The Howling Tempest

In Las Noches, Ulquiorra finds Yammy having his severed arm stitched back on by the arrancar Roka Paramia, and once the limb is restored Yammy tests it by crushing her skull, killing her on the spot and grumbling that it is not yet at full power. The pair are then summoned to Aizen. Over in the Visored chamber, a month of drilling has left Ichigo able to hold his mask for barely ten seconds, drawing Hiyori's scorn and Lisa's needling, while Shinji privately notes that with the Hogyoku due to wake by year's end they have only two months left to prepare.

Before an audience of Espada, Aizen lowers the half-awakened Hogyoku into a case set before a mummified figure and shares a secret even Urahara never learned. A sealed Hogyoku, once unbound, can briefly loose its full power through a host who carries a captain's measure of Reiryoku. Using that force he tears away the figure's bindings and completes its birth as an Arrancar, who names himself Wonderweiss Margela. Aizen then reminds Ulquiorra of an order given a month earlier and tells him to execute it alongside any companions he chooses, extending the offer to the newly one-armed Grimmjow.

In Karakura Town, Yumichika beats his sword against a rock in frustration at his vain, difficult spirit Fuji Kujaku, and his bickering with Rangiku over their stubborn Zanpakuto earns a threat from Hitsugaya to ship them both home. As Hitsugaya turns to his own Jinzen, Ikkaku notices the clouds racing overhead just as a Garganta begins tearing open in the sky. This chapter fed into episodes 127 and 138.