Invasion of the Shinigami World, Again

A gate tears open above Soul Society and the Bount stream out as ribbons of light. Inside the First Division, Yamamoto opens a captains' meeting, confirms the intruders, and orders every division onto a second-tier alert. He assigns Hitsugaya the task of running down the Bount, stresses careful handling of intelligence given the recent leaks out of the Research Institute, and directs the captains to cut down any Ryoka on sight. One of the energy trails slams into the Rukongai, scattering villagers and depositing Jin Kariya and Go Koga. When Marechiyo Omaeda and Tetsuzaemon Iba move to confront the pair, Koga calls up his Doll, Dalk, and drains Reishi from the surrounding roofs and towers to power himself. Dalk shreds Omaeda's subordinates with clouds of metal spheres, knocks Omaeda out cold, and pins Iba, whom Kariya then hurls through a wall with a gust of wind. Satisfied by the abundant Reishi, the two Bount stroll away, leaving Hitsugaya to arrive and find his people broken across the ground. Rangiku reappears and apologizes for failing to stop the Bount in the living world, reporting that she can only track the two lieutenants' Reiatsu, not the invaders themselves.

Out on a grassy stretch, Ichigo and Rukia note their return to Soul Society and puzzle over the earlier clash, having felt a Shinigami's Reiatsu but nothing from the Bount. Yoruichi, Ririn, and the others rejoin them with word that Kukaku Shiba has moved her house yet again, this time to the middle of a lake. When the group arrives, they find Kukaku pinning Ganju down for neglecting the mission she gave him in favor of a convenience-store job. Yoruichi lays out the situation: the Bount were engineered by the Research Institute, scrubbed from the records after some ugly affair, and have come seeking revenge; she asks to shelter at the house while they investigate. Delighted by the Mod-Souls, Kukaku agrees, and Yoruichi tasks Ichigo's friends with gathering information on Ran'Tao, the project's lead researcher who was cast out of the Seireitei over a thousand years ago and is said to survive somewhere deep in the Rukongai.

Alone with Yoruichi afterward, Kukaku senses she is holding back. Yoruichi confesses that Maki Ichinose is aiding the Bount, that he can turn invisible and fully mask his Reiatsu, and that he already slipped into the Seireitei to seal the archives and steer Mayuri toward handing Uryu the Quincy Bangle. Unable to move freely where Ichinose might track her, Yoruichi says she will work her own way, and Kukaku pledges her help simply because she loves trouble. The next morning the group scatters to comb Soul Society, agreeing to flare weak Reiatsu as a signal if anyone locates a Bount. Rukia peels off to rejoin her division, only to be swallowed by a sudden dust cloud in a Rukongai slum. When it clears, Yoshi stands facing her, grins at the reunion, and calls out her Doll, Nieder.

The Bount breach Soul Society through a Senkaimon, prompting a full alert and Hitsugaya's assignment to capture them. Kariya and Koga rout Omaeda, Iba, and their squads in the Rukongai, with Koga drawing power from ambient Reishi through Dalk. Ichigo's group takes refuge at Kukaku's relocated home and learns that Maki Ichinose has been secretly enabling the Bount from inside the Seireitei. Yoruichi sets them searching for the exiled researcher Ran'Tao, and the episode ends as Yoshi corners Rukia for a rematch.

This anime-original installment belongs to the Bount Assault on Soul Society arc and has no chapter source. Kon spends the episode lost in the Rukongai, mistaken for the monster that wrecked a house and chased by frightened villagers. The Illustrated Picture Book segment shows Renji sweeping out the Urahara Shop; he checks on the boy Hanataro treated, then admits his real reason for returning was that he had been told to tidy up before leaving.