BLACK

Having renewed his Schutzstaffel by draining the life of the Wandenreich with Auswählen, Yhwach sends his elite forward against the Royal Guard. Lille Barro punches holes clean through Ōetsu Nimaiya with a power that ignores all defense, and Senjumaru Shutara revives him with restorative cotton. Kirio Hikifune then splits the four Sternritter apart inside her growing Cage of Life, pairing Senjumaru with Gerard Valkyrie, Hikifune with Pernida Parnkgjas, Tenjirō Kirinji with Askin Nakk Le Vaar, and Nimaiya with Lille.

At first each guardian dominates, but the Quincy turn the tide with their Schrifts. Gerard's glowing heart shrugs off Senjumaru's blade, Pernida crushes Hikifune's wooden constructs, Askin poisons Kirinji's water to paralyze and shoot him, and Lille reveals The X-Axis, a shot that pierces everything in its path yet spares his own leader, downing Nimaiya. The Cage of Life crumbles as all four guardians fall.

Above them, Ichibe'e Hyōsube battles Yhwach and releases his Shikai, Ichimonji, whose ink strips the name and power from anything it touches, rendering Yhwach's sword and Quincy Cross useless. Yhwach counters by initiating Sankt Altar to steal Ichibe'e's mastery of the color black, seemingly burning him away. To turn the fight, Nimaiya, Kirinji, and Hikifune slit their own throats, breaking the Blood Oath's Seal that bound the Royal Guard's true strength and unleashing Senjumaru alone.

Senjumaru activates her Bankai, Shatatsu Karagara Shigarami no Tsuji, sealing the six Quincy inside a vast loom and defeating each with a specialized technique that foreshadows their eventual fate. Meanwhile Ichibe'e proves unharmed, his black restored, and explains that Ichimonji draws its power from all the black in the world. He drowns Yhwach in ink, activates his Shin'uchi, Shirafude Ichimonji, and rewrites the king as "Black Ant" before crushing him between two massive palms with Senri Tsūtenshō.

Yhwach revives and empowers the Schutzstaffel with Auswählen. Hikifune isolates each Sternritter in the Cage of Life, but the Quincy overpower the Royal Guard. Ichibe'e strips Yhwach's sword and Cross of their names with Ichimonji, and Yhwach retaliates with Sankt Altar. Three guardians sacrifice themselves to unleash Senjumaru's Bankai, which defeats all six Quincy. Ichibe'e regains his power, renames Yhwach "Black Ant," and crushes him.

The three hundred and ninety-second episode of the anime, this entry adapts Chapters 604, 607, 608, and 609 within the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. The adaptation greatly expands the individual Royal Guard duels and Senjumaru's fate-foreshadowing techniques. Because of production issues, the final minutes after the credits feature Kon voiceovers of comedic material cut from earlier episodes.