Chapter Summaries

Byakuya Kuchiki stopped Asano Kiyoshi and Tsunayashiro Kojiro’s fight, declared Asano the top graduate, and secured his qualification to enter the Great Spirit Book Gallery. Meanwhile, Tsunayashiro Sosuke and an old man set a backup plan in motion to obtain a Zanpakuto the family had worshipped for generations.

• Asano Kiyoshi overcame his doubts and struck at Tsunayashiro Kojiro’s ankle, but Byakuya Kuchiki intervened before either could continue fighting.
• Byakuya Kuchiki declared Asano Kiyoshi the top graduate of the Class of 2050 and granted him entry to the Great Spirit Book Gallery.
• Byakuya’s cherry blossoms and Asano Kiyoshi’s efforts reduced Tsunayashiro Kojiro’s injuries, and the Captain-Commander gave Asano the Shinigami Uniform modified by Jushiro Ukitake.
• Tsunayashiro Sosuke and an old man agreed to activate their backup plan and retrieve the Zanpakuto worshipped by their family.

Asano Kiyoshi discussed improvements to Kaido with Yamada Kiyonosuke after recovering quickly from his injuries, then faced Unohana’s suspicion that he had concealed his healing abilities. Unohana took him to meet the Captain-Commander and explained that she had brought food because his Ryūjin Jakka made summer cooking unpleasant.

• Yamada Kiyonosuke questioned how Asano Kiyoshi had recovered so quickly, and Asano said he had treated himself with Kaido.
• Asano shared ideas for optimizing Kaido with Yamada, who praised his expertise and promised to submit their discussion to Unohana.
• Unohana teased Asano for holding back his Kaido abilities, then told him the Captain-Commander wanted to see him.
• Unohana escorted Asano toward the Captain-Commander and explained that she carried a lunchbox to avoid his slow cooking and Ryūjin Jakka’s heat during summer.

At a summer festival picnic, Asano Kiyoshi’s healing Kaido unexpectedly improved Jushiro Ukitake’s chronic illness and restored vitality to the gathered captains. The evening ended with fireworks as everyone realized Asano’s ability could heal hidden injuries and even slightly strengthen Head Captain Yamamoto.

• Head Captain Yamamoto, Jushiro Ukitake, and Shunsui prepared to cook, but Captain Unohana revealed that she had already brought dinner, tea, and everything else.
• The group moved to the First Division’s Back Mountain for a picnic, where Head Captain Yamamoto scolded Shunsui for encouraging Ukitake to drink.
• Asano Kiyoshi gave Sparrow Step Vice-Captain a Western-style teacup, delighting him.
• Asano Kiyoshi offered to use his Zanpakuto-enhanced Kaido on Ukitake, and Ukitake coughed up black blood before showing an unprecedented improvement in health.
• Asano Kiyoshi treated the others, removing some of their hidden injuries and slightly boosting Head Captain Yamamoto’s combat power.
• Fireworks blossomed overhead as the group enjoyed the festival night.

During the summer festival, Asano Kiyoshi admitted to Head Captain Yamamoto that he had wanted to spare Kojiro and argued that Soul Society’s inequality forced good people into desperate conflicts. He declared that he wanted to change the conditions in Rukongai.

• Head Captain Yamamoto asked Asano Kiyoshi whether his compassion for Kojiro had been right or wrong.
• Asano Kiyoshi said his feelings were wrong from his position but right for Soul Society as a whole.
• Asano Kiyoshi explained that Kojiro had sacrificed himself to save his mother despite not being evil.
• Asano Kiyoshi described the poverty and suffering in Rukongai and blamed the nobles for exploiting its people.
• Asano Kiyoshi told Head Captain Yamamoto that he wanted to change everything.

After Asano Kiyoshi stood firm under Head Captain Yamamoto’s spiritual pressure, Yamamoto embraced him and challenged him to prove his promise to change the Soul Society. Shunsui advised Asano on how to protect his standing and told him where Tsunayashiro Kojiro had gone, leaving Asano intent on helping Kojiro keep his promise to his mother.

• Asano Kiyoshi faced Head Captain Yamamoto’s crushing pressure while Shunsui, Jushiro Ukitake, Sister Hana, and the Sparrow Step Vice-Captain showed their support for him.
• Head Captain Yamamoto laughed, embraced Asano, and urged him to work toward becoming Captain-Commander if he meant his promise to change the Soul Society.
• Yamamoto left with Chojiro after declaring that he was happy and that the next Captain-Commander might arrive soon.
• Shunsui advised Asano to visit the Kuchiki Clan, remain at the First Division Barracks, and avoid jeopardizing his chance to enter the Great Spirit Art Corridor.
• Shunsui told Asano that Tsunayashiro Kojiro had left his clan compound with his mother and was likely near Hakutōmon.
• Asano said the summer festival was not over and Kojiro could not break his promise to his mother.

Asano Kiyoshi healed Tsunayashiro Kojiro’s mother, and Kojiro gave him something he said would be useful at the Great Spirit Book Gallery. Aizen and Gin Ichimaru confirmed that Kyoka Suigetsu had hypnotized the Tsunayashiro Clan’s leaders, while Aizen questioned whether his intervention had any meaning.

• Kojiro mourned beside his dying mother during the summer festival until Kiyoshi arrived and offered to treat her.
• Kiyoshi used Kaido to heal Kojiro’s mother, who woke and thanked him.
• Kiyoshi reminded Kojiro to keep his promise to watch the fireworks with his mother, and Kojiro secretly gave him a token for the Great Spirit Book Gallery.
• Aizen appeared before the Tsunayashiro Clan’s leaders, who mistook him for Miyadaira and demanded that he pour tea.
• Gin Ichimaru reported that everyone had been hypnotized by Kyoka Suigetsu, and Aizen told him that he had helped Kiyoshi because it seemed interesting.

Asano Kiyoshi endured Central 46’s contempt to gain access to the Great Spirit Book Gallery, where Kojiro’s gift was absorbed by his Scroll as the Royal Seal. He left the chapter inside the gallery, trying to hide his reaction as the Seal began altering his body and promised rapid spiritual pressure growth.

• Head Captain Yamamoto brought Asano Kiyoshi before Central 46, whose members mocked him before voting to grant him access to the Great Spirit Book Gallery.
• Asano Kiyoshi endured the humiliation and entered the gallery, where he had two hours to search among its immense collection of books.
• Asano Kiyoshi followed the Captain-Commander’s directions toward the lost Kido materials but felt Kojiro’s gift stir as he crossed the shelves.
• The gift vanished into Asano Kiyoshi’s Scroll and was identified as the Royal Seal, which could enable spatial-temporal transfers and was expected to increase his spiritual pressure for 77 days.
• Asano Kiyoshi controlled his reaction while the gallery’s unseen voice mistook his flushed face for distress over the book he appeared to be reading.

Asano Kiyoshi absorbed an incarnation of the King's Seal and searched the records for information on the Tsunayashiro Family. He uncovered links between the family’s suspicious finances, missing Zanpakuto, and a fire that helped bury an investigation, leaving him with intelligence to bring back to Captain-Commander.

• Asano Kiyoshi confirmed that the mark he absorbed was only an incarnation of the King's Seal's power, then recalled Captain-Commander's order to gather information on the Tsunayashiro Family.
• Asano Kiyoshi found detailed records showing that the Tsunayashiro Family reported financial hardship in Seireki Calendar Year 2043 despite its reliable sources of income.
• Asano Kiyoshi connected the family’s financial irregularities to the disappearance of roughly 147 Zanpakuto belonging to deceased squad members that year.
• Captain-Commander Yamamoto investigated suspected noble families and recovered around twenty-seven missing Zanpakuto, while evidence suggested the rest had gone to the Tsunayashiro Family.
• The Tsunayashiro Family's accounting office burned down, servants were made to take the blame, and the nobles’ united resistance forced the Gotei 13 to let the matter drop.
• Asano Kiyoshi recognized that Captain-Commander wanted him to connect scattered records and point the Gotei 13 toward further investigation.

Asano Kiyoshi studied the Tsunayashiro Clan’s crimes before turning to the forbidden Reverse Kido in the Great Spirit Book Gallery. He discovered that his Scroll could rapidly analyze and store their complex molds, leaving him excited to learn the techniques.

• Asano Kiyoshi memorized records of the Tsunayashiro Clan’s crimes and vowed to grow strong enough to bring the nobles down.
• Asano Kiyoshi recalled the Captain-Commander’s advice to study Reverse Kido and hurried to the designated bookshelf.
• The voice of the Great Spirit Book Gallery wondered why Asano Kiyoshi was rapidly flipping through Reverse Kido books instead of studying one carefully.
• Asano Kiyoshi used his Scroll to analyze and permanently store the Reverse Kido molds as he finished books in seconds.
• Asano Kiyoshi excitedly named Reverse Kido No. 3, Iron Wind Kill, No. 5, Thousand Dewdrop Needles Like Rain, and No. 7, Heretical Art Seal.

Asano Kiyoshi accompanied the Captain-Commander to visit the Kuchiki Clan, where the Captain-Commander asked him to treat Hisana. Asano used his Zanpakuto’s healing power to restore her complexion, leaving Byakuya relieved and grateful.

• Asano Kiyoshi reported to the Captain-Commander, then chatted with him as they walked to the Kuchiki Clan’s residence.
• Byakuya Kuchiki and Hisana Kuchiki welcomed the Captain-Commander and Asano Kiyoshi, and Byakuya apologized to Hisana for making her receive guests while ill.
• The Captain-Commander asked Byakuya about Hisana’s worsening condition and suggested that Asano try to treat her.
• Asano released his Zanpakuto and unleashed a surge of vitality that restored Hisana’s color and made the withered lotus flowers bloom.
• Byakuya held Hisana as relief showed on his face.

Asano Kiyoshi reunited Byakuya and Hisana with the truth about Rukia, then received the Kuchiki Clan’s support for his orphanage. As he prepared to leave, the Execution Force arrived with authorization to arrest him for Tsunayashiro Kojiro’s death, and Asano agreed to cooperate after asking for a few minutes.

• Byakuya thanked Asano Kiyoshi for healing Hisana and gave him the Silver White Wind Flower Gauze Scarf as a token of the Kuchiki Clan’s gratitude.
• Asano Kiyoshi told Hisana that he had found Rukia in Rukongai and brought her group back, and Byakuya explained Hisana’s connection to the girl.
• Hisana decided not to meet Rukia yet because she did not know how to face her, while Byakuya offered to fund Asano Kiyoshi’s orphanage and provide staff from the clan.
• The Execution Force arrived with a Gold Seal Crest and announced that they would arrest Asano Kiyoshi for the likely murder of Tsunayashiro Kojiro.
• Captain-Commander Yamamoto and Byakuya challenged the arrest, but Asano Kiyoshi said he would cooperate after taking a few minutes.

Asano Kiyoshi gave Old Man Yama and Byakuya leads to investigate the evidence against him and exposed historical crimes tied to the Tsunayashiro Family. As the Punishment Force approached to take him to Central 46, Old Man Yama and Byakuya promised to protect his family, gather evidence, and delay the trial.

• Old Man Yama stopped the Punishment Force captain from interrupting Asano Kiyoshi and sealed the group inside a Kido barrier.
• Asano Kiyoshi asked Old Man Yama to have the Twelfth and Fourth Divisions examine the corpse, investigate possible spiritual-pressure imitation, and review traces at the scene.
• Asano Kiyoshi detailed suspected Tsunayashiro Family crimes connected to several past cases and proposed leads for investigating them.
• Asano Kiyoshi asked Old Man Yama to protect his family and warn Yumichika and Ikkaku not to act rashly.
• Byakuya said he would seek help from the Shihoin and Shiba Clans to delay the Gold Seal Conference, while Old Man Yama ordered the divisions to pursue evidence proving Asano Kiyoshi's innocence.
• Old Man Yama told Asano Kiyoshi to cooperate with Central 46 and remain silent as the Punishment Force approached to take him into custody.

Asano Kiyoshi was brought from the Repentance Palace to face a trial before Central 46 for allegedly murdering a noble. The trial began with a councilor asking a leading question about his visit to Tsunayashiro Kojiro, leaving Ukitake wary of the suspicion being planted against him.

• Asano Kiyoshi told a fellow prisoner, Naka Tatefuru, that he would clear the wrongful convictions in the Repentance Palace once he gained enough power.
• Prison guards escorted Asano Kiyoshi to Central 46, where nobles and Gotei 13 captains had gathered for his trial.
• Naka Tatefuru called out his name as Asano Kiyoshi left, and Asano Kiyoshi introduced himself as a Shinigami.
• Central 46 announced the trial for the alleged malicious murder of a noble.
• A councilor questioned Asano Kiyoshi about asking for Tsunayashiro Kojiro's address and later visiting him, while Ukitake recognized the question's prejudicial framing.

Asano Kiyoshi defended his actions at the hearing without accepting the councilman's assumption that he had killed Kojiro, and Yamamoto openly backed him. The Tsunayashiro Family then presented evidence for Mayuri Kurotsuchi to examine, and the examination reached a segment of footage.

• Asano Kiyoshi explained that he had fought Kojiro in a fair match and later treated Kojiro's gravely ill mother with Captain Shunsui accompanying him.
• Yamamoto rebuked the councilman for treating the hearing as a trial to condemn Asano Kiyoshi and showed how much he valued him, prompting some nobles to distance themselves from the Tsunayashiro Family.
• Tsunayashiro Sosuke submitted alleged crime-scene evidence and asked Mayuri Kurotsuchi to examine it.
• Mayuri checked the evidence in front of the hearing and announced that the blood, clothing fibers, footprints, and wounds matched Asano Kiyoshi's blade.
• Mayuri began examining the video footage, and an image formed from Reishi before the assembly.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi verified that both Reishi recordings were genuine, but Asano Kiyoshi used differences between them and the autopsy timeline to challenge the Tsunayashiro Clan’s accusation. The evidence exposed that Kojiro and his mother had died more than a day before the alleged crime, while the identity of the figure in the first recording remained unresolved.

• A recording showed a figure resembling Asano Kiyoshi killing Kojiro’s mother and fighting Kojiro, whose final strike burned away his life.
• Tsunayashiro Sosuke and two clan members accused Asano Kiyoshi of murder, but Mayuri Kurotsuchi interrupted them to examine a second recording.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi confirmed that both recordings were genuine, and Shunsui revealed that he had made the recording showing Asano Kiyoshi at the summer festival.
• Asano Kiyoshi asked when Kojiro died and when the festival fireworks ended, pointing out that the two recordings showed different scenes and times.
• Captain Unohana reported that Kojiro and his mother had been dead for over a day, undermining the Tsunayashiro Clan’s accusation.
• The question of whether the figure in the first recording was truly Asano Kiyoshi remained unanswered as the name Enrakyōten was invoked.

Tsunayashiro Sosuke struggled to tell which parts of his memories and recordings were real after Aizen altered his perception, but he still tried to frame Asano Kiyoshi for Kojiro’s murder. He urged Kiyoshi to join the Hueco Mundo Expedition Team to prove his innocence, and the chapter ended as Kiyoshi signaled the Captain-Commander.

• Tsunayashiro Sosuke discovered that Enrakyōten could imitate the appearance of Asano Kiyoshi’s Zanpakuto but could not reproduce its abilities, and he felt unusually exhausted.
• Tsunayashiro Sosuke recalled deciding to kill Tsunayashiro Kojiro, frame Asano Kiyoshi, and protect the Tsunayashiro Clan’s chance to obtain the King’s Seal.
• Tsunayashiro Sosuke panicked over conflicting timelines, missing fireworks in his recording, and uncertainty about whether he had left home or killed Kojiro.
• Aizen watched Tsunayashiro Sosuke and revealed that he had scrambled the timeline and altered Sosuke’s perception.
• Tsunayashiro Sosuke argued that the silhouette in the recording still implicated Asano Kiyoshi, then proposed that Kiyoshi join the Hueco Mundo Expedition Team to prove his innocence.
• Asano Kiyoshi lightly parted his lips toward the Captain-Commander as the Captain-Commander began to respond.

Tsunayashiro Sosuke tried to send Asano Kiyoshi to Hueco Mundo, but Byakuya, Yamamoto, and others pressured him with accusations against his family. Asano agreed to go only if Tsunayashiro accepted an open investigation, leaving Sosuke furious and trapped by his own proposal.

• Yamamoto respected Asano Kiyoshi's request not to mention the sword and stayed silent while Tsunayashiro Sosuke urged Asano to go to Hueco Mundo.
• Byakuya confronted Tsunayashiro Sosuke over the Tsunayashiro Family's alleged double taxation of Kuchiki shops and proposed an open investigation through Central 46.
• Yamamoto, Byakuya's allies, and members of the Gotei 13 raised a series of accusations and unsolved cases connected to the Tsunayashiro Family.
• Asano Kiyoshi agreed to go to Hueco Mundo, but demanded that Tsunayashiro submit to an open investigation to prove his devotion to Soul Society.
• Tsunayashiro Sosuke realized Asano had turned his proposal against him and erupted in rage.

Central 46 ruled that Asano Kiyoshi would join the Hueco Mundo Expedition Team while the Tsunayashiro Family faced a public investigation. After leaving the chambers, Asano encountered Aizen Sosuke waiting for him in the rain.

• Tsunayashiro Sosuke realized Asano Kiyoshi might have obtained the King's Seal and abandoned his plan to negotiate.
• Tsunayashiro Sosuke accepted the public investigation and portrayed it as an honorable act.
• Central 46 unanimously ruled that Asano Kiyoshi would join the Hueco Mundo Expedition Team and the Tsunayashiro Family would undergo a public investigation.
• Asano Kiyoshi and Tsunayashiro Sosuke both declared that they had no objections, and the trial ended.
• Asano Kiyoshi left the chambers and froze when he saw Aizen Sosuke waiting with an umbrella.

Aizen escorted Asano Kiyoshi through the rain and asked why he had chosen to go to Hueco Mundo rather than reconcile with the Tsunayashiro Clan. Asano explained that Kojiro’s mother had been deliberately made ill and condemned the privileges of the nobles before Aizen left him at the First Division Barracks.

• Aizen held an umbrella for Asano Kiyoshi and invited him to talk on the way to the First Division Barracks.
• Aizen asked why Asano Kiyoshi had chosen mutual destruction with the Tsunayashiro Clan instead of remaining in Soul Society.
• Asano Kiyoshi said Kojiro’s mother had been tormented by an external method and that the Tsunayashiro Clan had arranged treatment for her.
• Asano Kiyoshi told Aizen he despised the nobles for enjoying privilege and trampling ordinary people’s dignity.
• Aizen agreed that no one was born more noble than another, then stopped at the First Division Barracks and parted from Asano Kiyoshi.

Asano Kiyoshi grieved Kojiro’s death and spoke with Captain-Commander, who accepted that he had the King's Seal and advised him to use it to survive in Hueco Mundo. After bidding farewell to Rukia, Renji, Granny Hana, and other friends, Asano Kiyoshi prepared to leave Soul Society with the expedition team.

• Asano Kiyoshi told Captain-Commander that he felt guilty about Kojiro’s death, and Captain-Commander comforted him.
• Asano Kiyoshi admitted he could only use the King's Seal for short-range spatial movement, and Captain-Commander told him to flee if he faced mortal danger in Hueco Mundo.
• Captain-Commander said the Hueco Mundo Expedition Team would depart in three days and asked Asano Kiyoshi to return before leaving to receive something.
• Asano Kiyoshi returned home and found Rukia, Renji, Granny Hana, and the others waiting anxiously for him.
• Asano Kiyoshi spent the day shopping with his friends and told them he would be working far from Seireitei for a long time.
• After saying goodbye to friends including Byakuya, Ikkaku, and Yumichika, Asano Kiyoshi reached the day of his departure from Soul Society.