Chapter Summaries

Kuchiki Kyōka lost to Aizen and Yamabuki Chidori, forcing him to recognize his weaknesses and abandon his belief that he was nearly invincible. He agreed to undergo Yamabuki Chidori’s three months of special training.

• Aizen defeated Kuchiki Kyōka with gunfire, misdirection, and Kyōka Suigetsu, and Kuchiki Kyōka conceded after realizing he had been outmaneuvered.
• Kuchiki Kyōka admitted to Yamabuki Chidori that his pride had blinded him, and asked to improve his swordsmanship.
• Yamabuki Chidori healed Kuchiki Kyōka’s wounds, then effortlessly countered his attacks and showed him the overwhelming power of Silver Radiant Angel.
• Yamabuki Chidori explained that Kuchiki Kyōka relied too much on his Zanpakuto and offered him grueling training; Kuchiki Kyōka accepted.
• Yamabuki Chidori told Kuchiki Kyōka to rest, warning him that the next three months would leave him without another good night’s sleep.

Kuchiki Kyōka began three months of special training under Yamabuki Chidori, who tested his combat instincts by setting him against the former Fourth Kenpachi, Kamishirokawa. The chapter ended with Kamishirokawa repeatedly defeating Kyōka with blinding swordsmanship, leaving him badly wounded and unable to fight on.

• Kuchiki Kyōka returned home after Yamabuki Chidori assigned him three months of training, and Kuchiki Ginrei noticed that the experience had made him more grounded.
• Yamabuki Chidori told Kuchiki Kyōka to train three of the four basic abilities and promised him a Lieutenant promotion if he could defeat Aizen Sōsuke.
• Kuchiki Kyōka chose Zanjutsu, Hakuda, and Hohō, and Yamabuki Chidori took him through a Wormhole to begin training in Rukongai.
• Yamabuki Chidori introduced Kamishirokawa, a former 11th Division Captain and the Fourth Kenpachi, who swiftly cut down Kuchiki Kyōka and healed his wounds.
• Kamishirokawa challenged Kuchiki Kyōka to block one strike, but Kyōka failed, released Muramasa, and discovered Kamishirokawa could close his heart and fight without relying on his Zanpakuto.
• Kamishirokawa defeated Kuchiki Kyōka again with a nonlethal but severe wound, then asked Yamabuki Chidori to send him back to his patients.

Kuchiki Kyōka recovered from his training and joined Aizen Sōsuke in investigating the brutal murder of a Soul Reaper at Seireitei’s East Gate. The killer remained unidentified, but Aizen and Kyōka prepared a plan to lure him out by staging a Hollow appearance in Rukongai.

• Yamabuki Chidori sent the wounded Kuchiki Kyōka home to recover after explaining that he needed to raise his Reiatsu to counter Kamishirokawa’s speed.
• A mysterious man murdered Shinnosuke in an abandoned temple and vowed revenge against the Gotei 13, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, and Yamabuki Chidori.
• Yamabuki Chidori investigated Shinnosuke’s displayed corpse at the East Gate and ordered Aizen Sōsuke and Hōgen to help find the killer.
• Aizen told Yamabuki Chidori that the murder was revenge, and Yamabuki pressured him into leading the investigation by threatening to reveal Kyōka Suigetsu’s power.
• Yamabuki assigned Kuchiki Kyōka to assist Aizen, and the two agreed to lure out the killer by arranging for a Hollow to appear in Rukongai.

Kōga prepared to investigate a Soul Reaper’s murder while Yamabuki Chidori’s household was targeted by an assassin connected to the Tsunayashiro Clan. The assassin escaped, and the next morning Yamabuki confronted the patrol Soul Reapers after learning they had abandoned their posts to drink.

• Shiba Isshin asked Yamabuki Chidori for a task after one of his subordinates was murdered, and Yamabuki assigned Aizen and Kōga to find the truth.
• Kōga sought advice from Kuchiki Ginrei, who urged him to do his best without overstepping his authority; Kōga then left with his squad to capture a Hollow alive.
• An intruder entered Yamabuki Chidori’s home and took Kyōten'en, but Unohana attacked and badly wounded them before they escaped through the roof.
• Yamabuki took Unohana to the Kuchiki residence and asked Ginrei to alert the Gotei 13, hoping the alarm would draw out whoever was behind the attempt.
• Yamabuki summoned the night patrol Soul Reapers the next morning and learned that they had gotten drunk instead of patrolling.

Aizen and Yamabuki Chidori investigated the theft of Kyōten'en, while Kuchiki Kyōka baited the killer into an ambush that turned deadly. After the attacker used Kyōten'en to copy several powerful Zanpakuto abilities, the blade drained him of his Reiatsu, and a dead man appeared before him.

• Yamabuki Chidori punished a negligent squad leader, then told Aizen that the assassin had stolen Kyōten'en, leading Aizen to suspect a connection to the Tsunayashiro Clan.
• Kuchiki Kyōka lured the killer by fighting a Hollow, but the mysterious man claimed he had killed the Soul Reapers in the ambush, including Aizen Sōsuke.
• The mysterious man summoned black-clad warriors, but Kuchiki Kyōka used Muramasa to turn their Zanpakuto against them.
• The man used Kyōten'en to copy Ryūjin Jakka and Silver Radiant Angel, but Silver Radiant Angel drained all the Reiatsu from his body.
• An unknown figure kicked Kyōten'en from the man's grasp, and the weakened man looked up to see a dead man standing before him.

Aizen exposed an attack on Kyōten'en as a plot by Tsunayashiro Clan remnants and captured one of their agents. Yamabuki Chidori forced the agent to reveal the remnants’ hideouts, then ordered raids and assigned Shiba Isshin to deal with their leader.

• Aizen used Kyōka Suigetsu to expose the attackers’ illusions and reveal a second, injured man in black, who escaped after releasing Ryūjin Jakka.
• Aizen rescued the real witness, and he and Kuchiki Kyōka brought the captured man to Yamabuki Chidori.
• Yamabuki Chidori threatened the captive, Honda Xingchuan, until he revealed that his master was Tsunayashiro Chiaki and that the Tsunayashiro Clan remnants had been secretly gathering strength.
• Honda gave Yamabuki Chidori the locations of the remnants’ hideouts, then Yamabuki Chidori ordered his execution.
• Yamabuki Chidori sent Aizen and Kuchiki Kyōka to raid the hideouts and ordered Shiba Isshin to take responsibility for capturing Tsunayashiro Chiaki.

Shiba Isshin, Aizen, and Kuchiki Kyōka destroyed the fugitive Tsunayashiro Chiaki’s organization but failed to find its leader, while Kyōka earned praise for his role in the operation. Chiaki later confronted Aizen at home, surrendered Kyōten'en in exchange for escape, and was killed; Aizen then tested the stolen sword and resolved to keep his head down until he found a way to challenge Chidori.

• Shiba Isshin, Aizen, and Kuchiki Kyōka led raids that wiped out Chiaki’s remaining forces but found no sign of him.
• Aizen praised Kyōka’s contributions to Chidori, and the two men agreed to share the credit.
• Kuchiki Ginrei praised Kyōka’s progress and offered Chidori his support as the search for Chiaki continued.
• Chiaki confronted Aizen at home and demanded help escaping Soul Society in exchange for keeping Kyōka Suigetsu’s ability secret.
• Aizen persuaded Chiaki to hand over Kyōten'en, then killed him instead of honoring their deal.
• Aizen released Kyōten'en as Silver Radiant Angel, tested its Space Severance ability, and decided to keep his distance from Chidori until he found a way to defeat him.

Aizen returned Kyōten'en and its culprit’s head to Yamabuki Chidori, while privately fearing that he remained trapped under Kyōka Suigetsu. After Kuchiki Kyōka completed two months of training and challenged Aizen, Aizen deliberately lost to him, keeping his own strength hidden.

• Aizen brought the severed head and Kyōten'en to Yamabuki Chidori, who hinted that he knew Aizen had studied the sword and had already subjected him to Kyōka Suigetsu.
• Yamabuki Chidori sent Kuchiki Kyōka to hunt down the Tsunayashiro Clan’s surviving members, and Soul Society slaughtered more than a hundred of them in one night.
• Kuchiki Kyōka trained against retired captains for two months, grew close to captain level, and asked to test himself against Aizen.
• Aizen initially refused the challenge, but agreed after Yamabuki Chidori insisted they fight in his office.
• Kuchiki Kyōka defeated Aizen in their clash, while Aizen remained unharmed and Yamabuki Chidori recognized that his student had deliberately held back.

Kuchiki Kyōka became Yamabuki Chidori’s assistant, while the Shihōin Clan celebrated the birth of Shihōin Yoruichi. Kuchiki Ginrei’s push for grandchildren left Kyōka exhausted, and the chapter ended with his wife taking him home despite his desperate plea for help.

• Kuchiki Kyōka declined Aizen’s Lieutenant position and accepted a role as Yamabuki Chidori’s assistant.
• Kuchiki Ginrei urged Kuchiki Kyōka and Kuchiki Sumikura to spend more time with their families after learning that Shunshun Shidō had become a grandfather.
• Yamabuki Chidori named Shunshun Shidō’s newborn granddaughter Shihōin Yoruichi and helped calm her when she cried.
• Shunshun Shidō and Kuchiki Ginrei traded barbs over their grandchildren and family accomplishments.
• Kuchiki Kyōka asked Yamabuki Chidori for medicine to recover his strength after his father-in-law’s demands, and Yamabuki Chidori gave him a prescription.
• Kuchiki Kyōka tried to avoid going home after work, but his wife arrived and took him away while he silently begged Yamabuki Chidori for help.

Yamabuki Chidori, Lisa Yadōmaru, and Shunsui Kyōraku went to a Rukongai tavern to hear a mysterious musician, where Chidori learned that the owner was Chizome Tano of the Azashiro Clan. Chidori discovered that Tano’s children included the future Chizome Souya, and the chapter ended as the musician began to play an unfamiliar-sounding instrument behind a screen.

• Yamabuki Chidori invited Lisa Yadōmaru to hear a musician, but they had no reservation and could not enter the tavern.
• Shunsui Kyōraku found Lisa Yadōmaru and Yamabuki Chidori outside and brought them inside as his guests.
• Chizome Tano introduced himself as the tavern’s owner and head of the Azashiro Clan, and Yamabuki Chidori recognized the family’s future tragedy.
• Yamabuki Chidori asked Chizome Tano about his children and learned that his daughter was Chizome Tsubaki and his son was Chizome Souya.
• A mysterious musician began performing behind screens, and Yamabuki Chidori noticed that the instrument sounded unfamiliar.

Yamabuki Chidori and the nobles watched a performance that was interrupted by bandits, and the musician revealed himself as Kyōraku Tōshirō. After Kyōraku drove off the bandits, Chizome Tano’s lack of protection left his fortune vulnerable to the nobles’ schemes.

• Kyōraku Shunsui asked Yamabuki Chidori why he seemed displeased by the unfamiliar music, and Yamabuki recognized that it sounded Irish and came from a guitar.
• A bandit chief and his men stormed the venue and demanded the nobles’ money, but Chizome Tano’s fighters were quickly defeated.
• The bandit chief threatened Chizome Tano, who insisted that money mattered more than his life, until an unseen force dragged the chief down from the second floor.
• The bandits opened the screens and found Kyōraku Tōshirō, who used Kinshara to defeat them and then resumed playing his guitar.
• The nobles discussed buying Kyōraku Tōshirō, who ended the performance and left, while Yamabuki Chidori warned Chizome Tano to train stronger protectors.

Yamabuki Chidori stole Shihōin Yoruichi to spite her grandfather, then persuaded Shunshun Shidō to let him teach her while asking to keep her a few more days. Meanwhile, Kyōraku Tōshirō performed for a crowd of nobles and grew more determined to leave, as Chizome Tano approached him with a suspicious smile.

• Yamabuki Chidori found Shunshun Shidō’s notice boasting about Shihōin Yoruichi and secretly took the baby home.
• Shunshun Shidō found Chidori’s note in Yoruichi’s empty crib and told the household she would return the next day.
• Chidori brought Yoruichi to the Staff Department, where Shunshun Shidō arrived after she began crying.
• Chidori fed Yoruichi, and Shunshun Shidō agreed she could study with him when she was older, but rejected his request to keep her longer.
• Kyōraku Tōshirō reluctantly performed at Chizome Tano’s restaurant, then left the stage and considered finding another path.
• Chizome Tano approached Kyōraku Tōshirō with a conspicuous smile after the performance.

Yamabuki Chidori recruited Kyōraku Tōshirō into the Gotei 13 and brought him to Shino Academy for training. While visiting the Azashiro Clan to meet Chizome Souya, he encountered Chizome Tsubaki, demonstrated his swordsmanship, and left her eager to learn from him.

• Yamabuki Chidori invited Kyōraku Tōshirō to join the Gotei 13, and Kyōraku agreed to try the job while keeping the option to leave.
• Chizome Tano gave Kyōraku his wages and extra money, then watched him leave with Yamabuki Chidori.
• Yamabuki Chidori took Kyōraku to Shino Academy, arranged his lodging, and told him to train before fighting Hollows.
• Yamabuki Chidori visited the Azashiro Clan to meet Chizome Souya but encountered Chizome Tsubaki practicing swordsmanship in the garden.
• Yamabuki Chidori criticized Chizome Tsubaki’s mindset, demonstrated a sword stroke that split falling leaves, and prompted her to ask him to teach her.

Yamabuki Chidori began training Chizome Tsubaki and her younger brother, Chizome Souya, after visiting the Chizome family. The siblings struggled through their first lessons, and the chapter ended with Yamabuki Chidori questioning why the wealthy family fed Souya such a meager lunch.

• Chizome Tsubaki asked Yamabuki Chidori to teach her swordsmanship, and he agreed while warning her that he believed she lacked talent.
• Yamabuki Chidori persuaded Chizome Souya to train alongside his sister and took them to the family’s long-abandoned dojo.
• Yamabuki Chidori assigned Souya basic conditioning and challenged Tsubaki to pierce a falling leaf with a wooden sword.
• Yamabuki Chidori guided Tsubaki’s hands and demonstrated how to predict a leaf’s path before striking, while Souya struggled to complete even a short run.
• Yamabuki Chidori checked Souya’s health, reduced his training, and then reacted with surprise when Souya described his usual lunch of ochazuke, sashimi, sushi, and pickles.

Yamabuki Chidori trained the Azashiro siblings, approved a Spring Festival, and learned that the 12th Division had made a breakthrough in Wormhole Technology. The chapter ended with Yamabuki Chidori and Kirimaru Tsukishima pursuing wormhole weapons, as Yamabuki unveiled a blueprint for a Spirit Particle Cannon.

• Yamabuki Chidori cooked Reiatsu-infused food for Chizome Souya and Chizome Tsubaki, then finished their first day of training with them.
• Yamabuki Chidori approved a Spring Festival after Kuchiki Kyōka showed him the petition, and Chizome Tsubaki spent the evening trying on outfits for it.
• Kirimaru Tsukishima told Yamabuki Chidori that the 12th Division had created stable wormholes, but a mouse sent through one emerged as minced flesh.
• Kirimaru Tsukishima demonstrated that a Kidō spell could pass through a wormhole, and Yamabuki Chidori doubled the research funding and ordered development of a cannon capable of striking targets across Soul Society.
• Yamabuki Chidori drew up a blueprint for a three-meter Spirit Particle Cannon while Kirimaru Tsukishima began work on its design.

At the Soul Society’s Spring Festival, Yamabuki Chidori discussed wormhole-powered weapons and support with the Gotei 13 before leaving Shinji Hirako with her paperwork. The celebration ended with Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni making fireworks with Ryūjin Jakka while Shunsui Kyōraku tried to flirt with Chizome Tsubaki.

• Yamabuki Chidori proposed Spirit Particle Cannons and using wormholes for long-range Kido healing and attacks, and Kirimaru Tsukishima agreed to continue researching the technology.
• Yamabuki Chidori convinced Shinji Hirako to process her documents, leaving him buried in work while she went home to sleep.
• Soul Reapers gathered for their first Spring Festival, where Chizome Tsubaki and Chizome Souya explored the festivities.
• Chizome Souya met Shunsui Kyōraku, who recognized his swordsmanship as coming from the same school and repeatedly asked him to introduce his sister.
• Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni used Ryūjin Jakka to create fireworks, and Chizome Tsubaki returned and warned Souya about the strange man beside him.

At the festival, Chizome Tsubaki discovered that her teacher Yamabuki Chidori was married to Unohana and returned home heartbroken after her brother teased her. Meanwhile, Aizen sent one of his Arrancar to attack Kuchiki Kyōka, who was alone in the dark Staff Department and had not yet realized the danger.

• Shunsui Kyōraku flirted with Chizome Tsubaki before Lisa Yadōmaru dragged him away, and Chizome Souya humored his sister as she showed off her jewelry.
• Rojuro gave Chizome Tsubaki a rose, encouraging her to be bold about her feelings for Yamabuki Chidori.
• Chizome Tsubaki saw Yamabuki Chidori with Unohana, learned that Unohana was his wife, and left in a daze while Chidori misunderstood her distress.
• Chizome Souya teased Chizome Tsubaki about her heartbreak, and the siblings eventually stopped chasing each other to eat at a roadside stall.
• Aizen revealed that he had built an Arrancar Army with the Hogyoku and sent an Arrancar to test its combat ability against Kuchiki Kyōka.
• Kuchiki Kyōka stayed late at the Staff Department, and all the lights went out as the Arrancar approached.

Kuchiki Kyōka fought off a strange Hollow wielding a Zanpakuto, while Aizen observed the battle as a test of his Arrancar experiments. Yamabuki Chidori concealed the incident and, after reflecting on Aizen’s plans, opened a Garganta to see how Hueco Mundo had changed.

• Kuchiki Kyōka battled a masked creature with a Zanpakuto in the Staff Department, but it regenerated and self-destructed when he tried to question it.
• Aizen watched the fight and concluded that Arrancar modified from Gillians were too weak to challenge elite Lieutenants.
• Kuchiki Kyōka brought Yamabuki Chidori to the wrecked Staff Department and described the creature.
• Yamabuki Chidori told Kuchiki Kyōka to keep the incident secret and claim that a gas explosion had destroyed the building.
• Unohana noticed the damage but accepted Yamabuki Chidori’s explanation without pressing him.
• Yamabuki Chidori left Unohana and opened a Garganta to visit Hueco Mundo.

Yamabuki Chidori diverted Aizen while he obtained Arrancar research data from his spies in Las Noches, then returned to find Aizen secretly planning further experiments. Aizen began smuggling condemned Soul Reapers out of prison, leaving with two prisoners through a crowded festival as they plotted to kill him.

• Yamabuki Chidori sent Aizen to help at the damaged Staff Department and went alone to Las Noches.
• Yamabuki Chidori learned that Coyote Starrk, Baraggan, Nel Tu, Tier Harribel, Salkapolo, and the others had undergone Arrancar modification, and Salkapolo gave him the research data.
• Salkapolo told Yamabuki Chidori that Aizen was also researching Wormholes, and Yamabuki Chidori left without explaining his motives.
• Yamabuki Chidori returned to the Staff Department, where Aizen secretly took a list of Death Row Inmates to use in Soul Reaper Hollowfication experiments.
• Aizen used Kyōka Suigetsu to escort two Death Row Inmates from prison and led them through a festival while they planned to attack him.

Aizen led two death row inmates out of Seireitei, but Shinji Hirako recognized them and began to suspect him. Aizen used Kyōka Suigetsu to disguise the inmates’ faces, leaving Hirako uncertain as he accompanied them toward Rukongai.

• Aizen explained to Hirako that he was patrolling with two Soul Reapers, then continued toward Seireitei’s edge with the inmates.
• Hirako remembered that the two Soul Reapers resembled men on the death row list and gathered Lisa Yadōmaru, Kensei Muguruma, and Kyōraku Tōshirō to search for Aizen.
• Aizen subdued the inmates with his Reiatsu and ordered them to follow him or return to their cells and await execution.
• Hirako caught up with Aizen in Rukongai and questioned why the patrol had left Seireitei, while Aizen claimed they were pursuing a suspect.
• Aizen’s Kyōka Suigetsu made the inmates’ faces appear ordinary, and he said they belonged to the Sixth Division, leaving Hirako unsure whether he had recognized them correctly.