THE LAST 9DAYS

A vision of the distant past shows countless souls forming an infant who is chanted into being as Yhwach and rapidly matures. In the present, Ichigo climbs to Ichibe'e Hyōsube's mountain temple, where the Royal Guard captain warns that Soul Society's thousand years of peace have left it weak and that returning to help the Gotei 13 would only get Ichigo killed against Yhwach. In Silbern's cathedral, Yhwach rallies the Sternritter before stunning them by naming Uryū Ishida, the Last Quincy, as his successor.

The announcement fractures the ranks. Bambietta Basterbine vents her rage by killing a Soldat, drawing scolding from Candice and the other women, while Bazz-B storms off to confront Haschwalth over his refusal to protest, demanding the man surrender his own position. Askin Nakk Le Vaar defuses the brewing fight with a Gift Ball. In the throne room, Uryū pauses before drinking Yhwach's blood to ask why he was chosen, and Yhwach points to his survival of the Auswählen as proof of a purpose, prompting Uryū to declare he has severed all ties to bury the Shinigami.

Ichigo, meanwhile, begins Ichibe'e's true training, which strips away the temple and drops him into a strange raining hallway to test whether he can surpass the existence of a Shinigami. Across Soul Society and beyond, his friends prepare in their own ways: Orihime and Sado train in Hueco Mundo with the Arrancar, Rukia and Renji endure grueling drills, Byakuya recovers in Kirinji's springs, and Hiyori leads the Visored in repairing distortions in the Human World.

In Karakura Town, Shunsui approaches Ichigo's friends Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro to warn that Ichigo may return too powerful to live in the Human World and hands them Soul Tickets so they can visit Soul Society should that day come. Orihime muses on the fragile peace she wishes could last. Then the Schatten Bereich swallows the entire Seireitei, replacing it with the frozen Wandenreich city. Reciting the Kaiser Gesang, Yhwach reveals a hidden fourth verse: the Quincy king reclaims the world in nine days.

Ichibe'e warns Ichigo he cannot yet defeat Yhwach and begins training to surpass the existence of a Shinigami. Yhwach names Uryū Ishida his successor, causing unrest among the Sternritter and a near-fight between Bazz-B and Haschwalth. Uryū drinks Yhwach's blood and receives the letter A. Ichigo's friends train across the worlds, and Shunsui gives Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro Soul Tickets. The Wandenreich replaces the Seireitei, and Yhwach declares he will regain the world in nine days.

This is the fourteenth episode of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and adapts material from Chapters 542 through 546 and 565. Its opening theme is STARS and its ending is Endroll. It aired in Japan on July 8, 2023, and in English on August 5, 2023. Featured events are the Royal Training and the completed Rise of Uryū Ishida. The adaptation expands Yhwach's birth and reorders several scenes, while a lengthy list of removed and changed content trims dialogue and adjusts how the Sternritter react to Uryū's appointment.