Gray Shadow, the Secret of the Dolls

Outside the warehouses, Rukia, Orihime, and Kurodo struggle against the Bount Yoshi, whose doll Nieder shifts between fan, sword, and shield. Kurodo shape-shifts into Renji to buy Rukia time for an incantation, but Yoshi outclasses them and wounds him. At the construction site, Go Koga stands over a fallen Ichigo and, seeing a dead youth's face in him, remembers a boy named Cain.

In the past, Jin Kariya entrusts the orphaned Cain to the solitary Koga, hoping the long-lived Bount can raise him. Reluctant at first, Koga takes the belligerent boy in, working him through farm labor and buying him a coat against the cold. Cain slowly warms to the older Bount, and after Koga's doll Dalk scares off a gang of thugs, Koga assures him that he too will one day gain a doll of his own.

Judging the moment right, Koga begins teaching Cain the doll-summoning ritual from Kariya's book but forbids him to attempt it alone. Impatient, Cain performs the Zauberspruch fur die Ladung by himself and calls forth Waineton. When he tries to command her, the doll demands he prove his power, swells into her true form, and engulfs him in green flame; Cain ages to ash in Koga's arms. Grieving together, Koga and Kariya resolve from then on to live as companions.

In the present, Koga lays out Kariya's aim to build a new world ruled by Bount, their dolls empowered by devoured human souls. Ichigo refuses to let Keigo's life fuel that plan and forces himself upright. Before Dalk can strike again, Izuru Kira drops down from the building's upper floor and introduces himself.

An anime-original Bount episode built almost entirely around Koga's tragic history with Cain, deepening his loyalty to Kariya. A separate skit shows Tosen releasing Suzumushi in a field, only to be startled when hundreds of real crickets answer him with their chirping.