Chapter Summaries

Mayuri Kurotsuchi presented evidence that Isshin Shiba was likely dead, but Jūshirō Ukitake said Shiba was missing, leaving Toshiro Hitsugaya poised to become the Tenth Division’s acting Captain. Ailin explained to Toshiro why he had not intervened in Shiba’s fight and urged him to grow strong enough to protect those he cared about.

• Mayuri Kurotsuchi showed the Captains footage of Isshin Shiba fighting a Hollow and disappearing after its self-destruction, while Toshiro Hitsugaya lost control of his Captain-level spiritual pressure.
• Jūshirō Ukitake reported that a Soul Reaper saw Shiba defeated the Hollow and taken away by an unknown person, so he considered Shiba missing rather than dead.
• Shunsui Kyōraku wondered whether Ailin’s disciples were destined to become Captains and feared that Ukitake might face a life-or-death crisis, then stayed close to him after the meeting.
• Ailin told Toshiro that he had watched Shiba’s battle but had not interfered because Shiba might have felt humiliated, and he urged Toshiro to become strong enough to protect others.
• Ailin congratulated Toshiro on becoming acting Captain of the Tenth Division, hugged him, and invited him home for a meal, while privately considering beating him in his Inner World.

Ailin answered Sogen Ishida’s call in Karakura Town and saved him and Uryu from Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s Hollow trap. Mayuri challenged Ailin for entering the Human World without authorization, leaving Ailin facing a possible accusation.

• Over six years, Ailin trained and guided Soul Reapers as Toshiro Hitsugaya became captain, Renji Abarai and Izuuru Kira became vice-captains, and Momo Hinamori advanced to vice-captain.
• Ailin sensed a call from the Human World, opened a Senkaimon, and recognized Karakura Town as a heavy spiritual zone.
• Ailin realized Mayuri Kurotsuchi had lured Sogen Ishida into a Hollow attack and that Sogen had used the item Ailin gave him to summon help.
• Ailin’s overwhelming spiritual pressure crushed the Hollows and forced Mayuri and the observing Soul Reapers to the ground.
• Mayuri confronted Ailin over entering the Human World without authorization or a spiritual pressure-limiting seal.

Ailin confronted Mayuri for leaving Sogen Ishida to face Hollows despite the Shinigami-Quincy agreement, then warned Sogen about his impending death and the danger ahead. He told Sogen he no longer had to obey the agreement if threatened, leaving the Quincy free to use his powers against Hollows.

• Ailin revealed that his spiritual pressure had been limited by a seal and reminded Mayuri that he was the mediator of the Shinigami-Quincy agreement.
• Sogen Ishida explained that he had held off more than ten Hollows for half an hour while waiting for Shinigami who never came.
• Ailin accused Mayuri of violating the agreement and severed his right arm before ordering him and the Twelfth Division members to leave.
• Ailin told Sogen that he had only three or four years left to live and warned him to pass on what he knew to his disciple.
• Ailin warned Sogen that Mayuri might target him again and said he could use Quincy power to destroy Hollows if he faced danger.

Sogen Ishida trained Uryu Ishida in Quincy techniques, then sacrificed his blood to save him when Yhwach’s Schrift drained mixed-blood Quincies across Karakura Town. The chapter left Ryuken grieving the apparent loss of Kirie and Isshin mourning Masaki as Urahara Kisuke explained how White Hollow’s attack had infected her.

• Sogen Ishida resolved to teach Uryu Ishida everything he knew, and Uryu trained with him after school until he formed his own Spirit Bow.
• Three pillars of blue spiritual light appeared over Karakura Town, enveloping Kirie Katagiri, Masaki Kurosaki, and Uryu Ishida as Schrift began draining them.
• Sogen Ishida used Ran-Sō Gōi and exchanged his pure blood for Uryu Ishida’s mixed blood, dispersing the pillar but leaving himself near death.
• Ryuken Ishida saw Uryu return home and realized Sogen had traded his life for his grandson’s; Ryuken also recognized that Kirie had been caught by Schrift.
• Isshin Kurosaki stood at Masaki’s grave as Urahara Kisuke apologized and recalled how White Hollow’s spirit particles had infected her after its attack.

Isshin Kurosaki refused Urahara Kisuke’s offer to involve Ichigo in Soul Reaper affairs until Ichigo chose that path himself, agreeing to entrust him to Urahara if he did. In Seireitei, an urgent captain’s summons brought Shunsui Kyōraku, Ise Nanao, Jūshirō Ukitake, and Kaien Shiba together, with the old rift between Shunsui and Kaien still unresolved.

• Urahara Kisuke warned Isshin Kurosaki that Yhwach would regain his power and threaten the world, and urged him to let Ichigo prepare for the coming danger.
• Isshin Kurosaki refused to let Urahara approach Ichigo until his son decided to become a Soul Reaper, citing his duty as a father and his distrust of Urahara.
• Urahara Kisuke accepted Isshin’s condition, and Isshin said he would entrust Ichigo to Urahara if Ichigo chose to become a Soul Reaper.
• Isshin Kurosaki returned to raising his three children and keeping the Kurosaki Clinic running as an orthopedic clinic.
• Shunsui Kyōraku responded to an urgent captain’s summons and went to the First Division with Ise Nanao, Jūshirō Ukitake, and Kaien Shiba, while Kaien remained silent toward him over the Kyōraku Family’s role in the Shiba Clan’s destruction.

At a Captains’ Meeting, Mayuri Kurotsuchi revealed a prophecy that Yhwach would regain his power and attack the Seireitei, then accused Ailin of helping him. The captains turned against Mayuri as the chapter ended with them demanding evidence for his accusation.

• Kaien Shiba considered seeking Ailin’s support to expose the Five Noble Clans and protect Kukaku and Ganju Shiba.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi told the captains that three Schrift-like pillars in Karakura Town indicated Yhwach was reclaiming his power.
• Retsu Unohana explained that surviving Quincy from the Light Empire might also be rebuilding their strength for the prophesied invasion.
• Ailin said he looked forward to fighting Yhwach, reassuring the captains that the Seireitei had powerful defenders.
• Mayuri accused Ailin of helping Yhwach regain his power, prompting Soifon and other captains to demand evidence.

Mayuri accused Ailin of indirectly helping Yhwach revive by protecting the Quincy in the Human World, but Ailin denied deliberately assisting the Quincy. Yamamoto ended the dispute and ordered the captains to prepare for Yhwach’s attack in nine years, while Shunsui remained uneasy about the Seireitei’s internal divisions.

• Mayuri argued that Ailin’s cooperation treaty with Sogen Ishida had allowed Quincy to survive and that Ailin had obstructed Mayuri’s attempt to eliminate them four years earlier.
• Ailin told Yamamoto that he had spared Sogen because he expected him to bring change, and had stopped Mayuri because Mayuri violated the treaty; Ailin said he was surprised other Quincy had become sacrifices for Yhwach.
• Soifon, Byakuya Kuchiki, and Toshiro Hitsugaya pledged to stop Ailin themselves if he ever threatened the Seireitei, and their support led Mayuri to withdraw.
• Yamamoto ended the accusation, declared that Yhwach would attack in nine years, and urged the captains to train before promising to defeat Yhwach again.
• Shunsui worried that Aizen’s and Ailin’s connections among the captains could destabilize the Seireitei and make Yhwach’s prophecy of victory within nine days possible.

Ailin met Zaraki for their once-in-a-decade battle as several captains watched, with Shunsui Kyōraku prepared to intervene if Ailin tried to kill him. Zaraki’s awakening had made him far stronger, and the chapter ended with their first clash shaking the battlefield while the spectators struggled to contain its shockwave.

• Seireitei began searching for the Light Empire’s Quincy remnants while its captains trained for Yhwach’s recovery and the coming war.
• Ailin arrived at the battle site and found Retsu Unohana, Byakuya Kuchiki, Renji Abarai, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Kaien Shiba, Rukia, and Shunsui Kyōraku among the spectators.
• The captains watched Ailin because Yamamoto had ordered Shunsui to monitor him, and Shunsui was tasked with stopping Ailin if he tried to kill Zaraki.
• Ailin recognized that Zaraki had completed his awakening and learned that Zaraki credited Ailin’s advice about strengthening his body with helping him avoid a regretful outcome.
• Ailin and Zaraki drew their swords and vanished into a sudden exchange, then their first blade clash created a huge crater and a shockwave that the spectators had to restrain with Bankai, spiritual pressure, and Shunkō.

Ailin and Zaraki fought at full power, and Zaraki awakened Nozarashi to survive Ailin’s Getsuga Tensho. Zaraki lost their clash but insisted the battle was not over as Ailin began to leave.

• Retsu Unohana, Byakuya Kuchiki, Shunsui Kyōraku, and Soifon raised a Kido barrier to contain the battle’s shockwaves.
• Ailin gradually overpowered Zaraki with his Zanjutsu and struck him into a crater with Getsuga Tensho.
• Zaraki awakened Nozarashi and unleashed a golden slash that collided with Ailin’s attack, shattering the barrier.
• Byakuya Kuchiki and Soifon shielded the Eleventh Division members from the shockwave, and Byakuya left to seek greater strength.
• Ailin emerged unharmed while Zaraki stood bloodied after losing the exchange, then Zaraki told Ailin their battle was not over.

After fighting Zaraki, Ailin recognized that Nozarashi could help him overcome his physical weakness and entered Unlimited Blade Works to draw on its power. The chapter also explained the rivalry between Ailin, Yhwach, and Ichibei Hyosube, and how their negotiations a thousand years ago ended with Ichibei sealing part of Yhwach's power.

• Ailin stopped fighting Zaraki, who realized he needed Retsu Unohana's help to master Nozarashi.
• Ailin identified Nozarashi as a powerful direct-combat Zanpakuto and considered whether Zaraki's Bankai could be stolen by the Quincy.
• Ailin assessed how his power compared with Yhwach and Ichibei Hyosube, noting that his main weakness was his physical strength.
• Ailin returned home, greeted Haruko, and entered Unlimited Blade Works in his physical body.
• Ailin recalled that Yhwach's negotiations with Ichibei Hyosube had collapsed after Yhwach saw the Spirit King's past, prompting Ichibei to seal part of Yhwach's power using the Spirit King's right arm.

After the war against the Light Empire, Ailin tested his clone’s Nozarashi Bankai and analyzed how it strengthened the body. He used the results to reinforce himself, believing he had erased the final gap between himself and Ichibei Hyosube and Yhwach.

• Ailin entered Unlimited Blade Works and met the clone formed from his severed left arm, who had already activated Nozarashi’s Bankai.
• Ailin tested the clone’s power and confirmed that its Bankai greatly enhanced its body and granted it tremendous, difficult-to-control spiritual pressure.
• Ailin synchronized with and analyzed his Bankai clone over several days and nearly a month to understand Nozarashi’s body-strengthening ability.
• Ailin used Reinforce on himself and exchanged a punch with his clone to test his enhanced physical strength.
• Ailin concluded that his Reinforce ability had erased the final weakness between himself and Ichibei Hyosube and Yhwach.

Shino Madarame arrived in Karakura Town, where she gave her spiritual power to Ichigo Kurosaki after a Hollow attack. Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa came to retrieve her power, and Shino brought Ichigo and Kon to meet them.

• Shino Madarame arrived in Karakura Town, and Zen'nosuke Kurumadani warned her about the town's powerful Hollows and gave her an address for a senior.
• Ikkaku Madarame learned Shino's spiritual pressure had vanished after she transferred her power to a human, and Yumichika Ayasegawa reasoned that Captain Ukitake wanted them to recover it secretly.
• Shino settled in at the Kurosaki home with Ichigo Kurosaki and received Gigai from Urahara Shoten after finding the shop.
• Shino took Ichigo Kurosaki and Kon to an abandoned park, where they encountered Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa.

Ikkaku Madarame confronted Ichigo Kurosaki over Shino Madarame’s transfer of Shinigami power, then challenged him to decide their futures through battle. As Ichigo grew under Ikkaku’s pressure, Urahara Kisuke praised his instincts while Isshin Kurosaki suspected an unseen hand had shaped his son’s birth.

• Ikkaku Madarame scolded Shino Madarame for giving Ichigo Kurosaki Shinigami powers and threatened to kill Ichigo to conceal her crime.
• Shino Madarame explained that Ichigo had saved her from a powerful Hollow, leaving Ikkaku torn between gratitude and the need to protect her from Seireitei punishment.
• Ikkaku challenged Ichigo to a fight, and Ichigo used the Gigai to enter his Shinigami form and face him.
• Ikkaku overwhelmed Ichigo with his skill, but Ichigo endured the attacks and rapidly improved his Zanjutsu.
• Urahara Kisuke watched Ichigo’s growth with Isshin Kurosaki, who wondered whether Aizen Sosuke or Urahara had secretly influenced Ichigo’s birth.

Isshin Kurosaki accepted Ichigo’s choice to become a Soul Reaper, while Urahara Kisuke intervened in Ichigo’s fight with Ikkaku Madarame and concealed his plans for Shino Madarame. Yoruichi Shihoin infiltrated the Seireitei to contact Captain Ailin, but she was attacked by golden osmanthus blades as she approached his home.

• Isshin Kurosaki told Urahara Kisuke he would let Ichigo choose his own path, and Ichigo’s battle with Ikkaku Madarame rapidly strengthened his instincts and spiritual pressure.
• Urahara Kisuke interrupted Ikkaku Madarame before he could release his Zanpakuto, then persuaded Ikkaku and Yumichika Ayasegawa that he would protect Ichigo and Shino Madarame and seek a way to restore her spiritual power.
• Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa returned to the Seireitei through the Dangai, and Yoruichi Shihoin slipped through the closing Senkaimon as a black cat.
• Urahara Kisuke revealed that he had no real plan to restore Shino’s spiritual power and expected it to return naturally after Ichigo’s borrowed power disappeared.
• Yoruichi Shihoin crossed the Seireitei toward Ailin’s home, where golden osmanthus-shaped blades attacked her.

Shihoin Yoruichi visited Ailin to explain the plan to use Shino Madarame and the Hogyoku to expose Aizen, and to warn him about Yushima Oshu’s Soul Soldier research. Ailin agreed not to interfere, while Yoruichi revealed Urahara Kisuke’s view that Ailin’s attachment to Miss Kuchiki kept his immense power from making him ambitious.

• Alice attacked Shihoin Yoruichi in her black cat form, but Ailin called Alice back and Yoruichi returned to human form.
• Shihoin Yoruichi told Ailin that Urahara Kisuke had placed the Hogyoku in Shino Madarame’s Gigai to draw Aizen out, and Ailin inferred that his own position as Eleventh Division captain helped protect Shino.
• Ailin assured Shihoin Yoruichi that he would remain an observer and not interfere with the plan.
• Shihoin Yoruichi warned Ailin that Yushima Oshu had developed powerful Soul Soldiers, including a Reikaku whose strength had matched Ailin’s in battle against Aizen.
• Shihoin Yoruichi relayed Urahara Kisuke’s analysis that Ailin’s feelings for Miss Kuchiki kept him from becoming ruled by ambition, and praised Urahara for helping Ailin create her Zanpakuto.

Ailin considered the world of Bleach incomplete and believed he needed to surpass the Spirit King to reach its creator. He reassured Shihoin Yoruichi that he would stay out of her conflict with Aizen and protect Seireitei if Yushima Oshu attacked, leaving Yoruichi confident in Urahara Kisuke’s plans.

• Ailin reflected that the world of Bleach was losing its finite source of souls and that Hell might eventually consume the other realms.
• Ailin resolved that surpassing the Spirit King was necessary to reach the creator beyond the world of Bleach.
• Ailin acknowledged that Haruko Kuchiki kept him from acting recklessly and had shown her the vast army of Zanpakuto in his Inner World.
• Ailin promised Shihoin Yoruichi he would not interfere in her conflict with Aizen as long as Shino Madarame remained safe.
• Ailin promised to kill his own Reikaku if Yushima Oshu attacked Seireitei, and Yoruichi trusted that Urahara Kisuke had prepared plans to defeat Aizen.

Uryu Ishida’s Hollow Bait drew hundreds of Hollows into Karakura Town, causing heavy casualties as he, Ichigo Kurosaki, Shino Madarame, Orihime Inoue, and Yasutora Sado fought them. After the Hollows were defeated, a Gillian-class Menos began entering the Human World, and Ichigo charged to confront it.

• Uryu Ishida used Hollow Bait to challenge Ichigo Kurosaki, drawing hundreds of Hollows into the Human World and endangering Karakura Town.
• Uryu Ishida, Ichigo Kurosaki, and Shino Madarame fought the Hollows, while Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado awakened Fullbring and joined the battle.
• After an hour, the group defeated the invading Hollows, but the attack had caused at least a hundred casualties.
• Ichigo Kurosaki punched Uryu Ishida and angrily blamed him for the disaster, while Uryu accepted the reprimand in silence.
• A Gillian-class Menos began breaking into the Human World, and Ichigo Kurosaki charged at it rather than flee.
• Ichigo Kurosaki swung his Zanpakuto at the Menos’s foot as the monster began to enter Karakura Town.

Ichigo Kurosaki drove a Gillian-class Menos back into the Garganta after a burst of hidden power, then Uryu Ishida absorbed the spiritual particles threatening to overwhelm him. A discovery about Shino Madarame prompted a Captain's Meeting in Seireitei, where Shunsui Kyōraku reflected on the approaching troubled times.

• Shino Madarame tried to help Ichigo Kurosaki, but Urahara Kisuke stopped her and told her to trust Ichigo's resolve.
• Ichigo Kurosaki unleashed hidden power and slashed the Gillian-class Menos back through the Garganta, but his spiritual pressure continued to surge beyond his control.
• Uryu Ishida arrived and absorbed Ichigo Kurosaki's excess spirit particles, firing them into the sky as arrows.
• A Twelfth Division Soul Reaper detected the Menos's arrival, mistook Ichigo's feat for Shino Madarame's, then discovered Shino's identity and ran to alert Captain Mayuri.
• The captain's summons sounded across Seireitei, and Shunsui Kyōraku noted that the Quincy-prophesied time was drawing closer.

Ailin attended the Captains’ Meeting, where the captains learned that Shino Madarame had given a human Shinigami powers and ordered Byakuya Kuchiki to arrest them. Byakuya and Renji Abarai entered the Human World, where they tracked Ichigo Kurosaki’s conspicuous spiritual pressure.

• Ailin left Alice and another powerful Zanpakuto to protect Haruko Kuchiki before heading to the First Division.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi told the captains that Shino Madarame had depleted her spiritual power while a human wielding a Zanpakuto drove off a Gillian-class Menos.
• Byakuya Kuchiki accused Shino of violating Seireitei’s prohibition and received orders to investigate and apprehend her and the human.
• Byakuya and Renji Abarai entered the Human World through a Senkaimon, and Shihoin Yoruichi slipped through after them in her black-cat form.
• Renji sensed Ichigo Kurosaki’s overwhelming spiritual pressure and located him in Karakura Town.

Renji Abarai confronted Shino Madarame in Karakura Town over her suspected transfer of Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo Kurosaki. When Renji revealed that Seireitei had ordered him to arrest Shino and kill Ichigo, Ichigo stepped in to protect her, and the two began fighting.

• Renji Abarai found Shino Madarame and confirmed with his spiritual-power-measuring goggles that she had lost nearly all her spiritual power.
• Renji explained that Seireitei suspected Shino had given Soul Reaper powers to a human and offered to conceal her actions if she surrendered Ichigo.
• Shino refused to betray Ichigo and bound herself with Kidō: Haijō so Renji could take her back to Seireitei.
• Ichigo Kurosaki arrived, cut the binding rope, and stood between Shino and Renji.
• Renji revealed that his orders required him to arrest Shino and kill Ichigo, then attacked Ichigo, who met his blade without backing down.