Chapter Summaries

Aizen Sōsuke persuaded the captains to shift the Expeditionary Force’s focus to the Forest of Menos while testing whether Chiba Makoto was being controlled by Kyōka Suigetsu. Meanwhile, Tier Harribel traveled with Snopas and his immense Hollow army toward the meeting place arranged with Chiba Makoto.

• Aizen Sōsuke presented intelligence that diminished Las Noches’ threat and identified the Hollow King of the Forest of Menos as Soul Society’s chief concern.
• Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni ordered the Expeditionary Force to recall its deployed captains and Vice-Captains and focus on the Forest of Menos, tasking Aizen Sōsuke with gathering more intelligence.
• Aizen Sōsuke used Kyōka Suigetsu to test All Things in Nature, but its resistance to the illusions convinced him that it was the real Chiba Makoto.
• Tier Harribel led Snopas and his vast, unusually orderly Adjuchas horde through Hueco Mundo toward the place agreed upon with Chiba Makoto.
• Tier Harribel marveled at Snopas’s giant Buddha form and the size of the army under his control.

Snopas revealed that the Leshan Giant Buddha was formed from the Reiryoku of countless Adjuchas and explained his ability to Tier Harribel. Szayelaporro took control of the giant body, forcing Tier Harribel to flee as it reached for her.

• Snopas told Tier Harribel that his ability, False Limbs, let him form spirit bodies, and that the giant Buddha was built from Adjuchas Reiryoku over more than fifty years.
• Snopas explained that he had hidden his name and appearance to evade Szayelaporro, then asked Tier Harribel when they would reach their destination.
• Szayelaporro's face appeared on Snopas's body and revealed that Snopas had swallowed his spirit body, allowing him to take control of the giant Buddha.
• Snopas tried to warn Tier Harribel to leave, but his human form collapsed as his control weakened.
• Tier Harribel fled from the giant Buddha, which reached after her with an enormous palm.

Szayelaporro subdued Snopas and turned his attention toward the Adjuchas, while Chiba Makoto tried to draw Ulquiorra toward Hollowfication as Las Noches took shape. Ulquiorra declined for now, and Chiba Makoto continued monitoring Aizen Sōsuke through a safeguard he had hidden in All Things in Nature’s body.

• The giant Buddha struck Tier Harribel aside, then became still after she fled; Szayelaporro emerged in control and mocked Snopas’s faith in Kuchiki and the Leshan Giant Buddha.
• Szayelaporro vowed to destroy Snopas’s faith and looked toward the tide of Adjuchas Hollows.
• As Las Noches’s construction advanced, Chiba Makoto met Ulquiorra on a tower and asked why he followed Sōsuke Aizen.
• Chiba Makoto suggested Ulquiorra was searching for a heart and offered to help him undergo Hollowfication, but Ulquiorra thanked him and left without agreeing.
• Chiba Makoto reflected that he had hidden part of the Ultimate Spirit Body inside All Things in Nature’s spiritual body to monitor it and prevent it from acting against him.

Chiba Makoto waited for Aizen Sōsuke to summon the Expeditionary Force captains and Vice-Captains so he could begin planting Seeds among the Hollows in Las Noches. After learning that Tier Harribel and Snopas had separated unexpectedly, he went to investigate while leaving Nel with Grimmjow.

• Chiba Makoto considered how to restore Nel to her mature form, but Nel refused because she wanted to keep receiving his hugs and kisses.
• Chiba Makoto decided to restore Nel before leaving Hueco Mundo and considered letting her switch between her child and adult forms.
• Chiba Makoto told Grimmjow to watch over Nel while they played, and Grimmjow reluctantly agreed.
• Chiba Makoto noticed that Tier Harribel and Snopas had split up and suspected one might have stayed behind to hold off an attacker.
• Chiba Makoto put Nel on Grimmjow's back and left to confirm what had happened.

Aizen Sōsuke and the Expeditionary Force faced an overwhelming Hollow assault led by more than six hundred Adjuchas. The horde’s synchronized torrent of Ceros destroyed the camp’s Kidō barrier, leaving the Soul Reapers exposed and unable to react.

• More than six hundred Adjuchas and an enormous horde of Gillians advanced from the Forest of Menos toward the Expeditionary Force camp.
• The camp’s sensory Kidō barrier detected the approaching Hollows and triggered an emergency combat alert.
• Aizen Sōsuke left his tent, warned Chiba Makoto and Ise Nanao, and moved to the camp’s front.
• The Soul Reapers saw the vast Hollow horde and began to lose hope as they realized how many Adjuchas were approaching.
• The Adjuchas and Gillians gathered Ceros in unison and unleashed a torrent that destroyed the camp’s Kidō barrier.

After the Expeditionary Force was devastated and its escape route destroyed, All Things in Nature rallied the Medical Relief Squad to fight back as Chiba Makoto rushed toward Snopas. Chiba found a gigantic Golden Buddha controlled by Szayelaporro, who demanded the Hollowfication technique.

• A torrent of Ceros flattened much of the Expeditionary Force camp, killed more than half its elite Soul Reapers, and destroyed the Garganta escape route.
• Yamada Hanataro feared the trapped survivors were doomed, but All Things in Nature urged the Medical Relief Squad to fight and protect the wounded.
• All Things in Nature unleashed Bankai—Tree Realm Birth, creating a vast oasis and a nearly thousand-meter-tall Wooden Giant Buddha.
• Chiba Makoto learned that Szayelaporro was likely controlling the Hollow horde and hurried toward Snopas's location.
• Chiba Makoto found the Giant Buddha in Hueco Mundo, where Szayelaporro revealed himself and demanded Chiba's Hollowfication technique.

Chiba Makoto used his “physician” Zanjutsu to sever the giant Buddha’s wrist, shocking Szayelaporro. As Reiryoku escaped from the severed hand, Chiba Makoto became fascinated by the form of False Limbs.

• Szayelaporro dismissed Chiba Makoto’s Forest of Withered Trees and smashed through it with the giant Buddha’s palm.
• Chiba Makoto drew his Zanpakuto and attacked the giant Buddha’s wrist with a precise strike guided by his microscopic perception of Reishi.
• Chiba Makoto’s blade cleanly severed the giant Buddha’s wrist, leaving Szayelaporro stunned.
• Chiba Makoto stared greedily at the Reiryoku escaping from the severed hand and delighted in discovering the form of False Limbs.

Chiba Makoto discovered that the Reiryoku sustaining Szayelaporro’s giant Buddha could be absorbed, giving him a chance to complete his Limit Spirit Body transformation. He restrained and crippled the giant body, leaving Szayelaporro bound and facing dissection.

• Chiba Makoto realized that the Reiryoku in Snopas’s False Limbs could be absorbed because it had lost its ownership.
• Chiba Makoto used the Forest of Withered Trees to absorb the severed palm of Szayelaporro’s giant Buddha.
• Szayelaporro attacked Chiba Makoto with the other giant palm, but Chiba Makoto cut it apart and absorbed it too.
• The Forest of Withered Trees bound the giant Buddha, and Chiba Makoto severed the tendons in its ankle when it tried to stand.
• Chiba Makoto restrained the fallen giant Buddha as Szayelaporro struggled, then told him to lie still while he continued on his own.

Chiba Makoto dismantled Szayelaporro’s giant Buddha and absorbed its Reiryoku, causing his Spiritual Pressure to grow so immense that it shook Hueco Mundo. Meanwhile, the Expeditionary Force’s Soul Reapers fought desperately behind the Wooden Giant Buddha, until All Things in Nature and Aizen Sōsuke sensed a terrifying Spiritual Pressure and recognized it as Chiba Makoto’s.

• Chiba Makoto severed the giant Buddha’s limbs and joints, then steadily dismantled its spirit body and absorbed its Reiryoku while Tier Harribel watched in shock.
• Chiba Makoto’s growing Spiritual Pressure overwhelmed Tier Harribel and caused distant Hollows to collapse under its force.
• At the Expeditionary Force camp, the Wooden Giant Buddha controlled by All Things in Nature held back the vastly outnumbering Hollow horde while Soul Reapers fought around it.
• Aizen Sōsuke, Chōjirō Sasakibe, Ise Nanao, and the other Soul Reapers fought at the front, with Chiba Makoto’s Bankai bearing most of the enemy’s assault.
• All Things in Nature sensed the immense Spiritual Pressure and recognized it as Jam Jam Master’s, while Aizen Sōsuke identified it as Asura Yan Cheng’s.

Chiba Makoto was overwhelmed by the Reiryoku filling his body, so All Things in Nature used his voice to ask Aizen Sōsuke for help and keep him from leaving to investigate Asura Yan Cheng's spiritual pressure. As the Expeditionary Force pushed back the Hollows, Chiba Makoto destroyed the Wooden Giant Buddha's remaining head, revealing Snopas inside while he continued searching for Szayelaporro.

• Chiba Makoto told All Things in Nature to stop Aizen Sōsuke from leaving, but his voice cut off before he could explain how.
• All Things in Nature called out to Aizen Sōsuke for help, and Aizen abandoned his investigation to block incoming Ceros with Dankū.
• Aizen's barrier let All Things in Nature devote its power to attacking, and the Wooden Giant Buddha began pushing back the Hollows.
• Chiba Makoto struggled to contain the immense Reiryoku in his body and used Reishi Control to keep his organs from dissolving.
• Chiba Makoto split apart the Wooden Giant Buddha's remaining head and found Snopas hidden inside as he sought to eliminate Szayelaporro.

Chiba Makoto destroyed Szayelaporro’s hidden egg and completed his transformation into a 100% Ultimate Spirit Body. As All Things in Nature returned to its Zanpakuto, Makoto began learning its Bankai, Imperial Decree of All Things.

• Chiba Makoto recognized Szayelaporro hiding inside Snopas and pierced the pink egg with his Zanpakuto, scattering it into Reishi.
• Chiba Makoto drew the Giant Buddha’s remaining Reiryoku, descended underground, and completed his Ultimate Spirit Body transformation.
• Six captains and other Soul Reapers arrived through a Garganta to reinforce the Expeditionary Force camp against the Hollows.
• All Things in Nature told Aizen Sōsuke that their battle together would be their last, then its spirit consciousness returned to its Zanpakuto and the Wooden Giant Buddha collapsed.
• Chiba Makoto met All Things in Nature in his inner world, where it named its Bankai Imperial Decree of All Things.

Chiba Makoto entered his Bankai, Imperial Decree of All Things, and learned that Reishi was made of names that formed the spiritual worlds. He discovered that his Bankai could let him imprint himself on nameless Reishi and, if fully realized, grant him complete control over it.

• Chiba Makoto's mental space transformed as he entered Bankai and found himself beneath a night sky filled with stars bearing familiar names.
• Imperial Decree of All Things appeared as a respectful older woman and explained that she was another personality of All Things in Nature.
• Chiba Makoto learned that names were the essence of spirits and the foundation of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, while matter particles underlay the World of the Living.
• Imperial Decree of All Things confirmed that Chiba Makoto's Bankai could imprint his Ultimate Spirit Body upon nameless Reishi.
• Imperial Decree of All Things said that fully mastering the Bankai would let Chiba Makoto control all Reishi, making him impervious to Reishi-based attacks and undying while Reishi existed.

Chiba Makoto claimed the blank spirit particles of Hueco Mundo and Soul Society as his own, while the Expeditionary Force believed he had died after stopping the Hollow horde. His body was sent back to Seireitei as the Soul Reapers mourned him, and Aizen Sōsuke fled in disbelief.

• Chiba Makoto used his Ultimate Spirit Body to mark countless spirit particles with his name and merge his will with them.
• The Expeditionary Force repelled the Hollow horde after more than half of the Adjuchas were killed and the Gillian retreated.
• Yamada Hanataro confirmed that Chiba Makoto's spirit body functions had stopped, and Soi Fon broke down in grief.
• Kuchiki Byakuya honored Chiba Makoto, and the Soul Reapers bowed to him as a hero.
• Aizen Sōsuke rejected the news, clawed at his face, shattered his glasses, and vanished.
• The Technological Development Department opened a stable Garganta, and the Expeditionary Force sent Chiba Makoto's body to Seireitei.

After Chiba Makoto’s body was returned to Seireitei, Unohana Retsu nearly followed him into death but realized that his treasured flower arrangement, “Forest and Utsugi,” was still alive and resolved to wait for his return. Meanwhile, Makoto deepened his understanding of names in a conceptual space and encountered a mysterious bald man wearing a Captain’s Haori marked “Zero.”

• Yamada Rinka mourned Chiba Makoto as Unohana Retsu took his body and laid him beneath a cherry blossom tree in her courtyard.
• Unohana Retsu lamented Makoto’s broken promise and prepared to cut her own throat so she could find him in Hell.
• Grass from “Forest and Utsugi” tangled around Unohana Retsu’s Zanpakuto, and she recognized it as a sign that Makoto was still alive.
• Unohana Retsu returned to her living quarters, saw the flower arrangement protecting the unohana flower, and vowed to wait for Makoto to return.
• In the conceptual space of names, Chiba Makoto expanded his control over spirit particles and blocked an attack from a mysterious will.
• Chiba Makoto faced a bald, bearded man wearing a Captain’s Haori marked with the character “Zero.”

Chiba Makoto encountered Hyōsube Ichibē in the conceptual space of names, where the two clashed over their control of black and Reishi. After surviving Hyōsube Ichibē’s crushing attack, Chiba Makoto recognized the danger of being discovered in Hueco Mundo before his command over names was complete.

• Hyōsube Ichibē appeared in the conceptual space and attacked Chiba Makoto for stealing the power of names and trespassing on the Soul King's domain.
• Chiba Makoto used his Bankai, Imperial Decree of All Things, to gather Reishi and resist Hyōsube Ichibē's black, then challenged him over the nature of their powers.
• Hyōsube Ichibē overwhelmed Chiba Makoto with an enormous hand of black, apparently smashing him apart.
• Chiba Makoto re-formed from gathered Reishi and accused Hyōsube Ichibē of using pressure and misdirection to make him leave.
• Hyōsube Ichibē offered to let Chiba Makoto go if he stopped stealing names, while Chiba Makoto considered the risk of Hyōsube Ichibē finding and erasing his true body in Hueco Mundo.

Chiba Makoto resisted Hyōsube Ichibē in the conceptual space of names, but his consciousness was scattered before he could secure control of reishi. In Soul Society, Zero Division descended on the Seireitei to search for a dangerous Soul Reaper and warned the captains to prepare for a war that could destroy the city.

• Chiba Makoto refused to leave the space of names, and Hyōsube Ichibē attacked him while he continued trying to seize the name of reishi.
• Chiba Makoto used the Zanjutsu he had learned from Unohana to parry Hyōsube Ichibē’s close-range strikes, but his consciousness was scattered again.
• Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni gathered the captains after Kyōraku Shunsui announced that Zero Division was coming to the Seireitei.
• Nimaiya Ōetsu and Kirinji Tenshiro arrived and said they were searching for a dangerous individual who could upset the balance of the Three Worlds.
• Kirinji Tenshiro explained that Hyōsube Ichibē had ordered them to identify the individual, and Nimaiya Ōetsu said they would check every Soul Reaper proficient in Zanjutsu with at least Shikai.
• Nimaiya Ōetsu ordered the captains to remain ready for battle and prepare for a war that might destroy the Seireitei.

Nimaiya Ōetsu and Kirinji Tenshiro searched for the unknown enemy, eventually finding Chiba Makoto’s preserved corpse in Unohana Retsu’s residence. Meanwhile, Chiba Makoto endured Hyōsube Ichibē’s attacks in the conceptual space and grew closer to mastering the Name of reishi, leaving Hyōsube unable to stop him from taking its power.

• After more than half a month of inspections produced no clues, Nimaiya Ōetsu and Kirinji Tenshiro suspected the enemy had faked his death and began checking records of missing and deceased Soul Reapers.
• Nimaiya Ōetsu and Kirinji Tenshiro found that Chiba Makoto’s corpse had been preserved at Unohana Retsu’s residence and visited her to verify the record.
• Unohana Retsu revealed her grief over Chiba Makoto’s death and threatened the visitors with her spiritual pressure, so Kirinji Tenshiro pulled Nimaiya Ōetsu away.
• Kirinji Tenshiro concluded that Chiba Makoto did not meet the preliminary screening criteria, and he and Nimaiya Ōetsu continued investigating other cases.
• In the conceptual space called Name, Chiba Makoto repeatedly rebuilt his consciousness after Hyōsube Ichibē scattered it and endured his attacks for increasingly long periods.
• Hyōsube Ichibē realized he could no longer stop Chiba Makoto from stealing the power of the Name of reishi.

Chiba Makoto completed his control over the name of reishi after Hyōsube Ichibē withdrew, gaining a form of immortality as long as reishi remained in the world. The blade spirit Imperial Decree of All Things confirmed that this was the true Reishi Control in Bankai, but not the full extent of its power.

• Hyōsube Ichibē stopped fighting Chiba Makoto and claimed he had tried to protect Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, asking Chiba Makoto not to destroy them.
• Chiba Makoto appeared to accept Hyōsube Ichibē’s request, and Hyōsube Ichibē vanished back to the Soul King Palace.
• Hyōsube Ichibē tried to write the characters for reishi with his brush, but the characters scattered, leaving him to wonder who was interfering with his plans.
• Chiba Makoto saw through Hyōsube Ichibē’s act and continued accelerating his control over reishi without interference.
• Chiba Makoto completed his control over reishi and realized he would persist as long as reishi remained in the world.
• Imperial Decree of All Things appeared in the form of a mature woman and told Chiba Makoto that his Reishi Control was not yet the full extent of its power.

Chiba Makoto learned that Matter Particles were included among the things he could potentially control, then awoke after more than thirty years in Hueco Mundo. He prepared to travel to the World of the Living, and Snopas asked to go with him.

• Imperial Decree of All Things told Chiba Makoto that Matter Particles were among all things, though it did not know their specific uses.
• Chiba Makoto decided to investigate Matter Particles while avoiding Soul Society so Hyōsube Ichibē would not discover him and endanger Unohana Retsu.
• Chiba Makoto awoke in Hueco Mundo after more than thirty years and found Snopas asleep on his chest.
• Chiba Makoto noticed his white hair and tattered clothes, formed a new outfit from Reishi, and asked Snopas to open a Garganta to the World of the Living.
• Snopas opened the passage, asked to follow Chiba Makoto, and said he had not devoured Soul Reapers' or humans' souls for more than eighty years.

Chiba Makoto transformed Snopas into a humanlike being with perfect self-Hollowfication and brought him to the World of the Living. There, Makoto discovered his Ultimate Spirit Body was beginning to fuse with matter particles, while streams of Reiryoku gathered toward a point in the sky.

• Chiba Makoto agreed to let Snopas accompany him to the World of the Living and rewarded his loyalty with perfect self-Hollowfication.
• Snopas gained a Zanpakuto, thanked Makoto, and followed him through a Garganta.
• Chiba Makoto concealed their spiritual pressure with a Kidō barrier and left the area before a Thirteenth Division Soul Reaper investigated the Garganta.
• Chiba Makoto sensed that matter particles were gathering around him and found that they were beginning to fuse with his Ultimate Spirit Body.
• Chiba Makoto noticed streams of Reiryoku being drawn from across the World of the Living toward a point in the sky.