Chapter Summaries

Grimmjow attacked Karakura Town and demanded that Kurosaki Ichigo hand over Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, prompting Ichigo to fight him. Chiba Makoto and Unohana Retsu headed to confront Grimmjow while Yoruichi Shihoin and Nel stayed behind to guard the courtyard.

• Grimmjow arrived above Karakura Town and challenged the Soul Reapers, drawing the attention of Chiba Makoto, Unohana Retsu, Yoruichi Shihoin, and Nel.
• Chiba Makoto sent Yoruichi Shihoin and Nel to guard the courtyard while he and Unohana Retsu went to investigate Grimmjow.
• Nel released her Resurrección and returned to her little-girl form to conceal her powerful spiritual pressure.
• Kurosaki Ichigo attacked Grimmjow with Getsuga Tensho, but Grimmjow blocked the strike and demanded that Ichigo hand over Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck.
• Kurosaki Ichigo refused, and Grimmjow began fighting him, intending to take him as a bargaining chip.

Grimmjow’s fight against Kurosaki Ichigo escalated after Ichigo’s Hollowification turned the battle even, while Aizen Sōsuke secretly reached Nel. The chapter ended with Aizen telling Nel it was time to go home.

• Grimmjow transformed with his Resurrección and overwhelmed Kurosaki Ichigo, while Soul Reaper captains secretly watched.
• Grimmjow struck Ichigo with Panther King's Claw, but Ichigo’s Hollow mask appeared and his Getsuga Tensho tore through the attack.
• Ichigo’s Getsuga Tensho wounded Grimmjow, and the two began fighting on even terms as Grimmjow grew more violent over Nel.
• Aizen Sōsuke silently breached the Kidō barrier behind the Flower Exhibition Hall and appeared behind Nel.
• Aizen Sōsuke told Nel it was time to go home.

Sōsuke Aizen confronted Nel in Karakura Town and ordered her to return to Las Noches, claiming she was family and that he needed to protect her. Yoruichi Shihoin intervened, but Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu let him evade her attack and wound her, leaving her despairing at the gap between him and its imitator.

• Sōsuke Aizen appeared before Nel and ordered her to return to Las Noches, saying he had realized she was family.
• Nel refused to leave Father and prepared to use Resurrección, but Aizen warned that resistance could bring punishment and destroy the garden.
• Yoruichi Shihoin appeared behind Aizen and attacked him with Shunkō, releasing her spiritual pressure across Karakura Town as a warning to Chiba Makoto.
• Aizen's image vanished as an afterimage, and he struck Yoruichi Shihoin, leaving her wounded and despairing over how powerful his Kyōka Suigetsu was compared with the imitation she had faced before.

Aizen Sōsuke took Nel back to Hueco Mundo after critically injuring Yoruichi Shihoin, while Chiba Makoto failed to stop him and promised to bring Nel back from Las Noches. Aizen returned with Nel to the assembled Espada and waited in silence.

• Aizen Sōsuke defeated Yoruichi Shihoin and agreed to spare her when Nel offered to return with him.
• Chiba Makoto tore open the closing Garganta and confronted Aizen Sōsuke, but Aizen revealed that Yoruichi's injuries were beyond Unohana Retsu's ability to heal.
• Chiba Makoto promised Nel he would come to Hueco Mundo to bring her back, then released the Garganta and rushed to Yoruichi's side.
• Nel doubted that Chiba Makoto would risk coming for her, though she was glad she had managed to say goodbye.
• Aizen Sōsuke brought Nel to Las Noches, where he joined the assembled Espada and waited silently on his throne.

Aizen Sōsuke spared Grimmjow for acting without permission, asked him to protect Nel, and announced that a war to decide the world's fate was about to begin. In Karakura Town, Yoruichi Shihoin woke after Chiba Makoto had created a replacement spine for her, learning that Unohana Retsu had helped with the treatment.

• Grimmjow returned to Las Noches wounded and thanked Aizen Sōsuke after finding Nel safe at his side.
• Aizen Sōsuke forgave Grimmjow and told him to keep Nel from being taken away again.
• Aizen Sōsuke announced an imminent war and ordered the Espada to guard their areas while he waited for a guest.
• Yoruichi Shihoin woke in Chiba Makoto's room and discovered that her injury had been healed.
• Unohana Retsu explained that Chiba Makoto had created a replacement spine for Yoruichi Shihoin after her original spine was shattered.

After learning Aizen Sōsuke had taken Nel, Chiba Makoto insisted on going to Hueco Mundo despite the gathered leaders’ warnings that it could be a trap. He asked the Thirteen Divisions to send forces with him, hoping to disrupt Aizen Sōsuke’s plans.

• Yoruichi Shihoin learned that Aizen Sōsuke had taken Nel and felt guilty that Makoto had been unable to stop him while saving her.
• Unohana Retsu told Yoruichi to trust Makoto and respect his decision to rescue Nel.
• Unohana Retsu joined the gathered captains, Urahara Kisuke, Hirako Shinji, and Kensei Muguruma, who urged Makoto not to go to Hueco Mundo.
• Makoto declared that he was going to Hueco Mundo and explained that he had informed them so they could prepare, not to seek their approval.
• Unohana Retsu supported Makoto’s choice as a father, while Kyōraku Shunsui warned that Aizen Sōsuke might be trying to lure or manipulate him.
• Makoto asked the Thirteen Divisions to send some of their forces with him to Hueco Mundo so they could disrupt Aizen Sōsuke’s plans.

Chiba Makoto announced that he would go to Hueco Mundo and asked the Thirteen Divisions for support, prompting Kyōraku Shunsui to question whether Nel held a major secret. Chiba Makoto instead revealed that he had found the incomplete soul of the long-dead Fourth Division Lieutenant Chiba Makoto in Hueco Mundo.

• Chiba Makoto insisted on going to Hueco Mundo and asked the Thirteen Divisions to assist him.
• Kyōraku Shunsui warned that Aizen Sōsuke threatened both Karakura Town and the wider world, then asked whether Nel had a hidden secret.
• Chiba Makoto said he would disclose a secret and identified Soi Fon as someone who already knew about it.
• Soi Fon recalled that Chiba Makoto had told her about Lieutenant Chiba Makoto’s incomplete soul.
• Chiba Makoto explained that he had found the lieutenant’s incomplete soul in Hueco Mundo and suspected someone had extracted it after ambushing him.
• Kyōraku Shunsui remembered that Lieutenant Chiba Makoto had lost consciousness while sustaining Bankai: Tree Realm Birth, and that the Seireitei had concluded his soul had vanished.

Kurosaki Makoto presented Chiba Makoto’s final recording, then suggested Aizen Sōsuke had killed him and experimented on his soul, part of which had become fused with Nel. The Soul Reapers accepted the theory, and Unohana Retsu vowed to kill Aizen.

• Soi Fon corroborated Kurosaki Makoto’s account and played a recording of Chiba Makoto’s final words, moving the Soul Reapers to tears.
• Unohana Retsu mourned Chiba Makoto, and the others tried to comfort her.
• Kurosaki Makoto revealed that part of Nel’s soul belonged to Chiba Makoto and connected the discovery to Aizen Sōsuke’s past experiments.
• Kurosaki Makoto theorized that Aizen had used Kyōka Suigetsu to kill Chiba Makoto and fused his soul into Nel during Hogyoku experiments.
• Soi Fon and the other Soul Reapers grew furious at Aizen, while Unohana Retsu collapsed into Kurosaki Makoto’s arms and vowed to kill him.

After learning that Chiba Makoto’s soul might be inside Nel, the Soul Reapers considered the possibility of reviving him and prepared to travel to Hueco Mundo. Soi Fon, Matsumoto Rangiku, and Ise Nanao committed themselves to helping, while Chiba Makoto reaffirmed his resolve to take control of the Soul Society from Hyōsube Ichibē.

• Chiba Makoto calmed Unohana Retsu by reminding her that rescuing Nel was the immediate priority, then explained that Makoto’s soul might be fused with Nel’s.
• Urahara Kisuke said Makoto might awaken if his spiritual body remained intact, but warned that soul damage could leave him with lasting impairments and that he might no longer remember Soi Fon.
• Soi Fon accepted the possibility of being forgotten and volunteered to go to Hueco Mundo with Chiba Makoto to reclaim Nel’s soul.
• Matsumoto Rangiku defied Hitsugaya Tōshirō’s objection and declared that she would help Makoto because he had once brought her to the Seireitei and was like family to her.
• Chiba Makoto reflected on the bonds he wanted to protect and resolved to seize the Soul Society from Hyōsube Ichibē.
• Ise Nanao told Kyōraku Shunsui that she would leave her division duties for the time being to repay the care Makoto had shown her.

Unohana Retsu announced that she would defy Seireitei’s orders and travel to Hueco Mundo to reclaim Chiba Makoto’s soul, drawing support from several Soul Reapers. In the Sixth Division, Kuchiki Byakuya remembered his friendship with Chiba Makoto through a bloodstained Ginpa'kasa and carefully put it on.

• Ise Nanao defied Kyōraku Shunsui and asked Kurosaki Makoto to let her accompany him to Hueco Mundo.
• Unohana Retsu declared that she would reclaim Chiba Makoto’s soul and invited anyone willing to join her when she departed in half a day.
• News of Unohana Retsu’s decision spread through Seireitei, and Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji hurried to the Sixth Division captain’s office.
• Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji found Kuchiki Byakuya silently studying a bloodstained Ginpa'kasa.
• Kuchiki Byakuya explained that Chiba Makoto had given him the Ginpa'kasa after defeating him and called Makoto his only true friend.
• Kuchiki Byakuya carefully put on the bloodstained Ginpa'kasa.

Kuchiki Byakuya and Hisagi Shūhei defied Seireitei’s restrictions and went to Karakura Town to join Unohana Retsu’s effort to reach Hueco Mundo. Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni let them go, fearing that Aizen Sōsuke’s plan would lure captains away before an assault on Karakura Town.

• Kuchiki Byakuya left his captain’s haori behind and told Rukia and Renji he would answer Makoto’s call, leaving Renji in charge of the Sixth Division.
• Kuchiki Rukia offered to go with Byakuya, but he ordered her to remain in Seireitei.
• Hisagi Shūhei asked to use the Kuchiki Clan’s Senkaimon to travel to Karakura Town, and Byakuya agreed to go with him.
• Chōjirō Sasakibe reported Byakuya and Hisagi’s departure to Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni and asked whether they should be stopped.
• Yamamoto questioned who could stop Unohana Retsu and warned that Aizen Sōsuke might be using the rescue mission to draw captains to Hueco Mundo before attacking Karakura Town.

Chiba Makoto prepared to travel to Hueco Mundo to bring Nel back, while Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni ordered the Thirteen Divisions to ready their remaining forces for a decisive battle. Kuchiki Byakuya and Hisagi Shūhei joined the expedition despite Kyōraku Shunsui’s objections, and the group entered the Garganta bound for Hueco Mundo.

• Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni ordered Chōjirō Sasakibe to alert the Twelfth Division and prepare the Thirteen Divisions’ seated officers for battle.
• Chiba Makoto refused Kurosaki Ichigo, Uryu Ishida, Chad Yasutora, and Inoue Orihime’s requests to accompany him to Hueco Mundo.
• Kuchiki Byakuya and Hisagi Shūhei arrived and declared that they would join the expedition.
• Kyōraku Shunsui challenged Kuchiki Byakuya’s decision, but Chiba Makoto mocked Kyōraku Shunsui’s own conduct and defended Kuchiki Byakuya.
• Unohana Retsu and Chiba Makoto entered Urahara Kisuke’s Garganta, followed by Soi Fon, Kuchiki Byakuya, Hisagi Shūhei, and the other Soul Reapers.

Chiba Makoto led a group of Soul Reapers into Hueco Mundo to reach Las Noches and find Nel, while Hisagi Shūhei challenged him to confirm his motives and the plan to recover Makoto's soul. As Las Noches came into view, Chiba Makoto and Aizen Sōsuke appeared to sense each other across the distance.

• Chiba Makoto explained that Las Noches lay northwest and that Nel was likely inside, prompting the Soul Reapers to head there.
• Hisagi Shūhei confronted Chiba Makoto, demanding to know whether he was exploiting them and whether he would allow Makoto's soul to be separated from Nel.
• Unohana Retsu assured Hisagi Shūhei that she could separate the soul without harming Nel, easing his doubts.
• Chiba Makoto urged the group to hurry, warning that Aizen Sōsuke might know they had arrived and could attack them or Karakura Town.
• Chiba Makoto's group crossed Hueco Mundo and encountered only a few Menos Grande before Las Noches appeared in the distance.
• Chiba Makoto sensed Aizen Sōsuke inside Las Noches, and Aizen Sōsuke opened his eyes and looked toward the approaching group.

Chiba Makoto discovered that Sōsuke Aizen’s return of Nel was intended to draw Soul Reapers into Hueco Mundo while leaving Karakura Town vulnerable. As Chōjirō Sasakibe led the Kidō Corps in preparing to move the real town and its residents to the Soul Society, Chiba Makoto sensed that something about the situation did not add up.

• Chiba Makoto located Nel with Grimmjow in Las Noches and contacted Urozakuro to ask about Sōya Azashiro and Aizen’s recent actions.
• Urozakuro reported that Aizen had ordered the Espada and Arrancar to guard their areas and prepare to attack Karakura Town as planned.
• Chiba Makoto concluded that Aizen was using Nel to split the battlefield, while he had brought Soul Reapers to Hueco Mundo to protect the forces he would need to control the Seireitei.
• After checking the intelligence around Las Noches, Chiba Makoto sensed that something was not quite right.
• In Karakura Town, Chōjirō Sasakibe and the Kidō Corps began preparing Soul Transfer Pillars to exchange the real town with its replica in the Soul Society and prevent Aizen from creating the King's Key.

Aizen Sōsuke watched the Thirteen Divisions’ preparations in Karakura Town and discussed the Soul Reapers invading Las Noches with Ichimaru Gin, who worried about Matsumoto Rangiku’s safety. As Chiba Makoto’s group advanced into Las Noches, they encountered Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, whose roses left Soi Fon furious at being excluded.

• Aizen Sōsuke dismissed the Thirteen Divisions’ Soul Transfer Pillars as meaningless and showed Ichimaru Gin the group approaching Las Noches.
• Aizen Sōsuke asked Ichimaru Gin whether to attack the intruders or use some forces to delay them, and Ichimaru Gin concealed his worry for Matsumoto Rangiku.
• Chiba Makoto’s group entered Las Noches and hurried through its expansive, labyrinthine territory.
• Three Adjuchas-class Arrancar blocked the group’s path, and Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio introduced himself after offering roses to Matsumoto Rangiku, Ise Nanao, and Unohana Retsu.
• Soi Fon grew furious when Dordoni failed to offer her a rose.

Soi Fon and Hisagi Shūhei fought Dordoni and Gantenbainne while the others assessed the Arrancar’s strength. Chiba Makoto stepped up to face Tier Harribel, who recognized him as a Quincy and accused him of serving the Soul Reapers who once exterminated his people.

• Gantenbainne Mosqueda warned Dordoni not to underestimate the Captains, while Tier Harribel pointed out that the Arrancar were outnumbered.
• Soi Fon used Suzumebachi to attack Dordoni, then evaded his punch and hurled him into the ground with Hakuda.
• Hisagi Shūhei released Kazeshini and wounded Gantenbainne by using the chained scythe against him.
• Kuchiki Byakuya estimated that Aizen Sōsuke might command more than a hundred Captain-level Arrancar and prepared to fight Tier Harribel.
• Chiba Makoto stepped forward to face Tier Harribel, confirmed he was a Quincy, and drew her scorn for siding with the Soul Reapers.

Chiba Makoto defeated Tier Harribel and left her alive after demonstrating overwhelming power. With the group’s presence discovered in Las Noches, he decided to use Tier as a guide.

• Chiba Makoto taunted Tier Harribel about serving Sōsuke Aizen, enraging her into releasing her Resurrección.
• Tier attacked Chiba Makoto with her greatsword, but he blocked it, severed her control of it, and turned it into a Reishi Arrow.
• Chiba Makoto fired the arrow past Tier, obliterating everything behind her and leaving her terrified and unable to fight.
• Soi Fon and Hisagi Shūhei defeated their own opponents while Tier collapsed before Chiba Makoto.
• Soi Fon asked why Chiba Makoto had spared Tier, and he said they needed a guide through Las Noches.

Chiba Makoto used a long-range arrow to kill Luppi Antenor inside Las Noches while warning Aizen Sōsuke of his power. At Las Noches’s edge, the Soul Reapers failed to make Tier reveal the way to Nel, until Unohana Retsu offered to try persuading her gently.

• Chiba Makoto stopped Kuchiki Byakuya from dealing with Tier and used a devastating arrow as a warning to Aizen Sōsuke.
• Luppi Antenor tortured and killed one of his Fracción inside his palace.
• An azure arrow struck Luppi from beyond his sight, blasting apart his chest and killing him as his Fracción watched.
• Luppi’s Fracción fled in terror, unable to sense or identify the attacker.
• Chiba Makoto threatened and questioned Tier, but she refused to betray Aizen Sōsuke despite pressure from Soi Fon and Kuchiki Byakuya.
• Unohana Retsu offered to change tactics and try persuading Tier gently.

Unohana Retsu persuaded Tier Harribel to reveal information about Las Noches, including the existence of a mysterious NO.0 said to rule Hueco Mundo alongside Sōsuke Aizen. Chiba Makoto tried to dismiss the legend as a lie and keep his connection to it hidden, while the Soul Reapers prepared to follow Tier to Nel.

• Unohana Retsu led Tier away and returned with her subdued and willing to share information about Las Noches.
• Tier revealed that the Espada each had a palace and claimed there were eleven lords, including a mysterious NO.0.
• Tier said NO.0's palace stood beside Aizen's at the center of Las Noches, symbolizing their equal status as Kings of Hueco Mundo.
• Chiba Makoto privately recognized that he had invented the NO.0 title, then argued that Aizen might have secretly killed its supposed owner.
• Tier insisted NO.0 still existed, but Unohana Retsu stopped the argument and asked Tier to lead them to Nel's palace.

Aizen Sōsuke learned that Luppi Antenor had been killed and sent Ichimaru Gin to confront Chiba Makoto’s group with Tier Harribel, Ulquiorra, Nel, and Grimmjow. Chiba Makoto questioned whether Aizen had uncovered his secrets or whether the move was merely a coincidence.

• Tōsen Kaname reported that an unknown force had killed Espada No. 8, Luppi Antenor, and Aizen Sōsuke showed no surprise.
• Aizen Sōsuke ordered Tier Harribel, Ulquiorra, Nel, and Grimmjow to wait at the Fifth Palace and assigned Ichimaru Gin to lead them against the arriving guests.
• Ichimaru Gin accepted the mission despite his anger at Aizen Sōsuke for forcing him to fight his former comrades, including Matsumoto Rangiku.
• Tōsen Kaname relayed Aizen Sōsuke’s order that the selected Espada confront the enemy while the others stayed in their palaces.
• Chiba Makoto noticed that Aizen Sōsuke had chosen Espada connected to Asura Yan Cheng and wondered whether Aizen knew more about him than expected.