Chapter Summaries

Oda Nobunaga used his Bankai to make Muken’s restraints fail, sacrificing his life to unleash the six prisoners held at its lowest level. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto blocked the passage with flames and faced the six figures alone.

• Oda Nobunaga, badly injured and outmatched by Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, chose to fight to the death rather than flee or live without ambition.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto destroyed Oda Nobunaga’s attacks and demanded to know who was directing him.
• Oda Nobunaga revealed that his Bankai, Fleeting Life, Illusory Dream, could project his desired dreams onto reality, then vanished from the Central 46 Chambers.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto reached the Central 46 Chambers and found its members transformed into a grotesque but living scene by Oda Nobunaga’s Bankai.
• Oda Nobunaga went to Muken and used his Bankai to make the restraints on its six prisoners fail, dying from the power’s side effect.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto sealed the passage with a wall of flame and stood facing the six freed prisoners.

Shiraishi took Kūkaku Shiba into the noble district through a secret passage and seized the kitchen at Flower Red to get a meal. They argued over what Kūkaku should wear as the kitchen staff began cooking.

• Shiraishi carried Kūkaku Shiba through Seireitei, taking advantage of the captains' departure to head for the noble district.
• Kūkaku Shiba led Shiraishi through a hidden passage that Yoruichi Shihōin had dug.
• Shiraishi and Kūkaku Shiba emerged near Flower Red and followed the strongest Reiatsu toward its kitchen.
• Shiraishi threatened the kitchen staff and cut Ōshita Gen'ichirō's cheek, forcing him to obey.
• Shiraishi ordered the staff to cook and told Kūkaku Shiba to choose clothes, but she insisted that he give her his instead.

Shiraishi and Kūkaku Shiba left the nobles' district after eating, only to encounter Sōya Azashiro, the Eighth Kenpachi, who proposed an alliance to eliminate Hollows. Shiraishi agreed to cooperate if Azashiro could provide access to Hueco Mundo, and Azashiro offered to help them leave the Seireitei first.

• Shiraishi and Kūkaku Shiba ate together until Kūkaku had fully restored her Reiatsu, then headed toward Hakutōmon.
• Sōya Azashiro appeared before them and introduced himself as the Eighth Kenpachi, surprising Kūkaku.
• Azashiro proposed an alliance with Shiraishi to purify every Hollow and eventually prevent Hollows from being born.
• Shiraishi agreed to cooperate if Azashiro could open a way between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo.
• Azashiro said he would first help Shiraishi and Kūkaku leave the Seireitei while Zaraki guarded Hakutōmon.

Sōya Azashiro effortlessly defeated Kenpachi Zaraki at the Hakutōmon, while Shiraishi and Kūkaku Shiba escaped through the gate. Zaraki recovered and released his eyepatch’s restraint, but Azashiro vanished instead of continuing the fight.

• Kenpachi Zaraki waited at the Hakutōmon for Shiraishi, then challenged him when he arrived with Sōya Azashiro and Kūkaku Shiba.
• Shiraishi told Zaraki to ask his brother for permission to fight, and Sōya Azashiro revealed that he was the Eighth Kenpachi who had been imprisoned in Muken.
• Sōya Azashiro wounded Zaraki instantly and criticized him for suppressing his strength and failing to improve.
• Shiraishi urged Kūkaku Shiba to leave, and Sōya Azashiro opened a side door in the Hakutōmon for them to escape.
• Zaraki ripped off his eyepatch and unleashed his Reiatsu, but Sōya Azashiro vanished rather than continue the fight.

After the battle, Retsu Unohana organized treatment for the wounded while the captains assembled to discuss the six Muken prisoners who had returned to Soul Society. The meeting began with Yamamoto identifying the escaped criminals, and Sōya Azashiro appeared among the captains.

• Retsu Unohana ordered Fourth Division members to treat the injured captains, and she made Sajin Komamura agree to receive care.
• A Riteitai member summoned Retsu Unohana to the Captains' Meeting, where Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, Kaname Tōsen, and Rangiku Matsumoto gathered.
• Kenpachi Zaraki arrived wounded and told Gin Ichimaru that his Fifth Seat was unconscious and had lost his Zanpakuto.
• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto explained that Oda Nobunaga had broken Muken's seal and named the six escaped prisoners.
• Sōya Azashiro appeared among the captains as Yamamoto finished his explanation.

Sōya Azashiro explained his plan to eliminate the causes of Hollows by altering human emotions, but Yamamoto refused to assist him. Yamamoto prioritized several more dangerous Muken prisoners and ordered Ganju Shiba’s whereabouts confirmed after Shunsui Kyōraku warned that Munemasa Tsunayashiro might use him to control Kūkaku Shiba.

• Sōya Azashiro told Yamamoto that he intended to modify humans to remove the emotions that led to Hollows and asked the Shinigami not to interfere with him and Shiraishi.
• Rangiku Matsumoto condemned Azashiro’s plan, and Yamamoto rejected his request for cooperation before suspending the pursuit of Azashiro and Shiraishi.
• Yamamoto explained the threats posed by Munemasa Tsunayashiro, Genjirō, Kaoru Tendō, Oniyasha, and Tsukikage Yagyū, and named Oniyasha, Munemasa, and Genjirō as the first targets.
• Shunsui Kyōraku suggested that the Shinigami might need Shiraishi’s help because Kūkaku Shiba alone could use the Shiba Clan’s spirit device to reach the Soul King Palace.
• Yamamoto ordered the Punishment Force to confirm Ganju Shiba’s whereabouts in case Munemasa used him to threaten Kūkaku.

After the Captains' Meeting, Rangiku Matsumoto visited Nemu Kurotsuchi to learn what had happened with Shiraishi. Nemu defended him, and Retsu Unohana offered Rangiku a suggestion as she considered her next move.

• Rangiku Matsumoto left the Captains' Meeting frustrated by the decision to involve a child in Shinigami affairs.
• Shunsui Kyōraku apologized to Rangiku and invited her for a drink, but she declined because of Nanao's warning.
• Retsu Unohana told Rangiku that Nemu had returned to the General Infirmary, and Rangiku went to see her.
• Retsu Unohana healed Nemu, who said Shiraishi was kind and denied that he had injured her.
• Nemu admitted that she had led Shiraishi to the Central 46 Chambers and said he was important to her.
• Retsu Unohana told Rangiku that Shiraishi was reliable and offered to share her suggestion.

Rangiku Matsumoto agreed to help Retsu Unohana warn Shiraishi about Mad King Munemasa’s plan and protect Ganju Shiba. Nemu Kurotsuchi left the Seireitei to contact Shiraishi, while Rangiku stayed behind at Hakutōmon and hoped the plan would succeed.

• Retsu Unohana told Rangiku Matsumoto to warn Shiraishi about Mad King Munemasa’s plan and prevent Ganju Shiba from being captured.
• Rangiku Matsumoto explained the situation to Nemu Kurotsuchi, and Unohana arranged for Nemu to leave through a window while she and Rangiku covered their actions.
• Rangiku Matsumoto met Nemu at Hakutōmon and used her Tenth Division insignia to open the side gate so Nemu could leave.
• Tōshirō Hitsugaya found Rangiku at the gate while investigating a noblewoman’s unexplained death, but he agreed to pretend he had seen nothing.
• Rangiku Matsumoto stayed by Hakutōmon, hoping Nemu’s mission would go smoothly.

Shiraishi and Kūkaku Shiba drank together while cooking meat in the woods, joking about their relationship and recalling Kūkaku's imprisonment. When the meat remained uncooked, they saw Nemu standing before them in the moonlight.

• Shiraishi prepared meat in a pot while Kūkaku Shiba brought chilled bottles of booze.
• Shiraishi and Kūkaku Shiba drank and joked about his womanizing, and Kūkaku thanked him for rescuing her from Shin'ō Underground Great: The Jail.
• Kūkaku Shiba admitted she feared returning to the prison and promised she might let Shiraishi have his way with her for three days and three nights.
• Shiraishi and Kūkaku Shiba found the meat still uncooked after the water boiled, despite Shiraishi following Nemu Kurotsuchi's cooking method.
• Shiraishi noticed Nemu standing in the moonlight, and Kūkaku Shiba confirmed that she saw her too.

Nemu Kurotsuchi warned Shiraishi and Kūkaku Shiba that Mad King Munemasa planned to abduct Ganju Shiba and use him to reach the Soul King Palace. Kūkaku chose to confront Munemasa to settle the Shiba Clan’s old grudge, and Shiraishi agreed to help as they set out for District Twenty-Six.

• Nemu Kurotsuchi reunited with Shiraishi and warned him that Mad King Munemasa might kidnap Ganju Shiba.
• Kūkaku Shiba identified Munemasa Tsunayashiro as the man who nearly wiped out her clan two thousand years earlier.
• Nemu explained that Munemasa sought the Shiba Clan’s ancestral spiritual device to reach the Soul King Palace and that Captain Kyōraku expected him to use Ganju to threaten Kūkaku.
• Nemu warned that Munemasa’s Zanpakuto could nullify other Zanpakuto abilities, but Kūkaku refused to flee and Shiraishi agreed to fight beside her.
• Nemu returned to Seireitei, and Kūkaku and Shiraishi left for District Twenty-Six to reach Ganju.

After Shiraishi rescued Kūkaku Shiba from prison, she returned to the Shiba Clan headquarters and reunited with her retainers and younger brother, Ganju. As Ganju slept, Kūkaku and Shiraishi noticed that someone was watching him, and Kūkaku went to set up a Kidō barrier.

• Kūkaku Shiba and Shiraishi returned to the Shiba Clan headquarters in West District Twenty-Six, where Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko welcomed her back.
• Kūkaku told the two retainers that Shiraishi had rescued her from Shin'ō Underground Great: The Jail, and asked where Ganju was.
• Kūkaku found Ganju training with Sekihō, comforted him when he thought she was a hallucination, and carried him away after he fell asleep from exhaustion.
• Kūkaku handed Ganju to Koganehiko and told Shiroganehiko to prepare dinner, while Shiraishi remarked on her gentleness.
• Kūkaku and Shiraishi sensed a watching gaze connected to Ganju, and Kūkaku went to set up a Kidō barrier while Shiraishi waited for dinner.

Shiraishi and Kūkaku Shiba waited for Munemasa to appear, and Munemasa arrived with a group of people crawling beneath him. After revealing his hatred of anyone with nobler blood than his, he prepared to fight Kūkaku.

• Shiraishi noticed the Shinigami watching him had vanished and told Kūkaku Shiba to send Ganju and the others inside.
• Kūkaku Shiba and Shiraishi waited together until a group of naked people appeared on the horizon, carrying Munemasa on their backs.
• Munemasa introduced himself to Kūkaku Shiba and stomped two of the people beneath him to death.
• Munemasa described his time in Muken and said he could not tolerate anyone with a nobler bloodline than his living in the world.
• Kūkaku Shiba attacked Munemasa first.

Kūkaku Shiba tried to draw Mad King Munemasa away, but he overwhelmed her until Shiraishi intervened. Shiraishi wounded Munemasa with his sword and launched his ultimate attack, leaving their fight unresolved.

• Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto sent Kenpachi Zaraki and Byakuya Kuchiki to West District Twenty-Six and ordered three other captains to prepare as support.
• Kūkaku Shiba attacked Munemasa and tried to lead him away, but he destroyed a woman's body and relentlessly pursued Kūkaku through the forest and a valley.
• Kūkaku cast Sōkatsui and Raikōhō, but Munemasa blocked her attacks with Dankū and kept pressing her.
• Shiraishi arrived and fought Munemasa, whose Dankū shattered against Shiraishi's sword and whose punch passed through Shiraishi's body.
• Munemasa injured his fist blocking Shiraishi's golden slash, then charged into Shiraishi's tornado and was caught in its wind.
• Shiraishi activated Last Breath and surged toward Munemasa.

Munemasa revealed that Fox Nightmare could hypnotize Zanpakuto and command their materialized forms, then sent Infinity and Senbonzakura against Shiraishi and Kūkaku Shiba. As the pair tried to escape the overwhelming attack, Shiraishi threw Kūkaku to safety while blades closed around him.

• A masked figure resembling Senbonzakura rescued Munemasa, who explained that Fox Nightmare’s true ability let him hypnotize and control other Zanpakuto.
• Shiraishi’s blade turned white, and Infinity appeared to attack him under Munemasa’s control.
• Shiraishi evaded Infinity and Senbonzakura, using Hadō #63: Raikōhō to open a path toward Munemasa before retreating to Kūkaku Shiba.
• Munemasa trapped Kūkaku with Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō as Senbonzakura’s blades rose around them.
• Shiraishi broke Kūkaku free and shielded her from Infinity’s strike; Kūkaku pulled him aside and attacked, but blades surrounded him.
• Shiraishi hurled Kūkaku upward to save her as countless blades swallowed him.

Kūkaku Shiba fired the Kūkaku Cannon to send Ganju Shiba, Koganehiko, and Shiroganehiko to safety while Shiraishi held back Senbonzakura’s blades. The blast separated Kūkaku from Shiraishi, leaving her trapped with Munemasa, who prepared to kill her.

• Shiraishi pulled Kūkaku Shiba away from Senbonzakura’s attack and returned with her to the Shiba Clan’s home.
• Kūkaku Shiba ordered Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko to prepare the Kūkaku Cannon and sent them and Ganju Shiba inside with the Spirit Sphere Core.
• Kūkaku Shiba and Shiraishi prepared the cannon while the barrier crumbled, then Kūkaku fired it and shattered the barrier.
• Shiraishi cut a path through the falling blades as Kūkaku Shiba escaped through the opening, but the blades closed and separated them.
• Munemasa trapped Kūkaku Shiba in darkness and announced that he would kill her using the power of her ancestor’s Zanpakuto.

Munemasa nearly killed Kūkaku Shiba before Shiraishi’s breach brought Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki into the fight. While Byakuya and Zaraki battled Munemasa, Shiraishi struck him from behind.

• Munemasa wounded Kūkaku Shiba and tried to finish her, but she caught his blade and used Byakurai against him.
• Shiraishi broke through Senkei’s barrier, and Byakuya Kuchiki arrived to reclaim Senbonzakura from Munemasa.
• Kenpachi Zaraki charged Munemasa and fought through Senbonzakura’s blades, sending Kūkaku Shiba flying and knocking her unconscious.
• Byakuya Kuchiki engaged Munemasa in a Shunpo duel while Munemasa continued using Bankai against Zaraki and Infinity against Shiraishi.
• Munemasa gained a slight edge over Byakuya, but a sword stabbed him from behind.

Shiraishi killed Munemasa with a sneak attack, but Infinity broke free of Munemasa’s control and confronted Shiraishi over how he had neglected her. Byakuya Kuchiki arranged treatment for the gravely injured Kūkaku Shiba and escorted the Fourth Division team back toward Seireitei.

• Shiraishi stabbed Munemasa through the heart, and Munemasa died as his control over Infinity ended.
• Infinity attacked Shiraishi, accused him of treating her like a tool, and returned to his Zanpakuto without acknowledging him.
• Byakuya Kuchiki found the gravely injured Kūkaku Shiba and called for the Fourth Division to treat her.
• Isane Kotetsu used Kaidō to stabilize Kūkaku, while Kenpachi Zaraki left to search for Shiraishi.
• Byakuya Kuchiki accompanied Isane Kotetsu and her team back toward Seireitei to protect them from danger in Rukongai.

Kūkaku Shiba escaped Seireitei with Sōya Azashiro’s help after recovering from her injuries. She reunited with Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko, and Ganju, then set off for West District Ten to meet Shiraishi.

• Isane Kotetsu arrived with Kidō Corps members to transfer Kūkaku Shiba from the infirmary prison to Howling.
• Sōya Azashiro incapacitated the escort, freed Kūkaku Shiba, and explained that he was helping her because she was Shiraishi’s friend.
• Sōya Azashiro guided Kūkaku Shiba through the Seireiheki, and she escaped Seireitei as alarms sounded.
• Kūkaku Shiba searched Junrinan, found the Shiba Clan’s hidden home, and reunited with Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko, and Ganju.
• Kūkaku Shiba left the three behind and said she was going to West District Ten to keep her promise to Shiraishi.

Kūkaku Shiba visited Shiraishi and helped him clean up his cave after finding him exhausted from training for Bankai. She confessed that she had thought of him 368 times while imprisoned and wanted to keep their promise, prompting Shiraishi to declare he would stay with her for ten days and ten nights.

• Kūkaku Shiba traveled to Shiraishi’s cave and found him exhausted amid piles of trash.
• Shiraishi explained that he had learned Infinity’s Shikai release command and spent seven days failing to find her in the world she created while training for Bankai.
• Kūkaku scolded Shiraishi for leaving the cave filthy, and they carried the trash outside before she destroyed it with Shakkahō.
• Kūkaku told Shiraishi she had thought of him 368 times in prison and was unsure whether she loved him, but wanted to keep their promise.
• Kūkaku offered to stay with Shiraishi to the end, and he declared that they would do it for ten days and ten nights.

Kūkaku Shiba woke after three days and nights with Shiraishi, bought food and sake, and returned to find him still asleep. After they ate, she confessed that she had fallen in love with him but said she planned to leave rather than give up her freedom and dream of becoming Rukongai’s greatest fireworks maker, then asked whether he would ask her to stay.

• Kūkaku Shiba woke from a dream of magma and found Shiraishi asleep beside her after their three-day encounter.
• Kūkaku Shiba dressed in Shiraishi’s clothes, took money from the safe, and went to Beginning of Spring Town to buy eel rice, sake, and snacks.
• Kūkaku Shiba returned to the cave and woke Shiraishi, and they hurriedly ate the food together.
• Kūkaku Shiba told Shiraishi she had fallen in love with him but intended to leave because she could not imagine marriage or motherhood and would not abandon her fireworks-making dream.
• Kūkaku Shiba asked Shiraishi whether he would ask her to stay.