New Development, the Dangerous Transfer Student Appears!

A Senkaimon opens in Karakura, depositing two Soul Reapers and a girl whose face is hidden beneath a hat. Their special Gigai have not arrived, so the guard Kenryu urges the hungry, impatient Rurichiyo Kasumioji to stay put, warning that her hat masks a spirit signature that must not be detected. She wanders off anyway in search of food.

Meanwhile Ichigo and Rukia are pulled from class by an unusually large Hollow outbreak, more than fifty at once, and split up to handle them. Rurichiyo stumbles onto Ichigo mid-battle and imperiously demands he fetch her something to eat, losing her hat in the process. Her guards snatch her to safety and leave Ichigo buried under the pursuing Hollows, forcing him to unleash his Bankai to clear them before Uryu, Sado, and Orihime arrive to finish the rest.

Uryu deduces that the strangers used special bait to draw the Hollows out, deepening the mystery of who they are and what they want. Rukia digs through the Senkaimon records back at the house for clues to their arrival.

That evening the trio turn up as Ichigo's new next-door neighbors, now settled into Gigai, and Kenryu raises a barrier to keep Ichigo out. When Rukia visits the Urahara Shop for answers, she finds Kisuke absent and Tessai and the others unwilling to say a word. The following day, Rurichiyo, Kenryu, and Enryu stun Ichigo and Rukia by enrolling as transfer students at Karakura High School.

This anime-original episode launches the New Captain Shusuke Amagai arc and introduces Rurichiyo along with her guards Kenryu and Enryu. A Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book segment debuts the Shinigami Men's Association, promptly evicted from their room by Nanao on behalf of the Women's Association.