Recaps

The Shinigami entered the cavern maze to rescue Yamamoto and reclaim their Zanpakuto. As the others went ahead, Unohana Retsu faced the approaching threat, revealing the terrifying killing intent behind her identity as Unohana Yachiru, Soul Society’s First Kenpachi.

• Muramasa sensed the Shinigami approaching and sent his gathered allies to welcome them.
• Shunsui Kyoraku, Ukitake Jushiro, and the others split up and entered the cavern through its two entrances.
• Unohana Retsu stayed outside as a blood-red mist and overwhelming Haki approached through the forest.
• Kurosaki Ichigo felt trapped by Unohana Retsu’s killing intent, then entered the cavern with Shunsui Kyoraku and Ukitake Jushiro.
• Yoruichi reflected that Unohana Retsu was the legendary Unohana Yachiru, whose centuries of slaughter had given her unmatched killing intent.

The Shinigami fought their manifested Zanpakuto and other opponents as they advanced through the limestone cave. Wu Biao confronted Unohana Retsu, whose bloodthirsty smile met his charge, and he launched a powerful punch at her.

• Madarame Ikkaku and Yumichika Ayasegawa encountered Hozukimaru and Lapis Peacock, and Ikkaku clashed with Hozukimaru.
• Ukitake Jushiro was pursued by two child Zanpakuto while Shunsui Kyoraku guarded against attacks from a masked girl and her motionless companion.
• Byakuya Kuchiki blocked Yoruichi and accused her of abandoning Soul Society, while Yoruichi teased him about his honor.
• Unohana Retsu revealed her true blade as Wu Biao raised Jubai Kanon Ken to a hundredfold.
• Wu Biao resisted Unohana Retsu's killing intent with Haki and drove his fist toward her.

Wu Biao and Unohana Retsu fought with growing excitement as she recognized him as a worthy opponent who might surpass Kenpachi Zaraki. The chapter ended as Wu Biao vowed to win and claim her, while Unohana Retsu raised her blade and prepared to answer him with her swordsmanship.

• Wu Biao's punch clashed with Unohana Retsu's curved blade, and the impact sent a destructive shockwave through the forest.
• Unohana Retsu and Wu Biao both suffered injuries, but Wu Biao charged at her again without retreating.
• Unohana Retsu recalled how Wu Biao's battle instinct and Haki had awakened her anticipation for a worthy fight.
• Wu Biao healed his right fist with Karmic fire, covered his arm in Hellfire, and declared that he would win and claim Unohana Retsu.
• Unohana Retsu readied her curved blade and prepared to use the swordsmanship she had forged from countless styles.

Wu Biao and Unohana Retsu fought a brutal duel, escalating from swordsmanship and martial arts to Unohana Retsu’s Bankai, Minazuki. After trading severe injuries and healing through their respective abilities, both reached a critical point as the battle continued.

• Unohana Retsu used her curved-blade swordsmanship to deflect Wu Biao’s punch and force him to counter with a precise seizing technique.
• Wu Biao and Unohana Retsu exchanged rapid attacks, suffering serious wounds that Wu Biao’s Hellfire and Unohana Retsu’s Healing Kidō repaired.
• Unohana Retsu activated Bankai, Minazuki, and the two resumed their clash with increased power and skill.
• Wu Biao let Unohana Retsu pierce his arm so he could dislocate her shoulder, then broke her wrist and struck her chest with an Aerial Triple Kick.
• Wu Biao and Unohana Retsu separated, both badly injured, while Wu Biao’s stamina neared its limit.

Wu Biao recovered from his berserk state and resumed his battle with Unohana Retsu, who unleashed her Bankai and fought him without restraint. The clash left Unohana badly injured and revealed that Wu Biao’s strength and recovery had become overwhelming.

• Unohana Retsu recognized Wu Biao’s fighting style as the kind of combat she had long pursued, while Wu Biao realized her healing had limits.
• Wu Biao said he had recovered and charged at Unohana, declaring that he intended to win and wanted her.
• Unohana unleashed her Bankai, turning the surroundings red with a sea of blood, and met Wu Biao in a fierce clash.
• Wu Biao blocked Unohana’s curved blade with a punch that destroyed his right arm, then caught the blade and struck at her again.
• Unohana blocked Wu Biao’s punch with her left arm, but the impact badly injured her and sent her staggering backward.
• Unohana healed herself with Kaido and recognized that she could not match Wu Biao’s strength head-on.

Unohana Retsu and Wu Biao fought fiercely until Wu Biao defeated her, then confessed that he wanted her as his partner. Unohana Retsu answered his declaration with a point-blank Shakkaho, while the author noted that the Zanpakuto Rampage arc had ended.

• Unohana Retsu shifted to swordsmanship and nearly killed Wu Biao with a pair of swift slashes.
• Unohana Retsu fired Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō at close range, and Wu Biao blocked it with a combined Kannonji-dan.
• Wu Biao used a flame-powered feint and whip kick, while Unohana Retsu countered with a slash that wounded him deeply.
• Wu Biao knocked Unohana Retsu's blade away and prepared to strike, but stopped to kiss the scar beneath her collarbone and say he wanted her.
• Unohana Retsu fired Shakkaho at Wu Biao, blasting him away after he called her his mating partner.

Kenpachi Zaraki and Kusajishi Yachiru arrived after Unohana Retsu had defeated Wu Biao, while flames erupted around the cavern and revealed Muramasa’s plan. The group learned Muramasa had likely escaped to the Human World, and Minazuki carried the wounded Wu Biao and Unohana back to the 4th Division.

• Kenpachi Zaraki and Kusajishi Yachiru reached the battlefield and found Unohana Retsu standing over the unconscious Wu Biao; Unohana admitted she had lost to him.
• Unohana sensed that Muramasa had used the captains and opened a Senkaimon to reach the Human World as flames surged from the cavern.
• Wu Biao mumbled in his sleep about sparring with Unohana, who kicked him away, then asked Kenpachi and Yachiru whether they had heard him.
• Kurosaki Ichigo emerged from the flames and asked whether Muramasa had escaped; Unohana said she had sensed a Senkaimon opening.
• Unohana released Minazuki, which swallowed Wu Biao and then Unohana before heading back to the 4th Division.

After the Zanpakuto rebellion ended, Wu Biao woke in the 4th Division’s General Relief Station and found himself sharing a room with Unohana Retsu. He kept provoking her with claims that she was his wife, while she threatened him into silence and arranged for him to get food.

• The Seireitei began rebuilding after the rebellion, while Byakuya Kuchiki served a month of house arrest and the divisions hunted the remaining Sword Beasts.
• Wu Biao woke at the 4th Division’s General Relief Station and demanded several buckets of rice.
• Wu Biao called Unohana Retsu his “wifey,” prompting her to attack him with Shakkahō and warn him not to use the name again.
• Unohana Retsu ordered Kotetsu Isane to bring Wu Biao food, then threatened to poison his supplies if he kept provoking her.
• Wu Biao complimented Unohana Retsu’s hair and scar, and she told him to get lost.

Wu Biao tried to avoid being sent back to the Human World, but Unohana Retsu and the 5th Division confronted him in the General Infirmary. He was blasted outside and bound by Hinamori Momo as the division prepared to take revenge.

• Kotetsu Isane told Wu Biao that his examinations were normal and ordered him to return to the Human World, but he pretended to be injured before admitting he would not leave.
• Unohana Retsu entered and challenged Wu Biao after he declared that he was staying to show how much he cared about his wife.
• A hidden attacker sent an Ice Dragon at Wu Biao, and he stopped it with Hellfire before Unohana Retsu slashed at him and fired Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Raihō.
• The blast sent Wu Biao through the General Infirmary wall, where Hinamori Momo bound him with Bakudō #61: Rikujokoro amid a crowd of angry 5th Division members.
• Hinamori Momo called out Tobiume as the 5th Division prepared to attack Wu Biao.

Hinamori, Hitsugaya Tōshirō, and the 5th Division’s baldheads fought Wu Biao, but he easily overwhelmed them. Kurosaki Ichigo arrived to take Wu Biao back to the Human World after Hitsugaya asked him to bring the troublemaking substitute agent home.

• Hinamori and Hitsugaya Tōshirō attacked Wu Biao with Tobiume’s flames and an ice dragon, but he broke through both attacks.
• Unohana Retsu tried to ambush Wu Biao while he was trapped in ice, but he dodged her curved blade and complained that she was helping outsiders fight him.
• Hinamori led the 5th Division’s baldheads against Wu Biao, who knocked them down in a row; Hitsugaya caught Hinamori and stopped her from rejoining the fight.
• Hitsugaya told Unohana that he resented Wu Biao but was grateful that Momo’s anger toward him had helped her recover from Aizen Sosuke’s betrayal.
• Kurosaki Ichigo arrived because his mother had sent him to check on Wu Biao, and Hitsugaya asked him to take Wu Biao back to the Human World.

Wu Biao insisted he had won a fight despite spending ten days bedridden, while everyone at the Kurosaki household believed he had been badly beaten. After learning Kisuke Urahara had spread the story, Wu Biao left to confront him.

• Xia Li and Kurosaki Isshin scolded Wu Biao for lounging around watching cartoons and teased him about claiming he had a wife.
• Kurosaki Isshin brought up the rumor that Wu Biao had been beaten so badly he spent ten days in bed, and Wu Biao angrily insisted he had won.
• Sado Yasutora arrived with food and supplements, then asked Wu Biao how he was recovering from his supposed injuries.
• Uryu Ishida and Orihime Inoue visited and offered medical help, repeating that they had heard Wu Biao was bedridden for ten days.
• Orihime Inoue and Sado Yasutora said Kisuke Urahara had told them about the fight, so Wu Biao left to beat Urahara until he could not get out of bed for ten days.

Wu Biao complained about being summoned to another job by Hell, then traveled by train to Slope Town instead of rushing there with his own speed. He left the boy seated beside him bewildered by his threats, insults, and open defiance of the no-smoking sign.

• Wu Biao spent his days at the clinic, helping Ichigo fight Hollows and visiting Unohana Retsu, while Hell repeatedly urged him to take another assignment.
• Wu Biao finally agreed to go, said goodbye to Kurosaki Isshin and Kurosaki Masaki, and set off for Slope Town with the bank card Teacher Kanonji had given him.
• Wu Biao took the subway and asked a high-school-aged boy to point out Slope Town on the route map.
• The boy told Wu Biao that Slope Town was the terminal station and that the train ride would take half a day.
• Wu Biao offered the boy a cigarette, then lit one himself despite the no-smoking sign and said he could not read.

On a train bound for Slope Town, Wu Biao provoked a timid youth and exposed how the young man stayed silent unless he expected others to protect him. Wu Biao then attacked him and demanded that he prove he was not trash by hitting back.

• Wu Biao challenged the passengers after a woman rebuked him for smoking, then questioned the delicate-looking youth for objecting only because others were present.
• A train attendant warned Wu Biao that smoking was forbidden, and Wu Biao extinguished his cigarette and mocked the woman who had summoned the attendant.
• Wu Biao stopped the youth from leaving and revealed that he knew they were both headed to Slope Town.
• When Wu Biao called him trash, the youth shouted back, and Wu Biao challenged him to prove himself by punching him.
• Wu Biao struck the youth with a cigarette butt, kicked him to the floor, and dragged him up by the hair, demanding that he hit back.

Wu Biao protected Takeuchi Sosuke from a bully on the train and promised to keep him safe, but when Sosuke faced Kumakura Takashi and his gang at Slope Town station, Wu Biao had vanished. Sosuke was left alone in front of them.

• Wu Biao stopped an attendant from intervening when Takeuchi Sosuke stayed silent about being bullied, then kept Sosuke from leaving the train.
• Kumakura Takashi boarded the train and demanded money from Sosuke, but Wu Biao kicked him into the carriage wall and told Sosuke he would protect him.
• Kumakura Takashi threatened Sosuke and left, while Sosuke stayed beside Wu Biao until they reached Slope Town.
• Wu Biao encouraged Sosuke to walk out of the station toward Kumakura Takashi and more than a dozen delinquents waiting outside.
• Kumakura Takashi asked where the bald man was, and Sosuke turned to find Wu Biao gone.

Takeuchi Sosuke endured another beating and threats from Kumakura Takashi, then Wu Biao attacked him and rejected his plea for protection. Left alone in the alley, Sosuke blamed himself and his buried resentment deepened.

• Kumakura Takashi and his friends beat Takeuchi Sosuke and ordered him to refund the flower order money.
• Kumakura Takashi threatened to visit Sosuke's comatose sister, Aya, and told Sosuke to stay quiet and obey.
• Wu Biao arrived, kicked Sosuke, and said he did not deserve the protection Wu had promised his friends.
• Wu Biao left Sosuke in the garbage, and Sosuke's resentment grew as he wondered what would have happened if he had resisted.

Three years earlier in Slope Town, Takeuchi Sosuke tried to buy ice cream for his sister Aya but was cornered and beaten by Kumakura Takashi and his group. A patrol officer intervened, but days later Kumakura approached Sosuke again after school, leaving him afraid the bullying had resumed.

• Takeuchi Sosuke went to buy ice cream for Takeuchi Aya and encountered Kumakura Takashi and his classmates, who pressured him to come with them.
• Takeuchi Sosuke tried to refuse Kumakura Takashi, but the group dragged him into an alley and beat him.
• Takeuchi Aya and a patrol officer found the group, and the officer took Kumakura Takashi and the others away.
• Takeuchi Sosuke later learned Kumakura Takashi had been punished by his family, but Kumakura stopped him after school and called him a good friend.

Takeuchi Sosuke relived the trauma of failing to protect his sister Aya and spent three years blaming himself while she remained comatose. When Wu Biao arrived to take Aya’s soul, Sosuke found the resolve to stand between them, and Wu Biao left him one day to prepare to stop him.

• Kumakura Takashi attacked Takeuchi Sosuke and Aya in an alley, badly injuring Aya and leaving her comatose.
• Takeuchi Sosuke concealed what he had seen and endured three years of guilt as Aya remained unconscious in the hospital.
• Takeuchi Sosuke found Wu Biao beside Aya’s bed and charged at him, but Wu Biao struck him down.
• Wu Biao revealed he was a Shinigami who had come to guide Aya’s soul to Soul Society.
• Takeuchi Sosuke stood between Wu Biao and Aya and begged him to take his own soul instead.
• Wu Biao vanished after warning Takeuchi Sosuke that he would return at noon the next day to take Aya’s soul.

Takeuchi Sosuke tried to protect Aya from the Shinigami who had come to take her, but Kumakura Takashi forced him to leave the hospital and then beat him for refusing to buy alcohol. Sosuke finally fought back, driven by his resolve to stay beside Aya, while a brief passage introduced Hatoyama Kirin’s ambition to reach the realm above gods.

• Wu Biao cursed the sun and complained about Hell’s demand that he clear Aya out before going to find food.
• Takeuchi Sosuke remembered the Shinigami’s visit and resolved not to let Aya die, but Kumakura Takashi arrived at the hospital and made him leave to retrieve money.
• Takeuchi Sosuke collected the remaining refund for the flowers and took the money to Kumakura Takashi’s gathering place in a rundown factory.
• Kumakura Takashi demanded that Takeuchi Sosuke use the money to buy alcohol, then kicked and beat him when Sosuke insisted he had to return to Aya.
• Takeuchi Sosuke clung to Kumakura Takashi’s leg, rose despite the beating, and shoved him to the ground.
• Hatoyama Kirin wrote that he would end the world, beginning a legend marked by bloodshed, battles, and his pursuit of the realm above gods.

Takeuchi Sosuke fought Kumakura Takashi to avenge Aya, while Wu Biao killed Takashi and brought Sosuke to Aya’s hospital room. Aya woke and called Sosuke her brother, and the chapter ended with Wu Biao reflecting on Sosuke’s guilt and a memory of the day he failed to help her.

• Takeuchi Sosuke bit Kumakura Takashi and fought back fiercely, driven by guilt over failing to protect Aya.
• Wu Biao lifted Kumakura Takashi, judged that he could not repent, and burned him away with Hellfire.
• Takeuchi Sosuke punched Wu Biao, who retaliated before carrying him to Takeuchi Aya’s hospital room.
• Wu Biao placed his hand on Aya’s forehead, and she woke as Takeuchi Sosuke struggled helplessly nearby.
• Takeuchi Aya called Takeuchi Sosuke her brother, and her remaining miasma dispersed.
• Wu Biao reflected that Hell’s Will still judged Takeuchi Sosuke guilty, while a memory showed Aya had once told him to run.

After rescuing a little girl from a collapsing sinkhole, Wu Biao heard a mysterious voice calling from below and found an invisible sphere protected by a golden barrier. His Hellfire shattered it, releasing a powerful ghostly figure that escaped before he could catch it.

• Wu Biao left a Western restaurant after eating an enormous meal and headed toward the station.
• When the ground collapsed beneath a crowd, Wu Biao leaped into the sinkhole and rescued a little girl named Yayoi.
• Wu Biao heard a voice calling for help from the sinkhole and descended to investigate despite the crowd's warnings.
• At the bottom, Wu Biao found an invisible sphere surrounded by a golden barrier, and his Hellfire engulfed it.
• The sphere shattered, releasing a ghostly figure that fled, and Wu Biao chased after it but could not find it.

Aizen Sosuke questioned whether his growing power marked the end as he demonstrated it by crushing the Hueco Mundo desert. Wu Biao rejected Hell's offer to abandon the Three Realms, accepted that Hell's Will had sealed Hell away, and resolved to protect the life and people he had found in Soul Society.

• Aizen Sosuke created a vast palm-shaped sinkhole in Hueco Mundo and wondered whether this was the end.
• Five powerful beings discussed an aura that had transcended their world and begun interfering with the Soul King's laws, then set out to confront it.
• Wu Biao recalled refusing to flee into Hell and abandon his friends, family, and home in Soul Society.
• Wu Biao sensed that Hell's Will had sealed Hell off from the Three Realms and bid it farewell with gratitude.
• Yuzu Kurosaki called Wu Biao to eat, and he answered cheerfully before accepting Kurosaki Isshin's plain rice.

Kurosaki Ichigo returned home, and Wu Biao spent the day reconnecting with familiar people around Karakura Town before bringing Master Kanonji to the Kurosaki residence. During a card game, Yuzu, Xia Li, and Kanonji suddenly fell asleep, and Wu Biao's vision briefly blurred as Ichigo asked if it had begun.

• Kurosaki Ichigo returned to the Kurosaki residence, where the family and Wu Biao shared a lively dinner.
• Wu Biao wandered around Karakura Town, visited familiar places, and beat everyone at Sado Yasutora's boxing club before leaving.
• Wu Biao met Master Kanonji, who said Urahara Kisuke had invited him to Karakura Town to exorcise spirits.
• Wu Biao brought Master Kanonji to the Kurosaki residence, where everyone played cards together.
• Yuzu, Xia Li, and Master Kanonji suddenly collapsed, Kurosaki Ichigo asked if it had begun, and Wu Biao briefly saw the house disappear before his vision cleared.

The Gotei 13 and the Royal Guard gathered in a Research and Development Department model of Karakura Town, where Kurosaki Ichigo learned his father was the former Captain Isshin Shiba. The Royal Guard announced that Aizen Sosuke’s decisive battle would begin in three days, leaving Wu Biao and the others facing the scale of Aizen’s power.

• Wu Biao sensed that the city’s inhabitants had vanished, and Kurosaki Isshin explained that they were inside a model created through Urahara Kisuke’s dimensional transfer gate.
• Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni recognized Kurosaki Isshin as former Captain of the 10th Division and former head of the Shiba Clan, shocking Kurosaki Ichigo.
• The Gotei 13 captains assembled to welcome the Royal Guard, but Wu Biao demanded they be punished for smashing the model’s front door.
• A Royal Guard monk identified his group and told Wu Biao that Aizen Sosuke’s decisive battle would begin in three days.
• The Royal Guard described Aizen as a transcendent whose power surpassed their understanding.

Kurosaki Ichigo refused Oetsu Nimaiya’s offer to forge him a new Zanpakuto, choosing to keep the powers embodied by White Ichigo and Old Man Zangetsu. His inner world began to expand as the two powers accepted his choice, and Ichigo left determined to protect them as they had protected him.

• Oetsu Nimaiya explained that Ichigo’s Hollow, White, had become an Asauchi-like source for his Zanpakuto and urged him to replace it with a newly forged blade.
• Ichigo acknowledged that Old Man Zangetsu represented his Quincy powers but rejected the idea of abandoning either him or White Ichigo.
• Ichigo declared that the two powers were parts of himself and chose to keep his current Zanpakuto despite their instability and mutual suppression.
• White Ichigo and Old Man Zangetsu accepted Ichigo’s decision, and Ichigo’s inner world began to expand as they discussed rebuilding it.
• Oetsu warned that Ichigo’s blade would break if White Ichigo ever left him, but Ichigo vowed to protect White Ichigo in return.

After the Royal Guard rejected Kurosaki Ichigo, he chose to trust his own strength and train, while Wu Biao decided to risk entering the Kotsutotsu to grow strong enough to face Aizen. Urahara agreed to help despite the danger of temporal dislocation, and the others reluctantly accepted Wu Biao’s choice.

• Kurosaki Ichigo asked Wu Biao whether refusing the Royal Guard’s help had been the wrong choice, and Wu Biao encouraged him to trust his own strength.
• Kurosaki Isshin offered to train Ichigo in the Dangai, but Ichigo said he would instead practice combining his three powers as Old Man Zangetsu had taught him.
• Wu Biao recalled that someone in Hell had mentioned the Kotsutotsu as a way to strengthen his body, and Urahara Kisuke theorized that Wu Biao’s lack of spiritual pressure might let him enter it safely.
• Kurosaki Masaki, Isshin, and Urahara warned Wu Biao that the Kotsutotsu could cause fatal temporal dislocation, but Wu Biao insisted he needed the chance to become strong enough to face Aizen.
• Shihoin Yoruichi supported letting Wu Biao take the risk, and Urahara agreed to help him despite Masaki’s concern.