Recaps

The captains and squad members recovered their normal forms, then cleaned up the Fourth Division pharmacy and faced Yamamoto’s orders after the ruined fireworks festival. The night ended with Yoriichi back in the Third Division courtyard as another explosion sounded near Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Yachiru.

• Mayuri Kurotsuchi distributed the antidote, restoring Yamamoto, Chōjirō Sasakibe, Jūshirō Ukitake, Shunsui Kyōraku, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto, and Kenpachi Zaraki to normal.
• Yamamoto ordered the fireworks losses charged to Shunsui Kyōraku’s Eighth Division, while Unohana stopped Kenpachi from fighting Mayuri and had him help clean the pharmacy.
• Kenpachi and Yachiru sorted medicine jars under Isane’s protests, while Yoriichi identified jars by their Reishi signatures and Nemu put them away.
• Yamamoto canceled the fireworks festival and assigned reports and repairs, including a complete experimental report from Mayuri and shelf repairs for Kenpachi.
• Mayuri walked away with Nemu and Yachiru, then hurried off when Yamamoto called to him; Yoriichi returned to the Third Division courtyard, where Kira broke a floorboard and another explosion sounded in the distance.

After Mayuri Kurotsuchi detected Quincy erasing Hollows in Hueco Mundo, he secretly sacrificed twenty-eight thousand souls in Rukongai to restore the balance of the Three Realms. When the disappearances were discovered, Yamamoto ordered Yoriichi Tsugikuni to investigate.

• Akon detected that more than twenty-five thousand Hollow Reiatsu signatures had vanished from Hueco Mundo, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi identified the Quincy as the likely cause.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi calculated that twenty-eight thousand souls had to be erased in Rukongai to keep the Three Realms stable, then ordered Nemu Kurotsuchi to activate the Soul Erasure Device.
• Nemu Kurotsuchi led the operation while Akon let her pass, and the device erased twenty-eight thousand souls from sealed Rukongai districts.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi ordered the Research and Development Institute to delete the records after the soul balance returned to the safe range.
• A supply Soul Reaper discovered empty homes in Rukongai, and Yamamoto ordered Yoriichi Tsugikuni to investigate the missing souls.

Yoriichi investigated the disappearance of souls in Rukongai and found evidence of a device that had erased them. Tsukishima revealed that he had witnessed Soul Reapers sweep through the neighborhood with a blue curtain of light, leaving Yoriichi to confront the possibility that Soul Reapers were responsible.

• Yoriichi examined the abandoned neighborhood and found an orderly trace of Reishi beneath the ground, suggesting a device had been used to make the souls disappear.
• Yoriichi met Tsukishima, who explained that he had been searching Rukongai for Ginjo and feared Ginjo might have gone to Hell.
• Yoriichi told Tsukishima that he had once seen the Gates of Hell and wondered whether he should investigate them.
• Tsukishima said he had seen a Barrier rise around the neighborhood, followed by a blue curtain of light that turned everyone it touched into Reishi.
• Tsukishima told Yoriichi that the people behind the attack wore Shihakushō, and Yoriichi reacted gravely to the possibility that Soul Reapers had taken the souls.

Yoriichi learned that the Twelfth Division might be erasing souls to restore the balance of the Three Realms, then encountered the Quincy invasion of Seireitei. Nianzol Weizol blocked his path and revealed his ability to deflect attacks, leaving Yoriichi’s first slash missing him.

• Yoriichi trusted Tsukishima’s warning about the disappearance of twenty-eight thousand wandering souls and set out to find whoever was responsible.
• Yoriichi told the investigating Soul Reapers to guard the sealed-off area, then suspected Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s Twelfth Division was erasing souls to preserve the balance of the Three Realms.
• Unfamiliar Reiatsu erupted inside Seireitei, and Yoriichi turned back before a young man in white emerged from warped space to block his way.
• The stranger introduced himself as Nianzol Weizol, a Sternritter serving Yhwach, and declared the Wandenreich’s intention to destroy the Gotei 13.
• Nianzol explained that his Schrift, W, The Wind, made attacks veer away from him, and Yoriichi’s slash with Hekyō bent aside without hitting him.

Yoriichi used the Transparent World to find and wound Nianzol by striking through the space hiding his real body. Nianzol explained that Yoriichi was one of the Six Special War Powers, then taunted him about the war in Seireitei as Chōjirō Sasakibe’s Reiatsu vanished; Yoriichi raised Hekyō with both hands.

• Yoriichi’s Shikai attacks curved around Nianzol, but the Transparent World revealed that a layer of distorted space was redirecting them.
• Yoriichi cut through the distortion, located Nianzol’s hidden position, and pierced his shoulder with Hekyō, burning him with Sun Reiatsu.
• Nianzol described the Six Special War Powers and identified Yoriichi’s unknown factor as skill.
• Nianzol warned that Soul Reapers were dying in Seireitei and said Chōjirō Sasakibe’s Reiatsu had disappeared.
• Yoriichi looked toward the First Division and raised Hekyō with both hands.

Yoriichi defeated Nianzol by unleashing One Moment... Thousand Strikes, which cut through the layered space and destroyed him. Yoriichi then headed toward the Seireitei, where fierce fighting was underway.

• Yoriichi refused to use Bankai as Nianzol demanded and gathered Reishi around himself while slowing his breathing.
• Nianzol sensed danger and tried to escape through warped layers of space, but Yoriichi’s attack kept him locked on.
• Yoriichi used One Moment... Thousand Strikes to slice through the surrounding space and destroy Nianzol with crimson slashes and Sun Reiatsu.
• Yoriichi sheathed Hekyō and activated Nisshun to race toward the Seireitei.
• A massive fissure in space remained at the battlefield before slowly shrinking and disappearing.

Yoriichi returned to Seireitei after the Wandenreich’s attack and learned that 117 Soul Reapers, including Chōjirō Sasakibe, had been killed. Yamamoto told Yoriichi not to blame himself, then ordered Mayuri Kurotsuchi to report to the First Division after Yoriichi confirmed the Twelfth Division’s involvement in his Rukongai investigation.

• Yoriichi arrived in Seireitei and found rescue teams tending to the wounded and collecting the dead after the attackers had withdrawn.
• A First Division member reported 117 dead, 43 seriously injured, and confirmed that Vice-Captain Sasakibe had been killed by an unfamiliar Quincy ability.
• Yoriichi found Yamamoto standing beside Sasakibe’s body and blamed himself for not returning sooner.
• Yamamoto told Yoriichi that Sasakibe’s death was not his fault and that he had returned as quickly as he could.
• Yoriichi confirmed that the Twelfth Division was responsible for the events he had investigated in Rukongai.
• Yamamoto ordered Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi to come to the First Division immediately.

Yoriichi confronted Mayuri Kurotsuchi over his mass killing of wandering souls in Rukongai, which Mayuri claimed was necessary to restore the balance of the Three Realms. Yamamoto postponed judgment until the Wandenreich threat was dealt with, then asked Yoriichi why he thought Mayuri had not been held accountable.

• Mayuri arrived at the First Division courtyard, and Yamamoto demanded an explanation for the killings in Rukongai.
• Mayuri said Quincy attacks had destroyed many Hollows, disrupting the balance of the Three Realms, and admitted he had killed wandering souls to compensate.
• Yoriichi condemned Mayuri's decision to treat lives as numbers, but Mayuri argued that the sacrifice was necessary and challenged Yoriichi to solve the problem himself.
• Yamamoto stopped their argument and said he would settle accounts with Mayuri after the Wandenreich matter was resolved.
• Mayuri warned that the Wandenreich had bypassed Seireitei's monitoring systems and left to investigate their technology.
• Yamamoto asked Yoriichi why he was not holding Mayuri accountable for his crimes.

Yoriichi questioned Yamamoto about postponing punishment for Mayuri Kurotsuchi, and Yamamoto explained the choices a Captain-Commander had to make during a war. He urged Yoriichi to gain the strength and resolve to find better options, then directed him to the Great Spirit Book Gallery for answers about the Gotei 13's past.

• Yoriichi asked whether Mayuri Kurotsuchi's killings of Rukongai souls would go unpunished, and Yamamoto said the reckoning had only been postponed because the Gotei 13 needed the Twelfth Division.
• Yamamoto asked how Yoriichi would handle Mayuri, and Yoriichi admitted that he did not know.
• Yamamoto explained that a Captain-Commander sometimes had to choose who would be sacrificed to keep the Gotei 13 alive and bear the resulting resentment and condemnation.
• Yamamoto said Mayuri had prevented a greater catastrophe by reducing the number of souls, but insisted that his merit did not erase his guilt.
• Yamamoto told Yoriichi to develop the strength and resolve to find a path that required no one to be sacrificed, and Yoriichi resolved to become stronger.
• Yamamoto said the Gotei 13's past was not clean and directed Yoriichi to the Great Spirit Book Gallery for answers.

After Yamamoto authorized Yoriichi to enter the Great Spirit Book Gallery, Yoriichi encountered its administrator, Tsunayashiro Tokinada, and entered without accepting his offer of help. Tokinada watched him disappear behind the closed doors.

• Yoriichi used Yamamoto's pass to travel to the Great Spirit Book Gallery and found its gates guarded by members of the nobility.
• Tsunayashiro Tokinada introduced himself as the head of the Tsunayashiro Clan and administrator of the Gallery, and explained that his clan controlled access to its records.
• Tokinada inspected Yamamoto's authorization and allowed Yoriichi to enter.
• Tokinada offered to help Yoriichi find records, but Yoriichi questioned his motives and declined.
• Yoriichi entered the Gallery, while Tokinada watched the doors close behind him.

Yoriichi uncovered the truth that the Three Realms had been created by sealing and mutilating the Soul King, then learned more about Unohana’s past and the cost of restoring Kenpachi Zaraki’s power. A record about deceased captains finally confirmed that Hell existed, though its other records had been erased.

• Yoriichi read that the Five Great Noble Clans had divided the original world into the Three Realms and sealed, dismembered, and deprived the Soul King of his freedom to keep them stable.
• Yoriichi searched the Great Spirit Book Gallery for Hell and related terms, but found that nearly all records had been erased from its catalog.
• Yoriichi read the Gotei 13’s history and learned that Unohana had fought a nameless boy who became Kenpachi Zaraki, causing him to gradually seal away his power.
• Yoriichi discovered that Unohana had to fight Zaraki repeatedly and heal him to undo his seals, and that his awakening would ultimately cost her life.
• Yoriichi found a record stating that deceased captain-level Soul Reapers were sent to Hell through a special ritual.

Yoriichi uncovered the history of the Quincy wars and learned that Yhwach’s return was approaching after nearly a thousand years in hiding. He accepted Soul Society’s past crimes but resolved to protect its people by destroying the Wandenreich if it attacked.

• Yoriichi found that the Great Spirit Book Gallery preserved almost no information about Hell and turned to records about the Quincy.
• Yoriichi learned that Yhwach had led an organized Quincy army in the first war, which ended when Yamamoto and the original thirteen captains defeated his forces, though Yhwach’s death was never confirmed.
• Yoriichi read the Quincy legend that foretold the sealed king’s return and concluded that the Wandenreich had hidden inside Seireitei for nearly a thousand years.
• Yoriichi discovered that Soul Society had later exterminated the Quincy, including women and children, and recognized the continuing weight of its past crimes.
• Yoriichi resolved to protect the people he cared about and declared that he would destroy the Wandenreich if Yhwach attacked.

After learning more about Soul Society’s buried history, Yoriichi resolved to defeat Yhwach and protect its people, then returned to the Third Division and helped with paperwork. The chapter ended with the Gotei 13 honoring Chōjirō Sasakibe and 116 other fallen Soul Reapers at their funeral.

• Yoriichi left the Great Spirit Book Gallery determined to defeat Yhwach and investigate Soul Society’s past after the war.
• Yoriichi returned to the Third Division, where Kira told him that all captains and vice-captains would attend the funeral at dawn.
• Yoriichi signed division documents alongside Kira as they prepared for the next day’s ceremony.
• The captains and vice-captains gathered at the crematorium before 117 bodies, including Chōjirō Sasakibe’s.
• Yamamoto knelt before Sasakibe, then rose and ordered the funeral pyres lit.

Yhwach invaded Hueco Mundo and crushed the defenders of Las Noches, capturing Tier Harribel and Starrk while the other Arrancar escaped. He declared Hueco Mundo a stepping stone for the Wandenreich’s advance into the Soul Society, while the opening scene showed Yoriichi preparing for the coming war after the funeral rites for the fallen.

• Yoriichi watched the fires for the dead and resolved not to let the enemy escape again as the story returned to several days earlier.
• Yhwach and Haschwalth arrived at Hueco Mundo with Quincy forces and ordered them to make the Arrancar submit or eliminate them.
• Tier Harribel ordered Apache, Mila Rose, Sun-Sun, and the other Arrancar to retreat while she and Starrk held off the Quincy.
• Tier Harribel and Starrk unleashed their Zanpakuto powers against Yhwach, but he absorbed their attacks and defeated them.
• Haschwalth bound Tier Harribel and Starrk, and Yhwach chose not to pursue the escaped Arrancar, calling Hueco Mundo a stepping stone toward the Soul Society.

A Quincy’s Lure Drug drew a swarm of Hollows into Karakura Town, where Shino Madarame, Xingmu Longzhijie, and Zenosuke Kurumadani were overwhelmed until Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends intervened. After the injured were taken to the Kurosaki house, Äs Nödt appeared and challenged Ichigo, who chased him into the air.

• A figure released Lure Drug over Karakura Town, opening Garganta and summoning Hollows that attacked Shino Madarame, Xingmu Longzhijie, and Zenosuke Kurumadani.
• Shino shielded the badly injured Xingmu as a Hollow prepared to strike, but Ichigo arrived with Uryū Ishida, Orihime Inoue, and Yasutora Sado.
• Orihime healed Xingmu while Ichigo used Bankai and Getsuga Tenshō to destroy the surrounding Hollows.
• At the Kurosaki house, Uryū identified the Lure Drug as a Quincy-made substance as the group discussed the attack.
• Äs Nödt entered Ichigo’s bedroom through the window and ordered Ichigo to come with him.
• Ichigo kicked Äs Nödt out of the house, then transformed into his Soul Reaper form and pursued him through the air.

Ichigo defeated Ebern after the Quincy Medallion failed to steal his Bankai, but Ebern escaped into the shadows. Nel then arrived from Hueco Mundo with news that invaders had seized Las Noches and captured Starrk and Tier Harribel, prompting Ichigo to set out for Urahara and plan a rescue.

• Ebern attacked Ichigo in the sky above Karakura Town, but Ichigo overwhelmed him and demanded to know why he had lured Hollows into town.
• Ebern provoked Ichigo into activating Bankai and tried to steal Tensa Zangetsu with his Quincy Medallion, but the medallion could not overcome Ichigo's mixed powers.
• Ichigo shattered the medallion with Getsuga Tenshō and badly wounded Ebern, who escaped through shadows before Ichigo could finish him.
• Nel emerged from a Garganta and told Ichigo that invaders had taken over Las Noches and captured Starrk and Tier Harribel, while Pesche and Dondochakka remained hidden in Hueco Mundo.
• Ichigo picked up Nel and decided to find Urahara before going to Hueco Mundo to rescue the captives.

Ichigo gathered Orihime Inoue, Yasutora Sado, and Nel to go to the Urahara Shop and find a way into Hueco Mundo to rescue the captured and missing. Uryū Ishida stayed behind, suspecting the attackers were Quincy, and went to seek answers from his father.

• Ichigo decided to go to the Urahara Shop after hearing Nel's account of Las Noches's fall, and Orihime Inoue, Yasutora Sado, and Nel joined him.
• Ichigo told Shino Madarame and Xingmu Longzhijie to stay behind, while Uryū Ishida declined to accompany the group but warned them about enemies who controlled reishi and hid in shadows.
• Uryū Ishida remained at the Kurosaki home as Ichigo and the others set out, and Nel remarked that he did not seem to want to stay behind.
• Isshin Kurosaki told Ichigo to come back soon, then lunged to hug him and was kicked into the clinic.
• Uryū Ishida examined his Quincy Cross Emblem, concluded the attackers' reishi control was connected to the Quincy, and headed to his family's hospital to question his father.

After Nel reported that Yhwach’s forces had captured Starrk and Harribel in Hueco Mundo, Ichigo asked Urahara to open a Garganta so they could rescue them. Urahara joined Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, and Nel as they entered the fallen realm, where enemies might already be waiting.

• Nel told Ichigo and Urahara that Yhwach had controlled the Reishi and captured Starrk and Harribel at Las Noches.
• Ichigo showed Urahara the cracked Quincy Medallion that had failed to steal his Bankai, and Urahara concluded that Ichigo’s mixed powers had overloaded it.
• Ichigo asked Urahara to open a Garganta to Hueco Mundo, and Urahara agreed to go with them to investigate the enemy’s Reishi technology and the realm’s spatial conditions.
• Tessai opened a temporary passage, and Ichigo, Urahara, Chad, Orihime, and Nel entered it together to begin the rescue operation.

Ichigo Kurosaki and his companions arrived at the ruined Las Noches and convinced Apache, Mila Rose, and Sun-Sun that they had come to rescue the captives. As a massive Reishi arrow descended on them, the group faced a new attacker.

• Ichigo Kurosaki, Kisuke Urahara, Orihime Inoue, and Nel emerged into the ruins of Las Noches, where Apache attacked Ichigo and Mila Rose restrained Yasutora Sado.
• Orihime Inoue blocked Sun-Sun's acid with Santen Kesshun, and Nel identified Ichigo as their reinforcement.
• Apache and Mila Rose lowered their guard after recognizing Nel, then told Ichigo that Tier Harribel and Starrk had been captured and that Pesche and Dondochakka were missing.
• Kisuke Urahara sensed someone approaching as Reishi gathered overhead and a giant Reishi arrow thundered toward the group.

Ichigo fought Cang Du in Hueco Mundo while trying to reach the Soul Society, but Cang Du trapped him in a Sacred Jail Gate before Grimmjow killed him. Kisuke Urahara began analyzing the cage, leaving Ichigo imprisoned and anxious for Yoriichi.

• Ichigo attacked Cang Du, who absorbed Reishi to recover and keep fighting.
• Apache, Mila Rose, and Sun-Sun summoned Ayon, but Cang Du used Vollständig, Divine Justice, to absorb the creature and overpower the three women.
• Ichigo activated Tensa Zangetsu and fought Cang Du until Reishi Siphon weakened him, and Kisuke Urahara intervened to blast Cang Du away.
• Cang Du sealed Ichigo inside a Sacred Jail Gate, but Grimmjow appeared and killed Cang Du.
• Kisuke Urahara attached monitoring devices to the gate and began analyzing it, while Ichigo hoped Yoriichi could hold on.

Yhwach visited Aizen in Muken and offered him an alliance to destroy the boundaries between the Three Realms, but Aizen refused because their goals differed. After Yhwach left, Aizen reflected on the threat to the Soul Society and wondered how Yoriichi Tsugikuni would face it.

• Yhwach appeared before Aizen in Muken and told him that Ichigo Kurosaki had gone to Hueco Mundo while Yoriichi Tsugikuni remained in the Soul Society.
• Yhwach revealed his plan to devour the Soul King, destroy the boundaries between the Three Realms, and return them to chaos.
• Aizen rejected Yhwach's offer, saying he sought to transcend the world rather than destroy it.
• Aizen told Yhwach that Yoriichi was an unforeseen variable, and Yhwach admitted that the swordsman had blurred the future he could see.
• Yhwach left Aizen in his cage, and Aizen considered the scale of the war before wondering how Yoriichi would fend off the coming threat.

Yoriichi fought Lloyd, who had copied his appearance, memories, and most of his power, while Quincy forces attacked Soul Society. After Yoriichi released Bankai and destroyed Lloyd’s medallion, Lloyd copied the Bankai too, but the Captain-Commander’s Bankai erupted in the distance and gathered all the flames.

• Lloyd confronted Yoriichi in the Seireitei as Quincy forces attacked the Gotei 13.
• Yoriichi outmatched Lloyd’s copied techniques and blasted him into the Division Barracks, then sensed several Captain-level Reiatsu signatures weakening and Izuru Kira’s Reiatsu vanish.
• Yoriichi released Bankai, Heavenly Illumination Sun Wheel, and his Sunlit Pure Realm disintegrated nearby Quincy Reishi constructs.
• Lloyd tried to steal Yoriichi’s Bankai with a Quincy Medallion, but the medallion cracked and melted.
• Lloyd copied Yoriichi’s Bankai, raising a second sun as the two realms collided over Soul Society.
• The Captain-Commander’s Bankai erupted in the distance, drawing all the flames and heat toward itself.

Yoriichi killed Loyd Lloyd and reached Kira too late to save him, then unleashed his fury across Seireitei. At the Third Division ruins, Bazz-B confronted Yoriichi and challenged him to withstand his flames.

• Yoriichi destroyed Loyd Lloyd's copied Bankai and burned his soul to ash.
• Yoriichi found Izuru Kira dying among the ruins of the Third Division Headquarters, and Kira died before he could report to his captain.
• Yoriichi's anger caused his golden-red Reiatsu to erupt across Seireitei, shattering Quincy weapons and disturbing the Wandenreich's Shadow Domain.
• Kyōraku and Ukitake sensed Yoriichi's outburst, while Unohana recognized that his anger had changed his demeanor.
• Yamamoto continued fighting Royd Lloyd despite sensing Yoriichi's Reiatsu, and Haschwalth identified Yoriichi as a major threat.
• Bazz-B taunted Yoriichi over Kira's death and challenged him to withstand his Blue Fire.

Yoriichi overwhelmed Bazz-B’s five Burner Finger attacks and disabled him with Sun Reiatsu. He dragged Bazz-B before Kira’s body and prepared to execute him after condemning his use of the dead lieutenant to flaunt his strength.

• Bazz-B fired his first three Burner Finger attacks, but the Sunlit Pure Realm erased the flames and Yoriichi walked through them unharmed.
• Yoriichi broke Bazz-B’s index finger and burned his arm with Sun Reiatsu, then endured Bazz-B’s third attack without a scratch.
• Bazz-B charged with his fourth Burner Finger, but Yoriichi disrupted his control of Reishi and struck him through the chest.
• Bazz-B unleashed Burner Finger, Five and Burner Full Open, but Yoriichi split the fireball and severed Bazz-B’s Reishi Circuits.
• Yoriichi dragged the crippled Bazz-B before Kira’s body, identified the dead lieutenant as Izuru Kira, and raised Hekyō to execute him.

Yoriichi defeated Bazz-B and prepared to execute him, but Jugram Haschwalth intervened to protect Bazz-B for the sake of the empire. Yoriichi refused to let Bazz-B live, and Haschwalth drew his sword to face him.

• Bazz-B activated his Vollständig and unleashed a barrage of blue flames, but Yoriichi’s Sunlit Pure Realm destroyed his attacks and stripped away his power.
• Yoriichi prepared to kill the helpless Bazz-B, but Haschwalth appeared and blocked his strike.
• Haschwalth said he was keeping Bazz-B alive only because the empire needed him, enraging and silencing Bazz-B.
• Yoriichi declared that Bazz-B had to die, and Haschwalth drew his sword and Round Shield to oppose him.