Chapter Summaries

Chiba Makoto killed the Mantis Great Hollow, exposing himself as a Soul Reaper, then persuaded the White Panther Great Hollow to answer his questions. He learned that the Mantis Great Hollow was Noytra Gilga, who had known Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck’s location, and discovered the White Panther Great Hollow was Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.

• Chiba Makoto killed the Mantis Great Hollow with a single strike, and the White Panther Great Hollow realized Makoto was a Soul Reaper.
• Makoto asked the White Panther Great Hollow to keep his identity secret in exchange for answering questions, and it agreed to talk.
• Makoto asked where to find Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, and the White Panther Great Hollow said Noytra Gilga had known her exact location.
• Makoto realized he had killed Noytra Gilga without learning his name, then asked the White Panther Great Hollow for its name.
• The White Panther Great Hollow identified itself as Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.

Chiba Makoto captured Grimmjow and recruited him by promising to help him grow stronger and undergo Hollowfication. Before Chiba could resume searching for Nel, Barragan’s forces surrounded them, and Barragan revealed that he knew Chiba’s name.

• Grimmjow tried to escape, but Chiba Makoto trapped him with dead trees and brought him back.
• Chiba Makoto invited Grimmjow to pledge loyalty, promising to make him stronger and help him undergo Hollowfication.
• Grimmjow accepted and bowed to Chiba Makoto, whom he addressed as Lord Asura.
• Chiba Makoto sensed hundreds of Adjuchas, thousands of Gillians, and Barragan approaching, forcing the search for Nel to wait.
• Barragan confronted Chiba Makoto and called him Asura Yan Cheng, prompting Chiba to ask how Barragan knew that name.

Chiba Makoto faced Barragan’s assembled army in Hueco Mundo after Barragan challenged him to submit or die. As thousands of Menos unleashed a combined barrage of Cero, Chiba Makoto released overwhelming spiritual pressure that surpassed Barragan’s expectations.

• Barragan confronted Chiba Makoto and demanded that he kneel or be destroyed.
• Chiba Makoto formed a throne from withered trees, sat before Barragan, and rejected his demand for submission.
• Barragan ordered hundreds of Adjuchas and thousands of Gillian to combine their Cero against Chiba Makoto.
• Chiba Makoto teased Grimmjow about fleeing, but Grimmjow declared that he trusted Lord Asura and would stand firm.
• The Menos’ Cero converged into crimson torrents and engulfed Chiba Makoto, who then unleashed spiritual pressure so immense that Grimmjow fell to his knees and Barragan was astonished.

Chiba Makoto unleashed his immense Spiritual Pressure and used the Forest of Withered Trees to trap Barragan’s Hollow horde, intending to wipe it out and bring peace to Hueco Mundo. Before he could finish, Coyote Starrk, another Vasto Lorde, and Aizen Sōsuke appeared and blasted open a path through the forest.

• Chiba Makoto released his Spiritual Pressure, blocking the Ceros fired by Barragan’s Hollow horde.
• Chiba Makoto summoned a vast Forest of Withered Trees that engulfed the Menos and terrified Barragan and the Adjuchas.
• Chiba Makoto prepared to purify the trapped Hollow horde, believing their destruction would bring a century of peace to Hueco Mundo.
• Coyote Starrk and another Vasto Lorde fired thousands of Ceros through the forest, opening a passage.
• Chiba Makoto saw Aizen Sōsuke standing between the two Vasto Lorde-class Hollows.

Aizen Sōsuke arrived in the Forest of Withered Trees with Coyote Starrk and Ulquiorra Cifer, then confronted Chiba Makoto and Barragan. After Aizen and Chiba’s spiritual pressures clashed and Barragan retreated, the two introduced themselves and Chiba asked why Aizen had come to Hueco Mundo.

• Chiba Makoto recognized Aizen Sōsuke beside Coyote Starrk and Ulquiorra Cifer, and identified Starrk’s Cero barrage as the force that had opened a path through the forest.
• Aizen Sōsuke entered the Forest of Withered Trees and praised Chiba Makoto as more deserving than Barragan of the title King of Hueco Mundo.
• When Barragan roared at Aizen, Aizen released immense spiritual pressure that clashed with Chiba’s and caused nearby Gillian-class Hollows to collapse.
• Barragan retreated as Chiba Makoto and Aizen Sōsuke faced one another like rival kings.
• Chiba introduced himself as Asura Yan Cheng, and Aizen called him the strongest being he had seen in Hueco Mundo.
• Chiba asked Aizen Sōsuke why he had come to Hueco Mundo.

Chiba Makoto disguised himself as the Vasto Lorde Asura Yan Cheng while facing Aizen Sōsuke in Hueco Mundo. Aizen called on the Hollows to follow him into war against Soul Society and declared that he would become their king, while Chiba remained a formidable rival.

• Chiba Makoto met Aizen Sōsuke’s gaze in the Forest of Withered Trees while maintaining his Vasto Lorde disguise.
• Chiba Makoto stroked Grimmjow to keep him quiet, and Grimmjow reluctantly began to enjoy it.
• Chiba Makoto asked whether Aizen had come to wage war against Hueco Mundo, stirring the Hollows’ hostility toward Soul Reapers.
• Aizen argued that Soul Society unjustly condemned Hollows and urged them to join him in changing the balance of power through war.
• Aizen declared that he would become king and lead the Hollows to victory, but the Adjuchas hesitated in the presence of Chiba Makoto.

Chiba Makoto challenged Aizen Sōsuke’s claim to lead Hueco Mundo, then accepted his offer to join the Arrancar army as its No. 0 Espada. Their handshake concealed mutual plans to study or undermine one another.

• Aizen Sōsuke persuaded Hueco Mundo’s Hollows to join his war against Soul Society, and Chiba Makoto questioned his motives and the casualties he would cause.
• Aizen Sōsuke offered Chiba Makoto status and power, while Chiba Makoto suspected Aizen intended to eliminate him and devised a plan to stay close under cover.
• Chiba Makoto challenged Aizen Sōsuke’s right to become King of Hueco Mundo, and Aizen argued that Barragan could no longer claim the title.
• Chiba Makoto said he wanted to prevent Hueco Mundo’s destruction and accepted Aizen Sōsuke’s invitation to become No. 0 among the Espada.
• Chiba Makoto and Aizen Sōsuke shook hands while each privately considered exploiting the contact to learn about the other.

Chiba Makoto tried to conceal his Hollowfication research from Aizen Sōsuke while posing as the dreamer Asura Yan Cheng. Aizen had Ulquiorra bring him a captive, and Chiba Makoto recognized her as Nel.

• Aizen Sōsuke became Hueco Mundo’s nominal king after Barragan knelt to him.
• Aizen introduced Stark and Ulquiorra to Chiba Makoto, who studied Stark’s autonomous Hollowfication and Ulquiorra’s demonic form.
• When Aizen asked what he excelled at, Chiba Makoto described himself as a lonely dreamer who had spent ages asleep.
• Barragan told Aizen that Chiba Makoto could help Vasto Lordes undergo Hollowfication, prompting Aizen to ask about his research.
• Chiba Makoto claimed his ideas were immature and said he had wanted to study an autonomously Hollowfied Vasto Lorde.
• Aizen sent Ulquiorra to fetch someone, and Chiba Makoto recognized the figure Ulquiorra brought as Nel.

Chiba Makoto took the regressed Nel to Las Noches after Aizen Sōsuke handed her over, then began examining her unusual condition. The chapter ended when Nel woke as Makoto was removing her clothing for the examination.

• Aizen Sōsuke explained that he had damaged Nel’s mask while searching for Barragan and gave the unconscious Arrancar to Chiba Makoto.
• Chiba Makoto had Grimmjow carry Nel and followed Aizen Sōsuke to Las Noches, where Tōsen Kaname returned Kyōka Suigetsu to Aizen Sōsuke.
• Aizen Sōsuke assigned Ichimaru Gin to organize Las Noches’s reconstruction and Tōsen Kaname to supervise, while Chiba Makoto settled there with Grimmjow and Nel.
• Chiba Makoto examined Nel and found that her body had regressed while her Reiryoku continued to leak and her Reiatsu declined.
• As Chiba Makoto began removing Nel’s ill-fitting clothes to examine her more closely, Nel opened her eyes and woke.

Chiba Makoto used Reishi Control to make Nel noodles, and she recovered her name but mistook him for her father. Aizen Sōsuke, Ichimaru Gin, and Tōsen Kaname sensed their closeness and misjudged the situation, while Aizen began doubting his suspicions about Chiba Makoto.

• Chiba Makoto made Nel a bowl of noodles with Reishi Control, and she eagerly ate them.
• Nel struggled to remember who she was, so Chiba Makoto told her that her name was Nel.
• Nel asked whether Chiba Makoto was her father, then hugged him and called him Father.
• Aizen Sōsuke, Ichimaru Gin, and Tōsen Kaname sensed Nel pressed against Chiba Makoto and judged him for it.
• Aizen Sōsuke wondered whether he had been wrong to suspect a connection between Asura Yan Cheng and Makoto.

Aizen Sōsuke suspected Chiba Makoto was behind Asura Yan Cheng’s sudden appearance and headed for the expeditionary camp, while Makoto continued studying Nel in Las Noches. At the camp, All Things in Nature, impersonating Makoto, was asked to treat the critically injured Chōjirō Sasakibe and refused before declaring it would do everything possible to save him.

• Aizen Sōsuke suspected Asura Yan Cheng’s arrival was connected to Chiba Makoto and left Las Noches for the expeditionary camp.
• Chiba Makoto ignored Aizen Sōsuke’s approach and continued studying Nel’s spiritual body while Grimmjow carried her around Las Noches.
• All Things in Nature grew frustrated with handling Makoto’s official duties at the camp and learned that Chōjirō Sasakibe and Ise had been found severely injured.
• Yamada Hanataro told All Things in Nature that Sasakibe needed treatment and that Makoto would have to perform it for the best chance of success.
• All Things in Nature initially refused to treat Sasakibe, then urged Yamada Hanataro not to hesitate and to devote everything to saving him.

All Things in Nature persuaded Yamada Hanataro to treat Chōjirō Sasakibe while he gathered information from Ise Nanao. After Ise Nanao fainted again at his earnest words, he carried her to his tent and tried to keep up Chiba Makoto’s healer persona.

• All Things in Nature convinced Yamada Hanataro to treat Chōjirō Sasakibe by claiming the Expeditionary Force faced an approaching enemy.
• Yamada Hanataro began treating Chōjirō Sasakibe, while All Things in Nature went to check on Ise Nanao.
• Ise Nanao woke and mistook All Things in Nature’s questions about her injuries for concern for her, then fainted again after his declaration that he would risk his life for what he held dear.
• All Things in Nature examined Ise Nanao, carried her to his tent, and told curious subordinates he would use acupuncture and nutrition to help her recover.

Ise Nanao woke in Chiba Makoto’s tent and remembered how her admiration for him began decades earlier. As she helped All Things in Nature with paperwork, his words stirred her feelings, but she believed her clan’s curse meant she could not respond to Makoto.

• Ise Nanao woke and recalled how Chiba Makoto had comforted her after the Hollowfication Incident, inspiring her to watch over him and work toward becoming his colleague.
• All Things in Nature noticed Ise had awakened and explained that he had brought her to Chiba Makoto’s tent to care for her.
• All Things in Nature changed the subject by asking Ise to review a document about whether to pull back the defensive line, and she quickly approved it.
• All Things in Nature asked Ise to handle the remaining paperwork, and she accepted and efficiently worked through the documents.
• All Things in Nature praised Ise and said the days without her were unbearable, leaving her overwhelmed with joy and tears.
• Ise hid her tears and thought that she could not respond to Makoto’s feelings because of the Ise Clan’s curse.

Ise Nanao told Chiba Makoto about the unexpected order among the Adjuchas in the Forest of Menos. Meanwhile, Tier Harribel and Sung-Sun entered the forest and were confronted by two Adjuchas.

• All Things in Nature called Ise Nanao “Nanao-chan,” and she left the tent before returning with records about the Forest of Menos.
• Ise Nanao explained that she and Vice-Captain Sasakibe had encountered many Adjuchas in the Forest of Menos, where they had found an unexpected order.
• Tier Harribel led Sung-Sun into the Forest of Menos and recalled its chaotic history and the neglect of Barragan.
• Tier Harribel noticed two Adjuchas ahead, and they blocked her path.

Tier Harribel traveled through the strangely empty Forest of Menos to find Snopas and encountered a gigantic Buddha-like Vasto Lorde instead. When she asked for Snopas by name, the creature reacted with shock and demanded to know where she had heard it.

• Tier Harribel and Sung-Sun entered the Forest of Menos, where they found no Hollows, and Tier Harribel continued despite Sung-Sun’s unease.
• Tier Harribel sensed Vasto Lorde-level spiritual pressure matching the location Asura Yan Cheng had described and told Sung-Sun to wait behind.
• Tier Harribel approached a colossal golden Buddha statue that claimed to have come to Hueco Mundo to create a paradise and invited her to join My Buddha Mingwu.
• Tier Harribel rejected the invitation and said she had come to find Snopas, prompting the Buddha statue to ask where she had learned that name.

Tier Harribel raced back from the Forest of Menos after learning that Szayelaporro had captured Lilynette and that Barragan might have ambushed Asura Yan Cheng. She attacked Szayelaporro to rescue Lilynette, but he immobilized her just as she was about to strike.

• Sung-Sun and Emilou Apacci warned Tier Harribel that Szayelaporro had captured Lilynette and Barragan might be targeting Asura Yan Cheng.
• Tier Harribel left the Forest of Menos with Sung-Sun and Emilou Apacci, then sensed Szayelaporro's spiritual pressure and charged toward him.
• Tier Harribel attacked Szayelaporro with Scorching Sea Current, but he used exploding Adjuchas to blunt her strike and keep her at a distance.
• Tier Harribel fought through the Adjuchas and reached Szayelaporro, unleashing another Scorching Sea Current.
• Szayelaporro clapped, and Tier Harribel's spiritual body froze, leaving her unable to move.

Szayelaporro immobilized Tier Harribel with a neurotoxin hidden in the blood mist and demanded that she help him control Asura Yan Cheng or obtain his Hollowfication technique. Harribel refused to betray Asura, even when Szayelaporro tortured her subordinates to pressure her.

• Szayelaporro revealed that Tier Harribel had inhaled neurotoxin concealed in the blood of the Adjuchas she slaughtered, leaving her unable to move.
• Szayelaporro threatened Harribel with Lilynette, Sung-Sun, and Emilou Apacci, then injured Sung-Sun to intensify the pressure.
• Szayelaporro demanded that Harribel help him control Asura Yan Cheng or make him reveal how to achieve Hollowfication.
• Tier Harribel refused to betray Asura and told Szayelaporro that killing her was his best choice.

Szayelaporro tried to force Tier Harribel to help him obtain Asura Yan Cheng’s Hollowfication technology, revealing he planned to control her with a special egg and use her to get close to Asura Yan Cheng. Tier Harribel resisted, but Szayelaporro stopped her attack and began moving his tentacles toward her.

• Szayelaporro angrily explained that Hollowfication technology could let its owner rule Hueco Mundo and potentially take control of Soul Society and the World of the Living, but Tier Harribel refused to betray Asura Yan Cheng.
• Szayelaporro revealed that he had told Barragan about the technology to divert his attention and believed Barragan could not defeat Asura Yan Cheng, easing Tier Harribel’s worry.
• Szayelaporro released the battered Lilynette and said he would use a backup plan because Tier Harribel would not cooperate willingly.
• Szayelaporro explained that he intended to implant a special egg in Tier Harribel, control her actions, and eventually transfer the egg to Asura Yan Cheng.
• Tier Harribel began recovering from Szayelaporro’s toxin and tried to stall him, then slashed at him with her greatsword, but his pink tentacles stopped the blade and crept toward her.

Tier Harribel was paralyzed by Szayelaporro’s toxin until the King of the Forest of Menos emerged from beneath the desert and struck Szayelaporro down. When the giant Buddha asked where she had learned the name “Leshan Giant Buddha,” Harribel demanded to speak with Snopas, and the giant revealed that he was Snopas.

• Szayelaporro’s toxin left Tier Harribel unable to move as he approached her.
• A massive spiritual pressure shook the desert, and the King of the Forest of Menos burst from beneath the sand.
• The giant Buddha recognized Szayelaporro and crushed him beneath its palm.
• Adjuchas emerged from the enormous pit in an orderly formation as the giant lifted Tier Harribel before its face.
• The giant asked where Harribel had learned the name “Leshan Giant Buddha,” and Harribel insisted she would tell only Snopas.
• The giant Buddha told Harribel that he was Snopas.

Aizen Sōsuke learned that the King of the Forest of Menos commanded an enormous Adjuchas force, prompting the Expeditionary Force and Seireitei to debate how to respond. As Aizen joined their meeting, All Things in Nature prepared to impersonate Chiba Makoto under the training it had received.

• Tōsen Kaname informed Aizen Sōsuke that Barragan had lost control of Hueco Mundo’s inner regions to the King of the Forest of Menos, who had gathered far more Adjuchas than Las Noches.
• Aizen Sōsuke considered the threat posed by the colossal Vasto Lorde and its vast army.
• Chiba Makoto, Ise Nanao, and Chōjirō Sasakibe joined the captains in a meeting to discuss the Adjuchas horde and the risks of sending reinforcements.
• The captains debated whether the Hollow King might have arranged Chōjirō Sasakibe and Ise Nanao’s escape to lure Soul Reapers away from Seireitei.
• Unohana Retsu noticed that Chiba Makoto on the communication screen behaved differently toward her and seemed unusually close to Ise Nanao.
• Aizen Sōsuke joined the meeting, while All Things in Nature recalled the training Chiba Makoto had given it for facing him.