Recaps

Siwei Yan denied visiting Zaraki District when Kyōraku Shunsui and Hirako Shinji questioned how vividly he had described it. After they warned that Captain Kurayashiki Kenpachi might seek out the Killer there, Yan Si realized the real monster could be in danger from Kurayashiki’s Bankai and tried to hide his alarm.

• Hirako Shinji and Kyōraku Shunsui challenged Siwei Yan to explain his detailed portrayal of Zaraki District.
• Yan Si claimed he had learned about the district from instructors and archives, then embellished the rumors with his imagination.
• Kyōraku and Hirako warned that the Eleventh Division might go to Zaraki District to find the Killer and fight him.
• Yan Si remembered that a real Killer was in Zaraki District and feared Kurayashiki Kenpachi might use his Bankai there.
• Yan Si concealed his concern, praised Kurayashiki, and urged the others to keep drinking.

Kurayashiki Kenpachi and Ashido entered Zaraki District to investigate its residents and the feared Demon said to rule it. They found the young man by an old well, and his empty eyes lit up when he saw Kurayashiki Kenpachi’s Haori.

• Kurayashiki Kenpachi and Ashido walked through Zaraki District, where Kurayashiki exposed a man hiding beneath debris who attacked him with a rusty blade and his teeth.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi questioned the man, who revealed that the Demon ruled Zaraki District and was often near an old well.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi and Ashido headed to the district’s center, with Kurayashiki suspecting the Demon might be a formidable fighter.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi and Ashido found a muscular young man sitting beside the old well with a serrated sword nearby.
• The young man raised his head, and his empty eyes lit up when he saw Kurayashiki Kenpachi’s Haori.

Kurayashiki Kenpachi recognized the young man as a fearsome opponent, though Ashido sensed little power in him. After the young man attacked for Kurayashiki’s Haori, Kurayashiki cut him down in one slash, leaving the captain stunned by how quickly the fight ended.

• Ashido judged the young man’s Reiatsu to be weak, but Kurayashiki Kenpachi insisted he was absurdly strong and prepared to fight.
• The young man fixated on Kurayashiki Kenpachi’s Haori and asked where he had gotten it.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi told the young man he could have the Haori if he killed him, while Ashido tried to object.
• The young man accepted and swung his Sawtoothed Long Sword at Kurayashiki Kenpachi.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi drew his Zanpakuto and cut the young man across the chest in a single slash, leaving him unconscious.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi stared in shock and disappointment as the young man collapsed.

Kurayashiki Kenpachi and Ashido left the wounded young man behind after Kenpachi’s unexpectedly easy victory, and Ashido urged his captain to get checked by the Fourth Division. Once they departed, more than a dozen figures, including the frail man Kenpachi had thrown aside, emerged from hiding and approached the unconscious youth with greedy intent.

• Ashido used Kaido to stop the young man’s bleeding and explained why Shinigami avoided killing powerful residents of the Zaraki District.
• Ashido led the disappointed Kurayashiki Kenpachi away, and suggested he visit the Fourth Division because his judgment of the young man’s strength seemed unusually mistaken.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi agreed to get examined by Captain Unohana, and the two hurried toward Seireitei.
• After they left, more than a dozen people emerged from hiding and watched the unconscious young man, including the frail man Kenpachi had thrown aside.

After recovering from his wound, Zaraki killed the Wandering Souls who tried to attack him and took in the pink-haired girl. He named her Yachiru and himself Zaraki, then headed toward Seireitei to find the men in white.

• A group of Wandering Souls led by the skinny man approached the unconscious Zaraki, hoping to kill him and claim his head.
• Yachiru warned the group that they would die, but the skinny man ignored her and turned toward Zaraki.
• Zaraki woke with his wound healed and killed the skinny man and the other Wandering Souls with a single flurry of cuts.
• Yachiru clung to Zaraki's trouser leg, and he invited her to come with him.
• Zaraki named the girl Yachiru and chose the name Zaraki for himself.
• Zaraki set off toward Seireitei with Yachiru on his shoulder, saying he would find the men in white.

Kurayashiki Kenpachi visited the Fourth Division for an examination and told Unohana Retsu about the young man he had encountered in Zaraki District. Unohana suggested they visit the author of The Killer in the Ninth Division, and she joined Kurayashiki and Ashido on the trip.

• Kurayashiki Kenpachi asked Unohana Retsu to examine him after his strange encounter in Zaraki District, and she found him in excellent health.
• Ashido explained that Kurayashiki had gone to Zaraki District after reading The Killer of Meteor City.
• Yamada Kiyonosuke suggested that the killer described in the book was a woman because the poem was signed 'Shu Hua.'
• Kurayashiki dismissed the idea that the killer could be a woman, and Unohana Retsu threatened him until he changed his mind.
• Unohana suggested asking the author, 'Zhi Ge,' about the book, and she proposed accompanying Kurayashiki and Ashido to the Ninth Division.

Siwei Yan rushed to write a poem to satisfy Kyunnan Shiro, who had come to demand the promised ending for Hell Girl. After the poem moved Kyunnan Shiro to tears, unexpected visitors from the Eleventh Division arrived, including a woman whose gaze terrified Yan Si.

• Siwei Yan remembered his promise to provide a conclusion for Hell Girl and hurriedly wrote a poem while Kyunnan Shiro threatened to break down his door.
• Kyunnan Shiro read the poem, burst into tears, and ran back to his room with the manuscript.
• Siwei Yan persuaded Kensei Muguruma to leave Kyunnan Shiro alone, and Kensei lectured Yan Si about keeping up with his training.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi arrived at the Ninth Division barracks with Ashido and an unnamed woman in a Captain's Haori.
• Siwei Yan met the woman's gaze and feared that he was doomed.

Siwei Yan tried to prepare for a private meeting with Unohana Retsu and Kurayashiki Kenpachi, guessing they had come because of his novel Killer. Kensei Muguruma protected him from a public interrogation, but the chapter ended with Unohana asking him to sit beside the captains.

• Kensei Muguruma welcomed Unohana Retsu and Kurayashiki Kenpachi, who said they wanted to question Fifth Seat Yan Si.
• Kensei Muguruma invited the captains to the side hall and sent Yan Si to fetch the division's finest tea, quietly warning him to think about why they had come.
• Yan Si guessed that Kurayashiki Kenpachi had visited Zaraki District searching for the killer from his novel, and planned to dismiss the story as fiction while denying any connection to Unohana Retsu.
• Yan Si served tea to the captains and stood behind Kensei Muguruma, who asked him to sit with them.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi agreed that Yan Si should join the private discussion, and Unohana Retsu gently insisted that he sit.

Yan Si faced questions from Unohana Retsu and Kurayashiki Kenpachi about his novel, The Killer of Meteor City, while concealing the real inspiration behind it. Unohana then pressed him for his inspirations and plans for a second volume, beginning the interrogation Yan Si feared.

• Kensei Muguruma reassured Yan Si that the captains had come to discuss his book and urged him to answer honestly.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi described encountering a powerful young man in Zaraki District and said he lacked the atmosphere of the Killer in the novel.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi asked whether Shu Hua was a woman, and Yan Si evaded the question by calling Shu Hua a symbol born from Meteor City.
• Unohana Retsu and Kurayashiki Kenpachi commented that they would have liked Shu Hua to be a powerful woman worth fighting.
• Unohana Retsu asked Yan Si where he got his inspiration and what direction a second volume would take.

Yan Si convinced Kensei Muguruma that his novel Killer reflected the lives of souls in Rukongai, though he suspected Unohana Retsu remained unconvinced. When Kurayashiki Kenpachi offered him a chance to observe battles in the Human World for writing material, Kensei ordered Yan Si to go with the Eleventh Division.

• Yan Si explained that Shu Hua symbolized dangerous beauty and resilient souls struggling to survive in the latter half of Rukongai.
• Kensei praised Yan Si's explanation and said he would report the need to pay more attention to the Wandering Souls there.
• Unohana Retsu complimented the meaning of Shu Hua's name and encouraged Yan Si to continue writing, while Yan Si suspected she did not believe him.
• Yan Si complained that his division duties left him without firsthand experience of combat and human nature under extreme circumstances.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi invited Yan Si to accompany the Eleventh Division to the Human World to observe battles against Hollows.
• Kensei Muguruma ordered Yan Si to join the Eleventh Division for several days of observation and study.

Siwei Yan tried to avoid being sent to the Human World, but Kensei Muguruma refused to change his decision. Kyunnan Shiro gave Yan a pair of supposed strength-enhancing gloves, and Yan realized too late that Shiro’s own strength—not the gloves—was what made him powerful.

• Siwei Yan argued that his work and a large contribution to the division’s funds made him indispensable, but Kyunnan Shiro kicked him into a wall for insulting him.
• Yan claimed he was too frail to face the Human World’s warfare and fainted at the sight of blood, so Kyunnan Shiro gave him his old “Glove of Great Strength.”
• Yan punched a wall while wearing the gloves and injured his fist, and Kensei Muguruma pointed out that Shiro’s strength likely came from himself rather than the gloves.
• Kensei Muguruma ordered Yan to hand over his duties and prepare for the Human World within two days, with the Eleventh Division accompanying him for safety.

Before departing for the Human World with the Eleventh Division, Yan Si warned Urahara Kisuke that the battlefield’s mass deaths could attract a Great Hollow and asked for protection. Urahara gave him a prototype Substitution Wood Talisman, leaving Yan Si better prepared for the mission.

• Yan Si visited Urahara Kisuke’s laboratory and asked for a reliable way to survive the Human World mission.
• Yan Si explained that widespread deaths and distressed souls could draw huge numbers of Hollows and possibly a Great Hollow.
• Urahara Kisuke accepted the danger was real and retrieved a prototype Substitution Wood Talisman from a hidden compartment.
• Urahara Kisuke explained that the talisman could swap Yan Si with a location where it had been placed, up to nine hundred meters away, but caused dizziness and nausea.
• Yan Si took the talisman, promised Urahara Kisuke another two hundred thousand rings in investment if he returned safely, and left the laboratory.

Yan Si prepared for the Eleventh Division’s Human World mission and tried to coax Yoruichi into lending him a powerful Heavenly Armament, but she calmly agreed to his other requests instead. After he left, Yoruichi considered traveling to the Human World herself.

• Yan Si learned from Kensei that the mission was a routine large-scale Soul Burial support operation, then secured experimental tools from Urahara by exaggerating the danger.
• Yan Si met Yoruichi and pretended he might die on the mission, asking her to burn offerings for him and look after a stray cat.
• Yoruichi agreed to burn offerings for a hundred years, care for the cat, and publish Yan Si’s unfinished novel, but she offered no Heavenly Armament.
• Yan Si gave up on getting equipment from Yoruichi and returned to the Ninth Division barracks to prepare for the mission.
• Yoruichi watched Yan Si leave and considered using the Shihoin Clan’s methods to travel to the Human World for fun.

Siwei Yan joined a joint Thirteenth and Eleventh Division mission to the Human World, where Sarugaki Hiyori demonstrated an improved Senkaimon. After praising her work and signing her books, Yan entered the gate as the Shinigami prepared to follow.

• Siwei Yan arrived at the meeting point and saw Shiba Kaien and Ashido preparing the Thirteenth and Eleventh Division groups for the mission.
• Sarugaki Hiyori activated the newly improved Senkaimon, which could remain stable for an hour.
• Siwei Yan praised the improvement's safety benefits, prompting the gathered Shinigami to applaud Hiyori.
• Sarugaki Hiyori asked Siwei Yan to autograph The Boy and Killer, and he signed both books.
• Sarugaki Hiyori urged the Shinigami to conserve spiritual power, and Siwei Yan entered the Senkaimon.

Siwei Yan arrived at a vast battlefield where newly dead souls resumed fighting and risked becoming Hollows, while the Thirteenth and Eleventh Divisions struggled to contain the chaos. After demonstrating his Kidō skill and letting Ashido join the fight, Yan noticed two white-clad figures performing a strange ritual and moved toward them.

• Siwei Yan and the Shinigami arrived on a battlefield where souls fought each other and their fragile Chains of Fate snapped soon after death.
• Shiba Kaien ordered the Thirteenth Division to guide souls toward Soul Burial while Hollows emerged through cracks in the air.
• Kurayashiki Kenpachi and the Eleventh Division charged the Hollows, while Ashido stayed with Yan to protect him under orders.
• Yan used an incantationless White Ray to destroy a soul about to become a Hollow, convincing Ashido that he could protect himself.
• Ashido joined the battle, and Yan spotted two white-clad figures handling a dead soldier’s Chain of Fate and quietly approached them.

Yan Si stopped two Oda family Onmyoji from forcibly tearing open dead soldiers’ Chains of Fate to turn them into Oni Warriors, and performed Soul Burial on the soldiers. The Onmyoji claimed their work had approval from powerful contacts in Soul Society, leaving Yan Si to suspect that Shinigami were secretly interfering in the Human World’s war.

• Yan Si saw two Onmyoji prying at the dead soldiers’ Chains of Fate and ordered them to let the souls go.
• The Onmyoji claimed the soldiers had served the Oda family and were meant to become Oni Warriors.
• Yan Si purified the soldiers’ souls with Soul Burial, sending them toward Soul Society.
• The goateed Onmyoji accused Yan Si of disrupting their work and claimed Lord Oda had permission from people in Soul Society to collect battlefield souls.
• Yan Si questioned whether Shinigami were secretly allowing humans to alter souls and return them to battle.

Yan Si confronted two Onmyoji who hinted that powerful figures had allowed humans to exploit souls, then used a newborn Hollow to expose their vulnerability. Shiba Kaien arrived after the Hollow killed them, leaving the truth behind the scheme unresolved.

• Yan Si questioned the Onmyoji about whom they were working with, but the goateed Onmyoji warned him to stay out of the matter.
• Yan Si found a newly transformed Hollow on the battlefield and used Bakudō #8: Repulse to send it toward the two Onmyoji.
• The Onmyoji attacked the Hollow with Spirit Pellets, but it seized them and bit off both their heads.
• Yan Si destroyed the Hollow with a bolt of lightning, arriving too late to save the Onmyoji.
• Shiba Kaien appeared, surveyed the scene, and Yan Si addressed him as Third Seat Kaien.

Yan Si noticed that the Hollows kept pouring through rifts that should have closed, despite the decline in human deaths and new souls. He alerted Vice-Captain Ashido, who reported the anomaly and requested technical support and reinforcements.

• Shiba Kaien reminded Yan Si that protecting living humans from Hollows was part of the Shinigami's duty, and Yan Si returned to the battlefield.
• Yan Si performed Soul Burial and destroyed Hollows while noticing that the number of Hollows did not decline as the human fighting subsided.
• Yan Si realized that more than a dozen spatial rifts had remained open and continued producing Hollows abnormally long.
• Yan Si told Vice-Captain Ashido about the persistent rifts and the disproportionate number of Hollows emerging from them.
• Ashido confirmed the rifts were abnormal and used a communications device to request technical analysis and prepare reinforcements.

Yan Si helped hold back the endless Hollows while the Shinigami waited for reinforcements, using modified Kidō to kill and immobilize large groups of enemies. Shiba Kaien challenged Yan Si over his earlier failure to save two Onmyoji, but Yan Si defended his contributions and went to assist Ashido.

• Ashido said reinforcements would take at least thirty minutes, then charged into the sky to fight Hollows emerging from the rifts.
• Yan Si joined Ashido in the air and intercepted Hollows while the human armies withdrew after suffering heavy casualties.
• Yan Si used Chain Lightning Pattern to pierce and kill nine Hollows, astonishing Shiba Kaien and the soldiers who witnessed it.
• Shiba Kaien confronted Yan Si about failing to save two Onmyoji, but Yan Si ignored him and cast Veil of Frost and Silence to slow Hollows across several hundred meters.
• Yan Si told Shiba Kaien that his contributions had been greater, then flew to help Ashido as Shiba ordered the soldiers to attack the frozen Hollows.

Yan Si and Ashido struggled to hold back the Hollows while Kurayashiki Kenpachi stayed on the ground as bait to draw their attacks. The separate rifts merged into a vast passage, from which an enormous masked Hollow began to emerge.

• Yan Si urged Ashido to regroup with the others, but Ashido stayed in the air to defend against the Hollows pouring from the rifts.
• Yan Si noticed Hollows concentrating around Kurayashiki Kenpachi and learned that the captain used Spirit Bait to keep their attacks focused on him.
• Ashido told Yan Si that the Shinigami had no Reiatsu Restriction Seals for the mission because the battlefield was already devastated.
• A massive Reiatsu burst from the sky and disrupted Ashido's control of Reishi, so Yan Si caught and steadied him.
• The rifts fused into one enormous passage, and an immense pale bone mask appeared in its darkness.

A gigantic Great Hollow emerged through a rift in the sky and overwhelmed the battlefield with its Reiatsu, but Kuroyashiki Kenpachi destroyed it with one slash. The Shinigami began recovering and clearing the area, while Yan Si noticed that the rift remained open.

• A Great Hollow forced its way through the sky rift, crushing weaker Shinigami and Hollows with its Reiatsu.
• Yan Si landed beside Kuroyashiki Kenpachi with Ashido, and Shiba Kaien struggled to understand why Yan Si was unaffected by the pressure.
• Kuroyashiki Kenpachi cut down the Great Hollow with a single Reiatsu slash, and its body crumbled into Reishi.
• Kuroyashiki Kenpachi ordered Ashido to lead the survivors in clearing the area as the Shinigami celebrated their survival.
• Yan Si watched the sky and saw that the rift had not closed.

The Shinigami fought to contain the open rift as more Great Hollows emerged, while reinforcements arrived to support the battle. As the Hollows were cleared, Hirako Shinji watched Siwei Yan and Aizen Sōsuke closely and noticed them moving toward the rift.

• A second Great Hollow emerged from the rift, and Kurayashiki Kenpachi killed it with a single slash.
• Hirako Shinji and Hikifune Kirio arrived with reinforcements, and Hikifune assigned the Fifth Division to support the fight and the Twelfth Division to handle the rift.
• Aizen Sōsuke urged Hirako to help the embattled Thirteenth and Eleventh Divisions, while Hirako joined the cleanup of ordinary Hollows.
• Siwei Yan moved around the battlefield, persuading exhausted Shinigami to leave the front line and rest as Fourth Division medics treated the wounded.
• Hirako noticed Aizen and Siwei Yan separately finishing rescues and heading toward the rift, and watched Siwei gaze up at it.

After the battle, Siwei Yan and Aizen Sōsuke discussed the meaning of the fallen soldiers’ convictions while Hirako Shinji secretly listened and searched for hidden implications. Aizen’s remark about a king watching sacrifices from safety left Hirako wondering whether Aizen wanted to challenge those in power.

• Hirako Shinji pretended to relax near Siwei Yan and Aizen Sōsuke while listening to their conversation.
• Division Members thanked Yan Si and Aizen for saving them and praised their accomplishments before leaving.
• Aizen and Yan Si discussed whether the human soldiers’ deaths had meaning if they died following convictions they believed in.
• Hirako interpreted their conversation as a veiled discussion about Shinigami, Soul Society, and the existing order.
• Aizen pointed out that a king remained safely beyond the battlefield, prompting Hirako to suspect Aizen might want to overthrow those above him.

After the battle, Yan Si tried to avoid getting caught between Aizen and Hirako Shinji as they probed one another with veiled hints. Hirako revealed that a commoner was about to join the Kuchiki family, and Aizen accepted an invitation to attend the ceremony in Sixth Division.

• Yan Si realized Aizen had deliberately let Hirako overhear misleading comments about Nobles and the king, then tried to leave through the Senkaimon.
• Hirako stopped Yan Si, invited him for a drink, and hinted that the rescued squad members might become loyal readers of Yan Si’s new book.
• Hirako asked whether Yan Si wanted to become a Noble, and Yan Si denied having such ambitions.
• Hirako revealed that a commoner was about to take the name Kuchiki and said the captains would attend the ceremony in Sixth Division.
• Yan Si asked whether Aizen wanted to approach the upper Nobles, and Aizen said he welcomed the chance to learn about them.
• Hirako invited Aizen to the ceremony, and Yan Si slipped away through the Senkaimon while Hirako watched him and Aizen.

Siwei Yan returned to the Ninth Division barracks after a dangerous mission, where Kyunnan Shiro nearly choked him while worrying about him. Kensei Muguruma granted Yan three days of leave but ordered him to accompany him to the Kuchiki family, leaving Yan's hopes for a longer rest dashed.

• Kyunnan Shiro rushed at Siwei Yan and shook him until Kensei Muguruma intervened and stopped him.
• Kensei Muguruma praised Yan's performance against the Hollows and approved three days of leave.
• Yan pretended he had hidden injuries and tried to bargain for more time off, but Kensei refused.
• Kensei told Yan he would accompany him to the Kuchiki family on the morning of the fourth day.
• Yan protested that his noble gentleman persona was only for promoting his novels, and Yamagane Tetsu overheard him calling him a minor noble.
• Kensei ended the discussion, carried Kyunnan Shiro away, and left Yan in the courtyard lamenting his fate.