Chapter Summaries

The captains discussed the purge in Rukongai after Duan Mu returned there, while Duan Mu prepared to study spiritual bodies to restore his powers. Muramasa visited the Yorozuya and forced Duan Mu’s Zanpakuto to materialize, revealing it as a gigantic white fox.

• Ukitake Jushiro reported that most ordinary Zanpakuto had been restored, while Ichigo Kurosaki asked where Duan Mu was.
• Soi Fon reported that Duan Mu’s subordinates had slaughtered thousands of rebels in Rukongai, and Kyōraku Shunsui warned the captains against interfering in Duan Mu’s domain.
• Duan Mu told Habutae that he needed to study spiritual bodies to heal his Core of Spiritual Pressure, then said the group should focus on the rebellious Zanpakuto.
• Muramasa arrived at the Yorozuya and said he intended to take Duan Mu’s Zanpakuto, which he believed should no longer belong to someone who had lost his Shinigami abilities.
• Duan Mu allowed Muramasa to use his power, and Kyokui materialized as a colossal white fox whose murderous intent had driven it into the world.

Muramasa departed with Duan Mu’s rebellious Zanpakuto, whose struggle with the little white dog left Duan Mu uneasy. While the Gotei 13 attacked Muramasa’s hideout, Duan Mu used the Pícaro to open a Senkaimon to the Human World, unaware that a pair of purple eyes watched him leave.

• Muramasa calmed the enormous fox and left, and Duan Mu held Nishijin-ori and the others back from pursuing him.
• Soi Fon, Ichigo Kurosaki, and Shihoin Yoruichi arrived; Duan Mu explained Muramasa’s plan and sent Golden Horn and Silver Horn to assist Soi Fon.
• Over the next two days, Golden Horn and Silver Horn reported to Duan Mu while the Onmitsukidō searched Rukongai; Duan Mu grew concerned when his Zanpakuto failed to appear.
• As the Gotei 13 fought Muramasa’s group near Captain Commander Yamamoto’s seal, Duan Mu ordered his allies to withdraw and watched crimson flames rise on the horizon.
• Duan Mu summoned five Pícaro and had them open a Senkaimon to Karakura Town so he could pursue his plan to turn Kuchiki Kyōka into an external Spiritual Void Crest.
• After Duan Mu entered the Senkaimon, a pair of purple eyes condensed in the air and watched him leave.

Duan Mu reached Muramasa’s unsealing site near Karakura Town, seeking Kuchiki Kyōka’s power to restore his Shinigami abilities. Byakuya agreed to let Duan Mu take Kyōka alive after their battle, and Ichigo and Rukia stood down as Muramasa neared the end of the unsealing.

• Duan Mu arrived at the lake with the Pikaro and raced ahead toward the clash of spiritual pressure.
• Muramasa advanced toward the sealed Kuchiki Kyōka while Senbonzakura fought Ishida Uryū and Yasutora Sado.
• Duan Mu and Kuchiki Byakuya agreed that Byakuya would defeat Kyōka and leave him on the verge of death so Duan Mu could use his power.
• Muramasa’s chant cracked open the tree around Kyōka’s coffin, and Ichigo Kurosaki and Kuchiki Rukia arrived through a Senkaimon.
• Ishida Uryū explained Duan Mu’s plan, and Ichigo and Rukia stopped before attacking Muramasa as Senbonzakura explained the rebellion.

Duan Mu helped Kuchiki Byakuya defeat Kuchiki Kyōka, then turned Kyōka into a Spiritual Void Crest that restored some of his spiritual pressure. After returning to Soul Society, Duan Mu learned that his Zanpakuto had swallowed Uzuki, Soi Fon, and many women from Rukongai.

• Kuchiki Kyōka awakened, stabbed Muramasa, and fought Kuchiki Byakuya while Duan Mu questioned Muramasa about his missing Zanpakuto.
• Muramasa's despair released more than a hundred Gillian, but Duan Mu's Píkaros friends appeared and sent the Hollows back to Hueco Mundo.
• Without the Hollows sustaining him, Muramasa disappeared, and Kuchiki Byakuya defeated Kuchiki Kyōka and left him alive for Duan Mu.
• Duan Mu and the Píkaros transformed Kuchiki Kyōka into a Spiritual Void Crest, allowing Duan Mu to use spiritual pressure again.
• Duan Mu returned to Soul Society with Ichigo Kurosaki, Kuchiki Byakuya, Kuchiki Rukia, Ishida Uryū, and Yasutora Sado, intending to address urgent matters.
• At Yorozuya, Habutae and Golden Horn told Duan Mu that his Zanpakuto had swallowed Uzuki, Soi Fon, and many women from Rukongai.

Duan Mu learned that Jūmei had swallowed many of his female friends, including Captain Soi Fon, but realized they were alive and that Jūmei could borrow their strength. With Jūmei and Unohana Retsu missing, he warned the others that all his female friends were targets and considered using Habutae and Rukia as bait.

• Ishida Sōgen and the others told Duan Mu that Jūmei had appeared after he left, swallowed several women, and escaped after Habutae evaded it.
• Golden Horn and Silver Horn reported that Jūmei had swallowed Soi Fon with overwhelming speed and strength, leading Duan Mu to suspect it grew stronger by containing his friends.
• Duan Mu reasoned that Jūmei was connected to the favorable feelings of his female friends and could not harm the people whose emotions had formed it.
• Silver Horn and Golden Horn said Unohana Retsu had chased Jūmei out of Seireitei, and Duan Mu inferred that Isane had likely been swallowed.
• Duan Mu assured everyone that the swallowed people were alive, explained that all his female friends were Jūmei’s targets, and considered using Habutae and Rukia as bait.

Duan Mu learned that Kumei had swallowed many women connected to him, though Kurotsuchi Mayuri confirmed they were safe inside its gray forest. Suspecting Kumei was heading for the Shiba Clan, Duan Mu rushed there, where Kumei ambushed him inside a strange domain.

• Omaeda confronted Duan Mu over the people his runaway Zanpakuto had swallowed, and Duan Mu learned that Kurotsuchi Mayuri had confirmed they were unharmed.
• Omaeda asked Duan Mu to mobilize Rukongai residents to help Seireitei search for Kumei, and Duan Mu agreed to apologize to the victims’ families later.
• Duan Mu suspected Kumei would head for the Shiba Clan to grow stronger, so he hurried there at high speed.
• Kumei ambushed Duan Mu in the mountains and engulfed him in a gray domain that blocked his senses and made movement heavy.
• Duan Mu charged into Kumei’s enormous descending claw and shattered it, then warned his Zanpakuto that such an attack could not kill him.

Duan Mu fought Jùmíng after it revealed its Bankai, whose purple-eyed analysis let it predict and counter his attacks. Duan Mu discovered that Jùmíng could analyze and undo spiritual rules, and used Kuyō Shibari to draw in approaching threats as the battle continued.

• Jùmíng appeared in the mist in the form of a boy and revealed a Zanpakuto Duan Mu recognized as its Bankai.
• Jùmíng used its speed and uncanny analysis to bypass Duan Mu’s defenses and repeatedly wound him.
• Duan Mu inferred that Jùmíng’s purple eyes analyzed his reactions, then suppressed his instincts and fired hundreds of Hollow Bullets at it.
• Jùmíng tapped each Hollow Bullet with its blade, converting the spiritual pressure back into spirit particles and shocking Duan Mu with its ability to analyze rules.
• After being blinded and knocked down, Duan Mu cast Kuyō Shibari, whose nine spheres drew in attacks and anyone approaching him.

Duan Mu defeated Jueming but realized that killing it could make the people it had devoured disappear, so he chose to let them return instead. After Jueming’s true form vanished and everyone gathered, Duan Mu collapsed as they emerged from the strange world.

• Duan Mu exploited Jueming’s hesitation, seized its neck, and explained that it wanted to kill his current self and restore the person he had been before.
• Duan Mu stopped himself from killing Jueming because he feared losing the people it had devoured and admitted that he valued his relationships with them.
• The blood mist cleared, returning Uzuki, Isane, Soi Fon, Granny Shuiyue, Brewing Granny, the Nagano family, Omaeda’s mother and daughter, and others to a forest beneath a bright sky.
• Duan Mu recognized the little white dog as Jueming, his Zanpakuto’s core, and the Zanpakuto’s world used its sunlight to make the little boy disappear.
• The group emerged beside Shiba Kūkaku, Shihoin Yoruichi, Ichigo Kurosaki, and the others, and Duan Mu collapsed just after Soi Fon greeted Yoruichi.

After repairing Seireitei from the Zanpakuto rampage, Duan Mu remained without spiritual pressure and avoided Kurotsuchi Mayuri's experiments. He recognized that his body's Reishi would need to recover and found a possible lead in his Zanpakuto.

• Duan Mu finished rebuilding Seireitei in a week while Iwao and the criminals neared completion of repairs in Rukongai.
• Captain Commander Yamamoto covered the repair costs and paid Duan Mu a commission rather than punishing him for Jumei's rampage.
• Omaeda brought Duan Mu snacks and asked about his recovery, learning that Duan Mu still had no way to restore his spiritual pressure.
• Duan Mu reflected that his spiritual body had collapsed while the Reishi portion of his body sustained him, and rejected Kurotsuchi Mayuri's help because he feared being experimented on.
• Duan Mu glanced at his Zanpakuto and realized he had found a lead on how to treat himself.

Duan Mu refused Omaeda's request to persuade Ichigo Kurosaki not to enter Hueco Mundo, while Soul Society prepared for the possibility of war. In Las Noches, Loly threatened Orihime Inoue, but Tier appeared and stopped her.

• Onmitsukidō members showed Duan Mu unusual warmth, and Omaeda explained that Gotei 13 remained on alert as Hueco Mundo grew active.
• Omaeda told Duan Mu that Ichigo Kurosaki had escaped surveillance and might go to Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime Inoue, but Duan Mu refused to persuade him to stay away.
• Duan Mu recalled that he had promised to escort Orihime Inoue and admitted that his unrecovered spiritual pressure would leave him vulnerable to Aizen.
• In Las Noches, Lujia Paramia cared for Orihime Inoue in the room of a Ten Blades member while the owner was away.
• Loly and Menoly confronted Orihime Inoue, and Loly blamed her for Aizen's absence from public view.
• Roga blocked Loly from reaching Orihime Inoue, then Tier appeared behind Loly and threatened her while Menoly tried to excuse their behavior.

Tier released Loly and Menoly after Orihime Inoue pleaded for them, then learned that a Substitute Soul Reaper had invaded Las Noches as Aizen’s terrifying aura emerged. In Soul Society, Duan Mu prepared to reforge his spirit body by analyzing corpses, drawing on District 38’s reishi and activating Bankai.

• Tier seized Loly and Menoly for entering her residence, but let them go after Orihime Inoue asked her to spare them.
• Halibel told Tier that a Substitute Soul Reaper who had fought Grimmjow had invaded Las Noches and called her to an Espada meeting.
• Tier and Orihime Inoue sensed Aizen’s strange, instinctive aura envelop Las Noches.
• Duan Mu gave Kuchiki Rukia and Renji Abarai crests that could summon help in an emergency, warning them not to use them near Aizen.
• Duan Mu evacuated District 38 and gathered its powerful residents outside the district before entering the underground chamber of corpses.
• Duan Mu summoned a blade, drew reishi into Yorozuya, and shouted Bankai as he began his attempt to reforge his spirit body.

Duan Mu activated his Bankai and began analyzing the corpses in the underground vault, while the resulting reishi disturbance drew attention across Soul Society. As the Gotei 13 prepared to face Aizen, Aizen reassured the Espada and ordered them to await five approaching enemies.

• Duan Mu released his Bankai, Mishiro Kugō, and sensed the Spirit King Palace before turning his power toward analyzing and reconstructing the spiritual bodies of the dead criminals.
• The spiritual bodies began collapsing and merging into Duan Mu, who worried that they might not last long enough for him to finish his analysis.
• Soi Fon learned that Central 46 had approved Duan Mu’s recovery and that Yamamoto had ordered the captains and Lieutenant Captains to proceed with the battle plan against Aizen.
• Aizen addressed the Espada in Las Noches and showed them five people approaching, with a sand creature frozen and dead behind them.
• Aizen told the Espada to return to their assigned areas and wait for the challengers.

Duan Mu continued rebuilding his spirit body while Tier explained the Spiritual Void Crest’s gradual limit-breaking effects and prepared to leave Roga in charge of protecting Orihime Inoue. Roga remembered the people who had treated her as trash and resolved to protect the trust Tier had placed in her.

• Duan Mu decided to focus on restoring his spirit body instead of spending his remaining experience to raise his spiritual pressure, since he feared a further transformation would make reconstruction impossible before the Spiritual Void Crest collapsed.
• Tier sensed that Ichigo Kurosaki’s group had reached the three-digit area and reflected that the Spiritual Void Crest, combined with Duan Mu’s flesh, had gradually strengthened her beyond its intended effect.
• Tier told Orihime Inoue that the three-digit area housed discarded Arrancar, then left Roga to protect Orihime from possible trouble.
• Roga recalled how Szayelaporro and other Arrancar had treated her as a tool, and how Tier and Nelliel had once shown her kindness.
• Roga resolved to protect Orihime and repay Tier’s trust, even though she doubted her own strength.

Tier warned Ishida Uryū away from Szayelaporro’s palace, then found Nelly fighting beside Ichigo Kurosaki and gave her a mask bearing a fading spiritual pattern. When Szayelaporro’s Funeral Squad arrived to seize the injured Dordoni, Tier confronted them and unleashed her spiritual pressure.

• Tier secretly warned Ishida Uryū that the left passage was safer, but he continued along his agreed route.
• Tier watched Nelly use Cero Doble to return Dordoni’s Cero, recognized her as the former Espada Number 3 Niriel Due Odelsvank, and considered helping her recover.
• Ichigo Kurosaki defeated Dordoni, and Nelly healed him with her saliva.
• Tier gave Nelly a mask carrying a spiritual pattern, then let her leave with Ichigo Kurosaki.
• The Funeral Squad arrived, and Tier realized they had come for Dordoni rather than the injured invaders.
• Tier stood between Dordoni and the Funeral Squad, challenged their disrespect, and released a powerful spiritual pressure.

Kuchiki Rukia reached Tier’s palace and found Orihime Inoue, but Nnoitra attacked before she could rescue her. After sensing a distress signal from her palace, Tier left the battle with Ludobon and headed there to save the Shinigami from Nnoitra.

• Kuchiki Rukia entered Tier’s palace and overheard Loly and Menoly discussing the human they were guarding.
• Loly attacked Roga, but Roga blocked her strikes with protective-film threads and defended Orihime Inoue.
• Loly released her Resurreccion, but Nnoitra slashed her and revealed that he had detected Kuchiki Rukia.
• Tier defeated Ludobon without using her Resurreccion and told Dordoni to retrieve Gantenbainne.
• Tier sensed Duan Mu’s distress mark activate at her palace and hurried to rescue Kuchiki Rukia from Nnoitra.

Aizen dismissed the Soul Society intruders as he watched events unfold, while Duan Mu struggled to finish reconstructing his spiritual body before his supplies ran out. In Las Noches, Nnoitra attacked Rukia and awaited a chance to confront Duan Mu, until an unexpected voice challenged him.

• Aizen told Tōsen Kaname that Tier’s unexplained changes interested him and identified the arriving Soul Society captains without checking their records.
• Duan Mu used Tenteikūra to order Central 46 to stay in Seireitei and have the Technical Development Bureau increase the reishi in District 38.
• Ukitake Hiroshi relayed Duan Mu’s message, and Ishida Sōgen escorted the Ritei Squad to deliver it.
• Duan Mu continued reconstructing his spiritual body as the remaining corpses and local reishi dwindled, while Central 46 mobilized the Technical Development Bureau and Gotei 13 to replenish the area.
• Nnoitra left Rukia wounded in Orihime Inoue’s care and asked whether Duan Mu had come to Hueco Mundo.
• An unseen speaker mocked Nnoitra for boasting about confronting Duan Mu after being defeated by him several times.

Tier revealed her battle-obsessed nature and overwhelmed Nnoitra, forcing him to release his Zanpakuto. She then discarded parts of her Resurrección and unveiled a powerful new form, leaving Nnoitra facing her strongest state under her first release.

• Tier arrived while Orihime Inoue treated Kuchiki Rukia, told her to continue, and confronted Nnoitra with her Zanpakuto.
• Tier’s vibrating yo-yo blade wounded Nnoitra, and she then appeared before him and slashed his chest with a more powerful direct attack.
• Tier dominated Nnoitra, while Kuchiki Byakuya arrived and learned that Duan Mu’s spirit patterns had brought Tier to Rukia.
• After Tier sent Nnoitra crashing through the palace wall, she ordered him to release his Zanpakuto, and he transformed with “Pray, Santa Teresa!”
• Tier released “Sever him, Wheel Iron Swallow,” discarded her wings, arms, and tail, then manifested black wings and a far greater reiatsu in her strongest first-release form.

Tier defeated Nnoitra by unleashing the vibrations of her Resurrección beyond her body, then watched as Stark abducted Orihime on Aizen’s orders. As Tier updated Rukia and Byakuya on the battles across Las Noches, Aizen’s voice called to the invaders from the torn sky.

• Tier revealed that her vibration could extend beyond her body, and Nnoitra charged at her before being killed by her Funeral Nocturne.
• Stark appeared despite Byakuya’s defense and abducted Orihime, saying Aizen wanted the rescue game to continue.
• Tier confirmed that Duan Mu was recovering and told Rukia that Pikaro and Unohana Retsu’s squad were rescuing and treating people across Las Noches.
• Tier warned Byakuya that Kenpachi was fighting Yammy Riyalgo and explained that Yammy’s rank did not make him the weakest Espada.
• Aizen tore open the sky above Las Noches and addressed the invaders.

Aizen announced his plan to attack the Human World and conquer Soul Society, leaving the Soul Reapers trapped in Hueco Mundo. Tier learned that Barragan guarded Orihime at the Fifth Tower, where the Piccaro gathered after finding their dead comrades and revealed they could regenerate.

• Aizen announced that he would destroy Karakura Town to create the Oken, then conquer Soul Society, while his blockade trapped the Soul Reapers in Hueco Mundo.
• Byakuya explained that Yamamoto had ordered the captains to rescue or kill Orihime and that Urahara’s Transfer Pillars would move Karakura Town into Soul Society.
• Tier agreed to take Rukia and Byakuya to the Fifth Tower, but warned them they could not leave Hueco Mundo until the battle ended.
• Tier learned that Barragan and his Fracción guarded Orihime after the Piccaro she sent to investigate were killed.
• The Piccaro left Nelly and flew toward the Fifth Tower after discovering that Pikachu and other comrades had died.
• Tier, Roga, Byakuya, and Rukia found the Piccaro’s bodies outside the Fifth Tower, but the children revived and gathered around Barragan’s six Fracción.

Aizen and the Espada confronted the Gotei 13 above Karakura, while Tier and the Picaro reached the Fifth Tower to rescue Orihime Inoue. The Picaro destroyed the tower and revealed Barragan on Aizen’s throne, and the chapter ended as Tier rushed to free Orihime while Barragan attacked.

• Aizen, Tōsen Kaname, Ichimaru Gin, Tier Halibel, and Ulquiorra Cifer arrived before the Gotei 13, and Captain Commander Yamamoto shielded his allies from Aizen’s pressure before ordering an attack.
• At the Fifth Tower, the Picaro overwhelmed six Arrancar Fracción and then blasted the tower into rubble with a swarm of Cerōs.
• Tier scolded the Picaro for destroying the tower before they had rescued Orihime Inoue.
• Barragan appeared on Aizen’s throne and claimed Las Noches as his own, while Tier challenged his claim and called out to Orihime.
• Tier vanished toward Orihime as a huge hand of black flames reached for her, and the Picaro flew in to attack the flames.