Chapter Summaries

Picaro used its shared life and rebirth to hold off Barragan, then unleashed Resurrección and transformed the battlefield into a gale of spirit blades. As Barragan prepared to fight them in his own Resurrección, Tier and the Picaros felt their Hollow markings change, signaling that Duan Mu had recovered.

• Picaro shared spiritual pressure among its members to heal a boy whose body Barragan's decay was destroying.
• Tier brought Orihime Inoue back to Kuchiki Rukia and Roga while Picaro continued battling Barragan.
• Picaro unleashed Resurrección, grew insect-like wings, and filled Las Noches with a gale of spirit blades.
• Barragan released his Resurrección, Skull Emperor, and spread decay through the gale as the Picaros reacted to his skeletal form.
• The Picaros and Tier felt their Hollow markings change into Spiritual Void Crests, revealing that Duan Mu had recovered.

Duan Mu completed his spiritual-body reconstruction after spending his remaining experience on his Zanpakuto, but the process consumed most of Rukongai’s villains. He ordered his followers to leave before Karakura Town became a battlefield and weighed whether to join the fight against Aizen, while trying to learn what was happening in the Human World and Hueco Mundo.

• Diao Ao and Ishida Sōgen wondered whether Duan Mu had survived after the Reishi storm and his spiritual pathways vanished.
• Duan Mu appeared, confirmed his reconstruction had succeeded, and ordered everyone to disperse far from Karakura Town.
• Duan Mu revealed that he had spent his remaining experience raising his Zanpakuto proficiency when his supply of spiritual bodies ran low.
• Duan Mu considered the consequences of consuming more souls and concluded that he could not risk upsetting the balance of the three realms.
• Duan Mu debated whether to reinforce Captain Commander Yamamoto and the others against Aizen, then sought news from the Human World and Hueco Mundo, where Picaro and Tier were fighting someone.

Picaro used his Second Resurrección to overpower Barragan, destroying Las Noches’ artificial sky and consuming the former emperor in a battle that ended with Barragan’s disappearance. Tier and the others found the exhausted Picaros, while Duan Mu emerged in the Forest of Menos and sensed Barragan’s fading aura.

• Barragan’s aging power failed to erase Picaro as the expanding gale and black mist engulfed more of Las Noches.
• Tier explained that Picaro and Barragan had both held the Espada’s No. 2 rank and that Picaro could use a Second Resurrección only when all its many individuals achieved synchronized cognition.
• Picaro’s Second Resurrección transformed its members, collapsed Las Noches’ artificial sky, and let them suppress Barragan with storms and Gagaga Land.
• The Picaros’ attacks shattered Barragan, whose black mist faded until he vanished from Hueco Mundo.
• Tier stopped the Picaros from consuming more reishi, then found them exhausted in the basin left where the Fifth Tower had stood.
• Duan Mu emerged from a fissure in the Forest of Menos and sensed Barragan’s aura vanish, wondering how Tier and the others were doing.

Duan Mu reached Las Noches and learned that Picaro had defeated Barragan, while Roga had vanished and Szayelaporro’s contingency was activating. The chapter ended with Szayelaporro reviving through backups spread across Hueco Mundo and gathering power from its surroundings.

• Duan Mu sensed Ichigo Kurosaki fighting Grimmjow and detected a Spiritual Void Crest on Nelly, which he realized Tier had created.
• Duan Mu found Las Noches in ruins and discovered that Picaro had defeated Barragan, while Tier, Kuchiki Rukia, and Orihime Inoue treated the exhausted Picaro.
• Duan Mu asked Tier about the crest on Nelly, then learned that her Fracción Roga had disappeared from the basin.
• Duan Mu and Tier sensed Szayelaporro’s rapidly growing spiritual pressure and realized his hidden contingency on Roga had activated after his death.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri watched Szayelaporro’s corpse dissolve and recognized that Szayelaporro was reviving from backups distributed throughout Hueco Mundo.

Szayelaporro reclaimed the strength he had discarded and buried Ichigo Kurosaki, Grimmjow, Nelly, and Roga beneath the sand before heading for his laboratory. Duan Mu and Tier found the survivors, and Duan Mu began rebuilding the Hollow Cores of Nelly, Roga, and Grimmjow to save them.

• Szayelaporro's history revealed how he became an Espada, split off his warrior side, and later reclaimed his former power after enduring a century of death through Gabriel.
• Szayelaporro buried Roga, Nelly, Grimmjow, and Ichigo Kurosaki with a Cero, then left for his laboratory without finishing them off.
• Duan Mu and Tier reached the sand pit, and Duan Mu pulled Roga, Nelly, Grimmjow, and Ichigo Kurosaki from the sand while Orihime Inoue rushed to Ichigo.
• Duan Mu determined that Nelly's destroyed Hollow Core would soon cause her body to disperse, so he cut off his arm and used its flesh and spiritual pressure to form spirit runes.
• Duan Mu began reconstructing the Hollow Cores of Nelly, Roga, and Grimmjow, drawing a surge of reishi that agitated Hollows throughout Hueco Mundo.

Aizen watched the Soul Reapers battle the Espada in Karakura Town until a huge Garganta opened and a strange Arrancar boy struck Ukitake. In Hueco Mundo, Duan Mu finished reconstructing several Arrancars’ Hollow Cores, then went to confront Szayelaporro, who had targeted Kurotsuchi Mayuri.

• Yamamoto saved wounded Soul Reaper lieutenants and disabled Halibel’s three Fracción while the captains fought the Espada.
• Aizen opened a Garganta above the battlefield, and a blond Arrancar boy emerged before vanishing and stabbing Ukitake in the abdomen.
• Duan Mu finished reconstructing Nelly, Roga, and Grimmjow’s Hollow Cores, which had developed Spiritual Void Crests.
• Duan Mu sensed Szayelaporro approaching Kurotsuchi Mayuri and hurried to the underground laboratory.
• Szayelaporro turned his attention from Mayuri to Duan Mu, who appeared behind him with his Zanpakuto and said he would not let him use Resurrección.

Duan Mu killed Szayelaporro and was unexpectedly transported away by Kurotsuchi Mayuri’s enhanced Transworld Junction Pillar. In Karakura Town, Aizen faced the arriving Visored Army and the Gotei 13 as the decisive battle began, but an abrupt shout interrupted the moment.

• Duan Mu killed Szayelaporro with a single slash and realized his reconstructed spiritual body had greatly increased the density of his spiritual pressure.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri revealed he had made an enhanced Transworld Junction Pillar, which transported Duan Mu away before he could finish confronting him.
• Wonderweiss extinguished the flames trapping Aizen, and the released Aizen and his allies shifted the battlefield against the Gotei 13.
• Ulquiorra underwent his Second Resurrección, alarming Soi Fon, while Stark told Kyōraku Shunsui that he could not transform in the same way.
• Shinji Hirako and the other members of the Visored Army arrived, reunited briefly with the Gotei 13, and declared Aizen their target.
• Wonderweiss summoned a flood of Gillian from Fler, and the Visored Army and Gotei 13 prepared to fight before an abrupt shout interrupted them.

Duan Mu was transported onto the battlefield and confronted Aizen, but Aizen intercepted his attempt to kill Wonderweiss and revealed that everyone else saw Duan Mu as Wonderweiss. Duan Mu recognized that Aizen’s Hogyoku-driven transformation had taken a different, still-evolving path, leaving him unsure how much stronger Aizen might become.

• Duan Mu appeared between the Visored Army and Aizen after Kurotsuchi Mayuri sent him to the Human World, and he cursed Mayuri for dropping him into the battle.
• Duan Mu exchanged words with Hiyori and Shinji Hirako before suddenly moving to attack Wonderweiss.
• Aizen blocked Duan Mu’s strike, and their clash destroyed the nearby Gillian and the imitation buildings around them.
• Aizen told Duan Mu that others perceived him as Wonderweiss and would believe he was warning Yamamoto about the threat to his Zanpakuto.
• Duan Mu noticed that Aizen had fused Kyoka Suigetsu into his body and concluded that the Hogyoku had guided him along a different evolutionary path that might not yet be complete.

Duan Mu fought off the Gotei 13 and Visored Army members who mistook him for Aizen under Kyōka Suigetsu, then confronted Aizen to disrupt the hypnosis. As Yamamoto trapped them in flames and Aizen prepared Wonderweiss to devour them, several figures emerged from the sky and charged Wonderweiss, prompting Aizen to manifest a radiant double.

• Duan Mu repelled Nanao Ise, Kensei Muguruma, Love Aikawa, and Rojuro Otoribashi while Shinji Hirako ordered the Visored Army to focus on the Gillian.
• Duan Mu chose to attack Aizen, but Komamura Sajin, Hiyori, Hachigen Ushiroda, and Lisa Yadomaru intercepted him near the infirmary.
• Duan Mu unleashed repeated Binding Kido, and Hachigen Ushiroda took a blast while testing whether the attacks were real.
• Duan Mu bypassed the interceptors and reached Aizen, who explained that Yamamoto had trapped them together in flames and intended to destroy them both.
• Several figures burst through the sky and attacked Wonderweiss, while Aizen formed a radiant double beside him.

Duan Mu battled Aizen, unleashing Jueming’s power to combine his strength and energies into a devastating strike, but Aizen survived and nearly destroyed him. Duan Mu regenerated and conceded that he could not defeat Aizen as the opposing forces assembled into four groups for a standoff.

• Duan Mu discovered that Yamamoto’s Fire City Wall had distorted the space around him, preventing him from using Reskitar, and he charged through the flames instead.
• Tier, Nelly, and Roga arrived through a Garganta, attacked Wonderweiss, and retreated when they sensed Aizen’s power.
• Duan Mu intercepted Aizen’s shock wave to protect the three women, then attacked with Jueming and its ability to assimilate his energies.
• Aizen met Duan Mu’s strike head-on and wounded him so severely that half his body was destroyed, but Duan Mu regenerated and admitted he could not win.
• Aizen’s allies, the Espada, the Gotei 13, Tier and her companions, and the Visored Army took positions around the battlefield, while Duan Mu wondered whether he should run.

Duan Mu considered his inability to defeat Aizen without more experience and explained why he would not use his uncontrollable Bankai. As the battle began, the factions chose their opponents, and Tier confronted Stark, who had learned she killed Nnoitra and Barragan.

• Duan Mu invested the experience points earned from Nelly and Roga into his physique, bringing it close to the First Stage while leaving him with no experience.
• Aizen questioned why Duan Mu had not used Bankai, and Duan Mu reassured the Gotei 13 that Tier and his other Arrancar companions were his equals, not subordinates.
• Shinji Hirako charged at Aizen, Tier attacked Aizen's group with a Cero, and the battlefield erupted into separate fights.
• Komamura Sajin confronted Tōsen Kaname, Kyōraku Shunsui faced Ichimaru Gin, and Love Aikawa and Love Aikawa blocked Wonderweiss.
• Tier told Stark that she had killed Nnoitra and Barragan, then urged him to leave the fight; Stark refused and aimed his guns at her.

Captain Commander Yamamoto unleashed Inferno Hell against Aizen while Shinji Hirako reinforced Hachigen Ushiroda’s barrier, trapping Duan Mu in the attack. Aizen survived through Kyoka Suigetsu and released Wonderweiss to absorb the flames, leaving Yamamoto to protect the Human World as Aizen claimed victory.

• Hachigen Ushiroda maintained a protective barrier with help from Hiyori, Toshiro Hitsugaya, and the gathered Soul Reapers, while Duan Mu’s allies fought the Espada.
• Captain Commander Yamamoto attacked Aizen with Inferno Hell, and Shinji Hirako reinforced the barrier from inside so the flames would remain contained.
• Duan Mu realized Shinji Hirako and Captain Commander Yamamoto had planned to sacrifice themselves, but he could not escape the barrier and defended himself from the flames.
• Aizen revealed that he had used Kyoka Suigetsu to deceive Yamamoto and Shinji, then struck the barrier as Yamamoto’s attack hit the illusion.
• Duan Mu warned the others, but Yamamoto’s flames struck the barrier and Wonderweiss absorbed them after transforming.
• Aizen recovered and taunted Yamamoto, who rushed to contain Wonderweiss’s power while Aizen declared that he had won.

Duan Mu and the Gotei 13 faced Aizen after Yamamoto’s attack left the Captain Commander gravely wounded, while Tier’s Second Resurrección revealed an evolution that stunned Aizen. The chapter ended with Nelly arriving in a similar transformed state as Tier’s explanation connected the change to Duan Mu’s Spiritual Void Crest and flesh.

• Duan Mu revealed that Aizen had stayed trapped in Yamamoto’s flames and used Kyōka Suigetsu to misdirect the others, while Yamamoto and Shinji lay gravely injured.
• Aizen recovered his Spiritual Power and confronted Duan Mu, but a vast black Spiritual Power spread over Karakura Town as Tier emerged in a dramatically changed Second Resurrección.
• Ichimaru Gin explained to Kyōraku Shunsui and Lisa that Tier’s transformation was an evolution in her level of life, unlike Ulquiorra’s return to his true Hollow form.
• Aizen studied Tier’s purple, branch-like markings and recognized her transformation as an evolution achieved without the Hogyoku, while Duan Mu wondered whether the markings resembled Quincy Blut Vene.
• Nelly arrived in a transformed form, and Tier explained that the purple Spiritual Void Crest appeared gradually as the Arrancar digested flesh infused with Duan Mu’s crest and physique.

Tier and Stark’s battle revealed the full strength of Tier’s Second Resurrección, while Aizen abruptly attacked the battlefield’s fighters and explained why he had discarded his followers. Ichigo then attacked Aizen, whose speech left the battle poised to continue.

• Tier used sound-wave vibrations to damage Stark, erase his Cero, and move with near-teleporting speed, while Stark countered with a pack of explosive Cero wolves.
• Tier and Stark explained the limits of her two sound-based techniques as their fight continued, and Aizen acknowledged her strength while discussing her history with Duan Mu.
• Aizen unleashed an indiscriminate attack across the battlefield, striking down Soi Fon, Kyōraku Shunsui, Kensei Muguruma, Nanao Ise, Roga, Nelly, Halibel, and Ulquiorra while leaving Ichimaru Gin standing.
• Aizen told Stark and Duan Mu that he had discarded followers whose strength was insufficient and criticized Duan Mu for restraining his power to protect others.
• Ichigo emerged from a split in the void and struck Aizen with Getsuga Tenshō, but Aizen shattered the attack without moving.

Duan Mu confronted Aizen while Unohana Retsu and the Arrancar evacuated the wounded, and Kurosaki Isshin took Ichigo Kurosaki to the Soul Separation World. Desperate for enough experience to transform, Duan Mu raised Soi Fon’s favorability with a confession and boosted his stamina to 900,000 before facing Aizen again.

• Aizen explained that Unohana Retsu had to choose between treating the wounded and fighting him, while Ichigo Kurosaki realized his Getsuga Tensho had failed.
• Kurosaki Isshin arrived to help Ichigo Kurosaki retreat, and Duan Mu stepped in to confront Aizen while the others evacuated the wounded through a Senkaimon.
• Stark chose to help Tier and Unohana Retsu evacuate the injured, while Duan Mu realized he needed more than 30,000 experience points to improve his stamina.
• Duan Mu confessed his admiration to the injured Soi Fon and asked her to have dinner with him, raising her favorability and gaining 102,400 experience points.
• Duan Mu used his experience points to raise his stamina to 900,000, then invested the remaining points in spiritual pressure before challenging Aizen again.

Duan Mu broke through to the system’s first stage and discovered that his body had gained immense strength and resistance to Spiritual Pressure. He unleashed Bankai and fought Aizen above the ruins of Karakura Town, leaving Aizen impressed as the battle continued.

• Duan Mu’s physical constitution reached 900,000 proficiency, triggering a bodily reorganization and a punch that shattered Aizen’s Super Spiritual Pressure Wall.
• Duan Mu denied using Bankai, then summoned Juming and activated Mirume Juming, surrounding himself with purple Spiritual Pressure.
• Duan Mu and Aizen exchanged attacks that canceled each other out, collapsing space and sinking the ruins of Karakura Town before both were thrown backward.
• Aizen deduced that Duan Mu’s body weakened repeated Spiritual Pressure attacks and that his Zanpakuto helped him analyze opponents’ movements.
• Aizen changed the nature of his Spiritual Pressure to counter Duan Mu’s resistance, while Duan Mu recognized that Aizen had found a way to threaten him.

Duan Mu realized he could not destroy Aizen and used Juming to imitate the fusion between Aizen and the Hogyoku, though Aizen quickly overpowered his blade-led fusion. As Aizen trapped him with a spatial technique, Duan Mu transformed his body into Black Coffin to counter the attack.

• Duan Mu recognized that his analysis had found no way to destroy Aizen and concluded that sealing him was necessary.
• Aizen explained that Duan Mu's body had reached a limit barrier and revealed his ambition to take control of the world's cycle as the Soul King.
• Duan Mu used Juming's analytical ability to fuse his right arm with the Zanpakuto, prompting Aizen to reveal the Hogyoku in his chest and acknowledge the threat.
• Aizen struck Juming aside and explained that Duan Mu had let the blade control him rather than achieving true fusion.
• Duan Mu dispersed Juming into Reishi and retreated, but Aizen's violet starry field surrounded him and pulled at him from every direction.
• Duan Mu turned his body into Black Coffin, and Aizen recognized the technique.

Duan Mu combined multiple Kidō and Surging Earth to challenge Aizen, who finally fought at full strength. Their attacks collided in a catastrophic blast as Yoruichi protected Urahara Shop, and Kisuke emerged from the shop.

• Duan Mu fired fused Kidō at Aizen, but Aizen shattered the attacks and then erased Duan Mu’s powerful sword slash.
• Duan Mu raised the soil across Karakura Town into an earthen giant, using Surging Earth to amplify his strength for a battle he knew would be decided within minutes.
• Aizen sensed the giant as a threat and eagerly faced Duan Mu, who resolved that he would not lose their third clash.
• Duan Mu and Aizen unleashed their full power, and their collision sent a devastating storm across Karakura Town.
• Yoruichi maintained a barrier around Urahara Shop and warned Kisuke that the battle could endanger more than Karakura Town; Kisuke then emerged.

Duan Mu fought Aizen to the brink of exhaustion, then Ichimaru Gin and Urahara Kisuke helped turn the battle by weakening Aizen and exploiting the Hogyoku’s destruction. Duan Mu passed out as Aizen was caught by Urahara’s seal, though Duan Mu felt he had forgotten something.

• Duan Mu unleashed his fused power and blood-infused Juuming against Aizen, while both fighters neared their limits as the reishi around Karakura Town ran out.
• Duan Mu’s earthen giant collapsed and Juuming shattered, leaving him falling and apparently unable to fight.
• Ichimaru Gin stabbed Aizen and revealed that his Bankai’s poison had destroyed Aizen’s cells, but Aizen healed and trapped Gin with spiritual pressure.
• Duan Mu recovered after Gin’s blade fragment blocked Aizen’s perception, gathered reishi, and struck Aizen with a final slash that shattered the Hogyoku.
• Urahara Kisuke revealed that the Hogyoku’s destruction had activated a seal planted in Aizen, while exhausted Duan Mu fell unconscious with a sense that he had forgotten something.

After Duan Mu defeated Aizen, Urahara Kisuke worried that Duan Mu could become a threat to the Three Worlds, while the survivors returned to their respective duties. A week later, Duan Mu woke in Soul Society with a vast amount of experience and began considering how to break through his limits.

• Urahara Kisuke wondered whether Aizen's collapse had truly ended the danger and considered Duan Mu a potential future threat.
• Ichigo Kurosaki arrived carrying Kurosaki Isshin, saw that Duan Mu had defeated Aizen, and struggled to feel happy about it.
• Duan Mu slept for a week as Soul Society repaired the Human World and the Arrancar returned to Hueco Mundo.
• Ichimaru Gin returned to Soul Society and accepted that his punishment was still under discussion.
• Duan Mu woke in the intensive-care ward, discovered he had gained 840,600 experience, and found that his Physical Body and Spiritual Pressure had reached a bottleneck.
• Duan Mu considered training Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kidō, and Shunpo to break through his limits, then decided he needed to make more friends.