Chapter Summaries

The invaders battled the Sternritter across the ruined Shadow Empire as Whitebeard, Ace, Kuzan, and Marco confronted their assigned opponents. The chapter ended with Kenma's reinforcements arriving through a spatial passage before Sengoku.

• Pepe Waccabrada used The Love on Whitebeard, but Whitebeard resisted the ability and killed him with his Guan Dao.
• Marco told Whitebeard that Ace had encountered Bazz-B and then flew to alert Kuzan about his own target.
• Ace confronted Bazz-B, and the two began a battle of flames after Ace offered him a chance to switch sides.
• Kuzan reached Jack's position and faced As Nödt and Driscoll Berci, while Jack withdrew with the Beasts Pirates.
• Marco confronted Askin Nakk Le Vaar, who revealed his Deathdealing Schrift, and Marco explained that his immortal body made him a suitable opponent.
• Kenma's follow-up forces arrived through a spatial passage before Sengoku.

Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha arrived with Ninja reinforcements to support Sengoku’s war against the Quincy, while Kenma went directly to the Quincy royal palace in Silbern. Kenma and his companions fought their way inside, but a distant sniper attack struck just as they searched for Yhwach’s corpse, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi realized Kenma had disappeared.

• Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha led Ninja reinforcements and supplies into the Shadow Empire, where Hashirama questioned the slaughter of the Quincy and Madara headed for the battlefield.
• Sengoku told Nobunaga that Kenma had gone alone to the Quincy royal palace, alarming both commanders.
• Shisui eliminated the Soldat guarding Silbern’s entrance, and Kenma entered the palace with Shisui and Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
• Kenma slaughtered waves of Quincy Soldat with Sukuna’s ability, leaving the group without a guide to Yhwach’s corpse.
• A distant sniper shot forced Kenma to dodge, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi noticed that Kenma was no longer beside them.

Kenma infiltrated Silbern, killed Lille Barro, and cut through the palace while Big Mom fought the Quincy girls. He reached the hall where Haschwalth was guarding Yhwach’s remains, leaving Haschwalth caught between approaching enemies.

• Lille Barro tried to snipe the invaders, but Kenma found him and severed his arms and chest.
• Kenma killed Lille Barro by cutting him down and destroying his body, while Mayuri Kurotsuchi collected the remains.
• Big Mom pursued a Quincy girl through the palace, and Kenma left the fight to her.
• Kenma used Lataib to slash through Silbern’s floors and roof, then rode Shisui’s Auspicious Clouds toward the highest floor.
• Haschwalth ordered his subordinates to take Yhwach’s remains and prepared to face the intruders, but a voice asked about the coffin as two figures rose from the fissure.

Kenma confronted Haschwalth beside Yhwach’s coffin, killed Haschwalth and the Quincy guards, then triggered Yhwach’s sudden awakening. The blast of power brought a tall Quincy to the scene with the dying Haschwalth, while Kaido and Gerard fought nearby.

• Kenma stopped Haschwalth from reaching Yhwach’s coffin, broke his sword, and offered him a chance to surrender.
• Haschwalth refused, so Kenma crippled him; when two Quincy women attacked, Kenma killed them and the other guards with his slashes.
• Kenma stabbed Haschwalth through the heart, but Yhwach’s coffin erupted with a powerful aura, and Kenma hurled Haschwalth and the coffin into a wall.
• Kenma ordered Shisui and Mayuri Kurotsuchi to leave, then destroyed the palace wall with repeated slashes.
• Kenma saw a tall Quincy holding the dying Haschwalth, while Kaido fought Gerard in the palace beyond.

Yhwach arrived as Haschwalth died, then faced Kenma in the hall while Kaido and Big Mom fought Gerard. Kenma sent Shisui and Mayuri Kurotsuchi away before unleashing his Bankai against Yhwach.

• Yhwach held Haschwalth as he died, then turned to face Kenma and the others in the hall.
• Kaido struck Gerard with Roaring Thunder Bagua, but Gerard recovered and grew larger through his Miracle.
• Big Mom arrived, said Perospero had dealt with the Quincy girls, and joined Kaido against Gerard.
• Big Mom blasted Gerard away with Ikoku Sovereignty, then she and Kaido pursued him while Kenma prepared to fight Yhwach.
• Kenma ordered Shisui and Mayuri Kurotsuchi to carry out their tasks, leaving him alone with Yhwach.
• Yhwach drew his blade and threatened Kenma, who answered by releasing Bankai.

Kenma used his Bankai to kill the impostor posing as Yhwach and learned that the real Yhwach’s body was hidden in a chamber beneath Silbern. As the invasion raged across the city, Shisui reported that his team had found the real Yhwach.

• Kenma released his Bankai, cut through the palace, and questioned whether his opponent was really Yhwach.
• Yhwach raised Sanctuary Benediction, but Kenma appeared inside the barrier and shattered it with a strike that tore away half his body.
• Kenma beheaded the dying impostor, recognized the disguised man’s true appearance, and destroyed the corpse to prevent his revival.
• Kenma contacted Shisui, who reported that Quincy had carried a coffin into a hidden chamber deep within Silbern.
• Kenma surveyed the burning city, sent King to support Nobunaga’s army, and received Shisui’s message that they had found Yhwach.

Shisui and Mayuri Kurotsuchi stormed the underground chamber where Quincy guarded Yhwach’s corpse, and Kenma arrived after they defeated them. When Shisui tested the corpse with his blade, Yhwach’s voice asked whether his younger brother intended to kill him.

• Shisui broke through the Quincy barrier and entered the underground chamber with Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
• Nianzol Weizol’s Schrift bent Shisui’s sword away, but Shisui’s Sharingan left Nianzol motionless while Mayuri prepared to take him for experiments.
• Shisui killed the Quincy attempting to open a transfer passage, interrupting their escape and defeating the remaining guards as Mayuri blocked their arrows with Kido.
• Kenma arrived, calmed Mayuri’s anger, and had Shisui open the coffin to reveal Yhwach’s seemingly lifeless body.
• After Shisui stabbed Yhwach’s heart, brain, and throat, Yhwach’s voice asked whether his younger brother was going to kill him.

Kenma destroyed Yhwach’s corpse after hearing its voice beg and claim they were brothers, then investigated a massive plateau that rose in Silbern. There, he found Gerard fighting Kaido and Big Mom, while Gremmy Thoumeaux introduced himself as the next Quincy opponent.

• Kenma heard Yhwach’s voice, but Shisui and Mayuri Kurotsuchi could not; Yhwach called Kenma his younger brother and pleaded with him to stop.
• Kenma erased Yhwach’s remains with a Zanpakuto slash, then promised Mayuri he could choose Quincy prisoners as replacement research subjects.
• A violent tremor shook Silbern, and Kenma learned that a huge plateau had risen in the city; he ordered the Onmitsukidō to keep hunting the remaining Quincy.
• Kenma and Shisui flew with Mayuri to the plateau, where they found Gerard Valkyrie facing exhausted Kaido and Big Mom.
• Gremmy Thoumeaux appeared beside Gerard, criticized him, and introduced himself to Kenma as The Visionary.

Askin reported that the Empire’s forces had been defeated, while Gerard and Gremmy clashed before Kenma and his allies. Kenma revealed that he had destroyed Yhwach’s corpse, and as the Quincy attacked, Whitebeard and Marco arrived while Kaido and Big Mom countered Gremmy’s falling mountain.

• Gremmy trapped Gerard with iron pillars, but Gerard broke free before Askin intervened and reported that most of the Empire’s forces were dead or had surrendered.
• Kenma, Kaido, Big Mom, Shisui, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi drank wine while Gerard and Gremmy watched, and Kenma offered the three Quincy a chance to switch sides.
• Kenma told the Quincy that he had destroyed Yhwach’s corpse, prompting Gerard, Askin, and Gremmy to prepare to attack.
• Whitebeard struck Gerard with his Tremor-Tremor Fruit power, while Marco charged through Askin’s poison arrows and knocked him back.
• Gremmy dropped a huge mountain toward Kenma, but Kaido and Big Mom struck it together with Conquest of the Sea and shattered it.

Gremmy fought Garp, Akainu, Hashirama, and Madara while Kenma coordinated the final battles against the remaining Quincy forces. Sengoku reported that victory was certain, with over a thousand soldiers wounded, more than four hundred dead, and nearly twelve hundred Quincy prisoners captured.

• Gremmy was delighted to discover powerful opponents, but Garp struck and injured him before Akainu, Hashirama, and Madara surrounded him and began their attack.
• Kenma sent Big Mom and Kaido to help Whitebeard fight Gerard, and he dispatched Mayuri to assist Marco against Askin.
• Sengoku reported that resistance in the city had been crushed and that Shimazu and Yoichi had been injured but remained active.
• Sengoku told Kenma that more than a thousand soldiers had been wounded, over four hundred had died, and nearly twelve hundred Quincy prisoners had been captured.
• Sengoku listed captured Sternritter, including survivors defeated by Big Mom, Kuzan, Garp, and Hashirama, then handed Kenma a document with the remaining names.

After the battle against the Shadow Empire, Kenma learned that more than four hundred soldiers had died despite their contracts, and mourned the limits of his power to protect them. The last Sternritter fell, but Gremmy revealed that Haschwalth had escaped with Yhwach’s corpse, leaving Kenma to investigate whether some defeated enemies had been imaginary.

• Kenma reviewed the army’s casualties and learned that soldiers killed beyond the contracts’ limits could not be saved, then accepted responsibility for their sacrifices.
• Kenma watched as the towering giant and the poison user were defeated, then went with Sengoku and Shisui to the final battlefield.
• Akainu, Garp, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha defeated Gremmy, whose imagined body vanished and revealed a brain as his true form.
• Gremmy revealed that Haschwalth had taken Yhwach’s corpse and some Sternritter and escaped, then suggested that Askin and Gerard had been products of his imagination.
• Kenma ordered Sengoku to check the battle records for enemies who left no corpses and told everyone to keep the matter secret while announcing the army’s victory.

Kenma questioned the captured Sternritter after Gremmy's death revealed that Haschwalth might have escaped with Yhwach's corpse. Candice Catnipp confirmed Haschwalth had vanished without giving the Sternritter orders, and Kenma drew Kiritsugu to offer the prisoners a chance.

• Kenma ordered Sengoku and the army to search the Shadow Empire while keeping the barriers in place, and he had the prisoners brought to Silbern.
• Kenma confronted Mayuri Kurotsuchi about whether Gremmy's final words could be verified, then went to inspect the captured Sternritter.
• Shimazu Toyohisa urged the captured commanders to commit seppuku, but Kenma stopped him to question Driscoll Berci about Haschwalth's orders.
• When Driscoll refused to answer, Kenma killed him with a barrage of slashes, then threatened Candice Catnipp until she identified herself and spoke.
• Candice told Kenma that Haschwalth had given no orders and had disappeared, so Kenma inferred that Haschwalth had used the Sternritter as a distraction while escaping.
• Kenma promised the cooperative prisoners a chance, drew his Zanpakuto, and called, "Connect, Kiritsugu!"

Kenma traced Yhwach through a captured Quincy but Haschwalth blocked his search, then offered the defeated Sternritter a chance to surrender. He recounted Takahisa’s death and revealed that he had later killed the Shinigami who spared him, along with that man’s family.

• Kenma used a Quincy’s connection to Yhwach to search for him, but Haschwalth concealed Yhwach’s location.
• Kenma ordered the damaged robot taken to the Doctor for study and had the other Sternritter held for persuasion; Candice then declared that she and the others surrendered.
• Kenma rejected Shimazu Toyohisa’s claim that defeating the Quincy avenged Takahisa and withdrew to speak with Shisui.
• Kenma told Shisui that Takahisa had sacrificed himself to spare him when Shinigami came to purge souls, and that Kenma had joined the Shino Academy for power rather than revenge.
• Kenma revealed that he later killed the Shinigami who had spared him and sent the man’s family to their deaths as well.

After recounting his buried anger to Shisui, Kenma assessed the war’s losses and prepared to turn the Shadow Space into a base while pursuing the escaped Sternritter. With Sengoku and Nobunaga’s support, he approved a new system of government and took the title Underworld King, while declaring it only a step toward claiming the imperial throne in the Soul King Palace.

• Kenma confided his long-suppressed feelings to Shisui, who realized that his master trusted him more than Lady Yoruichi.
• Sengoku gave Kenma casualty figures showing that at least seven or eight Sternritter and Yhwach had escaped; Kenma ordered the Shadow Space sealed for ten days and further searches conducted outside it.
• Kenma told Sengoku to recruit the Quincy captives and use the Shadow Space as a headquarters, then heard Sengoku and Tsuru’s proposal for a system of ranks, offices, rewards, and punishments.
• Nobunaga backed Sengoku’s proposed system, and Kenma authorized him to put it into practice.
• Nobunaga proposed that Kenma take a grand royal title, and Kenma accepted the title Underworld King while saying he would later ascend the imperial throne.

Kenma told Yoruichi that Yamamoto Shigekuni had tried to inspect the Onmitsukidō, and she supported his plan to get even. After spending time with Yoruichi and their infant son, Tōichirō, Kenma went to the First Division and confronted Yamamoto during a captains' meeting, claiming the Gotei 13 might be up to something shady.

• Yoruichi sensed lingering killing intent on Kenma and pressed him until he explained Yamamoto's attempted inspection of the Onmitsukidō.
• Yoruichi soothed Tōichirō, and Kenma took his turn caring for the baby before the family settled down for the night.
• Kenma spotted a report about Yamamoto holding a captains' meeting and decided to retaliate by going to the First Division with Tobirama Senju.
• Shisui joined Kenma and Tobirama with a document, and the three forced their way past the First Division guards.
• Kenma accused the Gotei 13 of gathering for suspicious purposes, prompting Six Vehicle Kensei to challenge him before Yamamoto ordered Kensei to stand down.
• Yamamoto told Kenma that the Onmitsukidō needed Central 46's authorization to search the First Division and warned him not to cause trouble.

Kenma used a Central 46 order to search the First Division, forcing Yamamoto to accept the retaliation for his earlier surprise inspection of the Onmitsukidō. After the search found nothing, Yamamoto asked Kyōraku and Unohana to judge Kenma’s character, and Unohana recalled something that might explain Kyōraku’s lingering unease.

• The captains protested Kenma’s demand to search the First Division until Kyōraku calmed them, and Shisui presented Yamamoto with a valid Central 46 order.
• Kenma told Yamamoto that advance notice would have ruined the surprise inspection, making Yamamoto recognize that Kenma was returning the humiliation he had caused.
• Tobirama Senju required the captains to stay as witnesses, and Yamamoto allowed Kenma to search the First Division, where Kenma found no wrongdoing.
• After Kenma left, Yamamoto asked Kyōraku and Unohana to discuss Kenma, and both judged his retaliation consistent with having been wrongfully accused rather than harboring a guilty conscience.
• Kyōraku said Kenma’s power gave him reason to prefer stability, but admitted that something still felt wrong; Unohana then said she had recalled something.

Unohana Retsu persuaded Yamamoto Shigekuni and Kyōraku Shunsui to reconsider their distrust of Shikashuin Kenma, whose rise had threatened the Gotei 13’s power. Kyōraku concluded that Tsunayashiro Tokinada had manipulated the conflict between the Gotei 13 and the Onmitsukidō, but he had no evidence to prove it.

• Unohana Retsu argued that Kenma had a sense of right and wrong and had strengthened the Onmitsukidō as part of his duty, despite his personal ambitions.
• Yamamoto Shigekuni recognized that Kenma’s concentration of power and the Gotei 13’s loss of authority had fueled his suspicion and hostility.
• Kyōraku Shunsui observed that Kenma’s actions seemed to provoke a rift with the Gotei 13, and he suspected someone was using their hostility to create conflict.
• Yamamoto Shigekuni and Kyōraku discussed Ubuyashiki Sage’s help and the Tsunayashiro faction’s role in the dispute.
• Kyōraku concluded that Tsunayashiro Tokinada had encouraged Central 46 Sages to resist Kenma and driven the Gotei 13 and Onmitsukidō into conflict.
• Kyōraku suspected Tokinada had also arranged the deaths of his clan’s heirs during Kuchiki Kyoka’s rebellion, but he had no evidence to convict him.

Kenma met Gin Ichimaru and Aizen, who revealed a hidden research facility outside the Seireitei. The chapter ended with Kenma recognizing the blind man studying its equipment as Kaname Tosen.

• Kenma told Tobirama Senju and Shisui to maintain the appearance of conflict with the Gotei 13, and Tobirama advised against assassinating Kiryū Kirishiki before her promotion.
• Shisui sensed Gin Ichimaru’s Spiritual Pressure, and Kenma sent Tobirama Senju away before meeting Gin with Shisui.
• Gin Ichimaru pretended to offer himself as Kenma’s spy, but Aizen appeared and revealed that they had staged the offer as a joke.
• Aizen led Kenma, Shisui, and Gin Ichimaru out of the Seireitei to an abandoned village and opened a concealed underground research facility.
• Kenma entered the facility and recognized the blind researcher at its screens as Kaname Tosen.

Kenma visited Aizen’s secret facility, where Aizen showed him an unstable Shinigami Hollowification experiment powered by the Orb. After the subject died during an attempt to fire a Cero, Kenma took the experimental data and checked on the Orb before leaving with Shisui.

• Aizen introduced Kenma to Kaname Tosen as an ally and led him through the facility to view his experiments.
• Aizen showed Kenma a Hollowified Shinigami, explaining that he had used more than thirty Shinigami and that the subject was his only success so far.
• The Hollowified Shinigami used Sonído and began charging a Cero, but his unstable Spiritual Pressure collapsed, killing him and making his body disappear.
• Kenma accepted Aizen’s explanation, requested a copy of the experimental data, and promised to provide funding and materials for further experiments.
• Kenma asked about the Orb, and Aizen said it had enabled the Hollowification; Kenma inspected it and discussed cooperating on a plan to obtain another Orb.
• Kenma handed the documents to Shisui and left for Seireitei with him.

Shisui urged Kenma to kill Aizen Sosuke and take his orb, but Kenma refused because Aizen's contingencies could expose their plans and provoke an early war. Kenma then realized Shisui viewed the deaths caused by the experiments as a blessing for serving him, leaving Kenma unsettled before he took Shisui to Shadow Space.

• Shisui warned Kenma that Aizen Sosuke was dangerous and offered to kill him and seize the orb, but Kenma said only he could defeat Aizen and that doing so risked triggering war before they were ready.
• Kenma thought Shisui opposed Aizen's experiments out of pity for their victims, but Shisui said dying to advance Kenma's cause was fortunate for them.
• Kenma recognized Shisui's extreme devotion and questioned whether this was the true nature of the Uchiha Clan, then changed the subject.
• Kenma asked Shisui to summon Tobirama Senju, assigned Tobirama work for the afternoon, and headed with Shisui to the underground transfer hub.
• Kenma greeted Zephyr and entered Shadow Space with Shisui, where they found an empty expanse.