Recaps

Yan Si uncovered the Tsunayashiro clan’s secret and gathered Soul King Fragments, while Aizen and Kyōka drove events toward Hollowfication and framed Yan Si and Urahara. The arc left Yan Si fighting the newly Hollowfied Visored in Zhonghe as Hirako watched.

• Aizen infiltrated the Research and Development Bureau disguised as Urahara, but Mayuri exposed him and led him toward a hidden passage.
• Yan Si returned to the Ninth Division, prepared a single-use Soul Jade, and encountered the aftermath of Kaien’s fight with Aaroniero during patrol.
• Aizen and Tōsen used Soul King power and Hollow energy to awaken Kyōka, who escaped his coffin and defeated Byakuya before fleeing.
• Yan Si entered the Tsunayashiro Safe House, where Tokinada revealed the nobles’ role in dismembering the Soul King and planned to replace him with Kūgo Ginjō.
• Yan Si killed Tokinada, collected Soul King Fragments, and escaped as Tokinada’s attempt to flee through a Senkaimon ended in an explosion.
• Mayuri made Consumable Soul Jades, and Kensei and Kyunnan Shiro swallowed them and became Hollowfied while Aizen, Tōsen, and Kyōka observed.
• Tōsen attacked the Visored, leaving them gravely wounded, and Urahara used the Hogyoku to stabilize them while Yan Si departed.
• Central 46 accused Yan Si of conspiring with Urahara, but Yan Si sensed the corpses and confronted Kyōka, then went to Zhonghe as the Visored awakened and attacked him.

Yan Si helped rebuild Soul Society, took on Tōshirō Hitsugaya as his disciple, and joined Kuroyashiki Kenpachi and Urahara Kisuke on an expedition to confront Aizen. The expedition reached Hueco Mundo, where Kuroyashiki battled Nnoitra and Starrk while Yan Si met Aizen at Las Noches.

• Yan Si defeated the Visored under his control, then helped them learn that Aizen had manipulated Seireitei and led them toward the hilltop confrontation.
• Aizen defeated the assembled Shinigami and Visored with Kyōka Suigetsu, then escaped to Hueco Mundo with Kaname Tōsen as Yamamoto and the others began reorganizing Soul Society.
• Yan Si was appointed captain of the Ninth Division and proposed a Court Security Guard Squad, while Gin Ichimaru and Kurotsuchi Mayuri received consideration for captaincies.
• Yan Si gave Mayuri a Soul Jade to awaken Kurayashiki Kenpachi, investigated how Shinigami could become human, and began a relationship with Yoruichi.
• Yan Si recruited Tōshirō Hitsugaya as his disciple and gave him Hyorinmaru, while Aizen transformed Nelliel into the third Espada and she established a peaceful palace for Hollows.
• Yamamoto sent Yan Si, Kurayashiki Kenpachi, and Urahara Kisuke to Hueco Mundo to investigate Aizen, and Yan Si left Enrakyōten for Tōshirō.
• At Las Noches, Kurayashiki fought Nnoitra and then Starrk, while Yan Si met Nelliel and sat down with Aizen as Tōsen went to confront Urahara.
• Yan Si told Aizen that the bones of Squad Zero formed the Ōken, and Aizen discussed how the Espada’s extreme emotions related to their power and evolution.

Yan Si prepared Soul Society for Aizen and the Wandenreich, then staged his death after fighting alongside Unohana and Zaraki in Muken. Living as a human with Yoruichi, he continued to work with Aizen and investigate the Quincy threat as Masaki Kurosaki and Isshin became involved in the coming conflict.

• Urahara Kisuke fled Kaname Tōsen in Las Noches, while Aizen revealed to Yan Si his plans to evolve through the Hogyoku and eventually attack Soul Society.
• Yan Si and Urahara rescued Kuroyashiki from Starrk, then Yan Si warned Soul Society’s leaders about Hueco Mundo’s growing strength and helped them prepare for Aizen and the Wandenreich.
• Yan Si pursued plans to strengthen the Shinigami, helped Tōshirō Hitsugaya graduate and awaken Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, and learned the Shiba family’s Humanization Technique.
• Yan Si gave Soul Jades to Byakuya and Mayuri, asked Urahara to make him a human body, and promised Yoruichi that he would leave Soul Society with her.
• In Muken, Yan Si fought Unohana and Zaraki, helped them evolve with Soul Jades, and secured their promise to delay their duel until after the Wandenreich was defeated.
• Yan Si’s staged death prompted Gin to attack Zaraki and Yoruichi to challenge Unohana, while Chiziro Kenpachi and Amatsuyu Takuru revealed that the apparent corpse was a puppet.
• Yan Si met Aizen in his bookstore after leaving Soul Society, and the two later agreed to become Transcendents and coordinate an attack on Yhwach when he reclaimed his power.
• Gin gave Rangiku a Soul Jade, Urahara went to protect Masaki Kurosaki, and Yan Si gave Masaki a protective charm and a story about Husky Bach as she grew closer to Isshin and Ryūken.

Yan Si helped redirect the war to Hueco Mundo, then led a group into the Royal Palace to confront Squad Zero and pursue the Hogyoku’s power. After creating a bead from Riden’s accumulated souls, he refused to absorb it and turned toward the Soul King, still intent on his original goal.

• Yan Si examined newborn Ichigo’s immense Reishi, but stopped himself from removing the boy’s power after the Soul King warned that Hell threatened the Three Realms.
• When Yhwach invaded, Yan Si helped arrange the battle in Hueco Mundo, where Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollows fought and several captains faced the Sternritter.
• Yan Si and his allies entered the Royal Palace, where Chiziro Kenpachi fought Hikifune Kirio, Yoruichi confronted Tenjirō Kirinji, Urahara battled Senjumaru Shutara, and Yan Si killed Ōetsu Nimaiya.
• Yan Si joined Aizen’s fight against Ichibē Hyōsube and explained that he had lured Yhwach to Hueco Mundo so the Quincy king could serve as a replacement for the Soul King.
• Aizen defeated Hyōsube and went toward the Soul King, while Yan Si inscribed the names of the souls used to build Riden and fused them into a bead called Future.
• Yan Si refused Hyōsube’s demand to absorb Future, then explained his ideas about Hell and proposed a squad funeral ceremony in a Valley of Screams to conceal the Three Realms temporarily.
• Yan Si set the discussion aside and walked toward the Soul King’s Riden, declaring that his goal had never changed.