Chapter Summaries

Stark defeated Zhuo Yun with his Spirit Wolves, and she died after her mission in Hueco Mundo failed. After stopping a Giant Mantis from devouring her, Stark turned his attention back to the pinned creature.

• Stark used three Spirit Wolves to restrain Zhuo Yun and explained that their soul-based attacks overwhelmed her ability to absorb Spiritual Pressure.
• Zhuo Yun tried to begin a sacrificial Way of Destruction, but Stark detonated the wolves before she could attack.
• The Skeleton Emperor abandoned his plan and left with more than fifty Adjuchas as the explosion shook the desert.
• Stark found Zhuo Yun alive but mortally wounded, and pinned a Giant Mantis that tried to devour her and absorb her Spiritual Pressure.
• Zhuo Yun died after telling Stark that it was a pity they were enemies, and Stark turned toward the Giant Mantis as it demanded to be released.

Stark spared the giant mantis after the antelope knight asked him to, then left while Barragan’s campaign to capture powerful Hollows remained a threat. The chapter ended with Shinigami praising Vice-Captain Ronglin after his barrier helped them defeat six Hollows.

• Stark buried Zhuo Yun’s corpse and pinned a giant mantis with his Light Sword when it tried to eat her.
• An antelope knight appeared and asked Stark to spare the mantis, explaining that she and the Hollow had lived together for a long time.
• Stark let the mantis go and departed after telling the antelope knight he hoped they would meet again.
• The antelope knight freed the mantis and warned Nnoitra that Barragan was capturing powerful Hollows to build an army.
• Ronglin used the Hundred Steps Barrier to pin six fleeing Hollows, and the Shinigami killed them and praised him.

Ronglin led his elite Shinigami through the final stages of the World of the Living mission after months of bloody battles against Hollow incursions. As the threat seemed to fade, he grew uneasy that the rumored group of around twenty Adjuchas had never appeared, and Shiba Zhu suggested they might be waiting to strike as the Shinigami departed.

• Shinigami praised Ronglin’s leadership and predicted he would soon become a Captain.
• Ronglin’s forces suffered heavy casualties during sweeping operations, while wounded Shinigami were sent to the Soul Society through the Kuchiki Family’s Gate of the Worlds.
• After hundreds of battles, Ronglin’s remaining forty-odd elite Shinigami had nearly completed their cleanup of the towns, and the other Captains’ forces had helped stabilize the World of the Living.
• Ronglin remained troubled that neither his forces nor the other Captains had found the rumored group of around twenty Adjuchas.
• Shiba Zhu speculated that the Adjuchas might attack from behind as the Shinigami prepared to leave, prompting Ronglin to reconsider what they might be planning.

Ronglin reorganized the Shinigami squads to sweep the World of the Living and lure out Hollows, while a group of Adjuchas hid in the Garganta and planned to capture him for Lord Barragan. The Adjuchas decided to wait for a chance to ambush Ronglin when he fell behind during the Shinigami’s return to the Soul Society.

• Number One told Ronglin she wanted to give him her real name when they returned, and Ronglin promised she could be first despite expecting his squad to return later.
• Kuchiki Byakuya realized Ronglin had a plan, and Ronglin announced his tactical arrangement, Luring the Snake Out of Its Hole.
• Ronglin sent an elite squad of ten to coordinate with the other Shinigami captains, and the major squads began moving rapidly through their territories.
• After five days of intense sweeps, the Shinigami had nearly cleared the World of the Living of Hollows, driving the remaining Hollows to hide in Hueco Mundo.
• Twenty Adjuchas hiding in the Garganta discussed their orders from Lord Barragan and planned to seize Ronglin if he fell behind while returning to the Soul Society.

Ronglin sensed the Adjuchas watching him and alerted the Shinigami units in the World of the Living, then secretly set a plan in motion. The Adjuchas realized that most Shinigami had withdrawn, but Ronglin’s main force remained in place, leaving them uncertain about their next move.

• Ronglin sensed someone spying on him and ordered his squad to prepare for battle.
• Ronglin used Tenteikūra to tell every Shinigami unit in the World of the Living to begin the operation.
• Shinigami squads dispersed according to their arrangements, while the Adjuchas watched from inside the Garganta.
• The Adjuchas noticed that many Shinigami had vanished from the World of the Living and realized they had secretly returned to the Soul Society.
• The Adjuchas saw that Ronglin and his main force were still stationed in the same place.

Ronglin staged the Shinigami’s withdrawal to lure the Adjuchas into attacking, but they never emerged from the Garganta. He abandoned the plan and prepared to return to the Soul Society.

• Ronglin directed the Shinigami units through the Gate of the Worlds while the Adjuchas watched from the Garganta and planned to capture him.
• Ronglin contacted the captains, who withdrew with their troops, then sent his main force back in separate batches.
• Kuchiki Byakuya questioned whether Ronglin and the remaining Shinigami could handle an attack, and Ronglin said they would find out if the Adjuchas came.
• Ronglin and four team members waited in the wilderness, but no Adjuchas appeared.
• Shiba Zhu grew impatient, and Ronglin gave up on luring the Adjuchas out and decided to return.

Ronglin coordinated the Shinigami withdrawal from the World of the Living while Adjuchas watched from the Garganta and mistook his remaining force for an exposed rear guard. The ordinary Shinigami and several combat groups returned to the Soul Society, leaving Ronglin with a smaller elite unit as the withdrawal continued.

• Ronglin and the Captains arranged for ordinary Shinigami units to return to the Soul Society after their mission in the World of the Living was complete.
• The Adjuchas noticed the Shinigami teams dispersing and wrongly concluded they were weakening their forces and withdrawing in secret.
• The Adjuchas decided to wait until the Captains had left before attacking Ronglin and capturing him.
• Ronglin calmly supervised the teams passing through the Gate of the Worlds and received reports that they had withdrawn without incident.
• Vice-Captain-level groups began returning, and three teams from Ronglin's own group departed, leaving him with over forty elite Shinigami.

Ronglin used his forces’ withdrawal to lure the Adjuchas out, but waited in vain until the Shinigami captains returned and the battle began. Unohana Yachiru charged into the horde, while the other captains argued and competed for kills.

• Ronglin sent the Shinigami back to Soul Society in batches while he and four team members stayed behind as bait.
• After half an hour passed without an attack, Shiba Zhu complained, and Ronglin decided to abandon the plan and return.
• A black rift opened as Ronglin and his team prepared to leave, and a huge head emerged.
• The Adjuchas attacked, but Unohana Yachiru and the captains returned and charged into the horde.
• Unohana Yachiru rushed into the Adjuchas with her Zanpakuto and Kido while the other captains argued over stealing kills and unleashed their abilities.

Ronglin and four Shinigami captains ambushed a group of Adjuchas, who tried to destroy the Gate of the Worlds and flee. The captains sealed the survivors and began a joint Kurohitsugi, leaving the Adjuchas trapped inside a massive black coffin.

• Ronglin’s plan brought the four Shinigami captains through the Gate of the Worlds to ambush the Adjuchas, and the captains quickly killed many of them.
• The Adjuchas sacrificed one of their companions by infusing it with their Spiritual Pressure and hurling it at the Gate of the Worlds, shattering the gate.
• The remaining Adjuchas tried to retreat, but the four captains blocked their escape routes and sealed them inside the Four Beasts Gate Seal.
• The Adjuchas fired Ceros at the seal, but the walls of light blocked their attacks.
• The four captains jointly cast Kido #90: Kurohitsugi, crushing the Adjuchas with a torrent of Spiritual Pressure and enclosing them in a massive black coffin.

Ronglin protected four Shinigami from the aftermath of the captains’ Black Coffin and helped wipe out Barragan’s twenty Adjuchas. After the captains recognized his captain-level strength, Unohana Yachiru suggested he apply for a captain’s position, leaving Ronglin stunned.

• Ronglin shielded Kuchiki Byakuya and the others from the Black Coffin’s Spiritual Pressure turbulence with an unincanted Bakudo #73: Tozan Sho.
• The Black Coffin dispersed, leaving Barragan’s twenty Adjuchas completely destroyed and the surrounding ground scraped clean.
• Unohana Yachiru and the other captains praised Ronglin’s strength and asked about his techniques and faint Spiritual Pressure.
• Ronglin explained that his Zanpakuto could not yet undergo Shikai and that he kept his Spiritual Pressure contained inside his body.
• Shiba Zhu and the others defended Ronglin when he worried the captains suspected him, and a captain assured him they meant no harm.
• Unohana Yachiru told Ronglin he could apply to become a captain in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, leaving him dumbfounded.

Ronglin and the Captains finished their mission in the World of the Living and agreed to recommend him for Captain upon returning to the Soul Society. Since the Shiba Family’s Gate of the Worlds was destroyed, the group entered the Dangai, where they hurried through a corridor filled with strange objects.

• Unohana Yachiru and the other Captains agreed to jointly recommend Ronglin for Captain when they returned to the Seireitei.
• Ronglin urged the group to return to the Soul Society and learned that the Shiba Family’s Gate of the Worlds had been destroyed.
• Unohana Yachiru explained that Kotsubaki would not appear until the next day, and Ronglin agreed to travel through the Dangai.
• Three Captains opened and stabilized the Gate of the Worlds, and the group of nine entered the Dangai.
• The group hurried through the dim corridor, passing strange objects mixed with Spiritual Pressure.

Ronglin sensed an unfamiliar Spiritual Pressure inside the Dangai and discovered that a strange time or space effect was trapping everyone in a loop. He left his Vice-Captain armband behind and sped away to investigate while Unohana Yachiru ordered the others to keep moving.

• Ronglin sensed an abnormal Spiritual Pressure in the Dangai and urged the group to move faster.
• Unohana Yachiru explained the Dangai's barriers, but Ronglin insisted that someone had tampered with the passage.
• Ronglin used his Dojutsu and Spiritual Pressure detection to discover that the group's movements were caught in a strange time or space loop.
• Ronglin told the others to continue, dropped his Vice-Captain armband, and vanished down the passage in a burst of rosy light.
• Unohana Yachiru ordered the group to keep moving past the abandoned armband.

Ronglin discovered that an unknown enemy had trapped the group in a time-and-space loop inside the Dangai to delay them until Kotsubaki arrived. He warned the others that they had to find and destroy the trap’s key to escape before Kotsubaki reached them.

• Ronglin detected unusual time-space fluctuations in the Dangai and realized someone had deliberately set a trap.
• Ronglin found the armband he had discarded earlier, confirming that the group had been running through the same stretch of passage repeatedly.
• Ronglin reappeared behind Unohana Yachiru and the others and explained that Space Overlap and the Time Return Technique had trapped them in a loop.
• Kuchiki Byakuya feared that time inside the Dangai might be disconnected from time outside, while Ronglin argued the trap was meant to delay them until Kotsubaki arrived.
• Ronglin told the group they had to find and destroy the trap’s key before Kotsubaki reached them.

Unohana Yachiru suspected the Shihoin Family had set a trap in the Dangai, then revealed rumors that the Shihoin princess might be driven by jealousy over Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu. As the captains reeled from the revelations, Ronglin resumed searching for the trap and a way to survive.

• Unohana Yachiru proposed that the Shihoin Family could have made equipment capable of hiding the trap and concealing its Spiritual Pressure.
• Unohana Yachiru suggested the Shihoin princess might be jealous because Kuchiki Byakuya was close to Shiba Zhu, and Kuchiki Byakuya awkwardly denied the rumors with Shiba Zhu.
• Unohana Yachiru revealed that the Kuchiki and Shiba Families had agreed to arrange Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu's engagement, making the Shihoin princess a suspect with a possible motive.
• Kuchiki Byakuya and Shiba Zhu reacted with disgust toward the engagement news, while Ronglin realized Unohana Yachiru had a gossip-loving side.
• Ronglin avoided directly resisting the Kotsubaki because his body still bore hidden injuries, and he led the others back to searching for the trap equipment.
• Ronglin and the captains failed to find the source of the concealed Spiritual Pressure.

Ronglin tried to keep the group alive in the disordered Broken Sword Passage, comforting Number One as Kotsubaki approached. When the captains chose to face the creature rather than flee, Number One accepted that she might not return to the Soul Society.

• Ronglin patiently searched for the trap while the others waited, believing the Seireitei could not rescue them.
• Number One began to cry, and Ronglin comforted her by promising they would survive and that he still wanted to learn her name.
• Kotsubaki appeared in a blinding beam, and Ronglin urged everyone to run ahead of it.
• The four Shinigami captains drew their Zanpakuto and chose to confront Kotsubaki, despite Ronglin insisting that retreat offered a better chance of survival.
• Number One thanked Ronglin for fighting beside her and said she regretted not being able to return to the Soul Society with him.

Ronglin tried to stop a Shinigami from sacrificing herself to Kotsubaki, unleashing immense Spiritual Pressure to hold the creature back despite his hidden injuries. Kotsubaki began advancing again as it devoured his power, leaving the girl still in danger.

• The Shinigami evaded Ronglin and walked toward Kotsubaki, tearfully thanking him and saying she wished she could have stayed by his side.
• Ronglin ordered her to return and unleashed Spiritual Pressure so powerful that Kuchiki Byakuya, Shiba Zhu, and Shinigami Number Two fell to their knees.
• Ronglin used waves of light to block Kotsubaki just before it reached the girl.
• Ronglin coughed up blood as his hidden injuries worsened, but he kept pouring out his power and shouted that he would not let the girl die.
• Kotsubaki devoured Ronglin's Spiritual Pressure and slowly began advancing again.

Ronglin tried to hold back Kotsubaki, but the girl sacrificed herself by striking it with her Zanpakuto. Kotsubaki vanished after transforming, while Ronglin collapsed unconscious and Kuchiki Byakuya vowed to punish those behind the conspiracy.

• Ronglin continued resisting Kotsubaki despite his severe injuries as the others watched helplessly.
• The girl smiled at Ronglin, then thrust her Zanpakuto through his temporal barrier and into Kotsubaki.
• Kotsubaki swallowed the girl and gathered into a trembling mass of light while Ronglin’s power ran out of control.
• Kotsubaki vanished in a burst of light, and the girl’s Zanpakuto broke apart before Ronglin could catch it.
• Ronglin spat blood and collapsed unconscious as the four Shinigami captains and three Shinigami members emerged from behind the barrier.
• Kuchiki Byakuya clenched his fists and vowed that whoever planned the conspiracy would pay.

After Ronglin was badly injured stopping Kotsubaki, Shiba Zhu and Unohana Yachiru treated him, while the captains mourned the girl who had sacrificed herself without telling him her name. Ronglin awoke in the First Division Barracks and learned the Shihoin Family was under surveillance, but questioned why they had not resisted.

• Shiba Zhu carried the bloodied Ronglin to Unohana Yachiru, who treated his wounds, and Zhu gave him a rare Shiba Family healing pill.
• The captains discussed how the girl had destroyed Kotsubaki with her Zanpakuto and mourned that she had died before telling Ronglin her name.
• Ronglin awoke in the First Division Barracks and unleashed Spiritual Pressure that wrecked the room.
• A pompadoured doctor gave Ronglin water and explained that the Captain-General had ordered him brought there for protection.
• Ronglin learned the Shihoin Family was under surveillance by the Shiba and Kuchiki Families, then asked why the Shihoin Family had not resisted.

After waking from his injuries, Ronglin learned that the Shihoin Family had been placed under surveillance and went straight to confront them. At the Shihoin gates, he asked about Kuchiki Byakuya and saw Shiba Zhu's expression turn grim.

• Tenjirō Kirinji told Ronglin that the Kuchiki and Shiba Families had surrounded the Shihoin Family, which was under surveillance by order of the Captain-General.
• Ronglin ignored Tenjirō Kirinji's warnings, armed himself with his Zanpakuto, and set out for the Shihoin Family.
• Tenjirō Kirinji accompanied Ronglin, while Unohana Yachiru joined him on the way and kept the Eleventh Division men from following.
• Shinigami saluted Ronglin as he headed toward the Shihoin Family, and three other captains also made their way there.
• Ronglin reached the Shihoin gates, told Shiba Zhu he had come to hold the family accountable, and asked where Kuchiki Byakuya was.
• Shiba Zhu's expression darkened, prompting Ronglin to ask what had happened to Kuchiki Byakuya.

After learning that Number Two had died by suicide, Ronglin confronted the Shihoin Family and forced his way through its defenses. He defeated its Onmitsukidō guards and entered the estate, demanding to see the family head.

• Shiba Zhu told Ronglin that Number Two had committed suicide and that Kuchiki Byakuya was taking his body to the Rukon District.
• Ronglin, overcome with fury, spat blood and led the others to the sealed gates of the Shihoin Family.
• When a servant insulted him and the family refused to open the gates, Ronglin pierced its protective barrier and blasted the gates apart.
• More than twenty Onmitsukidō members attacked Ronglin, but he trapped them in Kurohitsugi and defeated them.
• Ronglin stepped past the fallen guards and continued into the Shihoin estate to find its head.