Chapter Summaries

Stark realized Aizen had abandoned the Arrancar as decoys and urged the Espada to flee to Hueco Mundo. With the captains secretly allowing their escape, the Arrancar entered Stark’s Garganta while Aizen continued toward the Soul King Palace.

• Kaname Tōsen emerged from Enma Kōrogi, transformed into a Hollow to buy Aizen time, and was ignored as Aizen ascended alone.
• Stark recognized that Aizen had discarded the Arrancar, opened a Garganta, and ordered the Espada to retreat to Hueco Mundo.
• Stark’s Ceros threatened Seireitei, so Jūshirō Ukitake used Bankai to redirect the blasts while the captains kept the Arrancar occupied.
• Grimmjow confirmed that Aizen had gone and rallied the Espada to escape, while Sajin Komamura stopped Kaname Tōsen from attacking Stark.
• Ukitake collapsed and the captains let Stark’s Ceros drive them back, allowing the Arrancar to flee through the Garganta as they watched Aizen’s progress toward the Soul King Palace.

Aizen used the King's Key and Goryūtenmetsu to smash through the Soul King Palace's barriers while the Gotei 13 watched from the Shin'ō Underground Great Prison. As Aizen neared his destination, Kirinjī Tenshirō learned of the attack and headed to Omotesandō.

• Aizen broke through the first barriers with the King's Key as the Gotei 13 gathered at the Shin'ō Underground Great Prison and watched him through Urahara Kisuke's Surveillance Spirit Bugs.
• Tsuna treated Yamamoto's injuries, and the captains debated whether to reach the Soul King Palace using Aizen's route or an imitation Tenchūren.
• Aizen summoned five colossal dragons with King's Key-enhanced Goryūtenmetsu and blasted enormous openings through the barriers, drawing the captains' criticism and excitement.
• Yamamoto explained that Zero Squad members had their bodies remade by the Soul King's power, making them far stronger than captains and possibly capable of shaking the world.
• Kirinjī Tenshirō heard that someone was attacking the Soul King Palace, learned that Zero Squad was gathering at Omotesandō, and flew there to see the commotion.

Aizen broke through Soul King Palace's barriers and confronted the Four Divine Generals, revealing a body that combined Bleach and Hollow powers. As the Soul King's Shield and Blade moved to capture him, Ōetsu became interested in forging him into a Zanpakuto.

• Kirinj, Ōetsu, Shutara Senjumaru, and Yachiru Unohana gathered at Omotesandō to watch Aizen's approach.
• Aizen blasted through the Seireitei-like outer wall and headed toward the Soul King's residence, ignoring the Four Divine Generals.
• Aizen provoked Yachiru Unohana by claiming he had injected Hollow power into Hiyori, and she struck him with her enlarged rice ladle without injuring him.
• Kirinj cut Aizen, but the wound rapidly healed; Kirinj noticed Hollow power in his body, while Ōetsu regarded him as ideal material for a Zanpakuto.
• Aizen fired White Lightning at Ōetsu, but the Soul King's Shield blocked it as the Soul King's Blade surrounded Aizen to capture him.

Ōetsu Nimaiya, Kirinjī Tenshirō, Shutara Senjumaru, and Yachiru Unohana coordinated their attacks against Aizen, breaking his Zanpakuto and removing his King's Key. When Aizen summoned a towering azure giant to escape Unohana’s cage, Tsuna recognized the battle as resembling Hashirama Senju versus Uchiha Madara.

• Ōetsu Nimaiya used Sayafushi to cut Aizen’s Zanpakuto in two, and Kirinjī Tenshirō and Shutara Senjumaru attacked him together.
• Senjumaru secretly stripped away Aizen’s King's Key, allowing Kirinjī to wound him and throw him into Yachiru Unohana’s tree cage.
• Yachiru Unohana shrank the cage around Aizen, but he summoned a towering azure giant that forced it to expand.
• Watching from the Central Underground Prison, Urahara Kisuke asked Tsuna about the technique Aizen had copied.
• Tsuna recognized the trees and giant as resembling Hashirama Senju versus Uchiha Madara, then claimed they were characters from manga he had invented.

Aizen fought Zero Squad at the Soul King Palace, using abilities enhanced by the Hogyoku to overwhelm several of its members. Just as he trapped Yachiru Unohana and began escaping her cage, the squad restored her to full health with Kirinj’s hot spring, undoing his hard-won progress.

• Susanoo shattered Yachiru Unohana’s Cage of Life and attacked her, but Kirinj and Ōetsu Nimaiya arrived in time to stop the strike with Sayafushi.
• Ōetsu Nimaiya realized Aizen had concealed his Zanpakuto within his body, and he, Kirinj, and Senjumaru launched a joint attack on Aizen.
• Aizen summoned imitations of Luffy, Naruto, and Ichigo to block the attack, then injured the three Zero Squad members and forced Yachiru Unohana to spend all her spiritual pressure sealing him in a cage.
• Aizen used Kurohitsugi against Yachiru Unohana, leaving her badly wounded while she trapped him in a dense cage of branches.
• Aizen cut an opening in the cage and saw Kirinj, Senjumaru, and Ōetsu Nimaiya unharmed; Kirinj healed Yachiru Unohana in the hot spring, restoring her completely.

Aizen overwhelmed Zero Squad with his fused Bleach and Hollow powers, killing Kirinjī Tenshirō and Ōetsu Nimaiya before Senjumaru and Yachiru Unohana trapped him in a reinforced canopy. As Yachiru Unohana began sealing the sphere, Aizen’s spiritual pressure surged and its transformed tip pierced her.

• Aizen transformed his Zanpakuto into a blood-red whip and used it to break out of Yachiru Unohana’s cage.
• Aizen bombarded Kirinjī Tenshirō with Kido and killed him before he could recover, then restrained Ōetsu Nimaiya and stabbed him after cutting off the hand holding Sayafushi.
• Senjumaru and Yachiru Unohana trapped Aizen inside a reinforced canopy that closed into a black sphere.
• Yachiru Unohana began sealing the sphere with her seeds, but Aizen’s spiritual pressure erupted and the sphere changed into a cone that pierced her body.

Aizen killed Yachiru Unohana and forced Senjumaru to break the Blood Oath Seal, unleashing her full power and Bankai. Senjumaru’s woven attacks failed to harm Aizen, and after he struck her down, she invoked the Blood Oath Cycle to summon Kirinjī Tenshirō.

• Aizen killed Yachiru Unohana, causing the combined dome technique to collapse and leaving Senjumaru alone.
• Senjumaru revealed that the deaths of the other Zero Squad members had broken the Blood Oath Seal and unleashed her full spiritual pressure.
• Senjumaru used her Bankai, Shatagarahai Shikura Tsuji, to draw Aizen into a weaving workshop and attack him with lightning, branches, and giant hammers.
• Aizen emerged unharmed from Senjumaru’s woven attacks and walked toward her loom.
• Aizen blasted a hole through Senjumaru’s chest, and she invoked the Blood Oath Cycle, Kirinjī Tenshirō.
• Senjumaru’s needle-and-thread pattern vanished from the Blood Oath Seal, and a hot spring bubble pattern appeared in its place.

Kirinjī Tenshirō used his Bankai to expose Aizen's illusions, strike him, and hold him in place. Yachiru Unohana then drew on the five Zero Division's Residences to bind Aizen, leaving him restrained for Ōetsu Nimaiya to face next.

• Kirinjī Tenshirō activated Vajra Vika and struck Aizen, but Aizen revealed that Kyoka Suigetsu had made the apparent hit an illusion.
• Kirinjī used Indra's Wrath to shatter Aizen's false images, then hurled him into a cliff with his vajra.
• Kirinjī called on Yachiru Unohana through Blood Oath Rotation while Aizen remained pinned and unable to escape the vajra.
• Yachiru Unohana used the power of the five Zero Division's Residences to overwhelm Aizen's spiritual pressure and wrap him in branches.
• Yachiru Unohana passed the next turn to Ōetsu Nimaiya, who was reserved to face Aizen.

Ōetsu Nimaiya brought Aizen to Phoenix Hall and began forging him into a Zanpakuto, using his five assistants to restrain and alter him. Aizen’s attempts to escape failed, and the observers in Central Underground Prison feared Ōetsu might be able to control Zanpakuto; the forging continued as Ōetsu anticipated a powerful new blade.

• Ōetsu Nimaiya took Aizen into Phoenix Hall and introduced the Nimaiya Royal Guard: Zeshi Noomi, Suijima Mera, Togawa Tokie, Hashihara Renka, and Tsumemiya Zaiko.
• The Royal Guard restrained Aizen while Ōetsu prepared to forge him, and observers including Sawada Tsunayoshi, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, and Urahara Kisuke discussed Ōetsu’s power and the history of Shin'uchi.
• Aizen tried to escape with Kyoka Suigetsu and Hollow power, but Hashihara Renka held him, Suijima Mera’s flames burned away his attack, and Tsumemiya Zaiko’s gauze sealed his Kido.
• Aizen launched Kyoka Suigetsu from his forehead at Ōetsu, but Ōetsu stripped the blade of its sharpness and kicked it back into Aizen before continuing to hammer him.
• Urahara Kisuke suspected Ōetsu could control Zanpakuto, and the observers worried that he might threaten all of Seireitei as Ōetsu continued forging Aizen.

Ōetsu Nimaiya's attempt to forge Aizen into a Zanpakuto left only the Hogyoku bead, as Aizen had fused with Kyoka Suigetsu and awakened his own Beyond Bankai. The chapter ended with Aizen taunting Ōetsu Nimaiya, who vowed to capture him again.

• Ōetsu Nimaiya tempered Aizen's unfinished Zanpakuto, but the blade vanished and only the Hogyoku bead remained.
• Tsuna spotted a fleeting black shadow on the surveillance screens and told Urahara Kisuke to save the footage, while insisting Aizen was unlikely to be dead.
• Hashihara Renka and the Royal Guard tried and failed to seize the bead, which Aizen revealed he could control.
• Aizen explained that he had entered the Hogyoku, fused it with Kyoka Suigetsu, and gained the power of his Beyond Bankai.
• Aizen explained that the fusion freed his abilities from Ōetsu Nimaiya's control over Zanpakuto, then mocked Ōetsu Nimaiya's threat to capture him again.

Aizen revealed his Beyond Bankai, Dreamlike Collapse, and used his evolved Kyoka Suigetsu to trap Ōetsu and Phoenix Hall in an illusion. As the captains watched through a surveillance bug, Aizen displayed his new form to the Seireitei and named it.

• Ōetsu manifested the Zanpakuto spirits throughout Phoenix Hall to draw Aizen out of the Hogyoku, and Aizen chose to emerge.
• Aizen transformed into his Beyond Bankai form, while Tsuna identified it and used his own power to stabilize Soul Society.
• Monk took notice of Aizen’s spiritual pressure, and Ōetsu summoned his personal guard’s tools before attacking Aizen in his true blacksmith form.
• Tsuna explained that Aizen’s fused Kyoka Suigetsu affected everyone around him, and the captains realized the image of Ōetsu fighting was an illusion.
• Aizen revealed that he had hypnotized Phoenix Hall and its Zanpakuto, then turned toward the surveillance bug and announced his Beyond Bankai’s name: Dreamlike Collapse.

Aizen reached the Soul King Palace and confronted the Monk, whose name-altering Zanpakuto challenged Aizen’s illusions and strength. As the Monk’s attacks took effect, Aizen realized that half his power had disappeared.

• Aizen burned Ōetsu Nimaiya’s Zero Division Residence and flew to the Inner Palace to claim the throne.
• Aizen confronted the Monk, who used Illusion to transform the palace and silenced Aizen when he spoke the Monk’s forbidden name.
• Aizen evaded the Monk’s Senri Touten Palm with Kyoka Suigetsu and created a new voice using the Hogyoku.
• The Monk countered Aizen’s illusions by writing “Reality” with Ichimonji, while Tsuna explained to the observers that the Zanpakuto could cut and rewrite names.
• Tsuna warned that the Monk could erase a person’s identity, and Yamamoto revealed that Ōetsu Nimaiya had once severed his connection to Ryūjin Jakka.
• The Monk’s Ichimonji shattered Aizen’s mirrored blade, and Aizen discovered that he had lost half his strength.

Monk used Ichimonji to weaken Aizen and strip names from his attacks and defenses, while Aizen drew on the Hogyoku to recover and fought back. The chapter ended as Monk unleashed the Invincible Great Killing Mausoleum and Aizen answered with Dream Shattering.

• Monk cut half of Aizen’s name with Ichimonji, weakening him, and struck him with Senri Touten Palm.
• Aizen defended against Monk’s attacks with Dankū and used Sōkatsui and Hundred Step Railing, but his weakened body hindered him.
• Aizen recovered strength through the Hogyoku, prompting Monk to reveal that Ichimonji could erase the names of whatever it touched.
• Monk stripped the names from Aizen’s attacks and mirror defenses, broke through his protection, and survived Aizen’s Kyoka Explosion using the Oken’s power.
• Aizen transformed the surrounding space into a black-violet domain, but Monk overpowered its darkness with the Invincible Great Killing Mausoleum.
• Aizen’s vertical eye opened, his spiritual pressure dyed his domain violet, and he unleashed Dream Shattering.

Monk defeated Aizen by using Ichimonji to erase his name and rename him Ant, then sent him crashing toward the Seireitei. Tsuna warned that Aizen’s fall could devastate the city, while trusting Aizen would find a way to escape his altered state.

• In the lower realm, Sasakibe restrained Renji and the other Bleach from investigating the battle, while Urahara sent new Surveillance Spirit Bugs toward the Soul King Palace.
• The surveillance feed showed that Monk and Aizen’s clash had destroyed nearby structures and left Monk injured, while Ichimonji’s ink had blackened half of Aizen and made him doubt his identity.
• Monk used White Brush Ichimonji to write Ant on Aizen, reducing his strength, then repeatedly stomped him through the barriers toward the Seireitei.
• Tsuna warned Yamamoto that Aizen’s impact could damage the Seireitei, so Yamamoto sent Kyōraku and Ukitake to intercept him and ordered Urahara to calculate the landing point.
• Ichigo asked whether Aizen would remain an ant, and Tsuna chose not to reveal that Orihime’s Soten Kisshun might undo the effect, trusting Aizen to resist it himself.

Aizen recovered his identity and power after Ichimonji stripped away his name, then returned to the Soul King Palace and forced Monk to unleash his full Soul King power. Their battle escalated into a clash between two giants as Tsuna contained its impact on the Soul Society.

• As Aizen fell through the barriers, Kyōraku and Ukitake prepared for his landing, and Kyōraku deliberately wounded his foot to make the Gotei 13 appear injured.
• Aizen found his reflection in a lake, remembered that he was Sosuke Aizen, and used Mirror Clarity to break Ichimonji's hold and destroy Monk's kick.
• Aizen returned to Monk, defeated his Lightning Dragon Slayer with Goryūtenmetsu, then enlarged himself through a series of mirrors and trapped Monk in a kaleidoscopic flower.
• Monk escaped Aizen's crushing attack by releasing his stored Soul King power into a colossal golden body, and the two began fighting hand-to-hand.
• Tsuna spread Rain Flame and Sedation across the Soul Society to contain the battle's shockwaves, while Yoruichi, Soi Fon, Yamamoto, and Ryūjin Jakka watched and discussed their strength.

Monk exploited impurities within the Hogyoku to activate Urahara Kisuke’s sealing Kido and gain the upper hand against Aizen. As Aizen struggled against the spikes emerging from his body, Monk prepared to send him toward the Soul King’s throne.

• Monk noticed that Aizen’s physical body was taking damage and attacked the Hogyoku emblem on his chest while avoiding Aizen’s ineffective blows.
• Monk used Ichimonji to raise the names of impurities inside the Hogyoku to the Hogyoku’s level, freeing Urahara Kisuke’s Kido to torment Aizen from within.
• Aizen tried to destroy the spikes growing out of his body, but they kept emerging and disrupted his attacks, allowing Monk to overpower him.
• Tsuna, Urahara Kisuke, Kensei, and Hirako discussed why the Kido had activated and whether Aizen or Monk would win without it.
• Urahara Kisuke and Yamamoto judged that Monk had the advantage, while Aizen struggled against his body’s spikes and Monk revealed a Hidden Character leading toward the Inner Palace.

Aizen fought Monk to reach the Soul King, but seeing the Soul King sealed and learning that his existence stabilized the Three Worlds shattered Aizen’s resolve. As the sealing Kido took hold, Aizen turned his thoughts toward Sawada Tsunayoshi, while Tsuna and the captains watched from afar.

• Aizen created numerous mirror images to distract Monk and rushed toward the Inner Palace, but Monk swept the images away and bound him before he could enter.
• Monk brought Aizen before the Soul King, who was sealed without limbs inside a crystal, and explained that the Soul King had willingly become the wedge stabilizing the Three Worlds.
• Aizen realized that removing the Soul King could destabilize the worlds and suspected Urahara Kisuke had known the truth, while Monk offered to make Aizen the next Soul King.
• Aizen gave up resisting, and the sealing Kido overwhelmed the Hogyoku and began wrapping his body; he realized Sawada Tsunayoshi had anticipated the danger of the Soul King Palace.
• As the seal covered him, Aizen resolved to question Sawada Tsunayoshi when he escaped, while Tsuna watched the unchanged surveillance screen from afar with Urahara Kisuke and the other captains.

Monk sealed Aizen, repaired the Soul King Palace, and revived the fallen members of Zero Squad. He prepared to take Aizen to Seireitei and confront the Gotei 13 over the security failure that let Aizen invade.

• Monk secured Aizen's seal and restored the curtain protecting the Soul King, while the Soul King's pupil moved behind it.
• Urahara shut down his surveillance equipment, and Yamamoto, Tsuna, Ichigo, and the others left the Soul King Palace.
• Monk used the Soul King's power to repair the palace and revive Ōetsu Nimaiya, Kirinjī Tenshirō, Shutara Senjumaru, and Yachiru Unohana.
• Monk explained that Aizen had transcended the fate Senjumaru had set for him and revealed that he had been sealed rather than killed.
• Senjumaru, Yachiru Unohana, and Kirinjī inspected Aizen's seal, and Monk announced that they would take him to Seireitei and settle the score with the Gotei 13.

Yamamoto and Tsuna prepared for Zero Squad’s descent and considered whether the Seireitei could resist them. As Zero Squad headed to the Seireitei, Monk revealed that they intended to capture Ichigo Kurosaki as a reserve Soul King candidate.

• Yamamoto told the captains that Zero Squad would soon descend and ordered Squad 12 and Urahara Kisuke to build a device to imprison Sosuke Aizen for a hundred years.
• Tsuna and Yamamoto assessed Zero Squad’s strength, while Yamamoto asked Tsuna to protect the captains if a clash broke out.
• Yamamoto ordered Kyōraku to move into the 1st Division as he applied to replace the Captain-Commander, then left to refine his coordination with Ryūjin Jakka.
• Monk sent the Tenchūren toward the Seireitei with Zero Squad and had Ōetsu give the others seals that could temporarily release their Blood Oath Seals.
• Monk revealed that Zero Squad planned to capture Ichigo Kurosaki as a reserve Soul King candidate while Aizen matured.

Zero Squad returned Aizen to the Seireitei, where Yamamoto resigned as Captain-Commander and named Shunsui Kyōraku as his successor. Monk then ordered the Gotei 13 to fabricate a charge and capture Ichigo Kurosaki, forcing Kyōraku to choose between obeying Zero Squad and siding with Sawada Tsunayoshi’s group.

• Monk brought Zero Squad and Aizen’s sealed frame to the Seireitei, where Yamamoto arranged for Kyōraku and Ukitake to escort Aizen to the Central Underground Prison.
• Senjumaru belittled Kurotsuchi Mayuri’s defenses while Zero Squad members exchanged familiar greetings with Unohana Retsu and Hirako.
• Monk accused Yamamoto and the Gotei 13 of failing to protect the court, but Yamamoto defended their actions and handed Monk his resignation as Captain-Commander.
• Yamamoto named Shunsui Kyōraku as his successor, and Monk accepted Kyōraku as the new Captain-Commander.
• Monk ordered Kyōraku to have the Gotei 13 capture Ichigo Kurosaki and invent a charge, leaving Kyōraku torn between obeying and standing with Sawada Tsunayoshi’s group.