Aizen Stands! Horrible Ambitions

On Sōkyoku Hill, Renji Abarai clutches Rukia and refuses Aizen's cold demand to hand her over and flee. Back in the Central 46 chambers, Isane Kotetsu locates the traitors through Kidō and relays Unohana's warning to every captain, lieutenant, and Ryoka across the Seireitei. The revelation stuns the Gotei 13, from Ukitake and Shunsui to the wounded lieutenants scattered around the city, while Mayuri Kurotsuchi coldly declines to involve himself.

Aizen wounds Renji as he shields Rukia, praising the young man's growth even as he dismisses him as an ant. He confesses he groomed Hinamori to be dependent on him and calls the captain Renji once admired an illusion that never existed. When Renji releases Zabimaru, Aizen halts and shatters the whip-blade with his bare hand. Ichigo intercepts the finishing blow with his Bankai, and after a brief squabble, a half-suffocated Rukia punches Renji for smothering her before the two fighters resolve to stand together.

Renji's desperate Higa Zekkō opens a gap, but Aizen stops Ichigo's strike with one finger and cuts through his midsection, then downs Renji again. He explains that he manipulated the entire invasion, luring the Ryoka in through Urahara's West Rukongai base to distract the Seireitei while he acted. Turning to his true goal, Aizen lectures on the limits of Shinigami power and the concept of Hollowfication, then reveals the Hōgyoku, the substance Urahara created and hid inside Rukia's very Soul. As he recounts why Urahara was banished, Sajin Komamura suddenly lands behind him and attacks with Tenken.

The Gotei 13 learns Aizen is alive and behind the conspiracy. Aizen effortlessly overpowers Renji and destroys Zabimaru with his hand. Ichigo joins the fight only to be struck down by a single finger and a deep slash. Aizen exposes his engineering of the entire Ryoka invasion and reveals the Hōgyoku is hidden within Rukia. Komamura launches a surprise assault as the explanation ends.

This episode draws on Chapters 172 through 175 during the Soul Society: The Rescue arc. Its opening theme is Ichirin No Hana and its ending is Life. It aired in Japan on December 13, 2005, and in English on April 27, 2008. Several manga details were censored or altered, including grayscaling Renji's blood and obscuring Mayuri's scarred body with steam. Notably, this is the only point in the anime where the track "Number One" is cut off abruptly rather than allowed to finish, as Aizen halts Ichigo's charge.