Chapter Summaries

Nel learned to control her Hollow Reishi and use Shinigami Transformation, while Tsunayashiro Sosuke sent a covert force to Karakura Town to pursue Asano Kiyoshi. The chapter ended as the masked group arrived in Karakura just after Miyako Shiba began a training exercise there.

• Nel used her feelings for Asano Kiyoshi to develop Shinigami Transformation, allowing her to use Kido and Shunpo without a time limit while he supplied spiritual pressure.
• Urahara Shopkeeper created a bracelet that let Nel maintain her adult form, and Asano Kiyoshi healed most of her mask's scar.
• Tsunayashiro Sosuke burned a report and ordered a final covert operation against Asano Kiyoshi, instructing his subordinates to erase evidence and silence anyone exposed.
• More than a dozen masked operatives left the Seireitei, led by a man with the strength of a high-ranking Vice-Captain.
• Miyako Shiba led trainees through a Senkaimon into Karakura Town, and a second Senkaimon opened nearby as the Oni Mask man crushed bait to attract Hollows.

Miyako Shiba led her students through a Combat Drill in Karakura Town, where Kojima successfully performed Soul Burial on three Plus Souls. A rift then opened behind him, unleashing a horde of powerful Hollows, and Miyako fought back with her released Zanpakuto.

• Hollows in Hueco Mundo followed the lure of pure souls into a black rift that closed behind them.
• Miyako Shiba led her students to three Plus Souls and invited them to volunteer for Soul Burial.
• Kojima guided the three Plus Souls to the Soul Society using his Zanpakuto.
• A black rift opened behind Kojima, and the Hollows emerging from it crushed the students with their spiritual pressure.
• Miyako released Roll Cloud and burned an attacking Hollow to ashes.

Miyako Shiba fought to protect her students from Hollows pouring through a Garganta, but an Adjuchas overwhelmed her as Kojima was about to be devoured. Asano Kiyoshi arrived, rescued Kojima, sealed the Garganta, and turned to finish dealing with the remaining Hollows.

• Miyako Shiba ordered the students to stay behind her while Hollows emerged from the Garganta.
• A lowly Hollow crushed Kojima in its hand, and Miyako Shiba’s Fire Cloud slash was blocked by an Adjuchas.
• As Kojima neared being swallowed, Asano Kiyoshi used Shunko to kill the Hollow and carry Kojima to safety.
• Asano Kiyoshi cast Bakudo #86—Strike Boundary, binding the Garganta with chains until it vanished.
• Miyako Shiba recognized Asano Kiyoshi, who set Kojima down and said he would explain later before attacking the remaining Hollows.

Asano Kiyoshi stayed behind to fight the Adjuchas while Miyako Shiba led the students toward Urahara Shop and encountered Ishida Soken, a Quincy who protected their retreat. Ishida Soken then reached the park and found Asano Kiyoshi surrounded by four Adjuchas.

• Miyako Shiba offered to hold off an Adjuchas while Asano Kiyoshi evacuated the students, but Asano Kiyoshi told her to take them to Urahara Shop and seek help.
• Miyako Shiba led the students away without immediately notifying Soul Society, concerned that doing so might affect Urahara.
• Ishida Soken killed a mantis-like Hollow with a Reishi arrow and helped protect Miyako Shiba and the students from other Hollows.
• After Miyako Shiba and the students left, Ishida Soken sensed Asano Kiyoshi's powerful spiritual pressure and headed to the park.
• Asano Kiyoshi faced four Adjuchas as black rifts opened around him.

Asano Kiyoshi fought four Adjuchas that emerged from Garganta into the Living World, using his released Zanpakuto and Kidō to turn their attacks against each other. He discovered that the frog-like Adjuchas was a rare symbiotic Hollow just as its partner prepared to pierce him with its tongue.

• Three Adjuchas emerged from Garganta and attacked Asano Kiyoshi.
• Asano Kiyoshi released his Zanpakuto and used Dankū to stop the Adjuchas with the massive fist.
• Asano Kiyoshi vanished into a pool of darkness and used Kyokkō to trick the Adjuchas into striking the vine-covered Hollow.
• Asano Kiyoshi leaped from the frog-like Adjuchas's shadow, but it spotted him and revealed another masked face emerging from its back.
• Asano Kiyoshi recognized the pair as a symbiotic Adjuchas as its dark crimson tongue moved to pierce him.

Asano Kiyoshi avoided revealing the Gate of the Underworld's erasure ability when a frog-like Adjuchas attacked, but Ishida Soken intervened and helped him fight the five Hollows. Their coordinated attacks turned the Hollows' poor teamwork against them as the battle intensified.

• Asano Kiyoshi chose to endure the Tongue Adjuchas's attack rather than expose the Gate of the Underworld's erasure ability.
• Ishida Soken cut the Tongue Adjuchas's tongue with a blue Reishi arrow, and Asano Kiyoshi counterattacked and retreated from the five Adjuchas.
• Asano Kiyoshi and Ishida Soken fired a Thunder Roar Cannon and Quincy Cross Rain at the Hollows.
• Asano Kiyoshi and Ishida Soken coordinated their attacks while the five Adjuchas repeatedly disrupted one another.
• The Tongue Adjuchas attacked the Vine Adjuchas after its tongue was poisoned several times, throwing the battlefield into further chaos.

Asano Kiyoshi and Ishida Soken used the rain from Asano Kiyoshi’s Zanpakuto to weaken the remaining Adjuchas and strengthen themselves. They killed Giant Fist Adjuchas after Symbiotic Adjuchas betrayed it, while Symbiotic Adjuchas fled.

• Asano Kiyoshi and Ishida Soken killed Vine Adjuchas and Giant Claw Adjuchas, leaving only Symbiotic Adjuchas and Giant Fist Adjuchas.
• Asano Kiyoshi summoned rain that strengthened Ishida Soken but weakened the Adjuchas.
• Symbiotic Adjuchas secretly used its tongue to paralyze Giant Fist Adjuchas as Asano Kiyoshi attacked.
• Ishida Soken’s arrows knocked Giant Fist Adjuchas off balance, allowing Asano Kiyoshi to pierce its mask with a black-flamed sword.
• Giant Fist Adjuchas realized Symbiotic Adjuchas had betrayed it and died as Symbiotic Adjuchas fled.

After Asano Kiyoshi and Ishida Soken joined forces against the Adjuchas, they exchanged names and hurried off to fight Hollows emerging from rifts around Karakura Town. At the Urahara Shop, Miyako Shiba sought help for her injured student Kojima, and Kisuke Urahara gave her a vial to keep him alive until the crisis passed.

• Asano Kiyoshi thanked Ishida Soken for helping him defeat the Adjuchas, and Ishida introduced himself as a Quincy and a surgeon.
• Asano Kiyoshi and Ishida Soken shook hands, then split up to enter separate black rifts as more Hollows appeared around Karakura Town.
• Miyako Shiba and her students pounded on the Urahara Shop door while Kojima lay gravely injured.
• Hachigen Ushōda used Bakudo #43—Three-Pillar Dream to put the students to sleep, and Kisuke Urahara appeared.
• Kisuke Urahara gave Miyako Shiba a vial to keep Kojima alive and said further treatment would have to wait until the incident was over.

Kisuke Urahara and Hachigen Ushōda concealed Karakura Town behind a Reishi barrier, while Mayuri Kurotsuchi sent Asano Kiyoshi’s information to the First Squad. Hirako led the Visoreds out to protect the Living World and confront the enemies targeting Kiyoshi, leaving Hiyori behind to guard their home.

• Kisuke Urahara and Hachigen Ushōda raised a Reishi barrier that made Karakura Town appear normal to Soul Society, and Miyako Shiba agreed to keep it secret.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi decided to let Kisuke Urahara off for saving him, then sent Asano Kiyoshi’s file to the First Squad’s intelligence unit for the Captain-Commander.
• Hirako asked the Visoreds to join him in the Living World, and Ushoda volunteered to protect innocent people from Hollows.
• Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō asked Hirako to give the order, and Hirako warned the departing Visoreds that Death Warriors were also after Little Kiyoshi.
• Kensei, Kuna Mashiro, Lisa, Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, and Aikawa Rōbu joined Hirako, while Hiyori stayed behind to protect their home.

The Oni Mask orchestrated a Hollow attack across Karakura Town and ordered the Deer Pattern Mask to intensify the carnage through a brutal cleansing. The Deer Pattern Mask went to treat an injured teammate, but approached him with the order to kill hanging over him.

• The Oni Mask learned that the Hollow invasion had caused over two hundred deaths while Asano Kiyoshi and a Quincy fought the Hollows.
• The Oni Mask ordered his forces to draw the Adjuchas away from Asano Kiyoshi, leave lesser Hollows near him, and cleanse the remaining Hollows and injured Masks.
• The Oni Mask threatened the Deer Pattern Mask's three family members unless he made the air smell of twice as much blood, then departed.
• The Deer Pattern Mask released Plum Rain, transformed his Zanpakuto into a wooden cane, and went to an injured Bull Pattern Mask.
• The Bull Pattern Mask told the Deer Pattern Mask about his daughter, while the Deer Pattern Mask silently apologized.

Asano Kiyoshi fought Takano Miwa, the Oni Mask, while protecting humans from Hollows. Takano Miwa revealed the name of his Zanpakuto, Starving Wolf, as the battle continued.

• The Deer Pattern Mask killed the Bull Pattern Mask and left after washing the blood from himself and his cane.
• Asano Kiyoshi dodged Takano Miwa’s red spiritual pressure with Utsusemi, then used Kido to counterattack.
• Asano Kiyoshi’s lightning missed Takano Miwa but struck and destroyed a Hollow threatening humans.
• Takano Miwa questioned whether Asano Kiyoshi would sacrifice himself to save a human, and Asano Kiyoshi challenged him to find out.
• Asano Kiyoshi summoned the Scroll and learned that the Oni Mask was Takano Miwa, whose Zanpakuto was Starving Wolf.

Asano Kiyoshi faced Takano Miwa’s overwhelming Red Storm while masked men tried to isolate him and drive civilians into a Hollow pack. He escaped the storm and struck Takano Miwa, but the masked man revealed that the attack had been a trap as Red Storms closed around them.

• Asano Kiyoshi realized the Masked Men had isolated him and were herding civilians toward nearby Hollows, but he could not ignore their danger.
• Takano Miwa launched a Red Storm that crushed Asano Kiyoshi’s Shakkahō, forcing him to use Shunko to escape its sudden acceleration.
• Asano Kiyoshi judged he could reach Takano Miwa before the storm caught him, then removed his coat and rushed in with a black-flamed punch.
• Asano Kiyoshi shattered Takano Miwa’s blood-red mask and charred the right side of his face with the blow.
• Takano Miwa declared that he had finally trapped Asano Kiyoshi, and enormous Red Storms formed around them and began to contract as Asano Kiyoshi smiled calmly.

Asano Kiyoshi used Reverse Destructive Kido No. 3, Iron Wind Kill, to dissolve Takano Miwa’s armor and body. Takano Miwa died after sending one last Crimson Giant Wolf at Asano, while Asano escaped unharmed.

• Asano Kiyoshi completed the incantation for Reverse Destructive Kido No. 3—Iron Wind Kill as Takano Miwa formed armor and sent Crimson Giant Wolves after him.
• Iron Wind Kill erased Takano Miwa’s red armor and began dissolving his chest, but Takano seized Asano and threatened to take him down with him.
• Asano Kiyoshi slipped into a shadow, escaped Takano’s grasp, and reappeared to retrieve his falling clothes.
• Takano Miwa, unable to accept his defeat, gathered his remaining power into one Crimson Giant Wolf and ordered it to attack Asano.
• Takano Miwa dissolved into Reishi beneath Iron Wind Kill, leaving no trace behind.

Asano Kiyoshi burned the Crimson Giant Wolf to ash and continued toward the Hollows, while the Deer-Masked Man used a strange wooden staff to transform himself and pursued Asano. Aizen watched the events from above, intrigued by the staff’s technology.

• Asano Kiyoshi used Great Fire Annihilation to burn the Crimson Giant Wolf to ash after it made a final attack.
• Asano Kiyoshi put on his coat and continued toward the gathered Hollows.
• The Deer-Masked Man returned to the ruined site, realized Takano Miwa had been killed, and concluded that the mission had failed.
• The Deer-Masked Man drove a blood-covered wooden staff into the ashes, allowing its roots to pierce his body and transform him.
• The Deer-Masked Man tore away his damaged mask and charged after Asano Kiyoshi, blaming him for the deaths of forty-one people.
• Aizen watched from above and remarked on the immature Baku Katana technology.

Aizen analyzed the Baku Sword’s power and side effects before disappearing, while Asano Kiyoshi encountered its deranged wielder and decided to secure the weapon for study and disposal. Asano restrained the attacker with Bakudo as the fight continued.

• Aizen observed the Baku Sword wielder charging toward Asano Kiyoshi and deduced that the sword grew stronger by absorbing Shinigami spiritual power, though it damaged its user.
• Aizen reflected that small human habits helped him preserve his humanity, then vanished after rain interrupted his thoughts.
• Asano Kiyoshi killed a nearby Hollow with Byakurai and turned to face the approaching monster in a Shinigami Uniform.
• Asano wounded the attacker with Hado #78—Zan Karin, but the Baku Sword’s tentacles drank the attacker’s blood and revealed an eye that controlled its movements.
• Asano recognized the weapon and resolved to copy it through Urahara before handing it to Captain-Commander for disposal.
• Asano changed his attack to Bakudo #63—Sajo Sabaku and sent black chains toward the attacker.

Asano Kiyoshi trapped the Baku Sword and captured its host alive, then learned from Urahara that the attack force had been wiped out. Urahara praised Asano Kiyoshi’s strength, and Asano began to address him before being interrupted.

• Asano Kiyoshi overwhelmed the Baku Sword with Kido chains as it fought back and drained the Deer-Masked Man for strength.
• Asano Kiyoshi used Byakurai to weaken the chains, bound the Deer-Masked Man and the Baku Sword, and treated the captive while sealing the weapon.
• After sensing that the Hollows had been eliminated, Asano Kiyoshi rested on a public bench until Urahara appeared.
• Urahara told Asano Kiyoshi that about fifty attackers had come and that he had captured the only surviving enemy.
• Urahara praised Asano Kiyoshi for defeating an elite Vice-Captain and suggested he might soon learn Bankai, then interrupted Asano as he tried to speak.

Asano Kiyoshi returned to Urahara’s shop after Kisuke Urahara identified the attackers as the Tsunayashiro Family’s Oni Mask Corps. Urahara explained how the family had exploited Soul Society’s permit procedures, and Asano asked whether he could use any procedural flaw to counter them.

• Kisuke Urahara deduced that the Tsunayashiro Family’s Oni Mask Corps had attacked Asano Kiyoshi and led him back to the shop as the barrier collapsed.
• Nel embraced Asano Kiyoshi at the shop and explained that Urahara had kept her from joining the fight because she could not control her powers.
• Asano Kiyoshi greeted Miyako Shiba and the academy students, then treated Kojima’s injuries.
• Kisuke Urahara explained that the Tsunayashiro Family had obtained a crossing permit for its private soldiers by exploiting noble privileges and the Sixth Division’s permit process.
• Asano Kiyoshi asked Kisuke Urahara whether the Kidō Corps had helped enable the attack and whether the Tsunayashiro Family’s procedure had any flaw he could use against them.

Miyako Shiba explained how the Tsunayashiro Family had violated regulations and pledged the Shiba Clan’s support for Asano Kiyoshi’s actions. Urahara gave them evidence and tools for the mission, including a Memory Modifier to alter the memories of those affected.

• Miyako Shiba explained that the Tsunayashiro Family had exploited a loophole but had violated rules by acting before registering and using forbidden Reishi Bait.
• Miyako Shiba offered to contact the Shiba Clan’s old acquaintances and provide as much support as the clan’s circumstances allowed.
• Asano Kiyoshi thanked Miyako Shiba and promised to remember the Shiba Clan’s assistance.
• Urahara gave Asano Kiyoshi evidence and records of the Tsunayashiro Family’s operation to compare with the Research and Development Department’s registry.
• Miyako Shiba asked about Urahara’s Memory Modifier, and he assured her it would safely alter the memories of affected humans and trainees.

Asano Kiyoshi and Nel returned to Soul Society with Miyako Shiba and the students, while Urahara’s memory alterations concealed the Hollow attack from the human world. They arrived in Seireitei hand in hand and were greeted by the Captain-Commander.

• Urahara altered the incident into an earthquake and removed the students’ memories of him while leaving their memories of being rescued intact.
• Miyako Shiba opened the backup Senkaimon, and Asano Kiyoshi and Nel followed the students into the Dangai.
• Nel asked what Asano Kiyoshi would do if his teacher rejected or tried to kill her, and he promised to help her escape or die with her.
• Asano Kiyoshi took Nel’s hand, and they walked together through the Dangai toward Soul Society.
• Asano Kiyoshi and Nel arrived in Seireitei, where the people around them knelt and the Captain-Commander appeared.

Asano Kiyoshi returned from Hueco Mundo with Nel and brought her before Head Captain Yamamoto, who mistook their arrival for an introduction to a potential wife and panicked over whether he should give her a gift. Asano Kiyoshi held Nel’s hand and prepared to speak, leaving Yamamoto and the watching nobles waiting for his words.

• Head Captain Yamamoto welcomed Asano Kiyoshi’s return but froze when he noticed Nel with him.
• Yamamoto privately worried about what gift to give Nel, thinking she was Asano Kiyoshi’s chosen partner.
• Asano Kiyoshi feared Yamamoto had recognized Nel’s true identity, but decided he would not abandon her.
• Asano Kiyoshi took Nel’s hand and walked toward Yamamoto as Nel grew happy and the nobles watched for the Captain-Commander’s reaction.
• Asano Kiyoshi stood before Yamamoto, took a deep breath, and began to speak.