Kill The Shadow

Sixteen towering Quincy materialize inside pillars of Reishi, slipping past the Seireitei's protective membrane and cutting down hundreds of Shinigami in mere minutes. Among the first casualties are Third Division officers including Lieutenant Izuru Kira. Watching the count climb past a thousand dead, the research technician Akon concludes aloud that victory is impossible. Across the city the Sternritter fan out: Jugram Haschwalth bisects a panicked Hidetomo Kajōmaru, NaNaNa Najahkoop needles Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi over the deaths of his subordinates, and Bambietta Basterbine clashes with Sajin Komamura.

At the Sixth Division, Renji Abarai and Byakuya Kuchiki double up on Äs Nödt, whose Blut Vene turns aside their blades, though Byakuya still forces cuts through the enemy's hardened hand and drops Mask De Masculine through a collapsing floor. Elsewhere Tōshirō Hitsugaya trades blows with Cang Du's Iron-hardened skin, and Suì-Fēng fails to pierce BG9. Convinced the seal must be broken, Byakuya activates his Bankai, only for the Sternritter to siphon it, along with those of Komamura, Suì-Fēng, and Hitsugaya, straight into their Medallions. Realizing the releases were stolen rather than sealed, Hitsugaya has Rangiku Matsumoto broadcast a warning across the Seireitei with Tenteikūra. Robert Accutrone punishes Shunsui Kyōraku by blasting out his right eye.

Desperate, Akon defies protocol and reaches Kisuke Urahara, who is in Hueco Mundo with Ichigo Kurosaki as the latter overpowers Quilge Opie, whose Medallion cannot claim Tensa Zangetsu. Urahara finishes Quilge with a hidden strike and sends Ichigo toward Soul Society, explaining the three pillars of Quincy power: Vollständig, the Blut circulatory system, and the Bankai-stealing Medallions. Before he can reveal why Ichigo's release is immune, Quilge revives through Ransōtengai, downs Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado, and cages Ichigo inside the Garganta with The Jail, sealing him away until the Seireitei falls. This is the fourth Thousand-Year Blood War episode and the 370th of the series overall, adapting material from Chapters 494 through 499.