Chapter Summaries

Wang Xun’s Arrancarization experiment succeeded briefly before the Hollow reverted and collapsed, while the fake Kaname Tōsen’s mistakes deepened Aizen’s suspicions. Aizen planned to take Wang Xun to Hueco Mundo and leave Tōsen at the experimental base, and Wang Xun hurried to warn Kisuke Urahara.

• Wang Xun noticed the disguised Kaname Tōsen’s subtle flaw as they prepared for Aizen’s Arrancarization experiment.
• Kaname Tōsen’s control errors caused the first three Hollow specimens to perish, so Aizen ordered Wang Xun to take over.
• Wang Xun stabilized the experiment long enough for a Hollow to become an Arrancar, but the incomplete Hōgyoku could not prevent its reversal and collapse.
• Aizen said the Hōgyoku needed to be strengthened and arranged to take Wang Xun to Hueco Mundo, leaving Tōsen behind to review the data.
• Wang Xun concluded that Aizen was testing the fake Tōsen and hurried toward Seireitei to warn Kisuke Urahara.

Loyd warned Cang Du that Aizen suspected his disguise, but Cang Du ordered him to remain undercover. Wang Xun and Urahara arranged for the real Kaname Tōsen to return, and Aizen confirmed his identity when he demonstrated his skill with the Hōgyoku experiment.

• Loyd told Cang Du that he feared exposure and asked whether he should seize the Hōgyoku, but Cang Du ordered him to keep gathering information and wait.
• Aizen and Wang Xun secretly watched the disguised Kaname Tōsen, agreed that his recent behavior was suspicious, and left to collect Hollow materials in Hueco Mundo.
• Wang Xun told Kisuke Urahara that Aizen suspected the fake Tōsen, and they decided to release the real Kaname Tōsen so both would appear at once.
• Urahara's accomplice left the recovering Kaname Tōsen in West Rukongai, and Tōsen woke and made his way to Aizen's laboratory.
• Aizen asked the returned Tōsen to perform the Hōgyoku experiment, recognized his familiar skill, and comforted him after the experiment failed.
• Wang Xun entered the laboratory and found Aizen embracing the sobbing Kaname Tōsen.

Wang Xun tested the strength of his Hollowfication against Loyd, the Quincy spy disguised as Kaname Tōsen, and defeated him with a combination of swordsmanship and Kidō. After Aizen revealed that he had long suspected Loyd, he ordered Wang Xun to keep the spy sealed and assigned Tōsen to interrogate him.

• Wang Xun and Aizen explained that the returned Kaname Tōsen had exposed the impostor, and Aizen kept Tōsen hidden while they waited for Loyd to appear.
• Aizen asked Loyd to fight Wang Xun so he could assess the strength of Wang Xun’s Hollowfication.
• Wang Xun overwhelmed Loyd, countered his Bankai with a Reiatsu-thread sensing technique, and restrained him with Bakudō.
• Wang Xun reinforced Loyd’s restraints when the spy realized he had been exposed, and Aizen revealed he had suspected him since his return.
• Aizen ordered Tōsen to demonstrate the Prison Squad’s interrogation skills on Loyd.

After helping capture Loyd, Wang Xun returned to his duties as the Fourth Division's new vice-captain and visited Ukitake at the Thirteenth Division. He learned that a captains' meeting would address unusual Reiatsu fluctuations, gained Soul King Fragments while examining Ukitake, and secured an invitation to visit again.

• Tōsen dragged the bound Loyd into a secret chamber, then confronted Wang Xun about his role in the events that led to Tōsen's capture; Wang Xun admitted his involvement, and Tōsen said they were on different paths.
• Aizen paused the Hōgyoku experiments, assigned Tōsen to guard Loyd and organize Arrancar data, and sent Wang Xun back to the Fourth Division; the next day, Wang Xun handled his new vice-captain duties.
• Wang Xun visited Kaien at the Thirteenth Division and met Ukitake and Chōjirō Sasakibe, who had come to discuss strange Reiatsu fluctuations in Rukongai and a captains' meeting planned for the following week.
• Wang Xun examined Ukitake with Kaidō, absorbed three Soul King Fragments that raised his Hōgyoku Awakening Level to 5.15%, and wrote Ukitake a recuperation prescription.
• Ukitake thanked Wang Xun and encouraged him to visit the Thirteenth Division often.

At the captains' meeting, Wang Xun learned that unfamiliar Reiatsu traces had been found across Rukongai and inside Seireitei, which he suspected were connected to Aizen's plans. Later, he examined the deceased Third Seat of the Fifth Division at Shinji Hirako's request and discovered a hidden wound resembling a Quincy's Reishi arrow, leaving Hirako stunned by Wang Xun's conclusion.

• Kirio Hikifune and Yoruichi Shihōin reported unidentified Reiatsu traces in Rukongai and Seireitei, and Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai ordered the divisions to strengthen patrols.
• Wang Xun suspected Aizen had caused the traces and wondered whether Aizen was planning something involving the Quincy.
• Shinji Hirako asked Wang Xun to reexamine his dead Third Seat, whose death had been attributed to a Hollow attack.
• Wang Xun found a tiny, concealed puncture beneath the fatal chest wound that resembled a Quincy Reishi arrow's mark.
• Wang Xun told Hirako that the Third Seat had died from another cause and suggested asking Unohana to conduct a fuller examination.

Retsu Unohana and Wang Xun confirmed that the Fifth Division Third Seat had been murdered with a Reishi Arrow, pointing to the supposedly extinct Quincy. Unohana brought Wang Xun to report the discovery to Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, who asked why they had come.

• Retsu Unohana confirmed that the Third Seat’s fatal wound was a concealed puncture rather than a Hollow attack, and Sugishita admitted he had missed it.
• Shinji Hirako questioned why the murderer had left the corpse disguised as a Hollow attack, then left to investigate the murder.
• Hirako encountered the young Gin Ichimaru training alone and heard that Gin aimed to become a Seated Officer that year.
• Wang Xun deduced that the wound came from a concentrated Reishi projectile, and Unohana identified it as a Quincy Reishi Arrow.
• Unohana took Wang Xun to the First Division to report the suspected Quincy involvement to Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai.

Unohana reported that the Fifth Division's third seat had been killed with a wound resembling a Quincy's Reishi arrow, prompting Yamamoto to direct the Second and Twelfth Divisions to investigate possible Quincy involvement. The next day, Urahara told Wang Xun that Aizen had planted misleading evidence to expose the Wandenreich and distract the Gotei 13 from his pursuit of the Hōgyoku.

• Unohana told Yamamoto that the Fifth Division's third seat had a concealed puncture wound consistent with a Quincy's Reishi arrow, and explained that Wang Xun had helped uncover it.
• Unohana and Yamamoto considered whether Quincy survivors had infiltrated Soul Society or whether someone was using Quincy methods to mislead investigators, then ordered the Second and Twelfth Divisions to investigate that possibility.
• On the way back to the Fourth Division, Wang Xun worried that exposing the Wandenreich could reveal Aizen's plans, and Unohana advised him to keep a broader perspective.
• The next day, Urahara told Wang Xun that the unidentified Reiatsu fluctuations came from rudimentary spatial Kidō, not the Quincy's Shadow Domain, and that the evidence had been arranged to make Seireitei suspect the Quincy.
• Wang Xun and Urahara concluded that Aizen was pushing to expose the Wandenreich to divert the Gotei 13 from his pursuit of the Hōgyoku; Wang Xun also said Aizen had captured the fake Kaname Tōsen and was questioning him.

Wang Xun probed Aizen’s plans and was recruited to capture souls for the Hōgyoku’s Arrancar experiments. After the souls disintegrated during testing, Aizen told Wang Xun to help plant evidence around Seireitei to strengthen the belief that the Quincy were behind the disappearances.

• Wang Xun agreed with Urahara that he needed to sound Aizen out, then visited the secret laboratory and found Gin Ichimaru had joined Aizen’s plan.
• Aizen told Wang Xun that the Hōgyoku experiments were ready for large-scale tests and ordered him to capture thirty souls, with Kaname Tōsen supervising.
• Wang Xun captured drifters who were known to prey on others, while Kaname Tōsen criticized him for delaying and choosing targets he considered less harmful.
• Wang Xun returned with the required number of captives, and Aizen approved his choices before beginning the Hollowfication Experiment with Wang Xun, Kaname Tōsen, and Gin Ichimaru.
• The Hōgyoku’s energy caused the captives to disintegrate into Reishi, leaving their clothes behind, and Aizen ordered Wang Xun to help plant traces implicating the Quincy around Seireitei.

Aizen staged a mass disappearance and Hollowfication incident in northern Rukongai to make Seireitei believe the Quincy were responsible, while secretly advancing a scheme against the captains. Kensei Muguruma confronted Loyd, who escaped through the Shadow Domain, and Kensei realized his Seated Officers had not caught up.

• Aizen explained that he would use the imprisoned Quincy Loyd as apparent proof of Quincy involvement and have Tōsen trigger mass Hollowfication in a remote Rukongai settlement.
• Tōsen released the Hollowfication agent, causing the settlement’s residents to vanish, and Aizen’s group left Loyd nearby to enact the escape plan.
• After the Ninth Division advance team entered the settlement, its ten members began Hollowfying and disappeared, prompting Kensei Muguruma to rush there with Mashiro Kuna and several Seated Officers.
• Kensei and Mashiro pursued a white-clad figure who transformed into Kensei’s double, fought them, and escaped through the Shadow Domain as Loyd.
• Kensei sent Mashiro to report the enemy’s disguise and shadow abilities, then waited for his Seated Officers and wondered why they had not arrived.

Kensei Muguruma was ambushed and left dying by Kaname Tōsen while Aizen kept Wang Xun isolated and arranged a substitute to attend the captains’ meeting. Kisuke Urahara suspected deception when the apparent Wang Xun denied their investigation, and after Kensei’s Reiatsu vanished, Yamamoto ordered an emergency support squad to the scene.

• Kensei found Shinobu Eishima and two other Seated Officers dead before Kaname Tōsen stabbed him from within a supernatural darkness.
• Kaname Tōsen reported Kensei’s defeat to Aizen, who praised him and revealed that a disguised substitute would take Wang Xun’s place at the captains’ meeting.
• Wang Xun realized Aizen was keeping him cut off from the Seireitei and could only hope Kisuke Urahara would notice the deception.
• Mashiro Kuna reported the Quincy attack and the deaths and disappearances in northern Rukongai at the emergency captains’ meeting.
• Kisuke Urahara warned that evidence pointed to another enemy, but the apparent Wang Xun denied knowing of any suspicious inconsistencies, making Urahara suspect Kyōka Suigetsu was involved.
• After a Twelfth Division member reported that Kensei’s Reiatsu had disappeared, Yamamoto ordered Shinji Hirako, Love Aikawa, Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, Hiyori Sarugaki, Lisa Yadōmaru, and Hachigen Ushōda to form an emergency squad and placed the Gotei 13 on battle readiness.

Kisuke Urahara exposed Aizen’s fake Wang Xun and sent Unohana after the real Wang Xun, while he and Tessai Tsukabishi hurried to prepare for Aizen’s next move. Outside Rukongai, Aizen used the Hōgyoku to Hollowfy Kensei Muguruma and waited for Shinji Hirako and the other captains to arrive.

• Kisuke Urahara identified Unohana’s Wang Xun as an impostor, and Unohana killed him and rushed toward the place where Kensei Muguruma’s Reiatsu had disappeared.
• Urahara told Tessai Tsukabishi that the real Wang Xun was likely with Aizen north of Rukongai, and they headed to Urahara’s laboratory to gather preparations.
• Aizen used the Hōgyoku to Hollowfy the wounded Kensei Muguruma as Kaname Tōsen recorded the transformation and Wang Xun watched.
• Wang Xun gained Hollowfication fragments while Aizen explained that Kensei’s transformation represented the Hōgyoku’s current limit.
• Kensei rose as a Hollow and attacked his surroundings, while Aizen and the others watched from behind rocks.
• Aizen sensed several captains approaching, including Shinji Hirako, and prepared to begin his plan.

Shinji Hirako and the others found Kensei Muguruma Hollowfied and tried to restrain him, but Aizen used the Hōgyoku to trigger Hollowfication in the surrounding Soul Reapers. Wang Xun absorbed the resulting Hollowfication Fragments, then faced Hirako under Aizen’s order to kill him; as Wang Xun raised his sword over the fallen captain, Unohana arrived.

• Shinji Hirako and the others investigated the ruined settlement, where Mashiro Kuna recognized Kensei Muguruma beneath his Hollowfication and rushed toward him, only to be struck aside.
• Hachigen Ushōda restrained Kensei with Bakudō, but Aizen activated the Hōgyoku and caused Hachigen, Mashiro, Lisa Yadōmaru, and others to Hollowfy and lose control.
• Kaname Tōsen used his Bankai to wound the lieutenants and captains, accelerating their Hollowfication as Wang Xun absorbed their Hollowfication Fragments and reached level six.
• Aizen ordered Wang Xun to prove his allegiance by killing Shinji Hirako, and Wang Xun fought Hirako until a heavy slash brought him down and his mask consumed his consciousness.
• Wang Xun held his raised sword over Hirako while waiting for Kisuke Urahara, but Unohana arrived at the ruins and fixed her gaze on him.

Wang Xun fought Retsu Unohana after she uncovered the impostor in her division, while Aizen watched from hiding and kept his group concealed. As the battle reached a stalemate and Unohana considered releasing her Bankai, two familiar Reiatsu approached from the Seireitei.

• Aizen hid himself, Kaname Tōsen, and Gin Ichimaru with Kyōka Suigetsu and ordered Wang Xun not to reveal their presence.
• Unohana confronted Wang Xun about the fake who had taken his place and the captains fallen in the ruins.
• Wang Xun unleashed a powerful Hollowfication, and Unohana attacked him when he refused to explain himself.
• Wang Xun and Unohana fought with swords, Cero, and regeneration until neither could gain a decisive advantage.
• Two familiar Reiatsu rushed toward the ruins from the Seireitei, and Wang Xun recognized that help had arrived.

Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi suppressed the Hollowfication spreading through the fallen captains while Wang Xun and Unohana concealed that Aizen had been observing the battle. With the captains’ souls still changing irreversibly, Urahara faced the need to find the source of the transformation and a way to treat it.

• Kisuke Urahara recognized from Wang Xun’s reproachful glance that he had retained his consciousness and was pretending to lose control, then announced that he had brought medicine.
• Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi administered the suppressant to the fallen captains, temporarily slowing their masks’ growth, while Aizen decided their combat data was sufficient and left with Kaname Tōsen and Gin Ichimaru.
• Urahara confirmed privately with Wang Xun that Aizen had departed, and Unohana healed Wang Xun while demanding that he tell her everything when they returned.
• Tessai Tsukabishi raised a sealing barrier around the Hollowfied captains, and Urahara warned Wang Xun that Aizen might frame them and that Kyōka Suigetsu made proving their innocence difficult.
• Urahara found that the suppressant’s effect was weakening, and Unohana explained that the captains’ souls were undergoing irreversible changes that could lead to Soul Suicide; she asked whether Urahara could help analyze the source of the transformation.

Urahara and Tessai moved the Hollowfied captains to the cavern beneath Sōkyoku Hill, while Unohana and Wang Xun considered the threat Aizen posed. As Unohana and Wang Xun left to report to the Captain-Commander, Aizen confronted Wang Xun and offered him a chance to betray Urahara.

• Urahara told Unohana he could help the Hollowfied captains but would not reveal how, and Tessai used forbidden Kidō to stabilize and transport everyone to the cavern beneath Sōkyoku Hill.
• Wang Xun, Urahara, and Unohana discussed Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu, his plans for Hollowfication, and the risk of being blamed for the attack.
• Unohana decided to report to the Captain-Commander and left with Wang Xun, entrusting the captains to Urahara.
• Aizen appeared on the path and used hypnosis to make Unohana walk past him without noticing him.
• Aizen revealed the Hōgyoku and said he had prepared evidence framing Urahara for Hollowfication research and the attack on the captains.
• Aizen offered Wang Xun a place in the Gotei 13 if he exposed Urahara and confirmed the fabricated charges.

Wang Xun accepted Aizen’s terms and testified against Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi, leading Central 46 to order their arrest and detain Retsu Unohana. When Urahara, Tessai, and Yoruichi Shihōin escaped, Shigekuni Yamamoto placed the Gotei 13 on high alert and ordered preparations for war against the Quincy.

• Wang Xun agreed to give truthful testimony against Kisuke Urahara and told Aizen that his stronger Hollowfication resulted from the Hōgyoku’s influence.
• At Central 46’s hearing, Wang Xun’s testimony supported the evidence against Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi, and the court ordered their arrest and Retsu Unohana’s detention.
• Retsu Unohana prepared to resist the Punishment Force but surrendered her Zanpakuto after Wang Xun urged her not to fight.
• A Punishment Force member reported that Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi had escaped arrest and that Yoruichi Shihōin had disappeared with them.
• Shigekuni Yamamoto ordered warrants for Kisuke Urahara, Tessai Tsukabishi, and Yoruichi Shihōin, and placed the Gotei 13 on its highest combat readiness while preparing for war against the Quincy.

Wang Xun became acting captain of the Fourth Division while Unohana was detained, and comforted Soi Fon after Yoruichi was declared a fugitive. At a captains’ meeting, Yamamoto confirmed the Quincy threat and ordered a joint search for their hiding place, while Mayuri raised suspicions about Wang Xun’s knowledge of Urahara’s research.

• The First Division appointed Wang Xun acting captain of the Fourth Division while Unohana was away.
• Soi Fon confronted Wang Xun over Yoruichi’s defection, then sparred with him, drank sake, and spent the night with him.
• Wang Xun found Soi Fon gone the next morning and was summoned to a captains’ meeting at the First Division.
• Yamamoto announced that the Quincy existed and assigned Mayuri Kurotsuchi to the Twelfth Division to lead the search for their hiding place, under Kirio Hikifune’s supervision.
• Mayuri questioned Wang Xun about his work with Urahara, and Wang Xun said he had submitted reports on Urahara’s research to Central 46.
• Yamamoto ordered the Twelfth Division and the Stealth Force to begin a campaign to find and exterminate the Quincy.

After the meeting, Wang Xun reassured Soi Fon and Unohana while Mayuri Kurotsuchi prepared to investigate the Quincy and the Shadow Domain. Aizen then explained that Soul Society’s move against the Quincy would not disrupt his plans, and he intended to use the coming conflict to obtain material for the Hōgyoku.

• Mayuri Kurotsuchi questioned Wang Xun about Kisuke Urahara and the Hollowfied captains, then revealed his interest in studying the Quincy and establishing the Research and Development Institute.
• Wang Xun visited Soi Fon, brought her yakitori, and agreed to come watch her practice Shunkō in a few days.
• Wang Xun entered the Maggot's Nest and told Unohana that Aizen was too powerful to confront directly, asking her to keep their plan secret; Unohana agreed and entrusted the Fourth Division to him.
• Aizen told Wang Xun that Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s work on the Shadow Domain could help Soul Society find the Quincy, but said the earlier conflict would not disrupt his alliance with them.
• Aizen said Kyōka Suigetsu would prevent the Quincy from exposing him and planned to use the coming battle to find suitable materials for the Hōgyoku.

Haschwalth realized Aizen had framed the Wandenreich for the Hollowfication incident and prepared for Seireitei’s coming attack, while Wang Xun sought a way to grow stronger. Wang Xun challenged Kiganjō for the title of Kenpachi.

• Cang Du reported that Kaname Tōsen had been replaced by a mindless Reishi puppet and that Seireitei’s captains had begun disappearing after Aizen’s Hollowfication plan.
• Haschwalth deduced that Aizen had arranged Loyd’s escape to expose the Shadow Domain and make the Wandenreich appear responsible to Seireitei.
• Cang Du proposed splitting the Sternritter forces between defending Silbern and raiding Aizen’s laboratory, while Haschwalth confirmed the Quincy Medallion was nearly ready to steal Bankai.
• Wang Xun asked Shigekuni Yamamoto to spar, but Yamamoto refused and accused him of using Unohana’s detention as a pretext.
• Wang Xun went to the 11th Division and challenged Kiganjō for the Kenpachi seat.

Wang Xun challenged Captain Kiganjō for the title of Kenpachi and defeated him with superior Kendō and Shackle Lotus’s Shikai. After taking over the 11th Division, Wang Xun reported to Captain-Commander Yamamoto and asked him to instruct him.

• Wang Xun challenged Kiganjō to a fight to the death for the title of Kenpachi, and the 11th Division gathered to watch.
• Wang Xun blocked Kiganjō’s attacks, cut his neck, and disarmed him while Shunsui Kyōraku, Jūshirō Ukitake, and Kaien Shiba watched from a rooftop.
• Kiganjō released Bankai, but Wang Xun used Shackle Lotus’s Shikai to strike him down and cleave him in two.
• Wang Xun claimed the 11th Division captaincy, took half of Kiganjō’s Captain’s Haori, and named himself Kenpachi Wang Xun.
• Kaien reported Kiganjō’s death and Wang Xun’s succession to Yamamoto, who was stunned when Wang Xun arrived and asked him for instruction.