The Fire

As his fire burns Driscoll Berci down to a crumbling skeleton, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto reflects that Chōjirō Sasakibe has at last received a fitting farewell and bids him goodbye. Turning to a shaken Shūhei Hisagi, he swears to destroy every last member of the Wandenreich himself and launches skyward in a searing streak of flame. Streaking over the city like a comet, his rage jolts the scattered captains; Suì-Fēng recognizes his fury at once, Momo Hinamori has never felt him so angry, and Shinji Hirako admits he has never seen the old man take the front line.

The commander's spirit stirs the beaten Shinigami back to their feet. Hitsugaya braces Rangiku against defeat as Cang Du readies his claws; Sajin Komamura shames his troops out of the dirt, drawing a roar of resolve from Iba and the rest that leaves Bambietta baffled at their recovery; and Shunsui Kyōraku rises, hearing in Yamamoto's pressure a rebuke that he was not raised to falter against a foe like Robert Accutrone, before drawing Katen Kyōkotsu and rushing his startled opponent. Far ahead, the leader in Yhwach's guise dangles an unconscious Kenpachi by the throat, dismisses him as a disappointment, and tells him to sleep. Then Yamamoto crashes to earth behind him, remarks that a thousand years have passed since their last meeting, and declares that he has come to wipe him out, to which the leader only grins.

The sixth chapter of the fifty-seventh volume, Out of Bloom, this installment was adapted within episode 371. It rallies the crumbling defense around the commander's return and stages the long-awaited confrontation with the Wandenreich's leader, who at this point is still the disguised Royd Lloyd rather than the true Yhwach.