Chapter Summaries

Aizen shattered the barrier between the Royal Palace and Soul Society, then summoned the Espada while Urahara opened a Garganta for the Shinigami to return. As Aizen, Squad Zero, Yan Si’s allies, and Yhwach gathered before the sealed Soul King, Yamamoto urged Yan Si to become Captain-General of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.

• Aizen broke open the Royal Palace’s barrier, allowing the people of Soul Society to see the Palace and telling Yan Si he had fulfilled one of Yan Si’s wishes.
• Aizen summoned the Espada and revealed the sealed Soul King to them, while Tōsen reported that Baraggan, Grimmjow, Nnoitra, and Yammy had been defeated.
• Urahara used a Boundary-Breaking Orb to open a route through the Garganta, and Yamamoto ordered the Shinigami to return to Soul Society.
• Yhwach used Auswählen to drain the remaining Schutzstaffel members, then entered the Garganta and emerged in the Royal Palace square.
• Yamamoto left Squad Zero’s side, approached Yan Si, and told him he should become Captain-General of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.

Yan Si refused to become Captain-General, and Yamamoto prepared to hand the role to Kyōraku while ordering the Shinigami to drive out their enemies. As the Espada transformed and the battles began, Yan Si proposed that he and Kyōraku hold Ukitake’s division funeral first, leaving Kyōraku wondering what Yan Si intended.

• Gin, Byakuya, Hitsugaya, Hirako, and Kaien backed Yan Si as Captain-General, while several other captains remained uncommitted.
• Yan Si told Yamamoto he had made up his mind and would not become Captain-General, then suggested Kyōraku was a better choice.
• Yamamoto told Kyōraku to prove his strength and ordered the enemy driven from Soul Society; Aizen sent the Espada to attack.
• Nelliel, Harribel, and Zommari transformed into their Soul Jade forms and split off to face the Shinigami captains.
• Yoruichi confronted Nelliel, Byakuya and Hitsugaya chose Zommari, and Gin and Kaien chose Harribel.
• Yan Si asked Aizen to hold off Yhwach and proposed that he and Kyōraku hold Ukitake’s division funeral before the remaining battles, leaving Kyōraku suspicious of his plan.

Yan Si confronted Yhwach, rejected his promise of an immortal world, and killed him with a stroke of Sayafushi after writing that the blade would pierce Yhwach’s heart. Aizen remained opposed by Kyōraku Shunsui and the arriving Sajin Komamura, while the question of who would stabilize the Three Realms after Yhwach’s death remained unresolved.

• Kyōraku Shunsui agreed to keep others from interrupting Yan Si as he went to face Yhwach, then confronted Aizen and asked how he could be killed.
• Aizen claimed that his evolved form could not be killed because each death would make him stronger, and Kaname Tōsen moved to attack Kyōraku.
• Sajin Komamura charged at Kaname Tōsen, interrupting the confrontation with Kyōraku.
• Yhwach offered Yan Si an alliance to return the Three Realms to chaos, but Yan Si rejected his promise that everyone would become immortal and indestructible.
• Yan Si discovered that The Almighty could not see his future, then wrote that Sayafushi’s next thrust would pierce Yhwach’s heart.
• Yhwach attacked, and Yan Si’s Sayafushi pierced and destroyed his heart, killing him.

After Yan Si killed Yhwach, Squad Zero surrounded him and demanded the corpse for the Soul King. Yan Si rejected Ichibē Hyōsube’s claim to everything in Soul Society, and when Hyōsube attacked, Yan Si cut off his head.

• Yan Si’s single blow killed Yhwach, leaving the Shinigami and Espada stunned as they assessed the battle.
• Coyote Starrk and Ulquiorra prepared to support the battlefield and prevent further Espada losses, while Kyōraku Shunsui tried to keep Gin Ichimaru and the other Shinigami from attacking Squad Zero.
• Squad Zero surrounded Yan Si and requested Yhwach’s corpse; Kyōraku tried to defuse the tension, and Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō and Love Aikawa withdrew after Hirako Shinji reminded them to follow the Captain-General.
• Ichibē Hyōsube offered anything in Soul Society for the corpse, prompting Yan Si to challenge his claim over its people and refuse the trade.
• Hyōsube ordered Squad Zero to attack and charged Yan Si; the Four Divine Generals stayed out of the fight, and Yan Si decapitated Hyōsube with Sayafushi.

Yan Si questioned the Soul King and learned that he intended to go to Hell, then arranged for the Shinigami and Espada to withdraw before facing Aizen. The chapter ended with Yan Si telling Aizen their battle had already been over for a long time.

• Kyōraku Shunsui confirmed that Squad Zero's Four Divine Generals would not attack again, while Yan Si brought Yhwach's and Ichibē Hyōsube's bodies to the Soul King's seal.
• Yan Si challenged the silent Soul King to explain himself, and the Soul King revealed that Yhwach's body could free him so he could go to Hell, which he had once feared to face.
• The Soul King explained that Hell threatened to destroy the world and that a fallback still existed; Shinigami praised him, while Aizen questioned why he had waited until now.
• Yan Si arranged a one-on-one fight with Aizen, and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto made Kyōraku Shunsui Captain-General so he could lead the Shinigami withdrawal.
• Aizen sent the Espada back to Hueco Mundo, while Kaname Tōsen and Yoruichi stayed to watch; Yan Si and Aizen faced each other at Riden in the Royal Palace.
• Yan Si told Aizen that their battle had already been over long ago.

Yan Si used Future Slash to defeat Aizen and helped Urahara Kisuke and Kurotsuchi Mayuri seal him. He agreed to wait five years before going to Hell, then freed the Soul King and made Yhwach the Three Realms’ new linchpin.

• Yan Si explained that Aizen’s Kyōka Suigetsu remained within him, then revealed his Future Slash had already cut Aizen down in the future.
• Aizen’s attempt to cast Black Coffin failed when his hand and chest were slashed, and the Hogyoku began forcing him to evolve.
• Urahara Kisuke’s Spirit-Sealing Cloth and Kurotsuchi Mayuri’s Black Chair restrained Aizen, while Kaname Tōsen surrendered his Zanpakutō and accepted judgment.
• The Soul King asked Yan Si to give him five years before going to Hell and to awaken Ichigo Kurosaki’s power if he did not return; Yan Si agreed.
• Yan Si split the Soul King’s seal, placed Yhwach’s corpse inside to absorb the Soul King’s power, and resealed it, leaving Yhwach as the new linchpin of the Three Realms.

Yan Si reformed Squad Zero and explained his plans to restore the Three Realms’ soul cycle while changing how Soul Society treated the dead. After Kyōraku Shunsui became Captain-General and began reforms, Yan Si reunited with the Ninth Division and tasked Urahara and Kyōraku with studying the effects of the Soul King’s altered role and creating a passage for souls to return to nature.

• Yan Si reduced Squad Zero to two rotating guardians, made a new barracks from Ichibē Hyōsube’s corpse, and returned to Soul Society.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto handed the Captain-General position to Kyōraku Shunsui, who received approval for reforms to the Central 46 and laws governing trials.
• Yan Si told Yamamoto that separating the Three Realms would cause collapse and proposed restoring the flow of souls while allowing purified souls to return to nature.
• Kuchiki Byakuya announced that the Kuchiki family supported Kyōraku’s reforms, and Kyōraku postponed the trials of Aizen Sōsuke and Kaname Tōsen until the Central Court was reorganized.
• Yan Si reunited with the Ninth Division at a banquet, where Kyōraku, Hirako Shinji, and Urahara Kisuke joined him.
• Yan Si asked Urahara to study the changes caused by Yhwach becoming the Linchpin and asked Kyōraku to have the Research and Development Bureau create a passage for souls to return to nature.

Yan Si accepted Ichigo Kurosaki as his disciple and gave him a Silverblood Necklace to suppress his Quincy power so he could develop his other abilities. He began training Ichigo in a hidden Reishi space, while Yoruichi brought him an Asauchi and forced Yan Si to keep eating seafood.

• Ichigo borrowed Rukongai from Yan Si and asked him to teach him how to train, with Isshin Kurosaki kneeling alongside him in support.
• Yan Si accepted Ichigo as his disciple and gave him a Silverblood Necklace that suppressed his Quincy power and made souls harder for him to see.
• Yoruichi agreed to get Ichigo an Asauchi, and Ichigo left with Yan Si to train during the holiday.
• Yan Si showed Ichigo his Hollow power and told him that power was neither good nor evil, then bound him with Hollow power and left him to learn how to escape.
• Yoruichi returned with an Asauchi and seafood, stopped Yan Si from avoiding dinner, and made him eat a raw giant octopus.

Yan Si trained Ichigo to confront and control White, then revealed Ichigo’s Shinigami and Quincy heritage. He returned to Soul Society to bring Aizen and Kaname Tōsen before the newly established Central Court, where Aizen faced a trial judged by representatives of the people.

• Yan Si subdued Hollowfied Ichigo, forced White to address him as Master, and taught him to control his instincts.
• Ichigo remembered White’s actions, accepted his Hollow power, and resolved to master it; Yan Si told him Isshin was a Shinigami captain and Masaki was a Pure-Blood Quincy.
• Yan Si returned to Soul Society, where Tōshirō Hitsugaya told him Aizen Sōsuke and Kaname Tōsen’s trial would begin soon.
• Yan Si loosened Aizen’s restraints enough for him to speak and explained that Aizen’s growing power was outpacing the seals, though they would hold for three to five years.
• At the Central Court, Aizen listened as the judge presented the evidence against him, while Yan Si told Tōshirō that only the people could judge kings and gods.

After Aizen accepted a 3,000-year sentence and sought to join the Hell Investigation Corps, the captains met to discuss changes in Soul Society and preparations to explore Hell. Yan Si’s proposal to send the oldest and strongest members of all three realms passed, while Urahara’s discovery that Shinigami could have children left the captains confronting a profound change.

• Yan Si explained to Tōshirō that people had the right to judge kings and gods, and Kyōraku invited Yan Si to attend a captains’ meeting as the Human World’s representative.
• Song Hezheng announced that Aizen had accepted 3,000 years in Muken and requested to join the Hell Investigation Corps; Aizen offered to bring Espada from Hueco Mundo.
• Kurotsuchi Mayuri reported progress on a Rebirth Passage linking the three realms, and Urahara revealed that Shinigami had become a form of life capable of having children, citing Hisana Kuchiki’s pregnancy.
• Yan Si proposed that the oldest and strongest people from the three realms, including Yamamoto, Unohana Retsu, Chiziro, and at least three Espada, be selected to explore Hell; the captains approved the plan.
• Sajin Komamura objected to sending Yamamoto without his consent, but Kyōraku insisted every selection slot be filled, and the meeting ended.

Sajin Komamura failed to persuade Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto to let him take Yamamoto’s place in the Hell Investigation Corps, while Byakuya decided to join the expedition as a representative of the nobles. After Byakuya confronted Yan Si about avoiding the question of having children with Yoruichi, Yan Si let her choose, and she chose to have his child while asking him to return from Hell.

• Sajin Komamura asked Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto to let him join the Hell Investigation Corps in Yamamoto’s place, but Yamamoto refused and invited him to tea.
• Yan Si examined Hisana and confirmed that her unborn child was healthy and would have at least seventh-level spiritual pressure.
• Byakuya told Yan Si that he and Hisana had decided he would join the Hell Investigation Corps as a representative of the nobles, and Yan Si agreed.
• Byakuya challenged Yan Si for making decisions about the expedition without discussing them with Yoruichi, asking why Yan Si had no children.
• Yan Si visited Yoruichi and let her choose between joining him in Hell or having a child; Yoruichi chose to have his child and asked him to return safely.

Yan Si left Ichigo to guard Karakura Town, then joined the Hell Investigation Corps as it entered Hell to investigate the Soul King’s disappearance. After the expedition lost five noble representatives to Hell’s corruption, it encountered the first-generation captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, who faced Yamamoto on a cliff.

• Yan Si asked Ichigo, Orihime Inoue, and Yasutora Sado to run his bookstore while he was away, and Ichigo promised to protect Karakura Town and his family.
• Yan Si visited pregnant Yoruichi before attending the meeting where Kyōraku Shunsui formed a five-year Hell Investigation Corps from representatives of the Three Realms.
• At the Hill of the Twin Executions, the Corps opened the Gates of Hell using Ukitake Jūshirō’s body and entered, with Kyōraku remaining behind to lead a future expedition if they failed to return.
• In Hell, Yan Si and Aizen found they could not absorb or use the realm’s power, and five noble representatives were corrupted after one tried to absorb the red sand; Kenpachi Zaraki killed them when they attacked.
• The surviving expedition members heard a voice address Yamamoto and saw nine former captains standing on a distant cliff; Sasakibe identified them as the first-generation captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and his allies faced the First Generation captains, who revealed that Hell had made copies of them from its own power and their memories. As battles spread across the desert, Sasakibe realized the copies could not truly die and chose to stall his opponent while Yan Si considered how to destroy them.

• Yamamoto recognized the First Generation captains, and Shijima Chigiri told Unohana Retsu that they had killed the Soul King before attacking her.
• Obana Danjirō challenged Kenpachi Zaraki, while Saitō Furofushi fought Kuchiki Byakuya over his view of nobility.
• Yamamoto fought Furuoki Otogawa, beheaded him, and learned that the Hell-made copies could regenerate as long as Hell endured.
• Kumei Entetsu attacked the old nobles, while Shigyō no Butsuna intercepted Chōjirō Sasakibe and explained that the First Generation captains were bodies of Hell’s power bearing their memories.
• Shigyō no Butsuna knocked Sasakibe into the sand, but Sasakibe recovered and fought on to buy time; Yan Si concluded that they needed to destroy the seemingly indestructible copies.

Yan Si and Aizen concluded that Hell, rather than its endlessly resurrecting First Generation captains, was the true enemy, and they divided up the task of investigating its vastness. Chiziro Kenpachi headed east, killed five resurrected nobles who had once tormented him, and continued into Hell.

• Yan Si observed the First Generation captains repeatedly resurrecting without weakening and realized they had not used Bankai.
• Aizen told Yan Si that Hell was the real enemy, while Chiziro Sochika and Amatsuyu Takuru found that this world had no reishi for her to manipulate.
• Yan Si and Aizen chose to investigate north and south, while Chiziro Sochika set out east to explore Hell and assess its power.
• Five red-eyed nobles appeared before Chiziro Kenpachi and challenged him over their past score.
• Chiziro Kenpachi summoned Amatsuyu Takuru as his Zanpakutō and cut off all five nobles' heads with one stroke.
• Chiziro Kenpachi identified himself as the former captain of the Eleventh Division and continued east, promising Amatsuyu Takuru that he would not die in Hell.

Yan Si and Aizen recognized that the first-generation captains were blocking a route Hell wanted to keep hidden, so they sent Ulquiorra, Nelliel, and Szayelaporro to hold off their pursuers. As Szayelaporro drew Zenteiji Yūhin away, he prepared to investigate Hell on his own.

• Katori Batsu'unsai confronted Yan Si, and he deduced that Hell's forces were guarding a path it did not want them to take.
• Yan Si ordered Ulquiorra to stop Katori Batsu'unsai, and Ulquiorra fought her while drawing her away from Yan Si and Aizen.
• Nelliel intercepted Iwahara Kinroku and engaged him, clearing another route for Yan Si and Aizen.
• Ilfort Grantz split open his mouth and revealed Szayelaporro Granz, who introduced himself to Yan Si and Aizen.
• Zenteiji Yūhin attacked Szayelaporro, who tested his parasitic power before drawing Zenteiji away toward the rocks.
• Szayelaporro planned to study Hell and collect samples without reporting his findings to anyone.

Yan Si headed north through Hell while Ukitake Jūshirō held him back by fighting Kaname Tōsen. After traveling an immense distance, Yan Si found the Gates of Hell beneath a mountain’s black mud vortex.

• Yan Si counted the absent first-generation captains and realized that Shihoin Sennai was still alive but had only a dozen years left.
• Ukitake Jūshirō appeared, and Kaname Tōsen intercepted him so Yan Si could continue north toward Hell’s end.
• Ukitake controlled the pace of their duel and warned Kaname Tōsen that something at Hell’s end was beyond even the Soul King’s power.
• Yan Si sensed a disturbance, climbed a red mountain, and discovered the enormous Gates of Hell beneath a vortex of black mud.

Yan Si tested attacks against the Gates of Hell, forced them open, and was impaled and trapped before Aizen and Chiziro Kenpachi intervened. Chiziro revealed that the Soul King had escaped to another world and that Hell could only be defeated by wearing away its power, leaving Yan Si and Aizen to plan a sustained assault on everything in Hell.

• Yan Si tried Hadō, Cero, a Quincy arrow, and Soul Power against the Gates of Hell, then used the Soul Power Bead to clear the sludge and slashed the gates open with Sayafushi.
• A blade and chains emerged from the opening, pinning Yan Si and draining his power as he prepared to destroy part of his own body to escape.
• Aizen arrived and used Black Coffin barriers to hold back the chains, while Chiziro Kenpachi appeared and went to inspect a golden mark on the gate.
• Chiziro read the Soul King's message that he had escaped to another world, then declared that Hell's power had to be worn away before chains dragged him through the gate.
• Yan Si and Aizen cut away their trapped bodies and retreated, then concluded that destroying Hell's sand, rocks, dead branches, and other objects would gradually exhaust its power.
• Yan Si said he would notify the Expeditionary Force so they could keep destroying Hell until it lost all its power.

Five-year-old Yan Si Ming opened a Senkaimon to Soul Society to find his absent father, leaving his alcoholic mother asleep in the bookstore. After falling near Runlin An and eating at a ramen shop, he entered a tavern and was suddenly grabbed by an unseen woman.

• Yan Si Ming watched his mother, Yoruichi, sleep and decided to go to Soul Society to find his father.
• With a Hell Butterfly's help, Yan Si Ming opened a Senkaimon through the hot spring and jumped inside.
• Yan Si Ming fell into Soul Society near Runlin An, while Kyōraku Shunsui ordered the captains to patrol for the invading Ryoka.
• Yan Si Ming found a ramen shop, ate ten bowls of pork bone ramen with double chashu, and paid the shopkeeper three thousand yen per bowl.
• Yan Si Ming entered a tavern to ask about its fragrant smell, and an unseen woman pinned him down and called him cute.

Yan Si Ming fled through Seireitei while searching for his father, drawing the attention of several captains. Tōshirō Hitsugaya sheltered him from Soi Fon, then recognized him as his teacher’s child and welcomed him home.

• Rangiku Matsumoto and Rukia Kuchiki fought over Yan Si Ming, allowing him to escape with Flash Step.
• Yan Si Ming accidentally knocked Jidanbō Kanza unconscious, then raced into Seireitei after sensing his father nearby.
• Soi Fon chased Yan Si Ming, who rapidly mastered Flash Step and used Wind and Thunder Shunko to get away.
• Yan Si Ming hid in Tōshirō Hitsugaya’s room while Tōshirō turned Soi Fon away.
• Yan Si Ming told Tōshirō his name, and Tōshirō recognized him as his teacher’s child and said he was home.

Yan Si Ming reunited with Yoruichi’s allies in Soul Society and learned that the sealed gate to Hell had kept his father, Siwei Yan, from returning. After ten days of absorbing Reishi, Yan Si Ming opened a gate with one punch, and it began to open from the inside.

• Tōshirō started a banquet to protect Yan Si Ming from Soi Fon, and Gin Ichimaru joined him after recognizing Yan Si Ming as his nephew.
• Kyōraku Shunsui explained that the Gate of Hell had not appeared for the second investigation and that Siwei Yan might be unable to return; Yan Si Ming vowed to open the gate and bring his father back.
• Yoruichi arrived, scolded the others for feeding Yan Si Ming unhealthy food, and took him back into her care.
• Ten days later, Yan Si Ming used One Bone to shatter space at the Hill of the Twin Executions and summon a white gate resembling the Gates of Hell.
• The white gate opened from the inside.