Chapter Summaries

Wonderweiss absorbed Yamamoto’s flames, but Yamamoto defeated him with Zanka no Tachi and turned to fight Aizen. Aizen survived Yamamoto’s attacks and evolved through the Hogyoku, leaving the two powerful fighters clashing above Karakura Town.

• Wonderweiss transformed, healed his injuries, and fired a Cero at Yamamoto, but Yamamoto cleaved the blast apart and struck Wonderweiss with Zanka no Tachi, East.
• As Wonderweiss’s death released the flames he had sealed, Yamamoto used Zanka no Tachi, West, to protect himself, then confronted Aizen with his Bankai’s heat.
• Yamamoto summoned the dead with Zanka no Tachi, South, while Aizen destroyed them with Hadō #99, Five Dragons Annihilation; Yamamoto countered with Zanka no Tachi, North, and badly burned Aizen.
• Aizen regenerated with the Hogyoku and emerged from a white Hollow Shell in a new form, with reiatsu rivaling Yamamoto’s Bankai.
• Aizen and Yamamoto traded blows, and Yamamoto’s Zanpakuto sent Aizen flying, but Aizen quickly regenerated and continued fighting him in the skies above Karakura Town.

Ailin refused to join the battle against Aizen after Yamamoto tacitly allowed Urahara and the others to restrain him, while Toshiro used Hyōrinmaru to counter Tōsen’s Bankai. Yamamoto’s Bankai disrupted their fight, but Aizen’s further evolution let him exhaust and defeat Yamamoto; Shunsui and the other Soul Reapers then stood between Aizen and the fallen Captain-Commander.

• Ailin told Shunsui Kyōraku that he would not intervene because Yamamoto had tacitly approved Urahara and the others attacking him.
• Toshiro Hitsugaya used Hyōrinmaru to sense Tōsen inside his Bankai and tried to persuade him that its darkness could not weaken him.
• Yamamoto’s Bankai shook Tōsen’s barrier and raised the heat until Toshiro’s ice melted, leaving his Zanpakuto ability useless.
• Aizen emerged from his cocoon in a stronger form, wore down Yamamoto’s stamina, and sent him crashing into a crater.
• Shunsui Kyōraku, Jūshirō Ukitake, Soifon, and the other Soul Reapers shielded Yamamoto from Aizen, and Shunsui challenged Aizen’s claim of victory.

Gin Ichimaru used his knowledge of Kyoka Suigetsu and Shinsō’s hidden ability to destroy Aizen Sosuke’s body and take the Hogyoku, but Aizen regenerated and evolved again. Gin’s apparent victory ended with Aizen restored behind him.

• Gin Ichimaru touched Kyoka Suigetsu’s blade to avoid its hypnosis, then pierced Aizen Sosuke with Shinsō and revealed that contact with the blade could dispel its influence.
• Gin explained that Shinsō’s Bankai left cell-dissolving ash inside Aizen, and that its supposed five-hundred-times-the-speed-of-sound extension was a lie.
• Gin released Bankai, dissolved most of Aizen’s body, seized the Hogyoku, and said he had recovered what Aizen took from Rangiku’s soul.
• Rangiku shouted for Gin to run as Aizen regenerated and emerged in a newly evolved form with a forehead eye and butterfly-like wings.
• Shunsui Kyōraku and the other Shinigami realized Gin’s attack had destroyed only part of Aizen, leaving him alive and able to evolve again.

Gin Ichimaru nearly killed Aizen Sosuke with Shinsō, but Ailin stopped Aizen from retaliating and recovered Rangiku’s stolen soul fragment from the Hogyoku. Elsewhere, Toshiro Hitsugaya defeated Kaname Tōsen before collapsing, while Aizen left Shunsui Kyōraku and the other Soul Reapers badly wounded.

• Gin Ichimaru struck Aizen with Shinsō, but Kyoka Suigetsu distorted Gin’s perception as Aizen regenerated and attacked him and M Matsumoto Rangiku.
• Ailin stopped Aizen’s sword with his bare hand and persuaded him to spare Gin, after which Gin returned the Hogyoku to Aizen.
• Ailin drew a glowing strand of spirit particles from the Hogyoku and left with Gin and M Matsumoto Rangiku, then gave Gin the recovered fragment of Rangiku’s soul.
• Toshiro Hitsugaya unleashed Hyōrinmaru’s Bankai, shattered Kaname Tōsen’s Bankai barrier, froze Tōsen, and collapsed from exhaustion.
• Aizen attacked Shunsui Kyōraku and the other Soul Reapers with overwhelming force, leaving them badly wounded as Shunsui considered whether to use Bankai.

Ichigo Kurosaki joined the battle against Aizen Sosuke, but Aizen easily overwhelmed him and left through a Garganta. Urahara Kisuke organized a plan to train Ichigo and seal Aizen in Hueco Mundo, while Byakuya Kuchiki sensed Zaraki's spiritual pressure erupting in Karakura Town.

• Ichigo Kurosaki emerged from the Garganta and attacked Aizen Sosuke, while Retsu Unohana arrived and healed the wounded Soul Reapers.
• Aizen Sosuke overpowered Ichigo Kurosaki and explained to Urahara Kisuke that he was evolving by fusing compatible reishi into himself.
• Aizen Sosuke discovered that the Dangai was inaccessible, then opened a Garganta and departed for Hueco Mundo on his way to Soul Society.
• Urahara Kisuke assigned Captain Shiba and Tessai to train Ichigo Kurosaki and planned to pursue Aizen in Hueco Mundo to seal him.
• Byakuya Kuchiki observed the Seireitei and sensed two bursts of spiritual pressure from Zaraki in Karakura Town.

Zaraki and the others returned from Hueco Mundo to find impostor Soul Reapers in the Seireitei, including a duplicate Zaraki who immediately fought him. Orihime Inoue and her companions fled into a battle against more impostors, where Orihime revealed she could revive the dead and Yasutora Sado met Captain Sajin Komamura's sword with his fist.

• Zaraki brought Orihime Inoue, Yasutora Sado, and Uryu Ishida to the Eleventh Division, where Reikaku Zaraki appeared and attacked him.
• Zaraki sent Yachiru Kusajishi to lead the others away, then clashed with Reikaku Zaraki and devastated the surrounding area.
• Uryu Ishida suspected that most or all of the captains and Vice-Captains in the Seireitei were impostors, while Orihime said she could heal or revive her friends after battle.
• Reikaku Momo Hinamori attacked the fleeing group, but Yasutora Sado blocked her fireballs with Giant's Right Arm.
• Reikaku Soifon and Reikaku Sajin Komamura confronted the group with several Reikaku Vice-Captains; Yachiru engaged Soifon while Sado charged Komamura.
• Sado met Komamura's Zanpakuto with a punch and was not forced onto the defensive.

Byakuya Kuchiki rescued Uryu Ishida, Yachiru Kusajishi, and Yasutora Sado from fake Shinigami in the Seireitei and arranged to bring Zaraki back from Hueco Mundo. In the Human World, Urahara Kisuke proposed a way for Ichigo Kurosaki to gain enough strength to fight Aizen Sosuke, though it would cost Ichigo his Shinigami powers, and Ichigo agreed to hear more.

• Yasutora Sado and Yachiru Kusajishi held off Reikaku Sajin Komamura and Reikaku Soifon while Uryu Ishida fought several fake Vice-Captains.
• Byakuya Kuchiki arrived, told the group the attackers were fakes, and persuaded Zaraki to leave his fight and follow him.
• Byakuya Kuchiki escorted Zaraki, Orihime Inoue, and the others to the underground training ground, then asked Mayuri Kurotsuchi to research a Garganta route from Hueco Mundo to the Human World.
• In the Human World, Urahara Kisuke told the defeated Captains that Ichigo Kurosaki could still fight Aizen Sosuke if his strength increased further.
• Isshin Kurosaki revealed that his method would make Ichigo lose his Reiatsu and become an ordinary human, and Ichigo agreed to proceed after learning what Aizen intended to do.

Ichigo Kurosaki completed the Final Getsuga Tensho training, then went to Hueco Mundo to confront Aizen after thanking Ailin. Urahara Kisuke opened a Senkaimon for Yamamoto and the other Shinigami to return to the Seireitei, but the passage led only to Rukon District.

• Isshin Kurosaki, Tessai Gantetsusai, and Hachigen Ushōda accelerated time in a barrier so Ichigo Kurosaki could complete his Final Getsuga Tensho training, which drained the Shinigami supporting it and shattered the barrier.
• Ichigo Kurosaki thanked Ailin for helping him understand White Hollow and Zangetsu, then said he would defeat Aizen in Hueco Mundo.
• Ichigo Kurosaki entered the Garganta, and Ailin followed him while Urahara Kisuke prepared to go after them.
• Jūshirō Ukitake and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto asked Urahara Kisuke to return the exhausted Shinigami to the Seireitei after suspecting something had happened there.
• Urahara Kisuke analyzed the Dangai seal and opened a Senkaimon, but he could lock onto only Rukon District rather than the Seireitei.

Aizen Sosuke returned to Las Noches and fought Ichigo Kurosaki, whose Mugetsu form overwhelmed him until its power nearly ran out. Aizen evolved again and claimed victory, but Ailin arrived and challenged his boast, leaving Aizen attacking the weakened Ichigo.

• Captain-Commander Yamamoto led the Shinigami Captains and Vice-Captains through the Senkaimon toward the Soul Society.
• Aizen Sosuke found Las Noches shattered and the spiritual pressures of most of its guarding Espada gone, then was struck by Ichigo Kurosaki.
• Ichigo Kurosaki revealed that Aizen could not sense his spiritual pressure and repeatedly overpowered him, forcing Aizen to evolve.
• Ichigo Kurosaki unleashed Mugetsu, nearly cutting Aizen in two, but his spiritual pressure almost completely dissipated afterward.
• Aizen Sosuke regenerated and claimed he had won, then Ailin arrived and mocked his claim that he was the strongest.
• Aizen Sosuke insisted his latest form could defeat anyone and sent a ball of purple spiritual pressure toward Ichigo Kurosaki.

Ailin battled Aizen in Hueco Mundo, protecting Ichigo and overpowering Aizen’s attacks with his Zanpakuto. Byakuya found Ichigo and learned the other captains were safe, while Ailin revealed Black Lily Sword and repeatedly cut through Aizen’s defenses.

• Ailin blocked Aizen’s Cero aimed at Ichigo, then shattered Aizen’s six retaliatory Ceros with Zanpakuto summoned from his Inner World.
• Byakuya arrived in Hueco Mundo, sensed the battle, and found Ichigo; Ichigo told him that Retsu Unohana had saved the defeated Shinigami and that the captains remained in the Human World.
• Ailin released the Bankai of Wheel of Victory Sword, but Aizen’s immense spiritual pressure stopped its solar flames.
• Aizen trapped Ailin in six Ceros and detonated them, but Ailin emerged unharmed with Black Lily Sword and explained that it had cut apart the blast.
• Ailin slashed Aizen across the torso, then struck him again as Aizen tried to recover.

Ailin defeated Aizen by exposing how his final Hogyoku evolutions had strayed from his original path, and Aizen surrendered to be taken back for trial while vowing to challenge Ailin again. Ailin and Byakuya returned to the Seireitei, where Ailin confronted Reikaku Ailin and asked whether he had accepted the proposal made decades earlier.

• Ailin cut Aizen apart, and Aizen’s failed final fusion with the Hogyoku collapsed after Ailin explained that fear had led him away from his original path of evolving his spiritual pressure.
• Aizen surrendered to the Seireitei but vowed to merge with the Hogyoku again and challenge Ailin; Ailin bound him with Bakudō #63 and flew toward Ichigo with him.
• Byakuya told Ailin that changes had occurred in the Seireitei, so Ailin left Aizen with Ichigo and returned with Byakuya to investigate.
• Urahara arrived with Yoruichi, activated his sealing Kido on Aizen, and learned from Ichigo that Ailin had defeated him.
• Ailin used his Inner World’s spatial passages to bring Byakuya to his courtyard in the Seireitei, where Alice and Lily were guarding Haruko.
• Ailin appeared before Reikaku Ailin and asked whether he had decided about the proposal from decades earlier.

Ailin gave Reikaku Ailin a Hogyoku so he could transform into a Hollow and challenge Ailin in a battle of their minds, with the winner becoming king and the loser lending the winner strength. While Reikaku Ailin entered Unlimited Blade Works to begin his transformation, Ailin fought the Reikaku Captains in the Seireitei and wounded Reikaku Retsu Unohana with a cursed spear.

• Reikaku Ailin accepted Ailin’s wager and took the Hogyoku to transform himself into Hollow Ailin.
• Reikaku Ailin entered Unlimited Blade Works to fuse with the Hogyoku without disturbing the outside world.
• Ailin unleashed Zanpakuto from Gate of Babylon, killing the Reikaku Seat Officers and Vice-Captains and defeating Reikaku Soifon and Reikaku Toshiro Hitsugaya.
• Ailin used Yellow Rose of the Demon-Breaking to pierce Reikaku Retsu Unohana’s defense and wound her with an injury that could not be healed while its curse remained.
• Reikaku Retsu Unohana abandoned healing herself, released Minazuki, and prepared to continue fighting despite her wound.

Ailin defeated Reikaku Retsu Unohana and Reikaku Shunsui Kyōraku, then bound Reikaku Ukitake while Byakuya Kuchiki took on Reikaku Byakuya Kuchiki. As Reikaku Zaraki attacked with Nozarashi, Ailin used Heaven's Chain Ultimate Technique—Wind Death Binding Rope to equalize their spiritual pressure and prevent Zaraki from escaping.

• Ailin froze Reikaku Retsu Unohana's Bankai blood water with Esdeath's Mahāpadma and struck her down, after which the blood water corroded her corpse to bones.
• Ailin swallowed Reikaku Shunsui Kyōraku with Meido Full Moon Slash, then bound Reikaku Ukitake with Heaven's Chain after Ukitake tried to tear open the Meido.
• Byakuya Kuchiki asked Ailin to leave Reikaku Byakuya Kuchiki to him, and Ailin agreed before turning toward Reikaku Zaraki.
• Reikaku Zaraki released Nozarashi and shattered Ailin's seven Shitenkō Shichijū Wakun barriers with a powerful slash, but Ailin crushed the attack with his bare hand.
• Ailin bound Reikaku Zaraki with Heaven's Chain and activated Wind Death Binding Rope, sharing their spiritual pressure and making Zaraki unable to break free.

Ailin used Heaven's Chain and Wind Death Binding Rope to drain Reikaku Zaraki's spiritual pressure before killing him, while the other Reikaku Captains were also defeated. In the Human World, Rukia met Ichigo Kurosaki, learned of his weakening spiritual pressure, and explained the Reikaku attack and the Dangai's altered flow of time; she still had to investigate the missing Twelfth Division section chief.

• Ailin bound Reikaku Zaraki with Heaven's Chain and used Wind Death Binding Rope to exhaust his shared spiritual pressure, then killed him with a storm of Zanpakuto.
• Uryu Ishida and the others in Urahara Kisuke's underground training ground felt Ailin's overwhelming battle and learned that Inaba Kagerōza could not control Reikaku Ailin.
• Reikaku Ailin had agreed to compete with Ailin, trusting that Ailin might someday help him become a living being with a life of his own.
• Rukia saw that Ichigo Kurosaki's spiritual pressure had dwindled to around Third Seat level and was continuing to leak away, then killed the Hollows fighting him.
• Rukia introduced herself as the newly appointed Ninth Division Captain and asked Ichigo about the battle against Aizen, but Ichigo refused to discuss Captain Kuchiki's affairs without his permission.
• Rukia explained that fake Captains and Seat Officers had attacked the Seireitei and that Gokuto had altered time in the Dangai; she also told Ichigo that Mayuri Kurotsuchi linked the incident to a Twelfth Division section chief who was absent from Soul Society.

Rukia learned from Ichigo that the real captains were no longer in the Seireitei, then encountered Inaba Kagerōza and his Reikaku forces in the Human World. As Rukia faced her duplicate while protecting an unconscious green-haired Shinigami, Inaba’s memories revealed the origins of his resentment and research.

• Ichigo Kurosaki told Rukia what had happened after his battle with Aizen, and Rukia realized the real captains had left the Seireitei and contacted Ailin.
• A green-haired girl emerged unconscious from a spatial passage, and Rukia discovered she had no injuries but seemed like a newly created being.
• Reikaku Rukia attacked Rukia and Ichigo, who evaded the ice while Rukia entrusted the girl to Ichigo.
• Inaba Kagerōza demanded that Rukia hand over the girl, but Rukia rejected his threat and reprimanded him for speaking without humility to a captain.
• Inaba remembered being bullied as Yushima Oshu, joining Kiryuo Hikifune’s research laboratory, and having his Modified Soul and Soul Soldier research banned after Kiryuo’s promotion.

Inaba Kagerōza confronted Rukia and revealed the space-time abilities of his Zanpakuto, while three Vice-Captains attacked Ichigo as he protected Kujo Nozomi. Rukia began to understand Inaba’s powers, but his copied attacks turned the fight against her, and Ichigo struggled to hold off his opponents.

• Inaba Kagerōza sent Reikaku Renji Abarai, Reikaku Izuuru Kira, and Reikaku Momo Hinamori to attack Ichigo Kurosaki and take Kujo Nozomi while he faced Rukia.
• Rukia used her swordsmanship and Data Kendo to predict Inaba’s movements, but he evaded her Kido with an unknown spatial ability.
• Inaba used Raikū to reproduce attacks from Captain Zaraki and Captain Kuchiki, forcing Rukia to release Sode no Shirayuki and defend herself.
• Rukia deduced that Raikū could reproduce copied abilities and possibly copy an enemy’s ability, but Inaba escaped her White Blade strike and countered with her own attack and cherry-colored petals.
• Ichigo protected Kujo Nozomi while fighting the three Vice-Captains, and his weakening spiritual pressure left him unsure he could defeat them.

Ichigo Kurosaki rescued a green-haired girl from Reikaku Renji Abarai, while Rukia carried them to safety. Back in the Seireitei, Ailin helped Orihime and her friends decide to wait for Ichigo, then prepared to undergo Hollowfication training under strict restraints.

• Ichigo unleashed Getsuga Tensho, killing two Reikaku Vice-Captains, while Reikaku Renji Abarai survived with Bankai and counterattacked with Baboon Bone Cannon.
• Rukia rescued Ichigo and the green-haired girl, explaining that Inaba Kagerōza had adapted to her Data Kendo by combining Captains' techniques.
• Orihime thanked Ailin for her growth and said she was ready to follow Ichigo and heal him, while Ailin advised her, Uryu Ishida, and Yasutora Sado to wait in the Seireitei because of the Dangai's two-week time discrepancy.
• Ailin secured the underground training ground and bound himself with Bakudo No. 99 before asking Enkidu to restrain him further for Hollowfication training.
• Enkidu used Heaven's Chain and Wind Death Binding Rope, cutting Ailin's reiatsu nearly in half and strengthening his restraints.

Ailin entered his inner world to confront Hollow Ailin, the Hogyoku-powered Hollow formed from Reikaku Ailin. He deliberately pushed Hollow Ailin into fearing death to accelerate the Hogyoku’s fusion, while outside his Hollowfication intensified and Enkidu defended him from an assault of Zanpakuto.

• Ailin entered his inner world and found Hollow Ailin occupying a blackish-red region that was eroding the golden landscape.
• Hollow Ailin attacked with corrupted Zanpakuto, but Ailin stopped them and overwhelmed him in a close-range fight, making him fear death.
• Hollow Ailin’s fear accelerated his Hogyoku fusion, raising his spiritual pressure beyond a Shinigami’s limit and enabling him to fire a Cero that Ailin crushed.
• Ailin continued attacking Hollow Ailin, while the Hollow Shell and blackish-red spiritual pressure spread across Ailin’s body in the outside world.
• Enkidu used Heaven’s Chain to block Zanpakuto launched from Hollowfied Ailin’s Gate of Babylon, even as hundreds of spatial ripples appeared behind Ailin.

Ailin trained against Hollow Ailin as the Hogyoku pushed Hollow Ailin into its third stage of fusion, bringing his spiritual pressure close enough to begin permeating Ailin’s. Ailin insisted that Hollow Ailin’s future evolution must focus only on increasing spiritual pressure, but Hollow Ailin remained stuck at the third stage without a clear idea of how to evolve next.

• Enkidu fought Hollowfied Ailin using Heaven’s Chain to share their spiritual pressure and prevent either from dying.
• Ailin repeatedly defeated Hollow Ailin, driving him into the third stage of fusion with the Hogyoku and increasing his spiritual pressure.
• Hollow Ailin’s spiritual pressure began invading Ailin’s, reducing the time needed for full permeation from three days to about half a day.
• Ailin explained that he needed Hollow Ailin’s power to fuse with his own in seconds and said he planned to leave the Bleach World after the Thousand-Year Blood War.
• Ailin warned Hollow Ailin not to follow Aizen Sosuke’s later fusion stages or pursue abilities instead of spiritual pressure.
• Hollow Ailin said he could not evolve beyond the third stage until he formed a clear idea of what his next stage should be.

Ailin ended his Hollowfication training after Hollow Ailin completed the Hogyoku’s fourth fusion stage but failed to reach the fifth, then tested a temporary Hollowfication that tripled his strength. Ailin traveled to a Valley of Screams and encountered the exiled Ryudoji Clan, whose members had been hiding there for a thousand years.

• Ailin used Minazuki’s Bankai to repeatedly dissolve and restore Hollow Ailin, but Hollow Ailin’s fear of death faded and he could not complete the fifth fusion stage.
• During training with Enkidu, Ailin’s Hollow Shell spread across half his face before the transformation abruptly ended, and he returned to full strength.
• Ailin tested Hollowfication, found it tripled his spiritual pressure, and discovered that his Shinigami spiritual pressure expelled Hollow Ailin’s within thirty seconds.
• Ailin considered the threat posed by Ichibei Hyosube and Yhwach, then entered the gap between the Three Worlds in search of a Valley of Screams.
• Ailin encountered Shinigami in green uniforms who were members of the exiled Ryudoji Clan, a group that had hidden in the Valley of Screams for a thousand years.