Chapter Summaries

Iori demonstrated how the Knot could reconnect a Shinigami with a Zanpakuto turned against them, using Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Sode no Shirayuki as a test. After Yamamoto learned of the method, an experiment with Shubaku confirmed that it could improve a Shinigami’s control of Bankai, leaving Koga’s ability newly valuable to Soul Society.

• Iori explained that Zanpakuto hid a desire to protect their wielders and introduced the custom-made Knot, which Kurotsuchi Mayuri tested on himself.
• Koga used Muramasa to draw Sode no Shirayuki from Mayuri’s sheath, and the Zanpakuto spirit attacked Mayuri with poisoned blades.
• Iori explained that the Knot connected Mayuri and his Zanpakuto through a red thread, while a second Kido used memories stored in the sheath to break Muramasa’s bewitchment.
• Iori told Koga that the method could help him become a pillar of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, then privately reported Koga and Muramasa’s potential to Yamamoto.
• Yamamoto summoned Iori, Koga, and Mayuri to test a Knot on Shubaku, whose Bankai became easier to wield and control after he fought his Zanpakuto.

Iori arranged for Koga to gain influence and connections through the new Zanpakutō-binding technique, and Koga realized how deeply Iori mourned his subordinates. Later, Iori secretly summoned Muramasa and asked him to inspect his blade, which revealed that its Bankai had a name Muramasa could perceive only as pitch-black darkness.

• Iori told Koga to keep the new technique quiet until they returned from Hueco Mundo and explained that commissions could bring Koga status, money, and noble connections.
• Koga learned that Iori visited the memorial monument every week with flowers, and concluded that Iori kept emotional distance from his subordinates because he privately grieved those lost in battle.
• Koga vowed to master Muramasa and grow strong enough that others would not have to worry about him, while Muramasa resented Iori for becoming someone Koga trusted.
• Iori secretly called Muramasa using Koga's knot and transported him to a secluded world, asking whether he could see the name of Iori's Bankai.
• Muramasa confirmed that Iori's Bankai existed but appeared to him only as pitch-black darkness, then recoiled in terror as the atmosphere changed.

Iori realized Hyōsube Ichibē had tampered with Mirror Water’s true name and decided to prepare before confronting him. Back at Aizen’s Clothing Store, Nemu teased Akame about her relationship with Iori and promised to help her compete with Esdeath and Yuki.

• Iori traced the trouble with his Bankai to Hyōsube Ichibē and connected the monk’s interest in him to the battle with the Quincy Holy Child.
• Iori decided not to confront Hyōsube immediately and considered speeding up the Hueco Mundo conquest and drawing out the Wandenreich to prepare.
• Nemu took the laundry from Akame and teased her for acting shy around Iori after they became lovers.
• Nemu advised Akame to take the initiative with Iori and warned her about Esdeath and Yuki.
• Akame suspected Nemu was hiding an ulterior motive after Nemu declared she was on Akame’s side.

Iori returned to Type-Moon to collect Chaldea’s Magic Furnace cores and discussed the seal on his Bankai with Ritsuka, who suggested exploring his soul’s Origin to bypass it. The chapter ended with Iori asking whether Ritsuka had ever tried awakening her own Origin.

• Iori collected two Magic Furnace cores and auxiliary devices that Chaldea had prepared for him.
• Ritsuka noticed Iori was troubled, and he explained that Hyōsube had sealed his Bankai by tampering with its True Name.
• Ritsuka suggested Iori might develop the sealed power by bypassing its name and exploring his soul’s Origin.
• Iori hesitated because awakening an Origin could fundamentally alter someone, but he agreed to record the relevant techniques.
• Iori asked Ritsuka whether she had ever tried awakening her own Origin.

Iori awoke from an encounter with his Origin, realizing that its power could bypass the true-name restriction but risk eroding his sense of self. He joined his allies to activate the mana network across their satellite base, and a vast dragon vein began to form beneath Purgatory.

• Iori awakened in his inner world and resisted being absorbed into a dark sphere tied to his Origin.
• He woke in the Magic Furnace Core and concluded that Origin could awaken power without a true name, though resisting its influence depended on a firm sense of self.
• Ciel confirmed that Iori’s cultivation had remained stable, and the Goddess of Wisdom reported that the construction work was ready.
• Beatrix reported that Alpha and the others had placed obelisks at every mana node and completed the main network across the satellite.
• Iori activated the altar’s mana circuits, awakening the satellite’s mana flow and beginning the formation of a massive dragon vein beneath Purgatory.

Iori prepared to lead the Hueco Mundo conquest, while Yamamoto considered him a future successor to the Captain-General. As the army gathered, Sōjun exchanged sealed intelligence about Shitan, and Esdeath briefed the Captains on Tokinada’s stronghold and forces.

• Iori assessed the diminishing gains from dragon veins, then created a clone disguised as Tsunayashiro Tokinada to provoke Seireitei’s Captains.
• Iori walked with Akame, urged her to talk with Kurome about their relationship, and teased her about starting a family.
• Iori addressed the assembled conquest army, emphasizing revenge against Tokinada, strict discipline, and his promise to lead from the front and recover fallen comrades.
• Yamamoto told Shubaku that Iori was his leading candidate to become Captain-General, though he expected Iori to gain more experience before succeeding him.
• Kuchiki Sōjun exchanged a sealed intelligence tube with an Arrancar and vowed to eliminate Shitan.
• Esdeath briefed the Captains that Tokinada’s stronghold and forces had been confirmed, impressing the newly arrived officers with her Captain-level strength.

Iori briefed the Captains on Tsunayashiro Shitan’s Arrancar army and arranged a joint campaign with Las Noches, promising to face the rogue Menos himself. After the meeting, Tier Harribel mistook Aizen Souyuki for Iori’s wife, and Iori clarified that she was his elder sister.

• Esdeath reported that Shitan had a fortress, at least three Resurrección-capable Vastolordes, and an elite group called the Zodiac, then explained Hollow Shinigamiification and Arrancar abilities.
• Iori persuaded the Captains that Shitan threatened the balance of the three realms and revealed that Las Noches would attack alongside Soul Society.
• Tier Harribel arrived as Barragan’s envoy and greeted Iori respectfully, while she and Esdeath exchanged tense Reiatsu.
• Iori proposed leading an elite decapitation force and holding off the rogue Menos himself so the Captains could focus on killing Shitan; Unohana and the others accepted the plan.
• After the meeting, Tier Harribel mistook Aizen Souyuki for Iori’s wife, and Iori introduced her as his elder sister.

Iori arranged a staged war in Hueco Mundo, while Tier Harribel and Nirggey treated it as a chance to build cooperation between Hollows and Shinigami. Their plans were disrupted when a mysterious, overwhelmingly powerful Humanoid Hollow appeared and confronted Shiba Kangen.

• Iori told Tier Harribel to make the coming war look dramatic while avoiding needless deaths, and he revealed that the supposed Tsunayashiro Shitan faction was part of his scheme.
• Iori considered Yuki Aizen's growing influence, her Female Shinigami Association, and her research into creating a Hogyoku that could break boundaries.
• Tier Harribel and Nirggey discussed using the war to foster understanding between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society, but an adjutant reported that a powerful unknown Menos had killed Hollows and clashed with Shinigami.
• Tier Harribel and Nirggey suspected the unknown Menos might be a wild Vastolorde, while Shiba Kangen arrived to find a field of apparently uninjured corpses.
• The lone wolf Hollow claimed that his victims had attacked him and died on their own, and Shiba Kangen drew his Zanpakuto in anger as his reiatsu dispersed before the Hollow.

Iori ordered Shiba Kangen and the other Bleaches to withdraw before confronting Stark, the solitary Vastolorde whose overwhelming reiatsu drained those around him. As their reiatsu clashed and Iori released Bankai, Unohana noticed Saito’s lovestruck expression, while explosive thunderclouds and powerful Ceros began to engulf Hueco Mundo.

• Shiba Kangen’s lightning attack failed against Stark, and Iori’s reiatsu forced Kangen and his subordinates to their knees.
• Iori ordered Kangen and everyone else to withdraw, explaining that Stark’s reiatsu weakened anyone nearby and made a group attack too dangerous.
• Iori told Stark he would not let him go to Las Noches and offered no mercy, so Stark refused to be imprisoned and released his reiatsu.
• Iori matched Stark’s reiatsu, and his Bankai manifested as an armored Divine Warrior wrapped around the Yamata no Arashi.
• Unohana noticed Saito blushing as she watched Iori, while thunderclouds, white steam, and powerful Ceros erupted across Hueco Mundo.

Iori defeated Lone Wolf after their devastating battle in Hueco Mundo, then sent the others back to their posts while Esdeath went to assist him. At camp, Unohana confronted Saitō about her feelings for Iori and her failing health, leaving Saitō to consider her words.

• Zaraki said Iori would win because he had stopped enjoying the fight, and the battle continued with both combatants unleashing immense attacks while Iori held back his full power.
• Unohana reacted with unprecedented shock when she noticed Saitō, then recovered as Iori's final slash split the storm and ended the battle.
• Iori told everyone through Tenteikūra that he had defeated Lone Wolf, sent Esdeath to help him, and warned the others to return to their posts and stay alert for Tsunayashiro Tokinada.
• Unohana questioned Saitō about several captains and recognized her feelings for Iori when Saitō blushed and called him outstanding.
• Unohana warned Saitō that her damaged body and use of Bankai shortened her life, then suggested that the embrace of someone she loved could be a fine place to rest; Saitō remained troubled.

As the assault on the Tsunayashiro fortress approached, Saito recognized that she loved Iori and resolved to survive so she could tell him what she felt. Iori prepared the Captains to begin their strike while, inside the fortress, the fabricated Three Phantom Gods awaited the coming battle.

• As the second day of the war continued, Saito reflected on her feelings for Iori and realized she wanted to live rather than accept her expected glorious death.
• Saito told Iori she would come back alive and had something to tell him afterward, while the nearby Captains overheard and realized she had confessed.
• Iori asked the Captains whether they were ready for battle, corrected Soujun's misunderstanding about a wedding gift, and ordered the operation to begin.
• Inside the Tsunayashiro fortress, the Three Phantom Gods occupied its highest floors; Iori had fabricated them with clones and transformation, giving them strength comparable to an Unwilling God.

Esdeath and Akame led the assault on the fortress, while Iori’s team infiltrated its interior under Stealth Cloaks. The chapter ended as Iori’s group faced Jack Crowley and his attendants outside the Tower of Babel.

• Tetsusai Urahara blasted open the fortress gate with Hadō #91, and Esdeath led the Expeditionary Army and Eleventh Division inside.
• Esdeath and Akame defeated the Hollow defenders, while Koga joined them and learned that they were drawing enemies away from Iori’s team.
• Iori’s cloaked squad crossed the battlefield and reached an open area outside the Tower of Babel.
• Jack Crowley confronted Iori’s silent group, ignored his attendant’s warning, and ordered the Gillian summoned.

Iori and Saitō Fuyōfushi fought their way to the tower’s highest floor, where they faced the powerful Humanoid Hollow who had once attacked Seireitei. As Saitō joined Iori in battle, the two fought together against Hollow’s formidable abilities.

• The Decapitation Squad advanced through the tower as traps and the Zodiac Arrancars split the Shinigami into separate battles, while Zaraki Kenpachi disappeared with Yachiru Kusajishi.
• Iori and Saitō Fuyōfushi defeated the Imperial Guard on the highest floor, where Hollow ambushed them.
• Iori recognized Hollow as the Menos who had previously attacked Seireitei and struck him with Kido, but Hollow emerged unharmed.
• Hollow knocked Saitō away and exchanged rapid sword strikes with Iori, whose attacks pierced Hollow’s Hierro with Kido-enhanced power.
• After regenerating his wound, Hollow continued fighting Iori, and Saitō rejoined the battle after defeating the remaining Imperial Guard.

Saito awakened her Bankai and trusted Iori to face Hollow, who then fought Iori with powerful attacks and revealed that he could transform beyond an Arrancar’s Resurrección. The chapter ended as Hollow assumed his new form and Iori and Saito saw it.

• Hollow unleashed King's Flash and Ruinous Rain, forcing Iori and Saito to defend themselves until Saito released her Bankai.
• Iori stepped in front of Saito, and she calmed her reiatsu and declared that she trusted him to win.
• Iori attacked Hollow with his water-based sword techniques, damaging him despite Hollow’s Hierro and High-Speed Regeneration.
• Hollow released a pillar of light that devastated the Tower of Babel, then emerged in a new form beyond Resurrección.

Iori fought the evolved King of Great Hollows in Hueco Mundo, pushing himself to the limit to protect Saito and the Soul Society. After Iori won, Tsunayashiro Tokinada absorbed the Hollow’s power and transformed, leaving Saito to face him beside the wounded Iori.

• The King of Great Hollows revealed a humanlike evolved form and attacked Iori, who countered with Five Dragon Annihilation and wounded him.
• Iori combined his techniques with Mirror Water and unleashed Shunkyo Kai as the King threatened to destroy Hueco Mundo.
• Iori and the King clashed in a final, devastating exchange, and Iori emerged victorious after the Hollow’s regeneration failed.
• Tokinada stabbed the exhausted King, crushed his heart, and absorbed his body and power.
• Tokinada transformed into a Hollow-like form, and Saito positioned herself between him and the wounded Iori.

Iori secretly engineered Saitō Fuyōfushi’s Hollowfication, rescued her, and presented a cover story for the war’s outcome. After the victorious Soul Society forces prepared to leave Hueco Mundo, Saito recovered and asked Unohana Retsu for advice about intimacy with Iori.

• Saito unleashed her Bankai and struck down Shitan, but Shitan’s Hollowfication power later overwhelmed her as she fought Tsunayashiro Tokinada.
• Iori caught the collapsing Saito, revealed that Shitan was his clone, and used a prepared procedure to Hollowfy and heal her while preserving Tokinada’s real head as evidence.
• Iori carried Saito away and planned a report claiming he had taken Hollowfication technology from Tokinada’s laboratory to save her.
• Saito awoke alive and stronger, realized Iori had saved her, and panicked when she discovered she was naked beside him.
• After Soul Society won the war without losing a Captain, Unohana visited the recovered Saito, who asked how intimate contact had to be to count as skin-to-skin contact.

Saito confided in Unohana about her intimate encounter with Iori and worried that she had mishandled it, while Unohana offered a blunt, unsettling solution. Meanwhile, Iori reflected on saving Saito through Hollowfication and planned to reveal the forbidden research after returning to the Seireitei.

• Saito asked Unohana for advice about her encounter with Iori and admitted that they had become intimate.
• Saito worried that her lack of experience and her body had made her an inadequate partner, then asked Unohana to be her second.
• Unohana offered to anesthetize Iori to ease Saito’s sexual frustration, and Saito challenged her view of romance.
• Iori received the God of Deception bond and its eyepatch and True Lies rewards.
• Iori reviewed his plans to reveal that he had used Hollowfication to save Saito, confident that his justification and the precedent of the Visored would limit the Seireitei’s reaction.

Haschwalth discovered that Yhwach had returned in a youthful body formed from the Spirit King's Left Hand, though his original body remained asleep. Yhwach kept his awakening secret while Haschwalth summoned the Sternritter to the Royal Hall, where they saw him seated on the throne.

• Haschwalth heard Yhwach's voice near the coffin and found that the infant parasitizing Yhwach's corpse had disappeared.
• Haschwalth followed the voice and found Yhwach in a youthful body, then swore his loyalty and received new power from him.
• Yhwach explained that he had descended into a new body because an unusual existence offered a chance to break free of his fate.
• Yhwach told Haschwalth to keep his return secret while he adapted to his body and learned about the changes of the past century.
• Haschwalth rang the Wandenreich's summons and gathered the Sternritter at the Royal Hall, where they were shocked to see Yhwach on the throne.

Yhwach awakened in a youthful form and reassured the Quincy that he would reclaim his power and purify the Three Realms. After discussing his Hollowfication plans with Aizen Souyuki, Iori took Akame to the Campione! world, where she affirmed that she stayed with him by choice before threatening him over a romance-novel quote.

• Lille Barro and the Quincy recognized Yhwach, who said his power had declined but promised that the world would eventually come under his control.
• Iori told Aizen Souyuki that Hollowfication would spread in the Soul Society as pressure from Hueco Mundo increased, and she reluctantly congratulated him.
• Iori reflected on his research advantage over Yuki as the aftermath of the war continued and tensions over his relationships troubled Akame and others.
• Iori brought Akame to the Campione! world and offered to let her enjoy its food and comforts while he stayed there.
• Akame told Iori she remained with him because she understood and accepted who he was, then drew Murasame when he recognized her words from a romance novel.

After spending the night with Iori, Akame reflected on why she loved him before he set out to unify Egypt’s terrestrial veins. Their work disturbed a powerful being beneath the Nile, and Akame and Athena faced its emergence.

• Akame admitted she still loved Iori, and the two spent the night together.
• The next morning, Akame reflected on Iori’s ambitions and the principles that kept her devoted to him.
• Iori planned to unify the terrestrial veins one region at a time, starting in Egypt, and intended to give Akame a chance to fight a god.
• While Iori controlled the Magic Furnace core, Akame and Athena investigated a roar from underground.
• A huge being rose beneath the Nile, splitting the earth and sending towering waves into the air.