Chapter Summaries

Nara Dan gave Sōsuke Aizen three uses of Kyoka Suigetsu-level genjutsu and hinted at humanity’s technological power before leaving him to ponder his limited knowledge. Yhwach set out for Hueco Mundo as Mayuri Kurotsuchi confronted Nara Dan in Soul Society.

• Nara Dan revealed his Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan to Aizen and granted him three uses of powerful genjutsu, provided he made eye contact with his target.
• Aizen questioned where Nara Dan’s power came from, and Nara Dan told him that humans could see the moon and had invented weapons capable of destroying a city.
• Nara Dan ordered Aizen to carry out his tasks, then vanished and left Aizen contemplating what he had heard.
• Yhwach woke, told Haschwalth he was not yet at full strength, and chose to seek help in Hueco Mundo.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi and the Stealth Force confronted Nara Dan beneath his Garganta and announced his arrest for entering Hueco Mundo and colluding with the enemy.

Nara Dan allowed himself to be detained by the Stealth Force after deliberately exposing his trip to Hueco Mundo, hoping to avoid pointless battles while pursuing his hidden goal. As his monitoring seed on Aizen was cut off, Yhwach approached Aizen in Hueco Mundo and proposed joining forces against Soul Society and Nara Dan.

• Nara Dan surrendered without resistance to Mayuri Kurotsuchi and was taken into Stealth Force custody for entering Hueco Mundo without authorization.
• Kira Izuru calmed the Third Division and took charge of its duties while Nara Dan was absent.
• Soi Fon interrogated Nara Dan, but he dismissed her threats and privately revealed that he had arranged his detention to stay out of the coming war until he achieved his goal.
• Nara Dan sensed that his God Tree-powered monitoring seed on Aizen had been cut off and recognized that a strange convergence had begun.
• Yhwach approached Aizen in Hueco Mundo and proposed cooperating against Soul Society, especially Nara Dan.
• Aizen questioned Yhwach about his plans and demanded that he show sincerity before sharing information about Nara Dan.

Sōsuke Aizen and Yhwach debated whether they could cooperate, then agreed to target Nara Dan for the power and secrets he possessed. They planned to confront him in the Spirit King's Palace, where Yhwach believed they could isolate the fight from outside interference.

• Yhwach offered to remove the methods Nara Dan had placed inside Aizen, but admitted he could not do so without risking alerting Nara Dan.
• Aizen argued that he and Yhwach were natural rivals, while Nara Dan seemed to stand above them as an observer; he concluded that Nara Dan himself was the true prize they should pursue.
• Yhwach agreed to cooperate, and Aizen decided they should leave the methods inside his body in place and use Yhwach's power to suppress them temporarily for five minutes.
• Yhwach proposed the Spirit King's Palace as their target, reasoning that Nara Dan would investigate a new domain if he had never entered it before.
• Aizen asked whether Zero Division could stop them, and Yhwach said only Genryūsai Yamamoto concerned him.

Aizen confronted Urahara and the Visored in the Human World while a Quincy attack struck Soul Society with a colossal Reishi-absorbing arrow. The arrow survived attacks from Soi Fon and Renji, and Byakuya began to counter it as the assault continued.

• Aizen emerged alone in the Human World and faced Urahara, the Visored, and Isshin Shiba, who suspected a Quincy assault on Soul Society and prepared to fight him.
• Shinji Hirako challenged Aizen and clashed with him as Urahara’s group began its plan to test Aizen’s abilities.
• A high-level Ryoka alarm sounded in Soul Society after its defensive barrier was breached, and Yamamoto Genryūsai ordered the divisions to assemble.
• A gigantic azure arrow raced toward Soul Society, growing as it absorbed Reishi, and Soi Fon fired her Bankai at it but only shifted its course slightly.
• Renji Abarai fired three blasts from his Bankai, gouging a crater into the arrow’s tip, as Byakuya Kuchiki began releasing Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.

Soul Society's captains stopped Yhwach's enormous Sacred Arrow, but Yhwach then appeared and challenged Yamamoto Genryūsai. After Yhwach overwhelmed Yamamoto in a clash of Spiritual Pressure, Yamamoto unleashed Bankai and revealed Zanka no Tachi.

• Byakuya Kuchiki and Sajin Komamura combined their Bankai to stop the Sacred Arrow before it destroyed Soul Society.
• Yamamoto Genryūsai gathered the captains, learned that Isshin Shiba had gone to the Human World, and appointed Renji Abarai acting captain of the Fifth Division.
• Yhwach appeared before Soul Society's captains, declared his intent to take revenge, and clashed with Yamamoto Genryūsai.
• Yhwach's Spiritual Pressure overwhelmed Yamamoto's, so Yamamoto ordered the other captains away and Yhwach raised Holy Domain Hymn to isolate their battle.
• Yamamoto released Bankai, compressed his flames into his blade, and revealed Zanka no Tachi.

Shinji Hirako used Sakanade to reverse Aizen’s perception and wounded him repeatedly, but Aizen adapted to the illusion and revealed that his Spiritual Pressure had recovered to its peak. Aizen broke Shinji’s blade and struck toward his heart, leaving the battle at a critical moment.

• Shinji Hirako released Sakanade, reversing Aizen’s sense of direction and perception.
• Shinji Hirako exploited Aizen’s confusion to slash him repeatedly, while Kisuke Urahara warned that Aizen was holding back.
• Aizen caught one of Shinji’s attacks and gradually adapted to Sakanade, making Shinji hesitate.
• Aizen attacked Shinji at high speed and broke his Zanpakutō with ultra-dense Spiritual Pressure.
• Aizen revealed his restored peak Spiritual Pressure and narrowly evaded Shinji’s counterattack as his hand blade grazed Shinji’s heart.

Sōsuke Aizen wounded Shinji Hirako, trapped Hiyori Sarugaki in a Genjutsu-assisted switch, and drained her Spiritual Pressure to evolve beyond the limits of a Shinigami. Kisuke Urahara and Isshin Shiba confronted the newly transformed Aizen, and their coordinated attack began as Aizen invoked Dankū.

• Sōsuke Aizen gravely wounded Shinji Hirako, and Hiyori Sarugaki rushed to catch him.
• Sōsuke Aizen used Sharingan Genjutsu to make Hiyori Sarugaki mistake him for Shinji Hirako, then pierced her heart as Kisuke Urahara recognized the trick.
• Isshin Shiba retrieved the wounded Shinji Hirako while Sōsuke Aizen drained Hiyori Sarugaki's Spiritual Pressure and completed the Cocoon Break evolution.
• Kisuke Urahara and Isshin Shiba realized Aizen's Spiritual Pressure had entered another dimension and agreed to fight him together.
• Isshin Shiba attacked with Getsuga Tenshō as Kisuke Urahara struck from behind with Benihime, and Sōsuke Aizen cast Bakudō #69: Dankū.

Isshin Shiba and Kisuke Urahara fought Sōsuke Aizen, whose immense power overwhelmed their attacks. Isshin unleashed his blood-consuming Bankai to hold Aizen back while Urahara prepared a seal, leaving Aizen trapped as his own uncontrolled spiritual pressure began to consume him.

• Aizen blocked Urahara and Isshin's attacks, struck back with Cero and Five Dragon Destruction, and Isshin severed the five dragons to save Urahara.
• At Urahara's suggestion, Isshin activated Blood-Rebuking Engetsu, using his blood to create flames that enhanced his strength and burned Aizen's blood.
• Isshin and Aizen clashed at extreme speed, but Isshin's Bankai rapidly drained his strength while Aizen continued to fight with ease.
• Aizen gathered his spiritual pressure into a Super Spiritual Pressure Cannon, and Urahara appeared to place an Execution Seal on Aizen's wrist.
• The seal disrupted Aizen's control of his spiritual pressure, causing the expanding cannon to turn against him as Urahara said Aizen would be burned by his own power.

Yamamoto Genryūsai unleashed every technique of Zanka no Tachi against Yhwach, only for Yhwach to reveal that Haschwalth had taken his place and steal the Bankai. Yhwach killed Yamamoto, restrained the other captains, and called on Nara Dan to either challenge him or join him.

• Yamamoto Genryūsai used Zanka no Tachi’s heat and blade to pressure Yhwach, then summoned the dead with Great Funeral Procession of Ten Trillion Fire Dead.
• Yamamoto struck Yhwach with Heaven and Earth Ashes, but the apparent victim was Haschwalth in disguise, while the real Yhwach watched nearby.
• Yhwach used his medallion to steal Yamamoto’s Bankai, then killed him with a sword of light.
• Shunsui Kyōraku and the other captains tried to reach Yamamoto, but Yhwach trapped them behind flames of condensed Reishi.
• Yhwach addressed Nara Dan, declaring that Yamamoto’s death left him as the only remaining opponent and offering him a chance to join.

Nara Dan revealed that he had helped bring about Yamamoto Genryūsai’s death to advance his own plans, then followed the rescued captains to the Spirit King’s Palace. In the Human World, Kisuke Urahara and Isshin Shiba faced a regenerated Sōsuke Aizen as Yhwach arrived, leaving the conflict poised to continue.

• Nara Dan admitted he had hastened Yhwach’s resurrection and pushed Yamamoto Genryūsai’s death forward, revealing he had never sided with Soul Society.
• Nara Dan declared his superiority over Aizen and revealed that Ryūjin Jakka was only part of his objective.
• A pillar of light transported the division captains to the Spirit King’s Palace, and Nara Dan followed them while Yhwach remained behind.
• Kisuke Urahara’s technique forced Sōsuke Aizen to destroy both arms, but Aizen regenerated them and prepared to fight again.
• Yhwach arrived in the Human World and told Aizen that the captains had been rescued and Nara Dan had entered the Spirit King’s Palace.
• Aizen declined Yhwach’s offer to deal with Kisuke Urahara and Isshin Shiba, saying he wanted opponents to remain in the world.

Kisuke Urahara and Isshin Shiba decided to avoid confronting Sōsuke Aizen and Yhwach directly and head to the Spirit King's Palace. Nara Dan slipped through its forty-two barriers and arrived before Ichibē Hyōsube and the captains, who were startled by his unexpected appearance.

• Isshin Shiba considered using his ultimate technique against Sōsuke Aizen and Yhwach, but Kisuke Urahara urged him to hold back unless they attacked.
• Sōsuke Aizen refused Yhwach's offer to help and left the Human World with him, hinting that he wanted Kisuke Urahara as an ally.
• Kisuke Urahara concluded that Nara Dan's position was unclear and chose to go to the Spirit King's Palace with Isshin Shiba.
• Sōsuke Aizen guessed that Nara Dan had taken Ryūjin Jakka to forge a Zanpakutō surpassing it, prompting him and Yhwach to hurry toward the Spirit King's Palace.
• Nara Dan used the World Tree's power to pass through the forty-two barriers and reach the Spirit King's Palace.
• Ichibē Hyōsube warned the arriving captains about Yhwach and prepared to approach Renji Abarai, but sensed Nara Dan's arrival and recognized him.

Nara Dan entered the Spirit King's Palace and tried to make a deal with Ichibē Hyōsube, but sealed Ichibē's Spiritual Pressure when he refused. As the captains moved against him, Kira Izuru and Renji Abarai sided with Nara Dan and fought to protect him.

• Soi Fon attacked Nara Dan over Yamamoto's death, but he seized her wrist and threw her aside before proposing an alliance to Ichibē Hyōsube.
• When Ichibē rejected his offer, Nara Dan used Divine Eight Trigrams Sealing to suppress Ichibē's Spiritual Pressure and knocked Soi Fon into a wall with a Truth-Seeking Orb.
• Ichibē urged the captains to kill him so he could revive and break the seal, but Nara Dan blocked Retsu Unohana's attempt to strike him.
• As the captains drew their blades and moved to free Ichibē, Kira Izuru used Bankai to shield Nara Dan and slow them with doubled gravity.
• Renji Abarai joined Kira, clashed with Byakuya Kuchiki, and Kira activated the Eight Gates and Life Return to hold off the captains.

Nara Dan attacked the Spirit King's Palace and fought the Zero Division while seeking its Phoenix Palace to forge a Zanpakutō. After defeating or incapacitating several members, he drew Ōetsu Nimaiya's attention to the unusual Dharma Blade, which Ōetsu recognized as a new kind of Asauchi.

• Ichibē Hyōsube summoned the Zero Division and warned its members that Nara Dan had sealed his Spiritual Pressure.
• Nara Dan demanded access to the Phoenix Palace and used a Truth-Seeking Orb to silence Ichibē.
• Nara Dan struck Tenjirō Kirinji unconscious, cut Senjumaru Shutara in two, and countered Kirio Hikifune's Inner Hadō.
• Ōetsu Nimaiya examined Nara Dan's Dharma Blade and realized Nara Dan wanted to forge a Zanpakutō.
• Ōetsu Nimaiya recognized the Dharma Blade as an unusual Asauchi that strengthened its wielder without dividing the Shinigami's soul.

Nara Dan asked Ōetsu Nimaiya for help advancing his Dharma Blade by making it become his blade spirit, but their differing views and loyalties brought them into conflict. As the captains confronted Nara Dan, he unleashed a massive flood that engulfed the Spirit King's Palace.

• Nara Dan explained that he wanted his blade to become his blade spirit, and Ōetsu Nimaiya questioned how he could merge with a blade that was not originally part of him.
• Nara Dan asked Ōetsu Nimaiya to help him and said he had no interest in the Spirit King's Palace, but Ōetsu refused to let someone with unclear intentions enter it.
• Kira Izuru and Renji Abarai arrived at Nara Dan's side as Soi Fon demanded his surrender and Retsu Unohana urged him to unite with Soul Society against Yhwach.
• Nara Dan rejected the captains' appeal, and Sajin Komamura attacked him with Kokujo Tengen Myo'o.
• Nara Dan countered with Samehada's Explosive Water Wave, flooding the Spirit King's Palace and leaving the captains struggling to stand.

Nara Dan found the Spirit King frozen in the Spirit King's Palace, absorbed some World Origin, and then went to Phoenix Palace to begin reforging his Dharma Blade. He used Ryūjin Jakka to crack the blade, beginning the final step of his advancement.

• Nara Dan left Kira Izuru with a measure to help stop the Division Captains and then vanished into the Spirit King's Palace.
• Nara Dan found the Spirit King frozen in a crystal and concluded that the body was a puppet with great Spiritual Pressure but no Rank.
• Nara Dan absorbed some World Origin from the Spirit King's Palace while preserving enough to maintain the balance of the Three Realms.
• Nara Dan went to Ōetsu Nimaiya's forging platform at Phoenix Palace and placed the Dharma Blade there.
• Nara Dan poured God Tree Chakra and Yin-Yang Release into Ryūjin Jakka, causing a fissure to appear in its blade.

Nara Dan used Ryūjin Jakka’s final heat to melt the Dharma Blade and fuse it with the Hōgyoku and the Spirit King’s Right Arm, refining away the Spirit King’s imprint. As the blade began tempering, Sōsuke Aizen and Yhwach arrived, and Yhwach charged toward Nara Dan.

• Ryūjin Jakka shattered after unleashing enough heat to evaporate much of the surrounding seawater and melt the Dharma Blade.
• Nara Dan added the Hōgyoku and the Spirit King’s Right Arm to the molten blade, turning them into energy and divine essence.
• Nara Dan used stored World Origin Power to erase the Spirit King’s imprint from the Right Arm’s Immortal Divinity.
• Nara Dan sat down to supply Ryūjin Jakka with energy while the Dharma Blade continued tempering.
• Sōsuke Aizen and Yhwach arrived near the Phoenix Palace, and Yhwach used Hirenkyaku to approach Nara Dan.

Renji Abarai awakened Twin Kings Zabimaru and confronted Sōsuke Aizen while Nara Dan continued forging the Dharma Blade into an immortal Golden Nature Divine Ability. The chapter left Nara Dan pouring his essence, energy, spirit, and Swordsmanship into the blazing forge to complete his advancement toward the Transcendent.

• Nara Dan sent Samehada to block Yhwach, while a gray barrier around Sōsuke Aizen severed his connection to the Truth-Seeking Orb inside Aizen.
• Renji Abarai stepped between Nara Dan and Aizen, drew Zabimaru, and released his Bankai, Twin Kings Zabimaru.
• Renji Abarai revealed that his Bankai wielded two swords, including a black blade representing his Quincy power, and struck Aizen into the sea.
• Sōsuke Aizen recognized Renji Abarai's strength and fired a Cero at him, while concluding that Renji would keep him occupied.
• Nara Dan continued melting the Dharma Blade with the Hōgyoku and other materials, then poured his essence, energy, spirit, and Swordsmanship into the blazing forge.

Nara Dan’s clone forged a golden talisman by refining the solar core, but the Spirit King tried to seize it and claim its power. Nara Dan’s main body arrived from the Void Realm Sea to confront him, and the Spirit King unleashed a powerful Hadō.

• Nara Dan entered the furnace’s smelted materials, and a golden talisman absorbed the solar core’s heat to form an immortal golden aura.
• The Spirit King took control of Yhwach’s body and used the Reishi to pull the talisman toward himself, intending to claim its power.
• Nara Dan’s clone sighed from within the talisman and complained that the Spirit King had forced him to interrupt the final step.
• Nara Dan’s main body crossed a black hole from the Void Realm Sea and freed the talisman from the Reishi binding it.
• Nara Dan confronted the Spirit King, who raised a finger and cast “Hadō: Hundred Million—Black Heaven Spirit Burial.”

Nara Dan fought the Spirit King through a battle that devastated the Three Realms, losing an arm to the Spirit King's power over time and fate. He fused his laws of immortality and space-time to ascend into a godlike state, then challenged the Spirit King to face him again.

• The Spirit King unleashed hundreds of millions of Reishi pillars at Nara Dan, devastating the Spirit King's Palace and destroying dozens of cities in the Human World.
• Nara Dan endured the Spirit King's assault and shattered the other half of the palace with a punch, after which the two fought for ten days and ten nights across the Three Realms.
• The Spirit King wounded Nara Dan by striking across time and space, severing his right arm and infusing it with deathly power that threatened his Rank and soul.
• Nara Dan fused his golden and silver Runes, transforming his Talent Entry into [Divine] and becoming thousands of feet tall.
• Nara Dan declared himself the God of Immortality and Kongming, then asked the Spirit King what he thought of his ascension.