Chapter Summaries

After Aizen’s departure, Rukia and Kaien led Soul Reapers in a purge that destroyed thirty-five noble families, leaving more than seventy people detained. At the Captain’s Meeting, Yamamoto warned that the Seireitei had to remain stable ahead of a future war, and he asked Kyōraku to present his intelligence.

• Over three days, the Gotei 13 restored order while Byakuya detained more than seventy Soul Reapers, including Rukia, for their role in the purge of the nobles.
• Kyōraku reviewed intelligence about Aizen’s followers, including Tōsen’s reasons for defecting, and reflected on Tokinada’s suspected role in his family’s deaths.
• Ailin arrived at the First Division Captain’s Meeting through golden spatial ripples, intending to address Shino’s execution and Rukia’s punishment.
• Yamamoto told the captains that Aizen intended to replace the Spirit King and that the Seireitei had to avoid disorder as it prepared for future crises.
• Yamamoto called on Kyōraku to present the intelligence he had gathered.

Shunsui Kyōraku reported that no Shinigami had died in the disturbance, though commoner Shinigami had killed or tried nobles and the Seireitei had suffered severe losses. When Mayuri Kurotsuchi demanded the arrested Shinigami as test subjects, Ailin challenged him to punish Tokinada Tsunayashiro for the same crime, provoking a clash of spiritual pressure with Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.

• Shunsui Kyōraku reported zero Gotei 13 deaths, explaining that the Ryoka and Shinigami had avoided killing one another.
• Shunsui Kyōraku revealed that more than half of the Seireitei's nobles had been wiped out in trials held by commoner Shinigami.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi demanded the arrested Shinigami as test subjects, and Ailin asked him to arrest and execute Tokinada Tsunayashiro for slaughtering the Tsunayashiro Clan.
• Ailin argued that punishing commoner Shinigami while sparing Tokinada would undermine the Gotei 13's authority and faith among its members.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Ailin clashed with their spiritual pressure, blasting several captains away while Mayuri Kurotsuchi fled.

Ailin forced Yamamoto to apply the Seireitei’s rules fairly, securing the release of the Soul Reapers imprisoned for killing nobles, while the Captains formally reviewed the Ryoka incident. He then proposed training Ichigo Kurosaki to fight Aizen, whose Kyoka Suigetsu made most Seireitei Soul Reapers unreliable allies.

• Ailin challenged Yamamoto to punish the Head of the Tsunayashiro Clan by the same standard as the Soul Reapers who killed nobles, and Yamamoto withdrew his reiatsu.
• Ailin instructed Byakuya Kuchiki to release the imprisoned Soul Reapers, and Yamamoto declared the noble killings and Aizen’s defection concluded for the time being.
• Shunsui Kyōraku recounted how Ichigo Kurosaki and the other Ryoka helped expose Aizen’s scheme, and Yamamoto ordered Ukitake to welcome them as guests of the Seireitei.
• Ailin warned that Aizen’s Kyoka Suigetsu compromised most Seireitei Soul Reapers and proposed training Ichigo to become a key fighter against him.

Ailin rescued Uryu Ishida from Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s laboratory and returned him to his friends, then met with Rukia at his residence. Rukia reflected on her past failure to act against the Seireitei’s nobles as Ailin began explaining how power shaped the world.

• Yamamoto refused Ailin’s proposal to train Ichigo Kurosaki, insisting the Seireitei would not force a sixteen-year-old outsider into its conflict with Aizen Sosuke.
• Ailin entered Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s laboratory, found Uryu Ishida being held for research, healed his external injuries, and took him away.
• Ailin sent Uryu to the Fourth Division courtyard, where Ichigo Kurosaki, Orihime Inoue, and Yasutora Sado were relieved to see him safe.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi lamented that Ailin had humiliated him through overwhelming strength and vowed to surpass him through research.
• Rukia visited Ailin at his residence and regretted having delayed her actions against the noble families, while Ailin observed her strengthened spiritual pressure and began describing the rule of the strong.

After Rukia asked how to preserve the Seireitei’s new order, Ailin urged her to become Ninth Division captain, and she accepted. At a Captain’s Meeting, Ukitake nominated Kaien Shiba and Rukia for two vacant captaincies, while Ailin declined to put forward an Eleventh Division candidate for the Third Division.

• Ailin told Rukia that her actions had weakened the Seireitei’s breeding ground for evil and urged her to maintain the new order by becoming Ninth Division captain.
• Rukia accepted Ailin’s recommendation, visited the Kuchiki Clan, spoke with Byakuya Kuchiki, and returned to the Thirteenth Division.
• With Central 46 gone and attempts to restore it mysteriously thwarted, the Gotei 13 took over the Seireitei’s administration.
• At the Captain’s Meeting, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto asked for candidates to fill three vacant captaincies.
• Jūshirō Ukitake nominated Kaien Shiba for the Fifth Division and Rukia for the Ninth Division.
• Ailin said Zaraki, Kiyone Shunjō, and Ikkaku Madarame were unsuitable for the Third Division captaincy because they could not manage its support duties.

After the captains confirmed candidates for the Gotei 13’s vacant posts, Kaien Shiba rejected his nomination and chose to retire. He explained to Ukitake and Rukia his role as the Shiba Clan’s former head and the secret his family had guarded, leaving the waiting room to understand why he had joined the Gotei 13 and what his clan had endured.

• Yamamoto ordered Ukitake to inform Kaien Shiba and Rukia that they would undergo captain assessments, while the captains approved a Hueco Mundo expeditionary legion commander as the Third Division candidate.
• Ukitake told Kaien and Rukia about their nominations, but Kaien refused the Fifth Division post and asked to leave the Gotei 13.
• Rukia repeated Ailin’s claim that the Shiba Clan was the only truly great noble clan, and Kaien affirmed that the other nobles were despicable.
• Kaien revealed that he had once headed the Shiba Clan and had learned from his father the secret and purpose his family had guarded for generations.
• Kaien explained that Ailin had advised him to become a Shinigami to protect his family, but he had failed to protect Miyako when danger came.

Kaien Shiba retired from the Gotei 13 to return to the Shiba Clan, and Jūshirō Ukitake let him keep his Zanpakuto to protect his family. Rukia proceeded to the Captain's Meeting as a candidate for captain, while Shūhei Hisagi resolved to overcome his fear of Kazeshini as war approached.

• Kaien Shiba resigned as Jūshirō Ukitake's Vice-Captain and asked to spend his remaining years with Miyako at the Shiba Clan.
• Jūshirō Ukitake approved Kaien's retirement but let him keep his Zanpakuto so he could defend the Rukon District and his family.
• Kaien said farewell to the Vice-Captains, while Jūshirō Ukitake took Rukia to the Captain's Meeting as a candidate for the Ninth Division.
• Tetsuzaemon Iba urged Shūhei Hisagi to pursue a captaincy, and Shūhei decided to train with Kazeshini so he could protect his comrades.
• Rukia chose the captain assessment that required her to challenge a current captain.

Rukia chose to challenge her teacher Ailin to learn the gap between her strength and that of a true powerhouse. Ailin brought the Captains into his Bankai’s world and began testing her with Tetsusaiga, while Rukia revealed the extraordinary freezing power of Sode no Shirayuki.

• Rukia selected Ailin as her opponent, and he accepted her challenge.
• Ailin released Bankai, Unlimited Blade Works, creating a world filled with swords that astonished the Captains, especially Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
• Ailin summoned his Zanpakuto Tetsusaiga and demonstrated its Wind Scar attack, carving deep ravines into the ground.
• Rukia released Sode no Shirayuki and froze Ailin’s wind slashes before shattering them.
• The Captains questioned whether Seireitei’s records had underestimated Sode no Shirayuki, since Rukia’s Shikai directly froze everything around her.

Rukia used Sode no Shirayuki’s Absolute Zero domain to slow Ailin and withstand his attacks, demonstrating how powerful her Shikai had become. As their clash continued, Rukia realized she could maintain Absolute Zero for only 145 more seconds and began looking for a way to avoid losing.

• Toshiro explained that Hyōrinmaru controlled moisture and could produce more than ice, while noting that a wielder’s skill could raise a Zanpakuto’s power.
• Rukia used Absolute Zero to freeze Ailin’s Wind Scar, then stabilized her body temperature at -50 degrees and advanced through the air.
• Rukia blocked nine of Ailin’s Wind Scar attacks with Tsugi mai: Byakuren, impressing Ailin and prompting Toshiro to consider how Hyōrinmaru might make stronger ice.
• Ailin closed in with Tetsusaiga, and Rukia entered Absolute Zero again, creating a domain that slowed his movements and forced him to shield himself with spiritual pressure.
• Rukia and Ailin traded blows inside the domain as Shunsui and Ukitake discussed its effects and Rukia’s strength.
• Rukia realized she could sustain Absolute Zero for only 145 more seconds before she would have to leave the state and recover.

Rukia unleashed her Bankai, White Mist Punishment, during her fight with Teacher Ailin, but his true spiritual pressure broke through her frost. The Captains judged her stronger than Byakuya Kuchiki and Toshiro Hitsugaya, and Ailin named her his most outstanding disciple before setting her next training goal.

• Rukia calculated that her Shikai and Bankai could only be used at full power for limited periods, then activated Bankai—White Mist Punishment.
• Rukia's Bankai froze Ailin and impressed the watching Captains, but Ailin released his true spiritual pressure and melted the frost around himself.
• Ailin praised Rukia's Bankai and explained that his spiritual pressure had been suppressed to match hers during their fight.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Retsu Unohana, Shunsui Kyōraku, and Jūshirō Ukitake agreed that Rukia had surpassed Byakuya Kuchiki and Toshiro Hitsugaya.
• Ailin called Rukia his most outstanding disciple and told her to master concentrating her Bankai's cold onto her Zanpakuto so she could eventually fight Yamamoto.

After Rukia demonstrated her strength, the captains approved her appointment as Ninth Division captain, and Ailin urged her to consider bringing laws from the Human World to the Seireitei. Yamamoto then addressed the remaining vacancy in the Gotei 13, leaving Ailin to explain why Zaraki was unsuitable to lead the Fifth Division.

• Retsu Unohana and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto recognized that Rukia’s ice abilities could eventually rival Yamamoto’s power, while Yamamoto wondered how Ailin knew about his control of Flowing Blade-like Fire.
• Ailin, Shunsui Kyōraku, and Byakuya Kuchiki approved Rukia’s captaincy, and Yamamoto officially appointed her captain of the Ninth Division.
• Ailin warned Rukia that the Ninth Division’s authority over imprisonment could destabilize the Seireitei if abused, and suggested she use Human World laws as a model for fair regulations.
• Rukia told Ailin she would visit the Human World after settling into her new duties, and Yamamoto announced that the Fifth Division’s captaincy remained vacant after Kaien Shiba applied for retirement.
• Yamamoto asked Ailin whether Zaraki could fill the vacancy, and Ailin agreed that Zaraki had captain-level strength but said his personality made him unfit to manage the Fifth Division.

Yamamoto appointed Ailin to lead the Fifth Division and Zaraki to take over the Eleventh, allowing Ailin to accept the change before leaving for a two-week vacation in Karakura Town with Haruko. There, Ailin sensed Gin Ichimaru nearby and asked Haruko whether she wanted to investigate.

• The captains objected to Zaraki becoming Fifth Division captain, and Unohana proposed Sasakibe as a better candidate.
• Yamamoto instead asked Ailin to become Fifth Division captain and Zaraki to take over the Eleventh Division; Ailin accepted, requesting not to wear Aizen's old Haori.
• Ailin requested two weeks of leave and took Haruko to the Human World, where she marveled at Karakura Town's modern conveniences.
• Ailin reflected on Seireitei's research into artificial souls and the risks of humanity's evil, then sensed Gin Ichimaru nearby.
• Ailin asked Haruko whether she wanted to go see their acquaintance, and she wondered if anyone they had known in the Human World more than a century earlier could still be alive.

Ailin and Haruko Kuchiki reunited with Gin Ichimaru in the Human World and learned that Aizen had tasked him with using the Bount to distract the Seireitei. Back in Las Noches, Aizen revealed another backup plan and ordered Ulquiorra to prepare two children for deployment into the Seireitei.

• Ailin told Haruko Kuchiki that the acquaintance he sensed in the Human World was Gin Ichimaru, and they went to see him.
• Ailin and Haruko found Gin Ichimaru speaking with Kariya Jin, who fled after Haruko enthusiastically fussed over Gin.
• Ailin recognized Kariya Jin as a Bount and asked Gin whether he had approached the Bount on Aizen's orders.
• Gin confirmed that Aizen was using the Bount to distract the Seireitei while he fused with the Hogyoku, then returned to Hueco Mundo through a Garganta.
• Aizen told Gin that he had said too much, then ordered Ulquiorra to prepare two children for deployment into the Seireitei when needed.

Ailin warned the Seireitei that Aizen Sosuke had prepared the Bount clan as a contingency, while Mayuri Kurotsuchi agreed to investigate their capabilities. Elsewhere, Kariya Jin gathered the remaining Bounts and told them their long-denied existence was about to reach an end.

• Gin Ichimaru left through a closing Garganta, and Ailin promised Haruko Kuchiki he would bring Gin back safely within half a year.
• Ailin contacted the Twelfth Division and asked Akon to connect him to Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
• Ailin reported that Aizen Sosuke needed half a year to merge with the Hogyoku and had prepared the Bounts to hinder the Seireitei.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi dismissed the Bounts as weak, but Ailin warned that Aizen's improvements could make them powerful enough to threaten the Seireitei.
• Kariya Jin gathered the eight remaining Bounts and declared that their long-denied existence was about to come to an end.

Kariya Jin strengthened the surviving Bount with bottled souls and prepared them to test their power against Ryoka from the Human World. Ailin considered how Aizen Sosuke might be using disturbances to distract the Seireitei, then sensed spatial fluctuations while shopping with Haruko Kuchiki.

• Kariya Jin revealed that he had gathered vast quantities of souls and let the Bount absorb them, while Soma Yoshino resisted and left.
• The newly empowered Bount agreed to test themselves against the Ryoka before attacking the Seireitei, and Koga Tsuyoshi knocked Mabashi down to warn him about losing control of his power.
• Ailin reported the Bount to the Seireitei and reflected that Aizen Sosuke might be exploiting crises to keep its Soul Reapers occupied while he fused with the Hogyoku.
• While shopping with Haruko Kuchiki, Ailin detected signs of spatial fluctuations nearby.

Ailin and Haruko Kuchiki encountered a Hollow in Karakura Town, and Ailin bound it for the arriving Substitute Shinigami. Later, Shihoin Yoruichi visited them, learned about the Bount threat from Ailin, and left to share the intelligence while Ailin explained the Bount’s tragic history to Haruko.

• Ailin bound a small Hollow with Kido so the stationed Soul Reaper could purify it, while Haruko Kuchiki watched.
• Shihoin Yoruichi visited Haruko at the hotel and confirmed that she was doing well with Ailin’s Avalon.
• Shihoin Yoruichi told Ailin that Ichigo Kurosaki had taken the Kido-bound Hollow to Urahara’s shop without recognizing the binding spell.
• Ailin shared his intelligence that Bount had gathered in Karakura Town and were responsible for the rising number of human deaths.
• Shihoin Yoruichi departed to act on Ailin’s information, and Ailin explained the Bount’s origins and persecution to Haruko Kuchiki.

Ailin reconsidered the Bount after Haruko argued that they fed on human souls and had no right to claim victimhood, then decided to expose their hypocrisy. He approached Uryu Ishida, who had lost his Quincy powers, and began building a connection with him while hinting that Sogen Ishida’s death had more to it than Uryu knew.

• Haruko Kuchiki argued that the Bount survived by consuming human souls and that granting them a home in Soul Society would endanger Rukon District residents.
• Ailin reconsidered his sympathy for the Bount and decided to expose their lies, choosing Uryu Ishida as a possible ally.
• Uryu Ishida continued training after losing his Quincy powers and encountered Ailin in the Human World.
• Ailin asked Uryu to call him Senior, and Uryu accepted the connection to his grandfather Sogen Ishida.
• Ailin confirmed that Uryu had lost his powers and praised him for making Mayuri Kurotsuchi look miserable, while hinting that Sogen’s death was not simple.

Ailin told Uryu Ishida that Quincy power might be recoverable and suggested he seek help from the Bount, then spent a week vacationing with Haruko in the Human World. Yamamoto called him back to the Seireitei after Ranshiro appeared and a group of Bount infiltrated it, leaving Ailin suspicious of Ranshiro’s motives and immortality.

• Ailin told Uryu Ishida that some Quincy had regained their lost powers and suggested he investigate the Bount’s doll power while searching for a permanent solution.
• Ailin left Uryu Ishida and spent the following week visiting Human World landmarks and the shrine built at the village he and Haruko had founded.
• Akon contacted Ailin, but Yamamoto took the Communication Device and asked Ailin to end his vacation early because a figure from a thousand years ago had appeared.
• Yamamoto explained that the Bount had infiltrated the Seireitei and that Ranshiro had argued for their continued existence.
• Ailin recalled that Ranshiro’s clone Soma Yoshino was a Bount and reasoned that Ranshiro had likely used human souls to keep herself alive for a thousand years.

Ailin learned that Ranshiro had threatened to destroy the Seireitei with hidden Pure Realm Chapters unless the oldest captains stayed out of the Bount hunt, and Yamamoto explained the precautions he had taken. Ailin and Haruko decided to return to the Seireitei, where Momo Hinamori’s Fifth Division fought a Bount’s underground whale attack and confronted an old man riding atop it.

• Yamamoto told Ailin that Ranshiro had threatened to detonate the Pure Realm Chapters unless captains who had served for over a hundred years were kept from fighting the Bount.
• Yamamoto explained how he had positioned the captains and other forces to contain the Bount while preparing for Ranshiro to detonate the Pure Realm Chapters.
• Ailin and Haruko agreed to return to the Seireitei and help resolve the crisis.
• Momo Hinamori led the Fifth Division in searching for Bount who had devoured civilian souls, then spotted a shadow moving beneath the ground.
• Hinamori ordered the Soul Reapers into the air, allowing them to avoid a giant whale that erupted from the earth.
• The whale evaded the Fifth Division’s Kido attacks before an old man appeared seated on a chair atop its head.

Ailin returned to Seireitei, captured and killed Sawado, and rescued two Shinigami swallowed by Baura. As the captains confronted the Bount’s plans, Soifon killed Yuki and turned toward Ushi, while Sajin Komamura remained locked in battle with Koga Tsuyoshi and Mabashi.

• Sawado sent Baura into the air, where it swallowed two Shinigami and injured three others before healing from Momo Hinamori’s flames.
• Ailin arrived, restrained Sawado and Baura with golden chains, and used the King's Seal to retrieve the two swallowed Shinigami for treatment.
• Ailin killed Sawado, while Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake restrained Ranshiro after explaining that Ailin could rival Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
• Soifon unleashed Unlimited Shunko and killed Yuki with Nigeki Hissatsu after the Bount sensed Sawado’s spiritual pressure disappear.
• Sajin Komamura continued fighting Koga Tsuyoshi and Mabashi in a remote forest, with Tetsuzaemon Iba nearby.