Chapter Summaries

Asano Kiyoshi returned from Hueco Mundo and visited his friends, where Byakuya warned him that the Royal Family had heard about his actions and might summon him. The chapter left Asano spending a lively afternoon in the courtyard with Nel, Rukia, and the others.

• The Captain-Commander told Asano Kiyoshi to dress formally for a meeting with former subordinates the next day.
• Asano Kiyoshi visited the orphanage and met Byakuya, who asked about the Hueco Mundo mission and cautioned him about the unfairness and risks of his plans.
• Byakuya warned Asano Kiyoshi that the nobles had reported his unorthodox actions to the Royal Family and that an unfriendly summons might follow.
• Asano Kiyoshi teased Abarai Renji until he cried, then reunited with the drunken Ikkaku and Yumichika in the courtyard.
• Kenpachi Zaraki confronted Ikkaku and Yumichika for drinking, then joined them, while Nel, Rukia, Hisana, and Granny Hana enjoyed the gathering.

Asano Kiyoshi accompanied Captain-Commander to the Shiba Clan and traveled to the Soul King Palace, where the dense Reishi overwhelmed his senses. He arrived safely and was greeted by an arrogant voice questioning his strength.

• Asano Kiyoshi met Captain-Commander at the First Squad, and they set out for the Shiba Clan.
• As they walked, Captain-Commander praised Asano Kiyoshi’s reforms for reducing crime and making the Gotei 13 financially independent.
• Isshin Shiba welcomed them at the Shiba Clan and confirmed that everything was ready for their journey.
• Isshin Shiba launched the Heavenly Pillar Carriage with the Kūkaku Cannon, carrying Asano Kiyoshi through the seventy-two barriers to the Soul King Palace.
• Asano Kiyoshi felt the Palace’s dense Reishi fill his body and resist his movements, then heard an arrogant voice comment on his strength.

Asano Kiyoshi met Tenjiro Kirinji and Kirio Hikifune in the Zero Division Palace, where Kirio explained she had wanted to meet the man Hiyori and Urahara had mentioned. She brought him to the Sleeping Pig Palace, offered him fruit, and said she had something to tell him.

• Asano Kiyoshi greeted Tenjiro Kirinji with lavish praise, and Kirinji invited him to visit Kirin Palace before vanishing.
• Asano Kiyoshi met Kirio Hikifune and praised her work developing Temporary Soul technology.
• Kirio Hikifune said she wanted to meet Asano Kiyoshi because Hiyori and Urahara had both mentioned him.
• Kirio Hikifune noticed something unusual about Asano Kiyoshi's Spiritual Pressure but said nothing as they chatted on the way to the Sleeping Pig Palace.
• Kirio Hikifune gave Asano Kiyoshi fruit and told him she had something to tell him that would not be bad.

Asano Kiyoshi met with Kirio Hikifune, who tested whether he would uphold the Soul King's rule if he became Captain-Commander. They reached an understanding that Soul Society would have only one ruler, and Asano left the meeting having increased his Reiatsu to Level 7, 88%.

• Asano Kiyoshi accepted and tasted a mandarin orange offered by Kirio Hikifune, then declined more food until she explained why she had come.
• Kirio Hikifune said that she and Lord Hyosube wanted to know whether Asano would show absolute respect for the Soul King if he became Captain-Commander.
• Asano Kiyoshi implied that he would not accept competing rulers in Soul Society and said that even the sun had to set when night came.
• Kirio Hikifune agreed that Soul Society's sky would have only one sun and invited Asano to eat more fruit as a personal gift.
• Asano Kiyoshi ate the Reiatsu-rich fruit, and the Scroll recorded his Reiatsu rising to Level 7, 88%.

Asano Kiyoshi refused Kirio Hikifune’s offer to join Zero Division, explaining that he would rather serve Rukongai’s residents than the Soul King. As he returned to Soul Society, Monk decided to approach him personally because of the unusual power in his Zanpakuto.

• Kirio Hikifune asked Asano Kiyoshi what he knew about Zero Division, and he described it as the Soul King’s personal guard, separate from the Gotei 13.
• Kirio Hikifune invited Asano Kiyoshi to join Zero Division, but he refused and said he wanted to improve life in Rukongai.
• Kirio Hikifune asked Asano Kiyoshi about Urahara and Hiyori, then urged him to clear their names and find the culprit behind their situation.
• Kirio Hikifune told Monk that Asano Kiyoshi had refused the offer, and Monk said he would meet him personally because his Zanpakuto’s power seemed connected to the Soul King.
• Asano Kiyoshi returned toward Soul Society, determined to grow strong enough to protect Nel and pursue his goal of conquering Hueco Mundo.

After returning from the Soul King Palace, Asano Kiyoshi prepared for an expedition to conquer Hueco Mundo, while worrying about Aizen’s plans and Gin Ichimaru’s loyalty. The chapter ended with Aizen killing Tsunayashiro Kumata and calling it “taking out the trash.”

• Asano Kiyoshi returned from the Soul King Palace, and Captain-Commander questioned him while scolding Isshin Shiba about visiting pleasure quarters with Shunsui.
• Over the next month, Asano Kiyoshi planned Soul Society’s infrastructure development and prepared for a campaign against Barragan’s Arrancar army, while fearing Aizen might betray him.
• Nel brought Asano Kiyoshi a Research and Development Department report stating that preliminary Menos research in Hueco Mundo had succeeded.
• Asano Kiyoshi received Captain-Commander’s order to lead Byakuya, Kenpachi, Shunsui, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Sister Hana, and Gin Ichimaru to bring Hueco Mundo under control.
• Aizen pulled his blade from Tsunayashiro Kumata and said he was just taking out the trash.

Aizen dismissed Hueco Mundo as expendable while arranging a covert operation against the Tsunayashiro Family. Asano Kiyoshi left Soul Society to seek a life-or-death battle in Hueco Mundo, where he found two familiar figures atop a mountain of Adjuchas corpses.

• Aizen told Gin that Hueco Mundo and its Arrancar were not essential to his plan, and learned that Tosen's Hogyoku experiment had strengthened the remaining Arrancar by about thirty percent.
• Aizen asked Gin to send twenty-seven replacements to the Back Mountain where the Tsunayashiro Family heads secluded themselves, without letting Asano Kiyoshi find out.
• Aizen killed people he considered corrupt, believing each death brought him closer to creating everything he wanted.
• Asano Kiyoshi realized he needed an evenly matched, potentially deadly battle to reach Eighth Class spiritual pressure and chose the lonely wolf in Hueco Mundo as his opponent.
• Asano Kiyoshi left instructions for Nel to command in his absence, then entered Hueco Mundo under the King's Seal and faced two familiar figures seated on a mountain of Adjuchas corpses.

Asano Kiyoshi met Stark and Ninny in Hueco Mundo and challenged Stark, hoping to recruit him as a companion. After Stark and Ninny began fighting him, Asano revealed his skill with long-range attacks and faced Stark’s barrage of Ceros.

• Asano Kiyoshi introduced himself to Stark and Ninny and asked Stark to join him in building a prosperous future for Hueco Mundo.
• Stark pulled Ninny aside and attacked Asano with a powerful kick, but Asano’s black-flame Shunko repelled it.
• Stark told Ninny to fight from long range, and she transformed into the pistols Los Lobos as Stark used Sword Release.
• Asano redirected a Cero toward Stark, who destroyed it and then unleashed a sky-filling barrage with Infinite Loading Cero.

Asano Kiyoshi used Reverse Kido Seventeen, Lacquer Bone Blossom, to swallow Stark and Ninny’s barrage of Ceros and turn the absorbed power into a rapidly spreading sea of crimson flowers. He began the spell’s second incantation, and the space around Stark froze beneath the flowers’ deadly effect.

• Asano Kiyoshi used the River of Oblivion to offset the cost of Reverse Kido and formed a Garganta-like barrier with Lacquer Bone Blossom.
• The barrier swallowed Stark and Ninny’s Ceros, and Stark told Ninny to keep firing after noticing Asano Kiyoshi’s trembling arm.
• The absorbed Ceros nourished crimson flowers that spread across the white-sand wasteland, despite Stark cutting them back.
• Stark ordered Ninny to stop firing, but the flowers had already bloomed and spread through their fragrance.
• Asano Kiyoshi recited Lacquer Bone Blossom’s second incantation, and the blood-seeping petals froze the space around Stark.

Stark and Ninny fought Asano Kiyoshi as his crimson flowers drained their life force, forcing Stark to fight without holding back. Asano unleashed his Bankai and transformed the battlefield into Ice Mountain Hell, where Stark and Ninny prepared to divide the attacks.

• Stark warned Ninny not to use her true body and urged her to escape if he died.
• Ninny attacked Asano with blue-flamed wolves while Stark struck him with his Reishi blade.
• Asano activated his Bankai, filling the area with a Blood Sea, grotesque heads, and charging demons.
• Asano transformed the Blood Sea into towering ice mountains and launched attacks at Stark from the sky, ground, and sea.
• Stark told Ninny to hold off the ground monsters without using her true body, then charged Asano.
• Asano met Stark's blade with a black longsword, and their clash froze the scattered flames in ice.

Asano Kiyoshi fought Stark while Ninny’s wolf pack struggled against the multiplying Wrathful Ghosts. With Stark’s Gran Rey Cero bearing down on him, Asano began a unique release that fused his Zanpakuto with Kido, leaving the battle poised to turn.

• Ninny faltered under the pressure of the Wrathful Ghosts, and they overwhelmed her wolf pack as Stark grew anxious about her.
• Stark struck Asano Kiyoshi with a Cero, then trapped him with giant wolves and charged a Gran Rey Cero.
• Asano summoned a Headless Giant to block Stark’s attack, but the blast melted half of its body before it began to recover.
• Stark unleashed Infinite Reload Cero — Gran Rey Cero while Ninny detonated her clones around Asano.
• Asano recited a chant, fused his Zanpakuto with his spiritual pressure, and invoked Final Form - Aphasia!

Stark was trapped in a lonely, black sea by Asano Kiyoshi’s move and nearly gave in to despair until Ninny appeared and led him into the light. After the illusion shattered, Stark thanked Asano Kiyoshi and agreed to become his companion.

• Asano Kiyoshi’s inky Blood Sea swallowed the giant wolves and trapped Stark in a dark space where Ninny disappeared from him.
• Stark relived his loneliness and was surrounded by Wrathful Ghosts as his Reishi drained away.
• Stark called out for Ninny, and she appeared to take his hand and lead him into the light.
• The black sea shattered, and Asano Kiyoshi said Stark’s Infinite King Cero had been too much to handle.
• After recovering, Stark thanked Asano Kiyoshi and asked whether they were companions now.

Asano Kiyoshi healed Stark and Ninny after their fight, then saw that his spiritual pressure had reached Eighth Class and that he had gained top Captain-level power. Nel informed him that nobles and the Royal Family were opposing the expedition, and Asano set out to join the assembled squad.

• Asano Kiyoshi offered to heal Stark, who told him to treat Ninny first, and Ninny teased Stark until he covered her mouth and she bit his arm.
• Asano healed Stark and Ninny, restoring some of the hidden damage caused by their souls splitting, though he could not fully repair them.
• Asano checked his Scroll and saw that his spiritual pressure had advanced to Eighth Class, giving him top Captain-level combat power and making Fengdu City potentially unlockable if he acquired suitable territory.
• Nel told Asano that the squad had assembled and that nobles and the Royal Family were criticizing the expedition.
• Asano told Nel he would arrive shortly and asked her to organize the squad with the other captains.

Szayelaporro deduced that Soul Society was hiding preparations for an attack, prompting Barragan to summon his forces and threaten to destroy the Shinigami. As newly strengthened Espada gathered across Hueco Mundo, Gin Ichimaru and the captains watched, with Kenpachi eager for the coming battle.

• Szayelaporro told Barragan that the Shinigami's repeated collection of Menos suggested they were concealing a plan, possibly an attack.
• Barragan erupted with spiritual pressure and ordered his forces to gather, threatening to execute anyone who failed and to erase the Shinigami.
• Szayelaporro considered the lack of combat data on Asano Kiyoshi, then expressed curiosity about how the coming battle would turn out.
• Szayelaporro unleashed his altered spiritual pressure, and powerful, newly strengthened Espada answered his summons across Hueco Mundo.
• Gin Ichimaru and the captains observed the gathering forces, while Kenpachi welcomed the powerful opponents as ideal challengers.

The captains’ group entered Hueco Mundo and discovered that Szayelaporro had anticipated their arrival and was monitoring them. Stark then appeared with Asano Kiyoshi’s communicator, and the chapter ended as Kiyoshi’s recorded message began outlining the operation.

• Shunsui identified an Adjuchas observer, while Mayuri dismissed the monitoring method as crude and destroyed the Reishi Worms watching the group.
• Szayelaporro studied the captains through the surveillance feed and vanished, eager to confront them and test his deductions.
• A Vasto Lorde’s spiritual pressure surrounded the group, and several captains drew their blades on Stark as he protected Ninny.
• Stark produced Asano Kiyoshi’s pink-stickered communicator, and Mayuri confirmed that the recording was genuine.
• Asano Kiyoshi’s message warned the captains to follow his Hueco Mundo battle plan and specifically told Kenpachi not to act alone.

Asano Kiyoshi ordered Shunsui to send a request for aid to the nobles and Royal Family, using the likely delay as leverage in the division of Hueco Mundo’s spoils. He then directed the captains toward their targets, while Szayelaporro reveled in his newly acquired power.

• Kenpachi Zaraki nearly struck the Reishi Communicator, but Sister Hana asked him to quiet down and he stepped aside.
• Asano Kiyoshi told Shunsui to write an urgent request for aid and instructed Gin Ichimaru to deliver it to Ulquiorra and the others for the Royal Family.
• Shunsui wrote the letter, and Gin Ichimaru departed with it, furthering Asano Kiyoshi’s plan to limit nobles’ claims to Hueco Mundo’s spoils and reduce Aizen’s interference.
• Asano Kiyoshi instructed the captains to follow Stark, read their enemy intelligence, form pairs, and fight their way to the Main Hall to defeat Hueco Mundo’s king.
• Shunsui praised the detailed intelligence, while Byakuya questioned Kenpachi for repeatedly pressing the communication function.
• Szayelaporro examined the pink Reishi ornaments on his cheeks and celebrated his godlike power.

Szayelaporro arranged the Arrancar’s matchups and redirected Asano Kiyoshi’s transport Kido, unaware that Asano had anticipated his interference. As the captains faced their opponents across Hueco Mundo, Asano confronted Hogyoku-fused Barragan and unleashed his Bankai.

• Barragan demanded that the Arrancar bring him Shinigami heads, and Szayelaporro assigned each Shinigami an opponent based on their Reishi.
• Asano Kiyoshi used Reverse Kido No. 32—Mirror Float to transport the Shinigami captains into Hueco Mundo while Mayuri Kurotsuchi recorded the technique.
• Szayelaporro altered the transport routes, believing he had matched each captain with an opponent capable of countering them, but Asano had anticipated the move and turned it to his advantage.
• Asano encountered Barragan in his Hogyoku Fusion state, and Barragan attacked him with a deathly aura and a great axe.
• Asano released his Bankai, Ten Directions Ten Worlds Bitter Great Hell, and their clash tore open Hueco Mundo as other Arrancar began their Resurrección.

The Shinigami captains fought Barragan, Zommari, Aaroniero, and Yammy in Hueco Mundo. Nel revealed her Hollow form to save Sister Hana, whose loose hair made Nel realize she was Captain Unohana.

• Asano Kiyoshi used Kido to restrain Barragan's death aura while Barragan looked forward to killing him.
• Zommari used his power on Byakuya and Kenpachi, and they attacked him amid scarlet cherry blossoms.
• Shunsui released Katen Kyokotsu and struck at Aaroniero's two heads.
• Yammy charged Nel and Sister Hana, shrugging off Nel's sword attacks and reaching for them.
• Nel transformed into her centaur form, pierced Yammy's arm, then abandoned her spear and pulled Sister Hana to safety.
• Nel pleaded with Sister Hana, then saw her hair had fallen loose and recognized her as Captain Unohana.

Unohana unleashed her Bankai, All Ends, and faced Yammy while Nel watched. She swiftly severed Yammy’s arm, then taunted him as his rage and power continued to grow.

• Unohana asked Nel to keep her secret and told her she would protect her from Yammy.
• Unohana released her Bankai, All Ends, filling the area with a blood-like sea of spiritual pressure.
• Yammy drew on the Hogyoku’s power and attacked, while Unohana stopped Nel from interfering.
• Unohana vanished into the Blood Sea and cut off Yammy’s left arm with a single strike.
• Yammy roared in fury and began swelling further as Unohana waited for him with a smile.

Unohana overwhelmed Yammy, cutting off his jaw and arm while healing him so she could continue fighting and awaken his power. As Szayelaporro analyzed the battle, Mayuri Kurotsuchi entered the surveillance room and mocked him as a third-rate scientist.

• Unohana carved through Yammy's Cero with rapid sword strikes and tore off his jaw.
• Unohana healed Yammy's jaw and severed his raised arm when he tried to move, insisting he obey her treatment.
• Yammy charged Unohana again despite his body nearing its limit, driven by fury.
• Szayelaporro analyzed Yammy's emotional weakness and wondered about Unohana's spiritual pressure.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi entered the surveillance room and called Szayelaporro a third-rate scientist of Hueco Mundo.