Chapter Summaries

Yoru Machi treated Kuchiki Hisana after diagnosing the physical and emotional troubles that threatened her life, and over the next five years became her friend while helping her recover. He prepared to travel to Rukongai to find promising souls for Shino Academy as the Gotei 13 faced a growing shortage of recruits.

• Yoru Machi told Kuchiki Byakuya that Hisana’s overwork could be treated, but she also needed to resolve the worries weighing on her heart.
• Hisana woke and completed her wedding ceremony with Byakuya, and Yoru Machi received a generous reward from the Kuchiki Clan.
• Over the next five years, Yoru Machi regularly treated Hisana, grew close to the Kuchiki couple, and refused Byakuya’s offers to become vice-captain of the Sixth Division.
• Hisana’s health and mood improved through Yoru Machi’s medicine and friendship, and Byakuya encouraged him to keep visiting her.
• Yoru Machi told Hisana that Captain Fujitora had assigned him to find potential recruits in Rukongai because Shino Academy enrollment and Gotei 13 manpower were declining.

The Gotei 13 captains agreed to recruit promising souls from Rukongai after discussing the shortage of Soul Reapers. Ukitake, Kenpachi Zaraki, and Ichimaru Gin were assigned regions, while one region remained unclaimed as the meeting continued.

• Yamamoto demanded that the captains propose a solution to the shortage of recruitment personnel, and Ukitake suggested searching Rukongai for souls with strong spiritual pressure.
• The captains approved Ukitake's plan and assigned his Thirteenth Division the eighty southern districts.
• Kyoraku Shunsui recommended Kenpachi Zaraki for the northern districts, and Yamamoto assigned the task to the Eleventh Division.
• Kyoraku Shunsui recommended Ichimaru Gin for another region, leaving one region still to be assigned.
• Kyoraku Shunsui weighed recommending Kuchiki Byakuya or Aizen for the final region when Yamamoto suddenly spoke.

The captains assigned four divisions to search Rukongai for recruits to Shino Academy, and Yoru Machi took charge of the Thirteenth Division’s mission in the southern districts. He decided to begin in the harsher districts, leaving Kiyone eager to learn from his experience.

• The Captain-Commander assigned Kyoraku Shunsui and the Eighth Division to search a final area of Rukongai, leaving Kyoraku to realize he had been maneuvered into the mission.
• The captains decided that four divisions would search Rukongai for Soul Reaper candidates because Shino Academy lacked students.
• Ukitake and Shiba Kaien assigned Yoru Machi, Asakusa Ichika, and Kotetsu Kiyone to find candidates in the southern district.
• Yoru Machi chose to begin the search in District Forty rather than the districts nearest Seireitei.
• Yoru Machi explained that the harsher outer districts produced tougher fighters, citing Captain Kenpachi’s origins in District Eighty, and Kiyone eagerly recorded his advice.

Yoru Machi and Kiyone entered the dangerous Inuzuri District to search for Shinigami candidates, where a gang surrounded them and demanded their belongings. Yoru Machi revealed that he had expected the ambush and urged Kiyone to prove herself against the attackers.

• Yoru Machi warned that the districts beyond District 70 were lawless and split the search, sending Asakusa Ichika to Districts 70 through 75 while he took Kiyone to Districts 76 through 80.
• Yoru Machi agreed to let Asakusa Ichika work alone because she had mastered her Shikai, but insisted that Kiyone stay with him.
• Yoru Machi and Kiyone entered Inuzuri District in South District 78 and drew hostile attention from its residents.
• A group of armed men surrounded Yoru Machi and Kiyone in a dead-end street, dismissing their status as Shinigami and demanding their valuables and Zanpakuto.
• Yoru Machi disclosed that he had sensed the ambush and urged Kiyone to fight, while the gang leader drew an Asauchi and claimed he had killed Shinigami before.

Yoru Machi let Kiyone fight a group of Rukongai criminals to test her combat ability, but her inexperience and reluctance to kill left her overwhelmed. As the criminals pressed their attack, Yoru Machi challenged her to consider what she was fighting to protect.

• Yoru Machi recognized the leader’s weapon as an Asauchi and warned that Rukongai residents could be dangerous despite lacking Shino Academy training.
• Yoru Machi retreated and left Kiyone to face roughly twelve criminals who attacked from around the thatched roof.
• Kiyone injured one attacker but faltered when he charged her back, and the criminals gradually gained the advantage.
• Yoru Machi criticized Kiyone’s hesitation and asked what she was swinging her blade for.

Kiyone overcame her fear and defeated several Rukongai thugs, but their leader, Black Wolf, revealed himself as a far more dangerous opponent. The chapter ended with Kiyone reeling after she blocked his powerful attack.

• Yoru Machi’s words reminded Kiyone of her sister, Kotetsu Isane, and why she had become a Soul Reaper, restoring her resolve.
• Kiyone kicked away a thug and killed him with Hadō #4: White Lightning, then cut down the remaining attackers as Gray Rope restrained others.
• As two fleeing thugs tried to escape, Black Wolf killed them himself and challenged Kiyone to fight.
• Black Wolf charged Kiyone, and she blocked his slash but staggered backward from the force.

Kiyone fought Black Wolf but was outmatched by his strength, speed, and experience, and she retreated instead of taking a chance to wound him. Yoru Machi sent her to step aside as Black Wolf's spiritual pressure surged, signaling that he was about to release his Zanpakuto.

• Black Wolf repeatedly interrupted Kiyone's Kidō incantations and drove her onto the defensive.
• Kiyone adapted to Black Wolf's attacks and found an opening, but retreated when he counterattacked rather than trading wounds.
• Black Wolf mocked Kiyone for backing away and announced that he would get serious.
• Yoru Machi told Kiyone to switch out and explained that Black Wolf's rising spiritual pressure suggested he was about to release his Zanpakuto.

Black Wolf revealed that he had awakened Shikai in a stolen Asauchi and challenged Yoru Machi and the others to fight. Yoru Machi said he had mastered Shikai but did not consider Black Wolf strong enough to make him release it, and Black Wolf attacked at high speed.

• Black Wolf released his Zanpakuto, transforming it into a clawed gauntlet called Hungry Wolf.
• Black Wolf explained that he had bonded with the Asauchi after stealing it and learning its name from a talking wolf.
• Kiyone was shocked that a Rukongai thug had achieved Shikai, while Yoru Machi said he had mastered it too.
• Kiyone praised Yoru Machi's strength, but Black Wolf dismissed him as an arrogant weakling and charged.
• Black Wolf moved at startling speed and deliberately aimed his claws at Yoru Machi's kidney.

Yoru Machi outmaneuvered Black Wolf despite Hungry Wolf’s speed, showing him the gap between his experience and a Soul Reaper’s techniques. Black Wolf sacrificed his wounded arm to Hungry Wolf, making his spiritual pressure surge to seated-officer level as the fight continued.

• Black Wolf attacked Yoru Machi with Hungry Wolf’s speed, but Yoru Machi blocked the strike with his Zanpakuto.
• Yoru Machi used Shunpo to appear behind Black Wolf and wound his arm.
• Yoru Machi explained that Black Wolf relied on straight-line movement and lacked the battle experience to match him.
• Enraged by Yoru Machi’s words, Black Wolf drove Hungry Wolf’s claws into his own wounded arm and let it drain his blood.
• Hungry Wolf’s blood-red claws absorbed the blood, and Black Wolf’s spiritual pressure surged to seated-officer level, shocking Kiyone.

Yoru Machi faced Black Wolf without using Shikai, while Asakusa Ichika revealed that his Fifth Seat rank concealed far greater strength. After removing the ribbon that sealed his spiritual pressure, Yoru Machi unleashed an overwhelming display, and Ichika told Kiyone that he was stronger than any current vice-captain.

• Kiyone worried that Black Wolf's spiritual pressure had reached seated-officer level but expected Yoru Machi to overcome him with Shikai.
• Asakusa Ichika arrived and told Kiyone that Yoru Machi had been a Fifth Seat for fifty years despite possessing strength worthy of a vice-captain recommendation.
• Ichika explained that Yoru Machi had slain a mutated Gillian without Shikai and held his rank by choice.
• Black Wolf crippled one of his arms to increase his power, and Yoru Machi responded by removing the ribbon from his hair rather than releasing his Zanpakuto.
• Yoru Machi's immense spiritual pressure erupted into a visible pillar, astonishing Kiyone and the people of District 78.
• Ichika told Kiyone that Yoru Machi was stronger than every current vice-captain and might even match a captain.

Yoru Machi defeated Black Wolf without being harmed and revealed that he, too, came from North Rukongai. He left Black Wolf alive, explaining to Kiyone that Black Wolf might fit the person they had come to find and that the Gotei 13 was not simply a force of justice.

• Black Wolf charged Yoru Machi and tried to trade injuries, but Yoru Machi's crescent slash wounded him severely.
• Black Wolf launched three red claw strikes, and Yoru Machi smashed them with a punch, explaining that his superior spiritual pressure made the attacks harmless.
• Yoru Machi told Black Wolf to seek out Shino Academy if he wanted to grow stronger, then left him alive and offered to face him again if he ever sought revenge.
• Kiyone questioned why Yoru Machi was letting Black Wolf go, and Yoru Machi said Rukongai was outside their jurisdiction and Black Wolf fit the criteria for their search.
• Yoru Machi challenged Kiyone's belief that the Gotei 13 were messengers of justice, saying that good and evil were relative.

Yoru Machi explained to Kotetsu Kiyone how the harshness of Rukongai shaped Soul Reapers, then encountered Rukia and the children of District 78. He offered Rukia, Renji, and the others the chance to study at Shino Academy and join the Gotei 13, leaving them stunned.

• Yoru Machi told Kiyone that survival in Rukongai’s later districts often meant killing, and warned her that Soul Reapers were not always seen as just by the people there.
• Yoru Machi noticed Rukia and the other children hiding nearby, and Kiyone used Shunpo to block their escape.
• Rukia grabbed Kiyone’s leg and urged Renji and the others to flee, but the red-haired boy and several children stayed to defend her.
• Asakusa Ichika returned with the children who had run away, and Rukia offered to take responsibility for the group’s thefts.
• Yoru Machi explained that he had stopped them to ask whether they wanted to become Soul Reapers, and praised Rukia’s and Renji’s Reiryoku talent.

Yoru Machi brought Rukia, Abarai Renji, and other promising souls from South Rukongai to Seireitei to enroll them in Shino Academy. After completing Rukia’s enrollment, Yoru Machi asked to speak with her privately, hinting that she had good news for her.

• Yoru Machi explained that a new policy allowed talented souls from Rukongai to attend Shino Academy, and she invited Rukia, Abarai Renji, and their companions to join.
• Yoru Machi brought the group safely through Seireitei’s gates, and Rukia chose to trust her despite Abarai Renji’s doubts.
• Yoru Machi arranged accommodations and enrollment for the newcomers at Shino Academy, where Rukia and Abarai Renji entered advanced classes.
• Abarai Renji accused Yoru Machi of having ulterior motives toward Rukia, but Yoru Machi said she wanted to share good news with her.

Yoru Machi revealed to Rukia that she had a biological older sister, Kuchiki Hisana, and brought her to the Kuchiki Clan residence to meet her. A startled maid mistook Rukia for Hisana when she saw her.

• Yoru Machi explained that he had watched Rukia because she looked exactly like her sister, Kuchiki Hisana.
• Rukia felt hurt that Yoru Machi’s care might have been only for Hisana, but he reassured her that he valued her for herself.
• Yoru Machi offered to take Rukia to meet Hisana, and Rukia agreed, wanting to ask why her sister had abandoned her.
• Yoru Machi brought Rukia to the Kuchiki Clan residence, where its vast grounds and wealth astonished her.
• A maid greeted Yoru Machi, then mistook Rukia for Hisana and wondered how Hisana had suddenly appeared outside her room.

Yoru Machi brought Rukia to meet Hisana, revealing that the two were sisters separated when Rukia was an infant. After an anxious first encounter, Hisana explained why she had left Rukia behind, and Rukia began to understand her choice.

• Yoru Machi arrived at the Kuchiki Clan with Rukia and asked to see Hisana.
• Hisana hurried to meet the girl who resembled her, but Rukia hid behind Yoru Machi when Hisana reached out.
• Yoru Machi reassured Hisana and gave Rukia time to calm down while Hisana changed and composed herself.
• Hisana met Rukia again and showed her concern while Yoru Machi helped explain their past.
• Rukia learned that Hisana might have died in Rukongai if she had not met Kuchiki Byakuya, and her resentment toward Hisana faded.

Hisana thanked Yoru Machi after Rukia left, and a week later the Kuchiki Clan rewarded him and his companions for bringing Rukia back. Yoru Machi told Kaien that the gifts would fund a forbidden experiment that might revive Shiba Miyako, leaving Kaien shocked and overjoyed.

• Rukia refused Hisana's offer to live at the Kuchiki estate and returned to the Spirit Training Academy, while Yoru Machi reassured Hisana that they would have more chances to grow closer.
• Hisana thanked Yoru Machi for saving her and helping her reconnect with Rukia, and he urged her not to treat their friendship as a debt.
• A week later, Yoru Machi, Asakusa Ichika, and Kotetsu Kiyone received gifts from the Kuchiki Clan after Byakuya publicly adopted Rukia as Kuchiki Rukia.
• Yoru Machi's colleagues envied the valuable gifts, and Kaien asked him to buy drinks for the division.
• Yoru Machi told Kaien that his reward could fund a forbidden experiment that might bring Shiba Miyako back to life, and Kaien reacted with shock and joy.

Yoru Machi told Shiba Kaien he could revive Shiba Miyako using the soul fragments he had saved, and Kaien agreed to provide money and a hidden location. They went to the Shiba estate in West Rukongai, where an explosion revealed that Kukaku had badly damaged the grounds again.

• Yoru Machi explained that he had collected fragments of Shiba Miyako's soul and spirit particles and had developed a preliminary way to revive her.
• Kaien offered his savings and agreed that Miyako might need a new appearance to avoid attracting the Soul Society's attention.
• Kaien took Yoru Machi to the Shiba estate in West Rukongai to use it as a secure location for the revival work.
• An explosion erupted at the estate, and Kaien and Yoru Machi found a huge crater in the backyard and much of the wall collapsed.
• Kaien blamed Kukaku's latest invention and doubted whether his home was safe enough for Yoru Machi's work.

Shiba Kukaku’s dangerous Kaka Firework Powder exploded in the Shiba Clan courtyard, and Yoru Machi rescued her from the blast. Kaien scolded Kukaku and Ganju, while Kukaku thanked her rescuer, leaving her brother and Ganju astonished by her behavior.

• Kukaku tried to pin responsibility for her explosive experiment on Ganju when Kaien and Yoru Machi arrived.
• Ganju dropped the prototype Kaka Firework Powder, and Kukaku pushed him clear just before it exploded.
• Yoru Machi rushed into the blast and carried Kukaku to safety while Kaien checked that Ganju was unharmed.
• Kaien scolded Kukaku and Ganju, then reprimanded Kukaku for not thanking Yoru Machi.
• Kukaku thanked Yoru Machi and offered to treat him to food and drinks, astonishing Kaien and Ganju.

Kaien scolded Kukaku and Ganju for nearly dying while setting off firecrackers, but Yoru Machi defended Kukaku’s talent for explosives. Kukaku’s old affection for Yoru Machi deepened, while he remained unaware of her feelings.

• Kaien found Kukaku and Ganju safe after the explosion and demanded an explanation for the ruined backyard.
• Kukaku blamed Ganju, but Kaien scolded her for leading him astray and smoking dry tobacco.
• Yoru Machi defended Kukaku, arguing that her unusual interests reflected a talent worth nurturing.
• Kukaku was moved by Yoru Machi’s support and remembered her youthful affection for him.
• Yoru Machi continued defending Kukaku, unaware that she was looking at him with growing love.

Kaien tried to arrange a match between Yoru Machi and Kukaku after realizing they both seemed to have feelings for each other. Yoru Machi hesitated because they barely knew each other, so Kaien agreed to wait until they had grown closer.

• Kaien criticized Kukaku’s boyishness and worried she might struggle to find a betrothal match.
• Yoru Machi praised Kukaku’s looks and personality, and Kaien revealed he was considering Yoru Machi as her husband.
• Yoru Machi realized Kaien had been setting him up and objected to Kaien deciding Kukaku’s future without asking her.
• Kukaku blushed instead of refusing Kaien’s proposal, leaving Yoru Machi unsure how to respond.
• Yoru Machi said he and Kukaku barely knew each other, and Kaien agreed to postpone the match until they became better acquainted.