It's All A Trap...Engineered Bonds!

Struck by Yamamoto's Itto Kaso and then hammered by a Hollowfied Ichigo, Aizen crashes through a building with a wounded shoulder. Ichigo believes he has finally landed a decisive blow, but Aizen's injury seals itself before his eyes. Dismissing the idea that this is mere Hollowfication or high-speed regeneration, Aizen tears open his shirt to display the Hogyoku embedded in his chest, calling its protection the instinct of a servant guarding its master.

Aizen then declares that Ichigo's spiritual growth has unfolded precisely as he intended. He recounts how each confrontation served his design: meeting Rukia and battling Uryu awakened Ichigo's Shinigami powers, Renji taught him the worth of his blade, Kenpachi laid the groundwork for Bankai, Byakuya nudged him toward the Hollow, Grimmjow granted mastery over that Hollow side, and Ulquiorra drew out something greater still. Every clash, he states calmly, happened by his will.

A flashback shows Aizen watching monitors of Ichigo from his earliest days as a Substitute, including the moment Hollowfication nearly consumed him during the fight with Byakuya. When Gin wonders whether the transformation has already taken hold, Ichigo reins himself back in, and Aizen assures a disappointed Gin that everything is proceeding to plan and that it all truly begins now.

Aizen reveals the Hogyoku implanted in his body and its self-healing protection. He lays out how he manipulated the course of Ichigo's every major fight to cultivate his power. A flashback confirms Aizen has monitored Ichigo since he first gained Shinigami abilities, and he tells Gin the real plan is only just beginning.

Adapting chapter 396, the episode belongs to the second half of the Fake Karakura Town arc. It is largely exposition, recapping Ichigo's journey through a montage of earlier duels to underline Aizen's role in engineering them. Melody of the Wild Dance opens the episode and Last Moment closes it. A light picture-book segment features Uryu teasing that Ichigo would be brawling with bullies either way, since he is a delinquent at heart.