Balancer's Justice

Apacci frees Ayon to rampage, explaining that he came into being when the trio's left arms, lost in earlier battles, fused into a single body, granting him overwhelming and uncontrollable power. She warns Ichigo's group to flee. Ayon lands a bloody blow on Quilge despite the Sternritter's confidence in his Vollstandig.

In the Seireitei, Yuki and Shino are hurried to their post, and Yuki asks why Shinigami and Quincy are enemies when both hunt Hollows. Kajomaru explains the crucial difference: Shinigami cleanse Hollow Souls and return them to Soul Society, whereas Quincy annihilate those Souls entirely. Because Souls must stay balanced between the living world and Soul Society, the Quincy method threatens to collapse both realms.

Kajomaru recounts how repeated attempts at dialogue failed, leading Soul Society to carry out the Quincy extermination two centuries ago, and a grudge that will never heal. Asked whether the Shinigami fight for justice, he replies that the war exists precisely because each side believes itself righteous.

In Hueco Mundo once more, Ayon pounds Quilge into the sand until only his legs and torn wings remain visible. When Apacci approaches, Quilge impales her, rises with his neck pushed back into place, and vows they will all die.

Ayon, the fusion of the Tres Bestias' arms, brutalizes Quilge. Kajomaru delivers the history behind the Shinigami-Quincy conflict, including the extermination two hundred years earlier and the Balancer role of the Shinigami. Quilge survives the beating, stabs Apacci, and resolves to kill everyone present.

The chapter appears in volume 56, MARCH OF THE STARCROSS, during the Thousand-Year Blood War, and was adapted into Episode 369, titled March of the StarCross. It provides the clearest in-story explanation of why the two factions are irreconcilable, framing the war as a clash between two competing forms of justice.