Chapter Summaries

Ronglin, Kuchiki Byakuya, and Shiba Zhu traveled through the Rukon District, where a crowd of thugs followed them. Kuchiki Byakuya drove most of them away with Kidō and warned the captured men not to follow again, while Shiba Zhu complained that he had left her no one to fight.

• Ronglin, Kuchiki Byakuya, and Shiba Zhu left Shino Academy and headed through the west gate into the Rukon District.
• As the three traveled from District Eighty to District Seventy-Eight, more people followed them and eyed their valuables greedily.
• Shiba Zhu complained that the followers might expose their tracks and urged Kuchiki Byakuya to think of a solution.
• Kuchiki Byakuya cast a series of Binding Spells, restraining some thugs and sending the rest fleeing in panic.
• Shiba Zhu angrily accused Kuchiki Byakuya of scaring away everyone she wanted to fight.
• Kuchiki Byakuya approached the captured thugs, who pleaded for mercy, and warned them not to follow the group again.

Ronglin stopped Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu from fighting as they traveled outside the Seireitei. They agreed to keep up a friendly front, leaving Ronglin wary of their hidden rivalry.

• Shiba Zhu confronted Kuchiki Byakuya for mocking her, and they challenged each other to fight.
• Ronglin scolded them for arguing and reminded them of their noble bearing, prompting both to apologize.
• Shiba Zhu and Kuchiki Byakuya agreed not to argue openly before returning to the Seireitei, while privately maintaining their hostility.
• The two held hands and cheerfully led the way, and Ronglin resolved to keep his distance and distrust their smiles.

Ronglin, Kuchiki Byakuya, and Shiba Zhu reached a strange forest near the Graveyard of the Fallen, where Ronglin wondered whether the legendary Creator God was actually the Soul King. A Hollow ambushed them, and Shiba Zhu disrupted Kuchiki Byakuya’s attack as she rushed to fight it herself.

• Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu led Ronglin through the districts to the desolate outskirts, where the Spiritual Pressure grew strange and distorted.
• Kuchiki Byakuya explained that the forest led to the Graveyard of the Fallen, where the Creator God had supposedly fought a powerful monster.
• Ronglin suspected the Creator God might have been the Soul King, then urged the others toward the graveyard.
• Ronglin sensed an ambush and blasted apart a tree, revealing a giant snake-bodied, scorpion-headed Hollow.
• Kuchiki Byakuya attacked the Hollow, but Shiba Zhu’s Kido struck it first and spoiled his killing blow.
• Shiba Zhu launched a barrage of Kido at the wounded Hollow while Kuchiki Byakuya protested.

Ronglin, Kuchiki Byakuya, and Shiba Zhu fought Hollows as they traveled toward the Graveyard of the Fallen. Near the forest’s edge, Kuchiki Byakuya grew uneasy when they found no sign of the Shinigami unit normally stationed there.

• Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu attacked a Hollow together and tore it apart, while Ronglin noticed their lack of caution.
• Ronglin exposed a Hollow disguised as a boulder, used Shadow Clones to study its Spiritual Pressure, and destroyed it with one punch.
• Kuchiki Byakuya asked about Ronglin’s Shadow Clones and praised the excitement of real combat, but Ronglin dismissed the challenge.
• Ronglin warned the group not to lower their guard and led Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu onward through the dark forest.
• Kuchiki Byakuya questioned why they had not encountered the Shinigami unit assigned to patrol near the Graveyard of the Fallen.

Ronglin, Kuchiki Byakuya, and Shiba Zhu uncovered a hidden attacker disrupting their senses in the forest and traced it to a wounded Hollow. The Hollow struck at Shiba Zhu from behind as she pursued it.

• Ronglin noticed the wind followed a repeating rhythm and deduced that a wind-based enemy was interfering with their senses.
• Ronglin suspected a powerful Hollow had wiped out the Shinigami squad stationed in the area.
• Ronglin used Tempest Kick: Flat to clear the forest around them and heard a pained wail.
• Shiba Zhu found bloodstains, hit the hidden target with Kidō #9: Strike, and rushed toward it.
• A black shadow sprang from behind a tree and reached for the back of Shiba Zhu's head.

Ronglin, Shiba Zhu, and Kuchiki Byakuya fought off an ambush by ordinary Hollows in the forest. After Ronglin identified a likely wind-wielding Hollow, a towering Menos Grande appeared, leaving the three facing a far more dangerous enemy.

• Ronglin killed two Hollows that tried to ambush Shiba Zhu and warned her to stay alert.
• Twenty-three Hollows emerged from the forest, and Shiba Zhu and Kuchiki Byakuya charged into the horde and began killing them.
• Ronglin held back while searching for the Hollow with wind-based abilities, suspecting it might be a Menos Grande or even an Adjuchas.
• A huge Menos Grande wearing a clown-like mask trampled through the trees and approached the group.
• Kuchiki Byakuya recognized the Menos Grande as a powerful Gillian-class Hollow, and Shiba Zhu lost her color at the sight of it.

Ronglin destroyed a group of Gillians with ease, shocking Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu. He warned them that the Hollow hiding behind wind-based attacks was still nearby.

• Kuchiki Byakuya urged Ronglin and Shiba Zhu to retreat after six more Gillians appeared.
• Ronglin killed several Gillians with lightning techniques while Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu watched in disbelief.
• Ronglin shattered the last Gillian’s Cero with Spirit Spear and blew its head apart.
• Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu praised Ronglin, who reminded them that the Hollow obscuring their senses had not yet appeared.
• Shiba Zhu grew worried and asked whether the hidden Hollow was nearby.

Ronglin, Kuchiki Byakuya, and Shiba Zhu continued toward Graveyard of the Fallen despite the danger of a hidden Hollow stronger than the Gillians. They found a Shinigami squad slaughtered in the wilderness, and Ronglin suspected visitors from Hueco Mundo had crossed a breach in the spatial barrier.

• Ronglin suggested that a hidden Hollow above Gillian level was interfering with their senses, possibly an Adjuchas.
• Shiba Zhu and Kuchiki Byakuya refused Ronglin's offer to turn back and insisted they could handle the danger themselves.
• Ronglin led the group out of the forest while keeping watch for the Hollow that had used wind-based abilities.
• The group found dozens of mutilated Shinigami corpses and Zanpakuto scattered across the wilderness.
• Ronglin suspected that visitors from Hueco Mundo had killed the squad after crossing a breach in the spatial barrier.

Ronglin confronted five powerful Adjuchas after finding slain Shinigami and deduced that they had invaded under a Vasto Lorde’s command. The Hollows revealed that their leader was neither Barragan nor Coyote Stark, leaving Ronglin to wonder which hidden Vasto Lorde was behind them.

• Ronglin found fresh blood at the crossroads and concluded that powerful invaders had recently killed the Shinigami stationed there.
• Ronglin tore open the air, and five Adjuchas emerged from a Garganta as Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu moved toward him in alarm.
• Ronglin inferred that the Adjuchas were cooperating under orders from a stronger Hollow, and their reaction confirmed his suspicion.
• The Adjuchas mocked Barragan and spoke of a Vasto Lorde commanding them, while Kuchiki Byakuya realized that multiple Vasto Lordes might exist.
• Ronglin guessed that Coyote Stark was their leader, but the Adjuchas described Stark as a solitary legend and left Ronglin surprised that someone else was behind them.

Ronglin confronted five Adjuchas in Hueco Mundo and overwhelmed them with powerful techniques despite appearing to have no Spiritual Pressure. He killed one, captured another, and blocked a third’s Cero as the battle continued.

• Ronglin demanded that the Adjuchas summon their Vasto Lorde king, but they refused and one attacked him with a hurricane.
• Ronglin sent Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu out of danger, then killed the attacking Adjuchas with Lightning Style: Lightning Spirit Snake.
• Ronglin bound a second Adjuchas with Binding Spell 4: This Rope, stunning Kuchiki Byakuya with his use of Kido.
• A frightened Adjuchas fired a Cero at Ronglin, who blocked it with Bakudo #8: Rejection without being shaken.

Ronglin defeated several Adjuchas with powerful techniques and captured two alive. He learned that Hueco Mundo had no confirmed Vasto Lordes besides its chief leader and Barragan, then Byakuya demanded to know who had ordered the Hollow infiltration.

• Ronglin used Six Rods of Light Prison to capture an Adjuchas and feigned casting Destructive Spell Number Ninety-Nine to frighten two others into fleeing.
• Ronglin blasted the two fleeing Adjuchas with lightning, leaving the ground devastated and overwhelming Byakuya and Shiba Zhu with his power.
• Ronglin questioned the two captured Adjuchas about Vasto Lordes, and they named the chief leader and Barragan while saying the Shadow of Death was only a legend.
• Byakuya recovered from his shock and demanded that the captured Adjuchas reveal who had ordered the invasion of Soul Society.

Ronglin and his companions confronted the Hollow mastermind, whom Ronglin recognized as Szayelaporro, a former Vasto Lorde. Szayelaporro killed the two captured Adjuchas, then calmly faced Ronglin.

• The captured Adjuchas feared punishment from their king and refused to reveal details of their mission.
• Szayelaporro emerged through a black gate, and Byakuya and Shiba Zhu sensed that his Spiritual Pressure vastly surpassed theirs.
• Ronglin recognized Szayelaporro and identified him as the mastermind behind the invasion.
• Szayelaporro killed the two Adjuchas with a snap of his fingers after they tried to deny revealing anything.
• Ronglin criticized Szayelaporro for killing his own kind, and Szayelaporro dismissed the Adjuchas as replaceable trash.

Szayelaporro explained that he was studying the Spatial Rift in the Graveyard of the Fallen and searching for the Spirit King's Blood, then decided to capture Ronglin as an experimental subject. When Szayelaporro attacked, Ronglin countered with a powerful punch.

• Ronglin asked Szayelaporro whether the crack in the spatial barrier could lead to unknown dimensions, and Szayelaporro admitted he did not know.
• Szayelaporro said he believed the Soul King's Blood had disrupted spacetime and created the rifts, and that he had sent Hollow to the Graveyard of the Fallen to search for it.
• Szayelaporro revealed he had sent ten units to infiltrate the Soul Society and blamed the Shinigami for obstructing his experiments.
• Szayelaporro declared that Ronglin would become his test subject, while Kuchiki Byakuya feared the Vasto Lorde's strength.
• Szayelaporro vanished and attacked Ronglin from behind, but Ronglin's punch struck the incoming figure and blasted it away.

Ronglin fought Szayelaporro, a Vasto Lorde, while protecting Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu. After Ronglin’s attacks wounded Szayelaporro, the Vasto Lorde blasted Ronglin into the ground and kept bombarding him.

• Ronglin struck Szayelaporro hard enough to make him cough up blood, stunning Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu.
• Szayelaporro fired two King's Hollow Flashes, and Ronglin caught and crushed them in his hands.
• Szayelaporro charged at Shiba Zhu, but Ronglin used Lightning Release: Lightning Spirit to knock him away and followed with Chidoryū.
• Szayelaporro smashed the lightning bird, then fired a stronger Cero that drove Ronglin through the ground and carved a trench.
• Szayelaporro laughed and repeatedly fired King's Hollow Flashes at the spot where Ronglin had fallen.

Ronglin attacked Szayelaporro after he injured Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu, but Szayelaporro trapped the Lightning Kirin with a powerful device and forced Ronglin to retreat. Szayelaporro regenerated his leg and vowed to make Ronglin suffer.

• Szayelaporro’s Spiritual Pressure struck down Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu when they charged him.
• Ronglin’s Lightning Kirin ambushed Szayelaporro and tore off one of his legs.
• Ronglin shattered Szayelaporro’s syringe with Spirit Spear while the Lightning Kirin destroyed the severed leg and continued its attack.
• Szayelaporro trapped the Lightning Kirin in a glowing sphere that unleashed destructive Spiritual Pressure and severed Ronglin’s connection to it.
• Ronglin retreated with Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu as the sphere’s power carved a huge pit into the ground.
• Szayelaporro injected himself with medicine, regenerated his leg, and vowed to make Ronglin suffer.

Ronglin discovered that his Dojutsu let his Spiritual Pressure flow smoothly and used the Time-Time Technique to immobilize Szayelaporro. He struck Szayelaporro through the chest with Spirit · City Crusher, sending him flying as time returned to normal.

• Szayelaporro pressed Ronglin back by exploiting a flaw in Ronglin’s Spiritual Pressure circulation.
• Ronglin converted his stagnant Spiritual Pressure into Dojutsu power, restoring its flow and slowing time throughout spacetime.
• Ronglin realized his Spiritual Pressure arose wherever his will reached and restrained Szayelaporro with the Time-Time Technique.
• Ronglin hit Szayelaporro in the chest with Spirit · City Crusher, blasting him into the distant sky.

Ronglin unleashed powerful attacks against Szayelaporro, who survived despite being badly mutilated. Szayelaporro escaped when the Inverse Membrane carried it away, leaving Ronglin exhausted.

• Ronglin realized he had begun to control his Spiritual Pressure after punching through Szayelaporro.
• Szayelaporro survived by injecting medicine into its wounds, so Ronglin attacked it with Spirit Dragon.
• Ronglin's Spirit Dragon pulverized most of Szayelaporro's body and devastated the land around the Graveyard of the Fallen, while protecting the unconscious Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu.
• Ronglin prepared to finish Szayelaporro, but the Inverse Membrane enveloped it in a golden pillar of light.
• Szayelaporro vanished into the sky as Ronglin watched, exhausted and unable to harm it.

Ronglin considered how the Spirit King's Blood might tear through spatial barriers and decided to return to Shino Academy before seeking a way to reach the Soul King Palace. Six captains and over six hundred Shinigami surrounded him, and he admitted that the destruction they had found was caused by a Vasto Lorde.

• Ronglin concluded that he should stabilize his Spiritual Pressure and master Zanpakuto, Kido, and Flash Step at Shino Academy before joining the Thirteen Court Guard Squads to search the Great Spirit Archive.
• Six captains and over six hundred Shinigami arrived and surrounded Ronglin as he recovered from his battle.
• Kyoraku Shunsui questioned Ronglin about his claim that he had killed five Adjuchas, while Kuchiki Haru and Shiba Kaien introduced themselves.
• Unohana Yachiru argued that an Adjuchas could not have caused the destruction around them.
• Ronglin admitted that the destruction had not been caused by an Adjuchas but by a Vasto Lorde.

Ronglin warned the Shinigami that three Vasto Lordes threatened Hueco Mundo, including Szayelaporro, Barragan, and the elusive Stark. After the Shinigami thanked him for protecting their young clan members, he revealed that he did not yet have a Zanpakuto.

• Kyoraku Shunsui asked whether Ronglin had killed the Vasto Lorde, and Ronglin said Szayelaporro had escaped through the Inverse Membrane after being badly injured.
• Ronglin described Szayelaporro’s strengths and warned that it might target weaker Shinigami to provoke its enemies.
• Ronglin told the Shinigami about Barragan and Stark, prompting Jushiro Ukitake and the others to take the threat seriously.
• Jushiro Ukitake, Kuchiki Haru, Shiba Kaien, and several captains thanked Ronglin for protecting their clans’ young members.
• Kuchiki Haru offered to send Ronglin home in a palanquin, and Ronglin said he did not have a Zanpakuto yet.

Multiple garrisons near the Graveyard of the Fallen were overwhelmed by Hollow invasions as Shinigami captains rushed to contain the disaster. After the captains found Ronglin and learned of his strength and the birth of Vasto Lordes, he declined Kuchiki Haru’s invitation to join the Thirteen Court Guard Squads before graduating from Shino Academy.

• The Squad Three captain arrived at a garrison under attack and led the Shinigami in wiping out the Hollows, then received simultaneous distress calls from the other garrisons.
• Kuchiki Haru and Shiba Kaien joined Kyoraku Shunsui, Jushiro Ukitake, and Unohana Yachiru to search the Graveyard of the Fallen and eliminate the invading Hollows.
• A brilliant light erupted from the Graveyard of the Fallen, and the captains found Ronglin and the other two sitting on an endless plain.
• Ronglin told the captains he had no Zanpakuto and revealed that Vasto Lordes had appeared in Hueco Mundo.
• Kuchiki Haru invited Ronglin to join the Thirteen Court Guard Squads under the Kuchiki Family’s recommendation, but Ronglin declined until after graduating from Shino Academy.
• Kuchiki Haru accepted Ronglin’s decision and said the squads would assess him after graduation, while Ronglin left the matter of guarding the Graveyard of the Fallen to the Shinigami.