Recaps

Asano Kiyoshi mourned Bannai Daigo and received quiet support from Shunsui before returning to the hospital. After hearing how Asano had defeated a Hollow alone, Ikkaku challenged him to a spar, and the two began their fight under the moon.

• Asano Kiyoshi visited Bannai Daigo's grave and struggled with guilt over his death.
• Shunsui sheltered Asano Kiyoshi with an umbrella and walked with him through the rain, helping him feel less burdened.
• Asano Kiyoshi returned to the hospital and told Yumichika and Ikkaku what had happened.
• Ikkaku challenged Asano Kiyoshi to a fight, and the pair slipped out of the Fourth Division barracks while Yumichika followed as referee.
• Asano Kiyoshi checked Ikkaku's stats and noted that Ikkaku had learned Shikai before they drew their Zanpakuto and charged at each other.

Asano Kiyoshi and Madarame Ikkaku fought a friendly duel, with Asano using Kido to keep Ikkaku at range until they both released their Zanpakuto. Their clash played live for the gathered captains, who watched as the meeting fell silent at the releases.

• Asano Kiyoshi used Byakurai and Hōrin to hinder Ikkaku and keep him from closing in, but Ikkaku dodged the first spell and slashed the second apart.
• Asano Kiyoshi recognized Ikkaku's skill and moved away to create distance before the two met each other's gaze.
• Asano Kiyoshi and Madarame Ikkaku released their Zanpakuto, calling out Yellow Springs and Hozukimaru.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi watched the fight on his surveillance device during the Captain's Meeting, and the Captain-Commander focused on the footage.
• Jushiro Ukitake asked Mayuri to stop the duel, but Mayuri ignored him and the captains continued watching until the releases silenced the meeting.

Asano Kiyoshi released his domain-type Zanpakuto, Yellow Springs, against Ikkaku, stunning the captains watching the recording. As their battle continued, Asano used Shikai-enhanced Kido to conceal and track himself while Ikkaku charged through the fog.

• Ikkaku’s blood-red Reiatsu surged as the captains watched his battle with Asano Kiyoshi in a recording.
• Asano called out “Turn to Heavenly Light and Wither—Yellow Springs,” revealing a vast flower sea that overwhelmed the surrounding area with ink-black Reiatsu.
• Captain-Commander Yamamoto ordered Mayuri Kurotsuchi to restrict the recording to captains and keep it from Central 46.
• Asano cast an enlarged Sekienton that hid his position and let him track Ikkaku through the red mist.
• Ikkaku cut a path through the fog, and Asano sent a Fushibi net at him; Ikkaku twisted through the air and thrust Hozukimaru toward his lower left.

Asano Kiyoshi fought Ikkaku in a friendly match, but Ikkaku used the red tassels from Red Hozukimaru to detect him and countered his Kido ambush. Asano then demonstrated astonishing Post-Chanting and began a second incantation, leaving the captains stunned.

• Ikkaku scattered Red Hozukimaru’s red tassels to track Asano Kiyoshi through Sekienton, Kyokkō, and Fushibi, then struck him at close range.
• Asano Kiyoshi used Shunpo to injure himself and widen the distance after Ikkaku exposed his plan.
• Ikkaku pursued Asano through the air and smashed through his Shakkahō, taking burns as he pressed forward.
• Asano Kiyoshi used Post-Chanting during the fight, shocking the captains watching the surveillance feed.
• Asano continued chanting, and yellow Reishi chains appeared as the captains realized he was performing Double Chanting.

Asano Kiyoshi overwhelmed Ikkaku by combining advanced Kido techniques with swordsmanship, revealing a level of skill that stunned the captains. Ikkaku was paralyzed by Tsuzuri Raiden as Asano’s attack continued.

• The Captain-Commander realized Asano Kiyoshi had used Post-Chanting and Double Chanting at the same time, then ordered Mayuri Kurotsuchi to seal Asano’s records.
• The Captain-Commander silently marked Asano Kiyoshi as a leading candidate, while Aizen grew curious about his abilities.
• Ikkaku cut through Asano’s Bakudo with Hozukimaru’s three-section staff and launched one section at him to counter his sword thrust.
• Asano dodged Hozukimaru and threw his Ink-black Longsword, then used Tsuzuri Raiden to paralyze Ikkaku as he tried to evade.

Asano Kiyoshi defeated Ikkaku, and the captains recognized his potential to become Captain-Commander. Yamamoto ordered the recording kept secret and tasked Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Byakuya Kuchiki with protecting Asano Kiyoshi from the nobles, while Aizen watched with a dangerous smile.

• Asano Kiyoshi paralyzed Ikkaku with a Blue Lightning Serpent and ended the fight by holding an ink-black longsword to his neck.
• Asano Kiyoshi dissolved the sword into Black Reiatsu, and he and Ikkaku promised to keep striving to surpass each other.
• The captains discussed Asano Kiyoshi's abilities and considered him a likely successor to Head Captain Yamamoto.
• Head Captain Yamamoto ordered the captains not to disclose the recording and warned them to protect Asano Kiyoshi.
• Head Captain Yamamoto told Mayuri Kurotsuchi to conceal Asano Kiyoshi's records in the Great Spirit Book Gallery and urged Byakuya Kuchiki to make the right judgment for his clan.
• Aizen watched beneath the moonlight with a dangerous curve at the corner of his lips.

Aizen explained how he used the recording to intensify the conflict between the Tsunayashiro Family and Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's faction. After Tsunayashiro Sosuke and Yuta decided Kojiro had to claim first place and enter the Great Spirit Book Gallery, Sosuke killed the subordinate who had brought the footage.

• Gin told Aizen that the recording had been delivered to the Tsunayashiro Family.
• Kaname Tōsen questioned the risk of exposing the recording, and Aizen explained that he had arranged the surveillance and intended to inflame tensions between rival factions.
• Aizen said the Tsunayashiro Family wanted something in the Great Spirit Book Gallery and needed Kojiro to place first among the Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy graduates.
• Tsunayashiro Sosuke and Yuta concluded that Kojiro had to take first place and enter the Great Spirit Book Gallery, while avoiding a direct move against Asano Kiyoshi.
• Tsunayashiro Sosuke asked his subordinate to fetch Kojiro, then beheaded the subordinate to prevent any leak.

Asano Kiyoshi reflected on why he had deliberately revealed his Shikai, hoping to spur the Tsunayashiro Family into accelerating its plans and help him grow stronger. Meanwhile, Yamamoto explained to Byakuya that he had never expected to protect Kiyoshi’s battle records and revealed his intent to target the nobles’ influence in the Thirteenth Division.

• Tsunayashiro Sosuke ordered a guard to summon Tsunayashiro Kojiro and the butler to dispose of a headless corpse, while Kojiro entered the room under the butler’s contemptuous gaze.
• Asano Kiyoshi reviewed how he had used his fight with Ikkaku to reveal some of his strength, attract the Tsunayashiro Family’s attention, and encourage Kojiro’s early graduation.
• Asano Kiyoshi considered the strength he had kept hidden and the risks of Kojiro’s possible breakthrough, then fell asleep.
• Byakuya Kuchiki warned Yamamoto that Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s lockdown might not protect Asano Kiyoshi’s battle records.
• Yamamoto told Byakuya that Kiyoshi had deliberately revealed his Shikai to hasten the Tsunayashiro Family’s plans, and that he had issued his orders to signal his resolve to cut off the nobles’ influence in the Thirteenth Division.

Head Captain Yamamoto trained Asano Kiyoshi and explained how his premature display of strength complicated the political plans surrounding the Tsunayashiro Family and the Gotei 13 captains. He then sent Asano to North Rukongai’s final three districts to survive without protection and grow stronger.

• Head Captain Yamamoto criticized Asano Kiyoshi’s swordsmanship and his handling of the previous night’s events, then warned that his actions could hasten the Tsunayashiro Family’s plans.
• Head Captain Yamamoto explained that Asano’s actions forced him to revise his arrangements and made it harder for the captains to decide whether to support Asano.
• Asano recognized that his weakness made support from the nobles a risky investment, while Head Captain Yamamoto reassured him that he would protect him until he became strong.
• Head Captain Yamamoto ordered Asano to survive in North Rukongai’s final three districts, kill his enemies and Hollows, and face the danger without interference or protection.

Asano Kiyoshi entered Rukongai’s 78th District, where he uncovered a woman’s attempt to kill him and the horrifying conditions behind her madness. After granting her request to die and burning her and her child’s remains, he followed the warning’s source and found Kuchiki Rukia.

• Asano Kiyoshi tried to give a starving woman flatbread, but she threw down the child she carried and attacked him with a dagger.
• Asano Kiyoshi pinned the woman with his spiritual pressure and discovered that the child was a rotting corpse and that the woman bore many old wounds.
• The woman briefly regained clarity, asked Asano Kiyoshi to kill her, and thanked him after he killed her with a flash of white lightning.
• Asano Kiyoshi saw the district’s residents waiting to eat the bodies, then burned the woman and child’s remains with a fireball.
• Asano Kiyoshi followed the voice that had warned him and found Kuchiki Rukia in an alley.

Asano Kiyoshi met Rukia in Rukongai, gave her food, and learned that a Hollow had been taking people west of her home. Their conversation was interrupted when Renji attacked Asano, who restrained him with Kido.

• Asano Kiyoshi inspected Rukia’s abilities and saw that she was physically frail but had a strong affinity for Reishi.
• Asano Kiyoshi showed Rukia his Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy badge and explained that he had come to eliminate a Hollow.
• Rukia warned Asano Kiyoshi that people had disappeared west of her area and cautioned him about dangerous criminals there.
• Asano Kiyoshi gave Rukia flatbread wrapped in oil paper, and she introduced herself as Rukia while calling him Brother Asano Kiyoshi.
• Renji rushed out of an alley and attacked Asano Kiyoshi, but Asano used Binding Kido Number One - Sai to knock him down.

Asano Kiyoshi forgave Renji for attacking him and agreed to spend the night with Rukia and her companions. They reached the children’s dilapidated home, where the three other children greeted Rukia and Renji but feared Asano Kiyoshi.

• Rukia explained that Renji had attacked Asano Kiyoshi to protect her, and Asano Kiyoshi assured her that Renji was unharmed and he was not angry.
• Renji apologized to Asano Kiyoshi and pleaded with him not to blame Rukia; Asano Kiyoshi released him and checked his abilities using the Scroll.
• Asano Kiyoshi asked to stay at Rukia’s home, and Rukia admitted that it was shabby and they had little food.
• Asano Kiyoshi reassured Rukia that he had brought food, then followed her and Renji to their home.
• Rukia, Renji, and Asano Kiyoshi arrived at the ruined shelter, where three malnourished children welcomed Rukia and Renji but looked afraid of Asano Kiyoshi.

Asano Kiyoshi comforted Rukia and the other children, offered to take those who wished to leave to a home near Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy, and taught them basic Reishi control and Kido. Before leaving for the west at dawn, he left supplies and secretly healed the children, while Rukia woke and watched him go with admiration.

• Rukia and Renji reassured the frightened children that Asano Kiyoshi was strong and kind.
• Asano Kiyoshi gave a thirsty boy clean water, and the boy shared it with the other children before returning the flask.
• Asano Kiyoshi promised to return in half a month and take any children who wanted to leave to stay with Granny Hana near Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy, asking them to help children in farther districts of Rukongai.
• Asano Kiyoshi taught the children basic Reishi control and Kido, and Rukia showed remarkable talent by casting a Bakudo and a Hado.
• At dawn, Asano Kiyoshi left most of his food and water behind and used Kaido to treat the children while they slept.
• Rukia woke during her treatment, silently watched Asano Kiyoshi leave, and treasured the sight as he continued westward.

Asano Kiyoshi hunted fugitives in the outer districts of Rukongai, following the Captain-Commander’s orders to improve security and earn merits. He found Yamano Mirō and declared that he had come to kill him.

• The Captain-Commander had given Asano Kiyoshi a device listing fugitives and ordered him to kill as many as he could for public safety and merits.
• Asano’s device detected Yamano Mirō nearby and showed his name and photograph.
• Yamano Mirō recalled killing an old man and having the man’s daughter taken to his camp.
• Asano tracked Yamano Mirō and confronted him as he prepared to return to camp.
• Yamano released Mukade Maru, but Asano cut his ankles and held a blade to his neck.

Asano Kiyoshi captured Yamano Mirō and interrogated him about the other fugitives and disappearing souls. After Yamano Mirō fabricated a sob story, Asano Kiyoshi offered to let him go if he provided accurate information, then prepared to deal with his injuries.

• Asano Kiyoshi restrained Yamano Mirō, cut off his arms, and asked how many other fugitives could resist.
• Yamano Mirō stayed silent, so Asano Kiyoshi shocked him and asked whether he knew about the souls disappearing in the area.
• Asano Kiyoshi dislocated Yamano Mirō's jaw to stop him from killing himself, then restored it when he tried to answer.
• Yamano Mirō pleaded for his life and claimed he had fled an abusive noble family, but Asano Kiyoshi's information showed he was a violent criminal.
• Asano Kiyoshi promised to let Yamano Mirō go if he gave accurate information, then said he had a solution for his injuries that might hurt.

Asano Kiyoshi forced Yamano Mirō to guide him through the enemy’s sentries, carrying him in a makeshift bag after severing his legs. In Kusajishi District, the Yingkou Group terrorized a family until Asano arrived, leaving the girl’s fate unresolved.

• Asano Kiyoshi recalled how Head Captain Yamamoto had prepared him for the mission by showing him the atrocities in Rukongai and making him kill prisoners in the Nest of Maggots.
• Asano Kiyoshi carried the wounded Yamano Mirō and told him to lead the way, while Yamano revealed the positions of the hidden and open sentries.
• Yamano Mirō identified the Yingkou Group as a band of local tyrants led by Yingkou Hui in Kusajishi District.
• Musashi Kasa hacked at a family’s door while the wounded old man held it shut and the family’s daughter prayed for help.
• Asano Kiyoshi appeared before the onlookers carrying a blood-dripping bundle and several severed heads.

Asano Kiyoshi defeated Musashi Kasa and brought him before the girl whose father he had attacked, leaving her to decide how to respond. After the girl took up a Zanpakuto and struck back, Asano urged the watching residents of Rukongai to remember that they were human beings.

• Asano Kiyoshi confronted Musashi Kasa, who panicked and threw his Zanpakuto before fleeing.
• Asano caught the Zanpakuto, hurled it into Musashi Kasa, and cut off his limbs for the harm he had caused.
• Asano carried Musashi Kasa to the injured girl's home, gave the girl the choice of what to do with him, and treated her father's wounds.
• The girl picked up Musashi Kasa's Zanpakuto and repeatedly struck him as he threatened her.
• Asano called to the watching residents, urging them to recognize themselves as human beings rather than livestock.

Asano Kiyoshi left the freed residents to decide the fate of Musashi Kasa and another man, then followed Yamano Mirō's directions deeper into the 79th District. When the path revealed Hollow-like spiritual pressure, Asano suspected a trap and concluded it was connected to Aizen's Shinigami Hollowfication Project.

• Asano Kiyoshi told the residents to choose whether Musashi Kasa lived or died, then continued into the 79th District with Yamano Mirō.
• When a man proposed using the girl to bargain with their enemies, an old man attacked him, and the residents joined in killing him and Musashi Kasa.
• Yamano Mirō directed Asano Kiyoshi down a narrow path, where Asano sensed unusually cold, violent spiritual pressure like a Hollow's.
• Asano Kiyoshi threatened Yamano Mirō, who insisted he had not lied and explained that their Squad Leader would kill him regardless.
• Asano Kiyoshi reasoned that the Hollow-like pressure must be linked to Aizen's Shinigami Hollowfication Project.

Asano Kiyoshi followed Yamano Mirō through a secret passage to the gang’s base, where he discovered the corpses of murdered civilians. He rejected Yamano Mirō’s denial, wounded him, and kept him alive as he headed for the cave exit.

• Yamano Mirō revealed a secret passage beneath the third patch of grass and identified his dead accomplice’s head.
• Asano Kiyoshi found the gang’s base, where a decomposed woman and chained corpses of girls and boys lay.
• Yamano Mirō blamed Yingkou Hui for bringing civilians to the base and said he had helped dig the passage to search for the valuables of forty-two missing members.
• Asano Kiyoshi noticed the dead woman clutching Yamano Mirō’s hair and accused him of lying about never bringing anyone there.
• Asano Kiyoshi slashed Yamano Mirō below the abdomen, used Kaido to keep him alive, and carried him toward the cave exit as a voice suddenly rang out.

Asano Kiyoshi fought Yingkou Hui in the underground passage, using his released Zanpakuto and Kido to counter the powerful close-combat fighter. He escaped the cramped passage by enlarging a Shakkahō until it broke through the ceiling, exposing the sky above.

• Yingkou Hui ambushed Asano Kiyoshi with his Zanpakuto, and Asano recognized him as a former Eleventh Division Thirteenth Seat Officer.
• Asano fired Byakurai at Yingkou Hui, but the blast only opened a small hole in the passage ceiling, and Yingkou Hui released his Zanpakuto's other form.
• Asano released Yellow Springs and traded blows with Yingkou Hui, whose strength and speed increased as the fight continued.
• Asano cast Shakkahō, and Yingkou Hui split the fireball with his Zanpakuto while Asano began chanting another Kido.
• Asano bound Yingkou Hui's arm with Hōrin while continuing his chant, then used Post-Chanting to enlarge Shakkahō and blast through the ceiling.

Asano Kiyoshi used powerful Bakudo to gain the upper hand over Yingkou Hui, who unleashed his Zanpakuto’s blood-fueled power. The chapter ended with Yingkou Hui bound by Rikujōkōrō as Asano’s Sōkatsui rushed toward him.

• Yingkou Hui charged through Asano Kiyoshi’s Sekienton, but his Zanpakuto, Severing Demon, tore the red mist apart.
• Asano Kiyoshi caught Yingkou Hui preparing to stab himself with his Zanpakuto and restrained him with Rikujōkōrō.
• Yingkou Hui bit his tongue and spat blood onto Severing Demon, causing his body and the binding light sheets to crack.
• Asano Kiyoshi reinforced Rikujōkōrō with Post-Chanting and fired a powerful Sōkatsui at the trapped Yingkou Hui.
• Yingkou Hui desperately tore at the light sheets as Asano Kiyoshi’s attack closed in.

Yingkou Hui underwent Hollowfication and attacked Asano Kiyoshi, who struggled to survive despite the transformed Shinigami’s superior strength. As Yingkou Hui gathered a Cero, Asano Kiyoshi sensed an opening that might let him win.

• Yingkou Hui’s fear and hatred triggered Hollowfication, and his Reiatsu covered the field as he became a mindless beast.
• Asano Kiyoshi checked Yingkou Hui’s stats and realized his strength exceeded his own, though his lack of combat intelligence gave Asano a chance.
• Asano Kiyoshi bound Yingkou Hui with Hōrin, but Yingkou Hui broke the chain, caught Asano by the ankle, and dragged him closer.
• Asano Kiyoshi used Seki and Tsuzuri Raiden through the chain, shocking himself and burning Yingkou Hui without stopping him.
• Yingkou Hui began charging a Cero at close range, and Asano Kiyoshi sensed an opportunity to turn the fight around.

Asano Kiyoshi survived Yingkou Hui’s shattered Cero by using his Zanpakuto’s power and prepared barriers, then received kill rewards confirming Yingkou Hui’s death. The Scroll granted him a major spiritual-pressure increase and physical enhancement, and Asano checked his updated attributes.

• Asano Kiyoshi used Enkōsen and Tsuriboshi, then unleashed both domains of his Zanpakuto to erase the Reishi structure of Yingkou Hui’s Cero.
• Asano Kiyoshi fled with Shunpo as the Cero broke apart, but its blast wounded him and threw him into the ground.
• Asano Kiyoshi struggled to rise, fearing Yingkou Hui might have survived, until the Scroll confirmed Yingkou Hui’s death and awarded him Hollowfication Power and Hierro enhancements.
• The Scroll listed additional rewards from Asano Kiyoshi’s earlier kills, including increases to spiritual pressure, Hakuda, and Zanjutsu.
• Asano Kiyoshi noted his stronger body and opened the Scroll to view his updated attributes.

Asano Kiyoshi recovered after defeating Yingkou Hui and wiped out the Yingkou Group, rescuing the women they had enslaved. He left the women to exact revenge on their abusers as he struggled to face the horrors of his path and resolve to grow strong enough to protect others.

• Asano Kiyoshi reviewed his improved evaluation and reflected on killing while trying to preserve his compassion.
• Gin secretly watched Asano Kiyoshi recover, wondered about his power, and decided not to tell Aizen about him.
• Asano Kiyoshi found Yamano Mirō in the collapsed passage and forced him to guide the way to the Yingkou Group's hideout.
• With Yamano Mirō's help, Asano Kiyoshi killed almost all eighty-six members of the Yingkou Group.
• Asano Kiyoshi freed the captive women and gave them the severed-limbed abusers, whom the women killed in a frenzy of revenge.
• Asano Kiyoshi watched the women take revenge and resolved to become stronger so he could protect those he cared about.

After witnessing the women’s revenge and deaths, Asano Kiyoshi helped rebuild the 79th District with Yamamoto’s support, then moved on to the Zaraki District. After completing his assigned tasks there, he decided to end his Rukongai training and checked his greatly changed attribute panel.

• After the women avenged their loved ones, many chose to die, and Asano Kiyoshi burned the site after the survivors left.
• Asano Kiyoshi handed Yamano Mirō to the girl he had abducted, then housed the remaining women in the Yingkou Group’s former buildings.
• With Yamamoto’s funding, guidance, and personnel, Asano Kiyoshi established a new order across the 79th District in just over ten days.
• Asano Kiyoshi moved to the Zaraki District, killed Naobayashi Ōfuku, and regularly eliminated Hollows.
• After spending about a week completing the tasks on Yamamoto’s list, Asano Kiyoshi decided to end his Rukongai training and examined his changed attribute panel.