Chapter Summaries

Arima Shizuya began working in the Fifth Division under Hirako Shinji, who questioned why he had joined and suspected Aizen’s influence. Hirako decided to train Arima toward a vice-captain’s post while keeping him away from Aizen and planning to expose Aizen’s hidden nature.

• Hirako Shinji assigned Arima Shizuya to follow him for several months because the Fifth Division had too many new applicants for individual postings.
• Arima Shizuya explained that the Fifth Division suited his adaptable strengths better than the Third Division and admitted he wanted to see Teacher Aizen again.
• Hirako Shinji warned Arima that Aizen was dangerous and said he would not allow Arima to have contact with him.
• Hirako Shinji promised to train Arima to take on a vice-captain’s post and said he would remove Aizen from his position when he returned.
• Hirako Shinji said he looked forward to slowly peeling away Aizen’s false mask.

Arima Shizuya settled into the Fifth Division and began learning its rules under Captain Hirako Shinji. Hirako explained that the Rescue Squad should support others without recklessly risking its members’ lives, leaving Arima with a new understanding of his duties.

• Arima Shizuya returned to his former room in the Fifth Division barracks, but Ryota Shinnosuke soon escorted him to a more luxurious room next to Hirako Shinji’s.
• Hirako Shinji gave Arima Shizuya several manuals to study and said he would check his progress.
• The next morning, Hirako quizzed Arima on the Fifth Division’s procedures and corrected his answer about responding to distress signals.
• Hirako explained that the Fifth Division usually arrived when situations were already dire and that its members served as reinforcements for other squads.
• Arima said the squad should give its all during rescue work, and Hirako added that members should judge situations clearly, avoid exceeding their limits, and not waste their lives.

Hirako Shinji taught Arima Shizuya to value his life, then brought him to meet his circle of fellow Captains and allies. As the gathering warmed to Arima, Hiyori Sarugaki asked about his Zanpakuto Ability, and everyone turned to hear his answer.

• Hirako Shinji told Arima Shizuya to retreat from danger when he could and leave difficult situations to experienced officers.
• Hirako Shinji brought Arima Shizuya to a gathering where Hiyori Sarugaki, Aikawa Rabu, Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, and Kensei Muguruma were present.
• Hiyori Sarugaki collected her bet from Aikawa Rabu after correctly predicting that Arima Shizuya would join the Fifth Division.
• Kensei Muguruma apologized for staring at Arima Shizuya and said he had sensed something unpleasant about him.
• Hirako Shinji introduced Arima Shizuya as his second-in-command and asked the group to look after him.
• Hiyori Sarugaki asked Arima Shizuya what his Zanpakuto Ability was, drawing everyone’s attention.

Arima Shizuya demonstrated a disguised Zanpakuto ability, earned the trust of the captains, and spent six months learning the Fifth Division’s work as Hirako Shinji prepared him to replace Aizen Sōsuke. When Aizen returned, he asked whether Shizuya could bring himself to harm their companions, and Shizuya agreed to resolve the matter quickly.

• Arima Shizuya released Bow Clothing and presented a Salt Sea-based illusion ability to the gathered captains, concealing his true power.
• Hirako Shinji introduced Arima to the others, and the gathering dispersed before sunset.
• Arima trained in Fifth Division administration for six months and began handling responsibilities as members expected him to become vice-captain.
• Aizen Sōsuke visited Arima and told him he would return to the division the next day, when Hirako planned to transfer authority to Arima.
• Arima reported that Kensei Muguruma and Kuna Mashiro had gone to investigate the designated location in Rukongai.
• Aizen asked whether Arima found it cruel to attack their companions, and Arima said they should resolve the matter quickly.

Arima Shizuya and Hirako Shinji briefed Kisuke Urahara on the renewed soul disappearances and the loss of contact with Kensei Muguruma, prompting a small response team to set out. The chapter ended with confirmed intelligence that Kensei Muguruma's spiritual pressure had fallen completely silent, putting the Seireitei on alert.

• Arima Shizuya and Hirako Shinji told Kisuke Urahara that soul disappearances had resumed and that ten Ninth Division Squad Members and then Kensei Muguruma's group had gone missing.
• Hirako Shinji persuaded Kisuke Urahara to send Hiyori and Arima Shizuya to investigate while keeping the response limited.
• Hiyori eagerly set out with Hirako Shinji and Arima Shizuya, while Arima Shizuya worried that Tōsen's actions had changed the course of events.
• Hirako Shinji admitted he feared Kensei Muguruma was in danger, and Arima Shizuya noted the storm gathering overhead.
• Chōjirō Sasakibe arrived at a captains' meeting and reported that Kensei Muguruma's spiritual pressure had fallen completely silent about half an hour earlier.

After Kensei Muguruma was presumed killed, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni ordered an emergency response and selected a team to investigate. Kyōraku Shunsui arranged for Lisa Yadōmaru to join the operation and promised Kisuke Urahara updates, but Arima Shizuya’s request to accompany the team was rejected by Hirako Shinji.

• Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni declared an emergency after learning that Kensei Muguruma had most likely been killed, and ordered Seireitei’s gates closed and security tightened.
• Kisuke Urahara asked to join the search, but Yamamoto assigned Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, Hirako Shinji, and Aikawa Rabu to investigate with Tessai Tsukabishi and Hachigen Ushōda available for support.
• Yoruichi Shihouin and Kyōraku Shunsui urged Kisuke Urahara to accept the decision, and Kyōraku proposed that Lisa Yadōmaru join the team while the Kidō Corps stayed to defend Seireitei.
• Arima Shizuya explained that he had gathered the Vice-Captains in the inner courtyard, and Kyōraku persuaded Yamamoto to approve Lisa’s deployment and promise Kisuke Urahara updates.
• Arima Shizuya asked to accompany the operation, but Hirako Shinji told him to stay put.

Arima Shizuya was ordered to stay in the Seireitei while Hirako Shinji led a squad to rescue Kensei and Hiyori. Kisuke Urahara tried to slip out and join them, but Tessai Tsukabishi and Arima caught him, and he agreed to take them along.

• Yamamoto ordered Arima Shizuya to remain on standby and assigned Hachigen Ushōda to accompany the rescue group.
• Lisa Yadōmaru parted from Arima, who accepted that he could not join the operation because he was not yet a Vice-Captain.
• Hirako Shinji's squad used Shunpo to hurry toward the destination, and Hirako resolved to apologize to Arima after the rescue.
• Kisuke Urahara, troubled by the lack of news, put on clothing that concealed his spiritual pressure and tried to leave the Seireitei.
• Tessai Tsukabishi and Arima confronted Kisuke, and Kisuke agreed to take them with him.

Arima Shizuya learned that Kisuke Urahara’s Spiritual Pressure-concealing cloak was made mostly from Hollow remains and discussed the Hollows’ ability to hide their presence and distort space. The group reached Hirako Shinji just as Aizen Sōsuke was about to kill him, and Arima intervened at the last moment.

• Arima Shizuya and Tessai Tsukabishi asked Kisuke Urahara how his cloak concealed Spiritual Pressure as they hurried toward their destination.
• Kisuke Urahara revealed that more than ninety percent of the cloak was made from Hollow bodies, and Arima explained how Hollows could conceal their presence and affect space.
• Tessai Tsukabishi sensed movement ahead as Aizen Sōsuke confronted the wounded Hirako Shinji and revealed his contempt for him.
• A milky-white substance covered half of Hirako Shinji’s face, and Aizen decided to kill him after judging that he had endured longer than the other experimental subjects.
• Arima Shizuya arrived in time to block Aizen’s strike and support Hirako Shinji.

Arima Shizuya stood against Aizen Sōsuke and arranged for Ichimaru Gin to grievously wound him while the others were distracted. Aizen and his allies departed after completing their objective, leaving Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi to treat the injured as Hirako Shinji’s Hollowfication worsened.

• Hirako Shinji warned Arima Shizuya to run, but Arima stayed with Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi as they confronted Aizen Sōsuke, Ichimaru Gin, and Tōsen Kaname.
• Aizen invited Arima to join him, and Gin and Tōsen attacked, trapping Kisuke and Tessai inside Tōsen’s Bankai while Arima faced Aizen and Gin alone.
• Arima and Aizen exchanged powerful Kidō spells, culminating in their simultaneous use of Hado #90: Kurohitsugi.
• Ichimaru Gin stabbed Arima through the chest, avoiding his vital spots, and then prepared to strike again as part of the plan Arima had proposed.
• Tessai Tsukabishi and Kisuke Urahara broke through Tōsen Kaname’s Bankai and rescued Arima, while Aizen, Gin, and Tōsen withdrew.
• Kisuke chose to treat the injured instead of pursuing Aizen, as Hirako’s Hollow mask spread and Arima’s plan reached its goals of earning trust, suffering grave injuries, and making contact with the other half of the Hōgyoku.

Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi raced to keep Hirako Shinji, Arima Shizuya, and the other victims alive as Hollowfication spread. After Tessai transported everyone to Urahara’s laboratory and treated Arima, Urahara revealed his half of the Hōgyoku and prepared to use it, leaving Arima to decide whether to watch.

• Hirako Shinji’s Hollowfication spread, while Arima Shizuya’s wounds worsened, forcing Kisuke Urahara to act despite his reluctance to revisit his research.
• Tessai Tsukabishi used the forbidden arts Time Stop and Space Transfer to freeze the victims’ conditions and move them, along with the ground beneath them, to Kisuke Urahara’s laboratory.
• Tessai Tsukabishi treated Arima Shizuya’s wounds, and Arima regained consciousness while recognizing that his plan to earn Kisuke Urahara’s trust had succeeded.
• Kisuke Urahara returned with the Hōgyoku, explained its connection to Hollowfication, and admitted he did not know whether it could save the victims.
• Kisuke Urahara warned Arima Shizuya that what came next would be difficult to watch and offered him the chance to leave.

Kisuke Urahara used the Hōgyoku to try to halt the Visoreds’ Hollowfication, while Arima Shizuya stayed despite Urahara’s advice to leave. As Urahara struggled to understand the process, Arima considered seizing the Hōgyoku.

• Kisuke Urahara advised Arima Shizuya to seek safety with Yoruichi in the Second Division, but Arima refused to leave him and Tessai Tsukabishi.
• Kisuke Urahara activated the Hōgyoku, and its blue-white light washed over everyone in the laboratory without worsening the masks.
• Tessai Tsukabishi celebrated that the Hollowfication had been contained, while Kisuke Urahara realized that containment alone would not stop it completely.
• Arima Shizuya recalled the Prison Master’s explanation that Hollowfication changed the soul itself, rather than acting like an illness that could simply be cured.
• Arima Shizuya considered his plans and decided that one option was to seize the Hōgyoku.

Arima Shizuya planned to steal the Hōgyoku while Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi were occupied, but Yoruichi Shihouin’s arrival forced him to abandon the attempt. He touched the Hōgyoku and used his brief chance to ask for the true name of Sagara Dragon’s Bankai.

• Arima Shizuya gathered strength while Kisuke Urahara used the Hōgyoku to suppress the Visored captains’ Hollowfication, and he judged Urahara’s work a success despite the remaining masks.
• Arima Shizuya prepared to attack the exhausted Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi, but Yoruichi Shihouin suddenly entered the laboratory.
• Yoruichi explained that she had followed Arima Shizuya by the scent of incense on him, and Arima abandoned his attack when he realized she was in peak condition.
• Yoruichi ordered Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi to hide the injured captains and report the incident to the Central Forty-Six.
• Arima Shizuya asked to inspect the Hōgyoku, touched it, and wished to learn the true name of Sagara Dragon’s Bankai.

Arima Shizuya used the Hōgyoku to challenge Ichibei Hyōsube’s seal on his Zanpakuto and learn its True Name. The Hōgyoku’s power reached Ichibei, who acknowledged Shizuya and began revealing the Zanpakuto’s name.

• Arima Shizuya asked the Hōgyoku to help him learn his Zanpakuto’s True Name, hoping to break the deadlock caused by Ichibei Hyōsube’s seal.
• The Hōgyoku began glowing, and Arima Shizuya realized its power was clashing with Ichibei’s authority.
• Ichibei Hyōsube sensed his black seal being pried loose and bowed toward the Spirit King Palace before deciding to give Shizuya a lesson.
• Black light overwhelmed Arima Shizuya, and Ichibei praised his strategy of using the Soul King’s power to oppose him.
• Ichibei Hyōsube introduced himself as Commander of Zero Division and steward of the Soul King, then told Arima Shizuya to listen to his Zanpakuto’s name.

After Ichibei Hyōsube revealed the name and power of Arima Shizuya’s Bankai, Central Direct Guard arrested him, Kisuke Urahara, and Tessai Tsukabishi. The Forty-Six Chambers sentenced them and ordered the eight Hollowfied Gotei 13 members executed in three days.

• Arima Shizuya regained consciousness in Urahara’s laboratory and learned that Ichibei Hyōsube had revealed his Bankai’s name, Tianlong Babu.
• Central Direct Guard surrounded the laboratory, and Yoruichi Shihouin left after asserting that she had come to investigate on the Captain-Commander’s orders.
• The guards escorted Arima Shizuya, Kisuke Urahara, and Tessai Tsukabishi to the Forty-Six Chambers, where the council questioned them about the experiment and their actions.
• Kisuke Urahara claimed he had kept Arima Shizuya as material for further Hollowfication, and the council sentenced Tessai Tsukabishi to prison, Urahara to exile, and Arima Shizuya to the Maggot’s Nest.
• The Forty-Six Chambers declared the eight Hollowfied Gotei 13 members irreversibly transformed and ordered their execution in the World of the Living in three days.

Kisuke Urahara, Tessai Tsukabishi, and Arima Shizuya faced execution after the Forty-Six Chambers dismissed Kisuke’s defense, but Yoruichi Shihouin broke into the court and rescued them. At a hidden Shihouin Clan training ground, Yoruichi revealed that Hirako Shinji and the others were nearby and asked Arima whether he would flee with Kisuke or accept his punishment.

• Kisuke Urahara pleaded with the Forty-Six Chambers to withdraw the death sentence, but its members rejected his defense and prepared to announce their verdict.
• Yoruichi Shihouin stormed into the courtroom, defeated the guards, shattered Kisuke’s Wooden Shackles, and led him, Tessai Tsukabishi, and Arima Shizuya away.
• Yoruichi brought the group to a hidden Shihouin Clan training ground and told them Hirako Shinji and the others were nearby, along with the Gigai Kisuke had made.
• Yoruichi asked Arima Shizuya whether he would leave with Kisuke or accept his punishment.

Kisuke Urahara explained why he and the others could not return to Seireitei and invited Arima Shizuya to flee with them to the World of the Living. Arima chose to stay, then asked Yoruichi Shihouin to explain her departure to Yushiro and Soi Fon.

• Arima Shizuya explained that Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni’s compromise with rules had helped establish order in Seireitei.
• Kisuke Urahara said he and the others could not return, planned to make Soul-Blocking Gigai, and proposed hiding in the World of the Living.
• Urahara invited Arima Shizuya to join them, warning that Aizen might target him, while Yoruichi Shihouin argued that he should stay.
• Arima Shizuya decided to remain in Seireitei as Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi prepared the Gigai.
• As Yoruichi left to prepare for the operation against the Prison Master, Arima asked her to explain her departure to Yushiro and Soi Fon.

Arima Shizuya urged Yoruichi Shihouin to reconsider leaving without telling Yushiro and Soi Fon, but she asked him to deliver the news for her. Three days later, Yamamoto learned of the defectors, Yoruichi’s disappearance, and Arima’s appeal to avoid imprisonment by earning a captain’s position through meritorious service.

• Arima Shizuya confronted Yoruichi Shihouin about leaving without saying goodbye, and she admitted she could not face Yushiro and Soi Fon to tell them herself.
• Yoruichi asked Arima Shizuya to deliver her message to Yushiro and Soi Fon, leaving him horrified at being made the messenger.
• Okiya Genjirō reported to Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni that Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, Hirako Shinji, Aikawa Rabu, Kensei Muguruma, Kisuke Urahara, and Tessai Tsukabishi had defected from Soul Society.
• Okiya Genjirō reported that Yoruichi Shihouin had been missing for twenty-four hours and that Arima Shizuya had turned himself in and received a five-year Maggot’s Nest sentence.
• Okiya Genjirō told Yamamoto that Arima rejected the sentence, appealed under Gotei 13 regulations, and sought a captain’s position through meritorious service, claiming he had mastered Bankai.

During his confinement in the Maggot's Nest, Arima Shizuya delivered Yoruichi's messages to Yushiro and Soi Fon, but Soi Fon refused to believe Yoruichi wanted her to forget her. After they left, Aizen visited and asked Shizuya how confident he was about his captaincy application.

• Arima Shizuya told Yushiro that Yoruichi had left the Shihouin Clan in his care, and Yushiro accepted the responsibility while insisting Yoruichi remained the clan head.
• Arima Shizuya relayed Yoruichi's private message asking Soi Fon to support Yushiro and forget her.
• Soi Fon called Arima Shizuya a liar, refused to stop searching for Yoruichi, and vowed to defeat him after he left confinement.
• Aizen Sōsuke visited Arima Shizuya and asked how confident he was about his captaincy application.

Arima Shizuya told Aizen Sōsuke he had mastered Bankai and planned to compete for the vacant Third Division captaincy, but Aizen said another division would suit him better. Four days later, the captains gathered to discuss filling the Gotei 13's vacant positions, and Kyōraku Shunsui hinted that he had inside information.

• Arima Shizuya revealed to Aizen Sōsuke that he had mastered Bankai, changing Aizen's view of whether they should pursue a captaincy.
• Arima explained the requirements for becoming a captain and said he planned to compete for the Third Division position because Iba Chikaetsu intended to step back.
• Aizen praised Arima's preparations but told him the Third Division was not the best place for him.
• Four days later, Kyōraku Shunsui and Jūshirō Ukitake discussed the many vacant captain positions at a meeting in the First Division Barracks.
• Kyōraku told Ukitake that he had inside information about how the vacancies would be allocated.

The Captains gathered to fill the positions left vacant by the Hollowfication Incident, and Yamamoto announced the candidates selected through internal votes. Arima Shizuya was named the Fifth Division candidate and greeted the assembled Captains as he entered.

• Unohana and Ginrei joined Kyōraku and Ukitake in discussing how the vacant Captain positions might be filled.
• Yamamoto arrived and said the vacant positions caused by the Hollowfication Incident had to be filled that day.
• Sasakibe announced Mayuri Kurotsuchi as the Twelfth Division candidate and Soi Fon as the Second Division candidate.
• Sasakibe announced Tōsen Kaname for the Ninth Division, Komamura Sajin for the Seventh Division, and Aizen Sōsuke for the Third Division.
• Sasakibe named Arima Shizuya as the Fifth Division candidate, and Arima entered and greeted everyone.