Reclaim! The Power of the Shinigami

On the final day of the school term, Ichigo sits numb to it all, unable to shake how thoroughly Rukia has been erased from everyone's memory. Only Orihime, who has quietly gained the ability to perceive spirits since the incident with her brother, still senses that something is missing. When she asks whether taking Rukia back from her home in Soul Society is right, Ichigo answers that Rukia could be executed at any moment and belongs here, and Orihime comes around, watched from afar by Yoruichi.

In the Seireitei, a newly promoted Renji checks on Rukia in the Sixth Division cells, where she teases his rank yet privately reflects that Byakuya has never once looked at her since the Kuchiki Clan took her in. Beneath the Urahara Shop, Ichigo descends into a vast training cavern, and Urahara pushes his Soul from his body to begin lesson one: surviving Ururu's assault. Because Reiryoku surges fastest in mortal danger, dodging her first blow restores Ichigo's spiritual energy, and the lesson is judged complete once he can breathe freely again.

Urahara moves straight into lesson two, having Tessai sever Ichigo's Chain of Fate. He warns that the chain will begin its Encroachment and turn Ichigo into a Hollow once it reaches his chest, and that his only escape is to become a Soul Reaper first. Ichigo is bound with Kin and dropped into the Shattered Shaft, given seventy-two hours to climb out as a Soul Reaper before he is killed. Elsewhere, Yoruichi recruits Orihime and Sado to train, and the two seek out Uryū, who is startled to learn their teacher is a talking cat and declines, pursuing his own secret regimen in the wilderness.

Ichigo resolves to rescue Rukia from Soul Society and begins training with Urahara. Lesson one restores his Reiryoku by forcing him to survive Ururu, and lesson two severs his Chain of Fate, starting the Encroachment that will turn him into a Hollow unless he regains Soul Reaper powers within seventy-two hours. Yoruichi begins preparing Orihime and Sado, while Uryū trains alone.

The episode adapts material from the Agent of the Shinigami storyline. It trims and rearranges numerous manga beats, among them Urahara boasting about building the training chamber overnight and Ichigo dodging Ururu's punches with altered timing, and it recolors Ururu's blows so no head wound is shown. A closing preview jokes about how long Ichigo will take to escape the Shattered Shaft. It first aired in Japan on February 8, 2005, with the opening *~Asterisk~ and the ending Thank You!