Chapter Summaries

Sōgo reunited with Lilynette, Tier Harribel, and Kuruyashiki and formed the Second Division’s Greening and Forest Protection Squad, with Shaoling Fon as lieutenant. After the group shirked its first day of work, Sōgo arranged for Kuruyashiki to spar with Shaoling Fon, who revealed her Shunkō when his Spiritual Pressure stopped her attack.

• Sōgo arrived at the Second Division barracks and reunited with Lilynette, Tier Harribel, and Kuruyashiki after graduating from school.
• Sōgo named the five of them the Greening and Forest Protection Squad, appointed himself captain and Shaoling Fon lieutenant, then called off their landscaping work because of the heat.
• The group relaxed in Sōgo’s training dojo, where he asked Kuruyashiki to spar with Shaoling Fon while neither used a Zanpakuto.
• Kuruyashiki let Shaoling Fon’s kick strike his Spiritual Pressure, injuring her ankle and telling her she could not hurt him.
• With Sōgo’s approval, Shaoling Fon activated Shunkō, astonishing Kuruyashiki with her power.

Shaoling Fon trained with Sōgo’s Forest Protection Squad while Mayuri Kurotsuchi won Central 46’s approval to experiment on Quincy corpses. After thirty years of fighting in Hueco Mundo, Mayuri was arrested by the Second Division for dissecting 2,600 Quincy, as Sōya Azashiro watched from Muken.

• Shaoling Fon surprised Kuruyashiki Kenpachi with her speed and a neck lock, but his spiritual pressure broke her hold; Sōgo stopped them before they could fight seriously with their Zanpakuto.
• Lilynette fought Harribel, and Sōgo encouraged Shaoling Fon to keep training as part of the Forest Protection Squad.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi presented his zombie research to Central 46 and received permission to dissect Quincy corpses for his experiments.
• The Soul Reapers hunted Quincy in Hueco Mundo for thirty years, then returned to Soul Society after losing two captains to Menos Grande.
• After Mayuri spent a year experimenting on more than 2,600 Quincy corpses, two Second Division officers entered his laboratory and arrested him, while Sōya Azashiro watched from Muken.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi was imprisoned in the Nest of Maggots after the Central 46 Chambers sentenced him for unauthorized Quincy dissections, where Senjumaru Shutara taunted him. The Tsunayashiro Clan discussed Sōgo Shihoin as the mysterious “One Descended from Heaven,” then arranged for Tokinada to join Sōgo’s Greening Squad.

• The Central 46 Chambers sentenced Mayuri Kurotsuchi to the Nest of Maggots for dissecting Quincy corpses without approval, then added fifty years to his sentence after he insulted them.
• Senjumaru Shutara visited Mayuri in solitary confinement, mocked him, and left after he refused her offer to release him.
• The Tsunayashiro Clan head and a young clan member reviewed records about Kisuke Urahara and Sōsuke Aizen in the Great Spirit Book Gallery.
• The Tsunayashiro Clan head saw the record “Sōgo Shihoin... Soul Descended from Heaven...” and ordered Tokinada released to serve as Sōgo’s retainer.
• Several months later, Tokinada joined Sōgo’s Greening Squad, and Sōgo joked about his green hair.

Sōgo Shihoin struggled to accept Tsunayashiro Tokinada, who joined his squad and showered its members with gifts while unsettling Sōgo with his intense devotion. Yoruichi Shihōin explained that the Tsunayashiro Clan knew about Sōgo’s secrets but promised to protect him, leaving Sōgo to face Tokinada’s unwanted support.

• Sōgo introduced Tsunayashiro Tokinada to his squad, and Tokinada pledged loyalty while Sōgo warned him to mind his own affairs.
• Tokinada gave Shaoling Fon a Kidō manual, Lilynette a bubble machine, Tier Harribel a gravity device, and Little Kuruyashiki a training Asauchi.
• Tokinada followed Sōgo into the bath and unnerved him with his declaration that he liked him, prompting Sōgo to leave and confront Yoruichi Shihōin.
• Yoruichi told Sōgo she had accepted Tokinada into the squad at the Tsunayashiro Clan head’s request and argued that Tokinada’s abilities could help him.
• Yoruichi revealed that the Tsunayashiro Clan already knew about Tier Harribel and Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, and Tokinada promised the clan would keep Sōgo’s secrets and back him.

Sōgo’s obedience to Tokinada’s devotion led Tokinada to conclude that Sōgo was destined to ascend the throne, and he and the Tsunayashiro Clan head planned to clear obstacles while leaving the choice to Sōgo. Later, a blind man demanded justice for Kakyō, and an unknown figure intervened, claiming to know the Tsunayashiro Clan better than anyone.

• Sōgo told Tokinada to call him Captain, while Tokinada questioned him about his origins and his views on the Five Great Noble Clans.
• Tokinada decided Sōgo was the chosen king and secretly met with the Tsunayashiro Clan head, who agreed to prepare the way for Sōgo’s ascension without forcing his choice.
• Tokinada stayed by Sōgo’s side, doing training-ground chores as time passed and a Tsunayashiro collateral relative’s abuse of his wife and a Soul Reaper caused only a small stir among the nobles.
• A blind man protested outside the Central 46 Chambers that Kakyō’s abuser had escaped trial, and guards threatened to kill him.
• An unknown figure stopped a guard’s attack, told the blind man about Kakyō and the Tsunayashiro Clan, and claimed that no one understood the clan better than he did.

Tsunayashiro Tokinada gave Kaname Tōsen Kakyō’s Zanpakuto and revealed that he had spared him despite his cousin’s orders. As Tōsen struggled with his grief, Sōsuke Aizen recruited him to help overthrow the false king, while Aizen planned to remove Sōgo Shihoin before making his move.

• Tsunayashiro Tokinada explained the Tsunayashiro Clan’s power and asked Kaname Tōsen whether he would seek revenge for Kakyō’s death.
• Kaname Tōsen refused to kill Kakyō’s husband, and Tokinada gave him Kakyō’s Asauchi before revealing his identity and leaving.
• As Tōsen considered ending his life, Sōsuke Aizen offered him a purpose and called on him to become the sword that would forge a new world.
• Kaname Tōsen pledged himself to Aizen and asked Aizen to kill him if his justice ever wavered; Aizen agreed.
• Aizen told Tōsen to graduate from Shin'ō Academy and join the Gotei 13 before they acted, while resolving to eliminate Sōgo Shihoin first.

Sōgo met Sōsuke Aizen at their favorite Rukongai ramen shop, where a dispute over fish cake and dried bamboo shoots turned into an eating contest and a promise to meet again. After Sōgo left, Aizen revealed that he had spent decades arranging the encounter to befriend him and planned to later use that friendship to get Sōgo out of Soul Society for his experiments.

• Sōgo chatted with the Ippū owner when Aizen entered and sat beside him, introducing himself as a Third Seat of the Fifth Division.
• Sōgo introduced himself as Sōgo Shihoin, startling Aizen, who then addressed him respectfully until Sōgo asked him to use his given name.
• Sōgo objected to the dried bamboo shoots in Aizen’s ramen, and the two argued over whether fish cake or dried bamboo shoots belonged in a bowl.
• Sōgo and Aizen laughed off their food argument, ate bowl after bowl, and agreed to have a proper contest another time.
• After Sōgo left, Aizen revealed a Spiritual Pressure limiter beneath his sleeve and admitted he had staged the meeting to build a friendship with Sōgo.
• Aizen planned to eventually ask Sōgo to leave Soul Society so he could conduct experiments on Captain-level Soul Reapers.

Sōgo discovered that Shaoling Fon had secretly achieved Bankai but was dissatisfied with it because its immense, wild power did not suit her. He joined Kisuke Urahara and Szayelaporro in planning a challenge to make her accept it.

• Sōgo questioned Shaoling Fon about Bankai, and she denied having achieved it while revealing her secret through her awkward reaction.
• Sōgo asked Yoruichi about Shaoling Fon, and she directed him to Kisuke Urahara.
• Sōgo caught Kisuke Urahara trying to flee, and Urahara admitted that Shaoling Fon had borrowed a Tenshintai and asked him to conceal her Bankai.
• Urahara explained that Shaoling Fon disliked her Bankai despite its extraordinary power because its huge, violent form did not suit her image.
• Sōgo and Urahara agreed to help Shaoling Fon accept her Bankai, and Szayelaporro proposed using the regenerative Menos Grande Yamata no Orochi to force her to rely on it.

Shaoling Fon discovered that Sōgo Shihoin had vanished and tracked down Kisuke Urahara, who claimed Sōgo had gone to deal with an escaped experimental Menos Grande. Urahara persuaded her that only her Bankai could defeat it, and the chapter ended with him asking her to help rescue Sōgo.

• Shaoling Fon found Sōgo Shihoin's room empty and searched the estate, but the servants did not know where he was.
• The steward suggested that Shaoling Fon ask Yoruichi Shihōin, who told her Sōgo had visited Kisuke Urahara the day before.
• Shaoling Fon went to Urahara's laboratory, where he claimed an escaped specimen in the Kusajishi District had kept Sōgo from returning.
• Urahara discouraged Shaoling Fon from calling Yoruichi, the Second Division, or her squad, and insisted that the two of them go alone.
• Urahara claimed the specimen was a regenerating artificial Menos Grande that only Shaoling Fon's Bankai could destroy, and asked her to help rescue Sōgo.

Yamamoto considered the balance of power between the Central 46 Chambers and the Five Great Noble Clans after receiving a report about Sōgo Shihoin, Kisuke Urahara, and Shaoling Fon in Kusajishi District. Meanwhile, Shaoling Fon fought Szayelaporro’s Yamata no Orochi to rescue Sōgo, and she ended the chapter by firing her Bankai at the creature.

• Yamamoto compared the Central 46 Chambers to sparrows and the Five Great Noble Clans to a bird of prey, then ordered a Soul Reaper not to interfere with the activity in Kusajishi District.
• Szayelaporro sealed Sōgo inside a crystal and summoned Yamata no Orochi before leaving with a tablet.
• Shaoling Fon rushed toward Sōgo, but Kisuke Urahara pulled her away from Yamata no Orochi’s corrosive attack.
• Shaoling Fon used Suzumebachi and Shunkō to destroy three of Yamata no Orochi’s heads, but the creature regenerated and knocked her down.
• Kisuke Urahara explained that Yamata no Orochi could be defeated by overwhelming damage, and Shaoling Fon released her Bankai before his prepared speech was finished.
• Shaoling Fon fired Suzumebachi Raikōben at Yamata no Orochi while Sōgo watched from inside the crystal.

Sōgo and Shaoling Fon reconciled after her Bankai destroyed Yamata no Orochi, then Sōgo encountered Aizen, who tested his curiosity about Sōgo’s hidden eyes. Aizen left to investigate the Dangai’s unstable Kōtotsu, while both men returned home suspicious of the other’s intentions.

• Shaoling Fon confronted Sōgo about the battle, and Urahara explained that Sōgo had arranged the situation because he worried about her Bankai.
• Shaoling Fon said her Bankai could be used once every five days ideally, or once every three days at most, and Sōgo took her to bathe.
• A naked woman entered the bath and teased Sōgo and Shaoling Fon, prompting Shaoling Fon to flee in embarrassment.
• Sōgo met Aizen at a ramen shop, where they competed to eat and Aizen questioned him about his blindfold.
• Sōgo accused Aizen of having a strange interest in him, and Aizen explained that he had been assigned to investigate signs of the Kōtotsu going berserk in the Dangai.
• Aizen privately abandoned his attempt to test Sōgo’s Zanpakuto and continued planning, while Sōgo returned home wondering whether Aizen had an ulterior motive.

Kenpachi Kiganjō defeated Gosuke Kenpachi to claim the title, but Kuruyashiki Kenpachi intervened before Kiganjō could kill him. Kuruyashiki told Gosuke to leave the Soul Reapers, while Aizen and Shinji Hirako discussed Aizen’s upcoming mission to the Dangai; Kuruyashiki later returned to the Greening Squad.

• Kenpachi Kiganjō challenged Gosuke Kenpachi and defeated him after a prolonged fight, becoming the Tenth Kenpachi.
• Kuruyashiki Kenpachi stopped Kiganjō’s final blow with one finger and ended the duel, forcing Kiganjō to spare Gosuke.
• Kuruyashiki revealed himself to Gosuke, then ordered him to stop being a Soul Reaper and left without looking back.
• Aizen and Shinji Hirako discussed Aizen’s preparations for a mission to the Dangai, and Aizen guessed that Hirako was going to visit Lieutenant Hiyori.
• Kuruyashiki returned to the Greening Squad barracks, learned that Sōgo and the others had already left, and went back to his quarters as Tsunayashiro Tokinada watched him.

Aizen joined the Tenth Division captain’s investigation into the Kōtotsu’s rampage, which uncovered Quincy hiding in the Dangai and led to a thirty-year war. After the campaign ended in disaster for the Soul Reapers, Sōgo asked Yamamoto to let him deal with the Quincy still hiding there.

• Before the expedition, Sōgo shared ramen with Aizen and told him they could compete again when he returned.
• The Tenth Division captain found Quincy experiments behind the Kōtotsu’s rampage and received approval to purge the Quincy hiding in the Valleys of Screams.
• The Quincy used Threads of Recollection to evade Soul Reaper forces and wage guerrilla warfare for thirty years.
• Aizen betrayed the Tenth Division captain, then let the Quincy wound him before Soul Reapers arrived and killed them; Aizen was brought back unconscious.
• In 1898, after the Tenth Division captain died and Aizen was gravely wounded, Sōgo asked Yamamoto to let him investigate and deal with the surviving Quincy.

Sōgo assembled a seven-member squad to enter the Dangai and confront the Quincy who had defeated Aizen’s team. The squad passed through a special Senkaimon under the pressure of their combined spiritual energy, leaving the Kidō Corps stunned by the dangerous outcasts among them.

• Retsu Unohana told Sōgo that Aizen was recovering in the Fourth Division barracks, and Sōgo visited him.
• Sōgo dismissed Aizen’s guilt over the previous defeat and said he would lead a team against the Quincy; Aizen privately revealed that he felt better prepared than Sōgo.
• Sōgo announced the Greening Squad’s first mission, and Lilynette, Tier Harribel, Shaoling Fon, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, Szayelaporro, and Tsunayashiro Tokinada prepared to join him.
• The squad members spent the night in different states of excitement and activity, while Tsunayashiro Tokinada met with the Tsunayashiro Clan head.
• The seven gathered at the Second Division barracks and approached the special Senkaimon, their unrepressed spiritual pressure overwhelming the assembled Kidō Corps.
• Sōgo led the squad through the Senkaimon toward the Dangai, followed by the three Arrancar, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, and Tsunayashiro Tokinada.

Gosuke and Aizen watched their scheme send Sōgo’s group into the Dangai, where Sōgo easily cut the Kōtotsu in half with Sayafushi. After a month of travel, the group reached a Valley of Screams and confronted a Quincy force, whom Sōgo set Ikomikidomoe loose to attack.

• Gosuke told Aizen that he had tampered with the Senkaimon to send Sōgo’s group seven days forward into the Kōtotsu, and Aizen left his bed to watch what happened.
• Sōgo’s group encountered the Kōtotsu in the Dangai, and Sōgo cut it in half with Sayafushi in one stroke.
• Ōetsu Nimaiya and the Big-Eyed Monk saw that Sōgo’s slash had reached and damaged Ōetsu’s Riden, while Ōetsu realized Sayafushi had found a master who could unleash its power.
• After a month in the Dangai, Sōgo’s group reached a small Valley of Screams and met a Quincy force led by a noble-looking man who warned them to leave.
• Sōgo released Ikomikidomoe, which transformed into numerous huge Hollows and charged the Quincy, devouring their arrows as Sōgo mocked the fighters for being weaker than a Xiao Jiba.

Sōgo and his allies defeated the Quincy ambush and interrogated its leader, Shinichi Kurosaki, about the Tenth Division captain’s death and Aizen’s injured lieutenant. Kurosaki revealed that Elder Watanabe had sent him and offered to lead Sōgo to the elder, while Aizen remained confident that events were proceeding as planned.

• Shaoling Fon pinned Shinichi Kurosaki despite his Blut power, while Sōgo’s Xiao Jibas defeated the rest of the Quincy.
• Sōgo and Szayelaporro concluded that Kurosaki was lying about killing the Tenth Division captain and suspected someone was using him to obstruct their investigation.
• Sōgo demanded the identities of those responsible for the captain’s death and Aizen’s lieutenant’s injuries, then threatened Kurosaki’s subordinates until Kurosaki admitted Elder Watanabe had sent him.
• Kurosaki revealed that Elder Watanabe was in a nearby spirit realm and offered to guide Sōgo there in exchange for his subordinates’ release; Sōgo released the Quincy and recalled his Xiao Jibas.
• Aizen told Kaname Tōsen that Sōgo capturing Kurosaki did not affect his plans, then anticipated that Sōgo would pursue Elder Watanabe.

Sōgo and his companions followed Kurosaki through the Valley of Screams after he sent the freed mixed-blood Quincy away, and Sōgo challenged Kurosaki to reconsider the Quincy’s place in the world. Kurosaki began to consider the World of the Living as a home for the Quincy, but that night Sōgo caught him preparing to escape.

• Kurosaki ordered the mixed-blood Quincy to flee through their spirit threads, then led Sōgo and the others through the Valley of Screams.
• Kurosaki tried to outrun his pursuers with Hirenkyaku, but after an hour of running and resting, he could not shake them.
• Around the campfire, Kurosaki defended the Quincy practice of exterminating Hollows, and Sōgo and Shaoling Fon explained how it threatened the balance between the worlds.
• Sōgo urged Kurosaki to think of the Quincy as part of humanity, leading Kurosaki to consider whether they belonged in the World of the Living.
• Kurosaki tried to use a teleportation thread during the night, but found Sōgo awake beside him with a sleep mask on.

Kurosaki failed to escape after lifting Sōgo’s eye mask and spent a month guiding Sōgo’s group through the Valley of Screams. They found Elder Watanabe and his Quincy forces, but Sōgo exposed Watanabe’s role in the ambush and Xiao Jiba swallowed him as the Quincy began a teleportation attack.

• Kurosaki reached for Sōgo’s eye mask, was overwhelmed by Sōgo’s Spiritual Pressure, and woke the next morning with no memory of what happened.
• Sōgo teased Kurosaki about trying to escape, claimed no one in Soul Society could match his strength, and told him not to become a servant to his own power.
• Sōgo’s group spent a month following Kurosaki through the Valley of Screams before a force of Quincy surrounded them, led by Elder Watanabe.
• Watanabe thanked Kurosaki for leading Sōgo’s group to them, while Kurosaki realized the Quincy had not followed the plan to avoid a clash.
• Sōgo revealed that he had deduced Watanabe was behind the ambushes and that a mole in Soul Society had been reporting to him.
• Watanabe activated a prepared Quincy teleportation ability, but Xiao Jiba swallowed him before he could finish threatening Sōgo.

Sōgo escaped the Quincy’s teleportation array with Shaoling Fon, then watched the Quincy civilians perish from the transfer’s backlash while saving their children. He concluded that the enemy had engineered the crisis to draw him away from Soul Society, and set out to reunite with his scattered companions.

• Sōgo broke through the spiritual array and grabbed Shaoling Fon, leaving Kurosaki and the Quincy behind as the teleportation completed.
• Sōgo explained that the Quincy’s transfer exceeded their limits, causing the civilians to burn; he used his spiritual power to save several children.
• Sōgo let Kurosaki take the children to the World of the Living and warned him never to return or let them follow their parents’ path.
• Sōgo told Shaoling Fon that the Quincy had deliberately separated him from his companions to keep him away from Soul Society while the enemy carried out another operation.
• Sōgo said they would find their scattered companions and return, trusting their strength to overcome whatever scheme awaited them.

Aizen reassured Kaname Tōsen and Gosuke that his plan remained under control, then trapped the noodle shop owner in an illusion and promised to inherit his ramen craft. At her destination, Tier Harribel fought a Quincy force and revealed her identity as a Menos Grande by releasing Tiburón.

• Aizen dismissed Kaname Tōsen’s concerns, silenced his argument with Gosuke, and declared that the Soul Society would become their stage.
• Aizen offered to learn the noodle shop owner’s ramen techniques and take over the shop, then left the owner trapped in an illusion.
• Tier Harribel arrived amid a rain of Quincy arrows and countered them with a golden slash.
• Tier Harribel cut down a Quincy with Ola Azul, then faced two powerful pure-blooded Quincy who blocked her next attack.
• Tier Harribel released Tiburón, and the Quincy realized she was a Menos Grande rather than a Soul Reaper.