Recaps

Rukia Kuchiki arrived at the Second Division for special training and was stunned by its fortress-like entrance and extravagant facilities. After discovering Captain Sōgo Shihoin’s slovenly private habits, she endured his overwhelming Spiritual Pressure, only for him to admit he was bullying her out of pettiness.

• Rukia Kuchiki presented her recommendation letter at the Second Division gates, and its members verified it before Hōshō Ryo escorted her inside.
• Hōshō Ryo carried Rukia over the fifty-meter gates and led her through the barracks to the enormous captain’s office.
• Hōshō Ryo and Rukia found Sōgo Shihoin surrounded by manga and playing games, so Hōshō Ryo confiscated his manga and console after a half-hour scolding.
• Rukia entered the palace and struggled under Sōgo’s intense Spiritual Pressure, while she insisted she understood his trial was meant to strengthen her.
• Sōgo revealed that he was pressuring Rukia partly because she had seen his secret, then admitted he simply wanted to bully her.

Sōgo Shihoin welcomed Rukia Kuchiki into the Second Division and challenged her belief that she needed strength to protect her comrades, telling her to focus on protecting herself while he handled the rest. He began her training with a manga-snatching contest, leaving Rukia to face a game in which he could fight back.

• Rukia set aside her concerns about Sōgo’s personality and asked to train in the Second Division, while Sōgo insisted she share his manga and gaming hobby.
• Shaoling Fon told Sōgo that Byakuya had sent Rukia and urged him to take her serious commitment to training into account; Sōgo agreed to train her despite admitting he was mostly annoyed she had discovered his secret.
• Sōgo ordered Rukia to call him Teacher Sōgo and questioned her desire to become strong enough to protect her comrades.
• Sōgo argued that Rukia’s brother Byakuya and former captain Kaien did not need her protection, and told her to focus on staying safe and reporting crises to him; Rukia accepted his advice in tears.
• Sōgo started Rukia’s training with a manga-snatching contest, allowing her to use her abilities while he fought back without Kidō or a Zanpakuto.

Rukia challenged Sōgo to a game in which she had to take or destroy the manga he held, but her Shikai and Kidō could not overcome his overwhelming power. After Shaoling Fon broke into the office, Sōgo continued teasing Rukia and revealed his resentment toward Kaien Shiba and her brother for marrying.

• Rukia resolved to give everything in the game and released her Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki.
• Rukia attacked Sōgo with her freezing abilities, but he split her avalanche with a single hand chop and brushed off her Bakudō.
• Sōgo offered to stand still while Rukia tried to destroy the manga, but she still could not touch him after half an hour of trying.
• Shaoling Fon heard the pair through the closed office door, imagined they were doing something obscene, and smashed the door open.
• Sōgo teased the exhausted Rukia and said he resented Kaien Shiba and her brother for betraying him and getting married.

After Rukia Kuchiki lost to Sōgo in training, she met Second Division officers Tier Harribel and Lilynette Starrk in the bathhouse. Rukia asked them to help her become stronger, and Tier Harribel welcomed her request.

• Sōgo defeated Rukia in training, and Shaoling Fon comforted her before directing her to the bathhouse.
• Sōgo noticed Shaoling Fon was unusually cheerful, and she invited him to eat with her while taking a day off from paperwork.
• Lilynette mistook Rukia for Shaoling Fon in the bath and grabbed her until Tier Harribel intervened.
• Tier Harribel and Lilynette introduced themselves as Second Division seated officers, and Lilynette apologized for frightening Rukia.
• Tier Harribel encouraged Rukia to explain why she had come, and Rukia asked Tier Harribel and Lilynette to help her get stronger.

Rukia trained with Harribel in the Second Division, where rumors turned their sparring session into a public challenge. Harribel demonstrated her overwhelming strength and asked to continue training, leaving Rukia wondering if she would survive it.

• Rumors spread that Rukia planned to challenge and defeat Harribel and Lilynette, drawing Second Division members to watch their training.
• Harribel took over Rukia's training, and Rukia used sword strikes and Sōkatsui to test her speed and exploit the division's barrier against gathering Reishi in the air.
• Harribel evaded Rukia's attacks, caught her sword, and kicked her away after Rukia released Sode no Shirayuki.
• Rukia used Tsugi no Mai: Hakuren, but Harribel drew her sealed sword and split the avalanche and training grounds with a powerful slash.
• Harribel apologized for getting serious and beckoned Rukia to continue, while Rukia feared the training would kill her.
• The author explained that Chapter 129 had been censored and that a revised version had been submitted for review.

Rukia Kuchiki sought stronger training after losing to Tier Harribel, then followed Second Division members’ directions to Kuruyashiki Kenpachi and became his self-proclaimed disciple. Kuruyashiki told her to return for training that night, while Rukia mistakenly imagined he was a disgraced hidden master.

• Rukia Kuchiki ended her spar with Tier Harribel, who offered to train her, and decided she would rather improve gradually.
• Rukia went to Sōgo for training, but he sent her away because their training would not begin until the afternoon.
• Rukia asked Second Division members to point her toward an expert, and they gave her an address on a slip of paper.
• Rukia found Kuruyashiki Kenpachi outside a shabby thatched hut and asked him to train her.
• Kuruyashiki accepted Rukia as his disciple after she claimed to be his fan, and told her to return that night for training.

After ten years of training and life in the Tenth Division, Isshin Shiba went to the World of the Living to investigate a suspected Menos Grande and encountered Masaki Kurosaki during a battle with White and Aizen. Isshin later lost contact and was declared a traitor, while the Soul King and the Big-Eyed Monk sensed that Ichigo’s birth was near.

• Isshin Shiba left to investigate suspected Menos Grande activity in the World of the Living, leaving Rangiku Matsumoto and Tōshirō Hitsugaya behind.
• White overwhelmed Isshin Shiba, and Aizen stabbed him from behind, preventing him from using Bankai.
• Masaki Kurosaki saved the badly wounded Isshin Shiba with an arrow, and the two met and connected.
• Aizen watched the encounter and anticipated a being born from the powers of Soul Reapers, Quincies, and Hollows; after Isshin Shiba disappeared, Central 46 declared that he had defected.
• The Soul King’s eyes moved, and the Big-Eyed Monk awoke from a dream and sensed that Ichigo was about to be born.

Isshin Shiba’s departure for the World of the Living unsettled Soul Society, but Sōgo told Hōshō Ryo that the affair would not threaten the Five Great Noble Clans. Kūkaku Shiba and Byakuya Kuchiki dealt with the fallout in their own ways as the chapter ended with Byakuya observing his division members.

• Kaien Shiba read Isshin Shiba’s farewell letter, angrily ordered a secret search for his uncle in the World of the Living, and Soul Society reeled from the news of Isshin’s departure.
• Hōshō Ryo told Sōgo that Captain-Commander Yamamoto had criticized the captains over Isshin’s defection, especially Sōgo, and Sōgo explained that the reprimand was mainly meant to reassure the Gotei 13 and Central 46.
• Sōgo reminisced with Hōshō Ryo about their century-long acquaintance before lying across her lap, while they agreed that their peaceful days were pleasant.
• Kūkaku Shiba smashed her office belongings, scolded her uncle for abandoning the Shiba Clan, and ordered the eavesdropping division members to run a hundred laps around Seireitei.
• Byakuya Kuchiki returned to the Sixth Division unfazed by Yamamoto’s criticism, while Renji Abarai admired him and spoke with the bespectacled lieutenant; Byakuya noticed their conversation and approved of their camaraderie.

After Isshin Shiba's defection, Central 46 debated who should succeed him as Tenth Division captain, while Tōshirō Hitsugaya remained at the division with Rangiku Matsumoto. Kūkaku Shiba endorsed Hitsugaya for the captain's assessment, leaving Rangiku to realize he might soon become her superior.

• Yamamoto reassured Soul Society after Isshin Shiba defected, and Central 46 acknowledged that it could not yet challenge the Five Great Noble Clans.
• A judge proposed Tōshirō Hitsugaya as the next Tenth Division captain, and Jun'ichi Miyake objected that Hitsugaya was too young to lead.
• An elderly sage countered Miyake by pointing out that Miyake himself had become a sage at a young age, and Miyake withdrew his objection.
• Kūkaku Shiba visited Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto, tested Hitsugaya's loyalty to Isshin, then gave him a letter recommending him for the captain's assessment.
• Rangiku read Kūkaku's recommendation and panicked that Hitsugaya would soon become her superior, while Hitsugaya ordered her back to work.

The Tsunayashiro clan discussed its lack of openings in the Gotei 13 and agreed to let Tōshirō Hitsugaya take the Tenth Division captaincy. In the World of the Living, Tokinada recruited Aura Michibane to protect Sōgo while pursuing a supposed mastermind, and the clan leaders reviewed new findings from their cruel Fullbring experiments.

• The former and current Tsunayashiro clan heads concluded that they had no viable way to claim another Gotei 13 captaincy and agreed to give up the Tenth Division for Tōshirō Hitsugaya.
• Tokinada wandered through the World of the Living with Aura Michibane, mistaking Sōgo Shihoin for his lord and naming him the target of a hidden mastermind.
• After hearing that Isshin Shiba had defected to the World of the Living, Tokinada blamed the supposed mastermind and ordered Aura to conceal them with a Kidō barrier.
• Tokinada praised Aura's ability to command reishi and vowed to assemble the strongest guard for Sōgo, while Aura felt valued despite knowing he was using her.
• The Tsunayashiro clan head reported that Fullbring was caused by a child's special nature attracting Hollows before birth, and said the finding came from experiments on thirty-two groups of test subjects.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya passed the captaincy examination and became the Tenth Division’s new captain, receiving Isshin’s haori before returning to the barracks. There, Rangiku Matsumoto’s surprise celebration turned into a dispute over her attempt to skip work, and Tōshirō dragged her to his office.

• Tōshirō Hitsugaya released Bankai during his examination, and Yamamoto’s spiritual pressure shattered one of the timers above him.
• Yamamoto, Retsu Unohana, and Kūkaku Shiba passed Tōshirō and named him captain of the Tenth Division.
• Kūkaku gave Tōshirō the haori Isshin had prepared for him, and Tōshirō thanked her before hurrying back to his division.
• Tōshirō found the division members gathered in the meeting room for a surprise celebration led by Rangiku Matsumoto.
• Rangiku tried to get the day off and enlist Momo Hinamori’s help, but Tōshirō stopped her and dragged her toward his office.

Kaien Shiba learned that Isshin Shiba was living in Karakura Town and prepared to meet him, while Kūkaku Shiba stayed behind. At the hospital, Isshin Kurosaki discovered that Kaien had arrived and was forced to face his uncle’s threats and teasing.

• Shiba Clan retainers found Isshin Shiba in Karakura Town, and Kaien Shiba decided to go meet him.
• Kūkaku Shiba offered to accompany Kaien, but he told her to remain in Soul Society and entrusted her with the Shiba Clan and the Thirteenth Division.
• The retainers guessed that Isshin Kurosaki was withholding dangerous secrets while they waited for Kaien to arrive.
• Masaki Kurosaki told Isshin Kurosaki that Kaien Shiba was beside him, and Isshin tried to flee the hospital room.
• Kaien Shiba stopped Isshin from leaving and threatened to share photos of his antics with Sōgo Shihoin, then told him to go live in another world.

Kaien Shiba visited Masaki Kurosaki and Isshin Kurosaki, then months later returned with Kūkaku Shiba for Ichigo Kurosaki’s birth. The family celebrated together, while Kaien joked about taking Ichigo to inherit the Shiba Clan.

• Kaien Shiba learned that Isshin had given up his Soul Reaper powers to save Masaki and warned him to recover them within fifty years.
• Aizen dismissed Gin Ichimaru’s concerns about Kaien contacting Isshin and said he would wait for a child to grow up before starting his plan.
• Kaien Shiba and Kūkaku Shiba entered Karakura Town using Gigai from Kisuke Urahara and argued with him about Yoruichi.
• After Ichigo Kurosaki was born, Kaien claimed the powerful baby could become the next Shiba Clan head, and Isshin refused to let him take the child.
• Masaki suggested a family photo, and the nurse captured Isshin, Kaien, Kūkaku, Masaki, and Ichigo together.

Rukia thanked Sōgo and the Second Division members as she prepared to return to the understaffed Thirteenth Division, and Sōgo arranged a farewell banquet. At the gathering, Rukia sensed the overwhelming strength of the Second Division’s senior members before her master arrived and was identified as Third Seat Kuruyashiki.

• Rukia thanked Sōgo for his guidance, while Lilynette pressed her about a secret she had nearly mentioned and Tier Harribel gently intervened.
• Hōshō Ryo suggested a farewell celebration, and Sōgo gave Lilynette cookies while forbidding her from drinking.
• Sōgo hosted a banquet attended by the Second Division’s prominent members, and Rukia noticed that several unfamiliar guests had greater Spiritual Pressure than she did.
• Kuruyashiki Kenpachi entered late, and Tsunayashiro Tokinada rebuked him for arriving after everyone else.
• Rukia was shocked when Tsunayashiro Tokinada called Kuruyashiki Kenpachi the Third Seat.

Rukia learned that Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was the Second Division's Third Seat, whose wages went toward repaying damage he caused to the division, and woke after the banquet embarrassed by Lilynette's teasing. After returning to duty, Rukia reported to Kūkaku Shiba, who sent her to the World of the Living with a sealed letter.

• Rukia realized Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was the Second Division's Third Seat, and he explained that he had spent decades paying off the cost of destroying the division's artificial lake.
• Kuruyashiki Kenpachi reassured Rukia about her mistaken idea that he was a hidden expert, then returned to the banquet and drank heavily with the others.
• Rukia woke in Lilynette's bed after the banquet, and Lilynette teased her about drunkenly begging to sleep beside her.
• Rukia reported to Captain Kūkaku Shiba in the Thirteenth Division, and Kūkaku gave her a letter and ordered her to open it in the World of the Living.

Masaki lost her Quincy powers to Auswählen while defending Ichigo from a Hollow, but a Shinigami girl named Rukia killed the Hollow and saved them. The encounter planted in Ichigo a determination to become stronger and protect his family, while Rukia continued her work clearing Hollows from Karakura Town.

• Masaki comforted nine-year-old Ichigo after he lost a fight, telling him that even men could cry and offering him her embrace.
• Ichigo approached a child-shaped lure in the park, and Masaki recognized the Hollow hiding in the mist and moved to protect him.
• Auswählen stripped Masaki of her Quincy powers, leaving her helpless as she shielded Ichigo from the Hollow.
• A black-clad girl cut the Hollow in half, saving Masaki and Ichigo before departing without noticing Ichigo had seen her.
• Ichigo asked Masaki to let him learn more fighting skills so he could protect his family, and she agreed.
• Rukia finished clearing the day's Hollows and reflected on her assignment to keep Karakura Town free of them.

Ichigo Kurosaki’s family discussed Karakura Town’s recent disasters, while Ichigo remained distracted after spotting the mysterious black-clad girl from his childhood. After escorting Orihime Inoue home, he found the wounded girl at the park where she had once saved him and rushed to help her.

• Masaki Kurosaki and Isshin Kurosaki discussed the recent thunderstorms and gas leaks and suggested picking the children up, but Ichigo Kurosaki declined.
• Karin Kurosaki heard a wandering spirit warn that monsters were coming, and her parents exchanged an uneasy glance.
• Ichigo Kurosaki saw the black-clad girl from his childhood race past him near a wrecked street and spent the school day staring out the window.
• Tatsuki Arisawa asked Ichigo Kurosaki to walk Orihime Inoue home, and he agreed before escorting her safely back.
• Ichigo Kurosaki returned to the park where the girl had saved him and found her bloodied, exhausted, and holding a cracked blade, so he went to help her.

Ichigo Kurosaki carried the badly injured Rukia Kuchiki toward home, then confronted the masked man in white who had pursued them. After the man transformed into a towering monster and shrugged off Ichigo’s strongest attacks, Rukia considered breaking Ichigo beyond human limits to give him a chance to win.

• Ichigo Kurosaki refused to abandon Rukia Kuchiki and ran toward the man in white, who blocked their escape.
• Ichigo set Rukia on a bench and struck the man in white with Iron Mountain Lean, sending him flying.
• The man in white revealed his Resurrección, transformed, and attacked Ichigo with greatly increased speed and strength.
• Ichigo dodged the monster’s attacks and landed powerful blows, but the monster grew larger and remained nearly unharmed.
• Rukia decided that Ichigo would need to break through human limits to have a chance against the enormous monster.

Ichigo Kurosaki became a Soul Reaper and effortlessly defeated a Hollow, while Sōsuke Aizen watched with interest and began setting his plan in motion. After Rukia Kuchiki transferred her powers to Ichigo and was ordered back to Soul Society, Sōgo Shihoin decided to investigate and stir up trouble.

• Rukia Kuchiki transferred her Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo Kurosaki, and Ichigo transformed into a Soul Reaper.
• Ichigo Kurosaki severed the Hollow’s arm and then killed it with a single slash.
• A mysterious man observed Ichigo, opened a portal, and left, while Sōsuke Aizen watched Ichigo and prepared to start his plan.
• Inside Ichigo Kurosaki, a man in a black trench coat suppressed a threatening presence that urged him to let the king gain power.
• Rukia Kuchiki transferred into Ichigo’s school, and Ichigo met Orihime Inoue, Yasutora Sado, Uryū Ishida, and other companions before a Gillian appeared.
• Shaoling Fon told Sōgo Shihoin that the Central 46 Chambers had ordered Rukia’s return and imprisonment, and Sōgo chose to investigate what had happened.

After Byakuya took Rukia back to the Soul Society, Ichigo woke in the hospital and vowed to grow strong enough to rescue her. Meanwhile, Sōgo placed Rukia under his protection in the Second Division and laughed at her mistake, leaving her furious but unable to challenge him.

• Byakuya let Rukia spend five minutes with the delirious Ichigo before she and Renji entered the Senkaimon.
• Ichigo woke beside Orihime, learned that Urahara had rescued him, and asked how he could save Rukia.
• Urahara challenged Ichigo to prove he was ready to risk his life for power, and Ichigo vowed to bring Rukia back even if it cost him his life.
• Urahara agreed to prepare a trial to help Ichigo grow stronger.
• Sōgo used the Second Division's authority to place Rukia under protection in its barracks, where he mocked her while she endured her anger.

After regaining his Soul Reaper powers through dangerous training, Ichigo Kurosaki prepared to enter Soul Society with his friends and rescue Rukia Kuchiki. Kisuke Urahara briefed the group on their mission and warned them about Sōgo Shihoin, leaving them with a baffling plan involving Yoruichi.

• Ichigo Kurosaki found his Zanpakuto’s power during Hollowfication and emerged from training with greatly increased spiritual pressure.
• Ichigo Kurosaki and Uryū Ishida prepared to rescue Rukia Kuchiki, and Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado joined them.
• Yoruichi arrived, and Kisuke Urahara explained that the group had to infiltrate Seireitei, where the Gotei 13 guarded Rukia.
• Kisuke Urahara warned Ichigo Kurosaki that Sōgo Shihoin could kill him with one punch and advised them not to resist if they encountered him.
• Kisuke Urahara told the group to use Yoruichi to deal with Sōgo Shihoin, leaving Ichigo Kurosaki and Uryū Ishida confused.

Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends hurried through the Dangai to rescue Rukia Kuchiki while Sōgo Shihoin attended her hearing in the Central 46 Chambers. Sōgo provoked a sage into collapsing, but Rukia’s sentence was changed to execution in five days, and Sōgo suspected the real Central 46 Chambers might already be gone.

• Ichigo Kurosaki urged his friends to hurry to Soul Society and save Rukia Kuchiki before her execution.
• Sōgo Shihoin went to the Central 46 Chambers in Rukia Kuchiki’s place, where the Stealth Force installed a sofa for him.
• Sōgo Shihoin insulted a sage during the hearing until the sage collapsed, forcing the proceedings to stop.
• Sōgo Shihoin hosted a farce at the Second Division barracks while Rukia Kuchiki reported that her sentence had become public execution in five days.
• Sōgo Shihoin told Hōshō Ryo that the real Central 46 Chambers might no longer exist.

Aizen massacred the Central 46 Chambers and framed Sōgo Shihoin, who was stripped of his captaincy and confined to the Shihoin estate. As Aizen prepared his next move, Ichigo Kurosaki and his companions arrived in the Soul Society to rescue Rukia.

• Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, Kaname Tōsen, and Gosuke killed the Central 46 sages and manipulated the sole surviving judge into blaming the Five Great Noble Clans.
• Aizen later killed the last surviving judge and began his scheme against Sōgo.
• A First Division special squad captain summoned Sōgo to a captains’ meeting, where Yamamoto accused him of killing the Central 46 and confined him to the Shihoin estate.
• Sōgo accepted the punishment without concern and left Shaoling Fon in charge of the Second Division.
• Aizen and Gin prepared for their next act as Ichigo Kurosaki and his companions arrived in the Soul Society to save Rukia.

After Sōgo Shihoin was confined, Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto discussed the suspicious captains’ meeting and Sōgo’s overwhelming strength. Yoruichi led Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends to the Shiba estate for help entering Seireitei, where Kaien Shiba welcomed Ichigo as his younger brother and asked him to take the Shiba surname.

• Tōshirō Hitsugaya told Rangiku Matsumoto that the captains’ meeting left him uncertain whom to trust, though he doubted Sōgo Shihoin had committed the alleged crimes.
• Tōshirō Hitsugaya described Sōgo Shihoin’s terrifying Spiritual Pressure, and Rangiku Matsumoto recalled that Isshin Shiba had avoided talking about him.
• Yoruichi led Ichigo Kurosaki, Orihime Inoue, Yasutora Sado, and Uryū Ishida to the Shiba estate, explaining that its head could help them enter Seireitei unnoticed.
• Kaien Shiba greeted the group and treated Ichigo Kurosaki like a younger brother, claiming they had not seen each other for fifteen years.
• Kaien Shiba asked Ichigo Kurosaki to start using Shiba as his surname, and Ichigo warned him to think carefully before speaking.

Kaien Shiba welcomed Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends, then explained that Rukia Kuchiki had been sentenced to public execution in five days and was being held in the dangerous Second Division barracks. He revealed that Sōgo Shihoin had been confined after the apparent slaughter of the Central 46 Chambers, leaving Yoruichi worried about facing the Second Division without him.

• Ichigo Kurosaki became angry at Kaien Shiba's joke about changing his surname, then suspected that his father was hiding a family connection between them.
• Kaien Shiba led Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Inoue to the reception room, where Yoruichi, Yasutora Sado, and Uryū Ishida were waiting.
• Kaien Shiba told the group that Rukia Kuchiki would be publicly executed at the Sōkyoku in five days and was likely imprisoned in the Second Division barracks.
• Ichigo Kurosaki vowed to defeat anyone who stood in the way of rescuing Rukia Kuchiki, while Kaien Shiba warned that confronting Sōgo Shihoin would be nearly impossible.
• Kaien Shiba revealed that Sōgo Shihoin had been confined to the Shihoin ancestral residence after allegedly killing all forty sages of the Central 46 Chambers and five judges.
• Yoruichi questioned the accusation and realized that entering the Second Division without Sōgo Shihoin could be especially dangerous.