Chapter Summaries

Chiba Makoto tried to learn All Things in Nature’s Bankai name, but she refused and told him he could not achieve Bankai until he understood true power. The chapter left him confused and once again crushed beneath her forest attack.

• Chiba Makoto noticed autumn spreading through his spiritual space and suggested that All Things in Nature share his worries.
• Chiba Makoto asked All Things in Nature to reveal her Bankai name, but she teased him and said he had to make her submit through strength.
• All Things in Nature warned Chiba Makoto that taking a shortcut would lead him to the wrong Bankai and prevent him from turning back.
• All Things in Nature said Chiba Makoto could not achieve Bankai until he understood true power, but her hints grew too faint for him to hear.
• All Things in Nature accused Chiba Makoto of thinking something awful and crushed him beneath a sea of trees.

Chiba Makoto traveled with Unohana Retsu to investigate soul loss in Rukongai, while reflecting on his struggle to master All Things in Nature. Unohana explained that the missing soul fragments might contain intense emotions and asked Makoto where a Zanpakuto’s power and personality came from.

• Chiba Makoto woke exhausted after All Things in Nature had pushed him through nine bouts the previous night.
• Chiba Makoto avoided Unohana Retsu, Yoruichi Shihoin, and Shaolin Fon before joining Unohana for their departure.
• Unohana Retsu summoned Minazuki and flew with Chiba Makoto through Hakutōmon and out of the Seireitei.
• Chiba Makoto saw the worsening poverty and disorder of Rukongai as they traveled and accepted a rice ball from Unohana.
• Unohana Retsu told Chiba Makoto that missing soul fragments contained intense emotions and asked where a Zanpakuto’s power, thoughts, and personality originated.
• Chiba Makoto answered that a Zanpakuto’s power, thoughts, and personality came from the Soul Reaper himself.

Unohana Retsu explained how a Shinigami’s soul, body, and emotions shaped their Zanpakuto, then considered Chiba Makoto’s question about identical Zanpakuto. They suspected someone was secretly stealing Zanpakuto powers from Rukongai residents, and the chapter ended with Chiba Makoto wondering whether Unohana had retrieved his lunch box from Minazuki’s stomach before serving it.

• Unohana Retsu explained that a Zanpakuto reflected both its Shinigami’s spiritual body and their will, thoughts, and emotions.
• Chiba Makoto wondered whether unusual differences between Shikai and Bankai, including his own Zanpakuto, came from conflicting influences.
• Unohana Retsu said identical Zanpakuto could result from stolen or replicated powers, or from forbidden experiments that replicated Shinigami.
• Chiba Makoto asked whether the missing parts of the residents’ souls could include Zanpakuto powers, and Unohana said someone might be stripping Shinigami powers from Rukongai residents on a large scale.
• After Chiba Makoto finished his rice ball, Unohana Retsu fed the lunch box to Minazuki, leaving him to suspect she had taken it from Minazuki’s stomach earlier.

Chiba Makoto tested Unohana Retsu’s emotion-detecting liquid while flying with her on Minazuki. He discovered that challenging her to a fight to the death provoked a terrifying response, turning the liquid pitch-black.

• Minazuki swallowed Makoto’s lunchbox and spat out two bottles, which Unohana Retsu caught.
• Unohana Retsu gave Makoto one bottle and explained that its color showed the strength of a spiritual entity’s emotions.
• Makoto tried praising Unohana Retsu to establish a normal reference, but the liquid barely changed color.
• Makoto told Unohana Retsu, “Teacher, let's fight to the death,” and her gentle expression shattered as blood-colored Reiatsu engulfed him.
• The liquid in Makoto’s bottle turned pitch-black.

Chiba Makoto questioned why his Zanpakuto, All Things in Nature, resisted his Bankai and began to suspect he had misunderstood its message. He arrived with Unohana Retsu at a dilapidated area to investigate missing souls.

• Unohana Retsu unleashed killing intent at Makoto, then explained that unpleasant memories had overwhelmed her.
• Makoto noticed that his battle instincts had intensified and that his blood caused the liquid in his bottle to turn crimson.
• Makoto considered whether All Things in Nature believed his Bankai would be wrong and wondered if its message involved the words “Battle” and “-chan.”
• Unohana Retsu brought Makoto to a dilapidated area, where three Tenth Division Soul Reapers waited amid the smell of decay and medicinal herbs.

Chiba Makoto examined residents whose souls had been damaged and discovered that nearly all had lost most of their emotional activity, deepening his suspicion that Aizen Sōsuke was responsible. The investigation brought him face-to-face with a young Ichimaru Gin, who fled after stealing rations.

• Unohana Retsu and Chiba Makoto arrived at the Tenth Division's shelter, where the Third Seat reported that 168 residents had lost portions of their souls and were still losing reishi.
• Unohana Retsu told Chiba Makoto to examine the residents and warned him not to let their suffering shake his heart.
• Chiba Makoto found that more than ninety percent of the residents had almost no emotional activity, and even Kaido treatment did not change their readings.
• Chiba Makoto suspected that Aizen Sōsuke had removed only the emotional parts of the residents' souls.
• Young Ichimaru Gin bumped into Chiba Makoto, broke free, and ran off with stolen rations as a Tenth Division member shouted after him.

Chiba Makoto treated residents suffering from missing souls and learned from Unohana Retsu that Soul Transplantation could potentially cure them, but it would leave the donor permanently deficient. The chapter ended with the residents’ illness still without a practical treatment.

• Yoshikami Tsume revealed his name and division to protect Ichimaru Gin, then recognized Chiba Makoto as Unohana Retsu’s disciple from the Gynecology Department.
• Chiba Makoto asked Yoshikami Tsume how the afflicted residents would be handled, and Tsume said they would probably be abandoned once cleared of danger to Soul Society.
• Chiba Makoto promised to do his best to save every patient and gave emergency treatment to some of the residents.
• After Chiba Makoto reported his examinations, Unohana Retsu explained that Soul Transplantation could fill the missing portions of the patients’ souls but would permanently damage the donor’s soul.

Chiba Makoto chose to learn Soul Transplantation Kaido to help Rukongai residents with incomplete souls, despite the unavoidable harm to healthy volunteers. After mastering the technique, he asked Yoshikami Tsume to help find candidates and screen willing donors.

• Chiba Makoto considered how soul loss caused spiritual bodies to shed spirit particles and concluded that transplantation would leave both recipient and donor with incomplete souls.
• Chiba Makoto told Unohana Retsu he wanted to learn Soul Transplantation Kaido so he could put his medical knowledge into practice.
• Unohana Retsu taught Chiba Makoto the technique, and he initially mastered it in less than half a day.
• Chiba Makoto explained the procedure and its risks to Yoshikami Tsume, who agreed to screen Rukongai residents and healthy volunteers.

Chiba Makoto performed Soul Transplantation on a grandmother and her granddaughter, repairing the girl’s spirit body and restoring some of her emotions. After the successful treatment, Yoshikami Tsume tried to explain his history with them, but Makoto cut him off to call in the next patient.

• Yoshikami Tsume brought an elderly woman and a little girl to Chiba Makoto for Soul Transplantation treatment.
• The elderly woman explained that she had adopted the girl and pleaded with Makoto to help her recover.
• Chiba Makoto used Soul Transplantation and Kaido to stabilize the girl’s spirit body and repair her injuries.
• Unohana Retsu secretly watched Makoto’s work, approved of his skill, and decided the missing soul fragments warranted alerting the Captain-Commander.
• Yoshikami Tsume anxiously asked about the treatment, and Chiba Makoto told him it had succeeded.
• Yoshikami Tsume began to recount his connection to the pair, but Chiba Makoto interrupted him to call in the next resident.

Chiba Makoto treated residents suffering from missing souls while Yoshikami Tsume searched Rukongai for people willing to provide what was needed for Soul Transplantation. Tsume found Ichimaru Gin, recognized his talent, and learned that Gin wanted help finding a trustworthy Soul Reaper to treat an unconscious orange-haired girl.

• Chiba Makoto resumed treating residents after Yoshikami Tsume arranged the next case.
• Yoshikami Tsume and his subordinates found fewer than five residents with relatives or friends willing to provide what Soul Transplantation required.
• Yoshikami Tsume went to Ichimaru Gin's isolated home, where Gin first threatened him with a short blade.
• Ichimaru Gin explained that he had awakened a Zanpakuto after picking up a Soul Reaper's weapon, and Yoshikami Tsume called him a rare genius.
• Ichimaru Gin asked Yoshikami Tsume to find a trustworthy Soul Reaper to treat his friend, then revealed an unconscious orange-haired girl hidden beneath a tatami mat.

Chiba Makoto weighed the risks of treating Matsumoto Rangiku, whom Ichimaru Gin had brought to him after she lost part of her soul. He agreed to help, but first teased Gin about his nearly closed eyes and diagnosed him with severe ptosis.

• Yoshikami Tsume introduced Ichimaru Gin and asked Chiba Makoto to treat Matsumoto Rangiku, whom Gin held in his arms.
• Chiba Makoto worried that treating Rangiku could draw Aizen Sōsuke's attention and expose him to suspicion.
• Ichimaru Gin pleaded with Chiba Makoto to save Rangiku and offered to repay him, even agreeing to excessive conditions.
• Chiba Makoto asked Ichimaru Gin to open his eyes wider, then examined his eyelids while Gin endured the humiliation for Rangiku's sake.
• Chiba Makoto diagnosed Ichimaru Gin with congenital severe ptosis and recommended Kaido treatment, corrective surgery, and free double eyelids.

Chiba Makoto agreed to treat Matsumoto Rangiku and offered to treat Ichimaru Gin as well, but Gin remained wary of his intentions. After checking that Unohana Retsu was still nearby, Makoto began preparing the treatment and promised to keep Gin awake.

• Ichimaru Gin refused Chiba Makoto's offer to treat him, but said he would accept anything after Rangiku was cured if Makoto insisted.
• Chiba Makoto respected Gin's refusal and agreed to treat Matsumoto Rangiku without holding Gin's earlier rudeness against him.
• Chiba Makoto checked that Unohana Retsu was still nearby before returning to begin the treatment.
• Ichimaru Gin asked Yoshikami Tsume to stay and worried that Chiba Makoto might do something to him during the procedure.
• Chiba Makoto said he usually put patients to sleep during treatment, then promised to let Gin remain awake and urged him not to move for Rangiku's sake.

Chiba Makoto warned Ichimaru Gin that sacrificing himself for Matsumoto Rangiku might cost him dearly, but Gin insisted on undergoing Soul Transplantation to restore her missing soul. As Makoto began the painful procedure, Gin endured it so he could witness Rangiku's treatment himself.

• Chiba Makoto teased Ichimaru Gin about his feelings for Matsumoto Rangiku and warned him that she might someday be with someone else.
• Ichimaru Gin confirmed he wanted to give part of his soul to Rangiku, despite the risk of damaging his Zanpakuto abilities and future potential as a Soul Reaper.
• Gin asked Makoto to transplant parts of his soul containing happiness, joy, and contentment into Rangiku.
• Chiba Makoto began Soul Transplantation, and Gin endured the intense pain while thinking of Rangiku and resolving to protect her.

Aizen Sōsuke explained to Tōsen Kaname how he planned to use a manufactured truth to conceal his actions, while Unohana Retsu was ordered back to Seireitei. After finishing Ichimaru Gin and Matsumoto Rangiku’s treatment, Chiba Makoto noticed something alarming about a new patient and sent Gin and Yoshikami Tsume away.

• Aizen Sōsuke told Tōsen Kaname that leaving damaged residents behind would create a believable explanation and make Unohana Retsu a witness to the truth he was constructing.
• A Hell Butterfly delivered Yamamoto’s order for Unohana Retsu to return to Seireitei for an emergency captains’ meeting, and she left without telling Chiba Makoto.
• Chiba Makoto completed the Soul Transplantation treatment for Ichimaru Gin and Matsumoto Rangiku and secretly planted a seed during the procedure.
• Yoshikami Tsume brought in a young woman and a little boy whose vacant appearances resembled those of other residents with missing portions of their souls.
• Chiba Makoto reacted with shock to the young woman and invented an excuse for Ichimaru Gin and Yoshikami Tsume to leave with Matsumoto Rangiku.

Chiba Makoto discovered that the widow who sought treatment was an empty shell concealing a powerful Hollow. After stabbing her and escaping with the boy, he warned Yoshikami Tsume and the Tenth Division that a Menos-level Hollow was inside the house, just as its Spiritual Pressure erupted.

• Ichimaru Gin realized Chiba Makoto had hinted at danger and urged Yoshikami Tsume to get Matsumoto Rangiku away while Yoshikami rushed back for help.
• Chiba Makoto examined the widow and found that nearly all the Reishi inside her spirit body had been hollowed out.
• The widow revealed that Chiba Makoto's emotional fluctuations had attracted attention, and he stabbed her with All Things in Nature before escaping with the boy.
• Yoshikami Tsume arrived with Tenth Division members, and Chiba Makoto warned them that a likely Menos-level Hollow was hidden inside the widow.
• A terrifying Spiritual Pressure erupted from the damaged house.

A widow transformed into an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande in Rukongai West 79th District, triggering an alert across Seireitei and orders for Captain-level reinforcements. As Chiba Makoto and the Tenth Division struggled under its spiritual pressure, the Adjuchas struck two Soul Reapers, and Makoto's grass-based ability began treating them.

• The widow revealed herself as a gigantic, spider-like Adjuchas and threatened the Soul Reapers who had disrupted her plans.
• The Technological Development Department detected the Adjuchas near Rukongai West 79th District, and Kurotsuchi Mayuri ordered a warning sent throughout Seireitei.
• Hirako Shinji received orders to respond with Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō and the Fourth Division's medical units, then raced toward the district.
• Chiba Makoto and more than thirty Soul Reapers faced the Adjuchas, whose spiritual pressure left most of them unable to move.
• The Adjuchas vanished and struck two Tenth Division members from behind, while Chiba Makoto warned the group and used grass and flowers to bind and treat the wounded.

The Tenth Division attacked an Adjuchas, but the Hollow effortlessly defeated its seated officers and began devouring a Soul Reaper. Chiba Makoto stayed at the edge of the battlefield as the Adjuchas revealed its appetite for Soul Reaper souls.

• The Tenth Division Third Seat ordered the members to spread out, use Kidō, and hold the Adjuchas back while reinforcements arrived.
• The Third Seat, Seventh Seat, and Yoshikami Tsume released their Zanpakuto and attacked the Adjuchas alongside the division’s Kidō users.
• Aizen Sōsuke and Tōsen Kaname observed the fight, and Aizen identified the retreating Chiba Makoto as Unohana’s disciple and a candidate for the Eleventh Division.
• Chiba Makoto stayed at the battlefield’s edge, reasoning that a Fourth Division doctor should let the Tenth Division fight first.
• The Adjuchas emerged unharmed, broke the Third Seat’s lance, pierced his chest, and left the other two seated officers badly wounded.
• The Adjuchas pierced a Tenth Division member and drained his soul, then declared that Soul Reaper souls were especially delicious.

Chiba Makoto rallied the Tenth Division against the Adjuchas and used his healing ability to keep their injured fighters in the battle. The Soul Reapers restrained the Hollow with repeated Kidō attacks, while Makoto remained wary that the Adjuchas’s appearance in Rukongai concealed a greater danger.

• Chiba Makoto urged the frightened Tenth Division members to fight with honor and promised to heal them as long as he lived.
• Yoshikami Tsume, the Seventh Seat, and other injured Soul Reapers recovered under Makoto’s treatment and returned to the fight.
• The Seventh Seat ordered the Soul Reapers to restrain the Adjuchas with Kidō, while Makoto healed the Third Seat and other wounded fighters.
• The Tenth Division unleashed layers of Kidō that hindered the Adjuchas, though it repeatedly broke free and sent Soul Reapers flying.
• Chiba Makoto kept his distance and treated the fallen as the Tenth Division repeatedly recovered and continued to hold the Adjuchas back.

Chiba Makoto and the Tenth Division held an Adjuchas at bay through Makoto’s healing until Tōsen Kaname used Suzumushi to stun them and the Hollow struck Makoto with a Cero. Aizen Sōsuke believed Makoto was dead, but then sensed that his weakening spiritual pressure had stopped fading.

• Chiba Makoto’s healing kept the wounded Tenth Division members fighting while they restrained the Adjuchas.
• Aizen Sōsuke recognized Makoto’s healing ability but ordered Tōsen Kaname to end the stalemate.
• Tōsen Kaname released Suzumushi, briefly dazing the Soul Reapers and interrupting their Bakudo.
• The Adjuchas appeared near Chiba Makoto and blasted him with a Cero, leaving him gravely wounded and the Tenth Division devastated.
• Aizen Sōsuke decided Makoto was dead and began to leave with Tōsen Kaname, then noticed Makoto’s spiritual pressure had stopped declining.

As Chiba Makoto lay near death after being struck by the Adjuchas, he heard All Things in Nature’s true release command and transformed his Zanpakuto, causing his Reiryoku to vanish from Aizen Sōsuke’s perception while his wounds began to heal. Aizen struggled to understand the change as the Adjuchas attacked Makoto again.

• Unohana Retsu urged Minazuki to fly faster toward the smoke, fearing for Chiba Makoto’s life.
• Near death and unable to sense All Things in Nature, Chiba Makoto heard its voice and spoke its true release command.
• Chiba Makoto’s Zanpakuto became a streak of light and merged into his body as Reishi gathered to heal his wounds, while his Reiryoku disappeared from Aizen Sōsuke’s perception.
• Aizen Sōsuke questioned how Makoto could be healing without detectable Reiryoku, and Tōsen Kaname asked what was wrong.
• The Adjuchas recognized Makoto, recalled its damaged shell, and drove a sharp foot down toward him.