Recaps

Asano Kiyoshi began rebuilding the Kidō Corps with strict standards, recruitment plans, examinations, and a merit system. After targeting the Aomura Family for investigation and working with Nel on the new system, he received a visit from Aizen Sosuke.

• Asano Kiyoshi announced new regulations for the Kidō Corps and ordered an internal review and open recruitment.
• Asano Kiyoshi appointed Nel as his temporary assistant and tasked Matsumoto Taku with collecting members’ spiritual pressure and information for Reishi ID cards.
• Asano Kiyoshi reviewed Aomura Shinichi’s file and planned to have the Second Division investigate the Aomura Family for possible confiscation of its property.
• Nel organized ways for members to earn merit, while Asano Kiyoshi established rewards for service and missions and set the cost of learning advanced Kidō.
• Aizen Sosuke arrived at the office and asked to speak with Asano Kiyoshi.

Asano Kiyoshi joined Aizen and Nel on their way to investigate the Kasumioji Clan, stopping first at the Repentance Palace to free someone he had promised to help. His arrival stunned the prisoners, many of whom recognized him from his past.

• Aizen apologized for interrupting Asano Kiyoshi's work, while privately wondering why Kiyoshi kept his distance from him.
• Asano Kiyoshi paused his work with Nel and agreed to accompany Aizen to the Kasumioji Clan, but said he first needed to visit the Repentance Palace.
• Aizen correctly guessed that Asano Kiyoshi intended to visit the Repentance Palace and urged him to hurry before Soi Fon grew impatient.
• Asano Kiyoshi and Aizen discussed the palace's imposing staircase as they approached under the moonlight.
• The prisoners recognized Asano Kiyoshi when he arrived at the cells, and their whispers turned to cries of shock.

Asano Kiyoshi returned to the prison as Chief Kido Master and told the prisoners he had not become like the people who imprisoned them. He and Aizen reached Naka Tatefuru, and Kiyoshi invited him to the front lines to expose the darkness.

• Asano Kiyoshi told a prisoner that he remained himself and would never become one of the people who had thrown him in prison.
• Aizen asked how Kiyoshi would deal with the prisoners if he became the highest ruler, and Kiyoshi called for equal laws and justice for the guilty and innocent alike.
• Aizen said Kiyoshi’s answer gave him direction and hope, and the two lit torches and continued through the corridor.
• Naka Tatefuru kept writing against injustice with his blood despite imprisonment, beatings, and starvation.
• Asano Kiyoshi found Naka Tatefuru and invited him to join the front lines to expose the darkness, and Naka agreed.

Soi Fon waited at the Kasumioji Clan estate while nobles tried to pressure her over the investigation, but the Captain-Commander backed her and ordered a thorough inquiry into the clan’s connection to the Baku Katana. Aizen and Asano Kiyoshi arrived with Naka Tatefuru, and Soi Fon began explaining how delays in setting up surveillance may have given the clan time to destroy evidence.

• Soi Fon scolded Omaeda for eating during work, while he urged her to take a break and wait for Aizen and Asano Kiyoshi.
• Kasumioji Clan retainers brought nobles to pressure Soi Fon, and the Tsunayashiro Family sent a letter to the Captain-Commander, who burned it and ordered Soi Fon and Aizen to investigate the clan’s connection to the Baku Katana.
• Aizen arrived with Asano Kiyoshi and Naka Tatefuru, whom Soi Fon recognized and questioned about his release from the Repentance Palace.
• Asano Kiyoshi showed Soi Fon the Captain-Commander’s sealed authorization to release Naka Tatefuru and reopen the investigation into his case.
• Soi Fon explained that the Twelfth Division had monitored the estate’s Reishi, but noble privileges delayed setup by six minutes and gave the Kasumioji Clan time to prepare.

Soi Fon explained how the Kasumioji Clan had activated Kido at eight points around its estate, while Asano Kiyoshi began carefully dismantling one of the barriers to preserve evidence. As the barrier vanished, a clan head suddenly charged toward it.

• Soi Fon told Asano Kiyoshi that the Kasumioji Clan had used the estate’s complex layout to activate Kido at eight locations and then refused to dispel the spells.
• Asano Kiyoshi asked Naka Tatefuru to record the investigation exactly as it happened and said they would breach the clan’s defenses while preserving evidence.
• Asano Kiyoshi examined an incomplete Kido barrier whose unstable core could cause a Reishi explosion if handled incorrectly.
• With Aizen’s encouragement, Soi Fon trusted Asano Kiyoshi as he used the Scroll to dismantle the barrier, pretending to struggle so she would not lose face.
• The Kido barrier vanished, and a Kasumioji Clan head suddenly charged toward it.

An attacker used poison smoke and a bomb to delay Soi Fon while Asano Kiyoshi worked on dismantling the barrier. As more Kasumioji Clan servants attacked, Nel released Antelope Knight to protect the barrier point and Asano.

• A hidden attacker drew a Baku Katana from his chest and ambushed the group near the barrier, but Soi Fon subdued him.
• The attacker released poison smoke that disrupted spiritual pressure, then revealed a bomb strapped to his body.
• Soi Fon carried the bomber hundreds of meters away, but he detonated the bomb less than three hundred meters from the second barrier point.
• Soi Fon activated Shunko and flew toward the explosion to stop it from reaching the barrier, ordering Omaeda to hold off the attackers.
• Kasumioji Clan servants shed their disguises and charged, and Nel released Antelope Knight to confront them.

Nel defended Asano Kiyoshi from the Death Warriors’ suicide assault, killing many while preventing her spiritual pressure from rising beyond Captain level. After she triggered a chain of explosions and used Bakudo #62—Hyapporankan, she was injured but pushed toward Asano Kiyoshi.

• Nel attacked the Death Warriors as they charged at Asano Kiyoshi, killing them before many could detonate their explosives.
• The Death Warriors split their assault, with six fighters self-destructing toward Nel while others rushed toward Asano Kiyoshi.
• Asano Kiyoshi told Nel not to expose her spiritual pressure and said he could handle the attackers reaching him.
• Nel hurled her spear, triggering a chain of explosions, then used Bakudo #62—Hyapporankan against the remaining attackers.
• Nel spat blood after the blasts and rushed toward Asano Kiyoshi despite her injury.

Asano Kiyoshi joined the battle against the Death Warriors after Nel and Aizen were injured, releasing Yellow Springs and summoning rain that strengthened nearby allies and dispersed the poison gas. He began a powerful Reverse Destructive Kido attack as the Death Warriors kept charging.

• Aizen and the Second Division reinforcements attacked the Death Warriors, who released poison gas from their fallen comrades’ bodies.
• Aizen raised a Dankū barrier against the gas, but repeated explosions broke it and left him apparently injured.
• Asano Kiyoshi abandoned his analysis of the Reishi barrier after seeing Nel cough up blood and released his Zanpakuto, Yellow Springs.
• Asano Kiyoshi summoned icy rain that increased spiritual pressure and dispersed the poison gas.
• The Death Warriors resumed their advance, and Asano Kiyoshi cast Reverse Destructive Kido #3—Iron Wind Kill.

Asano Kiyoshi annihilated the Death Warriors at one Reishi guard point and rushed to support Soi Fon, who was close to being overwhelmed. Yoruichi arrived just as Soi Fon was caught by a Death Warrior’s tentacles.

• A dragon-shaped blast of concentrated Reishi erased the Death Warriors and everything across a stretch of ground, after which Asano Kiyoshi found Nel and treated her wounds.
• Nel hugged and kissed Asano Kiyoshi, then urged him to help Captain Soi Fon; he ordered the Punishment Force to defend the other guard points and left Omaeda to tend the wounded and secure evidence.
• Aizen watched Asano Kiyoshi depart and thought that he would keep creating or clearing away enemies to help him grow.
• Soi Fon continued fighting the Death Warriors despite having spent much of her spiritual power and being barely able to maintain Shunko.
• A Death Warrior’s tentacles trapped Soi Fon’s leg as she prepared to cut it free, but Yoruichi caught her hand and arrived to help.

Asano Kiyoshi and Soi Fon defeated the Death Warriors attacking them, while Isshin Shiba reported that the attackers included members of the long-exiled Ryūtoji Clan. The Captain-Commander summoned a meeting for the next morning, leaving Asano Kiyoshi to consider what he knew about the clan.

• Asano Kiyoshi rescued Soi Fon from an exploding Death Warrior and used Shunko, prompting her to ask where he had learned the technique.
• Asano Kiyoshi bound the Death Warriors with combined Kido, then joined Soi Fon in killing them.
• Isshin Shiba arrived after stopping another group of Death Warriors who had tried to break open the Maggot's Nest.
• Isshin Shiba told Asano Kiyoshi and Soi Fon that the captured attackers included private soldiers and people bearing the aura of the Dangai, apparently from the exiled Ryūtoji Clan.
• Isshin Shiba relayed the Captain-Commander's order for a Captain's Meeting the next morning and told Asano Kiyoshi to bring his lieutenant.
• Asano Kiyoshi began recalling what he knew about the Ryūtoji Clan.

Asano Kiyoshi agreed to help Isshin Shiba clear the Reishi barriers while promising Soi Fon an explanation for his actions. Isshin took Kiyoshi’s awkward response as evidence that he was courting disaster by being involved with multiple women.

• Asano Kiyoshi reflected that the Ryūtoji Clan had appeared far earlier than expected and accepted that the story’s course had changed.
• Isshin Shiba urged Asano Kiyoshi not to overexert himself, but Kiyoshi insisted on helping clear the Reishi barriers.
• Soi Fon reminded Asano Kiyoshi that he had promised to explain himself, and he said he would try even if he could not make the truth clear.
• Isshin Shiba misread their exchange as romantic trouble and privately resented Asano Kiyoshi for having a girlfriend while attracting female Shinigami.
• On the way to the barriers, Isshin Shiba pointed out a dead rabbit and claimed it had died after cheating on its mate.
• Asano Kiyoshi failed to understand Isshin Shiba’s warning, and Isshin concluded that he could not escape the same calamity as the rabbit.

Asano Kiyoshi and Isshin Shiba reached a Reishi barrier that Asano identified as the site where Bakuyō Swords were made, and Asano began deciphering it. As he worked, he reflected on the decline and incompleteness of Kido and his belief that mastering it could give Shinigami power comparable to the gifts of other races.

• Asano Kiyoshi reassured Isshin Shiba that his suspicions were mistaken, and the two left the dead rabbit behind.
• Asano Kiyoshi and Isshin Shiba found the second Reishi barrier and recognized the scorching area as the likely Bakuyō Sword production site.
• Asano Kiyoshi asked Isshin Shiba to guard him while he dismantled the barrier, and Isshin drew his Zanpakuto to watch over him.
• Asano Kiyoshi touched the pale blue barrier and used his Reishi and Scroll to rapidly decipher its Kido.
• Asano Kiyoshi reflected on barrier Kido’s decline, the powers granted to different races, and his belief that Kido could help Shinigami secure their place.
• Asano Kiyoshi considered Kido incomplete, especially Kaido, whose methods he found too limited.

Asano Kiyoshi broke the Reishi barriers concealing the Kasumioji Clan’s crimes and entered the hidden passage with Isshin Shiba. They discovered a deadly trap, then saw corpses ahead that left Isshin stunned.

• Asano Kiyoshi reflected on Kaido’s limitations and considered discussing mass production of Flesh Supplement Potion with Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
• Asano Kiyoshi recorded the final arrangement sequence, shattering the Reishi barriers and revealing the Kasumioji Clan’s hidden passage.
• Isshin Shiba urged Asano Kiyoshi to leave, but Asano insisted on accompanying him inside.
• Isshin Shiba detected the smell of rotting and boiled corpses, then threw a torch ahead to trigger a trap of venomous spears.
• Asano Kiyoshi summoned two lightbulb-version Shakkahō to illuminate the passage and pointed out corpses to Isshin Shiba, who was horrified by the sight.

Isshin Shiba and Asano Kiyoshi investigated a corridor filled with corpses and fought a grotesque monster. They rescued Shūsuke Amagai, who warned them that the evidence was inside the room at the end of the corridor, and he fainted before they could question him.

• Isshin Shiba identified the piled corpses as likely victims used to develop the Bakuyō Swords.
• Asano Kiyoshi sensed something approaching, and Isshin Shiba fought a spiked monster that emerged from the corridor.
• Asano Kiyoshi noticed someone alive inside the monster and helped Isshin Shiba cut it open and rescue a man.
• The rescued man urged Isshin Shiba and Asano Kiyoshi to find the evidence inside the room before fainting.
• Asano Kiyoshi recognized the rescued man as Shūsuke Amagai.

Asano Kiyoshi decided to keep the wounded Shūsuke Amagai close while he and Isshin Shiba searched the Kasumioji Clan laboratory. They found records of cruel Bakuyō Sword experiments, but no noble was named, so Asano planned to have the Gotei 13 investigate without waiting for Central 46.

• Asano Kiyoshi judged that Shūsuke Amagai remained dangerous but could not bring himself to kill him, so he chose to keep him under watch.
• Asano Kiyoshi used Kaido to stabilize Shūsuke Amagai, then went with Isshin Shiba to gather evidence in the laboratory.
• After the two left, Shūsuke Amagai opened his eyes and watched them with a cold glint.
• Asano Kiyoshi and Isshin Shiba found human tissue, unfinished Bakuyō Swords, and experiment records describing how Shinigami souls and human tissue strengthened the weapons.
• Asano Kiyoshi collected the documents and concluded that the Gotei 13 would investigate the Kasumioji Clan laboratory, while Central 46 would handle only the final judgment.

Asano Kiyoshi faced Kenpachi Zaraki outside the First Division Barracks, but Retsu Unohana and Yachiru interrupted their confrontation. Kenpachi headed for the Captain's Meeting, repeatedly getting lost and damaging the ground, while Asano repaired one of the pits.

• Kenpachi Zaraki challenged Asano Kiyoshi to fight, but Retsu Unohana stepped between them and calmed the confrontation.
• Yachiru ran to Unohana for konpeito, and Kenpachi gave up on fighting Asano for the day.
• Kenpachi mistook the direction of the Captain's Meeting, and Unohana pointed out that he had gotten lost again.
• Kenpachi used Shunpo to leave, leaving a pit in the ground, and Asano Kiyoshi restored the damaged area with Kido.
• Kenpachi returned, claiming he was going to pay for the floor tiles he had stepped on, then vanished and left another pit behind.

Asano Kiyoshi teased Kenpachi Zaraki’s nervousness around Unohana and was reprimanded, while the captains gathered amid a series of comic misunderstandings. The Captain-Commander finally began the meeting, leaving Aizen wondering whether he had entered a zoo.

• Asano Kiyoshi remarked that Kenpachi Zaraki seemed nervous around Unohana, and Unohana gently scolded him and Nel for discussing adults’ affairs.
• Chōjirō Sasakibe went to hurry everyone along but was also lectured by Unohana, while the Captain-Commander watched with amusement.
• Kenpachi Zaraki entered the meeting room muttering that his kick should have shattered the floor tiles, and Asano Kiyoshi suppressed a laugh as Soi Fon glanced at him.
• Isshin Shiba noticed Soi Fon’s interest in Asano Kiyoshi, then accepted Komamura Sajin’s comb and Gin’s dried persimmons after mistaking their kindness for sympathy about his fur.
• Aizen checked the meeting-room sign and sighed, and the Captain-Commander announced the start of the meeting.

The captains debated how to punish the Kasumioji Clan for producing Bakuyō Swords and causing numerous deaths and disappearances. They approved a sentence for Kasumioji Ruri Chiyo and the clan’s retainers, then turned to the Ryūtoji Clan’s return from exile.

• Asano Kiyoshi argued that only Kasumioji Clan members involved in the crimes should be punished, while the Captain-Commander cited the deaths of at least seventy squad members and the disappearance of nearly sixteen hundred Rukongai residents.
• Byakuya Kuchiki insisted that Kasumioji Ruri Chiyo, as clan head, must bear responsibility despite her young age.
• Asano Kiyoshi agreed that the Kasumioji Clan should be punished in a way that deterred future crimes and compensated victims.
• The Captain-Commander sentenced Kasumioji Ruri Chiyo to fifty years in the Repentance Palace, commuted to a payment of two million Kan, and sentenced the principal retainers to death, with Kumoi receiving the ultimate penalty.
• The Captain-Commander revealed that investigators had found a Dangai entrance in Yamada noble territory and that the exiled Ryūtoji Clan had used it to enter, then called for their extermination.

Soi Fon and Mayuri Kurotsuchi presented evidence of suspicious deaths, movements, and spiritual pressure tied to the Yamada Family. Mayuri concluded that the Tsunayashiro Clan was certainly involved and urged the Captain-Commander to check records of powerful items borrowed from the Great Spirit Book Gallery.

• Soi Fon reported that the Yamada Family had concealed deaths and that its private soldiers traveled among several noble clans, including the Tsunayashiro Clan.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi explained that the Yamada Family's small Dangai had been stabilized with Kido about forty-six years earlier.
• Asano Kiyoshi said that stabilizing a Dangai of that size for over a century would require immense power and could not be done unnoticed in a single casting.
• Mayuri calculated that the Tsunayashiro Clan's access to the Great Spirit Art Corridor made its involvement certain.
• Mayuri asked the Captain-Commander to investigate records of high-output treasures loaned out five, seventeen, and twenty-three years earlier.

After evidence linked the nobles to the stolen sacred treasures, Head Captain Yamamoto ordered an expedition against the Ryūtoji Clan and appointed Asano Kiyoshi its Supreme Commander. Asano accepted the command under a Military Order, then received unexpected thanks and demands from fellow captains as they departed.

• Head Captain Yamamoto assigned the divisions roles in a campaign against the Ryūtoji Clan and named Asano Kiyoshi Supreme Commander.
• Komamura worried that Asano lacked experience, but Asano accepted the charge and vowed victory under a Military Order that made failure punishable by death.
• Head Captain Yamamoto finalized the plan for next month's battle and ordered the captains to keep it secret.
• Byakuya Kuchiki gave Asano a deed to help fund the Kidō Corps and invited him to visit the Kuchiki Clan to meet Hisana and Rukia.
• Soi Fon told Asano she would return in seven days to question him about his Shunko.
• Kenpachi promised to let Asano make the first move in their next duel as thanks for helping him deal with the ground.

Asano Kiyoshi learned that Kenpachi Zaraki’s debts came from fines for wrecking buildings while fighting, and promised him a share of the spoils in the coming battle against the Ryūtoji Clan. After the Vice-Captains’ meeting, the captains reunited with their subordinates, while Omaeda was left alone in the empty hall.

• Kenpachi Zaraki told Asano Kiyoshi that fines for damaging buildings and his daily konpeito expenses had left him deeply in debt to Unohana.
• Asano Kiyoshi promised Kenpachi a larger share of the spoils for fighting the Ryūtoji Clan, and Kenpachi eagerly agreed to follow his command.
• Yachiru rushed out of the meeting room, collided with Kenpachi, and demanded the konpeito he had brought her.
• Asano Kiyoshi and Nel left together to find strawberry cake, while the other captains collected their Vice-Captains.
• Chizuru Isane scolded Isshin Shiba and Gin Ichimaru, then led them to Rangiku, where Gin gave her the Dried Persimmons.
• Omaeda remained alone in the empty hall, holding a piece of fried dough cake and calling for his Captain.

Asano Kiyoshi oversaw the Kidō Corps entrance exam and admitted Shūsuke Amagai after he demonstrated powerful Kidō. After reviewing alarming materials from the Research and Development Institute, Asano decided to learn Bankai before visiting the Ryūtoji Clan and entered the world within the scroll for his final reincarnation.

• Asano Kiyoshi instructed the Kidō Corps candidates to demonstrate high-level Bakudo and Hado in the final examination.
• Nel warned Asano Kiyoshi that Shūsuke Amagai had been watching him, and Asano told her to monitor Amagai because of his connection to the Bakuyō Sword case.
• Shūsuke Amagai cast Bakudo Number Seventy-Nine, Kuyō Shibari, impressing the examiners and earning admission to the Kidō Corps.
• Asano Kiyoshi welcomed Shūsuke Amagai, while Amagai wondered whether Asano had discovered his plans.
• Asano Kiyoshi reviewed materials from the Research and Development Institute and decided to learn Bankai before going to the Ryūtoji Clan.
• Asano Kiyoshi explained a few things to Nel and entered the world within the scroll for his final reincarnation.

Asano Kiyoshi realized his final trial had placed him in a Soul Society where he and Nelliel were condemned to execution for colluding with Arrancar. He escaped Soi Fon and rushed home to check on Nelliel, while a mysterious pain left him with the sense that he had forgotten something.

• Asano Kiyoshi recognized that the Punishment Force and Soi Fon believed he had endangered the Soul Society and had been ordered to execute him and Nelliel.
• Asano Kiyoshi released Yellow Springs and fought Soi Fon, who injured his arm while the Punishment Force prepared binding Kido.
• Asano Kiyoshi disrupted the Kido aimed at him and redirected both spells toward Soi Fon, then pinned her with his rain technique and hurled her into them.
• Asano Kiyoshi hurried toward home to ensure Nelliel was safe, but a sudden pain in his mind made him feel he had forgotten something.

Asano Kiyoshi was hunted down by Byakuya, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, and Gin after Mayuri’s potion disrupted his ability to sense Reishi and control his body. Desperate to protect the lake-green-haired figure, Asano erased the potion’s effects, released his Zanpakuto, and unleashed Reverse Destructive Kido #3—Iron Wind Kill.

• Byakuya pursued Asano Kiyoshi and asked him to surrender, but Asano attacked with Sōren Sōkatsui and fled.
• Asano used a fully incanted Dankū to block Senbonzakura, but he collapsed when Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s Reishi Disorder Potion impaired his brain nerves.
• Mayuri explained how the potion disrupted Asano’s perception of Reishi, while Byakuya and Gin arrived to help capture him.
• Asano thought of the lake-green-haired figure and used his Zanpakuto’s erasure ability to remove the potion’s effects, then controlled his damaged body with Reishi threads.
• Byakuya, Gin, and Mayuri released their Zanpakuto as Asano unleashed Reverse Destructive Kido #3—Iron Wind Kill.

Asano Kiyoshi fought Byakuya and Gin Ichimaru to reach Nel after learning Soul Society would not let her return. Though he wounded both captains and they stopped pursuing him, more white-haori figures blocked his path in the rain.

• Asano Kiyoshi's Reverse Kido injured Gin Ichimaru and Byakuya, while Mayuri Kurotsuchi escaped by turning his body into liquid.
• Byakuya told Asano Kiyoshi that Nel would likely be executed or sent to the Research and Development Department, so Asano Kiyoshi prepared to fight his way to her.
• Asano Kiyoshi attacked Gin Ichimaru from the shadows, but Byakuya intervened and saved him.
• Asano Kiyoshi charged through Byakuya and Gin Ichimaru's coordinated attacks, stabbing both captains while they pierced his abdomen.
• Byakuya collapsed and Gin Ichimaru withdrew, allowing Asano Kiyoshi to heal himself and head toward Nel.
• Several figures in white haori drew their Zanpakuto and blocked Asano Kiyoshi's path.