Recaps

Shiba Isshin’s antics in the Tenth Division barracks left Lieutenant Chang Huxiaoshan Gangwan furious over a botched patrol report. Squad Members revealed that Isshin was the son of former captain Shiba Ichisegawa, and the chapter ended as one of them hinted that Isshin had inherited his father’s personality.

• Shiba Isshin fled through the barracks after Chang Huxiaoshan Gangwan confronted him about a patrol report covered in wild-boar drawings and missing details.
• Isshin escaped over the courtyard wall with Shunpo, leaving Chang Huxiaoshan Gangwan to gather the scattered papers.
• A veteran Squad Member told a rookie that Isshin’s combat ability earned him a Seated Officer position despite his laziness and unruly conduct.
• The veteran revealed that Isshin was the son of former Tenth Division captain Shiba Ichisegawa and said Isshin had inherited his father’s personality.

Yoruichi Shihōin faced the Commander-in-Chief and the captains to prove she could serve as Second Division Captain without revealing her troublesome Bankai. Yamamoto approved her appointment after she demonstrated her Reiatsu-based Hakuda technique.

• Yamamoto asked Yoruichi Shihōin to demonstrate her Bankai, but she said she could not use it in the hall.
• Zhu Sibo asked whether Yoruichi's lightning-based Bankai was also too difficult to use safely.
• Yamamoto required Yoruichi to release the Reiatsu her Bankai could draw upon, and she demonstrated its immense pressure.
• Yoruichi showed a precise Hakuda technique that released Reiatsu through her limbs and let her hover while keeping her power controlled.
• Yamamoto appointed Yoruichi Shihōin as Second Division Captain.

Yoruichi appointed Kisuke Urahara to the Second Division’s Third Seat, and he defeated the previous Third Seat in a formal match. Ōmaeda Xiquanzhi then retired, and his son Marechiyo Ōmaeda succeeded him as lieutenant.

• Yoruichi announced Kisuke Urahara’s appointment as Third Seat and the previous Third Seat challenged him.
• Kisuke Urahara defeated the Third Seat after thirty-seven exchanges and helped him to his feet.
• Ōmaeda Xiquanzhi submitted his retirement application with Yoruichi’s recommendation for Marechiyo Ōmaeda to succeed him.
• Central 46 approved the succession after considering the Ōmaeda Clan’s influence over Seireitei’s military funding.
• Marechiyo Ōmaeda formally took over as Second Division lieutenant and bowed to Yoruichi at the succession ceremony.

Jūmonji Quando confronted Shinji Hirako about secretly learning Bankai, but chose not to report him to Central 46 yet. Hirako worried that other captains had sensed his Bankai and ended up clashing with Hiyori Sarugaki in Seireitei.

• Jūmonji Quando revealed that he had sensed Hirako using Bankai in the Rukongai wasteland and asked its name.
• Hirako admitted his Bankai was called Gyakushū Hōgōsai and learned that Jūmonji would not report him until he was ready to demonstrate it.
• Hirako worried that the other captains, including Captain-Commander Yamamoto and Captain Shuichi, had sensed his Bankai.
• Hirako kicked a stone that struck Hiyori Sarugaki, then taunted her and dodged her flying kick.

Zhu Sibo Yihua told her twin brother, Fifth Division Captain Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan, that she had received permission to leave the Fourth Division and give up fighting. Zhengyuan agreed to protect her from the clan elders and their plans for the Redwater Mirror, leaving Yihua free to tend the family estate.

• Zhu Sibo Yihua told Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan that Captain Unohana had approved her request to leave the Fourth Division because she was exhausted from treating the wounded and watching people die.
• Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan warned that the clan elders might try to force Yihua to wield the Redwater Mirror, whose power could drain and seal an enemy's Reiatsu at a terrible cost to its wielder.
• Yihua explained that she wanted to avoid killing anyone or becoming the mirror's vessel, and planned to tend the herb garden and look after the estate.
• Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan accepted Yihua's decision and vowed to break the bones of anyone who tried to involve her in the clan's plans for the Redwater Mirror.

After Central 46 ended funding for Kirio Hikifune’s Substitute Soul Project, she discovered that its harmless artificial soul could temporarily control a body and named it Gikon. The experiment suggested a way to provide Soul Reapers stationed in the World of the Living with temporary bodies, leaving Kirio eager to explore the idea.

• Kirio Hikifune reviewed the Substitute Soul Project’s failed experiments and concluded that artificial souls could not safely synchronize with a Soul Reaper’s Zanpakutō.
• A messenger delivered Central 46 and the First Division’s order to terminate the project’s funding and seal its research records.
• Kirio examined a small artificial soul created as a byproduct of her research and decided it might have uses beyond combat.
• Kirio placed the artificial soul in a snow mouse, where it temporarily controlled the mouse’s body without aggression.
• Kirio named the artificial soul Gikon and confirmed that the mouse expelled it when its original soul returned.
• Kirio considered pairing Gikon with temporary bodies for Soul Reapers stationed in the World of the Living.

Ichibē Hyōsube appeared before Central 46 to announce that Kirio Hikifune had earned a place in the Zero Division for creating Modified Souls, or Gikon. After he left, the Sages struggled to understand the Soul King's claim to have seen the future and moved to inform Kirio of her selection.

• Ichibē Hyōsube appeared in Central 46's council chamber and announced Kirio Hikifune's promotion to the Zero Division.
• Ichibē explained that Kirio's creation of temporary souls, formally named Gikon, had earned her the honor, despite Central 46 having sealed away her research.
• Ichibē said the Soul King had already seen the future and told the Sages to arrange Kirio's departure.
• The Sages argued over the sealed Gikon and the implications of the Soul King's words, while one Sage concluded that Kirio would no longer captain the Twelfth Division.
• The Rotating Speaker ordered the Sages to keep the matter within the chamber for now and send someone to inform Kirio Hikifune of her selection.

The Soul King’s decree promoted Twelfth Division Captain Kirio Hikifune to the Royal Guard, Zero Division, for developing artificial souls, and news of her summons spread across the Seireitei and Rukongai. The chapter ended with most people accepting the news without understanding Gikon, while a few former Soul Reapers and fallen nobles quietly contemplated its significance.

• Yamamoto and the Central 46 circulated the decree confirming Kirio Hikifune’s promotion to Zero Division for her work on artificial souls.
• Twelfth Division members and Shin'ō Academy instructors and students struggled to understand Gikon and wondered who would take over the division’s work and classes.
• The Kuchiki and Tsunayashiro Clans instructed their retainers to avoid disruption, while lesser nobles sought information about Gikon and the coming captain handover.
• Captains and members across the Gotei 13 received the notice, including Shinji Hirako, who credited Kirio with pulling it off, and Sosuke Aizen, who studied the description of Gikon.
• Merchants and newspapers spread the news through Rukongai, where most residents treated it as gossip, but a few former Soul Reapers and fallen nobles fell silent.

Central 46 struggled to find a successor for Kirio Hikifune as captain of the Twelfth Division and passed the decision to Yamamoto. When Yamamoto asked Kirio for a recommendation, she could name no one, leaving the vacancy unresolved.

• Central 46 rejected Hiyori Sarugaki, the division’s research-focused officers, and noble heirs as candidates for the Twelfth Division’s captaincy.
• A Sage proposed Mayuri Kurotsuchi, but conservative Sages refused to release him from the Supervision Tower.
• The Rotating Speaker transferred authority to choose a successor to the First Division and Yamamoto.
• Yamamoto asked Kirio Hikifune to recommend a candidate, but she declined to name anyone and left his office.

Shaoling Hachi recalled how she had devoted herself to becoming Yoruichi’s attendant, then watched Yoruichi recommend Kisuke Urahara to lead the Twelfth Division. The chapter left Shaoling Hachi hidden in the rafters, consumed by jealousy and suspicion toward Kisuke.

• Years earlier, Shaoling Hachi trained relentlessly, joined the Second Division, and asked Yoruichi to make her an attendant.
• Yoruichi accepted, and Shaoling Hachi stayed at her side as a shadow.
• In the present, Yoruichi told Kisuke Urahara that she had recommended him to become captain of the Twelfth Division, despite his protests.
• Kisuke Urahara glanced toward the rafters while Yoruichi watched him with a knowing smile.
• Hidden above them, Shaoling Hachi resented Kisuke’s closeness with Yoruichi and gripped her blade as her jealousy grew.

Shaoling Hachi secretly followed Kisuke Urahara, convinced he was hiding a threat to Yoruichi Shihōin, but he repeatedly outmaneuvered her without reporting her. Meanwhile, Central 46 provisionally chose Kisuke as the next captain of the Twelfth Division and sent the decision for review.

• Shaoling Hachi believed rumors that Yoruichi Shihōin was sending Kisuke Urahara away and began watching him to uncover his supposed depravity.
• Kisuke repeatedly used his route and pauses to expose Shaoling’s surveillance, then pinned her hidden timekeeping talisman with a bamboo skewer.
• Shaoling realized Kisuke had toyed with her for two weeks, but his silence only strengthened her suspicion that he was concealing a dangerous conspiracy.
• Central 46 reviewed Kisuke’s records, including his combat skills, Zanpakutō, and talent for Reishi research.
• Central 46 provisionally selected Kisuke as captain of the Twelfth Division and submitted the choice to the First Division for review.

Hiyori Sarugaki mistook Kisuke Urahara for the returning Kirio Hikifune, then learned he was the Twelfth Division’s newly appointed captain. She rejected his appointment and kicked him in the face.

• Hiyori waited in Kirio Hikifune’s empty office, longing for her former captain to return.
• Kisuke Urahara entered wearing a captain’s haori, and Hiyori angrily demanded to know who he was.
• Kisuke showed Hiyori his appointment paperwork and introduced himself as the Twelfth Division’s new captain.
• Hiyori refused to accept Kisuke as captain and demanded that he remove his haori.
• Hiyori launched herself at Kisuke and landed a double-footed kick on his face.

At Shin'ō Academy, second-year Kaien Shiba demonstrated his Shikai and fulfilled the requirements for graduation early. News of his achievement spread through Seireitei, where Jūshirō Ukitake hoped Kaien would join the Thirteenth Division after graduating.

• Kaien Shiba released Nejibana during an assessment, revealing that he had achieved Shikai in his second year.
• The examiners praised Kaien's skills and confirmed that he had already met the academy's graduation requirements.
• News of Kaien's achievement spread to every division barracks in the Gotei 13.
• Jūshirō Ukitake praised Kaien's character and hoped he would consider joining the Thirteenth Division after graduation.
• Ukitake and an instructor compared Kaien with his uncle, Isshin Shiba, and joked about their contrasting personalities.

After considering several divisions’ recruitment offers, Kaien Shiba chose the Thirteenth Division, where Jūshirō Ukitake welcomed him and began assigning him independent missions. Three months later, Ukitake had nearly decided Kaien was suited to become the division’s lieutenant.

• The Kuchiki Clan and the Tenth Division approached Kaien Shiba, but he asked for time to consider the Tenth Division’s offer.
• Kaien met Jūshirō Ukitake after a Shin'ō lecture, discussed swordsmanship and division duties with him, and submitted the Thirteenth Division as his first choice.
• Kaien joined the Thirteenth Division and learned that its broad responsibilities left it short of experienced field leaders.
• Ukitake assigned Kaien to lead a team to the World of the Living, then gave him increasingly independent missions.
• After observing Kaien’s sound judgment and reliable work for three months, Ukitake nearly settled on him as the next lieutenant.

News spread throughout Seireitei that Seventh Division lieutenant Rose Ōtoribashi was transferring to the Third Division to take Captain Oda’s place. The transfer had been approved, though the divisions reacted with curiosity, admiration, or indifference.

• A Seventh Division officer said Captain Huashen had approved Rose Ōtoribashi’s transfer and that Third Seat Aikawa might take over the lieutenant’s coordination work.
• Seventh Division members discussed Ōtoribashi’s departure and wondered when he had learned Bankai and whether they should call him Captain Ōtoribashi.
• Fourth Division squad members praised Ōtoribashi’s manners and presence as they discussed his move to the Third Division.
• Sixth and Ninth Division members passed along news that Ōtoribashi would take Captain Oda’s place, while some wondered whether he was strong or whether Lieutenant Hirako knew.
• Twelfth Division squad members briefly acknowledged that Ōtoribashi was transferring to lead an entire division.

Central 46 reacted furiously when Murata rejected its summons after taking the Eleventh Division captain’s haori, while Yamamoto chose not to investigate immediately. The Eleventh Division members debated whether to accept Murata as their captain and were left waiting to see how Central 46 would respond.

• Central 46 learned that Murata had taken the Eleventh Division captain’s haori and ordered him summoned and suspended, but he returned the summons and told them to come see for themselves.
• The Sages examined Murata’s records and found that he came from a minor noble branch, had unremarkable service, and had repeatedly brawled without backing down.
• Chōjirō Sasakibe brought Yamamoto a report about the captaincy change, but Yamamoto said there was no hurry to investigate.
• Eleventh Division members argued over Murata’s claim to the captaincy, and a veteran Third Seat said they should leave the matter to Central 46.

Murata established himself as the Eleventh Division’s new captain by driving out squad members and defeating the force Central 46 sent to arrest him. Seireitei’s captains waited for Yamamoto to act, while Yamamoto chose to watch Murata and learn what he wanted.

• Murata emerged from the captain’s office, drove the Eleventh Division members out of the dining hall, and wore the captain’s haori.
• Central 46 sent three Onmitsukidō squads and two Punishment Force leaders to take Murata in, but Murata wounded them and forced them to retreat with his nearly invisible Zanpakutō, Ruri Hakotsu.
• Central 46’s sages argued over Murata’s strength and Shikai but could not decide how to respond.
• Captains across Seireitei recalled their investigators and waited for Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto’s orders.
• Yamamoto reviewed Murata’s records and the battle reports, then chose to give Murata time to reveal his intentions.

Murata Shō settled into his role as the Eleventh Division's new captain while Central 46 and Yamamoto left the power seizure unchallenged. When Yokoi tracked mud into Murata's office, Murata asserted his authority by ordering him to clean the floors and threatening him with the Maggot's Nest.

• Yamamoto remained silent after the Eleventh Division's seizure of power, and Central 46 shelved its summons rather than send another Punishment Force.
• Murata Shō watched the Eleventh Division's brutal daily sparring as squad members gradually accepted him as their new Kenpachi.
• Yokoi entered Murata's office with muddy sandals to offer him liquor and acknowledge his authority, leaving footprints across the corridor floor.
• Murata confronted Yokoi over the mud and ordered him to clean the floor between the office and corridor after training each day.
• Murata threatened Yokoi with time in the Maggot's Nest when Yokoi resisted the order.

Murata Shō’s year of strict reforms earned him official confirmation as captain of the Eleventh Division, while Central 46 and Yamamoto approved the order he imposed. The chapter ended with veteran squad members secretly resenting the new discipline and fearing the division had lost what made it the Eleventh.

• Yamamoto approved Murata Shō’s retroactive appointment as Eleventh Division captain after reviewing a year of improved discipline and reduced casualties.
• Central 46 formally confirmed Murata Shō as captain and discussed arranging for someone to teach him Bankai.
• Murata Shō addressed the Eleventh Division in his new Captain’s Haori as its members stood in strict formation.
• Veteran squad members gathered secretly to complain about Murata Shō’s punishments and the way his reforms had changed the division.

Fifth Division Captain Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan and Twelfth Division Captain Kisuke Urahara investigated an artificial Hollowfication disaster and uncovered signs of an unknown predator between the Dangai and Soul Society. When a pale-blond boy and girl were cornered by Hollows, the Soul Reapers’ rescue was blocked by Gargantas, but two white afterimages appeared and cut down the Hollow attacking them.

• Kisuke Urahara found evidence that someone had rapidly forced the Rukongai souls to Hollowfy using a concentrated catalyst.
• Kisuke Urahara told Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan that an ancient, hungry presence between the Dangai and Soul Society was using the disaster to lure in a particular reishi fluctuation.
• Sosuke Aizen recognized the victims as products of his secret Hollowfication experiments and realized that the spatial upheaval was also concealing his tracks.
• A pale-blond boy and girl fled a bone-spiked Hollow, whose pursuit drew nearby souls into panic.
• Three Gargantas opened between the children and the Fifth Division, releasing a horde of Hollows that blocked the Soul Reapers’ rescue.
• Two white afterimages appeared and sliced the bone-spiked Hollow apart before it could devour the exhausted children.

After Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan defeated the Hollow, he recognized the siblings’ exceptional spiritual power and offered them a place in the Zhu Sibo estate. Miyanou Fujimaru accepted to protect his sister, and Zhu Sibo welcomed them both into his family.

• Miyanou Fujimaru and Miyanou Matsuri collapsed in the ruins after Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan defeated the Hollow.
• Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan and Kisuke Urahara noticed the siblings’ unusually powerful reiatsu.
• Miyanou Fujimaru introduced himself and his sister to Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan.
• Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan offered the siblings a home and the chance to learn to fight.
• Miyanou Fujimaru accepted, warning that he would kill anyone who bullied Matsuri, and Zhu Sibo welcomed them into his family.
• Kisuke Urahara approached the wary siblings, and Zhu Sibo reassured them about him.

The Seventh Division-led expedition spent three months searching Hueco Mundo for an ancient entity but found no trace of it. Love Aikawa tested his Bankai against an Adjuchas, while Huashen Jing watched over the battle.

• The Gotei 13 expedition searched Hueco Mundo for three months without detecting the suspected ancient entity.
• Love Aikawa unleashed his Bankai and burned an Adjuchas with Great Flame Storm.
• The wounded Adjuchas survived and attracted three Giant Hollows, which the Seventh Division's Seated Officers fought.
• Love Aikawa used Tengu Dance to burn the Adjuchas from within until it was destroyed.

Huashen Jing resigned as Captain of the Seventh Division, prompting Central 46 to demand proof that Love Aikawa had mastered Bankai. After Love demonstrated it before Yamamoto, Huashen retired and Love succeeded him as captain.

• Huashen Jing submitted his resignation and showed Central 46 a recording of Love Aikawa using Bankai in Hueco Mundo.
• Central 46 rejected the recording as insufficient proof and ordered Love to demonstrate Bankai at Sōkyoku Hill before Yamamoto.
• Love Aikawa revealed his Bankai before Seireitei's captains, and Yamamoto confirmed it.
• Huashen Jing retired the next day, Love Aikawa became Captain of the Seventh Division, and Kotsubaki Jin'emon became its Lieutenant.
• Love received his custom-made Captain's Haori a few days later.

Shuichi detected a Bankai-like Reiatsu from a low-ranking Eleventh Division officer and reported it to Yamamoto, who ordered the Onmitsukidō to investigate. Meanwhile, Kaien kept overworking himself, and disgruntled Eleventh Division veterans began discussing how to provoke their captain into revealing his sword’s abilities.

• Shuichi urged Kaien to rest and assured him that the Thirteenth Division could manage its workload without him taking so many assignments.
• Shuichi sensed an unusual Bankai-like Reiatsu from the Eleventh Division’s Fifteenth Seat and memorized its location.
• Shuichi reported the Reiatsu to Yamamoto, who ordered the Onmitsukidō to keep watch on the officer.
• Shuichi again raised Sosuke Aizen’s unusual Reiatsu, but Yamamoto told him to wait for Aizen to reveal a weakness.
• Eleventh Division veterans complained about their captain’s strict rules and plotted to provoke him so they could learn the capabilities of his nearly invisible sword.

Several years later, Miyanou Fujimaru and Miyanou Matsuri began attending the Shin'ō Academy after Zhu Sibo Yihua and Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan had helped them build a strong foundation in reiatsu. They met Kaien Shiba at the academy entrance, where his warmth eased Fujimaru's wariness as the siblings went inside for their first day.

• Eleventh Division officers argued over the length and shape of Captain Murata's Zanpakutō.
• Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan and Yihua brought Miyanou Fujimaru and Miyanou Matsuri to the Shin'ō Academy for their first day as students.
• Kaien Shiba greeted the siblings and praised their solid reiatsu foundation, which Yihua had helped them develop.
• Fujimaru cautiously introduced himself and Matsuri to Kaien, then relaxed under his friendly welcome.
• Zhu Sibo Zhengyuan told the siblings not to be late, and Fujimaru took Matsuri's hand as they climbed into the academy.