Bount! The Ones Who Hunt Souls

Gathered around a table at the Urahara Shop, Ichigo, Orihime, Sado, Uryu, and the Mod-Souls listen as Urahara names the culprit behind the strange Reishi residue: the Bount. He recalls studying similar traces during his years leading the Shinigami Research and Development Institute and describes the Bount as a small, gifted human tribe. Where Quincy destroy Hollows and die as mortals, Bount devour human souls to live forever, a habit that seeded vampire folklore. Yoruichi Shihoin adds that they usually feed on the already dead mid-Konso, though one was caught trying to drain a living person. Anyone whose soul is absorbed simply dies.

Urahara assigns Ichigo, Orihime, and Sado as backup for the Mod-Souls Ririn, Kurodo, and Noba, whose built-in Reishi sensors can track the enemy, and tells the trio to hide inside stuffed animals rather than their Gigai. Much comic fuss follows over which plushies the picky Ririn will accept and Kurodo being sent to Orihime's apartment. Elsewhere, Toshiro Hitsugaya and Jushiro Ukitake search the Seireitei Library only to find the relevant records missing, while Nanao Ise rouses her napping captain Shunsui Kyoraku.

In Karakura Town, Yoshino Soma lures a woman with a song, bites her throat, and drops a bead of Reishi. Ichigo confronts her in Shinigami form and refuses to let her feed on the living, so Yoshino summons her Doll, Goethe, a towering golem of fire. No matter how many times Ichigo cleaves Goethe apart, the flames knit him back together; even a thrust through what Ichigo guesses is its heart fails to stop it. Goethe reforms, pins Ichigo against a wall, and charges a massive fire blast, but a Sokatsui from above scatters it as Rukia Kuchiki drops in to save him. Meanwhile, Orihime, Sado, and the Mod-Souls trail a second Bount, Ryo Utagawa, to a warehouse, where they find only the dust of his latest victim as he politely bids them farewell.

Urahara identifies the Bount and recruits Ichigo, Orihime, and Sado to support the Mod-Souls, who go undercover inside plushies. Ichigo fights his first Bount, Yoshino Soma, and learns her flaming Doll Goethe regenerates from any wound, leaving him trapped until Rukia intervenes. A second Bount, Ryo Utagawa, is revealed after killing another victim, confirming more than one hunter is active in Karakura Town.

This is an anime-only entry that launches the Bount arc, with no manga source, set to the opening Ichirin No Hana and the ending My Pace. Its Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book gag has Ukitake heaping snacks on Hitsugaya, explaining that he does so only because both their names end in shiro. The English dub trims Rukia's single line of dialogue.