Chapter Summaries

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.

Asano Kiyoshi fought Shunsui Kyoraku rather than abandon Nel, and unleashed Hado No. 96— Ittō Kasō. Ukitake survived the flames by absorbing them, but Nel arrived as Kiyoshi lay close to losing consciousness.

• Asano Kiyoshi refused Ukitake and Kyoraku’s demand that he leave Nel behind, insisting he would protect her even at the cost of his life.
• Shunsui Kyoraku released Katen Kyokotsu and wounded Asano Kiyoshi, piercing his leg and stopping him from escaping through the shadows.
• Asano Kiyoshi trapped Kyoraku in his shadow and cast Hado No. 96— Ittō Kasō, engulfing them both in black flames.
• Jushiro Ukitake used Sogyo no Kotowari to absorb and diminish the flames, leaving Kyoraku badly burned and Kiyoshi nearly unconscious.
• Nel arrived in fury and released her Zanpakuto, calling, “Sing! Antelope Knight.”

Nel revealed her true form and fought the Gotei 13 while Asano Kiyoshi tried to gather the King's Seal. Kaname Tōsen turned against the captains to shield them, but Nel was badly wounded by Aizen, leaving Asano Kiyoshi desperate as her Spiritual Pressure faded.

• Nel transformed and told the injured Asano Kiyoshi to use the King's Seal so they could escape to Hueco Mundo.
• The Captain-Commander ordered the captains to arrest or kill Asano Kiyoshi and Nel, and Shunsui Kyoraku's restrained attack triggered the battle.
• Kaname Tōsen released Bankai and condemned the Gotei 13's actions as a disgraceful form of justice, while several captains entered his black sphere rather than fight Nel.
• Gin Ichimaru pierced Nel's arm, and Nel's counterattack was blocked by Komamura Sajin.
• Aizen slashed Nel across the back, and Asano Kiyoshi cried out as her Spiritual Pressure weakened.

After Nel sacrificed herself to destroy herself and the captains, Asano Kiyoshi unleashed his Bankai, filling Seireitei with a vast Blood Sea and eighteen colossal Wrathful Ghosts. He then targeted Aizen and Gin Ichimaru with Copper Pillars Hell.

• Asano Kiyoshi desperately tried to heal Nel, but Aizen explained that anti-Reishi medicine made his Kaido ineffective.
• Nel kissed Asano Kiyoshi, broke free from his embrace, and sacrificed herself in an explosion after telling him she wished they could share one more day together.
• Asano Kiyoshi watched Nel vanish, ignored Aizen's call to return, and released his Bankai, Ten Directions Ten Worlds Bitter Great Hell.
• Asano Kiyoshi's Bankai flooded the battlefield and Seireitei with blood as eighteen colossal Wrathful Ghosts emerged from the sky.
• Asano Kiyoshi activated Copper Pillars Hell beneath Aizen and Gin Ichimaru.

Asano Kiyoshi unleashed increasingly brutal Bankai attacks against Aizen and Gin Ichimaru, turning the Blood Sea into a hell of demons, burning winds, and chained souls. Gin revealed his Bankai to survive, but Asano erased part of his blade and ended the chapter as iron chains advanced toward both men.

• Little demons emerged from blood-soaked heads and attacked Aizen and Gin Ichimaru while the other captains struggled to reach them.
• Asano Kiyoshi summoned scorching winds that injured the captains, and Unohana used her Zanpakuto to heal those nearby.
• Gin Ichimaru activated his Bankai and attacked Asano, who erased part of Gin’s blade with his words.
• Asano summoned blazing iron pillars and chains that bound and burned the souls in the Blood Sea.
• Asano Kiyoshi named his attack “Iron Tree Hell” as the chains began surging toward Aizen and Gin Ichimaru.

Asano Kiyoshi exhausted himself unleashing the Eighteen Hells on Aizen, who was dragged through their torment and died. Kiyoshi awakened beside White Impermanence, learned he could use Bankai, and returned to the Chief Kido Master's office.

• Gin Ichimaru fought off the Iron Tree Hell and Copper Pillars Hell while Aizen watched and warned that Asano Kiyoshi was nearing his limit.
• Asano Kiyoshi invoked the remaining sixteen hells, reducing his body to blood as he tried to drag Aizen into Hell.
• Eighteen Wrathful Ghosts poured blood and little Demons across the Seireitei, and black and white figures struck Aizen with Mourning Staffs that stripped away his spiritual pressure.
• Little Demons forced Aizen through the Mountain of Knives Hell, and he died after enduring the torment of the hells.
• Asano Kiyoshi awakened beside White Impermanence, said he had learned to use Bankai, and returned to the Chief Kido Master's office.