Aizen Assassinated! The Darkness which Approaches

The Fifth Division's captain is found dead, impaled on his own blade against the East Holy Wall. Momo Hinamori collapses in anguish, then turns her rage on Gin Ichimaru when he strolls onto the scene, recalling Hitsugaya's warning about the Third Division. Izuru Kira blocks her strike out of loyalty to his own captain, and their clash escalates until Tōshirō Hitsugaya intervenes and orders both arrested. Facing Gin alone, Hitsugaya vows to kill him should Hinamori come to harm.

In the canals beneath the city, Ganju Shiba wakes to find Hanatarō Yamada asleep on his leg. Ichigo explains the exhausted medic had been treating Ganju's wounds through the night, and Ganju renews his commitment to rescuing Rukia. A flashback recounts how Ichigo first met Yasutora Sado after a street brawl, bonding over their shared status as outsiders. In the present, Sado wakes hidden in a warehouse and effortlessly routs the Shinigami who corner him, interrogating one for the tower's location before sparing his life.

Ichigo, Ganju, and Hanatarō surface at the same canal exit as before and find it strangely unguarded. Ichigo doubts a dubious stamina pill Hanatarō swallowed did anything, though the medic insists it worked. Elsewhere, Sado tears through the Eighth Division as Nanao Ise alerts Shunsui Kyōraku, who decides to meet the intruder personally and teases his flustered lieutenant before departing. Climbing the steps to the tower, Ichigo's trio reaches the top only to be pinned by a monstrous surge of spiritual pressure, as Kenpachi Zaraki watches from a rooftop with a grin.

Aizen is discovered apparently murdered, thrown into chaos across the Gotei 13. Hinamori and Izuru duel over Gin before Hitsugaya arrests them both. A flashback establishes how Ichigo and Sado became friends. Sado breaks through the Eighth Division and draws Shunsui out to confront him. Ichigo, Ganju, and Hanatarō reach the tower steps and are met by Kenpachi's overwhelming Reiatsu.

Adapted from Chapters 101 and 102, this episode belongs to the Soul Society: The Sneak Entry arc. The opening theme is D-tecnoLife and the ending is Hōkiboshi. It aired in Japan on June 7, 2005, and in English on May 27, 2007. The adaptation adds several beats absent from the manga, including Hanatarō waking from an embarrassing dream and expanded reactions during Hinamori's outburst, while toning down the blood from Ichigo's flashback injuries.