Chapter Summaries

Azer confronted Soi Fon as he set out to investigate the Ryoka and the anomalies surrounding Soul Society, then defeated her in a close-quarters exchange without revealing his full strength. He left Soi Fon with a clue that a black cat among the Ryoka might be the person she had long been searching for.

• Azer told Soi Fon he intended to investigate the Repentance Palace, Central 46 Chambers, or the Ryoka, while Soi Fon ordered him to return and warned him against challenging Soul Society's order.
• Azer provoked Soi Fon by bringing up Shihoin, and she attacked him in anger.
• Azer and Soi Fon fought at high speed, but Azer used an illusion to get behind her and restrained her before she could draw her Zanpakuto.
• Soi Fon stopped the Execution Force from attacking Azer, and he said he would not blindly obey others before leaving.
• Azer told Soi Fon that a black cat among the Ryoka might be the person she had been searching for, and she withdrew her forces as someone began searching for the Ryoka.

Azer confronted Aizen Sōsuke in the 5th Division barracks, accusing him of orchestrating past conspiracies and attacking him to settle an old score. After Azer appeared to stab and kill Aizen before the division’s Shinigami, he sensed that the figure was an illusion and realized Aizen had escaped.

• Azer visited Aizen Sōsuke and revealed that he knew about Urahara Kisuke, the Visored, and Aizen’s role in several conspiracies.
• Azer said he had come to settle an old score and attacked Aizen, but an unseen weapon and a counterstrike disrupted his first assault.
• Azer appeared on the ceiling and fired Destructive Art 63: Thunder Roar Cannon, destroying the captain’s office and drawing the 5th Division’s Shinigami.
• Azer held a bloodied Aizen aloft and let the Shinigami believe he had stabbed their captain, but he recognized the scene as a trick.
• Azer sensed Aizen’s presence fading and concluded that Aizen had escaped as more Shinigami gathered around him.

After Aizen Sōsuke’s death, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni ordered the captains to hunt Azer, while Central 46 moved Kuchiki Rukia’s execution forward to three days later. Shunsui Kyoraku and Jūshirō Ukitake suspected Azer knew the truth and set out to find him.

• Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni arrived at Aizen Sōsuke’s body and ordered the captains to capture Azer, setting aside the search for the Ryoka.
• Retsu Unohana asked to examine Aizen Sōsuke’s corpse, suspecting something was wrong with it, and Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni agreed.
• Chōjirō Sasakibe announced that Central 46 had moved Kuchiki Rukia’s execution to noon three days later at Sōkyoku Hill.
• Jūshirō Ukitake worried that there was too little time to save Kuchiki Rukia, while Shunsui Kyoraku suggested Azer might know the truth behind the events.
• Jūshirō Ukitake decided to find Azer and ask what he knew, and Shunsui Kyoraku went with him.

After Aizen Sōsuke’s death, the Seireitei ordered Azer’s capture and placed the Third Division under surveillance, while Hinamori Momo struggled to believe he was guilty. Searching for someone in the Seireitei, Azer encountered Ichigo and Yoruichi, who recognized him as an overwhelming threat.

• News spread that Azer had killed Aizen Sōsuke, the captains had been ordered to apprehend him, and Kuchiki Rukia’s execution had been moved forward.
• Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto took control of the Third Division barracks, and Hitsugaya confined Hinamori Momo there under the Captain-Commander’s orders.
• Hinamori recalled Azer’s suspicious foreknowledge of events and insisted on finding him, while Rangiku comforted her and believed he must have had a reason.
• Renji Abarai set out after hearing of Rukia’s accelerated execution, Kira Izuru doubted Azer’s guilt, and Soi Fon began tracking him.
• Azer sensed unusual Reiatsu and found Ichigo running through the Seireitei with Yoruichi in her black-cat form.
• Ichigo slashed at Azer, but Azer dodged easily, and Yoruichi warned Ichigo that the Third Division captain was too powerful to fight.

Azer overwhelmed Kurosaki Ichigo in a brutal fight, provoking him to grow stronger while explaining that his current power was nowhere near enough to save Rukia. When Azer pressed the attack, the black cat revealed captain-level Reiatsu and began transforming into its original form.

• Kurosaki Ichigo named himself and declared that he had come to save Rukia, then surged from roughly third- or fourth-seat strength to Vice-Captain level.
• Azer seized Kurosaki Ichigo, hurled him into a crater, and invited him to attack before nearby Shinigami arrived.
• Kurosaki Ichigo charged with Zangetsu, but Azer knocked the blade aside barehanded and explained the overwhelming difference in their Reiatsu.
• Azer pierced Kurosaki Ichigo's shoulder with White Lightning, threw him into the ground, and kicked him through a wall, leaving his Reiatsu extremely weak.
• Azer sensed the black cat's Reiatsu erupt to captain level, and the cat confronted him before beginning to transform into its original form.

Shihoin Yoruichi revealed herself to Azer and tried to take Kurosaki Ichigo away, but Azer stopped her with Shunpo that surpassed her own. Yoruichi was left stunned by his speed as they faced off.

• Shihoin Yoruichi transformed from a black cat into her human form and realized she was naked, then dressed and introduced herself as an exile rather than the Shihoin Clan Head.
• Azer questioned Yoruichi about Soi Fon and challenged her reason for entering the Seireitei with Kurosaki Ichigo and the other humans.
• Yoruichi declared that she would take Ichigo away and used Shunpo to appear behind Azer.
• Azer caught up with Yoruichi as she moved at full speed, then blocked her counterattack when she tried to kick him.
• Yoruichi acknowledged that Azer's Shunpo surpassed hers, while Azer explained that he had trained it for decades.

Azer and Shihoin Yoruichi fought over Kurosaki Ichigo, with Azer using his Black Furnace Magic Sword power and multiple Kidō to trap her. Before Azer could strike Yoruichi with Hado #73, Ichigo awakened Captain-class Reiatsu and attacked Azer, forcing him back in a fierce sword clash.

• Shihoin Yoruichi challenged Azer to let her take Kurosaki Ichigo, and Azer provoked her into trying to get past him by force.
• Azer and Shihoin Yoruichi fought at high speed; Yoruichi restrained Azer with kunai cords, but he burned through them using the Black Furnace Magic Sword's power.
• Azer trapped Yoruichi inside Inverted Mountain Crystal and bound her with several Bakudo before preparing to attack her with Hado #73: Double Lotus Blue Fire Fall.
• Kurosaki Ichigo awakened Captain-class Reiatsu, rose from the rubble, and charged at Azer as Yoruichi called out to him.
• Kurosaki Ichigo clashed swords with Azer and repeatedly struck with overwhelming force, driving Azer backward.

Azer overwhelmed Kurosaki Ichigo in a brutal swordfight, pushing him to unleash his hidden potential and Zangetsu’s Getsuga Tenshō. The attack clashed evenly with Azer’s golden Sword Pressure, and Ichigo collapsed unconscious as the ruined Seireitei trembled around them.

• Azer and Kurosaki Ichigo battered each other with powerful Reiatsu, destroying the buildings and ground around them.
• Azer took the offensive and taunted Ichigo about failing to save Kuchiki Rukia and protect his companions.
• Ichigo’s resolve surged, briefly materializing Zangetsu’s spirit and allowing him to unleash more of the Zanpakuto’s power.
• Ichigo discovered Zangetsu’s attack, Getsuga Tenshō, and fired a massive blue crescent of Reiatsu at Azer.
• Azer countered with golden Sword Pressure, and the two attacks canceled each other out after shaking the Seireitei.
• Exhausted, Ichigo lost consciousness and fell toward the ground.

After defeating Kurosaki Ichigo, Azer let Shihoin Yoruichi take him away to train in Bankai, then faced six captains sent to arrest him for killing Aizen Sōsuke. He openly admitted he had wanted to kill Aizen as Soi Fon ordered the captains to attack.

• Azer judged that Kurosaki Ichigo had reached captain-class strength and told Shihoin Yoruichi to train him in Bankai.
• Azer revealed that Kisuke Urahara had secretly helped Kurosaki Ichigo and the others, and warned Shihoin Yoruichi to leave before the captains arrived.
• Shihoin Yoruichi carried Kurosaki Ichigo away after thanking Azer and asking him to give Soi Fon her regards.
• Shunsui Kyoraku, Jūshirō Ukitake, Soi Fon, Komamura Sajin, Tōsen Kaname, and Gin Ichimaru surrounded Azer under orders to arrest him.
• Azer admitted to the captains that he had truly wanted to kill Aizen Sōsuke, and Soi Fon ordered the group to attack.

Azer fought six Captains after Soi Fon and the others attacked him, evading their strikes while Shunsui Kyoraku and Jūshirō Ukitake joined the battle. He unleashed a massive Sword Pressure attack, which the two Captains blocked with Dankū.

• Tōsen Kaname hypnotized Azer with Kiyomushi while Komamura Sajin struck him with Heavenly Punishment, but Azer blocked the giant blade.
• Soi Fon attacked Azer with Suzumebachi, but he stopped her thrust and recognized her intent to fight rather than escort him to the Captain-Commander.
• Tōsen Kaname, Komamura Sajin, Soi Fon, and Gin Ichimaru attacked Azer together, but he evaded their strikes with Shunpo and afterimages.
• Shunsui Kyoraku and Jūshirō Ukitake joined the fight, binding Azer with Bakudo and attacking him with a Hado slash.
• Azer unleashed his full golden Reiatsu to break free, then sent a sweeping Sword Pressure attack toward the Captains.
• Shunsui Kyoraku and Jūshirō Ukitake used Bakudo #81: Dankū to block Azer's Sword Pressure in a thunderous collision.

Azer fought off six captains in Soul Society, escaped their combined attack, and concealed himself above the clouds. As scorching Reiatsu arrived and the confrontation’s climax drew near, he wondered whether he could find Aizen before Kurosaki Ichigo returned from Bankai training and decided to seek out Abarai.

• The captains’ barrier began to crack under Azer’s Sword Pressure, so Jūshirō Ukitake released Sogyo no Kotowari and reflected the attack back at him.
• Shunsui Kyoraku released Katen Kyōkotsu and sent whirlwinds at Azer while Ukitake absorbed and returned Azer’s Hado.
• Soi Fon restrained Azer as the captains’ combined Zanpakuto attacks struck him, but they found only an empty opening leading into the sewers.
• All six captains entered the sewers to pursue Azer, unaware that he had escaped into the sky with a wound on his left hand.
• Azer withdrew his wings, calmed his dissatisfied Zanpakuto, sensed the approaching Reiatsu, and decided to seek out Abarai before the coming climax.

Renji Abarai found Azer at the Shinigami Academy and demanded answers about Rukia's impending execution and Azer's killing of Captain Aizen. Azer revealed that Urahara Kisuke had hidden a powerful object inside Rukia, leaving Renji stunned and Azer irritated by Renji's suspicion that he had tried to take advantage of her.

• Renji Abarai searched the Seireitei through the night, then followed his instincts to the Shinigami Academy and found Azer waiting in the swordsmanship hall.
• Renji Abarai asked Azer why he had killed Captain Aizen, but admitted he did not know what to do about Rukia's execution or Azer's wanted status.
• Azer told Renji Abarai that Rukia would have faced disaster even without Kurosaki Ichigo because someone wanted an object hidden inside her body.
• Azer explained that Urahara Kisuke had placed the object inside Rukia to keep it from the mastermind behind the Hollowfication experiments, and said he had tried to remove it in the prison.
• Renji Abarai asked whether Azer had been trying to take advantage of Rukia, and Azer angrily kicked him over.

Azer explained to Renji Abarai that Aizen Sōsuke had manipulated Rukia’s execution to extract the object inside her and had escaped after faking his death. Azer planned to wait until the Sokyoku execution, while Renji resolved to save Rukia then.

• Azer told Renji that the Sokyoku was chosen to expose the object inside Rukia and revealed that the Central 46 Chambers had been eliminated and its verdict forged by Aizen Sōsuke.
• Azer explained that he had kept Aizen’s schemes secret to avoid falling into a trap and had attacked him because the object inside Rukia would force Aizen to act.
• Azer revealed that Aizen had faked his death and escaped, and said he would wait for Aizen to emerge rather than fight the Gotei 13.
• Renji said he would save Rukia, but Azer warned him that acting now would lead to an ambush.
• Azer told Renji that the day of the Sokyoku execution would be the best time to strike.

Azer and the Ryoka vanished while strange movements unsettled the Seireitei, and the day of Rukia’s execution arrived. As the Sokyoku prepared to kill her, Azer appeared at Sōkyoku Hill and addressed the assembled captains.

• Azer and the Ryoka remained missing as captains and vice-captains across the Seireitei behaved suspiciously, and the three-day wait ended with Rukia’s execution day.
• Enforcement officers brought Rukia to Sōkyoku Hill, where nine captains gathered to witness the execution; Rukia accepted her fate and said she had nothing to say.
• The executioners released the Sokyoku, which transformed into the flaming bird called the Destroyed Hatchling King.
• As Yamamoto ordered the execution, Azer climbed the steps to Sōkyoku Hill and announced that he had arrived.

Azer destroyed the Sokyoku with a fully chanted Hado #91 and challenged the gathered captains, while Renji Abarai intervened to save Rukia. Renji revealed that Azer had helped him master Bankai and faced Byakuya with his transformed Zanpakuto.

• Azer unleashed Hado #91: Thousand-Handed Heavens Piercing Light Cannon and destroyed Destroyed Hatchling King and the Sokyoku.
• Azer declared that the Sokyoku execution would no longer exist and asked the captains if they liked his reunion gift.
• Byakuya attacked Azer, but Azer parried his strike and told him to consider Rukia before acting.
• Renji Abarai appeared and challenged Byakuya, declaring that he had come to save Rukia.
• Renji revealed that Azer had trained him and helped him complete Bankai, then transformed Snake Tail Maru into Baboon King Snake Tail Maru.
• Renji sent his Bankai charging at Byakuya.

As Azer’s intervention threw the execution into chaos, captains and lieutenants split into opposing sides while several tried to protect him and Rukia. The chapter ended with Soi Fon and Shihoin Yoruichi beginning a deadly battle.

• Shunsui Kyoraku and Jūshirō Ukitake blocked Komamura Sajin and Tōsen Kaname, then fought them to keep them from interfering while they investigated Azer’s claims and sought to save Rukia.
• Tōshirō Hitsugaya stopped Gin Ichimaru from attacking Azer and fought his captain, choosing to support Hinamori Momo.
• The lieutenants joined the conflict as Nanao Ise fought Iba Tetsuzaemon, Kira Izuru fought Hisagi Shūhei, Rangiku Matsumoto stopped Ōmaeda Marechiyo, and Chōjirō Sasakibe blocked Hinamori Momo.
• Shihoin Yoruichi confronted Soi Fon, who drew her Zanpakuto and charged into battle.

Kurosaki Ichigo arrived at the execution stand with his friends and freed Rukia, but Kenpachi Zaraki challenged him as a terrifying Reiatsu closed in on Azer. Ichigo stayed behind to face Zaraki while the others escaped.

• Rukia urged Renji Abarai to flee from Byakuya Kuchiki, then recognized Kurosaki Ichigo when he appeared atop the execution stand.
• Ichigo reunited Rukia with Orihime Inoue, Uryū Ishida, and Chad Yasutora, freed her restraints, and ordered them to leave without him.
• Kenpachi Zaraki confronted Ichigo, ignoring the others and declaring that he had come to fight him.
• Ichigo acknowledged his earlier defeat by Azer and noticed a powerful, scorching Reiatsu approaching Azer.
• Zaraki said an enraged old man was closing in on Azer, while nearby captains and Vice-Captains paused their battles in awe.

At Sōkyoku Hill, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni confronted Azer over the Gotei 13’s widespread infighting and declared that he would punish him. Yamamoto released Ryūjin Jakka and attacked Azer, beginning their battle amid a vast inferno.

• Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni approached Azer and condemned the chaos caused by the Captains’ and Vice-Captains’ battles.
• Azer explained that he had expected Yamamoto to confront him and released his Reiatsu, which rivaled Yamamoto’s power.
• Yamamoto praised Azer’s strength but denounced his actions and prepared to teach him how a Captain should lead by example.
• Yamamoto drew his Zanpakuto, and Kenpachi Zaraki warned Kurosaki Ichigo to stay back from its flames.
• Yamamoto released Ryūjin Jakka and swung it at Azer, unleashing a towering tornado of fire across Sōkyoku Hill.

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni overwhelmed Azer with Ryūjin Jakka’s flames, forcing Azer to defend himself with advanced Kido and Shunpo. Azer finally met Yamamoto’s flames head-on, but only barely canceled the attack, leaving him facing the strongest Shinigami with renewed fighting spirit.

• Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni unleashed Torch Light, driving the other fighters away and scorching Azer inside the blazing tornado.
• Azer burst out of the flames, blocked Yamamoto’s attacks with Bakudo, and fired an incantation-free Hado #91 that Yamamoto burned away.
• Azer chained together three advanced Bakudo spells, but Yamamoto burned through them and struck Azer with a massive wave of flames.
• Azer used Shunpo to evade Yamamoto before colliding head-on with Ryūjin Jakka’s flames using golden Sword Pressure.
• Azer realized his strongest attack had only barely canceled Yamamoto’s blow, then let his fighting spirit rise.

Azer released his Zanpakuto, Heavenly Crown King, and wounded Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni with a strike powered by the combined force of every Zanpakuto. He then withstood Yamamoto’s flames and unleashed a rain of blades that began to destroy Sōkyoku Hill.

• Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni challenged Azer to release his Zanpakuto, and Azer awakened Heavenly Crown King amid golden Reiatsu and countless phantom weapons.
• Azer struck Yamamoto with the gathered power of every Zanpakuto, blasting him into the Execution Stand and making him cough blood.
• Azer explained that Heavenly Crown King could combine the power of all Zanpakuto for attacks and defense, though it did not grant their special abilities.
• Yamamoto attacked Azer with Ryūjin Jakka’s flames, but Azer’s Arrow Blade Matrix blocked them with an endless array of weapons.
• Azer used Arrow Blade Domain Kill to rain countless Zanpakuto upon Yamamoto, forcing the others to flee as Sōkyoku Hill crumbled.