Recaps

Ailin tested the power of his Bankai before receiving a prison visit from Haruko Kuchiki, who apologized and offered to testify at his trial. As their visit ended, Hibiki Hoshino grew furious over their connection and showed a flash of red in his eyes.

• Ailin released Bankai—Hookless Punishment Muramasa and used Muramasa's power to materialize the spirits of the weapons in his Inner World, who bowed to him.
• Ailin learned that a visitor had come to the prison and was surprised to find Haruko Kuchiki waiting outside his cell.
• Haruko Kuchiki explained that she had told Ginrei Kuchiki the truth about Ailin protecting her at the Izakaya, and she promised to testify for Ailin at his trial.
• Ailin stopped Haruko Kuchiki from revealing her embarrassing visit to the Izakaya and reassured her that he would face Central 46 without implicating her.
• Hibiki Hoshino overheard their conversation, felt humiliated by Haruko Kuchiki's support for Ailin, and showed a flash of red in his pupils.
• A Ninth Division member ended Ailin and Haruko Kuchiki's visit after their conversation ran past the allotted time.

Haruko Kuchiki visited Ailin in prison, while Ginrei Kuchiki and Sōjun Kuchiki considered replacing Hibiki Hoshino as her intended husband. Muramasa overheard their discussion, and Hibiki ordered him to infiltrate the Kuchiki Clan and kill Ginrei’s son.

• Haruko Kuchiki said she would ask her father to follow Ailin’s case and testify for him at the Trial if necessary.
• Ginrei Kuchiki and Sōjun Kuchiki waited for Haruko outside the prison, and Sōjun asked how her conversation with Ailin had gone.
• Ginrei and Sōjun weighed Ailin against Hibiki Hoshino as Haruko’s prospective husband, favoring Ailin’s broader abilities and fewer constraints.
• Muramasa secretly watched the Kuchiki family and heard their discussion about changing the marriage arrangement.
• Angry that Ginrei might abandon him, Hibiki Hoshino restored Muramasa’s injuries with spiritual pressure and ordered him to infiltrate the Kuchiki Clan and kill Ginrei’s son.

Hibiki Hoshino ordered Muramasa to kill Sōjun Kuchiki and planned to confront Ginrei Kuchiki afterward. At dawn, Yoruichi and Urahara identified Sōjun’s death as the work of his own Zanpakuto, and Ginrei named Hibiki as the suspected killer before heading to the Ninth Division.

• Hibiki Hoshino told Muramasa to kill Sōjun Kuchiki and return, then planned to kill Ginrei Kuchiki together with Muramasa.
• Hibiki Hoshino brooded over how Ailin had ruined his chance to marry into the Kuchiki Clan and advance in the Sixth Division.
• A maid discovered Sōjun Kuchiki dead in his bedroom, and Ginrei Kuchiki stopped Haruko from seeing the body.
• Shihoin Yoruichi and Urahara Kisuke investigated the bedroom and concluded that Sōjun had died from his own Zanpakuto’s ability.
• Ginrei Kuchiki identified Hibiki Hoshino as the likely culprit and ordered Ginjiro to protect Haruko while he and the others went to the Ninth Division.
• Ginjiro dismissed a Soul Reaper’s congratulations about becoming the next Vice-Captain of the Sixth Division.

Ginjiro reflected on his slim chances of becoming Sixth Division Vice-Captain and considered finding work outside the division. At the Ninth Division Prison, Ginrei Kuchiki confronted Hibiki Hoshino over Sōjun Kuchiki’s death, but Hibiki denied killing him and pointed out that he had been imprisoned without his Zanpakuto.

• Ginjiro judged that the Kuchiki Clan would control the Sixth Division’s future and decided he might pursue side work before eventually retiring.
• Ailin sensed Captain Yoruichi, Urahara Kisuke, Sui-Feng, Ginrei Kuchiki, and Kensei Muguruma approach the Prison, but they went to Hibiki Hoshino’s cell instead of starting his Trial.
• Ginrei Kuchiki visited Hibiki Hoshino, who accused Ginrei of intending to use him as a husband for the Kuchiki Clan before discarding him.
• Ginrei told Hibiki that he had not rejected him for Ailin, but Hibiki dismissed Ginrei’s explanation and resented the authority the Kuchiki Clan held over him.
• Ginrei accused Hibiki of killing Sōjun Kuchiki with his own Zanpakuto, and Hibiki denied it, citing his confinement and the confiscation of his weapon.

Ailin was cleared of suspicion in Sōjun Kuchiki’s murder, while Urahara Kisuke began investigating how Hibiki Hoshino could have used his Zanpakuto from prison. After Ailin was released, Haruko Kuchiki invited him to her brother’s Squad Funeral.

• Ailin told Yoruichi that he sensed Hibiki Hoshino’s spiritual pressure flare but knew Hoshino had never left the Ninth Division’s Prison.
• Urahara concluded that Hoshino had killed Sōjun Kuchiki and secretly infiltrated the Ninth Division’s warehouse to examine Hoshino’s Zanpakuto.
• Central 46 declared Ailin innocent based on evidence from Haruko and the head of the Kuchiki Clan, while Hoshino faced a Trial for violating Yamamoto’s prohibition and was judged uncontrollable.
• Ailin left the prison and offered Haruko his condolences for Sōjun’s death.
• Haruko told Ailin that her father had asked her to invite him to her brother’s Squad Funeral.

Ailin accepted Haruko Kuchiki’s invitation to receive guests with her at Sōjun Kuchiki’s Squad Funeral. He viewed the funeral as a chance to meet powerful Soul Reapers and gain weapons, then headed to the Second Division to keep strengthening himself.

• Ailin agreed to attend Sōjun Kuchiki’s Squad Funeral after Haruko Kuchiki clarified that Ginrei Kuchiki wanted him to receive guests with her.
• Haruko Kuchiki asked Ailin to accompany her as a friend, while Ginrei Kuchiki hoped their pairing would strengthen the Kuchiki Clan’s standing.
• Ailin accepted, anticipating that the gathering of Seireitei’s powerful figures could help him acquire weapons through Infinite Sword.
• After Haruko Kuchiki left to tell her father, Ailin reflected on the dangers ahead and decided to focus on becoming stronger.
• Ailin set aside his worries about future enemies and headed toward the Second Division.

At Sōjun Kuchiki’s funeral, Ailin copied numerous powerful Zanpakuto and gained valuable forging recipes. Meanwhile, Central 46 sentenced Hibiki Hoshino to lose his Zanpakuto and be exiled, but he overpowered the nobles with his spiritual pressure before Muramasa failed to answer his call.

• Ailin attended Sōjun Kuchiki’s funeral and copied Zanpakuto belonging to several influential Shinigami, along with thousands of others.
• Ginrei Kuchiki lit Sōjun Kuchiki’s funeral pyre, and his body dispersed into spirit particles.
• Ninth Division Shinigami brought Hibiki Hoshino before Central 46, which sentenced him to confiscation of his Zanpakuto and permanent exile to the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force.
• Hibiki Hoshino laughed at the verdict, unleashed his spiritual pressure, and overwhelmed the elders of Central 46.
• Hibiki Hoshino called for Muramasa when the guards rushed him, but Muramasa did not appear.

Hibiki Hoshino killed two Soul Reapers in Central 46, then used Muramasa to defeat Kensei Muguruma and rebel against Soul Society. As the Seireitei mobilized, Ginrei Kuchiki asked Ailin to join the campaign against him.

• When Muramasa failed to answer his calls, Hibiki Hoshino blasted two Soul Reapers with Golden Cannon and frightened the Central 46 nobles.
• Muramasa arrived and explained that a powerful Soul Reaper had delayed him, then Hibiki Hoshino took Muramasa's blade and left the Judgment Chamber.
• Hibiki Hoshino faced Kensei Muguruma and more than fifty Soul Reapers, then released Bankai and defeated Kensei and his squad.
• The Seireitei sent an alert that Hibiki Hoshino had rebelled, could control Soul Reapers' Zanpakuto, and was leading a group toward the Seventh Division.
• Ginrei Kuchiki recognized the danger Hibiki Hoshino posed and asked Ailin to help fight him.

Ginrei Kuchiki brought Ailin to the Captain's Meeting as the captains discussed Hibiki Hoshino's rebellion and his ability to control their Zanpakuto. Yamamoto and Ginrei prepared to confront Hibiki, but Ginrei suggested hearing Ailin's advice first because Hibiki's ability seemed ineffective against him.

• Ginrei Kuchiki invited Ailin to attend the Captain's Meeting, and Ailin agreed.
• The captains gathered at the First Division while Kensei Muguruma had been defeated and Aikawa Love was holding off Hibiki Hoshino's Zanpakuto army.
• Shihoin Yoruichi explained that Hibiki could materialize and control other Shinigami's Zanpakuto, but defeating a materialized Zanpakuto could restore it.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto decided that he and Ginrei would face Hibiki while closing off their hearts and fighting without Zanpakuto.
• Ginrei told Yamamoto that Hibiki's ability seemed ineffective against Ailin and proposed calling him in for advice.

Ailin was summoned to the Captain's Meeting after Ginrei Kuchiki revealed that he had forced Hibiki Hoshino to use Bankai. He demonstrated Captain-level spiritual pressure and explained that his Zanpakuto could forge swords, including one capable of resisting Hoshino's control.

• Ginrei Kuchiki identified Ailin as the person who had driven Hibiki Hoshino to use Bankai, and Yamamoto ordered Chōjirō Sasakibe to bring him into the meeting.
• Chōjirō led Ailin from the First Division side hall to the Captain's Meeting.
• Several Captains tested Ailin with their spiritual pressure, and he answered with Captain-level pressure of his own.
• Ailin greeted the Captains and said his Zanpakuto, Unlimited Blade Works, forged swords.
• Ailin clarified that he had countered Hibiki Hoshino's control by forging a sword that could not be controlled.

Yamamoto entrusted Ailin with capturing Hibiki Hoshino and ending the rebellion after Ailin confirmed that he had mastered Bankai and could defeat him. As Hibiki prepared to attack the First Division, Ailin arrived and Danjikaze knocked aside his incoming Zanpakuto.

• Yamamoto asked Ailin whether he had mastered Bankai, and Ailin confirmed that he had.
• Ailin assured Yamamoto that he could defeat Hibiki Hoshino, so Yamamoto assigned him to capture Hibiki and suppress the rebellion.
• Ailin sensed Hibiki’s Spiritual Pressure and rushed toward the Seventh Division barracks.
• Hibiki defeated Aikawa Love, whose Zanpakuto had been controlled, and sent him to join the captured Soul Reapers.
• Hibiki considered attacking the First Division to control the captains’ Zanpakuto, but Danjikaze’s Bankai knocked aside an incoming Zanpakuto.

Ailin confronted Hibiki Hoshino, whose Bankai failed to control Ailin’s Zanpakuto and instead trapped Muramasa inside Ailin’s Inner World. Ailin then overwhelmed Hibiki Hoshino’s materialized Zanpakuto, leaving the rebellion’s battle as a massacre.

• Ailin greeted Hibiki Hoshino and thanked him for helping Ailin gain the power to copy the captains’ Zanpakuto.
• Hibiki Hoshino released Bankai—Hookless Punishment Muramasa and sent Muramasa into Ailin’s Inner World to seize control of Ailin’s Zanpakuto.
• Ailin welcomed Muramasa into Unlimited Blade Works and told the Zanpakuto inside to kill him, leaving Muramasa unable to return.
• Hibiki Hoshino ordered his materialized Zanpakuto to attack Ailin after losing his connection with Muramasa.
• Ailin projected Zanpakuto as arrows, then fought through the remaining attackers with swords from the forest, cutting them down in a massacre.

Ailin defeated the Seat Officer-level Zanpakuto and their Captain-level leaders, Danjikaze and Tengumaru, then exchanged Kido attacks with Hibiki Hoshino. After Ailin pierced Hibiki Hoshino’s shoulder with Byakurai, Hibiki Hoshino withdrew and vowed to reveal his true power.

• Ailin used Sōtenyasha’s Azure Dragon Break to shatter more than a dozen Seat Officer-level Zanpakuto.
• Danjikaze and Tengumaru entered Bankai, but Ailin countered with Flame Tetsusaiga’s Explosive Wave and destroyed the remaining Zanpakuto.
• Ailin told Hibiki Hoshino to surrender, but Hibiki Hoshino refused and attacked with Hadō #71: Gekiga Reikō.
• Ailin and Hibiki Hoshino traded Hadō and Bakudō, with Ailin countering Hibiki Hoshino’s spells with stronger Kido.
• Ailin struck Hibiki Hoshino’s left shoulder with Byakurai, forcing him to retreat from the barrage.
• Hibiki Hoshino cursed Ailin and declared that he would show his true power.

Ailin fought Hibiki Hoshino, whose ability distorted visual distance and repeatedly made Ailin attack illusions. With his barrier’s scabbard close to breaking, Ailin unveiled the Heaven-Piercing Sword and unleashed a wide-ranging burst of light to overcome Hibiki Hoshino’s ability.

• Hibiki Hoshino used illusions and distorted visual distance to evade Ailin’s Wind Scar and Azure Dragon Break attacks.
• Ailin realized Hibiki Hoshino’s ability was affecting his perception, while repeated attacks damaged the scabbard sustaining Ailin’s barrier.
• Ailin withdrew Tetsusaiga, Sōtenyasha, and the surrounding swords, then summoned a mirrored straight sword.
• Ailin released Bankai—Heaven-Piercing Sword and gathered spirit particles into a miniature sun.
• The miniature sun burst into countless beams of light that blasted outward in every direction.

Ailin defeated Hibiki Hoshino with a devastating attack, leaving him near death in the cratered Seventh Division grounds. As the captains prepared to celebrate, Ginrei Kuchiki asked Yoruichi to let Ailin transfer to the Sixth Division, and she agreed to raise the request with Yamamoto.

• The captains sensed that Ailin had overcome Hibiki Hoshino, and Yamamoto led them back to the meeting room to await Ailin and celebrate.
• Ginrei Kuchiki approached Yoruichi and asked her to transfer Ailin to the Sixth Division as its new Vice-Captain.
• Yoruichi agreed to the transfer if Ginrei could persuade Ailin and Yamamoto.
• Ailin found the badly mutilated Hibiki Hoshino at the bottom of the crater and gathered a beam of light at his sword's tip to strike Hibiki's head.

Ailin killed Hibiki Hoshino after defeating him, then brought his corpse to the First Division and reported to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. Muramasa realized Hibiki’s spiritual power had vanished and feared that his master was dead.

• Ailin spared Hibiki Hoshino from his sword, but Hibiki died from anger after Ailin mocked him.
• Ailin bound Hibiki Hoshino’s corpse and headed for the First Division, resolving that Muramasa and Hibiki had to die to protect his secrets.
• Muramasa felt his spiritual power supply cut off and realized Hibiki Hoshino might have been killed.
• Ailin presented Hibiki Hoshino’s corpse at the captains’ meeting and apologized to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto for failing to capture him alive.
• Ginrei Kuchiki defended Ailin’s decision to use his full strength, and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto declared that Ailin had rendered great service.

After completing the subjugation mission, Ailin used his reward to study advanced Kidō and grow stronger. Ginrei Kuchiki approached him about marrying into the Kuchiki Clan, but Ailin set his sights on becoming a captain and challenging the strongest figures in the world.

• Captain-Commander Yamamoto praised Ailin for defeating Hibiki Hoshino and granted his request to study in the Kidō Corps library for three months.
• Ailin spent three months studying Kidō by day and forging copied Zanpakuto by night, steadily increasing his spiritual pressure and control.
• Ginrei Kuchiki waited for Ailin outside the Kidō Corps and discussed the Kuchiki Clan's hopes for Haruko Kuchiki to marry a powerful man.
• Ailin reflected on the powerful figures he wanted to face and wondered whether he could surpass the world's limits.
• Ailin told Yoruichi that he wanted to advance beyond his Second Division vice-captain position and aspire to become a captain.

Ailin left the Second Division, became the Kuchiki Clan’s son-in-law and later succeeded Ginrei Kuchiki as captain of the Sixth Division. Years later, he reunited with Shihoin Yoruichi at the Kuchiki estate, where she had been teasing young Byakuya, and asked why she had summoned him.

• Ailin resigned as Vice-Captain of the Second Division and told Sui-Feng that they might meet again when he was Captain Ailin.
• Ailin became engaged to Haruko Kuchiki, took the post of Vice-Captain of the Sixth Division, and succeeded Ginrei Kuchiki as its captain a year later.
• Ginrei Kuchiki supervised fourteen-year-old Byakuya Kuchiki’s sword training and noted his growing strength and lively temperament.
• Shihoin Yoruichi teased Byakuya Kuchiki by grabbing him and taking his red hair tie, prompting him to challenge her Shunpo.
• Ailin arrived, stopped Byakuya beside Ginrei Kuchiki, and asked Shihoin Yoruichi whether something had happened.

Ailin heard that Yoruichi and Ukitake had been ordered to eliminate the surviving Quincies in the Human World, and questioned why the mission troubled them. Yoruichi began revealing the ancient betrayal that created Soul Society, ending with the noble families mutilating and casting down the Spirit King's body parts.

• Yoruichi asked Ailin to help with a troublesome mission, while Ginrei and Byakuya left them alone to discuss it.
• Yoruichi explained that Soul Society had ordered the Second and Thirteenth Divisions to hunt down the remaining Quincies in the Human World.
• Ailin questioned why the Quincies posed a challenge for Yoruichi and Ukitake, and recalled that the strongest Quincies had hidden in Soul Society's shadows as the Wandenreich.
• Yoruichi recounted how the Spirit King had saved the world and how the noble families had plotted to divide it into three realms.
• Yoruichi described how the Tsunayashiro, Shihoin, and Kuchiki families eventually mutilated the Spirit King and cast his body parts into the lower world.

Shihoin Yoruichi asked Captain Ailin to help her secretly investigate the Quincy during their extermination mission, and he agreed. Before leaving, Ailin found Haruko Kuchiki ill; her health had declined because his immense spiritual pressure oppressed her soul, leaving Ginrei Kuchiki to face the cost of Ailin’s strength.

• Shihoin Yoruichi explained that she wanted to investigate the Quincy secretly and asked Ailin to keep Jūshirō Ukitake from discovering her movements.
• Ailin agreed to accompany Yoruichi after telling her he would first speak with his wife and father-in-law.
• Ailin found Haruko Kuchiki coughing as she prepared a boxed meal and helped her sit down and rest.
• The narration revealed that Haruko’s health had worsened because Ailin’s Hundred-Year Captain spiritual pressure had been steadily oppressing her soul.
• Ginrei Kuchiki struggled with the revelation that Ailin’s strength had brought the Kuchiki Clan a powerful heir while endangering Haruko.

Ailin left his dying wife, Haruko Kuchiki, in Ginrei Kuchiki’s care and joined Shihoin Yoruichi’s mission to eliminate the Light Empire’s remaining Quincy forces. In the Human World, he learned that war had overwhelmed the Thirteenth Division’s Shinigami and led to heavy casualties.

• Ailin comforted Haruko Kuchiki, then told Ginrei Kuchiki that her condition was worsening and asked him to look after her and the Sixth Division while he was away.
• Ailin met Shihoin Yoruichi and Jūshirō Ukitake at the Second Division training grounds and joined their group as they passed through a Senkaimon to the Human World.
• The group arrived in a remote forest, where Ailin noted that the Human World had far less Reishi than Soul Society.
• Ailin distracted Jūshirō Ukitake while Shihoin Yoruichi and Urahara Kisuke slipped away, and Sui-Feng led the Second Division Shinigami onward.
• Jūshirō Ukitake explained that war had spread across the Human World, creating more Hollows and leaving the Thirteenth Division’s stationed Shinigami overwhelmed and suffering casualties.

Ailin and the others traced the remaining Quincies of the Light Empire to a village, where Urahara Kisuke used a strange medicine to attract Hollows and identify the Quincies who fought them. As black rifts opened above the village, the group watched from the forest, awaiting the Hollows’ arrival.

• Ailin reflected that Quincies’ annihilation of Hollow souls threatened the balance among the three worlds, and suspected Yoruichi and Jūshirō Ukitake had used him as an excuse for her departure.
• Sui-Feng led the Punishment Corps and the Thirteenth Division to the village after a slow, two-day search.
• Ailin asked whether the mission required killing the village’s ordinary residents, and Jūshirō Ukitake said their target was only the Quincies of the Light Empire.
• Urahara Kisuke released medicine that gave off the aura of a thousand human souls, explaining that the Hollows it attracted would reveal the Quincies by who attacked them.
• Ailin’s group withdrew into the forest, and less than ten minutes later, a Hollow roared as black rifts appeared above the village.

Ailin and Jūshirō Ukitake watched Quincy defend villages from a massive Hollow attack, while Ailin reflected on Ukitake’s willingness to sacrifice anything for the Soul Society. A powerful elderly Quincy arrived with a Silver Ridge Arc Sparrow and began wiping out the Hollows.

• Hollows poured from Gargantas across villages and fields, and Quincy fired Reishi Arrows while villagers evacuated.
• Ailin judged the Quincy’s defenses weak as several medium-sized Hollows dodged their arrows and charged toward the villagers.
• Jūshirō Ukitake stopped Ailin from drawing his Zanpakuto so they would not expose their position before the operation.
• An elderly Quincy pierced the charging medium-sized Hollows with swift arrows, then called the villagers to gather around him.
• The elderly Quincy unleashed a torrent of arrows from his Silver Ridge Arc Sparrow and slaughtered the Hollows before him.

Kurosaki Takuya’s Quincy village survived a Hollow attack, but he ordered everyone to flee before Soul Reapers could find them. Jūshirō Ukitake prepared to eliminate the Quincies, hiding his true intentions from Ailin as the assault began.

• Shihoin Yoruichi recognized that the Quincies’ arrows erased Hollows and the souls they had devoured instead of restoring those souls to the cycle of reincarnation.
• Kurosaki Takuya killed the attacking Hollows, then ordered Katagiri Shuta and Ishida Junichi to organize the villagers and prepare to leave.
• Jūshirō Ukitake’s Soul Reapers confirmed they had identified the Quincies during the attack, and Ukitake told them to target only Quincies in front of Ailin.
• Ailin volunteered to guard the road out of the village, while Ukitake privately planned to kill other spiritually aware villagers as well.
• After Ailin took his position, Ukitake gave the order to begin the attack.

The Soul Reapers surrounded the Quincy village, and Kurosaki Takuya realized the Quincies faced defeat. Ishida Junichi and the other leaders used the Spirit-Scattering Gloves to fight back, but they were killed and the remaining Quincies were left unable to resist.

• The Quincies sensed the approaching Soul Reapers and fired Reishi Arrows at them, but Shihoin Yoruichi and Jūshirō Ukitake blocked Kurosaki Takuya’s Light Rain with Dankū.
• Kurosaki Takuya ordered Katagiri Shuta and Ishida Junichi to take the others and escape as the Soul Reapers moved to surround the village.
• Ishida Junichi refused to flee, broke a spike from his Spirit-Scattering Gloves, and gained enough power to fire an Arc Sparrow at Shihoin Yoruichi and Jūshirō Ukitake.
• Ailin heard the fighting as Ishida Junichi, Katagiri Shuta, and Kurosaki Takuya were killed by Shihoin Yoruichi, Urahara Kisuke, and Jūshirō Ukitake, respectively.
• With their leaders dead, the remaining Quincies could not resist the elite Soul Reapers.