Chapter Summaries

Duan Mu regretted spending nearly thirty-four thousand experience points during his battle with Kenpachi Zaraki and hid in the Maggot's Nest while Seireitei investigated the fight. After five days, he left to return to his shop, only to learn that the alcohol bill had consumed six million rings and collapse after vomiting blood.

• Duan Mu mourned the experience points he had spent improving his spiritual pressure, physique, and Raikōhō, while worrying that the battle had drawn attention from Seireitei's divisions and Kenpachi Zaraki.
• Duan Mu treated the injured prisoners in the Maggot's Nest with Kido, then left after five days and told the Supervision Team to stop bringing him meals.
• Omaeda explained that the 2nd Division and Central 46 had suppressed the investigation, warned Duan Mu to keep a low profile, and said Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa had been visiting his tavern.
• Duan Mu tried to visit Soi Fon but was turned away, then returned to his Yorozuya branch and began reviewing its accumulated requests despite his injuries.
• A male employee told Duan Mu that he had spent six million of the seven million rings in the shop on alcohol, and Duan Mu vomited blood and collapsed.

Duan Mu avoided the 11th Division’s repeated requests to rebuild its barracks, but Ikkaku Madarame cornered him at the tavern and asked him to take responsibility. Duan Mu agreed on the condition that Yachiru Kusajishi help him join the Women’s Association, leaving the group to consider his proposal.

• Duan Mu declined Emiri’s invitation to dinner and left District 7 for District 38, avoiding jobs in Seireitei because the 11th Division kept pursuing him.
• Duan Mu gave Yachiru candy and wooden toys, then blocked Ikkaku Madarame’s attack when Ikkaku confronted him about rebuilding the 11th Division barracks.
• Duan Mu explained that his Zanpakuto was being held by the Onmitsukidō and his Core of Spiritual Pressure was injured, so Ikkaku realized Kenpachi Zaraki would not see him as a worthwhile opponent in his current state.
• Duan Mu agreed to help rebuild the barracks without payment if Yachiru helped him join the Women’s Association as an honorary member.
• Duan Mu offered the association members an additional ten percent discount and insisted that his support for female Soul Reapers’ rights was genuine, while Ikkaku questioned his motives.

The Women's Association voted to make Yorozuya Duan Mu an honorary member after several members praised his work and Rukia abstained. At the 11th Division barracks ruins, Duan Mu tried to delay Kenpachi Zaraki's challenge by claiming he needed five years to recover, but Ikkaku Madarame revealed he would heal in half a month.

• Ise Nanao announced the Women's Association's proposals, including Yachiru's motion to admit Duan Mu as an honorary member.
• Matsumoto Rangiku, Kotetsu Isane, Yachiru, and Kotetsu Kiyone voted in favor, while Hinamori Momo and Nemu Kurotsuchi voted against.
• Unohana Retsu voted in favor and Soi Fon voted against; after hearing about Duan Mu's reputation, Kuchiki Rukia abstained.
• Ise Nanao declared Duan Mu an honorary member of the Women's Association.
• At the 11th Division barracks ruins, Kenpachi Zaraki offered to retrieve Duan Mu's Zanpakuto or fight him with a wooden sword, but Duan Mu refused because of his injuries.
• Ikkaku Madarame told Kenpachi that Duan Mu would recover in half a month, prompting Duan Mu to resolve to finish construction by then.

Duan Mu rebuilt the 11th Division barracks with help from its members, including Renji Abarai, before Kanon brought him an urgent missing-child commission. Duan Mu and three 11th Division Soul Reapers set out for West Rukongai to search for Kosuke, whose disappearance in the woods raised Duan Mu’s suspicions.

• Duan Mu used Kidō to clear the barracks rubble, then quickly rebuilt the buildings while the 11th Division members supplied materials.
• Duan Mu met Renji Abarai, the 11th Division’s sixth seat, and learned the division’s seated officers were exceptionally strong.
• Kanon arrived and told Duan Mu that Emiri’s son, Kosuke, had vanished after running into the woods to retrieve a can.
• Duan Mu told Kanon to reassure Emiri and announced he was going to West District 7 to search for Kosuke.
• Ikkaku Madarame, Ayasegawa Chikao, and Renji Abarai volunteered to accompany Duan Mu, who accepted their help and wondered if something worse had happened.

Duan Mu investigated Kosuke’s disappearance in West Rukongai and found evidence that a Soul Reaper had erased traces of the abduction. He suspected Kosuke possessed an unusual quality linked to Gen'nai Kura, leaving him to wonder whether the same kind of presence had been taken from Kura after his death.

• Duan Mu used a modified Binding Kido to search the area, then followed a clue into the woods with Ikkaku Madarame, Ayasegawa Chikao, and Renji Abarai.
• Duan Mu found Kosuke’s vine ball and explained that the spirit patterns carved into it had vanished because someone had briefly eliminated the surrounding Reishi and their own presence.
• Duan Mu concluded the culprit likely expected him to search for Kosuke, while Renji suggested the 12th Division might be involved because its spirit tools could erase traces.
• Duan Mu recalled that Kosuke’s Spiritual Power had grown dramatically and said the boy gave him the same strange sense of presence he had felt when Gen'nai Kura briefly regained consciousness before dying.
• Duan Mu wondered whether the person who erased the battlefield after his fight with Gen'nai Kura had been retrieving something that existed inside Kura.

Duan Mu tracked the kidnapper who had abducted Kosuke and learned that the culprit might be a captain-level Shinigami, while Renji, Ikkaku, and Kiyone each pushed the pursuit forward. The group continued toward the mountains as Captain Tosen struggled to extract a Soul King Fragment from Kosuke before they arrived.

• Urahara Kisuke and Yoruichi watched Duan Mu’s group through a surveillance device and saw them head into the mountains.
• Duan Mu explained that a powerful opponent had instantly obstructed his detection, leading him to warn the others that they might face a captain-level Shinigami.
• Renji Abarai and Ikkaku Madarame chose to continue the rescue, and Kiyone revealed that the Onmitsukidō and Captain Soi Fon had mobilized over the abductions.
• Duan Mu agreed to pursue the culprit after Soi Fon ordered him to continue, and her favorability toward him rose as he asked her to hurry with support.
• An unseen observer said Captain Tosen would leave the matter to Yo, while Tosen continued extracting the Soul King Fragment from Kosuke and estimated that it would take another half hour.

Duan Mu and the others fought a masked attacker whose Black Cloak hid all traces of his aura, while Urahara Kisuke recognized the cloak and set out for Soul Society. The attacker survived Ikkaku Madarame’s Bankai and revealed ultra-fast regeneration, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Duan Mu sensed an ambush and knocked Ikkaku Madarame aside, saving him from the Black Cloak figure’s blade as Renji Abarai and Ayasegawa Chikao counterattacked.
• Urahara Kisuke identified the Black Cloak as his invention and left the Urahara Shop for Soul Society with his companion.
• The Black Cloak figure overwhelmed the three fighters, cracked his iron mask to reveal a Hollow-like mask beneath it, and nearly killed Renji before Duan Mu restrained him with Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō.
• Duan Mu used Hadō #63: Raikōhō to cover the battlefield as Ikkaku recovered from his wound and secretly released Bankai: Dragon Pattern Hozukimaru.
• Ikkaku’s Bankai wounded the Black Cloak figure, but the attacker’s arm healed almost instantly, shocking the fighters.

Duan Mu, Renji, Ayasegawa Chikao, and Ikkaku fought the Black Cloak until an unknown attacker wounded Ikkaku and whisked the enemy away. Soi Fon arrived, Ikkaku was treated, and Kosuke was recovered, but the strange quality Duan Mu had sensed in the boy had vanished.

• Urahara Kisuke and Yoruichi watched from outside Kofusan while Renji, Ayasegawa Chikao, and Duan Mu coordinated attacks against the Black Cloak.
• The Black Cloak charged Duan Mu, who used his self-straining Flash Cry to counter him and create an opening for Ikkaku’s Bankai to reach captain-level power.
• Duan Mu and the others kept the Black Cloak occupied until Soi Fon arrived, but a distant, unknown attacker slashed Ikkaku and a distortion in the void swallowed the Black Cloak.
• Duan Mu treated Ikkaku, and Soi Fon questioned the others before ordering the Punishment Force to search for Kosuke.
• The Punishment Force found Kosuke unconscious in a karst cave, and Duan Mu found him physically weakened but no longer sensed the strange quality he had noticed in him.

After the group returned to Seireitei, Onmitsukidō repeatedly questioned them about their battle with the masked opponent, while Duan Mu concealed what he knew about the attacker. He left with Kiyohara Tsumugu, learned that Kosuke would be examined at the Comprehensive First Aid Station if the request was approved, and went there to recuperate, where Ikkaku Madarame agreed to stay overnight.

• The Punishment Force and Patrol Team questioned Duan Mu, Renji, Ayasegawa Chikao, and Kiyone about the masked opponent, while Duan Mu kept the attacker’s identity secret.
• Kiyohara Tsumugu escorted Duan Mu and the others from the Punishment Force barracks and arranged a meal; he told Duan Mu that Captain Soi Fon had requested the Comprehensive First Aid Station examine Kosuke instead of the Technical Development Bureau.
• Duan Mu learned that Kiyohara Tsumugu would arrange supervision if Kosuke’s examination was assigned to the Technical Development Bureau, then ate with Renji and Ayasegawa Chikao.
• Duan Mu went to the Comprehensive First Aid Station with Ayasegawa Chikao, where Fourth Division members welcomed him and urged him to rest.
• Duan Mu found Ikkaku Madarame trying to leave his ward and persuaded him to stay overnight by suggesting he ask Captain Unohana for permission.

Duan Mu finished helping rebuild the 11th Division barracks and learned that the Women's Association used hidden teleportation devices. When Yachiru invited him to its regular meeting, he eagerly agreed.

• Emiri reunited with Kosuke after his examination, while Duan Mu remained puzzled about what had been taken from the child and resolved to keep some distance from Emiri.
• Duan Mu spent nearly half a month receiving treatment and rebuilding the 11th Division barracks, while the investigation of Ikkaku Madarame and the others ended for lack of information.
• Duan Mu raised Yachiru's Favorability to 39 by renovating her room and the barracks, and his accumulated EXP reached 22400.
• Yachiru showed Duan Mu a gift from A-Meng: four Super-light Speed Transfer Piles that let her teleport between her room and the Women's Association's secret base.
• After installing the transfer piles in Yachiru's room, Duan Mu planned to return to Rukongai, but he eagerly accepted her invitation to the Women's Association's regular meeting.

Duan Mu joined the Women's Association and introduced himself to its members, gaining favorability and experience as he made new acquaintances. The meeting left him speaking with Kuchiki Rukia, who asked about his relationship with Renji Abarai.

• Yachiru Kusajishi brought Duan Mu to the Women's Association's underground base, where Matsumoto Rangiku invited him to go drinking and Ise Nanao reminded her about work.
• Duan Mu introduced himself to the gathered members and promised to help the association, while Soi Fon reminded him to return to his duties at Maggot's Nest.
• Ise Nanao introduced the association's members, and Duan Mu befriended Kotetsu Kiyone, gaining five favorability points and 600 experience points.
• Duan Mu told Hinamori Momo that Aokiro and Renji Abarai had spoken of her, earning three favorability points and 480 experience points.
• Kuchiki Rukia introduced herself to Duan Mu and asked whether he was close to Renji Abarai.

Duan Mu enjoyed a successful first visit to the Women's Association and planned to use the winter lull to improve his Kido, especially his defenses against dangerous abilities. After the gathering, he returned to Rukongai to prepare for training and arranged for Iwao to handle the Yorozuya's winter commissions.

• Duan Mu impressed the Women's Association with his Kido knowledge and friendly conversation, gaining favorability with several members while Soi Fon reflected on his dangerous reputation and carefully controlled nature.
• Duan Mu reviewed his experience and decided to save most of it for increasing his spiritual pressure while learning new high-numbered Kido from Kūkaku.
• Duan Mu identified Dankū as a priority because it could defend against Kido and some law-like abilities that might threaten him in future battles.
• The Women's Association gathering ended shortly before nightfall, and Duan Mu returned to Rukongai to prepare for winter Kido training.
• Duan Mu planned for Iwao and his underlings to handle the Yorozuya's winter commissions while the Seireitei branch remained closed until spring.

Duan Mu endured Shiba Kūkaku’s training alongside Ganju and received a valuable Shunpo scroll from Yoruichi. He continued studying kidō at the Shiba home, where Kūkaku increasingly treated him as family even though his favorability score did not change.

• Kūkaku punished Duan Mu and Ganju during training after Ganju fell asleep and the two exchanged jokes.
• Kūkaku told Duan Mu that Yoruichi had visited nearly a month earlier and left him a scroll as a meeting gift.
• Duan Mu discovered that Yoruichi’s scroll contained Shunpo techniques, including the Shihoin Clan’s Utsusemi, and realized it could improve his weakest skill.
• Duan Mu made replacement tables and chairs after Kūkaku’s training had destroyed the household furniture.
• Duan Mu continued studying Kūkaku’s explanation of Dankū and pinched Ganju to keep him awake so they would avoid another beating.

After reopening the Rukongai branch of the Yorozuya, Duan Mu went to Seireitei to resume business and learned about a Hollow called Grand Fissure that had killed several Soul Reapers in the Human World. The chapter left him heading to Omaeda’s home for lunch, curious about the Hollow’s familiar-sounding code name.

• Duan Mu collected payment from Uncle Watanabe, gave him flyers for the Yorozuya’s reopening, and marked one with the Patrol Team’s insignia to deter troublemaking Soul Reapers.
• Duan Mu entered Seireitei and went to the 2nd Division to ask Omaeda to have Kanon and Jōze return to work at the Yorozuya.
• Omaeda’s Punishment Force report confirmed that Hasegawa Sho had been devoured by a Hollow in the Human World, so Omaeda ended the investigation and sent the findings to the Thirteenth Division.
• Omaeda told Duan Mu that the Hollow, code-named Grand Fissure, had killed several dispatched Soul Reapers and was too elusive to pursue with the divisions’ limited resources.
• Duan Mu asked Omaeda to tell Kanon and Jōze that the business was reopening, then accepted Omaeda’s invitation to have lunch at his home.

Duan Mu visited Omaeda’s lavish home, charmed Omaeda’s parents and met his younger sister, Xidai. He shared lunch with Omaeda, discovered a sake-flavored sweet he liked, and the chapter ended when someone knocked at the dining room door.

• Duan Mu followed Omaeda through his extravagant home and met Omaeda Kijin and Kiwa, impressing Kiwa with flattery and skincare advice.
• Omaeda pulled Duan Mu away from Kiwa and mentioned his absent older sister, Kimi, and younger brother, Kijiro Saburo.
• Omaeda introduced his younger sister, Omaeda Xidai, and Duan Mu greeted her, gaining her favor.
• Duan Mu and Omaeda sat down to lunch, and Xidai explained she had bought Torii Monaka from Kuriya after seeing Captain Kyōraku enjoy them.
• Duan Mu liked the sake-lees red-bean cakes and asked where Kuriya was before a knock sounded at the dining room door.

Duan Mu sought access to the Golden Seal Society’s requests by offering to protect President Suigawa’s son, Hato, during his assignment to the Human World. Soi Fon agreed in principle, requiring the Onmitsukidō to mark and track Duan Mu if he traveled there.

• Kanon brought President Suigawa to meet Omaeda, and Suigawa asked him to have Hato arrested to keep him from taking a dangerous Thirteenth Division assignment.
• Omaeda refused to arrest Hato and explained to Duan Mu that the Golden Seal Society handled noble affairs and had a feud with the Kuchiki family.
• Duan Mu proposed taking difficult Golden Seal Society requests and offered to protect Hato in exchange for access to a noble Senkaimon.
• Omaeda agreed to speak with President Suigawa after Duan Mu promised to seek Soi Fon’s approval and return promptly from the Human World.
• Omaeda presented Duan Mu’s proposal to Soi Fon, who agreed to let the Patrol Team monitor Hato if Duan Mu accepted a bodily spiritual-pressure mark and tracking.

Suigawa-in visited Duan Mu’s Yorozuya to arrange for the Golden Seal Society to refer noble commissions to the shop, hoping to secure Duan Mu’s help for his son in Karakura Town. Duan Mu accepted a commission to find three nobles who had gone missing in the Human World and prepared to travel there through the Society’s Senkaimon.

• Kōrogi Aoi reported that Duan Mu was a capable Yorozuya owner with deep ties to the Onmitsukidō, and Suigawa-in went to meet him.
• Suigawa-in explained that the Golden Seal Society would send selected noble commissions to the Yorozuya, while Duan Mu charmed Aoi and earned one favorability point.
• Kōrogi Aoi presented a request to find Hachi Haneha, Ukitake Hiroshi, and Nagano Kahide, whose spiritual pressure had last been detected in Karakura Town.
• Duan Mu accepted the commission and asked to borrow the Golden Seal Society’s Senkaimon, which Aoi said was already prepared.

Duan Mu encountered Urahara Kisuke in Sakura Nature Park, where Urahara tried to sell him an absurdly expensive outfit before letting him leave. Duan Mu continued his search in Karakura Town, only to discover that Urahara had apparently sent him into the crowded streets without clothes.

• Duan Mu examined a Hell Butterfly in Sakura Nature Park before Urahara Kisuke appeared and warned him not to dissect it.
• Urahara Kisuke discussed the butterfly and metamorphosis, then offered Duan Mu a self-cleaning outfit for five million rings.
• Duan Mu refused the outfit and used a Command Divine Machine to head toward Kitagawase, where the missing Soul Society visitors had last been seen.
• On his way, Duan Mu sensed a brief reiatsu reaction from a passing train but chose not to investigate it.
• At a department store in Kitagawase, girls and pedestrians stared at Duan Mu, and he realized Urahara had apparently tricked him into walking around naked.

Duan Mu confronted Urahara Kisuke after discovering humans could see him, and Urahara explained that Duan Mu’s soul and body had fused into a substance with properties of both Reishi and physical matter. After confirming the fusion and negotiating for Urahara’s clothing, Duan Mu signed a contract to exchange blood and Reishi samples for research safeguards and took the outfit.

• Duan Mu rushed to the Urahara Shop and concealed himself with Kyokō before demanding to know what Urahara Kisuke had done to him.
• Urahara explained that Duan Mu’s soul and body had fused, and a cane experiment confirmed that Duan Mu had no separable soul and body.
• Urahara offered Duan Mu special clothing that could adapt between Kishi and Reishi, while Duan Mu refused a more thorough examination.
• Urahara revealed that he had blocked Soul Society’s tracking of Duan Mu, prompting them to bargain over the clothing’s price and terms.
• Duan Mu agreed to provide blood and Reishi samples under a contract that barred Urahara from sharing the research or creating items to target him.
• Duan Mu recognized Kūkaku’s spiritual pressure as the contract’s witness, signed the agreement, and took the clothing into the back room.

After leaving Urahara Shop, Duan Mu searched Karakura Town for three people whose Reishi he had been hired to find, while a publicized mishap gave him an idea for gaining experience by increasing his exposure in Soul Society. He headed toward the last district, Nankawase, eager to finish the search and return to prepare books about Kido and healing arts.

• Urahara Kisuke explained to Yoruichi that Duan Mu's unusual body could conceal every outward trace of aura, and said he needed Duan Mu's trust for his research.
• Duan Mu regretted leaving without making friends with Yoruichi, then tested the disguising clothes Urahara had given him and received an alert about a nearby Hollow.
• Duan Mu let an excited young Shinigami handle the Hollow and searched Karakura Town for the three people, sensing a Quincy's spiritual pressure but finding none of his targets.
• Duan Mu saw that photos of his accidental naked appearance had spread online, and system notifications showed that hundreds of people had gained favorability toward him.
• Duan Mu decided that publishing Kido and healing-arts books with his name and photograph could increase his favorability in Soul Society, then hurried toward Nankawase to finish his commission.