Recaps

Yamabuki Chidori trained Byakuya, helped Yoruichi raise Soi Fon, and secretly guided Tōsen and Komamura toward the Gotei 13. The arc left Tōsen and Komamura newly admitted to the Fifth Division, with Aizen still uncertain how to recruit Tōsen to his cause.

• Yamabuki Chidori trained Byakuya in Flash Blossom, while Yoruichi became Captain of the 2nd Division and later took Soi Fon under her wing.
• After Hōgen died in Hueco Mundo, Yamabuki Chidori and Unohana welcomed Soi Fon into their family, and Yoruichi helped raise and train her.
• Yamabuki Chidori defeated Aizen in a sparring match, then secretly taught Soi Fon and Yoruichi while exposing Soi Fon to his hidden comics room.
• Yamabuki Chidori intervened in Kaname Tōsen’s life, arranged his admission to Shino Academy, and admitted Sajin Komamura despite prejudice against his clan.
• Yamabuki Chidori recruited Tōsen as an undercover ally and urged Komamura to pursue a place in the Gotei 13, while Aizen began watching Tōsen.
• During a Hollow hunt in the Human World, Aizen’s arranged attack endangered Tōsen, Kyouka, and Komamura, and Aizen rescued them to court Tōsen.
• Yamabuki Chidori told Tōsen that Aizen had staged the attack, and Tōsen agreed to feign loyalty while Chidori promised to protect his loved ones.
• Two months later, Tōsen and Komamura joined the Fifth Division and Kyouka joined the Fourth Division, but Aizen failed to persuade Tōsen before Komamura got drunk.

Yamabuki Chidori guided events around Aizen’s rise, the Visored incident, and the next generation while steering several Soul Reapers into new roles. In modern Karakura Town, he recruited Aizen to create the Hollow that would lead to Masaki Kurosaki’s connection with Isshin and their future child.

• Tōsen resisted Aizen’s persuasion at first, but eventually joined him on the condition that Kyouka would not be sacrificed, while Gin and Rangiku were found and brought to Seireitei.
• Yamabuki arranged for Gin to become a Soul Reaper near Aizen, and Gin killed Naruki on Aizen’s orders as Aizen began recruiting and training him.
• Kenpachi Zaraki killed Oni Kijō, then fought Yamabuki and accepted the 11th Division Captaincy after losing to him.
• Kisuke Urahara arrested Kurotsuchi Mayuri, later became 12th Division Captain and founded the Research and Development Bureau, while Aizen’s Hollowfication plot against Shinji Hirako reached its crisis.
• Aizen framed Urahara for the Hollowfication of the Visored captains, and Yoruichi and Tekka Gekka rescued Urahara and the others during their execution convoy.
• Yamabuki helped appoint new Captains, encouraged Byakuya to marry Hisana, and later reunited Hisana with her sister Rukia, prompting Renji to enter Shino Academy.
• After a thousand years, Yamabuki met Masaki Kurosaki in Karakura Town, discovered she was a Quincy, and persuaded Aizen to create a Hollow that could enter her and pass its power to her child with Isshin.

Yamabuki Chidori guided Ichigo through the rescue of Rukia and the battles in Hueco Mundo, then revealed his hidden role in Aizen’s plan. Aizen defeated the Soul Reapers and evolved repeatedly, but Ichigo struck him down with the Final Getsuga Tenshō, leaving Aizen alive as Ichigo’s temporary power faded.

• Yamabuki Chidori saved Masaki Kurosaki from Hollowfication by transferring his Shinigami Power to her, and Masaki chose to stay with Isshin.
• After Rukia Kuchiki transferred her power to Ichigo, he entered Soul Society to rescue her, trained to use Bankai, and joined the rebellion against her execution.
• Aizen revealed himself at the execution grounds, escaped to Hueco Mundo, and later abducted Orihime, prompting Ichigo and his companions to enter Las Noches.
• Ichigo’s group fought the Espada while Aizen used Orihime’s Power of Rejection to create a void, then Aizen’s forces attacked the Human World as Yamabuki and the captains confronted them.
• Yamabuki revealed that Tōsen had been his undercover agent and that he had orchestrated events behind the scenes, but Aizen trapped him in a void and defeated the assembled fighters.
• Aizen evolved and entered Soul Society with Gin, while Ichigo appeared, carried him to a wasteland, and killed Form Three Aizen with a single strike.
• Aizen regenerated and transformed through Forms Four and Five, but Ichigo split him in two with the Final Getsuga Tenshō before Aizen returned in human form and predicted that Ichigo’s power would fade.

Yamabuki Chidori prepared Ichigo and Soul Society for Yhwach’s invasion, manipulated the battlefield, and guided Ichigo toward recovering his power. The arc ended with the Soul King asking Chidori to let Yhwach free him, while Ichigo and the others continued their training and the Wandenreich began to fracture.

• Yamabuki Chidori defeated Aizen in Hell, returned him to Mugen Jigoku, and helped Ichigo face the loss of his powers before arranging his Fullbring training with Ginjo Kugo.
• Yamabuki Chidori pushed Ichigo to awaken his Quincy power, while Yhwach rebuilt the Sternritter, invaded Hueco Mundo, captured Tier Harribel, and recruited Uryu Ishida as his heir.
• The Quincy invaded Seireitei, where Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni and the Gotei 13 fought them alongside powerful allies, while Urahara and Ichigo rescued Tier Harribel from Hueco Mundo.
• Yamabuki Chidori revealed that the apparent Seireitei battlefield was his creation, confronted Yhwach, and later treated the wounded as Ichigo resolved to keep fighting.
• Yamabuki Chidori trained Ichigo and Rukia, broke Ichigo’s Tensa Zangetsu, and arranged for the Zero Division to help repair it while Byakuya and Hitsugaya pursued their own training.
• At the Soul King Palace, Ichigo failed Nimaiya Ōetsuya’s test, then learned from Aizen and Yamabuki Chidori about the Soul King, his own origins, and the powers he had inherited.
• The Soul King asked Yamabuki Chidori not to stop Yhwach from freeing him, while Bambietta brought Liltotto to Soul Society and Yamabuki offered her a place on his side.