DON'T CHASE A SHADOW

Inside the castle, Mayuri Kurotsuchi celebrates as his altered Bankai swallows Pernida Parnkgjas whole, only for the swollen construct to burst apart from the inside. The sudden spike in his energy reaches the captains and lieutenants racing toward the fortress, though Kisuke Urahara waves off any worry. Shunsui Kyōraku voices the graver concern: the surrounding pressure has grown so thin that faraway tremors now register plainly, meaning their unseen enemy has been thinning their numbers from a distance. Perched on a distant rooftop, Lille Barro admits the group has every reason to be afraid.

When Shunsui pinpoints a green glimmer marking Lille's perch and announces the discovery, a shot tears through his chest. Yet the fallen figure proves to be a decoy of hardened Reiatsu, and the true Shunsui materializes behind Lille with Katen Kyōkotsu drawn, severing much of the rifle's barrel. He explains that his released blade turns children's games into weapons, and that the maneuver called Daruma-san ga Koronda lets him trace an attacker's energy trail and close the gap while leaving a still image in his place. Nanao Ise, who trailed him the whole way, is ordered back to relay that the rest should press on.

Lille reveals that the Wandenreich holds recorded data on every clash the Gotei 13 has fought, then demonstrates by shooting a hole through Shunsui's foot despite an evasion. His Schrift, The X-Axis, pierces all things, and once he opens his sealed eye a third time he keeps it open for good, rendering blade strikes harmless. Activating his Vollständig, Jilliel, he sprouts eight winged barrels and riddles the paralyzed captain with holes. Shunsui's Kidō, Zangerin, fails to wound him. As a fatigued Shunsui retreats to the outskirts, he finally commits to his Bankai, Katen Kyōkotsu: Karamatsu Shinjū, blanketing the city in a golden gloom.

Framed as a grim stage play narrated alongside his blade's spirit, the Bankai transfers Shunsui's own injuries onto Lille, saddles him with a wasting sickness, drowns him in an endless sea, and finally loops a glistening thread around his throat before slicing his head away. The headless Sternritter tumbles into the abyss as a bloodied Shunsui slumps back, caught by the one-eyed spirit Katen, who muses on the fate they share.

Mayuri's modified Bankai consumes Pernida and its clones before rupturing. Shunsui isolates Lille Barro to shield his fleeing subordinates and sends Nanao Ise back to the others. Lille discloses that the Wandenreich possesses combat records on the entire Gotei 13 while the Shinigami hold none on his side. His The X-Axis makes him untouchable once his eye opens a third time, prompting the activation of his Quincy: Vollständig, Jilliel. In a separate clash, Askin Nakk Le Vaar confronts Ichigo Kurosaki and readies his Gift Balls after realizing Ichigo resists Reishi poisoning. Cornered, Shunsui releases Katen Kyōkotsu: Karamatsu Shinjū and, through its four staged acts, beheads Lille and secures the win at great cost to himself.

The episode adapts portions of Chapters 644 through 649 and belongs to the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. The design of the spirit Katen is reused from two filler arcs that lie outside canon, Zanpakutō Rebellion and Tōjū Campaign, exactly as the manga did. Several manga moments were reshuffled: Shunsui's fight here opens after Mayuri's modified Bankai fails rather than immediately following the Pernida battle, and the naming of his Bankai is delayed until after those nearby react. Added scenes include the group's response to Mayuri's energy swing, Nanao passing along Shunsui's plan, Yoruichi tending to a downed Grimmjow, and the Askin clash with Ichigo. Trimmed material covers Shunsui recalling that he never used Daruma-san ga Koronda against Coyote Starrk and an explanation that Reikaku is the sensing of Reiatsu.