Eliminate From Heaven

With Minazuki fading, Retsu Unohana commends Kenpachi Zaraki, drops her blade, and declares the battle finished, prompting an alarmed Kenpachi to cast his own sword aside and beg her not to die. She calls him childish for grieving, reminding him he now has both rivals and comrades to cross swords with, as well as a partner who has just awakened, before passing away in bliss at having fulfilled her purpose and handed him the title of Kenpachi. Moments later a voice reaches him, the spirit of his Zanpakutō, who says she has watched him longer than anyone and finally speaks her name.

In the Soul King Palace, Ōetsu Nimaiya returns to the pit impressed that Ichigo Kurosaki and Renji Abarai endured for nearly three days. He announces that a battered Renji has passed but tells Ichigo he has failed, explaining that the limit was emotional rather than timed and that no Asauchi ever chose Ichigo. The trial, he says, proved Renji to be a Shinigami and Ichigo not.

Nimaiya refuses to repair Ichigo's Zanpakutō whether he stays or goes and orders him never to return to Soul Society, the domain of the Shinigami, since a Human without a true blade has no right to it. When Ichigo lunges in fury, Nimaiya binds him with Kidō rings and activates the Chōkaimon, casting him out while solemnly reasoning that Ichigo must first uncover and understand his own roots, even at the cost of never coming back.

Unohana dies content, passing the title of Kenpachi and its awakening to Zaraki. Kenpachi hears his Zanpakutō spirit speak her name for the first time. Nimaiya declares Renji a true Shinigami but rules that Ichigo was never chosen by an Asauchi. Refusing to fix Ichigo's sword, Nimaiya banishes him from Soul Society through the Chōkaimon.

The chapter concludes the Unohana and Kenpachi duel and marks Zaraki's first contact with his Zanpakutō spirit, later named Nozarashi, while sending Ichigo home to confront his heritage. These events belong to the Thousand-Year Blood War arc and were adapted in Episode 376, "The Battle."