Elite! The Four Shinigami

Ichigo Kurosaki reaches the fifth tower to rescue Orihime Inoue and faces Ulquiorra Cifer. The Espada explains he will not harm Orihime, since Aizen never ordered her death, but intends to destroy Ichigo as a threat to Hueco Mundo, and the two begin their battle. Meanwhile, back in the fake Karakura Town, Baraggan Louisenbairn assumes command with Aizen locked inside Yamamoto's fire prison. Reasoning that four pillars swapped the real town for the counterfeit, Baraggan dispatches four large Hollows to topple them and drag the genuine town back.

Before the Hollows can strike, Ikkaku Madarame, Yumichika Ayasegawa, Izuru Kira, and Shūhei Hisagi cut them all down, revealing themselves as the pillar guardians. Yamamoto mocks Ōmaeda's panic, having never left such vital points undefended. Undeterred, Baraggan scoffs that if Yamamoto set four ants to guard the pillars, he will send four dragons, ordering Choe Neng Poww, Charlotte Chuhlhourne, Abirama Redder, and Findorr Calius to crush the guardians. Poww faces Ikkaku, Charlotte confronts Yumichika, Abirama meets Kira, and Findorr targets Hisagi as the four matchups begin.

The episode confirms that the seated officers were deliberately posted to defend the pillars, a plan Suì-Fēng insists she told Ōmaeda about, privately wondering if she actually forgot. Ichigo's clash with Ulquiorra escalates into their final fight, while the battlefield reorganizes into four separate duels against Baraggan's Fracción. The pairings set up the extended pillar-defense arc, with the Shinigami releasing their Shikai to meet the incoming Arrancar.

Episode 216 is part of the Fake Karakura Town arc and adapts chapters 318 and 319. It aired in Japan on April 21, 2009, and in English on August 7, 2011, opening with Shōjo S and ending on Kimi wo Mamotte, Kimi wo Aishite. A Substitute Shinigami Work Diary segment shows Renji browsing sunglasses magazines and buying garish star-shaped frames, then presenting Byakuya with pink heart-shaped glasses that the captain flatly refuses.