Conclusion?! Hisagi vs. Kazeshini

Rushing through the woods after Tōjū raiding Rukongai, the lieutenants Ikkaku, Iba, Izuru, and Hisagi are ambushed by twin kusarigama. Kazeshini, Hisagi's own materialized blade, chuckles from the branches, and Hisagi peels off to face him alone since he is the intended target. Izuru recounts that Kazeshini has kept acting independently even after the Muramasa affair, a spirit who reaps lives and never stops chasing a chosen prey. Refusing to duel the way Kazeshini prefers, Hisagi pins one weapon with Bakudō 62, Hyapporankan, and demands the spirit attack him head-on before leaping away.

Wandering off, Kazeshini is scolded by Haineko, Hōzukimaru, and Wabisuke for the chaos his obsession causes the other spirits, but he waves them off. He then stumbles onto a wounded man defending a baby from a red-eyed Tōjū. After cutting the Tōjū down, Kazeshini finds the infant clinging to him, and the dying father begs him to look after the child. Despite insisting he is no nanny, he cannot shake the giggling baby loose.

What follows is a string of failed attempts to abandon the child, each undone by its crying. The other spirits mock him mercilessly. Slowly Kazeshini grows protective, hiding the baby in an abandoned shack and even taking a Tōjū's blade across his back to shield it before entrusting it to a kind woman to carry to safety.

Changed by the ordeal, Kazeshini finally seeks Hisagi out and offers the head-on fight the lieutenant always wanted. As they trade kusarigama strikes, Hisagi presses him on what became of the baby, which Kazeshini pretends not to understand. Hisagi eventually cuts him down the chest. Beaten and reverting toward his sealed state, Kazeshini asks what they will fight for once he is an ordinary Zanpakutō; Hisagi answers that they will fight to protect something, and the spirit admits the idea is not so bad. Hisagi pulls the blade from the ground and declares it over.

This is an anime-only entry in the Beast Swords arc with no manga source, concluding the Hisagi versus Kazeshini storyline. The closing Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book segment plays the spirit's new personality for laughs, showing a tearful Kazeshini handing out apology gifts to Izuru and then Ichigo for his past deeds under Muramasa's control, leaving Izuru to note his drastic change. Only Kazeshini's Shikai release is showcased, alongside Hisagi's Hyapporankan.