Chapter Summaries

Chiba Makoto reunited with Unohana Retsu in the Fourth Division and revealed that Aizen Sōsuke’s corpse was an illusion created by Kyōka Suigetsu, which had already affected the Soul Reapers of the Seireitei. When Unohana asked about Makoto’s purpose, he admitted that his power put him on a collision course with Hyōsube Ichibē, and said he had returned to prepare for what lay ahead.

• Chiba Makoto rushed to the Fourth Division to see Unohana Retsu, but she reminded him to behave respectfully in the Mortuary beside Aizen Sōsuke’s corpse.
• Makoto stabbed the corpse and showed Unohana that his blade came away without blood, revealing that the corpse was an illusion.
• Makoto explained that Kyōka Suigetsu manipulated the five senses of everyone who had witnessed its release, and that nearly every Soul Reaper in the Seireitei had been affected.
• Unohana asked Makoto about his purpose, and he wrote Hyōsube Ichibē’s name in solidified Reishi, explaining that their similar powers left little chance of reconciliation.
• Unohana warned Makoto that he should not have returned to the Seireitei, but he said he needed to make preparations there rather than keep hiding.

Chiba Makoto told Unohana Retsu that he planned to make her Captain-Commander and eliminate nobles who opposed her, while the Seireitei’s response to the intruders began to falter. The chapter left Soi Fon investigating the disappearance of the Onmitsukidō agents monitoring Kurosaki Ichigo’s group.

• Chiba Makoto explained to Unohana Retsu that he and Hyōsube Ichibē could be suppressed or sealed despite their power, and Unohana offered to clear away his obstacles.
• Chiba Makoto asked Unohana Retsu to become Captain-Commander and implied he would eliminate nobles who opposed her.
• Chiba Makoto planned to use the turmoil caused by Aizen Sōsuke and the intruders while finding a way to blind the Thirteen Divisions and the nobles.
• Kurosaki Ichigo and Ishida Uryū fought their way toward the Senzaikyū, while the Onmitsukidō lost contact with its agents monitoring them.
• Soi Fon confronted Ōmaeda Marechiyo about the missing reports, then went to investigate and found an Onmitsukidō member who appeared to have been caught without warning.

Soi Fon pursued a white-coated figure through the Seireitei and discovered it was Chiba Makoto, whom she accused of murdering Captain Aizen. Their fight continued in a forest, where Suzumebachi failed to pierce Makoto’s skin, leaving Soi Fon stunned by his defenses.

• Soi Fon found her Onmitsukidō members defeated with their disguises intact and suspected the attacker had exceptional detection or knowledge of their methods.
• Soi Fon sensed a figure hiding in a wall, pursued him across the rooftops, and followed him into a forest.
• Soi Fon recognized Chiba Makoto and accused him of murdering Captain Aizen.
• Soi Fon released Suzumebachi and attacked Makoto at close range, but its finger guard could not pierce his skin.

Chiba Makoto lured Soi Fon into a remote forest and trapped them inside a Quincy barrier, then provoked her into revealing Shunkō. He evaded her devastating attack with incredible speed and demonstrated that he knew the secret technique’s name and principles, leaving Soi Fon demanding to know how.

• Soi Fon recognized Chiba Makoto’s apparent Blut Vene and realized he knew details about her Zanpakuto and fighting style.
• Chiba Makoto activated a Quincy formation that formed a barrier around the forest, trapping him and Soi Fon.
• Soi Fon accused Chiba Makoto of relying on stolen intelligence and activated Shunkō, destroying the surrounding forest with her attack.
• Chiba Makoto vanished too quickly for Soi Fon to track, then appeared behind her and praised Shunkō.
• Soi Fon was stunned that Chiba Makoto knew Shunkō’s name and principles and demanded to know how.

Chiba Makoto provoked Soi Fon by claiming he had found and released a remnant of Makoto’s soul, driving her to detonate Bankai: Kōkō Sendan. The explosion devastated the Seireitei, but Chiba Makoto survived and hid underground with the powerless Soi Fon.

• Chiba Makoto told Soi Fon he had found a Soul Reaper’s remnant soul in Hueco Mundo and helped it find release.
• Soi Fon flew into a rage, unleashed Bankai: Kōkō Sendan, and detonated Jakuhō Raikōben without aiming at Chiba Makoto.
• The blast destroyed Chiba Makoto’s Quincy formation and devastated the forest and surrounding parts of the Seireitei.
• Soul Reapers and Captains rushed to the crater but could not sense Soi Fon and suspected she and the Quincy had died together.
• Chiba Makoto held the exhausted Soi Fon alive beneath the crater, while she wept in humiliation.

Chiba Makoto concealed himself and Soi Fon from the Soul Reapers investigating the chaos above and brought her to Yoruichi Shihoin’s underground training space. He tried to calm her in its healing hot spring, then realized her Bankai’s toll had left her too weak to move.

• Chiba Makoto reflected that Bankai: Kōkō Sendan had thrown the Second Division into confusion, though Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni had not left the First Division Barracks.
• Chiba Makoto carried Soi Fon underground while concealing their spiritual pressure and brought her to Yoruichi Shihoin’s secret training space.
• Soi Fon accused Chiba Makoto of learning about the place from Makoto and vowed to kill him, then broke down in tears at the mention of Chiba Makoto’s name.
• Chiba Makoto carried Soi Fon to the healing hot spring and tossed her into it, telling her to calm down.
• Chiba Makoto saw bubbles rising from Soi Fon in the spring and realized she was nearly unable to move after using Bankai: Kōkō Sendan.

Chiba Makoto rescued Soi Fon from drowning and let her recover in the healing hot spring. He admitted his earlier words had been a tactic to disrupt her during their fight, and Soi Fon began to scrutinize him more seriously.

• Chiba Makoto pulled the unconscious Soi Fon from the hot spring and revived her with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
• Soi Fon woke and called Chiba Makoto a “Hentai,” but no longer seemed intent on taking him down with her.
• Chiba Makoto carried Soi Fon back to the hot spring and carefully let her soak without risking another drowning.
• Chiba Makoto told Soi Fon he bore her no ill will and explained that his remarks during their fight were meant to disrupt her emotions.
• Chiba Makoto said he had not expected Soi Fon to care so much about him that she would use Bankai in a mutually destructive way, prompting her to examine him closely.

Chiba Makoto questioned Soi Fon about his motives, then confined her so he could continue his rescue of Kuchiki Rukia. In the Seireitei, the battle’s aftermath injured residents, and Kurotsuchi Mayuri told Kurosaki Ichigo and his companions that Kurosaki Makoto was dead.

• Chiba Makoto claimed he had entered the Seireitei to save his former student Kuchiki Rukia, though Soi Fon remained suspicious.
• Chiba Makoto sealed Soi Fon in an underground area and left her there while he pursued his rescue plan.
• The aftershock of Soi Fon’s Bankai damaged buildings across the Seireitei and injured residents, keeping the Fourth Division busy treating them.
• Hitsugaya Tōshirō and Kurotsuchi Mayuri confronted Kurosaki Ichigo and his companions as the captains moved to end the intruders’ actions.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri announced that Kurosaki Makoto was dead and that his corpse was in the Technological Development Department.

Kurosaki Ichigo held off Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Hitsugaya Tōshirō while Ishida Uryū and Inoue Orihime went to check whether Kurosaki Makoto had survived the explosion. Ichigo revealed Makoto’s star ratings for the captains, angering Hitsugaya and briefly delighting Mayuri before Ichigo clarified that one star was the lowest rating.

• Kurosaki Ichigo prepared to attack Kurotsuchi Mayuri, but Ishida Uryū stopped him and warned that Makoto’s apparent death might be a trick.
• Ishida Uryū and Inoue Orihime decided to go to the explosion site to check Makoto’s condition, while Ichigo stayed behind to hold off Mayuri and Hitsugaya Tōshirō.
• Ichigo used Getsuga Tenshō to stop Mayuri from pursuing Ishida and Orihime, then challenged Mayuri and Hitsugaya to fight him together.
• Ichigo explained that Makoto’s information ranked Mayuri as One-star and Hitsugaya as Two-star, provoking both captains.
• Mayuri asked whether One-star was the highest rating, and Ichigo clarified that Five Stars was highest and One-star was lowest.

Kurosaki Ichigo fought Hitsugaya Tōshirō after criticizing his ability to wield Hyōrinmaru, revealing unexpected skill in Zanjutsu and suppressing Hitsugaya in close combat. Hitsugaya released his Bankai, while Chiba Makoto watched in secret and judged that the young captain had yet to master his Zanpakuto.

• Kurosaki Ichigo explained why Kurotsuchi Mayuri had been dealt with quickly and criticized Hitsugaya Tōshirō's inability to draw out Hyōrinmaru's full power.
• Hitsugaya released Hyōrinmaru and attacked Ichigo with Ice Dragon Tail Spin, which Ichigo countered with Getsuga Tensho.
• Hitsugaya was surprised when Ichigo blocked and counterattacked with Zanjutsu, then demanded to know where Ichigo had learned it.
• Ichigo said he had instinctively learned to survive after several days on the edge of life and death, further angering Hitsugaya.
• Hitsugaya activated Bankai, Great Crimson Ice Dragon, and overwhelmed Ichigo with icy spiritual pressure.
• Chiba Makoto observed the fight in secret and judged Hitsugaya's Bankai to lack a fundamental change, assessing him as a two-star threat.

Kyōraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jūshirō recognized that Kurosaki Ichigo’s swordsmanship resembled Unohana Retsu’s and suspected his connection to Shiba Kaien and Shiba Isshin. As Chiba Makoto’s training helped Ichigo’s instincts develop that swordsmanship, Ichigo and Hitsugaya Tōshirō fought their final clash.

• Kyōraku Shunsui noticed that Kurosaki Ichigo’s Zanjutsu resembled Unohana Retsu’s, and Ukitake Jūshirō agreed it might have been mastered through innate talent.
• Ukitake Jūshirō pointed out that Kurosaki Ichigo resembled his former subordinate Shiba Kaien and that his age aligned with Shiba Isshin’s disappearance.
• Chiba Makoto had secretly shaped Ichigo’s instincts through Reishi Arrows, laying the groundwork for a Zanjutsu that improved through battle.
• Hitsugaya Tōshirō, nearing the end of his Bankai’s endurance, charged Ichigo with Ryūsenka, and Ichigo met him head-on with Getsuga Tenshō.
• Hitsugaya Tōshirō’s spiritual pressure rose during the collision as he refused to lose, while Ichigo yelled at him and pressed the attack.

Kurosaki Ichigo defeated Hitsugaya Tōshirō, but Zaraki Kenpachi immediately challenged him while Kurotsuchi Mayuri left to search for the Quincy. As Ichigo faced another battle, the Thirteen Divisions' attention shifted away from the Technological Development Department, where Chiba Makoto's plan was unfolding.

• Hitsugaya Tōshirō's Bankai overwhelmed Ichigo until Ichigo recalled his goal, surged with spiritual pressure, and defeated him with Getsuga Tenshō.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri mocked the defeated Hitsugaya Tōshirō and approached Ichigo, but Zaraki Kenpachi arrived and claimed the chance to fight him.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri left to search for the Quincy, while Zaraki Kenpachi attacked Ichigo and their Zanpakuto clashed.
• Chiba Makoto's plan drew Seireitei's strongest fighters toward Ichigo, leaving the Twelfth Division's Technological Development Department with less attention.

Ishida Uryū and Inoue Orihime raided the Twelfth Division’s Technological Development Department to search for Chiba Makoto, while Chiba Makoto used the resulting chaos to reach Muken’s sealed entrance. Ishida and Orihime reached the department’s deepest laboratories, but had not yet found Kurosaki Makoto.

• Ishida Uryū redirected Inoue Orihime from the forest to the Technological Development Department, reasoning that Kurotsuchi Mayuri might be holding Chiba Makoto there.
• Ishida Uryū broke into the department while Inoue Orihime interrogated its members for Kurosaki Makoto’s location.
• Chiba Makoto reached the sealed entrance to Muken and began arranging an explosion that would damage it amid the department’s chaos.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri learned that the department was under attack and raced back in anger.
• Ishida Uryū reached the secret experimental laboratories and told Inoue Orihime to split up and search for Kurosaki Makoto.

Ishida Uryū and Inoue Orihime searched Kurotsuchi Mayuri's laboratory for Kurosaki Makoto, but Nemu Kurotsuchi told them he was not there. When Mayuri ordered Nemu to kill Orihime, she appeared to obey, forcing Uryū to intervene.

• Ishida Uryū and Inoue Orihime found tanks holding spare bodies of Kurotsuchi Mayuri while searching the laboratory.
• Nemu Kurotsuchi appeared and warned them that Mayuri was returning, then said Kurosaki Makoto was not in the Technological Development Department.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri arrived and claimed he had killed Makoto, but Nemu pointed out that his experiment logs contained no record of it.
• Mayuri ordered Nemu to kill Inoue Orihime, and Nemu charged at her while Ishida Uryū fired a Reishi Arrow at Nemu.

Kurotsuchi Mayuri confronted Nemu Kurotsuchi and Ishida Uryū, whose powerful shoulder charge seemed to defeat him. Mayuri revealed that he had trapped Ishida with an airborne drug and healed himself, leaving Ishida immobilized.

• Kurotsuchi Mayuri saved Nemu Kurotsuchi from a Reishi Arrow, then struck her for refusing to dodge and blamed Kurosaki Makoto for her supposed failure.
• Ishida Uryū grabbed Inoue Orihime and tried to escape the Technological Development Department, but Kurotsuchi Mayuri blocked their way.
• Ishida Uryū fired a barrage of Reishi Arrows, but Kurotsuchi Mayuri used a Reishi Curtain designed to counter Quincy attacks.
• Ishida Uryū transformed into Muscle Dragon Form and shattered the curtain with Iron Mountain Shoulder, hurling Kurotsuchi Mayuri into a steel wall.
• As Ishida Uryū prepared to finish him, Kurotsuchi Mayuri revealed that airborne medicine had immobilized Ishida and injected himself with a Flesh-Repairing Agent.

Ishida Uryū fought Kurotsuchi Mayuri, but Mayuri’s toxin left him helpless until Inoue Orihime healed him with Sōten Kisshun. Uryū unleashed a special Reishi Arrow that destroyed Mayuri and Golden Sōkatsui Jizō, though he was surprised the arrow exploded instead of piercing its target.

• Kurotsuchi Mayuri recovered with his Flesh-Repairing Agent and paralyzed Ishida Uryū with a toxin from his Zanpakuto.
• Inoue Orihime used Sōten Kisshun to heal Uryū, who punched Mayuri while Orihime continued removing the toxin.
• Mayuri released Bankai, sending Golden Sōkatsui Jizō toward Uryū while it spewed corrosive purple mist.
• Uryū formed a massive bow and fired a special Reishi Arrow through Golden Sōkatsui Jizō’s old wound.
• The arrow exploded against Mayuri’s Reishi Curtain, obliterating Mayuri and Golden Sōkatsui Jizō and devastating much of the Technological Development Department.
• Uryū stared at the crater and wondered why the piercing-type arrow Chiba Makoto had given him had become explosive.

After Ishida Uryū fled with Inoue Orihime, Kurotsuchi Mayuri awakened in a spare body and discovered Chiba Makoto with Nemu Kurotsuchi. Nemu admitted she wanted to follow Chiba Makoto but struggled to obey Mayuri, then realized the collapsed laboratory had destroyed his other spare bodies and wondered if he was truly dead.

• Ishida Uryū grabbed Inoue Orihime and fled, while green fluid seeped through the rubble into one of Kurotsuchi Mayuri's spare bodies.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri awakened in the laboratory and saw Chiba Makoto tending to Nemu Kurotsuchi, but an invisible barrier kept them from hearing or seeing him.
• Chiba Makoto asked Nemu Kurotsuchi to leave with him, and she said she wanted to follow him but had to obey Kurotsuchi Mayuri's orders.
• Chiba Makoto told Nemu Kurotsuchi that Mayuri seemed to have died, and she noticed that the collapsed laboratory had crushed the spare bodies.
• Nemu Kurotsuchi clutched Chiba Makoto's clothes and asked blankly if Kurotsuchi Mayuri had really died.

Nemu Kurotsuchi grieved after believing Kurotsuchi Mayuri was dead, then left the laboratory with Chiba Makoto for the World of the Living. Kurotsuchi Mayuri remained trapped in an invisible cage, and Chiba Makoto returned to taunt him about losing Nemu.

• Nemu Kurotsuchi cried over Kurotsuchi Mayuri's apparent death, and Mayuri realized she had developed feelings for him.
• Nemu Kurotsuchi asked Chiba Makoto to take her away, and he led her out of the laboratory toward the World of the Living.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri pounded on the glass and shouted after Nemu, but he could not escape his confinement.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri resigned himself to waiting for the Thirteen Divisions to discover his hidden prison.
• Chiba Makoto returned to the laboratory, confirmed he could see and hear Mayuri, and mocked him about his confinement and Nemu's departure.

Chiba Makoto explained that Kurotsuchi Mayuri had stunted Nemu Kurotsuchi’s emotional development and offered to keep her while sharing Artificial Soul research. He then crushed and restored Mayuri’s heart, giving him access to his original, compatible heart and leaving Mayuri stunned by Makoto’s knowledge and power.

• Chiba Makoto showed Kurotsuchi Mayuri that Nemu Kurotsuchi’s emotional fluctuations had grown over the years and suggested Mayuri had been preventing her emotions from becoming complete.
• Chiba Makoto offered to let Nemu stay with him in exchange for Mayuri’s complete Artificial Soul research data, arguing that their interests aligned.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri questioned Chiba Makoto’s identity after hearing him speak of loving Soul Society and rejecting the Soul King Palace, and Makoto answered only, “Makoto.”
• Chiba Makoto reached through the barrier, crushed Kurotsuchi Mayuri’s heart, and watched it repair itself with a powerful heartbeat.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri realized the restored heart was his original heart and that he could transfer his soul into it, then asked how Chiba Makoto knew and could do this.

After the Technological Development Department was destroyed, Kurotsuchi Mayuri survived and took charge of the rescue aftermath, while Chiba Makoto and Sōya Azashiro discussed why Mayuri could be trusted. Chiba revealed he had restored Mayuri and shown him the power of Matter Reconstruction, leaving Mayuri positioned as a valuable ally.

• The Fifth Division searched the Technological Development Department ruins, found no trace of Kurotsuchi Mayuri or Nemu Kurotsuchi, and began preparing a casualty report.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri appeared unharmed, claimed the short-handed rescue workers as his subordinates, and ordered the losses to be reported along with the attackers’ identities and Nemu Kurotsuchi’s disappearance.
• Chiba Makoto spoke with Sōya Azashiro, who had returned to moving freely, and explained that he believed Kurotsuchi Mayuri would not betray him.
• Sōya Azashiro recounted that Kurotsuchi Mayuri had once been imprisoned in Mukken after a dangerous experiment, despite Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni’s protection.
• Chiba Makoto explained that Mayuri’s interest in Artificial Souls reflected a desire to intrude into God’s domain, and that he had also shown Mayuri Matter Reconstruction.
• Chiba Makoto decided Mayuri was too useful to kill and noted that doing so would be unfair to Nemu Kurotsuchi.