Kill The Shadow

At the Blue Stream Gate, Haschwalth invites Kajomaru and his men to flee, then vertically bisects the Shinigami when he charges. At the Sixth Division, Byakuya declares the Sternritter answerable for Sasakibe's death and drives Senbonzakura into As Nodt, cutting his supposedly impervious Blut Vene-protected hand and dropping Mask through the floor.

Byakuya tells Renji to finish As with Bankai should his own be sealed, reasoning the Sternritter cannot be beaten otherwise. Across the Seireitei, Komamura, Hitsugaya, and Sui-Feng each plan to observe how their Bankai are sealed so a countermeasure can be found.

When Byakuya, Komamura, Sui-Feng, and Hitsugaya unleash their Bankai, the Medallions of As Nodt, Bambietta, BG9, and Cang Du draw those Bankai in and absorb them. Byakuya realizes the power is not being sealed at all, but stolen.

Haschwalth kills Kajomaru. Byakuya shows that Sternritter skin can be cut and outmaneuvers As Nodt and Mask. The captains deliberately activate their Bankai to study the sealing mechanism, and discover the Sternritter's Medallions steal Bankai rather than merely sealing them.

The chapter appears in volume 56, MARCH OF THE STARCROSS, during the Thousand-Year Blood War, and was adapted into Episode 370, Kill The Shadow. Byakuya's gambit uncovers the true function of the Medallion, a pivotal revelation for the arc's central conflict over Bankai.