Recaps

After nearly a year asleep, Wang Tuchuan Yuxuji awakened in winter and decided to leave the Tenth Division and wander Rukongai. Yamamoto allowed him to go only if he first became a Shin'ō Academy instructor.

• Upper Nobility members worried about the Sixth Division's responsibility for noble management and Shiba Ichisegawa's captaincy.
• The Shin'ō Academy completed its first semester, while Soul Reaper divisions and Rukongai armed groups reduced the Hollow threat across Rukongai.
• Wang Tuchuan Yuxuji woke after nearly a year and thanked the Head Captain through Shiba Ichisegawa.
• Wang Tuchuan left the medical institute and told Yamamoto he wanted to resign and wander Rukongai.
• Yamamoto offered to let Wang Tuchuan wander if he took a position as a Shin'ō Academy instructor, and Wang Tuchuan accepted.

Shuichi settled into a quiet routine after the war, spending his days on division paperwork, training-ground visits, walks, and occasional trips to the World of the Living. Wang Tuchuan became Shin'ō Academy's Chief Kendo Instructor, taking over much of its daily coordination from Yamamoto.

• Shuichi completed his Thirteenth Division paperwork, watched training, and wandered through Seireitei during his unstructured hours.
• Shuichi visited the rebuilt Kaimachi, sensed that the little girl's spiritual power remained stable, and left.
• Shuichi taught monthly Hakuda lessons at Shin'ō Academy, where students appreciated his calm instruction.
• Wang Tuchuan recovered at the Shin'ō Medical Institute, received his assignment from Yamamoto, and joined Shin'ō Academy as its sole Chief Instructor.
• Wang Tuchuan organized classes and coordinated instructors across the academy's four primary subjects, easing Yamamoto's workload.

Shin'ō Academy accepted a smaller new class as its graduates spread news of the school through Rukongai. Meanwhile, Shen Du and Wuran built a settlement called Eternal Silence, which faced an approaching band of armed raiders.

• Yamamoto limited Shin'ō Academy's second-year intake to 120 students after two thousand people applied.
• Shen Du and Wuran built a settlement beside a stream in North 67th District and took in people who were old, sick, disabled, or homeless.
• Wuran managed the growing settlement's disputes as its population rose to more than forty people, and Shen Du named it Eternal Silence.
• A group of armed men, led by a bald man, learned about the settlement and set out to rob it for food.
• Wuran sensed the raiders approaching from the southeast, and Shen Du prepared to meet them.

Shen Du awakened Blood Heaven Asura while defending Eternal Silence from a gang that attacked its residents. After the attackers were killed and the settlement was saved, Wuran asked Shen Du to give them a proper burial.

• The bald man ordered three gang members to attack Shen Du while another fought Wuran and his group entered the settlement.
• The bald man beat the one-armed man and assaulted the residents, then ordered his people to search the empty houses for food.
• After hearing a woman cry, Shen Du awakened Blood Heaven Asura and killed the three men surrounding him.
• The bald man rushed out and froze when he saw Shen Du standing over his dead men with a blood-red sword.
• Wuran questioned whether everyone needed to die, but the one-armed man said the gang would have returned to destroy the settlement if left alive.
• Wuran asked Shen Du to bury the dead, and Shen Du agreed.

Five years after the founding of Shin'ō Academy, its first class graduated and the captains assigned the students to divisions. The ceremony ended with the remaining graduates assigned to Yachiru Unohana’s Eleventh Division, to their dismay.

• Shuichi’s Thirteenth Division stabilized, and he became its vice-captain.
• Three hundred and twenty-four graduates gathered as all thirteen Gotei 13 captains attended the first graduation ceremony.
• The captains filled division openings, including Shuichi’s forty long-term World of the Living purification posts.
• Shihōin Qianri called students already selected by other divisions to fill vacant positions, while Senjumaru Shutara recruited students for the Twelfth Division’s Reishi Research Institute.
• Yachiru Unohana ordered every graduate still remaining to join the Eleventh Division, prompting their cries of protest.

Takeda Suzuko died during childbirth, was sent to Soul Society, and awoke with her memories shattered in a ruined shrine in Rukongai. As a Hollow horde poured from a Garganta nearby, the chapter left her in danger.

• Suzuko watched her body die during childbirth as black-clad figures struck her soul with a sword hilt and began dissolving her into Reishi.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto received a report that the High-Reishi Unit had completed Soul Burial.
• Suzuko awoke in a ruined shrine in West 47th District, unable to remember her name or past.
• A Garganta opened above Rukongai, and three Gillian and hundreds of Hollows emerged, drawn by something nearby.

Three Gillian and their Hollow packs devastated West 47th District, forcing wandering souls to flee while local armed groups fought to contain the attack. After a Tenth Division patrol reported the disaster, Yamamoto ordered the Tenth and Eleventh Divisions to exterminate the Hollows and the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Divisions to prepare support.

• Three Gillian and over a hundred Ordinary Hollows emerged in West 47th District and advanced toward the densest Reiatsu, sending residents fleeing.
• Armed groups mobilized to divert the Hollows and protect their own territory, but the Gillian overwhelmed a local hunting squad and killed seven of its members.
• Before dawn, the Reiatsu source stabilized, the Hollows lost its precise location, and the three Gillian scattered and began attacking one another.
• A Tenth Division patrol led by its Fourth Seat reached West 47th District, investigated the devastation, and sent Hell Butterfly messages to six divisions.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto ordered Shiba Ichisegawa and Unohana Yachi to deploy the Tenth and Eleventh Divisions, while the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Divisions prepared to provide support.

The Tenth and Eleventh Divisions advanced through the Hollow horde after the disaster, and Unohana raced ahead toward the three Gillians. Ichisegawa released Linyue and used its water techniques to direct the battle and protect the Tenth Division as the Hollows began to falter.

• The Eleventh Division attacked an offshoot of the horde while the Tenth Division guarded the flanks.
• Unohana sensed three Gillians and vanished into the horde, while Ichisegawa ordered the Tenth Division to advance.
• Ichisegawa released Linyue and used Water Blade and Water Whip to kill Hollows that the squad members could not quickly defeat.
• Ichisegawa spread Mist Cloud to confuse the Hollows’ reiatsu perception and help the squad members break through.
• Ichisegawa raised a Water-Mirror Shield to block corrosive liquid aimed at three squad members.
• The Tenth Division adapted to Ichisegawa’s signals, the horde began to falter, and the distant Gillians roared in agitation.

Ichisegawa used Getsuga Tensho to kill a high-strength Gillian emerging from a Garganta, helping end the Hollow Disaster in the West 47th District. The divisions finished their searches and relief efforts, while the Gotei 13 returned to its routine duties.

• A Garganta opened above the West 47th District and poured out Hollows, including a high-strength Gillian approaching from within.
• Ichisegawa unleashed Getsuga Tensho, cutting through the Hollows and killing the Gillian, which caused the Garganta to close.
• The Eleventh Division and reinforcements from the Third and Fourth Divisions finished off the remaining Hollows, ending the Hollow Disaster after Yachiru Unohana returned.
• The lieutenant counted casualties and the Eleventh Division left the battlefield, while Ichisegawa sent the Tenth Division to search the district for surviving Hollows and injured souls.
• The Third and Fourth Divisions searched nearby areas, and the Fifth Division helped displaced wandering souls find shelter, food, and water.
• The Gotei 13 treated the disaster as routine and resumed its established division duties.

Several years after settling in West 47th District, A-Jing followed her neighbor A-Sheng to register for the Spiritual Arts Academy. Her Spiritual Might tested at sixteenth grade, surprising the people around her.

• A-Sheng urged A-Jing to join him at the Spiritual Arts Academy and promised to wait for her before taking the journey to Seireitei.
• A-Sheng and A-Jing traveled to the registration site beside Hakudo Gate, where applicants had their Spiritual Might measured with a Reishi Stone.
• A-Sheng registered at nineteenth grade and stepped aside.
• A-Jing registered after him, and the Reishi Stone measured her Spiritual Might at sixteenth grade.
• A-Sheng stared at A-Jing in surprise when she confirmed her result.

Shunsui Kyōraku sneaked into Yamamoto’s office and was told to attend the Spiritual Arts Academy, then met Jūshirō Ukitake in class before the term began.

• Shunsui Kyōraku entered the Shin'ō Academy in a borrowed uniform and admired a painting of Yamamoto in the headmaster’s office.
• Yamamoto caught Shunsui, ordered him to return the uniform, and told him to come to school in his own clothes the next day.
• Shunsui arrived for the new term and chose a seat by the classroom window.
• Shunsui introduced himself to the pale, white-haired boy beside him, who said his name was Jūshirō Ukitake.

After Shunsui enrolled in the Spiritual Arts Academy at Yamamoto’s order, the Kyoraku Clan and other nobles grappled with the consequences. Yamamoto closed enrollment for the year, but noble families began preparing their children to attend next year despite their resistance.

• Shunsui told Kyoraku Haruyama and the Kyoraku elders that Yamamoto had ordered him to attend the Spiritual Arts Academy.
• Nobles visited the Kyoraku Clan to ask about Shunsui’s enrollment and Yamamoto’s intentions.
• Yamamoto declined to meet the nobles and sent First Division members to announce that enrollment had closed for the year.
• Noble parents ordered their children to attend the Spiritual Arts Academy next year, prompting fear and protests from the children.
• A noble elder argued that the clans needed to support Yamamoto’s Academy to preserve their standing in the Gotei 13.

Shuichi learned and tested the Kidō Corps’ experimental Kurohitsugi while improving Danku and Tenteikūra. Two years later, the Kidō Corps finalized Kurohitsugi’s incantation and registered it as Hado #90.

• Yamamoto sent Shuichi to the Kidō Corps to learn its experimental Kurohitsugi in exchange for helping develop it.
• A Kidō Corps researcher demonstrated how Kurohitsugi trapped a target in a black Reishi prism and explained that a large Reiatsu gap could weaken its lock.
• Shuichi’s first attempt to use Kurohitsugi on a Hollow was incomplete, but his second attempt enclosed the target successfully.
• Shuichi repeatedly tested Kurohitsugi on Hollows and refined his technique while improving Danku and Tenteikūra with the Kidō Corps’ help.
• Two years later, the Deputy Chief gave Shuichi the finalized incantation and confirmed that Kurohitsugi had been registered as Hado #90.

Shuichi taught a Hakuda class at the Spiritual Arts Academy and gave the student known as A-Jing the name Takeda Suzuko. Suzuko told A-Sheng about her new name, leaving him surprised and wondering why the captain had chosen her.

• Shuichi reviewed sweep kicks with the third-year students and noticed a familiar girl among them.
• Shuichi named A-Jing Takeda Suzuko during class, and she accepted the name without knowing why he had chosen it.
• After class, Takeda Suzuko went to A-Sheng's dormitory to tell him about her new name.
• A-Sheng recalled knowing her since they were children in West 47th District and asked which captain had named her.
• Suzuko said Shuichi had given her the name, but she did not know why.

After Captain Shuichi named the academy student Takeda Suzuko, rumors spread that he had claimed her as family, unsettling noble students and families. Yamamoto confirmed she was almost certainly the same Suzuko once monitored in the World of the Living, but his silence left the nobles guessing about his stance.

• Shunsui Kyōraku told Ukitake and nearby students that Captain Shuichi’s name for Takeda Suzuko could mean he had claimed her as family.
• Noble students concluded that Suzuko’s standing at the Spiritual Arts Academy had changed because Shuichi commanded the Thirteenth Division and was Yamamoto’s disciple.
• Yamamoto received Chojiro Sasakibe’s report and summoned the Onmitsukidō team that had monitored Suzuko in the World of the Living.
• The team leader reported that Suzuko’s Reiatsu patterns and appearance matched the archived records, and Yamamoto dismissed the report without comment.
• Noble families waited for Yamamoto to state his position, while Yachiru Unohana and Shihōin Qianri treated Shuichi’s action as no concern of theirs.

As Eternal Silence’s population grew, Wuran delegated responsibilities to ease his burden, and Shen Du took charge of those who could fight. When a Garganta unleashed a horde of Hollows on the settlement, Wuran and Shen Du fought to defend it until a powerful youth named Zaraki arrived and turned the tide.

• Wuran accepted the one-armed man’s list of helpers and assigned Shen Du to manage the settlement’s blade-wielders.
• A Garganta opened above Eternal Silence, and Wuran urged the residents to flee as Hollows poured out.
• Shen Du and Wuran fought the Hollow horde, with Shen Du’s Blood Heaven Asura absorbing Reiatsu from the Hollows he wounded.
• Wuran collapsed under the attackers, then activated a golden barrier that healed his wounds.
• A youth wielding a notched Zanpakutō killed large numbers of Hollows and introduced himself as Zaraki.
• Shen Du invited Zaraki to join the settlement, but Zaraki called him too weak and left.

Jueshu arrived at the ruined Eternal Silence and joined the survivors’ rebuilding efforts, while he noticed Wuran’s distant thoughts and Shen Du’s inner struggle. In Silbern, the Sternritter challenged Haschwalth’s refusal to act while Yhwach remained dormant, and Haschwalth warned Bazz-B not to die.

• Jueshu passed Zaraki on the road, then traveled to Eternal Silence and offered to help clear the ruins.
• Wuran accepted Jueshu’s offer, and Jueshu began moving wood and helping the survivors.
• At night, Jueshu observed that Wuran seemed burdened and that Shen Du was struggling with his inner demon and Zaraki’s words.
• In Silbern, Bazz-B, Frida Bergmann, and Kurt Meinel challenged Haschwalth’s orders to wait for Yhwach to awaken.
• Haschwalth ended the meeting and told Bazz-B that if the knights acted, Silbern would cease to exist.
• Haschwalth told Bazz-B, “Don’t die.”

Suzuko demonstrated an unusually powerful Shakkahō in Kidō class, while Shunsui Kyōraku grew frustrated that his Asauchi would not resonate and considered replacing it. The chapter ended with Shunsui sneaking into the Kyoraku Clan armory and taking two Asauchi.

• Suzuko pierced the Shakkahō target and blasted a crater into the wall, astonishing her classmates.
• The instructor told Suzuko that her spell was too concentrated and advised her to adjust her final Reiatsu output.
• Shunsui asked Ukitake whether they should get new Asauchi because neither blade had resonated into a Zanpakutō.
• Ukitake said replacing the blades would make no difference, and Shunsui silently resisted admitting he was right.
• Shunsui slipped into the Kyoraku Clan armory and hid two Asauchi beneath his robe while a guard watched.

Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake successfully practiced Sword Meditation with two Asauchi each, revealing that both could wield Twin-Blade Zanpakutō. After the news drew attention from Seireitei’s factions, Yamamoto summoned them and took them on as his students.

• Shunsui secretly gave Ukitake a second Asauchi, and both boys successfully practiced Sword Meditation with two swords at once.
• The instructor recognized the boys’ twin-blade resonance as an unprecedented anomaly, and word reached Yamamoto and the noble clans.
• Kyoraku Haruyama realized the discovery had made the Kyoraku Clan the focus of Seireitei’s attention.
• Tsunayashiro Shiki ordered the Great Spirit Library to record the boys and investigate Ukitake.
• After keeping Shunsui and Ukitake in the dormitory for three days, Yamamoto summoned them and declared that he would teach them all the skills they needed to learn.

Yamamoto defended his training of unusually gifted Soul Reapers before Central 46, then Shuichi made Takeda Suzuko his little sister. Later, Ise Chiyo asked Shuichi to look after her daughter Ise Akira, and Yamamoto ordered Shuichi and Saito to escort Qian Lida to the South 77th District for a ritual.

• Yamamoto told Central 46 that he trained his disciples to protect Soul Society and insisted that their rulings be sent to the First Division.
• Yamamoto asked Shuichi to establish Takeda Suzuko's status, and Shuichi offered to make her his little sister.
• Takeda Suzuko accepted Shuichi as her big brother and revealed their new relationship at the Spiritual Arts Academy.
• Ise Chiyo introduced her daughter Ise Akira to Shuichi and asked him to look after her.
• Yamamoto told Shuichi and Saito to escort Qian Lida to the South 77th District for a ritual, leaving Shuichi to ask what ritual he meant.

Yamamoto assigned Shuichi and Saito to escort Qian Lida to a ritual that would purify the corrupted Soul King's Fragment, and Shuichi agreed after learning Yamamoto had entrusted him with the mission. Meanwhile, nobles interpreted the assignment as a sign that Yamamoto was shaping Soul Society's future and feared the Spiritual Arts Academy would erode their influence.

• Yamamoto explained that Qian Lida would perform her third and final ritual to purify the berserk Soul King's Fragment, and Shuichi and Saito would escort her to the site.
• Shuichi asked why Yamamoto had entrusted him with the task, and Yamamoto said Shuichi would have to seek certain answers for himself.
• Shuichi agreed to go, while Yi Liang listened silently beside her mother, Qian Lida.
• Yamamoto recalled how Ise Mikako had entrusted her daughter and the Ise Clan's sword to him before her own third ritual.
• Nobles discussed Yamamoto's decision to send Shuichi, seeing it as a signal about Soul Society's future and the declining power of noble clans.
• The nobles worried that Spiritual Arts Academy graduates would fill the divisions' ranks, leaving the young clan head's question about what to do unanswered.

Shuichi and Saito escorted Ise Chiyo and her ritual implement toward their destination, where they encountered the Eighth Division's battered reconnaissance team. The Fourth Seat reported that a captain-class entity and its reishi constructs were attacking intruders, leaving Shuichi and Saito to face an unknown threat.

• Shuichi met Saito at Zhuwa Gate, and they departed with Ise Chiyo's palanquin and its noble honor guard.
• The procession traveled through the air, rested overnight, and neared its destination at dusk on the second day.
• Shuichi and Saito sensed an unusual reiatsu surging from the south.
• The Eighth Division's Fourth Seat and five injured squad members arrived and reported attacks by four-winged Death-Omen Birds and relentless Land Beasts.
• The Fourth Seat described Torrent, the main body's corrosive attack, and identified the humanoid core as having captain-class reiatsu.
• Shuichi acknowledged the report and told the battered squad members to rest.

Saito established a defensive position for the Sixth Division and Qian Lida’s honor guard as reishi creatures gathered around them. When the god’s Reiatsu struck, Shuichi shielded Saito from a torrent, and the group prepared to fight the approaching Death-Omen Birds and Land Beasts.

• Saito ordered the Sixth Division to scout for a safe landing site, and a Squad Member found a raised platform to use as a temporary base.
• Saito inspected the terrain and guard positions, then ordered the Sixth Division to prepare for battle and the Noble Armed Forces to protect Qian Lida’s palanquin.
• Death-Omen Birds and Land Beasts formed around the rise as a disembodied voice called the group rebels who defied the gods.
• Saito charged toward the voice, but Shuichi cast Danku to stop her, blocking a torrent that struck the barrier instead.
• The Sixth Division began chanting Kidō as the Noble Armed Forces aimed their Reishi Armament at the creatures gathering below.

Shuichi and Saito fought off a flood of reishi creatures attacking the high ground and Ise Chiyo’s sedan chair. Their combined efforts turned the battle around, but Chiyo remained inside the sedan chair, praying for help to arrive soon.

• Shuichi used Higan Ten to cut down reishi creatures, but their overwhelming numbers pushed the Sixth Division guards and noble armed forces toward collapse.
• Saito unleashed Bankai, Dairitsu Eighty Wrongs, drawing the creatures’ attention and throwing their attacks into disarray.
• With Saito’s Bankai easing the pressure on the high ground, the defenders recovered their formation and tended to an injured comrade.
• Shuichi cast Hado Thirty-Two, Ōkasen, and its flames annihilated a huge group of reishi creatures as Saito evaded the blast.
• Ise Chiyo sensed the battle outside from inside the sedan chair and silently prayed for help to arrive soon.

Shuichi and Saito struggled to hold the high ground against an increasingly powerful horde of Reishi creatures until Shihōin Qianri arrived and helped turn the battle around. After Qianri blocked a mysterious Torrent with Danku, it eventually stopped, leaving its source unknown.

• Saito drew the Reishi creatures toward her while Shuichi used his Reiatsu perception, sword, and Kidō to support the defensive line.
• Shihōin Qianri arrived, released Shiranui, and destroyed the creatures with his fireballs and flame-wreathed Hakuda strikes.
• Qianri's arrival let the captains kill the Reishi creatures faster than they could form, giving the Sixth Division and Noble Armed Forces time to recover.
• Shuichi sensed an approaching presence with unfamiliar Reiatsu, and Qianri cleared a wide area before Shuichi raised a Danku against a Torrent.
• The Torrent shattered Shuichi's Danku, but Qianri's stronger Danku contained it until the Torrent stopped.