Chapter Summaries

Duan Mu fought Yhwach inside the Wandenreich as Yhwach drew power from the domain and partially opened the Almighty. After Yhwach wounded him with a future-guided attack, Duan Mu adapted to the Almighty’s changes and managed to slash Yhwach, leaving both fighters injured and Yhwach intent on killing him.

• Duan Mu realized that the Wandenreich functioned as a domain connected to Yhwach and suspected that Yhwach reclaimed the Sternritter’s awakened soul fragments.
• Yhwach used the Shadow Domain to expel Jueming Bankai, while Duan Mu redirected his analysis and prepared to fight at full strength.
• Duan Mu combined his released spiritual pressure, Jueming’s inclusiveness, and three Destruction Kido, then attacked Yhwach.
• Yhwach used the incomplete Almighty to anticipate Duan Mu’s attacks and struck him with a giant Reishi arrow, leaving him battered and cracked.
• Duan Mu found a blind spot in Yhwach’s power and repeatedly changed his sword techniques in response to Yhwach’s movements, eventually slashing Yhwach’s face.
• Yhwach recognized Duan Mu as a threat and developed a strong killing intent toward him.

After learning that Duan Mu had invaded the Wandenreich’s base and remained trapped in a sealed parallel space, the Espada planned to use their connection with him to bring him back. Urahara Kisuke offered a device to strengthen that connection, leaving Halibel’s group to decide whether to trust him.

• Tier told the meeting that Duan Mu had drawn the Wandenreich away by invading their base, and the Espada discussed how to respond.
• Grimmjow tried to leave to fight the invaders, but Halibel and Ulquiorra stopped him and explained that the Espada could not reach Duan Mu’s location directly.
• Halibel proposed using Tier’s strong connection with Duan Mu, with Piccaro’s help, to pull him to Hueco Mundo or send him power.
• Urahara Kisuke appeared through a Garganta and offered a device to strengthen their connection with Duan Mu.
• Urahara warned that Duan Mu’s escape method might no longer work and urged the Espada to trust him, while privately hoping to test whether their bond with Duan Mu was equal.

Duan Mu fought Yhwach across the Wandenreich, exhausting nearly every ability before using his blood to briefly seal Yhwach and attempt an escape to the Soul Society. Yhwach revealed that after opening his eyes, he had already foreseen and erased the future in which Duan Mu escaped, leaving them trapped in the Wandenreich.

• Duan Mu unleashed layers of Kido and Spiritual Void Crests, but Yhwach erased his attacks and countered with overwhelming force.
• Duan Mu converted spirit particles into Hollow energy and tried to use it against Yhwach, but Yhwach resisted and badly wounded him.
• Duan Mu concealed himself in gray mist and let his blood form spirit sigils that briefly immobilized Yhwach.
• Duan Mu used the Wandenreich's shadow flames to try to return to the Soul Society, but Yhwach's opened eyes had already erased that future.
• Yhwach appeared before Duan Mu in the Wandenreich and explained that he had seen the future in which Duan Mu escaped.

Duan Mu trapped himself in a Spirit King-like state to survive Yhwach, who decided to leave him imprisoned in the Shadow Domain. As Hueco Mundo’s forces opened a Negación to rescue Duan Mu, Chizuru Souya appeared and halted Yhwach’s attempt to close the rift.

• Yhwach attacked Duan Mu, but Duan Mu’s Spiritual Void Crests and self-sealing state stopped the Quincy Cross blade at his neck.
• Yhwach realized that Duan Mu had sacrificed his spiritual body to gain immense vitality and defense, and chose to leave him imprisoned rather than risk disrupting his plans.
• A vast force of Arrancar and Gillian gathered outside Las Noches as Urahara Kisuke observed their effort to rescue Duan Mu.
• A Negación opened above the Wandenreich and enveloped Duan Mu, prompting Yhwach to try to close the connection through the Shadow Domain.
• Chizuru Souya appeared in the Wandenreich’s black sky and stopped the rift from contracting.

Chizuru Souya returned to Mukken after briefly merging with the Wandenreich and witnessing Boss Duan Mu’s battle with Yhwach. In Hueco Mundo, Urahara Kisuke and Kurotsuchi Mayuri explained that Duan Mu had to let his spiritual body disintegrate so it could be reconstructed, but Tier warned that the Arrancar could attack the Soul Society if anyone tried to take him away.

• Chizuru Souya revealed that his Bankai had let him merge with the Seireitei and enter the Shadow Domain, where he had watched Boss Duan Mu fight Yhwach before Yhwach expelled him.
• Back in Mukken, Chizuru Souya met Aizen Sōsuke and said he wanted to ask questions about the outside world; Aizen asked what Chizuru had seen, but Chizuru sealed his mouth again.
• In Las Noches, Urahara Kisuke examined the motionless Boss Duan Mu and concluded that his spiritual body was disintegrating, though he was unsure whether Duan Mu intended this or needed more reishi.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri arrived and explained that Duan Mu had arranged for the Technical Development Bureau to reconstruct his spiritual body after it disintegrated, and that he had to recover before the enemy leader did.
• Urahara Kisuke agreed with Kurotsuchi Mayuri’s plan and offered to deal with Gokutsu while the others prepared to help Duan Mu.
• Tier said the Arrancar would let them take Duan Mu, but warned that they were capable of attacking the Soul Society.

Halibel and Stark explained how Duan Mu’s modifications had opened a path for their roots to evolve, while Tier realized she could not sense that possibility. Duan Mu woke from his self-sealing in the Soul Separation World, returned to Soul Society, and prepared to brief the Gotei 13 as Aizen anticipated meeting him again.

• Halibel described her transformed state as an evolution of her roots, and Stark explained how their symbolic meanings and Hollow Cores shaped their new possibilities.
• Tier realized she could not sense the possibility of further evolution, while Halibel suspected Tier’s state of mind was holding her back.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri waited in the Soul Separation World as Duan Mu’s Spiritual Void Crest faded, then helped him return to Soul Society.
• Duan Mu learned that only ten minutes had passed outside, considered the Wandenreich’s likely preparations, and agreed to meet the Captain-Commander with Soi Fon.
• Aizen anticipated meeting Duan Mu again, while Chizuru Souya turned his attention to the First Division to hear Duan Mu’s report.

Duan Mu briefed the Gotei 13 on the Wandenreich’s strength and the battle in Hueco Mundo, while Seireitei prepared for an invasion. As Quincy activity remained absent, Duan Mu continued working in Rukongai until he sensed something from the direction of Seireitei.

• Duan Mu warned the captains that the Sternritter could steal Bankai and wield overwhelming powers, and Yamamoto and Mayuri showed them memories of the battle in Hueco Mundo.
• The captains reacted warily to Duan Mu’s ties to the Arrancar, but Yamamoto confirmed Central 46 would not pursue the matter and ordered Seireitei to strengthen its defenses.
• The Gotei 13 found no signs of Quincy activity, while Soi Fon learned that Duan Mu had taken a commission to clean public restrooms in Rukongai.
• Yamamoto issued Asauchi to criminals from the higher-numbered districts and organized them as auxiliary forces under the 11th Division and Duan Mu’s subordinate Nishijin-ori.
• Duan Mu worked in North District 2 while absorbing reishi, then abruptly sensed something from Seireitei and stood to look toward it.

Duan Mu realized Yhwach had used the Loyd brothers’ abilities to split the defenders and waited outside the Black Mausoleum Gate rather than risk choosing the wrong battlefield. In Seireitei, Toshiro Hitsugaya held his position until enemy forces approached, while Matsumoto Rangiku faced an attacker in the Eighth Division Area.

• Mayuri reported that Quincy led by Yhwach had appeared both in Seireitei and outside Las Noches, and Duan Mu considered whether either leader was genuine.
• Duan Mu recalled Loyd Lloyd’s surviving twin and concluded Yhwach might be using the threat to force him and Yamamoto apart; he waited outside the Black Mausoleum Gate.
• Toshiro Hitsugaya learned that about six thousand enemies had encountered the patrol force and that Matsumoto Rangiku had lost contact near the Eighth Division Area.
• After hearing that Ichimaru Gin had been transferred to the Technical Development Bureau’s prison, Toshiro Hitsugaya prepared to defend the 10th Division’s base as Quincy approached.
• In the Eighth Division Area, Matsumoto Rangiku faced a bespectacled man aiming two pistols at her, while an unseen blade pierced both barrels.

Ichimaru Gin returned to the battlefield to protect Matsumoto Rangiku, while Kenpachi Zaraki and Kurotsuchi Mayuri confronted powerful Sternritter. Mayuri questioned Askin about the invaders and whether the Yhwach in Seireitei was a fake.

• Ichimaru Gin appeared in time to save Matsumoto Rangiku, explaining that he had come to earn a reduction in his sentence, and apologized as he fought her attacker.
• Kenpachi Zaraki defeated Driscoll Berci and scattered the Soldaten before Haschwalth arrived and challenged him.
• Askin incapacitated Rojuro Otoribashi and the Third Division troops with Deathdealing, but Kurotsuchi Mayuri arrived and Nemu treated Rojuro with her syringe.
• Askin realized that Nemu had countered his poisons and that Mayuri had shown no reaction, while Mayuri said he had come to collect data and test subjects.
• Mayuri asked Askin whether the Sternritter included a Royal Guard and whether the Yhwach in Seireitei was a fake; Askin said he had learned valuable information.

Duan Mu sent his villain forces into Seireitei while considering whether to release Chizuru Souya or Aizen, and wondered where he should go as the war spread across Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. At the Black Mausoleum Gate, he killed Gernal, who had attacked him, and faced Gremmy Thoumeaux.

• Duan Mu watched Yachiru Kusajishi lead the fanatical villains into Seireitei while he sensed Yhwach's soul fragments spread through the city.
• Duan Mu considered asking Chizuru Souya to help the battle and weighed the risks of releasing Aizen from Mukken.
• Duan Mu reflected that his attachments had made the people in his memories precious, even as the war put Soul Reapers and Arrancar at risk.
• Gernal used his Vanishing Point Schrift to approach Duan Mu unseen and stabbed at his chest, but the attack could not pierce him.
• Gremmy Thoumeaux appeared and called Gernal a toy; Duan Mu crushed Gernal's head and turned to confront Gremmy.

Duan Mu let Gremmy test the limits of his imagination, enduring increasingly powerful natural lightning as his Spiritual Void Crest absorbed its energy and began breaking through his physical limit. Gremmy believed Duan Mu had lost when he was engulfed again, but Duan Mu had only gambled on evolving through the attack.

• Duan Mu recognized Gremmy's ability to create living beings and challenged him to imagine a way to kill him while he stood without resisting.
• Gremmy trapped Duan Mu in seawater and struck him with a massive lightning bolt, but Duan Mu endured it and mocked the attack's limits.
• Gremmy created more versions of himself, multiplying his imaginative power and transforming the lightning into a vast black pillar that began outpacing Duan Mu's regeneration.
• Duan Mu's Spiritual Void Crest absorbed the natural energy, causing his physique's system limit to rise as his body was charred and he struggled through the pain.
• Duan Mu punched away the lightning briefly, grew new flesh, and was engulfed again; Gremmy declared that Duan Mu had lost, while Duan Mu accepted the bet's result without conceding defeat.

As Gremmy’s disturbance shook Seireitei, Captain Unohana saved Toshiro Hitsugaya by killing Nianzol, while Yamamoto defeated Yhwach’s impersonator. Duan Mu arrived as the real Yhwach destroyed Loyd, leaving him unable to save the wounded Quincy.

• Askin told Kurotsuchi Mayuri that Gremmy had been imprisoned in Silver City, while Mayuri retreated and memorized the names.
• Nianzol explained that his Schrift, W: The Winded, bent away attacks and enemies he detected, then nearly killed Toshiro Hitsugaya.
• Captain Unohana appeared behind Nianzol, split him in two, and left Toshiro to find the surrounding Quincy soldiers dead.
• Yamamoto used Zanka no Tachi to kill the Yhwach impersonator, whom he recognized as Loyd Lloyd rather than the Yhwach who had fought Duan Mu.
• Duan Mu arrived and confirmed that the real Yhwach stood before them, but Yhwach used Altar of Usurpation to strip Loyd of his power and reduce him to ash.

Duan Mu confronted Yhwach, who revealed that he had foreseen Duan Mu’s future and an ambush by someone he considered a companion. Duan Mu realized the vision was connected to his earlier contact with the Root and dismissed the revelation, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Duan Mu questioned why Yhwach had appeared before he and Captain Commander Yamamoto, then considered how his existence might already be changing the future he knew.
• Yhwach told Duan Mu that he had seen the present when Duan Mu left the Shadow Domain and described events he foresaw, including Duan Mu being ambushed by a companion.
• Captain Commander Yamamoto rejected Yhwach’s attempt to sow discord but recognized whom he meant, then silently left Duan Mu to decide how to respond.
• Duan Mu connected Yhwach’s vision to his earlier contact with the Root and smiled at Yhwach, asking, “So what?”

Duan Mu and Yamamoto Genryūsai attacked Yhwach together, but Yhwach replenished his strength from soul fragments spread among the Quincy and Hollows. Duan Mu realized Yhwach was using the battle to delay him until he had to enter the Soul Separation World, leaving Yamamoto at risk.

• Yhwach told Duan Mu that he had missed his chance to leave for Hueco Mundo, but Duan Mu chose to fight beside Yamamoto Genryūsai.
• Yamamoto Genryūsai activated Ryujin Jakka’s Bankai, and its heat spread across the Seireitei, scorching buildings and drying the air.
• Duan Mu and Yamamoto Genryūsai coordinated their attacks, badly wounding Yhwach before he could counterattack.
• Yhwach absorbed power from nearby soul fragments and instantly healed his injuries, while Duan Mu warned Yamamoto not to let him use Auswählen.
• Duan Mu realized Yhwach was drawing strength from Quincy and Hollows in Hueco Mundo and was trying to delay him until he entered the Soul Separation World.

Duan Mu used his ability to analyze Yhwach’s Shadow Domain and incomplete Almighty, sealing him within the future and aiming to force him back into slumber. The battle remained unresolved, but Duan Mu’s plan bought the Soul Society time to seek a way to kill Yhwach.

• Yhwach explained that he had altered the future of his own death and claimed that neither Duan Mu nor Captain Commander Yamamoto could kill him in this battle.
• Yhwach described the dangers of Yamamoto’s Bankai and Duan Mu’s restored spirit body as the fighting devastated both armies across Seireitei.
• Duan Mu immobilized Yhwach and revealed that Jueming was an extension of his own ability, not a conventional Zanpakuto.
• Duan Mu used power taken from Yhwach’s changes to the future to seal him within the future and force him toward slumber.

Duan Mu sealed Yhwach temporarily, but time reversal left him unconscious as Yhwach and Haschwalth withdrew. Arrancar and Urahara Kisuke’s group arrived to protect him, while the Zero Division came to assist the Gotei 13 and summoned several fighters to the Spirit King Palace.

• Duan Mu’s sealing method restrained Yhwach until the final ninth day, while a descending figure triggered time reversal and caused Duan Mu’s spiritual body to collapse.
• Yhwach’s power exchange with Haschwalth let Haschwalth steal Yamamoto Genryūsai’s Bankai, and the pair prepared to withdraw as the Zero Division descended.
• Halibel, Stark, Nel, Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, Picaro, and other Arrancar arrived through a spatial passage to protect Duan Mu.
• Urahara Kisuke, Ichigo Kurosaki, Orihime Inoue, and Yasutora Sado arrived, and Duan Mu fell asleep from time reversal’s side effects.
• The Zero Division met with Captain Commander Yamamoto and the Gotei 13, then the monk summoned Kuchiki Byakuya, Kuchiki Rukia, Renji Abarai, and Ichigo Kurosaki to the Spirit King Palace for training.

The Zero Division offered to take Ichigo Kurosaki to the Spirit King Palace, while Captain Commander Yamamoto refused to let them take Duan Mu. After Yamamoto collapsed from his injuries and Duan Mu woke, Duan Mu chose to remain in Seireitei to fulfill his promise to Unohana Retsu and face her in battle.

• Urahara Kisuke explained the Zero Division’s offer to train Ichigo Kurosaki, and Ichigo agreed to go after Urahara assured him Duan Mu would be protected.
• Unohana Retsu exchanged sharp words with her former Kido teacher Tenjiro Kirinji as the Zero Division prepared to leave with Ichigo and the other chosen Shinigami.
• Captain Commander Yamamoto barred the Zero Division from taking Duan Mu, then collapsed from severe injuries and ordered the Onmitsukidō to monitor Duan Mu.
• Soi Fon stayed near Duan Mu while the Arrancar recognized her as someone Duan Mu had mentioned; nearly an hour later, Duan Mu woke and learned he had been unconscious for that long.
• Duan Mu calculated that he needed to shorten his spiritual-body reconstruction to meet the prophecy’s deadline, refused the Arrancar’s invitation to leave, and said he had a promise to fulfill by fighting Unohana Retsu.

Duan Mu defeated Unohana Yachiru and resurrected her as Unohana Retsu, binding her life to his own and insisting that he wanted her to live. After Unohana Retsu’s affection surged to 70 and gave him 7,604,000 experience, Duan Mu accepted the temporary Captain-Commander role and worried about the consequences of her attachment.

• Duan Mu awoke in Mukken after his battle with Unohana Retsu and found that his spiritual body had collapsed again.
• Duan Mu explained that Unohana Yachiru had died in their battle and that he had used the King Key and his own power to resurrect Unohana Retsu, whose life was now bound to his.
• Duan Mu told Unohana Retsu that he had kept her alive because her survival mattered more to him than her mission, and she recalled how he had repeatedly approached and supported her.
• Duan Mu left Mukken and accepted the haori marking him as the Gotei 13’s temporary Captain-Commander from Chōjirō Sasakibe, while the captains watched Unohana Retsu follow him out wearing his jacket.
• Unohana Retsu’s affection rose to 70, granting Duan Mu 7,604,000 experience and leaving him stunned and uneasy about the future.

At the conference, Soi Fon reported the Sternritter’s heavy losses in Soul Society and Hueco Mundo while Duan Mu reflected on the approaching final battle. As the report continued, Unohana Retsu’s smile left Duan Mu more uneasy than the prospect of facing Yhwach.

• Soi Fon reported that Ishida Uryū had disappeared and that the Gotei 13 had found no signs of Quincies in the Human World, Soul Society, or Hueco Mundo.
• The conference reviewed the Sternritter killed or captured across both realms, including the five captured in Hueco Mundo after Ichigo Kurosaki stopped Tier and the others from killing them.
• Duan Mu recognized that Haschwalth, Askin Nakk Le Vaar, Lille Barro, and Gerard Valkyrie remained especially dangerous among Yhwach’s surviving forces.
• Duan Mu realized the battle would end only when Yhwach and his people returned for a final confrontation.
• Unohana Retsu smiled at Duan Mu as Soi Fon continued her report, and Duan Mu swallowed nervously.

Duan Mu waited for Yhwach to invade the Seireitei, then used all his stored experience to reach his limits and defeat him by changing the future. Yhwach began to re-form afterward, leaving Duan Mu surprised by how easily his power had erased him.

• Duan Mu received reports that the divisions had returned to their fortified bases and rejected the Central 46’s request for him to move into the Pure Tower Forest Residence.
• Duan Mu kept the Gotei 13 on alert as the expected Wandenreich invasion failed to appear, while Kyōraku Shunsui urged him to authorize releasing Aizen.
• Duan Mu sensed the invasion begin, gave Kyōraku Shunsui a secret order to act on his proposal, and left the First Division office as the Seireitei transformed and Yhwach appeared.
• Yhwach attacked Duan Mu, but the energy was drawn back and the future changed; Duan Mu’s gaze erased Yhwach from existence.
• Duan Mu’s system revealed that he had spent all 8,450,400 EXP to maximize his abilities, and Yhwach’s aura began to re-form as Duan Mu realized how powerful he had become.