Chapter Summaries

Ise Nanao explained that the Divine Sword: Mirror of the Eight Realms reacted to Makoto because he might possess traits of the Soul King, but Makoto suspected the King's Seal was responsible. After Nanao revealed the danger of becoming a substitute Soul King, Makoto asked her to join the First Division as his assistant, and they answered in unison with opposite reactions.

• Ise Nanao told Chiba Makoto that the Divine Sword reacted to people with traits of a deity and suggested part of the Soul King might reside within him.
• Makoto showed Nanao the King's Seal, and she accepted it as a possible explanation for the sword's reaction.
• Nanao warned Makoto that a person inhabited by a substantial part of the Soul King could be turned into the wedge stabilizing the worlds, and promised to cut out any such part within him.
• Makoto asked Nanao whether she would choose him or the world's survival, and she replied that there would be another way.
• Makoto invited Nanao to become the First Division's Third Seat and his assistant, prompting simultaneous replies of "I'm willing!" and "No!"

Chiba Makoto failed to recruit Ise Nanao because Yoruichi Shihoin insisted the Eighth Division needed her, but he confirmed the Ise Clan's secret and the Eight Mirror Sword's limits. Meanwhile, Aizen Sōsuke used his disguise as Amagai Shūsuke to arrange a banquet that would bring Hinamori Momo closer to Makoto, intending to weaken Makoto's bond with Unohana Retsu.

• Yoruichi Shihoin refused to let Ise Nanao leave the Eighth Division and sent Chiba Makoto away.
• Aizen Sōsuke joined Chiba Makoto on his walk back and suggested that Makoto could have descendants with Ise Clan blood wield the Eight Mirror Sword.
• Chiba Makoto said he trusted Ise Nanao not to attack him but worried that someone could manipulate a future daughter into using the sword against him.
• Aizen Sōsuke returned to the Fifth Division disguised as Amagai Shūsuke and told Hinamori Momo that he had arranged a banquet with Makoto.
• Aizen Sōsuke resolved to draw Makoto away from Unohana Retsu, whom he considered a weakness before the coming battle with Zero Division.

Chiba Makoto returned to the First Division and reported to Unohana Retsu, who was now Captain-Commander. As they looked over Seireitei, he reflected on how he had gained control of it while preserving appearances to mislead the Zero Division.

• Chiba Makoto went to the top floor of the First Division and embraced Unohana Retsu, telling her Nanao probably would not oppose them.
• Unohana Retsu accepted Chiba Makoto's judgment and recognized that he, rather than she, held real control over the Thirteen Divisions.
• Chiba Makoto and Unohana Retsu recalled his arrival at the Fourth Division more than a century earlier and how their relationship had changed.
• Chiba Makoto declared that he now held Seireitei in his grasp, with the Central 46 Chambers destroyed and the noble class greatly diminished.
• Chiba Makoto and Unohana Retsu maintained the appearance of divided power in Seireitei to mislead the Zero Division.

Chiba Makoto and Unohana Retsu discussed the Seireitei’s future and the coming threat of Yhwach, then began an intimate encounter on the First Division’s Tenshukaku. The story left them together as a three-way conflict among the Zero Division, the Thirteen Divisions, and the Sternritter loomed.

• Unohana Retsu acknowledged that Chiba Makoto had brought the Seireitei under their control and resolved to protect what he cherished.
• Chiba Makoto warned Unohana Retsu that the Zero Division would eventually discover the Seireitei had only one true voice.
• Chiba Makoto revealed the Quincy prophecy and said Yhwach would regain his power in about two years.
• Unohana Retsu identified the Sternritter as a looming threat, and Chiba Makoto clarified that the coming struggle would involve the Zero Division, the Thirteen Divisions, and the Sternritter.
• Chiba Makoto and Unohana Retsu began an intimate encounter on the top floor of the First Division’s Tenshukaku.

Chiba Makoto handled the First Division’s affairs while Unohana Retsu remained in seclusion after their repeated bouts, and rumors praised her tireless training. Yoruichi Shihoin brought him an invitation from Amagai Shūsuke, giving Makoto an excuse to take a night off.

• Chiba Makoto fulfilled his old vows by repeatedly fighting and healing alongside Unohana Retsu through the night.
• Unohana Retsu entered seclusion for three days, while Chiba Makoto handled her duties and told Soul Reapers she had gained insight into slaughter.
• Yoruichi Shihoin delivered a report on Seireitei rumors, sniffed out Unohana Retsu’s scent on Chiba Makoto, and agreed to guide public sentiment toward diligent training and a counterattack against Hueco Mundo.
• Yoruichi Shihoin gave Chiba Makoto an invitation from Amagai Shūsuke to a Fifth Division banquet organized by Hinamori Momo.
• Chiba Makoto accepted the invitation and looked forward to taking a night off from his exhausting duties and nightly battles.

Chiba Makoto accepted that he had to attend Aizen Sōsuke’s banquet after Yoruichi Shihoin praised Captain Amagai as trustworthy. He brought Nemu Kurotsuchi back to the Seireitei, altered her spiritual body, and gave her the new name “Nothing.”

• Yoruichi Shihoin told Chiba Makoto that Captain Amagai seemed trustworthy and capable of restoring the Fifth Division.
• Chiba Makoto realized Aizen Sōsuke’s invitation left him no choice but to attend the banquet.
• Chiba Makoto decided Nemu Kurotsuchi could assist him with First Division paperwork, but needed a new appearance to avoid suspicion.
• Chiba Makoto altered Nemu Kurotsuchi’s spiritual body, changing her appearance and spiritual pressure.
• Chiba Makoto named Nemu Kurotsuchi “Nothing” as she began her new life in the Seireitei.

Makoto avoided joining the women’s hot spring banquet in the Fifth Division and instead drank with Aizen, who questioned why someone as powerful as Makoto cared about ordinary Soul Reapers. The chapter ended with Makoto telling Aizen that he understood his view but could not agree with it.

• Hinamori Momo invited female captains and Vice-Captains to a hot spring banquet in the Fifth Division courtyard at Aizen Sōsuke’s suggestion.
• Chiba Makoto arrived, saw the gathering, and suspected Aizen had arranged it to draw him in, so he declined to join the hot spring.
• Makoto accepted Aizen’s invitation to share drinks in the pavilion overlooking the banquet.
• Aizen told Makoto that his gentleness toward those he considered ants was difficult to understand and questioned why he restrained his desires.
• Aizen declared that he and Makoto were the only ones of their kind, but Makoto said he could not agree with Aizen’s view.

Chiba Makoto and Aizen Sōsuke discussed respect, loneliness, and what made life meaningful over a meal. Makoto’s defense of Yin-Yang Harmony left Aizen startled by the idea that kings could not coexist.

• Chiba Makoto told Aizen Sōsuke that respecting others was less important than respecting one’s former self to avoid becoming what one once despised.
• Aizen Sōsuke reflected on his alienation in Rukongai and his search for someone interesting, which he found in Makoto.
• Makoto praised the meal, and Aizen revealed that he had mastered many skills, including cooking, in pursuit of interesting things.
• Aizen explained that romance and descendants held little meaning for beings like them, while Makoto said he valued Yin-Yang Harmony.
• Makoto compared kings who could not coexist with the balance of a king and queen, and Aizen’s pupils trembled.

Aizen Sōsuke brooded over the possibility that he and Chiba Makoto would eventually compete for the only throne above the Soul King Palace. After speaking with Hinamori Momo, he decided Unohana Retsu might be Makoto’s queen and resolved to prove that he was the one who could truly understand Makoto.

• Aizen Sōsuke realized that he could neither coexist with Chiba Makoto as a king nor accept submission, and wondered whether Makoto had warned him about their future conflict.
• Hinamori Momo entered to report banquet expenses, but Aizen Sōsuke dismissed the trivial matter and questioned her feelings for her former captain.
• Hinamori Momo admitted that she still believed in Aizen Sōsuke and said she could do many things for him if he returned to the Seireitei.
• Aizen Sōsuke concluded that Makoto might regard Unohana Retsu as a future queen who could stand beside him without creating a rivalry between kings.
• Aizen Sōsuke crushed his cup, regained his resolve, and vowed to show Makoto who could truly understand him as he rested a hand on Kyōka Suigetsu.

Chiba Makoto prepared the Thirteen Divisions for the coming war with the Sternritter and asked Aizen Sōsuke to investigate Kurosaki Ichigo. Aizen revealed that Ichigo’s origin involved Urahara Kisuke’s special Gigai, and Makoto proposed they examine it.

• Chiba Makoto urged the Thirteen Divisions to train harder, and the Captains and Vice-Captains pursued new ways to grow stronger.
• Chiba Makoto invited Aizen Sōsuke to play a game and asked what he knew about the Sternritter and Yhwach.
• Aizen Sōsuke deduced that the Sternritter were likely hiding in a space within Soul Society’s shadows, making them difficult to locate.
• Chiba Makoto asked Aizen Sōsuke about Kurosaki Ichigo, and Aizen suggested Ichigo was neither human, Hollow, nor Soul Reaper.
• Aizen Sōsuke explained that Kurosaki Ichigo’s true connection to Kurosaki Masaki was through a special Gigai Urahara Kisuke had given Kurosaki Isshin.
• Chiba Makoto invited Aizen Sōsuke to examine the Gigai, which still existed despite Urahara Kisuke’s death.

Chiba Makoto and Aizen Sōsuke visited Kurosaki Clinic to inspect Kurosaki Isshin’s Gigai, but Aizen’s plan began with a robbery. The chapter ended with Isshin amused by the two disguised intruders as Aizen demanded his valuables.

• Uryu Ishida angrily blamed the Thirteen Divisions for refusing to help retrieve Kurosaki Makoto’s body and vowed to enter Hueco Mundo alone.
• Chiba Makoto and Aizen Sōsuke watched Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Orihime before heading to Kurosaki Clinic to investigate Isshin’s Gigai.
• Aizen suggested making Isshin leave his Gigai so Chiba Makoto could examine it, and Chiba agreed.
• Aizen and Chiba entered the clinic in disguise, and Aizen pointed a small knife at Isshin and declared a robbery.
• Isshin laughed at the disguised delinquents, while Aizen demanded that he hand over his valuables.

Chiba Makoto and Aizen Sōsuke posed as delinquents to provoke Kurosaki Isshin into revealing his Soul Reaper powers, then took Kurosaki Masaki hostage to force him to submit. The chapter ended with Kurosaki Isshin realizing Chiba Makoto’s blade could pierce Masaki’s Blut Vene and that her life was in immediate danger.

• Aizen Sōsuke attacked Kurosaki Isshin with a dagger, and the two fought while Chiba Makoto watched.
• Kurosaki Masaki came downstairs and dismissed Isshin’s warning that the two delinquents were robbers.
• Aizen Sōsuke ordered Chiba Makoto to take Kurosaki Masaki hostage, and Chiba Makoto vanished behind her with a blade at her neck.
• Chiba Makoto and Aizen Sōsuke revealed Arrancar auras and claimed to be carrying out Lord Aizen’s task, alarming Kurosaki Isshin and Kurosaki Masaki.
• Kurosaki Isshin trusted Masaki’s Blut Vene to protect her, but Chiba Makoto’s blade cut her neck and forced Isshin to submit.

Kurosaki Isshin watched Kurosaki Masaki get taken through a Garganta and fought the remaining Arrancar in a desperate attempt to learn where she was being held. Meanwhile, Chiba Makoto examined Masaki and Isshin’s Gigai but found no abnormalities, leaving him suspicious that Kurosaki Ichigo’s extraordinary nature was not a coincidence.

• The blond delinquent took Kurosaki Masaki through a Garganta while the black-haired delinquent stayed behind to capture Kurosaki Isshin.
• Kurosaki Isshin released his Gigai, called on Engetsu, and unleashed Getsuga Tensho against the black-haired delinquent, destroying much of Kurosaki Clinic.
• Kurosaki Isshin pursued the black-haired delinquent into the skies above Karakura Town, hoping to force him to reveal the rendezvous point.
• While Isshin fought, Chiba Makoto opened another Garganta, took Isshin’s Gigai and the unconscious Kurosaki Masaki, and examined them.
• Chiba Makoto found no suspicious traces in either Masaki or Isshin’s Gigai, but remained wary of how unusually powerful Kurosaki Ichigo was.

Aizen Sōsuke manipulated Kurosaki Isshin into fighting an illusion while Chiba Makoto reported that they needed to gather the Kurosaki family to examine the research subject. Isshin’s battle reached Karakura Town First High School, where he revealed that Kurosaki Masaki had been kidnapped and taken into the Garganta.

• Chiba Makoto told Aizen Sōsuke that examining Kurosaki Isshin’s Gigai and Kurosaki Masaki had revealed no issues, so they should gather the whole family.
• Aizen Sōsuke guided his illusion of the black-haired delinquent teenager toward Karakura Town First High School and let the battle’s spiritual pressure become detectable.
• Chad Yasutora pointed out Kurosaki Isshin fighting in the sky, and Kurosaki Ichigo and Inoue Orihime watched as the combatants approached the school.
• Kurosaki Isshin fired a Getsuga Tensho that sent the black-haired delinquent teenager crashing onto the school rooftop, causing students to flee.
• Kurosaki Ichigo confronted Kurosaki Isshin about endangering civilians, and Isshin told him Kurosaki Masaki had been kidnapped and taken into the Garganta.

Kurosaki Ichigo and Chad Yasutora fought the black-haired Arrancar after Kurosaki Isshin revealed that Ichigo’s mother had been taken, and the battle brought down the school. Inoue Orihime was pulled through a Garganta with Ichigo’s body and reunited with Chiba Makoto, then asked him again to let her live in Soul Society.

• Kurosaki Ichigo transformed, activated Bankai, and charged the black-haired Arrancar while Chad Yasutora joined the attack.
• The fight collapsed the school building, and the black-haired Arrancar escaped with Sonido as Ichigo and Chad pursued him.
• Inoue Orihime protected herself and Ichigo’s body beneath the rubble with Shun Shun Rikka.
• An arm reached through a Garganta and dragged Inoue Orihime and Ichigo’s body away from the ruins.
• Inoue Orihime recognized Chiba Makoto, and he reassured her before she pleaded to go to Soul Society.
• Chiba Makoto remained troubled because he believed Orihime should live out her human life in the World of the Living.

Chiba Makoto examined Kurosaki Ichigo and discovered that his body carried pure-blood Quincy power, leaving him confused about Ichigo’s parentage. He concluded that Ichigo’s Soul Reaper, Hollow, Quincy, and human aspects might make him a perfect material for merging Reishi and Matter Particles.

• Chiba Makoto asked Inoue Orihime about her friends and reminded her to keep watch over Kurosaki Ichigo.
• Orihime saw the unconscious Kurosaki family members and worried, but Chiba Makoto reassured her that he was protecting them.
• Chiba Makoto examined Ichigo and discovered that he was a pure-blood Quincy despite Kurosaki Isshin's Gigai being ordinary.
• Chiba Makoto questioned who Ichigo's biological father was and considered Ishida Ryūken as a possibility.
• Chiba Makoto realized Ichigo's Soul Reaper and Hollow traits existed in his soul while his body carried Quincy and human identities, making him a perfect material for merging Reishi and Matter Particles.

Chiba Makoto concluded that Kurosaki Ichigo had been born as a potential replacement for a god and decided to keep developing him as a pawn against Zero Division and Yhwach. In Karakura Town, the black-haired Arrancar exploded after proclaiming his loyalty to Aizen, and the blast revealed the blond-haired delinquent holding Kurosaki Masaki.

• Chiba Makoto considered destroying Kurosaki Ichigo's body to thwart Zero Division, but chose to cultivate him and balance his powers instead.
• Hirako Shinji, Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, and Sarugaki Hiyori blocked the black-haired delinquent's escape routes after reporting the Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar to Seireitei.
• Kurosaki Ichigo and Kurosaki Isshin attacked the black-haired delinquent, hoping to capture him and recover Kurosaki Masaki.
• Chiba Makoto changed the plan through Aizen Sōsuke, and the black-haired delinquent swelled as if preparing to self-destruct.
• The black-haired delinquent shouted, "Lord Aizen... long live!" and exploded, opening spatial tears that showed the blond-haired delinquent holding Kurosaki Masaki.

After Kurosaki Masaki was taken through a closing Garganta, Kurosaki Ichigo and Kurosaki Isshin prepared to enter Hueco Mundo to rescue her. Hirako Shinji arranged a passage through Soul Society, and Ishida Uryū and Chad Yasutora joined the mission.

• The blond delinquent took Kurosaki Masaki through a Garganta as it closed, leaving Kurosaki Ichigo and Kurosaki Isshin unable to reach her.
• Kurosaki Ichigo's rage triggered Hollowification, and he attacked Hirako Shinji when Hirako tried to stop him.
• Hirako Shinji told Kurosaki Ichigo and Kurosaki Isshin that the Technological Development Department could open a passage to Hueco Mundo, and they agreed to go there to rescue Masaki.
• Hirako Shinji relayed the situation to the Seireitei, and a Senkaimon opened for the group.
• Ishida Uryū joined the trip to find Kurosaki Makoto, and Chad Yasutora joined to help rescue Masaki.
• Hirako Shinji led Kurosaki Ichigo, Kurosaki Isshin, Ishida Uryū, and Chad Yasutora through the Senkaimon while Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō and Sarugaki Hiyori stayed in Karakura Town.

Kurosaki Isshin and Kurosaki Ichigo reached the Seireitei seeking a passage to Hueco Mundo to rescue Kurosaki Masaki, and Chiba Makoto arranged for Kurotsuchi Mayuri to open one. After warning that their chances against Aizen Sōsuke were nearly nonexistent, Chiba was asked to join the rescue mission.

• Kurosaki Isshin and Kurosaki Ichigo rushed through the Senkaimon, intending to reach the Twelfth Division and ask Kurotsuchi Mayuri for a passage to Hueco Mundo.
• Chiba Makoto reassured Isshin that he would not stop them and explained that he had already asked Kurotsuchi Mayuri to prepare a passage directly into Las Noches.
• Chiba introduced Amagai Shūsuke as the new captain of the Fifth Division, and Ichigo introduced Chad Yasutora and Ishida Uryū.
• Chiba warned Isshin and Ichigo that the four of them had little chance of defeating Aizen Sōsuke and his forces, but they remained determined to rescue Kurosaki Masaki.
• Isshin asked Chiba to accompany them to Hueco Mundo.

Chiba Makoto refused to accompany Kurosaki Isshin and Kurosaki Ichigo to Hueco Mundo for now, citing his duty to protect Soul Society and the risk of Aizen Sōsuke's trap. Kurosaki Isshin then asked him to open a Senkaimon so he could train Ichigo in the Dangai, though maintaining Boundary Stabilization might leave Isshin too weak for the rescue.

• Kurosaki Ichigo pleaded with Chiba Makoto to help rescue Kurosaki Masaki from Hueco Mundo.
• "Amagai Shūsuke" scolded Kurosaki Ichigo for asking Chiba Makoto to leave his post and risk Soul Society's safety.
• Chiba Makoto explained that he could not go to Hueco Mundo until the situation was clarified, but promised to support them later.
• Kurosaki Isshin asked Chiba Makoto to open and maintain a Senkaimon so he could train Ichigo in the Dangai's altered flow of time.
• Chiba Makoto warned that maintaining Boundary Stabilization would consume so much of Isshin's spiritual pressure that he might be unable to join the rescue.