Confrontation?! Amagai vs. Gotei 13

The 3rd Division gathers at a seldom-used training ground on Makoto Kibune's request, waiting on their captain. In flashback, Amagai addresses the captains' meeting, arguing that poor coordination between squads is a weakness and proposing joint drills. Ukitake backs the idea, but the assembly rejects it. Drinking afterward with Kyōraku and Ukitake, a discouraged Amagai is told such reforms take time; Kyōraku warns that charging in headfirst will isolate him among the captains.

Word of the failed proposal spreads, and the 3rd Division sinks into gloom on learning their chore duties will continue. Kira presses Kibune about having seen him enter the Kasumiōji compound, but Kibune deflects it as mistaken identity. A Jigokuchō then reports Menos detected inside the Seireitei, and Kibune leads the squad into the field over Kira's caution, the others reading Kira's hesitation as distrust.

Across the Seireitei the divisions scramble and clash over who reaches the Hollows first, with Mayuri barricading the 10th Division out to claim a specimen. Reports keep shifting the Menos location, and no sighting is ever confirmed. Kyōraku, Hitsugaya, and Ukitake conclude the whole incident reeks of a ruse designed to expose how easily the Gotei 13 fractures, at which point Yamamoto reveals he engineered it himself.

As tempers flare and Izuru and Kibune nearly draw on each other, Amagai arrives, reaffirms that Kira commands in his absence, and steadies his troops. The pursuing squads jam into a dead end against Menos that turn out to be mere lookalikes conjured to test a real crisis. Amagai calms his subordinates, drives his tuning-fork weapon into the ground to raise a green beacon, and has each 3rd Division member direct one squad. The coordinated effort destroys the decoys, and Yamamoto approves compulsory joint training for all divisions.

An anime-only episode from the New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc with no manga basis. It advances the Kibune subplot: afterward Kira watches him reading concealed information and releasing a Jigokuchō, keeping the traitor suspicion alive. The 3rd Division celebrates feeling free of Gin Ichimaru's shadow, only to find Amagai asleep in his chair. The Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book skit shows Misato Ochi announcing supplementary lessons, with Ichigo landing at the very bottom of the list for his constant absences.