Chapter Summaries

Ichigo and Yoruichi investigated the whereabouts of Shunsui Kyoraku, Rukia, and Ross while trying to determine who had abducted Inoue Orihime. They found that Shunsui had entered Mugen, and Yoruichi grew suspicious of his past actions, unaware that Kūkaku had altered the records she was reading.

• Yoruichi set aside her doubts about Inoue's appearance in the Fifth Division and checked the Great Spirit Library Corridor's records with Ichigo.
• Yoruichi and Ichigo found that Ross had returned to the Shiba Clan, while Rukia remained in the Ninth Division's prison.
• They discovered that Shunsui had gone to Mugen, Soul Society's lowest underground prison, where the most serious criminals were held.
• Yoruichi noted that Shunsui had visited Mugen before and linked him to events involving Kaien, the Shiba Clan, and Soi Fon.
• Yoruichi grew suspicious that Shunsui had kept the unconscious Yamamoto close, unaware that Kūkaku had erased records of his efforts to help him.

Yoruichi Shihoin and Kurosaki Ichigo discovered that the Shihoin Clan elder and the other Central 46 sages had been dead for days, while living Kyoraku Family members secretly controlled the chambers. They witnessed the sages use Shunsui Kyoraku’s true Zanpakuto release, revealing him as the mastermind behind the deception.

• Yoruichi Shihoin and Kurosaki Ichigo left the Great Spirit Library Corridor and entered the Central 46 Chambers hall.
• They found the sages’ long-dead corpses and realized the Shihoin Clan had been condemned through orders spoken in a dead elder’s name.
• Kurosaki Ichigo concealed himself and Yoruichi as living Kyoraku Family sages entered and discussed their plans to target the Kuchiki Clan and a captain.
• The Kyoraku sages chanted “Hollow Heaven False Bone,” transforming the rotting hall and its corpses into the appearance of a functioning Central 46 Chambers.
• Yoruichi recognized the chant as Shunsui Kyoraku’s true release command and concluded that he, not Sosuke Aizen, was behind the deception.

Kurosaki Ichigo and Yoruichi Shihoin discovered that Central 46 had been dead for days and that the Kyoraku Family controlled it. They witnessed the Kyoraku sages activate Shunsui Kyoraku’s true Zanpakuto power, revealing him as the mastermind behind the deception.

• Kurosaki Ichigo and Yoruichi Shihoin left the Great Spirit Library Corridor and entered the Central 46 Chambers.
• They found the sages dead, including the Shihoin Clan elder whose supposed proposal had led to the clan’s destruction.
• Kurosaki Ichigo hid himself and Yoruichi as living Kyoraku Family members entered the hall and discussed their operation against the Kuchiki Clan and a Captain.
• The Kyoraku sages took their seats and chanted the release command, “Hollow Heaven False Bone,” transforming the rotting hall into an apparently normal gathering place.
• Yoruichi recognized the command as Shunsui Kyoraku’s true Zanpakuto release and realized he was the mastermind behind the illusion.

Momo Hinamori hesitated to let four Captains search the Fifth Division barracks until Sosuke Aizen appeared and agreed to cooperate. Aizen revealed he had known about the inspection in advance and named Byakuya Kuchiki and Ross as his informants, while Sajin Komamura concluded that Aizen was being framed.

• Momo Hinamori said she needed to report the search to her Captain, but Sosuke Aizen emerged and ordered her to let the Captains search.
• Aizen’s cooperation reassured Hinamori, who ordered the Fifth Division members to search their barracks.
• Tōshirō and the other three Captains raised a barrier around the Fifth Division barracks to seal the scene.
• Aizen thanked the four Captains and said Byakuya Kuchiki and Ross had told him privately about the inspection before they arrived.
• Sajin Komamura agreed that the search was proper and reasoned that Aizen had sided with Ross after being targeted.
• Komamura dismissed the possibility that Aizen had hidden Inoue Orihime and decided the Fifth Division was being framed.

The Fifth Division searched for Inoue Orihime while four captains questioned Shunsui Kyoraku about allowing Kurosaki Ichigo and Yoruichi Shihoin to escape. Izuru Kira’s Spiritual Pressure readings placed Shunsui near the Central 46 Chambers, leaving the captains with incriminating evidence against him.

• Momo Hinamori led a division-wide search while Inoue Orihime remained hidden in an abandoned compartment.
• Ichimaru Gin and Shunsui Kyoraku arrived at the Fifth Division, and Gin claimed Shunsui could have prevented the fugitives’ escape.
• Tōshirō Hitsugaya challenged Shunsui’s account, arguing that the Eighth Division’s distance made his quick arrival suspicious.
• Shunsui explained that he had avoided pursuing the fugitives to prevent casualties, and Sajin Komamura supported his decision.
• Izuru Kira reported that his readings had detected Shunsui’s Spiritual Pressure near the Central 46 Chambers when the fugitives fled.

After Shunsui Kyoraku left, the Captains found a human girl in the Fifth Division and debated whether to protect Aizen or report the truth. Tōshirō proposed confronting Central 46 Chambers, while Aizen privately considered the events to be unfolding according to Ross's plan.

• Shunsui Kyoraku left the Captains, convinced that Rukia's execution would eventually expose Aizen's conspiracy.
• Momo Hinamori brought the human girl found by the Fifth Division before the Captains, and Aizen insisted that he and his division had known nothing about her.
• Tōshirō dismissed the matter as minor, while Byakuya Kuchiki promised the Kuchiki Clan's support for Aizen and blamed the incident on a plot against them.
• Ichimaru Gin suggested that the Captains could conceal the discovery, but Sajin Komamura and Tosen Kaname refused to hide the truth.
• Tōshirō proposed going directly to Central 46 Chambers, and Aizen privately thought the events were following Ross's script.

Ross and several captains went to Central 46 Chambers to challenge the false accusation against Byakuya Kuchiki, while Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni blocked their way. Ross framed the captains’ presence as supervision to protect the Seireitei, leaving the group facing Yamamoto at the entrance.

• Tōshirō proposed forcing their way into Central 46 Chambers, and Byakuya Kuchiki asked whether Captain-General Yamamoto or Captain Ross was stronger.
• Ross said Yamamoto could dry out the Soul Society with his Bankai and that Ross could replicate him, making a decisive battle too dangerous for the Soul Society.
• Ross invited Sajin Komamura to join the group heading to Central 46 Chambers, and Komamura agreed to support Byakuya Kuchiki and Aizen.
• Ross and the captains reached Central 46 Chambers, where Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni stood alone to bar their way.
• Ross told Yamamoto he had come as a member of the Shiba Clan to question Central 46 Chambers and said the other captains were there to supervise him and protect the Seireitei.

Ross led Yamamoto and the Captains into the Central 46 Chambers, where Yamamoto broke through an illusion concealing the dead sages and exposed the Kyoraku Family’s role. Kyoraku Kui admitted to his plan and released his Bankai, Gag Scroll, to fight Yamamoto.

• Yamamoto agreed to supervise Ross as Ross opened the Central 46 Chambers’ gates.
• Ross revealed that the hall appeared to be a morgue beneath an illusion, but the other Captains still saw a normal judgment chamber.
• Yamamoto used overwhelming Spiritual Pressure to shatter the illusion, exposing the corpses and living Kyoraku Family members.
• Yamamoto confronted Kyoraku Kui, who acknowledged the truth and drew his Zanpakuto, Gag Scroll.
• Kyoraku Kui declared that he had planned for the Kyoraku Family to rise to power and activated Bankai: Gag Scroll.

Kyoraku Kui used his Bankai to put Yamamoto on trial and imprison him in an illusory Mugen, but Yamamoto endured it and recognized that someone else had manipulated his senses. A final duel left Yamamoto lightly wounded and convinced that Shunsui Kyoraku was behind the deception, while Ross’s hidden role remained unknown to everyone else.

• Kyoraku Kui’s Bankai turned Central 46 Chambers into a grotesque courtroom, where the sages’ accusations attacked Yamamoto with spiritual and mental force.
• Kyoraku Kui sentenced Yamamoto to one hundred thousand years in Mugen, but Yamamoto endured the illusion without changing and realized Kui was not the source of the sensory deception.
• Kyoraku Kui transformed the scene into an arena and struck Yamamoto, whose sword passed through Kui’s illusory image as Kui left a small wound on Yamamoto’s haori.
• Yamamoto identified Shunsui Kyoraku’s Spiritual Pressure as the source of the deception, and the watching Captains concluded that Shunsui was the mastermind.
• Aizen realized he had not caused the deception, while Ross silently sheathed Enrakyōten after using it to create the false image and genuine Spiritual Pressure that misled Yamamoto.

Yamamoto killed Kyoraku Kui and allowed the remaining Kyoraku Family sages to die, then resolved to use Rukia Kuchiki’s execution as bait for Shunsui Kyoraku. Yamamoto stationed himself in the Central 46 Chambers to await his former disciple, while Ross left.

• Yamamoto destroyed Kyoraku Kui’s Zanpakuto and killed him with Ryūjin Jakka, ending the Roman arena illusion.
• The surviving Kyoraku Family sages stabbed themselves, and Yamamoto ordered that the guilty be punished rather than saved.
• Yamamoto concluded that Shunsui Kyoraku had betrayed him and declared that he would purge his former disciple.
• Yamamoto kept Rukia Kuchiki’s execution scheduled as planned, intending to draw Shunsui out in public.
• Yamamoto sat in the Central 46 Chambers to await Shunsui, and Ross turned to leave before Yamamoto called after him.

Yamamoto prepared to remain in the Central 46 Chambers until the execution, while Shunsui and Ukitake confronted the possibility of opposing him and reaffirmed their trust in each other. At the Shiba Clan’s old residence, Ross kept Kurosaki Masaki under his control and discussed the unfinished endings of Yoruichi Shihoin and Kurosaki Ichigo.

• Yamamoto told Ross that Ross would inherit the Captain-General position if he died, and Ross promised to carry out his final orders.
• Ukitake told Shunsui that Yamamoto had chosen to stay in the Central 46 Chambers and would settle everything on the execution day.
• Shunsui asked Ukitake whose side he would take if Yamamoto fought him, and Ukitake pledged to stand by Shunsui.
• Ross found Kurosaki Masaki mechanically dressing in the True King's Palace uniform while Inoue Orihime lay vacant in the shadows.
• Kurosaki Masaki told Ross she no longer cared how Kurosaki Ichigo’s story ended and believed her former self had been broken by Ross’s conditioning.

Ross discussed the coming purge with Kurosaki Masaki and planned to exploit Kurosaki Ichigo’s likely appointment as a Captain, while Yoruichi Shihoin and Ichigo hid in the Rukon District after escaping Soul Society. With two days left until the execution, they learned that the Captains had confronted Central 46 Chambers and that Yamamoto would guard it until the execution day.

• Ross agreed with Kurosaki Masaki’s suggestion to make Kurosaki Ichigo Captain of the Thirteenth Division and planned to celebrate in the Captain’s office.
• Kurosaki Masaki proposed that Ross take her to the Human World and play a deceptive game at the Kurosaki Clinic with Isshin Kurosaki.
• Kurosaki Ichigo complained to Yoruichi Shihoin about his exhausting battle with Kenpachi Zaraki, whom he had defeated without Hollowfication.
• Yoruichi Shihoin told Ichigo that the Captains had found Inoue Orihime and gone with Ross and Unohana to demand answers from Central 46 Chambers.
• Yoruichi reported that Yamamoto had announced he would guard Central 46 Chambers until execution day, and Ichigo resolved to go to Sōkyoku Hill in two days.

On execution day, Ross and Tōshirō led Rukia and Nanao from the Ninth Division prison toward Sōkyoku Hill as the Soul Society’s factions prepared to confront one another. Yamamoto ordered Sasakibe to remain behind, while Shunsui and Ukitake set out together to face the coming battle.

• Ross, Tōshirō, Kūkaku Shiba, and Rangiku Matsumoto arrived at the Ninth Division prison to escort Rukia and Nanao to the execution grounds.
• Ross reassured Rukia that Byakuya was working to save her and that the execution was only a formality, while Tōshirō and Nanao traded insults before she left her cell.
• Yamamoto emerged from the Central 46 Chambers and ordered Chōjirō Sasakibe to guard the chambers and remain away from Sōkyoku Hill.
• Sasakibe tearfully called Yamamoto his master and bade him farewell, and Yamamoto continued toward the execution grounds without turning back.
• Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake pledged to face the battle together and left the Eighth Division Captain’s office.

At Sōkyoku Hill, Rangiku Matsumoto and Captain Ross reassured Rukia Kuchiki that they would protect her, and Ross revealed that Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji Abarai had both pleaded for her life. As Rukia reunited with them and the gathered Shinigami, Sosuke Aizen and Momo Hinamori arrived, then Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni appeared amid a surge of scorching Spiritual Pressure.

• Rangiku Matsumoto comforted Rukia at Sōkyoku, and Ross promised to destroy the execution grounds rather than let her be executed.
• Ross told Rukia that Byakuya Kuchiki and another man had knelt to ask him to save her, and she realized the second man was Renji Abarai.
• Toshiro Hitsugaya confirmed Renji's concern, and Rukia thanked Renji, who awkwardly denied that he had trained for her sake.
• Byakuya stood beneath Sōkyoku to shield Rukia as Renji joined him, while Sajin Komamura and Tetsuzaemon Iba took up guard positions.
• Sosuke Aizen arrived with Momo Hinamori, and Toshiro warned Momo to stay behind him if a fight began.
• Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni arrived beneath Sōkyoku as scorching Spiritual Pressure swept across the hill.

Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake confronted the Soul Society’s Captains, but an unknown power displaced them and made everyone else see duplicates. Sōya Azashiro and Kurosaki Masaki revealed that True King's Palace had taken control of the spectacle, and Masaki named Ross as the suspected mastermind.

• Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni crushed Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake’s Spiritual Pressures and demanded that they face him.
• Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake appeared at the execution site, but an unseen force shifted them among the Captains and left identical copies in their original place.
• Sōya Azashiro appeared to Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake, explaining that he had come to expose Aizen but that a higher-dimensional power had sealed his Zanpakuto’s ability.
• Kurosaki Masaki emerged from the Sokyoku’s shadow and said True King's Palace was responsible for the proceedings.
• Shunsui Kyoraku deduced that a powerful undercover agent had been protected amid the Soul Society’s turmoil, and Kurosaki Masaki identified Ross as the suspected mastermind.

Kurosaki Masaki sealed the battlefield and explained how her control of Spirit Particles left the others unable to act, while Ross’s fake Shunsui Kyoraku revealed his immense Spiritual Pressure and confessed to manipulating events. The fake Shunsui stood against Yamamoto, insisting his schemes had been driven by interest rather than ambition.

• Kurosaki Masaki said no one within her domain could mobilize Spirit Particles or transmit Spiritual Pressure, and Sōya Azashiro and Shunsui Kyoraku found their abilities sealed.
• Uro Sakurabi confirmed to Sōya Azashiro that her own power was immobilized, while the fake Kyoraku stepped forward on the main battlefield.
• The fake Kyoraku removed his straw hat and revealed a cold, commanding demeanor, leaving the real Shunsui unable to make the others recognize him.
• Ross’s fake Kyoraku unleashed overwhelming Spiritual Pressure, and Jushiro Ukitake and Yamamoto Genryūsai recognized its terrifying power.
• The fake Kyoraku told Yamamoto that he had planned for him to retire honorably after a falling-out with Captain Ross, then said he had acted simply because it was interesting.

Renji Abarai attacked Fake Shunsui Kyoraku but was defeated instantly by a basic Kidō, prompting Captain-General Yamamoto to isolate himself with the two impostors for a private battle. In an isolated space, True Jushiro Ukitake revealed his secret oath to the One-Eyed God, and Kurosaki Masaki suggested that the mastermind behind the impostors possessed genuine omniscience.

• Renji Abarai released Bankai and charged Fake Shunsui Kyoraku, who shattered the attack with Kidō #1 and knocked Renji unconscious.
• Retsu Unohana healed Renji as Captain-General Yamamoto ordered the Lieutenant Captains to retreat and blocked the others from joining the fight with a wall of flames.
• Captain-General Yamamoto confronted Fake Jūshirō about his betrayal, and Fake Jūshirō said Kisuke Urahara had offered a temptation he could not refuse.
• True Jushiro Ukitake told True Shunsui Kyoraku that he had sworn a secret blood oath to the One-Eyed God, offering his lungs and life to protect Soul Society.
• Kurosaki Masaki told Shunsui that the mastermind was truly omniscient and omnipotent, and said the Soul King's authority of omniscience was no longer in his own hands.

Fake Jūshirō revealed that he had orchestrated the Hollowfication incident to pursue a path of evolution and claimed that Kisuke Urahara had sealed its key within Rukia. As Yamamoto attacked, Fake Jūshirō tried to seize Rukia, but Ross intervened, and the ensuing battle showed the Captains how far their strength lagged behind.

• Shunsui Kyoraku realized that Masaki’s claim about Jushiro Ukitake’s power coming from the Soul King was true, while Ross asked what bait Kisuke Urahara had left and what he planned to do.
• Fake Jūshirō confessed to planning the Hollowfication incident and said he sought evolution to repair his body and resist the evolved forces of True King's Palace.
• Fake Jūshirō claimed Kisuke Urahara had sealed the key to Shinigami evolution inside Rukia, prompting Yamamoto to condemn the plan and release Ryūjin Jakka.
• Fake Jūshirō used Sonido to reach for Rukia, but Ross knocked his hand aside and shielded her as the Captains attacked.
• Fake Jūshirō repelled several Captains and redirected Aizen’s Byakurai with Twin Fish Carp, but Ross broke the returning lightning and engaged him in a rapid sword fight.
• Aizen trapped Fake Jūshirō in Kurohitsugi, leaving Byakuya and the other Captains shaken by the gulf between their strength and that of the fighters on the battlefield.

Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake realized that Zanpakuto clashes should reveal the true Spiritual Pressure hidden beneath Aizen’s illusions. They suspected Ross and Aizen had noticed the discrepancy long ago, leaving the nature of their ongoing fight unresolved.

• Ulquiorra Cifer appeared disguised as a Hollowfied Jushiro Ukitake and fought Ross and Sosuke Aizen while Captain-General Yamamoto battled a Shunsui Kyoraku projection.
• The real Jushiro Ukitake and Shunsui Kyoraku discussed the fake’s implausible strength, while Kyoraku concluded that their situation seemed hopeless.
• Kyoraku asked Sōya Azashiro whether Aizen’s Illusion could fabricate Spiritual Pressure, and Azashiro confirmed that it could not.
• Kyoraku challenged Jushiro to a Zanpakuto clash, and their blades’ Spiritual Pressure feedback revealed that soul-level contact could expose an illusion.
• Kyoraku and Jushiro reasoned that Ross and Aizen should have detected the fake’s true Spiritual Pressure during their repeated blade clashes.

Shunsui Kyoraku and Jūshirō Ukitake realized that Aizen and Ross were deliberately exposing themselves as enemies of Soul Society, while Kurosaki Masaki revealed the extent of Ross’s power and deceptions. Shunsui learned that Ross had engineered Soi Fon’s fate and resolved to pass the truth on to anyone who survived.

• Shunsui Kyoraku concluded that Aizen and Ross were both infiltrators from the True King's Palace after seeing them fight Fake Jūshirō without hiding the contradictions.
• Shunsui explained that Ross’s Bankai could create Projections with authentic spiritual pressure, which accounted for Fake Kyoraku fooling Yamamoto’s instincts.
• Kurosaki Masaki claimed Ross stood above the Espada and that Shūtarō had suffered even more than she had.
• Kurosaki Masaki revealed that the True King's Palace had only one king and suggested Shūtarō was a Projection created by Ross.
• Kurosaki Masaki said Ross and the Noveno Espada had been responsible for Soi Fon’s fate, and Shunsui decided he had to share what he had learned.