Hitsugaya Strikes! Slice the Enemy in the Middle of the Forest

A report of hired villagers felling trees in Kusajishi convinces Hitsugaya that the Bount are at work, and he sets out to investigate, insisting Renji come along as the one who has faced the enemy most. In the same district, Ganju rallies Daiji Hirasago and the Bull's Gang to scatter the crowds the Bount are gathering, easing the burden on the Shinigami who cannot fight Rukongai residents at full strength. Meanwhile, in Ran'Tao's underground home, she tells Ichigo and Uryu that Yoshino was likely a copy of herself, born from the artificial souls the researchers modeled on their own during the experiment to create immortal life; those souls mutated, entered the cycle of rebirth, and became the Bount, which is why they wield Dolls much as Shinigami wield Zanpakutō and why Ririn's kind can sense them.

At the Research Institute, Mayuri pieces together that Ichinose used his light-bending Shikai and a Bount concealment technique to slip invisibly through the Senkaimon and stage the diversions. Worse, he realizes Ichinose dangled the Quincy Bangle data specifically to bait him into drawing the Bount here through Uryu's bow, and he trembles with rage at the manipulation.

Deep in the woods, Hitsugaya, Renji, and Rangiku split up after learning the villagers are massing further in, with Rangiku fretting over Renji's still-weakened blade. Ichigo, meanwhile, hears from Ran'Tao that the volatile Quincy Bangle could one day detonate and level everything for kilometers around. Kariya rouses the Kusajishi crowd for an assault on the Seireitei and lets Ichinose handle the approaching Shinigami. Rangiku knocks out the clearing's villagers, and Hitsugaya finds Ichinose waiting; their swords lock evenly, and Ichinose declares he serves Kariya because he sees no justice left in Soul Society. Ichigo and Uryu arrive as Ganju's gangs rout the villagers. At the outer wall, Yoshi and Mabashi confront Danzōmaru while Koga summons Dalk to crush Jidanbō; Baura then disgorges a siege engine and hundreds of villagers, and the assault on the gates begins.

This anime-original entry belongs to the Bount assault on Soul Society arc and adapts no manga source. It opens on Tonight, Tonight, Tonight and closes with Movin!!. Elsewhere in the episode, Kenpachi resolves to confront Ichinose now that Hitsugaya has located him, dismissing the swordsman as weak for serving the Bount. The comedic Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book segment shows Rangiku distributing gifts at the Women's Association, sparking Nanao's fury when hers turns out to be a skimpy bikini her captain Shunsui asked Rangiku to buy.