Recaps

Ren defeated Dragon, unified the world, and then traveled to the Death God World, where he began hunting Hollows to recover his strength and empower Muramasa. After renaming her Morgana and naming the Cloth Judgment Angel—Kayle, he continued learning Hollow techniques while Soul Society searched for the unknown fighter.

• Ren defeated Dragon, forced Sengoku to surrender with Shirahoshi’s Sea Kings, unified the world, and later traveled to the Death God World.
• Ren met Orihime Inoue in Karakura Town, recovered from his injuries by eating Sea King flesh, and learned that Muramasa needed Spiritual Pressure to grow stronger.
• Ren hunted Hollows with Muramasa’s help, using her Spiritual Pressure to strike souls as she devoured the Hollows’ energy.
• Baraggan Luisenbairn sensed his own Spiritual Pressure in the black energy left on slain Hollows and sent Hollows to capture whoever wielded it.
• Ren killed an Intermediate Menos Grande and defeated Nierlas, while Urahara Kisuke and the Death Gods arrived too late to find him.
• Ren poured Spiritual Pressure into Muramasa, enabling her to take human form, renamed her Morgana, and named the Cloth Judgment Angel—Kayle.
• Ren began learning Sonido as Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Kenpachi Zaraki, Byakuya Kuchiki, Gin Ichimaru, and their forces searched the ruins for him.

Ren learned Quincy techniques from Soken Ishida, survived the dangerous transformation into a Quincy, and seized Tang San’s Haotian Hammer through the Trash Station. When Aizen sent vast numbers of Hollows into the World of the Living, Ren fought them, saved Soken, and drew the attention of the Soul Reapers before meeting Urahara Kisuke and Retsu Unohana.

• Ren destroyed fifteen Menos Grande attacking Soken Ishida and Uryu Ishida, then persuaded Soken to teach him Quincy methods in exchange for Quincy knowledge and records.
• Ren tested Blut Vene by drawing Spirit Particles into his body, endured severe pain, and used his Devil soul to establish a source for the particles within his heart.
• Ren opened a Trash Station connection to Douluo World, struck the Demon Whale King through the vortex, and took Tang San’s Haotian Hammer when it fell through.
• Ren forged weapons with the Haotian Hammer and Demon Whale King materials as Aizen unleashed a massive Hollow invasion that killed Soken Ishida, whom Ren later healed and restored to youth.
• Ren fought the invading Hollows with his dark sword and thunder, while Soken pledged himself to Ren and agreed to protect Uryu Ishida and Orihime.
• Ren unleashed Dark Grand Tornado and later combined thunder with darkness against the Menos Grande, drawing the attention of Aizen, Kenpachi Zaraki, Soifon, and Retsu Unohana.
• Ren lured Soifon to Urahara Kisuke, who intercepted Ren’s Sword Aura, then met Retsu Unohana, accepted her invitation to the Seireitei, and faced her questions about how he knew the captains.

Ren defeated Baraggan and the Death Gods, while Morgana evolved and Ren allied with Mayuri Kurotsuchi against the nobles. A year later, Ren used the Sōkyoku to strengthen the Shura Sword and began pursuing the Hōgyoku, directing Mayuri to draw Aizen’s attention.

• Ren defeated Baraggan Luisenbarn and Kenpachi Zaraki, then gave Morgana Soul Beast energy that completed her transformation and strengthened them both.
• Ren rejected the captains’ demands and escaped with Morgana, while the Seireitei searched for Urahara Kisuke and his allies.
• Ren and Morgana tracked the Death Gods as Urahara’s group was exposed and escaped the Captain-Commander through Tessai Tsukabishi’s Negación.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi visited Ren, offered him Kido knowledge, and explained the nobles’ control of resources and the divisions’ political history.
• Mayuri revealed how noble Asauchi and inherited techniques gave their Death Gods advantages, and Ren recognized that his pursuit of power would bring him into conflict with them.
• A year later, Ren’s schools protected students from Hollows and absorbed them into Spirit Particles, while Ren and Soken Ishida discussed Isshin Kurosaki’s past.
• Ren used the Sōkyoku’s flames and killing aura to temper the Shura Sword, and the Soul Hall’s furnace consumed the Sōkyoku’s Phoenix form and Zanpakuto.
• Ren asked Mayuri about the Hōgyoku, then told him to leak the research to Aizen and warned him that Aizen was more dangerous than he seemed.

Ren completed the Shura Sword as Heavenly Sin, then entered the Seireitei while the Captain-Commander searched for the stolen Sōkyoku. He used Mayuri’s Hōgyoku research and moved through Rukongai with Yoruichi and his companions, leaving the captains closing in as he entertained a crowd with poetry.

• Ren destroyed the Sōkyoku in the Forging Furnace and completed the Shura Sword after its flames and contained wills strengthened it.
• Ren awakened Heavenly Sin, discovered that its power reflected his instinct to plunder, and learned that its masked spirit would remain until he achieved Bankai.
• Ren learned that Mayuri had erased the evidence of stealing the Sōkyoku, while Orihime awakened her power to reject and restore things.
• Ren imprisoned Yoruichi in a darkness cage and traveled with her to the Seireitei, where Mayuri showed him Urahara Kisuke’s Hōgyoku records and laboratory.
• Ren ordered Mayuri to continue trying to create a Hōgyoku, then left the Seireitei with Orihime, Yoruichi, Nemu, Morgana, and Kayle to gather experimental Hollows.
• Ren and his companions visited Rukongai, where they encountered Gin Ichimaru, explored its shops, and watched the captains gather at a Tenth Division tavern.
• Ren recited a poem to Retsu Unohana and joined Rangiku Matsumoto in a drinking contest as the Captain-Commander ordered the search for the Sōkyoku to continue.
• The captains suspected Yoruichi, Urahara Kisuke, their associates, and Ren, while the Captain-Commander planned to use the search to expose nobles coveting the Sōkyoku.