Recaps

Sōgo Shihoin intervened in conflicts among Kenpachis and noble clans while the Soul Society moved through weddings, succession, and loss. After Kaien Shiba resigned following the Menos Grande attack, Rukia chose to train in the Second Division and Renji set out to grow stronger.

• Kenpachi Zaraki fought Kuruyashiki Kenpachi in Sōgo Shihoin’s office until Sōgo stopped them and knocked Zaraki unconscious.
• Tsunayashiro Tokinada damaged Muken’s barriers, while Zaraki’s clash with Sōya Azashiro, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, Gosuke Kenpachi, and Retsu Unohana ended with Unohana taking Zaraki away.
• Hōshō Ryo passed her Fon Clan trial by demonstrating her perfected Shunkō, and her grandmother accepted that she could inherit the name Soi Fon.
• At Byakuya Kuchiki’s coming-of-age ceremony, Sōgo defended Shaoling Fon from noble insults, and Kōga Kuchiki was appointed captain of the Sixth Division.
• Sōgo gathered the Five Great Noble Clan heads and urged them to stand together, while Kaien Shiba became captain of the Thirteenth Division after marrying Shiba Miyako.
• Sōgo fought Kenpachi Zaraki at Sister Hana’s training ground and defeated him, then later attended Byakuya’s wedding as Byakuya grieved Hisana and adopted Rukia.
• A Menos Grande attacked the Thirteenth Division, killed its members, and was swallowed by Sōgo’s Zanpakuto after he rescued Rukia from it.
• Kaien resigned as captain over his failure to protect his subordinates, and Rukia chose to train in the Second Division while Renji resolved to become stronger.

Rukia Kuchiki trained under Sōgo Shihoin and other Second Division officers before returning to the World of the Living, where she saved Ichigo Kurosaki and later transferred her powers to him. As Ichigo and his friends prepared to rescue her from execution, Sōgo was accused of murdering Central 46, and Kaien Shiba revealed that Rukia was likely held in the Second Division barracks.

• Rukia Kuchiki arrived at the Second Division, where Sōgo Shihoin agreed to train her after Shaoling Fon vouched for her, and Sōgo began with a contest to snatch his manga.
• Rukia trained with Tier Harribel and sought guidance from Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, then learned at Sōgo’s banquet that Kuruyashiki was the division’s Third Seat.
• Isshin Shiba met Masaki Kurosaki in the World of the Living, and their son Ichigo was born as Aizen watched and planned around his unusual heritage.
• Rukia returned to the World of the Living and, years later, saved Ichigo from a Hollow after Auswählen had taken Masaki’s Quincy powers.
• When another Hollow attacked, Rukia transferred her Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo, who killed it and began gathering friends as Rukia faced orders to return to Soul Society.
• Ichigo trained with Kisuke Urahara and set out with Uryū Ishida, Orihime Inoue, and Yasutora Sado to rescue Rukia, while Sōgo learned that Central 46 had ordered her imprisonment.
• Aizen and his allies murdered Central 46 and framed the Five Great Noble Clans, after which Yamamoto accused Sōgo of the killings and confined him to the Shihoin estate.
• Yoruichi led Ichigo and his companions to Kaien Shiba, who revealed that Rukia faced execution in five days and was likely held in the Second Division barracks, where Sōgo’s absence made their approach especially dangerous.

Kaien and the Shiba family helped Ichigo’s group enter the Seireitei, where Aizen’s staged death and the Central 46 crisis set the stage for Rukia’s execution. Ichigo rescued Rukia at the Sōkyoku, but the fighting spread across the execution ground and Kenpachi confronted him.

• Kaien Shiba brought Ichigo and his companions through the Seireitei, where they met Kūkaku and gained Renji as an ally in the rescue.
• Ichigo and Renji fought their way through the Second Division, while Shaoling Fon and Hōshō Ryo opposed them and Ichigo was shot by Lilynette Starrk.
• Ichigo’s inner Hollow saved him, and after a fierce battle he regained control, revealed Tensa Zangetsu, and asked Kuruyashiki to help rescue Rukia.
• Sōgo Shihoin detained Ichigo’s group, revealed that Yoruichi was his sister, and held Ichigo and Renji in the basement while Aizen’s staged death fueled a crisis in the Seireitei.
• Aizen arranged to draw out the power sealed in Rukia as Ichigo and Renji trained under Yoruichi, while Yamamoto ordered the Sōkyoku prepared for Rukia’s execution.
• On execution day, Ichigo blocked the Sōkyoku’s attack and freed Rukia, while Shunsui, Ukitake, Kaien, Kūkaku, and Hōshō Ryo faced Yamamoto.
• Unohana sent Hitsugaya after Ichigo, who fought him until Renji arrived and warned that Kenpachi was coming, and Kenpachi caught Ichigo’s blade barehanded.

Sōgo Shihoin stopped Aizen’s escape, dealt with the Bount threat, and dismantled the Central 46 Chambers while Ichigo Kurosaki confronted his Hollow power with the Visored. The arc left Aizen plotting against Yamamoto, Ichigo training, and Rurichiyo Kasumioji setting out to find Ichigo as a marriage candidate.

• Sōsuke Aizen revealed that his apparent defeat had involved Reigai created by Yushima Oko, while Sōgo Shihoin cut through Negación and helped Yamamoto defeat the impostors.
• Sōgo Shihoin followed Ichigo Kurosaki to the World of the Living, where the Bounts attacked and Sōgo defeated Mabashi before confronting their larger threat.
• Kariya Jin led the Bounts into Soul Society, where Sōgo offered them new lives, sent some away, and killed Kariya Jin and Maki Ichinose when they chose to fight.
• Sōgo Shihoin persuaded the Five Great Noble Clans to dissolve the Central 46 Chambers and take over its duties, then declared himself Soul Society’s supreme ruler.
• Shinji Hirako brought Ichigo Kurosaki to the Visored, where Ichigo’s Hollowfication surged until he accepted White Ichigo as part of himself and began training with the group.
• Sōsuke Aizen prepared another pawn against Yamamoto, while Yamamoto welcomed the returning Hueco Mundo expeditionary force.
• Rurichiyo Kasumioji told Sōgo Shihoin and Hōshō Ryo about her clan’s crisis, and Sōgo suggested Ichigo Kurosaki as a marriage candidate, prompting Rurichiyo to seek him out.