Chapter Summaries

The Central 46 Chambers put Soi Fon on trial while Ross watched, and the nobles used the hearing to probe his ties to Yoruichi Shihoin. As the judges piled accusations on Soi Fon, Ross prepared for the real confrontation to begin.

• Kuchiki Ginmei started the trial after deciding Ross posed a threat to the Central 46 Chambers.
• Aizen, disguised as Tosen Kaname, brought the sealed Soi Fon before the judges.
• Soi Fon challenged the Central 46 Chambers’ authority and accused Ross and the Shiba Clan of colluding with Yoruichi Shihoin.
• Kuchiki Ginmei dismissed Soi Fon’s claims as unsupported, and the judges condemned her from every angle.
• Ross mocked the judges’ skill with words and anticipated that strength would decide what came next.

Soi Fon erupted during her trial and opened a Garganta, but a far greater Spiritual Pressure emerged and brought Senjumaru Shutara into the council chamber. Senjumaru declared that she had joined the True King's Palace and asked to take Soi Fon away, leaving the Zero Division questioning her motives and their own loyalty.

• Soi Fon denied her guilt as Byakuya Kuchiki prepared to deliver her verdict.
• Soi Fon unleashed her Spiritual Pressure, revealed her Zanpakuto, and opened a Garganta to escape.
• A terrifying Spiritual Pressure surged from the Garganta, killing more than a dozen sages despite the barrier raised by Yamamoto and the Zero Division.
• Senjumaru Shutara emerged from the Garganta and announced that she had joined the True King's Palace as the Great Weaver.
• Senjumaru asked to take Soi Fon away, and Nirggey questioned why she had betrayed the Soul King Palace.
• Senjumaru denied that she had ever been loyal and said she had found a possibility more worthy of her efforts.

Senjumaru Shutara began revealing the secret behind the Three Realms and the Soul King's power, but Oetsu Nimaiya interrupted her and attacked. With Ross controlling Shutara, she evaded his strikes and judged his blade while the conflict escalated.

• Oetsu Nimaiya asked who the Hollow King was, and Shutara said she could not reveal the answer because of a contract.
• Shutara began explaining how a supreme being divided the original chaos into the Three Realms and tied them to Hollows, Shinigami, and Quincy.
• Oetsu Nimaiya recognized what Shutara was about to reveal and ordered her to stop, then attacked before she could continue.
• Ross controlled Shutara as she dodged Oetsu Nimaiya's first strike and blocked his next slash with a Spirit Particle thread shield, which his blade cut apart.
• Shutara praised Oetsu Nimaiya's blade as an Unbreakable Blade, while he declared that a sword without a soul was a failure.
• Oetsu Nimaiya judged that Shutara could now use Bankai, but he remained determined to kill her if she continued revealing dangerous secrets.

Shūtarō delivered the Hollow King’s warning to Soul Society, but Captain-General Yamamoto attacked as she prepared to leave. Shūtarō unleashed her Bankai, trapping the gathered fighters in a deadly web while torrents of Spirit Particles ravaged Seireitei.

• Shūtarō told Soul Society that the Hollow King considered their conflict a one-sided test and warned that capable people would eventually claim their rightful place.
• Captain-General Yamamoto drew Ryūjin Jakka and ordered the Gotei 13 to attack Shūtarō, while Ross and Tosen Kaname joined the assault through false bodies controlled by Kyōka Suigetsu.
• Shūtarō, controlled by Ross, released her Bankai, Sōtō-ka-ra-kai-shi-ra-ku-tsu-ji, and covered the council hall and sky with golden Spirit Particle threads.
• The Bankai engulfed the Captain-class fighters except Soi Fon, while its chaotic Spirit Particle currents began destroying Seireitei.
• Oetsu Nimaiya explained that the Loom of Fate would drain the trapped fighters’ Spiritual Pressure until they died, and said there was no way to overcome it except to endure the Bankai.

Ross used Senjumaru’s Bankai to divide the Soul Society battlefield and trap its strongest fighters, but Captain-General Yamamoto unleashed his own Bankai and nearly burned through the space. The chapter ended as Yamamoto and Shūtarō activated the next stages of their Bankai and prepared to fight.

• Ross operated Senjumaru’s Bankai, splitting the battlefield into six spaces and imprisoning the combatants in separate compartments.
• Senjumaru watched through a water mirror and marveled that Ross could use her Bankai across all six spaces at once.
• Senjumaru’s first thread filled the spaces with deadly eyes, but Captain-General Yamamoto released his Bankai and erased much of the surrounding space.
• Aizen observed Yamamoto’s power and resolved to surpass the strongest fighters, while Ross maintained Kyoka Suigetsu to conceal him.
• Captain-General Yamamoto invoked Zanka no Tachi: East—Rising Sun Blade as Shūtarō invoked Second Thread Release, Ten Thousand Gold Armor, and their battle began again.

Ross used Shūtarō’s Bankai to force Captain-General Yamamoto to reveal the limits of Zanka no Tachi, but Yamamoto destroyed the golden and black attacks and broke through the ice only after it delayed his charge. Ross gained enough time to pursue his plan to copy Yamamoto’s final move with Enrakyōten.

• Captain-General Yamamoto’s Zanka no Tachi slash split the Bankai Space and vaporized Shūtarō’s golden-spike tsunami, while its stray force destroyed the Central 46 Chambers.
• Ross restored the Bankai Space and used Shūtarō’s third skein to summon cursed black sand, which Yamamoto erased with Burning Hell Robes.
• Yamamoto charged Shūtarō, but Ross used the fourth skein to create a domain of absolute-zero ice that repeatedly reformed against Yamamoto’s flames.
• Yamamoto halted the advance and slashed through the ice faster than the loom could create it, while Ross gained enough time for his plan.

Ross used Shūtarō’s concealed Kidō and soul-burning flames to attack Captain-General Yamamoto, but Yamamoto survived and countered with his Bankai. As Yamamoto’s undead army swarmed Shūtarō, he prepared to end the battle with a final attack.

• Shūtarō’s Hado #91 concealed Kidō #99 bandages, which bound Captain-General Yamamoto and forced him to drop the protection of his Burning Hell Robes.
• Shūtarō activated the Fifth Seal and engulfed Yamamoto in flames designed to burn souls.
• Kirisuke Tōshirō prepared to help Yamamoto, but Ross stopped him and said they should be ready to prevent Shūtarō from escaping.
• Yamamoto emerged badly burned but still able to fight, then used Zanka no Tachi: South to summon countless flaming skeletons against Shūtarō.
• Yamamoto treated the undead siege as a way to buy time before unleashing his final attack.

Ross had Shūtarō erase Yamamoto’s undead army with her Bankai, then watched Yamamoto unleash Zanka no Tachi: North, apparently destroying her. After the battlefield returned to dusk, Shūtarō’s Spiritual Pressure erupted around the defenseless Yamamoto as Oetsu Nimaiya rushed to warn him.

• Ross had Shūtarō’s Bankai purify the tens of thousands of skeletons surrounding Yamamoto.
• Yamamoto charged his Bankai to its limit and released Zanka no Tachi: North, Heavenly Ashes, destroying Shūtarō’s loom and seeming to erase her.
• Oetsu Nimaiya noticed Shūtarō’s strange smile as Yamamoto’s devastating attack faded.
• Yamamoto sheathed his Zanpakuto and declared the battle over, believing Shūtarō had died.
• Oetsu Nimaiya sensed Shūtarō’s Spiritual Pressure erupt around Yamamoto and lunged to warn him.

Senjumaru Shutara defeated Captain-General Yamamoto and escaped through a Garganta after Nirggey chose not to risk further losses. She left the Captains and Vice-Captains wondering whether True King's Palace could give them power like hers.

• Silver needles burst from Captain-General Yamamoto, destroying his Spirit Particle connection points and leaving him crippled.
• Senjumaru Shutara re-formed herself from Spirit Particle threads, and Kirio and Kirisuke Tōshirō treated Yamamoto while Nirggey confronted her.
• Nirggey declined to release the Blood Oath and ordered his forces to withdraw, and the Captains began to suspect the Zero Division had deliberately stayed out of the battle.
• Senjumaru opened a Garganta and left after inviting the Captains and Vice-Captains to seek power at True King's Palace.

After Shūtarō left, Ross coordinated the Gotei 13’s cleanup and assigned captains to handle the wounded, the damaged site, and the political fallout. He ordered the capture of the Fon Clan and placed the Second Division under watch while the Central 46’s future remained unsettled.

• Shunsui Kyoraku stayed with Captain-General Yamamoto while Kirio, Kirisuke Tōshirō, and Unohana treated him, and Jushiro Ukitake watched nearby.
• Ross assigned Ichimaru Gin and Aizen to organize the site and Byakuya Kuchiki to tally the Sages’ losses and pacify the nobles.
• Ross ordered Sajin Komamura to assist Tosen Kaname in capturing the Fon Clan, and warned Marechiyo Omaeda to restrain the Second Division.
• Ross told Rangiku Matsumoto to watch the Second Division with Toshiro Hitsugaya and authorized Toshiro to use his Bankai.

After the battle, Ross visited the Fourth Division to check on Captain-General Yamamoto, whose injuries had damaged vital spiritual centers and left him unable to gather Spiritual Pressure. The Zero Division had gone to seek permission to use Kirio’s healing hot springs, but Shunsui doubted the monk would agree to save Yamamoto.

• Marechiyo Ōmaeda left the Central 46 Chambers ruins with the Tenth Division personnel while Ross and Tōshirō remained behind.
• Kenpachi Zaraki arrived after the fighting had ended, then left with Yachiru after learning he had missed the battle.
• Ross led the cleanup of the battlefield, then went to the Fourth Division to visit Captain-General Yamamoto.
• Shunsui Kyoraku told Ross that Yamamoto’s surface wounds had healed, but his Chain knot and Soul sleep had been pierced, preventing him from gathering Spiritual Pressure.
• Shunsui explained that the Zero Division had gone to request permission to use Kirio’s healing hot springs, though he doubted the monk would approve the treatment.

After Yamamoto fell to Shūtarō, Shunsui appointed Ross Acting Captain-General to help stabilize the Soul Society while Yamamoto remained injured. Ross accepted the role as Nanao Ise and Chōjirō Sasakibe prepared to assist him, leaving the Seireitei facing growing political unrest.

• Ross suggested that the Soul Society find its own solution if the Soul King Palace could not help.
• Shunsui asked Ross to watch over the Gotei 13 while he stayed to guard Yamamoto, and assigned Nanao Ise and Chōjirō Sasakibe to assist Ross.
• Ross accepted the Acting Captain-General role, while privately recognizing that Shunsui was testing and limiting his authority.
• Ross left the Fourth Division with Nanao and Sasakibe and asked for their help managing the coming unrest.
• Nanao offered to organize intelligence for Ross, and Sasakibe promised to keep First Division's elders from causing trouble.

Ross and Aizen discussed the deception Ross staged on the battlefield and their shared pursuit of the Soul King’s throne. Aizen revealed that he planned to use Kurosaki Ichigo as a complete being to study the fusion of powers, while Ross warned him that others were watching Ichigo too.

• Ross walked toward the Tenth Division while speaking privately with Aizen, whom everyone else could not see.
• Aizen recognized that Ross had impersonated Senjumaru Shutara on the battlefield to make the Soul Society distrust her.
• Ross challenged Aizen to explain how he would unite the three powers, and Aizen said he planned to study Kurosaki Ichigo directly.
• Aizen acknowledged that Kurosaki Masaki was under Ross’s command and would watch over Ichigo.
• Ross warned Aizen that he was not the only one interested in Kurosaki Ichigo, and Aizen promised to proceed carefully.

After returning to the Tenth Division, Ross relaxed by visiting Senjumaru on Fish-Man Island and questioned her about what she had accomplished as the Great Weaver. Senjumaru defended her work and revealed she was researching new spirit garments, while Ross continued to tease her.

• Ross returned to the Tenth Division and shifted his attention to Senjumaru in the dilapidated palace on Fish-Man Island.
• Ross spent two hours with Senjumaru, then held her and asked what she had done during her long years in the Zero Division.
• Senjumaru defended her Shinigami uniform invention and insisted it proved her achievements as the Great Weaver.
• Ross challenged Senjumaru to name any practical work beyond the uniform and compared her with Oetsu Nimaiya.
• Senjumaru revealed she was researching spirit garments designed to avoid the flaws of Zanpakuto, and Ross teased her for not having finished them.

Ross showed Senjumaru that he could use her Zanpakuto and spirit particles to weave a spiritual garment far beyond her own craft. He claimed the world favored him, leaving Senjumaru questioning how his power compared to the Soul King's.

• Senjumaru accused Ross of trying to provoke her into making spiritual garments, then challenged him to let her craft them for his Arrancar.
• Ross controlled Senjumaru's Zanpakuto, Tsuritsubane, and used her spirit particles to weave a spiritual garment.
• Senjumaru praised the garment's craftsmanship and described its defenses, self-repair, and ability to resist attacks when charged with spiritual pressure.
• Senjumaru explained that Captain-level spiritual garments were her limit and that stronger ones required Soul King Fragments.
• Ross said the world favored him, and Senjumaru doubted his power matched the Soul King's before he asked whether the Soul King refused to let her use his power.

Senjumaru struggled with her resentment over being forbidden to use Soul King Fragments, but Ross tempted her with fragments and the chance to create her ultimate Spiritual Garment. She began weaving a garment for Ross, leaving her focused on her craft rather than escape or suicide.

• Senjumaru admitted that she wanted Soul King Fragments to improve her Spiritual Garments, then told Ross she could never truly return to her former life.
• Ross revealed that he had gathered Soul King Fragments from noble-family collections and Hueco Mundo.
• Senjumaru agreed to make Ross a Spiritual Garment like the one she wore, and Ross gave her half the fragments and restored her spiritual power.
• Senjumaru replenished her power by drawing Spirit Particles from Ross, then meditated with Tsuritsubane until she reached her peak condition.
• Senjumaru began weaving with two Tsuritsubane, skillfully incorporating the Soul King Fragments into the threads.

After seven days of work, Senjumaru Shutara completed the Hollow King's Robe using the Soul King's Power and Ross's Spirit Particles, then dressed Ross in it. The robe’s power and special functions exceeded Ross’s expectations and provided the final piece he needed to devour the Shinigami world.

• Senjumaru Shutara spent seven days weaving the Soul King's Power and Ross's Spirit Particles into the Hollow King's Robe.
• Ross praised the finished robe, and Senjumaru dressed him in it herself.
• The completed robe gave Ross an overwhelming aura of divinity and made Senjumaru regard him as its perfect wearer.
• Ross found that the robe surpassed SS-class in rank and could protect him from attacks by nearly all the Captains.
• Ross discovered the robe let him carry the Soul King's aura, avoid the world's rejection and detection, and gain a special function that completed his plan to devour the Shinigami world.

Ross maintained control of the Gotei 13 while Yamamoto remained unconscious, and the divisions increasingly supported Ross becoming Captain-General. Rangiku reported that the Second Division had been brought into line, leaving Ross’s rise looking increasingly certain.

• Nanao Ise reported that the divisions remained stable and that Yamamoto had still not awakened.
• Ross asked Rangiku Matsumoto whether the Second Division’s loyalists had caused further trouble.
• Rangiku said Toshiro Hitsugaya’s Bankai had silenced dissenters and that Kūkaku Shiba had helped Shihoin Clan loyalists leave the division.
• Ross’s arrangements placed Toshiro in command of the Second Division and Kūkaku in charge of its operations.
• The Shinigami’s support for Ross grew as their captains backed him and his actions improved life in the Seireitei.

Ross pressed ahead with a plan to place Rukon District land under Gotei 13 control while Central 46 Chambers was reorganized. Byakuya Kuchiki supported the reform, and Ross asked about the selection of new sages.

• Ross told his subordinates to handle the Shihoin Family as usual unless it deliberately caused trouble.
• Byakuya Kuchiki said the nobles had begun selecting new members for Central 46 Chambers and that the Kuchiki Clan supported Ross's Rukon District land reform plan.
• Nanao Ise questioned the plan, and Ross subdued her with his Spiritual Pressure before Byakuya and Ross resumed their discussion.
• Byakuya explained that the Kuchiki Clan considered the reform reasonable and that the nobles should hold only benefits their strength could support.
• Ross revealed that most surviving sages had withdrawn and asked about the thirteen candidates reportedly confirmed for Central 46 Chambers.

Ross’s proposal to reorganize the Soul Society won the agreement of all thirteen existing Captains, setting the Gotei 13 on course to control land and weaken the Central 46 Chambers and the nobles. Nanao Ise questioned the upheaval, while Rangiku Matsumoto explained that the old order had collapsed and the Captains were ready to replace it.

• Kuchiki learned that all thirteen Captains had agreed to Ross’s proposal and worried about its consequences, though he kept to his family’s instruction not to interfere.
• Ross told Kuchiki that the Central 46 Chambers selection could be accelerated and that the Gotei 13 would register land across the Rukon District for a reform that would make it economically independent.
• After Ross left, Nanao Ise challenged Kuchiki for agreeing, but he said she did not understand what made a noble and walked away.
• Nanao asked Rangiku Matsumoto whether she would follow Ross into madness, and Rangiku questioned whether Nanao’s noble upbringing shaped her fears.
• Rangiku told Nanao that the old order had shattered and that the Captains agreed because they no longer wanted nobles to rule over them by birth.