Chapter Summaries

Ichigo Kurosaki intervened when Yhwach used Yamamoto’s stolen Bankai, while Yamamoto organized a countermeasure against the Quincy’s Bankai theft. As Ichigo gained the upper hand, Yamamoto suspected their enemy was a fake Yhwach.

• Ichigo Kurosaki blocked Yhwach’s attack with Tensa Zangetsu, and Yamamoto agreed to guard against other Quincy who might steal Ichigo’s Bankai.
• Yamamoto used Tenteikūra to tell the captains that each Bankai-stealing Schrift could take only one Bankai and advised them to fight in pairs.
• Kaien Shiba arrived to help Jūshirō Ukitake fight Minina Mcanonn, and they planned to use their Bankai in sequence to ensure her defeat.
• Yamamoto noticed that Yhwach’s conduct differed from the Yhwach he knew and suspected the enemy was an imitation.
• Ichigo gained the advantage over Yhwach because Yhwach could not fully master Yamamoto’s stolen Bankai.

Ichigo Kurosaki killed Loyd Lloyd, who had impersonated Yhwach, but the real Yhwach arrived and overpowered Ichigo without stealing his Bankai. Elsewhere, Byakuya Kuchiki badly wounded As Nodt, who unleashed Vollständig, and Renji Abarai activated his Bankai to face him.

• Ichigo Kurosaki killed the disguised Yhwach, and Loyd Lloyd reverted to his true form before dying.
• The real Yhwach arrived and exchanged attacks with Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, who urged Ichigo Kurosaki to release his Bankai before it could be stolen.
• Ichigo Kurosaki fought Yhwach at a disadvantage, while Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto inferred that Yhwach could not steal Ichigo's Bankai.
• Byakuya Kuchiki broke through As Nodt's Still Blood Dress and wounded him without using Bankai.
• As Nodt overcame Yhwach's prohibition and activated Vollständig, prompting Renji Abarai to release his Bankai.

Renji Abarai let As Nodt steal his Bankai so Byakuya Kuchiki could attack with Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, overwhelming As Nodt. As Nodt's death strengthened Yhwach, who struck Ichigo Kurosaki down and pierced him with his sword.

• Renji Abarai activated Sōō Zabimaru and fired Baboon Bone Cannon at As Nodt, who stole his Bankai with his Schrift.
• Renji Abarai revealed that he had let As Nodt take his Bankai to leave him vulnerable to Byakuya Kuchiki, then called on Byakuya to finish the fight.
• Byakuya Kuchiki released Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, whose enormous storm of blades overwhelmed As Nodt's fear reiatsu.
• The Sternritter reacted to As Nodt using Quincy Vollständig, while the narration explained that Yhwach's power grew as Quincy died and that he planned to enter the Soul King Palace.
• Yhwach struck Ichigo Kurosaki out of the air and pierced him with his Sternritter sword.

Yhwach’s second assault on the Seireitei ended after Ichigo Kurosaki survived his attack and the Quincies were forced to withdraw. At a captains’ meeting, the Shinigami assessed heavy losses and the theft of Yamamoto’s Bankai, and Soifon proposed recalling Captain Ailin.

• Ichigo Kurosaki used Still Blood Dress to survive Yhwach’s attack, then struck back and forced Yhwach to defend himself.
• Haschwalth stopped Ichigo from pursuing Yhwach, and the collapsing building let Yhwach and Haschwalth escape through the Dangai before it closed.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi reported that 1,127 Shinigami Seated Officers had died and that two captains, a Vice-Captain, and two Seat Officers had lost their Bankai.
• The captains worried that Yamamoto’s stolen Bankai left the Gotei 13 without a strong defense against Yhwach.
• Soifon asked whether they should recall Captain Ailin.

The captains discussed why Ailin would not join the fight against Yhwach, and Urahara Kisuke explained Ailin's reasons before promising to find a way to reclaim the stolen Bankai. The captains prepared Seireitei's defenses as the Quincy’s decisive assault approached.

• Byakuya Kuchiki rejected Soifon's proposal to bring Ailin back, arguing that Ailin either expected Hueco Mundo to face a Quincy attack or had chosen not to join the Soul Reapers' war.
• Urahara Kisuke arrived at the captains' meeting and explained that Ailin would not take part because he did not see the conflict as a battle of justice and regarded the Spirit King as a person who deserved release.
• Urahara Kisuke told Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto that he could likely discover how the Quincy stole Bankai and might reclaim them, provided Mayuri Kurotsuchi shared the captured devices.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi agreed to provide the devices while privately doubting Urahara Kisuke could help in time, since Yhwach's predicted nine-day period was already on its sixth day.
• The captains returned to their divisions and strengthened Seireitei's defenses, placing lights to block the Quincy's shadow-based infiltration and assigning guards to the four gates.

Ailin waited in Hueco Mundo for the Quincies’ final assault while Uryu Ishida uncovered the truth about his family and Urahara Kisuke devised a way to counter Bankai theft. The chapter left Uryu resolved to confront Yhwach and Ailin preparing to leave Bleach World after Yhwach’s defeat.

• Ailin reflected on Grimmjow’s progress toward Second Resurrección and Vastolorde, then counted down the three days until Yhwach’s final assault on Seireitei.
• Uryu Ishida read Ryuken Ishida’s records and learned that Yhwach’s Schrift had killed his mother and grandfather, while Sogen Ishida had saved him by exchanging their Quincy blood.
• Uryu realized that Yhwach’s hidden Quincy descendants would supply him with immense power and decided to go meet him to avenge his family and protect his friends.
• Urahara Kisuke used his research and Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s data to discover that Hollow power disrupted Quincy power and proposed Hollowfying Soul Reapers to prevent their Bankai from being stolen.
• Urahara Kisuke considered how his Hogyoku could create a new Spirit King using Jinta and Ururu if the existing Spirit King were lost.

Urahara Kisuke distributed Hollow-power pills that let Shinigami reclaim stolen Bankai, while Ailin synchronized with the exceptionally sharp Saya no Hoshi and added it to Sword Hill. Above the Seireitei, Ichibei Hyosube underestimated Yhwach’s remaining strength as Yhwach introduced a new successor and bestowed a Schrift upon him.

• Urahara Kisuke prepared Hollow-power pills, and Renji Abarai absorbed one, regained contact with Sōōmaru, and reclaimed his Bankai.
• Byakuya Kuchiki and several other Shinigami, including Captain-Commander Yamamoto, absorbed the pills and recovered their Bankai.
• Ailin synchronized with Saya no Hoshi, learned its cutting ability, and placed it on Sword Hill, where it forced most of the other Zanpakuto down a rank.
• Ichibei Hyosube judged that he could defeat Yhwach using half his power, based on the Quincy forces Yhwach had revealed.
• Yhwach introduced a new successor to the Quincy in the Wandenreich’s Ice Palace and bestowed a Schrift upon him.

After Uryu Ishida became Yhwach’s heir, Haschwalth remained outwardly calm while Bazz-B reconsidered his strength. In Hueco Mundo, Tensōjū called Ailin to help Hell, and he entered the realm and began destroying its escaped prisoners.

• Uryu Ishida’s appointment as Yhwach’s heir unsettled Quincy who supported Haschwalth, though Haschwalth showed no displeasure.
• Bazz-B left Haschwalth after realizing he lacked confidence to defeat even a captain, let alone Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.
• Tensōjū told Ailin that Hell’s will needed help because prisoners had escaped and caused unrest.
• Ailin used Bankai—Meido Tensōjū to open a passage from Hueco Mundo into Hell.
• Hell’s Will recognized Tensōjū and gathered its power around the blade, making its attacks drain prisoners’ minds far more quickly.
• Ailin hunted Hell’s prisoners and destroyed those he found, while the Will of Hell knelt in his presence.

Ailin continued slaughtering Hell’s sinners and encountered Szayelaporro, several former Espada, and other familiar figures. He met Ginrei Kuchiki, who asked whether Byakuya and Haruko were well, and the chapter ended before Ailin answered.

• Shuren prepared to kill the unconscious Yuzu Kurosaki beneath a volcano, hoping to draw Ichigo into Hell and use him to break the sinners’ chains.
• Ailin encountered Szayelaporro, who attacked in Resurrección and fired King’s Flash, but Ailin crushed the blast and killed him with Tensōjū.
• Ailin killed the former Espada Aaroniero, Zommari Rureaux, Nnoitra, and Baraggan, as well as Kisaragi Taiho and his son Tenkai Shusuke.
• Ailin met Ginrei Kuchiki, greeted him, and heard Ginrei ask whether Byakuya Kuchiki and Haruko were well.

Ailin told Ginrei Kuchiki that Haruko and Byakuya were thriving, and Ginrei faded away after learning the noble order had collapsed. Meanwhile, Bazz-B attacked Byakudōmon, where Izuuru Kira fell before Gin Ichimaru appeared with him.

• Ailin told Ginrei Kuchiki that Haruko could live as long as he did and that Byakuya had become exceptionally strong.
• Ailin revealed that the Seireitei's noble order had collapsed and the Gotei 13 had taken control, leaving Ginrei to lose his obsession and turn to yellow sand.
• Bazz-B's Quincy forces invaded Byakudōmon, and Izuuru Kira used Chusuke to crush them with increased gravity.
• Bazz-B attacked Izuuru Kira with Burning Fingers—One, overwhelming his defense and leaving him incapacitated.
• Gin Ichimaru appeared beside the injured Izuuru Kira, startling the Soul Reapers guarding Byakudōmon.

Gin Ichimaru rescued the wounded Shinigami and killed Bazz-B, then headed to support the other divisions, especially the Tenth Division. Meanwhile, Zaraki battled Gremmy, who sent him into imagined outer space and turned his attention to the Shinigami below.

• Gin Ichimaru saved the unconscious Izuuru Kira and challenged Bazz-B, who activated Quincy Vollständig.
• Gin Ichimaru used Serial Blades to kill Bazz-B and ordered the Shinigami to take the injured to the Fourth Division before he went to help the other divisions.
• Zaraki wounded Gremmy despite Gremmy imagining himself as the world's hardest substance, and Gremmy restored his body through The Visionary.
• Gremmy created an arena and attacked Zaraki with weapons, but Zaraki broke through his defenses and cleaved part of the arena and Gremmy's body.
• Gremmy sent Zaraki into imagined outer space and claimed he would die there, but Yachiru Kusajishi insisted Zaraki would survive.

Zaraki escaped Gremmy’s outer-space dimension, survived the Quincy’s strongest attacks, and destroyed a meteor aimed at the Seireitei. Gremmy tried to imagine himself with Zaraki’s strength, but his body began to burst apart as his fear took control.

• Zaraki cut his way out of the outer-space dimension and wounded Gremmy, who healed himself with Super Regeneration.
• Gremmy created a second version of himself, and together they summoned a gigantic meteor to destroy the Seireitei.
• Zaraki released Nozarashi and split the meteor in two, though the resulting shockwave destroyed buildings and killed Shinigami and Quincy nearby.
• After the meteor’s destruction, the Shinigami gained an advantage over the Quincy, whose Bankai-stealing Schrifts had failed.
• Gremmy imagined himself with power equal to Zaraki’s, but his body cracked under the spiritual pressure and his terror made him lose control of his ability.

Askin avoided Gin Ichimaru while Ailin used Kyoka Suigetsu to accelerate the destruction of Hell’s Sinners, then returned Yuzu Kurosaki safely to Karakura Town. He headed for the Seireitei as the war reached its final stage, where Alice, Artoria, and Haruko Kuchiki defended Ailin’s courtyard from Quincy arrows.

• Askin reflected on Gremmy’s death and fled when Gin Ichimaru tried to attack him, while Gin hurried toward the Tenth Division to find Rangiku.
• Ailin used Kyoka Suigetsu and the Zanpakuto in Gate of Babylon to magnify the Sinners’ perception of Hell’s will, eroding their willpower until they turned to yellow sand.
• After clearing Hell of its Sinners, Ailin took Yuzu Kurosaki through a spatial rift to Karakura Town and left her asleep at Kurosaki Clinic.
• Ailin sensed that Isshin Kurosaki, Ryuken Ishida, and the Visored had left Karakura Town, then traveled to the Seireitei as the war neared its end.
• Alice blocked Quincy arrows aimed at Ailin’s courtyard, and Artoria told her that she would protect Haruko Kuchiki.

Alice swept away the Quincies attacking Haruko Kuchiki while Artoria protected her inside Avalon's barrier, as Yhwach sent the Sternritter into the Seireitei. The Sternritter devastated the Shinigami, but Zaraki killed Nianzol Wale with one blow.

• Alice attacked the Quincies surrounding Haruko Kuchiki's courtyard with her Golden Osmanthus Sword Blades while Artoria shielded the courtyard inside the Ideal Land of the Ever-Distant.
• Yhwach sent four figures from his shadow to join the fighting, prompting Haschwalth to worry that the altered future could prevent the silver arrow from being made.
• Gerard Valkyrie, Liltotto Lamperd, and Pernida Parnkgjas slaughtered Shinigami as Shunsui Kyōraku, Toshiro Hitsugaya, and Jūshirō Ukitake confronted them.
• Zaraki defeated Gremmy, whose body burst apart under the spiritual pressure he had imagined himself enduring.
• Nianzol Wale used The Torn to twist attacks and kill Eleventh Division Shinigami, but Zaraki cut him in two with Nozarashi.

Zaraki and the other captains defeated the Sternritter Yhwach had released, but Yhwach’s power shattered the barriers above Seireitei. Yamamoto struck back and was brought down by Haschwalth’s ability, then unleashed a desperate final attack that burned Haschwalth and Uryu Ishida to ashes.

• Zaraki overwhelmed Nianzol Wale, whose ability could not deflect enough of Zaraki’s strength to survive his slash.
• Shunsui Kyōraku mortally wounded Liltotto Lamperd, Toshiro Hitsugaya froze Gerard Valkyrie, and Jūshirō Ukitake defeated Pernida Parnkgjas.
• Yhwach’s reiatsu shattered the barriers above Seireitei, and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto confronted him with Bankai.
• Yamamoto badly wounded Haschwalth, but Haschwalth used The Miracle to recover and return his misfortune, leaving Yamamoto gravely injured.
• Yamamoto seized Haschwalth and cast Hadō #96—One-Hit Kill: Funeral Pyre, sacrificing his left arm and burning Haschwalth and Uryu Ishida to ashes.

Yhwach defeated Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and headed for the Soul King Palace, promising Ichigo Kurosaki he would revive Uryu Ishida. Ichigo failed to follow him, and Yhwach absorbed the Quincy in the Seireitei as the Soul Reapers regrouped under Shunsui Kyōraku.

• Yhwach shot Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto with the Great Holy Bow, then told Ichigo Kurosaki he would revive Uryu Ishida if he reached the Soul King Palace.
• Ichigo let Yhwach pass, but Yhwach trapped him with Sanctuary Hymn while he broke through the barriers toward the Soul King Palace.
• Ichigo destroyed Sanctuary Hymn with Bankai and Getsuga Tensho, but the barriers began to recover before he could reach Yhwach.
• Urahara Kisuke joined Ichigo and urged him to help defeat the Quincy still in the Seireitei.
• Yhwach absorbed the Quincy in the Seireitei as nourishment, and the Soul Reaper captains gathered after Yamamoto's defeat.
• Shunsui Kyōraku addressed the captains and took the lead as the likely successor to Yamamoto.

Shunsui Kyōraku became the temporary Captain-Commander and called a meeting to plan how to stop Yhwach at the Soul King Palace. Kaien Shiba revealed that the Shiba Clan’s Fireworks Cannon could send them there, leaving the captains with a possible way to pursue Yhwach.

• Shunsui Kyōraku nominated himself as temporary Captain-Commander, and Lisa Yadomaru agreed to take command of the Eighth Division until the war ended.
• Shunsui Kyōraku explained Yhwach’s prophecy, while Jūshirō Ukitake revealed that the Gotei 13 had once purged the remaining Quincy because of it.
• Urahara Kisuke explained Yhwach’s Soul Distribution power and his plan to remake the world so that life and death became indistinguishable.
• Shunsui Kyōraku asked Urahara Kisuke how the captains could cross the seventy-two barriers to reach the Soul King Palace before Yhwach defeated the Royal Guard.
• Kaien Shiba said the Shiba Clan’s Fireworks Cannon could send people directly to the Soul King Palace, and Shihoin Yoruichi recognized the clan’s secret treasure.

Ailin defeated Yhwach after he absorbed the Soul King, sealed him as the wedge stabilizing the three realms, and left the Bleach world for new worlds. The Shinigami captains arrived afterward and found Yhwach sealed in the Soul King Grand Palace.

• Kaien Shiba explained that the Shiba Clan’s Fireworks Cannon could send eight people to the Soul King Palace, and the captains chose their teams for the assault and Seireitei’s defense.
• Ailin sent Alice and Arthur back to his Inner World, stored his courtyard and Haruko Kuchiki there, then broke through the barriers to reach the Soul King Palace.
• Yhwach defeated the Royal Guard and killed Ichibei Hyosube, while Ailin watched and waited for Yhwach to absorb the Soul King.
• After Yhwach became the Soul King, Ailin bound him in Unlimited Blade Works, defeated him, and sealed him in yellow crystal to stabilize the three realms.
• Ailin used Ea to tear open a gateway and left the Bleach world for new worlds.
• Kaien Shiba and Ganju Shiba delivered the captains to the ruined Soul King Palace, where Ichibei Hyosube revived after Shunsui Kyōraku called his name and led them to find Yhwach sealed in crystal.