Secret of the Moon

As Yoruichi bounds off with Ichigo, Byakuya loses interest in the intruders and leaves them to Ukitake. Rukia, who had been steeling herself the entire time her brother stood there, collapses. Ukitake summons his squabbling Third Seats, Sentaro Kotsubaki and Kiyone Kotetsu, ordering one to call a Fourth Division rescue team for the gravely hurt Ganju and the other to return Rukia to her cell, promising she will be freed through proper channels. When Hanataro wonders why he is being allowed to live, Ukitake explains that the intruders may know who killed Aizen, but adds that a man risking himself to save a subordinate matters more to him, and swears not to let Hanataro be killed.

Across the Seireitei, Orihime Inoue and Uryu Ishida move among the Shinigami in borrowed uniforms. Reporting to the lecherous Ninth Division officer Toshimori Umesada, Orihime plays the eager recruit until his advances prompt Uryu to step in, coolly noting that a busy man should not be flirting while intruders are on the loose. Toshimori is called away before he can retaliate, and Orihime celebrates how smoothly her scheme is working.

A flashback shows the origin of the disguise: Orihime's idea to borrow uniforms, the pair ambushing two Shinigami, and a flustered Uryu learning to keep his distance after Orihime casually mentioned her karate training. Back in the present, the two compare notes, resolve to reach Senzaikyu before Ichigo ruins everything, and set off, watched from the shadows by the Twelfth Division captain, Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Elsewhere, a winded Yoruichi hauls Ichigo into a hidden chamber beneath Sokyoku Hill, jokes that a century out of practice has left her tired, and urges him to wake so she can teach him the true power of his sword.

Byakuya withdraws and leaves the intruders to Ukitake, who spares Hanataro and has Rukia returned to her cell. Orihime and Uryu infiltrate the Seireitei disguised as Shinigami and evade suspicion. A flashback reveals how they obtained their uniforms. Mayuri Kurotsuchi silently marks the pair as targets, while Yoruichi settles Ichigo in a hidden training chamber.

Collected in the fourteenth volume, the chapter was adapted into the anime episode Flash Goddess Yoruichi, Dances!. Viz Media kept the title Secret of the Moon. It develops Ukitake's compassion and the Orihime and Uryu infiltration while foreshadowing their clash with Mayuri as the Soul Society arc branches out.