Recaps

Sōgo Shihoin trained Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihōin at the Soul King Palace, then left for Hueco Mundo to master his dangerous Spiritual Pressure. There he befriended Lilynette Starrk and met Szayelaporro, who offered to help them control their power.

• A being reincarnated Sōgo Shihoin as Yoruichi Shihōin’s younger brother, and Sōgo soon revealed his immense sealed Spiritual Pressure to Kisuke Urahara.
• Yoruichi, Kisuke, Kūkaku Shiba, and Sōgo endured the Front Approach, and Ichibē Hyōsube assigned them to train with Tenjirō Kirinji.
• Sōgo trained Kisuke through combat, forcing him to awaken Bankai and toughen his spiritual body, while Yoruichi improved her Shunpo with Kirinji.
• Ichibē offered Sōgo a place in Squad Zero, but Sōgo refused and chose to leave Soul Society until he could control his Spiritual Pressure.
• Sōgo said farewell to Yoruichi and Kisuke, entered a Senkaimon to Hueco Mundo, and found that Ōetsu Nimaiya’s bundle contained a Reishi-absorbing food-making Zanpakuto.
• Sōgo befriended the isolated Lilynette Starrk, named himself her teacher, and began training her by bowling Menos Grande.
• Sōgo and Lilynette met Szayelaporro over hot pot, and Szayelaporro became fascinated by Sōgo’s power and Lilynette’s Arrancar nature.
• Szayelaporro offered to develop ways for Sōgo and Lilynette to control their Spiritual Pressure in exchange for studying Sōgo, and Sōgo promised him a visit to Soul Society if he succeeded.

Sōgo Shihoin built his power and influence in Hueco Mundo while Baraggan’s forces clashed with the Soul Reapers, and Szayelaporro’s experiments transformed Kuruyashiki Kenpachi. After Sōgo returned to Soul Society with his companions, he began academy life, where his strength immediately caused trouble.

• Baraggan Louisenbairn sent his forces against Soul Reaper outposts, but Kuruyashiki Kenpachi defeated a Vasto Lorde general and drove the Menos Grande back.
• Szayelaporro used an invasion to capture Tenth Division Soul Reapers, then later engineered battles to gather data for his research.
• Sōgo Shihoin brought Tier Harribel and Lilynette to Las Noches, defeated Baraggan’s Decay, and persuaded him to guard the artificial sunlight.
• Szayelaporro injected Kuruyashiki Kenpachi with refined Vasto Lorde material, transforming him into a Menos Grande, but Sōgo subdued him until he regained his human form and memories remained lost.
• Sōya Azashiro became the 11th Division captain after defeating Kuruyashiki, then was imprisoned in Muken after Central 46 framed him and sentenced him to ten thousand years.
• After decades of training in Hueco Mundo, Sōgo returned to Soul Society with Lilynette, Tier Harribel, Szayelaporro, and Kuruyashiki, and reunited with Yoruichi Shihōin.
• Yoruichi assigned Shaoling Fon to accompany Sōgo to the academy, where he broke an Asauchi, destroyed a training hall ceiling with Kidō, and had his early-graduation application rejected.
• Sōgo refused to seek Central 46’s approval, returned to class, and accidentally made a noble girl cry by popping gum onto her face.

Sōgo Shihoin trained Shaoling Fon, graduated with two Zanpakuto, and formed the Greening Squad while political schemes and Aizen’s plans developed around them. After Aizen’s expedition against the Quincy ended in disaster, Sōgo led his squad through a special Senkaimon toward the Dangai to face the surviving Quincy.

• Sōgo trained Shaoling Fon until she mastered Shunkō and Suzumebachi, then helped her confront her discomfort with her powerful Bankai.
• After Yamamoto refused to graduate him without a Zanpakuto, Sōgo obtained Sayafushi and Ikomikidomoe, earned permission to graduate, and became captain of the Second Division’s Landscaping Team.
• Sōgo formed the Greening and Forest Protection Squad with Shaoling Fon, Lilynette, Tier Harribel, and Kuruyashiki, while Tsunayashiro Tokinada later joined as his retainer.
• Tokinada recruited Kaname Tōsen to his cause, but Sōsuke Aizen offered Tōsen a purpose and recruited him to join the Gotei 13 before they acted against Soul Society.
• Sōgo and Aizen struck up a friendship over ramen, while Aizen secretly planned to draw Sōgo away from Soul Society and test his Zanpakuto.
• Sōgo and Kisuke Urahara engineered a fight with Yamata no Orochi to make Shaoling Fon use her Bankai, and she destroyed the creature with Suzumebachi Raikōben.
• Aizen joined a Tenth Division expedition against Quincy in the Valleys of Screams, betrayed the captain, and returned gravely wounded after the Soul Reapers killed the Quincy.
• After the Tenth Division captain died, Sōgo assembled his squad for its first mission and led them through a special Senkaimon toward the Dangai.

Sōgo returned to Soul Society, became Second Division Captain, and pushed through a rotating rest schedule while navigating the aftermath of Aizen’s actions. As new captains rose and Aizen pursued Baraggan in Hueco Mundo, Kenpachi Zaraki claimed the Eleventh Division captaincy.

• Sōgo defeated Elder Watanabe’s Quincy ambush, saved several children from a disastrous transfer, and reunited with his companions in Hueco Mundo before returning to Soul Society.
• After surviving the Hollowfication crisis and seeing the defectors flee, Sōgo passed his captain assessment and became Second Division Captain and commander of the Punishment Force.
• Sōgo reorganized the Second Division and gathered support for rotating days off and eight-hour shifts, securing the captains’ signatures and Yamamoto’s approval.
• Sōgo helped settle affairs involving Byakuya, Kōga, Hideki, Nanao, Kyōraku, and Ukitake as he built support for his proposal.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi passed his assessment and became Twelfth Division Captain, while Sōgo announced the new rotating days off to the Stealth Force.
• Aizen, Tōsen, and Gin defeated Yylfordt and confronted Baraggan, who appeared to kill them before Aizen revealed his Complete Hypnosis and asked Baraggan to join him.
• Kenpachi Zaraki killed Kiganjō and claimed the Eleventh Division captaincy, while Yachiru cheered and Unohana watched him with interest.