Flash Goddess Yoruichi, Dances!

Recovering in his cell, Renji is visited by Zabimaru, who urges him to heal quickly, only for Renji to reveal that Ichigo is no longer the foe he means to face. On the bridge to Senzaikyū, Byakuya moves to finish Ichigo by releasing Senbonzakura, but Yoruichi appears and binds the blade before it can transform. She thrusts her hand into Ichigo's wound to knock him out with a powerful anesthetic, then challenges Byakuya to a game of tag. Slipping past his sword strikes and countering with Utsusemi when he seems to cut her down, she escapes across the Seireitei carrying Ichigo, promising to make him stronger than Byakuya within three days.

With the ryoka gone, a suddenly indifferent Byakuya walks off, and Ukitake sends Sentarō and Kiyone to carry the collapsed Rukia back to her cell and summon relief for Ganju. Elsewhere, Orihime and Uryū pass themselves off as Shinigami using stolen uniforms, with Uryū stepping in when a lecherous officer, Toshimori, harasses Orihime. A flashback shows how Orihime knocked out two Shinigami single-handedly, thanks to karate Tatsuki once taught her, and gathered intelligence on Senzaikyū, all while Mayuri secretly watches the pair depart.

Deep inside Sōkyoku Hill, Yoruichi lays the healing Ichigo down and later confronts his anger at being pulled from the fight. She explains that no one on that bridge could have beaten Byakuya, but that Ichigo alone holds the potential, which is why she saved him. She then reveals that Zangetsu is already in its released Shikai state and possesses a second, far greater release called Bankai, a captain-level power roughly five to ten times stronger than Shikai that normally demands a decade to master. Ichigo is stunned to learn she intends to have him reach it through a dangerous method in just three days.

Yoruichi intervenes to stop Byakuya, incapacitates Ichigo, and flees with him after outmaneuvering the captain. Orihime and Uryū disguise themselves as Shinigami and learn the location of Senzaikyū. Yoruichi brings Ichigo to a hidden training area, reveals the existence of Bankai, and pledges to teach it to him in three days.

The episode adapts chapters 117 through 120 and belongs to the Soul Society rescue arc. It aired in Japan on July 26, 2005, and in English on July 21, 2007. The anime reworks several manga beats, softening the depicted blood loss during Yoruichi's maneuvers and reordering the training-area conversation into chronological sequence.