way.
• Kyōraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jūshirō wounded Ishida Uryū, but Chiba Makoto attacked with Reishi Arrows and carried Uryū away.
• Kyōraku Shunsui’s attacks on Chiba Makoto’s shadow missed, and he realized Makoto knew the abilities of Katen Kyōkotsu.

Chiba Makoto and his allies disrupted Rukia’s execution, triggering battles between the captains and the rescuers. As Makoto fought Yamamoto, Uryū defeated Komamura and Tōsen began attacking the Noble District.

• Chiba Makoto escaped Kyōraku and Ukitake, then hid the injured Ichigo and Ishida while preparing to stop Rukia’s execution.
• Chiba Makoto told Ichigo and Ishida that Rukia’s execution had been moved to the next day, and Soi Fon agreed to teach Ichigo Shunpo in exchange for a recording.
• Unohana treated Orihime kindly, while Azashiro and Aizen joined forces and ordered Tōsen to confine the nobles to their district.
• Ichigo blocked the Sōkyoku as it descended on Rukia, and Chiba Makoto destroyed Kōōō with a Reishi Arrow before Yamamoto pursued him.
• Yoruichi protected Ichigo and Ishida as they fought Byakuya, Komamura, and Hitsugaya, while Unohana pursued Yoruichi and later wounded her in their fight.
• Chiba Makoto fought Yamamoto with Reishi Blades, while Ishida used his Spirit Kun Halberd to defeat Komamura.
• Tōsen attacked the Noble District, killed the Sixth Division guards, and was surrounded by the nobles’ private forces.

Aizen Sōsuke used the Hollow invasion and the Zanpakuto rebellion to seize Kuchiki Rukia and weaken Soul Society, but Chiba Makoto and the allied Soul Reapers forced him to retreat. After the Seireitei began recovering, Makoto helped Inoue Orihime train and returned to the World of the Living with his companions.

• Tōsen Kaname opened a concealed Garganta above the Noble District, unleashing Ulquiorra Cifer and a Hollow horde that devastated the district as Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni rejected Kyōraku Shunsui’s proposal to ally with Chiba Makoto.
• Prince Hishin’s whispers caused Zanpakuto across the Seireitei to rebel, overwhelming Soul Reapers and forcing Unohana Retsu to defeat her own Minazuki.
• As Hollows attacked Sōkyoku Hill, Ulquiorra Cifer wounded Kuchiki Byakuya, who used Makoto’s Star-Binding Restraint to survive and urged Kuchiki Rukia to flee.
• Aizen Sōsuke revealed that Rukia’s execution and the intruders’ actions had been part of his plan, then Ulquiorra took Rukia and critically wounded Kurosaki Ichigo before Aizen extracted the Hōgyoku from her.
• Chiba Makoto arrived at Sōkyoku Hill and confronted Aizen as Urahara Kisuke, the Visored Army, and Soul Reaper reinforcements rallied, but Aizen escaped through a Garganta with Sōya Azashiro and his allies.
• After the invasion, Unohana Retsu told Makoto that Kyōraku Shunsui suspected Aizen had betrayed Soul Society to revive him, while Makoto helped Inoue Orihime develop her power of Rejection of All Things.
• Yamada Seinosuke returned to the Fourth Division, but Unohana Retsu declined to make him Vice-Captain and sent him to the Mortuary to learn the division’s changed duties.
• Soul Society named Makoto an important ally, granted Kurosaki Ichigo Substitute Soul Reaper status, and declared Rukia innocent before Makoto, Ichigo, Ishida Uryū, and Orihime returned to the World of the Living.