A New Appearance! Meet the Gotei 13!

With his true allegiance revealed, Kūgo stabs Ichigo and claims his Fullbring. An injured Uryū recalls how Kūgo and Tsukishima orchestrated everything, staging their own falling-out so Ichigo would trust Kūgo during his training. Tsukishima explains that cutting a person inserts himself into their past, and a second cut restores it, which is how the pair rewrote the memories of Ichigo's friends and family to corner him. Uryū admits he sensed the lingering reiatsu around everyone but never grasped the full scope of the scheme.

Kūgo drives his sword deeper, and Ichigo's Fullbring peels away and vanishes into the blade. Devastated, Ichigo sinks into an inner world flooded with water, chained by his own helplessness, until memories of how he first gained his powers, and of his mother, spark a new resolve that shatters the chains. He demands his Fullbring back, refusing to give up even when he has no idea how to reclaim it. Just then a reiatsu-charged sword pierces him from behind; turning, he sees Isshin and Urahara, then realizes the blade is actually held by an unseen Rukia, who materializes and smiles before her sword floods him with power.

Ichigo emerges dressed as a Shinigami with a new Zanpakutō, and Rukia, after a fond reunion and a kick to his face, explains that Urahara forged the sword to return his abilities. When Kūgo scoffs that looking like a Shinigami is not the same as being one, a Senkaimon opens overhead to reveal Ikkaku, Kenpachi, Hitsugaya, Byakuya, and Renji, who each poured their reiatsu into the blade. Rukia clarifies that Kūgo stole only the surface layer fused with the Fullbring, never the power at Ichigo's core. Ichigo then clashes with Kūgo in midair and, after a feint, unleashes a genuine Getsuga Tenshō so powerful it splits the clouds and shears off the top of the mansion.

Kūgo and Tsukishima's full plan is exposed, including how Tsukishima rewrote memories to trap Ichigo, and Kūgo drains Ichigo's Fullbring. Ichigo overcomes despair and demands his power back. Rukia stabs him with a sword forged by Urahara and charged by the Gotei 13, restoring his Shinigami abilities. Reborn, Ichigo battles Kūgo and finishes with a vastly stronger Getsuga Tenshō.

Part of the Lost Substitute Shinigami arc, this episode adapts Chapters 459 and 460 and stages the fight titled Death & Strawberry: Deathberry Returns. The Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book segment devolves into Ichigo and Ishida bickering until Rukia freezes them both with Hakuren. Harukaze opens the episode and MASK closes it.