Chapter Summaries

Aizen revealed his ambition to replace the Spirit King as Yamamoto and the captains moved to stop him, while Tōsen betrayed Komamura and joined Aizen. After Yamamoto’s flames forced Aizen into a direct confrontation with Nara Dan, Aizen raised a golden barrier around the training ground, leaving Yamamoto’s attack blocked.

• Yamamoto condemned Aizen’s plan and ordered the captains to restrain Gin Ichimaru while he fought Aizen.
• Tōsen stabbed Komamura, escaped Soi Fon’s attacks, and joined Aizen in the air.
• Kenpachi charged Aizen, but Aizen shattered his spiritual defense and stopped his counterattack with overwhelming pressure.
• Yamamoto fought Aizen evenly and unleashed Blazing Hell, engulfing him in flames.
• Aizen emerged from the fire and confronted Nara Dan, declaring that he would take him away.
• Yamamoto struck at Aizen, but a golden-yellow barrier rose around the training ground and blocked the slash.

Aizen trapped Nara Dan inside a barrier and pressed his advantage, but Nara Dan’s rapid healing kept him fighting until Aizen used an extended Hadō #90: Black Coffin. The chapter left Nara Dan impaled through his Soul Hammer as Aizen demanded that he reveal his trump card.

• Aizen revealed the powerful barrier he had prepared and challenged Nara Dan to surrender or fight while Head Captain Yamamoto tried to break through.
• Aizen repeatedly overpowered Nara Dan, who wounded him with Divine Gang: Clear and Turbid but was driven back by Aizen’s superior Spiritual Pressure and skill.
• Nara Dan’s wounds healed rapidly through Life Essence supplied by the World Tree, and he continued attacking without revealing his other abilities.
• The Gotei 13 attacked the barrier while Retsu Unohana kept Tōsen Kaname from intervening, leaving Aizen under pressure to finish the fight.
• Aizen cast Hadō #90: Black Coffin, strengthened it with an extended incantation, and pierced Nara Dan through the Soul Hammer after the spell ended.
• Aizen taunted the gravely wounded Nara Dan and demanded that he reveal his trump card, saying Captain Unohana could not save him.

Nara Dan stopped Aizen’s escape through the Garganta, but Gin Ichimaru revealed that he had stayed behind and struck Aizen with the poison hidden in his Bankai. The chapter ended with Gin explaining the lethal effect of his attack as Aizen faced the threat.

• Nara Dan regenerated his wounds and Soul Hammer, convincing Aizen to abandon his attempt to capture him.
• The captains broke Aizen’s barrier, and Yamamoto’s flames were blocked by a Garganta that began carrying Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, and Tōsen Kaname away.
• Nara Dan used Chakra and space-time techniques to pull the Garganta back toward Soul Society, forcing Aizen to split it and send Tōsen ahead to Las Noches.
• Aizen prepared to leave the Garganta and confront the captains, but Gin Ichimaru stabbed him from behind with his supposedly shattered Zanpakutō.
• Gin explained that his Bankai could turn its blade to dust and restore it, leaving deadly cell-dissolving poison inside Aizen’s body.

Gin Ichimaru’s assassination attempt nearly destroyed Aizen, but the Hōgyoku awakened and restored him, allowing him to escape Gin and confront Genryūsai Yamamoto. Yamamoto revealed Zanka no Tachi and gravely wounded Aizen, who detonated the Hōgyoku to escape amid the destruction of Soul Society.

• Gin Ichimaru’s poison began dissolving Aizen, but Gin realized Aizen’s composure meant the assassination might fail and credited Nara Dan with restricting Aizen’s Illusion.
• The Hōgyoku awakened, countered the poison, and rebuilt Aizen’s damaged body with crystal-like material.
• Aizen killed Gin, crossed into Soul Society, and faced Genryūsai Yamamoto, who released his Bankai, Zanka no Tachi.
• Nara Dan assessed the immense power and costs of both Yamamoto’s Bankai and Aizen’s incomplete Hōgyoku while the two fought.
• Yamamoto’s battle with Aizen devastated a vast area of Soul Society, and Yamamoto eventually wounded Aizen with Zanka no Tachi.
• Aizen detonated the Hōgyoku; Yamamoto used his Shikai flames to contain the blast, giving Aizen the chance to escape.

After Aizen escaped gravely wounded, Head Captain Yamamoto summoned the captains to assign punishments and plan an expedition to Hueco Mundo. Nara Dan joined the expedition, while Kisuke Urahara and Shinji Hirako tried to understand why Aizen had abandoned the Hōgyoku and his Zanpakutō’s Illusion.

• Nara Dan and Jūshirō Ukitake discussed Dan’s new captaincy before a Stealth Force member summoned them to a Captain Meeting.
• Head Captain Yamamoto ordered Aizen hunted across the Three Realms and sent a special squad to Hueco Mundo to pursue Tōsen Kaname and restore the spiritual balance.
• Head Captain Yamamoto assigned Kenpachi Zaraki, Retsu Unohana, Byakuya Kuchiki, and Nara Dan to lead the Hueco Mundo expedition, giving Dan a chance to prove his loyalty.
• Head Captain Yamamoto sentenced Gin Ichimaru to two hundred years in prison and dropped the charges against the Shinigami exiled to the Human World after the Hollowfication Incident.
• Kisuke Urahara told Shinji Hirako and the others that Aizen had not taken the Hōgyoku and appeared to have been forced to abandon it, leaving them puzzled about his motives.

Nara Dan took office as Third Division Captain and learned that the Noble Council secretly hired divisions to handle nobles’ misconduct. Meanwhile, a powerless Aizen evaded a Hollow and two Soul Reapers searching for him, but remained stranded in the wasteland.

• Nara Dan arrived at the Third Division barracks, dismissed the formal welcome, and settled into the captain’s office.
• The former Third Division Third Seat explained the division’s support duties and how the Noble Council privately commissioned captains to clean up nobles’ affairs.
• Nara Dan found the Noble Council’s arrangement interesting and began his tenure as Third Division Captain.
• A powerless Aizen fled a Hollow in the wasteland and heard Soul Reapers searching for the wanted traitor.
• The Soul Reapers killed the Hollow, spotted Aizen’s footprints, and pursued them after alerting their teammates.
• Aizen appeared where the Soul Reapers had been and thought that using Illusion was still too much of a stretch.

Aizen escaped his pursuers by using his last Spiritual Power, then ate a Hollow to regain enough strength to survive. At the Third Division, Nara Dan appointed Kira Izuru Vice-Captain and arranged a challenge to settle the appointment, leaving Kira facing Fourth Seat Kitahara Kaiichi in a fight.

• Aizen, exhausted and badly injured, ate a low-level Hollow's corpse and vowed to return to fight Nara Dan.
• Nara Dan brought Kira Izuru to the Third Division and appointed him Vice-Captain, assigning the Third Seat to hand over the division's work.
• Nara Dan declined to pursue Aizen, refused the Noble Council's request to retrieve noble scions from the Human World, and learned that Captain Unohana wanted to see him.
• Nara Dan introduced Kira to the Third Division members and offered the Vice-Captain position to anyone who could defeat him.
• Fourth Seat Kitahara Kaiichi challenged Kira and released his Shikai, Shadow Spy, while Kira took a fighting stance and beckoned him forward.

Kira Izuru defeated Kitahara Kaiichi and became the Third Division's Vice-Captain under Nara Dan. Kenpachi Zaraki then barged in to demand their promised fight, and Nara Dan arrived at the Eleventh Division, where Ikkaku Madarame challenged him first.

• Kira Izuru endured Kitahara Kaiichi's hidden Clone Slash attacks, then caught his sword and knocked him unconscious with a punch.
• Nara Dan named Kira Izuru the Third Division's Vice-Captain, and Kira learned that Renji Abarai had been assigned to the Fifth Division.
• A Third Division member warned Nara Dan that Kenpachi Zaraki had broken in and demanded their promised fight.
• Nara Dan agreed to fight Kenpachi Zaraki at the Eleventh Division and left the Third Division with Shunpo.
• At the Eleventh Division, Ikkaku Madarame challenged Nara Dan before his fight with Kenpachi Zaraki, while another man reminded Ikkaku that Nara was their captain's guest and the Third Division Captain.

Nara Dan defeated Kenpachi Zaraki with a single enormous slash after Zaraki finally found his way to the Eleventh Division. The Head Captain summoned Nara Dan and, after praising him, ordered him to attack.

• Kenpachi Zaraki got lost on the way to the Eleventh Division, then carved a straight path there with a massive slash that damaged the division's barracks and food stores.
• Nara Dan accepted Zaraki's challenge and unleashed Heaven's Fall, sending Zaraki flying into the distance without seriously injuring him.
• Yachiru Kusajishi left to find Zaraki, while Nara Dan prepared to return to the Third Division.
• A Stealth Force member summoned Nara Dan to the First Division at the Head Captain's request.
• Genryūsai Yamamoto praised Nara Dan and told him to attack with everything he had.

Nara Dan demonstrated his Swordsmanship against Yamamoto Genryūsai, then agreed to teach at Shino Academy in exchange for a possible place in Zero Division, which he refused. He accepted a mission to the Human World to contact Shinji Hirako, Kisuke Urahara, and the others, but ended by proposing another condition for teaching.

• Yamamoto Genryūsai asked Nara Dan to demonstrate the slash he had used against Kenpachi Zaraki, so they fought high above Soul Society.
• Nara Dan unleashed Divine Gang and his Heaven-Defying Strike, while Yamamoto answered with his Bankai; the sun consumed Nara Dan’s attack, and both returned unharmed.
• Yamamoto assigned Nara Dan to the Human World to coordinate with Shinji Hirako, Kisuke Urahara, and the others, including a request to bring back members of the Ukitake Family and offer the exiled Soul Reapers a chance to return.
• Yamamoto asked Nara Dan to teach his Swordsmanship at Shino Academy and offered to recommend him for Zero Division once he was old and powerful enough.
• Nara Dan refused the Zero Division offer but agreed to teach, then told Yamamoto he had another condition.

Nara Dan visited Karakura Town and met Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihouin, and Tessai Tsukabishi at Urahara Shop. He delivered Soul Society’s invitation for the exiles to return and explained that Aizen had fused with an incomplete Hōgyoku and was badly weakened, leaving Urahara relieved but committed to staying in the Human World for now.

• Nara Dan traveled to Karakura Town with Flying Thunder God and wandered its streets until Kisuke Urahara approached him in an alley.
• Urahara asked Nara Dan how he had countered Aizen’s Illusion and invited him to the shop in exchange for making a new Scabbard for his Dharma Blade.
• Nara Dan recognized Tessai Tsukabishi and Yoruichi Shihouin at Urahara Shop, but refused to reveal how he had restrained Aizen’s Illusion.
• Nara Dan delivered Head Captain Yamamoto’s invitation for Urahara and the others to return to Soul Society, but Urahara declined and offered to pass the message to Shinji Hirako and the others.
• Nara Dan told Urahara that Aizen had fused with an incomplete Hōgyoku and expended its power, leaving him badly damaged and unlikely to resume his evolution soon.
• Urahara thanked Nara Dan for defeating Aizen and promised to keep watch for him, while Nara Dan reminded him that Aizen was still alive.

Nara Dan delivered Yamamoto’s message lifting the Visoreds’ warrants, but Shinji Hirako and the others chose to remain in the Human World while Aizen was still at large. Nara then enlisted Kisuke Urahara’s tracking equipment to locate noble youths who had sneaked into the Human World.

• Hiyori Sarugaki attacked Nara Dan, but he stopped her with a forehead flick and nearly ran her through before Shinji Hirako restrained her.
• Nara told Shinji that Aizen was wanted, the truth had come out, and the Visoreds could return to Soul Society without being pursued.
• After consulting the others, Shinji told Nara that the Visoreds would stay in the Human World and hunt Aizen themselves.
• Shinji noted that Nara’s Zanpakutō had not awakened and concluded that Nara must possess overwhelming strength despite being unable to use Shikai.
• Nara confronted Kisuke about the nobles’ dealings, and Kisuke used tracking devices in their Gigai to identify the nobles currently in the Human World.

Nara Dan caught a group of noble youths who had sneaked into the Human World, including Fuzhuku Rin, and prepared to take them back to Soul Society. The youths learned that Jushiro Ukitake had asked Head Captain Yamamoto to send him, leaving Rin subdued by the thought of her relative’s concern.

• A group of noble youths left a movie theater and decided to go shopping, while the boys complained about the girls’ plans.
• Nara Dan appeared in a Captain’s Haori and asked to join the girls, prompting the youths to flee from their Gigai.
• Nara Dan caught the youths in the Spirit World, where they complained that a captain had been sent after them.
• Nara Dan learned that the short-haired girl was Fuzhuku Rin, a relative of Jushiro Ukitake.
• Nara Dan explained that Head Captain Yamamoto had sent him at Ukitake’s request, and Rin fell quiet before Nara Dan told the group it was time to return.

Nara Dan fought and defeated Ginjo Kugo, who had been sent to capture him alive by an unknown Soul Society insider. After Ginjo died and reappeared as a Spirit Body, he revealed what little he knew, leaving Nara Dan to suspect the Noble Council.

• Nara Dan left the shopping mall to confront a man who attacked him with a greatsword transformed from his cross necklace.
• Nara Dan overwhelmed the attacker with Divine Gang: Great Storm, then recognized him as Ginjo Kugo, the first Substitute Shinigami.
• Ginjo Kugo fled through the city in disguise, but Nara Dan caught up with him and pierced his heart.
• Ginjo Kugo's Spirit Body emerged from his corpse, and Nara Dan demanded to know who had sent him.
• Ginjo Kugo said an assassin had offered to revoke his wanted status and give him a Soul Reaper position in exchange for capturing Nara Dan alive.

Nara Dan learned from Ginjo Kugo that Soul Society nobles were collecting the Spirit King's fragments, then performed Soul Burial on him and returned to the shopping mall. After Kisuke Urahara warned him against pursuing the Spirit King's power, hidden nobles discussed their plans to collect fragments and investigate Nara Dan and Jushiro Ukitake.

• Nara Dan prepared to kill Ginjo Kugo, but Ginjo revealed that Soul Society nobles had framed him while collecting Spirit King fragments and had once taken a fragment from him.
• Nara Dan concluded that the Spirit King's remains could provide World Origin, then performed Soul Burial on Ginjo Kugo and sent him to Soul Society.
• Nara Dan found Kisuke Urahara at the shopping mall, where Kisuke sent the noble youths back to Soul Society and warned Nara Dan not to investigate the Spirit King.
• Nara Dan dismissed Kisuke's warning, while Kisuke admitted that he had once pursued the Spirit King's power and offered help if things became dangerous.
• Hidden nobles discussed Ginjo Kugo's failure, questioned Nara Dan's rapid growth, and ordered a family death squad to investigate Spirit King fragments in Rukongai.

At a gathering, Kira Izuru celebrated his promotion with Renji Abarai, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, and Momo Hinamori, who planned to join Nara Dan’s Third Division. Nara Dan visited the Ukitake Family, agreed to assign Fuzhuku Rin to his division, and offered Jushiro Ukitake a chance to restore his health at the cost of losing the Spiritual Pressure sustained by the Spirit King’s Right Arm; Ukitake was left to consider the choice.

• Kira Izuru, Renji Abarai, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, and Momo Hinamori gathered to celebrate Kira’s promotion, and Momo said she wanted to join Nara Dan’s Third Division.
• Renji Abarai said Rukia had finished her Noble Course at the Kuchiki Family estate but did not know which division she would join.
• Nara Dan visited Jushiro Ukitake and Fuzhuku Rin, agreed to assign Rin to the Third Division, and learned that Ukitake had once given Ginjo Kugo a Substitute Shinigami Badge.
• Nara Dan told Jushiro Ukitake that he had killed Ginjo Kugo, whose soul would now be a Plus in Rukongai.
• Nara Dan offered to restore Jushiro Ukitake’s organs, explaining that the procedure would dissolve the source of his immense Spiritual Pressure and that he estimated a seventy percent chance of success.
• Jushiro Ukitake paused to consider Nara Dan’s offer, and Nara Dan left the Ukitake Family without pressing him.

Nara Dan summoned Rukia to the Underground Space beneath the Sōkyoku, secretly extracted the Hōgyoku from her, and reflected on immortal divinity and his own limits. After Rukia woke, he offered to grant her one condition, but the Underground Space began shaking as she asked him to persuade Byakuya to let her choose her own squad.

• Rukia learned that Nara Dan wanted to meet her at their usual place, while Byakuya decided to follow her rather than stop her.
• Byakuya followed Rukia to the Sōkyoku but discovered that Nara Dan had altered the barrier, leaving him unable to enter or see inside.
• Nara Dan knocked Rukia unconscious and extracted the Hōgyoku, sensing the immortal divinity within it and considering how to forge divinity of his own.
• Nara Dan reflected that his Swordsmanship had reached a bottleneck and that he needed to find a new path beyond One Piece Swordsmanship.
• Rukia woke and objected to being knocked unconscious, so Nara Dan offered her one condition; she asked him to convince Byakuya to let her choose her own squad.
• Nara Dan said he might have been able to help before, but the Underground Space began shaking.

Byakuya Kuchiki confronted Nara Dan over his meeting with Rukia, then considered Nara Dan’s offer to let him see Hisana again in exchange for letting Rukia choose her division. Back at the Third Division, Nara Dan declined Retsu Unohana’s challenge but invited her to attend his Swordsmanship class at Shin'ō Academy.

• Byakuya Kuchiki broke through Nara Dan’s barrier, found him with Rukia, and confined her to the Kuchiki estate until she joined a division.
• Nara Dan offered to let Byakuya Kuchiki see Hisana and possibly revive her if he allowed Rukia to choose her division, and Byakuya Kuchiki silently considered the offer.
• Kira Izuru told Nara Dan that Retsu Unohana had been waiting for him at the Third Division barracks.
• Retsu Unohana revealed her desire to test Nara Dan’s Swordsmanship, but Nara Dan refused to spar and invited her to attend his class at Shin'ō Academy instead.
• Kira Izuru teased Nara Dan about Retsu Unohana pursuing him, and Nara Dan told him to stop spreading rumors and focus on his duties.

Nara Dan was ordered to investigate the disappearances of Pluses in western Rukongai and uncovered a plot to use their power to create a being approaching the Spirit King's level. After finding a frightened boy who had survived the attacks, Nara Dan sensed someone in the ruins and disappeared to confront them.

• Fuzhuku Rin attended to Nara Dan in his office as he contemplated how to advance his swordsmanship toward the Transcendent realm.
• Kira Izuru relayed Yamamoto Genryūsai's order for Nara Dan to investigate more than a hundred missing Pluses in western Rukongai, and Nara Dan agreed to go alone.
• The masterminds discussed using the Pluses' power to evolve Rei, then planned to obtain a Spirit King fragment and target Ginjo Kugo and Ukitake.
• Nara Dan arrived in the devastated western district and found a boy hiding among the rubble.
• The boy told Nara Dan that a shadowy figure had eaten his neighbors and Uncle Honda, and Nara Dan suspected it was consuming Hōgyoku fragments.
• Nara Dan sensed someone behind him in the ruins and vanished from the spot.

Nara Dan fought a mysterious, exceptionally powerful Bald Man who had been sent after him, and used Hollowfication to raise his strength. The battle continued after the Bald Man countered Nara Dan’s massive slash with Hadō #91, while Yamamoto ordered Unohana to support Nara Dan and remain wary of the scheme targeting Soul Society.

• Ginjo Kugo joined Nara Dan to seek the Spirit King Fragment, but Nara Dan told him the Pluses containing the fragments had already been eaten.
• The Bald Man ambushed Nara Dan, overpowering him with immense Spiritual Pressure, speed, and physical strength.
• Nara Dan activated Hollowfication and raised his Spiritual Pressure several times over, then read the Bald Man’s movements and unleashed Divine Gang: Heaven’s Fall.
• The Bald Man stopped Nara Dan’s colossal slash and used Hadō #91: Senju Kōten Taihō, causing a huge explosion that drew attention across Soul Society.
• Yamamoto ordered Chojiro Sasakibe to send Unohana to support Nara Dan, while Nara Dan realized the battle was likely intended to keep Yamamoto occupied.