Shigekuni Genryusai Yamamoto learns that the Yhwach he defeated was an impostor. The real Yhwach then reveals himself and easily kills Genryusai, sending a wave of shock and devastation across the Soul Reapers, especially Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake. Mocking how weak Genryusai and the Thirteen Court Guard Squads have become over the last thousand years, Yhwach orders the Stern Ritter to see through their mission to annihilate the Soul Society, sending the Soul Reapers into further despair. Just when all hope seems lost, a being with tremendous Spiritual Pressure signals his arrival by bursting through the skies above the Seireitei.