The Man who Hates Shinigami

At the White Way Gate, the giant Jidanbō Ikkanzaka holds up the barrier as Captain Gin Ichimaru slashes his arm for the crime of opening it. Ichigo Kurosaki leaps to defend the wounded gatekeeper, and though Yoruichi Shihōin warns that no one here is ready to face a captain, Ichigo trades a blow with Gin. Gin recognizes him, decides that is reason enough to bar his path, and extends his blade Shinsō to hurl both Ichigo and Jidanbō out of the Seireitei before the gate crashes shut.

The Rukongai villagers emerge and, rather than treating the Ryoka as enemies, hail them as Jidanbō's saviors. Orihime heals his severed arm with Sōten Kisshun while Sado is found by Yūichi Shibata, the boy he once knew as a parakeet. Walking the district together, Sado learns from Yūichi's adoptive brother Hironari Horiuchi how the dead form new families in Soul Society, and comforts the grieving Yūichi with a promise that he will find his mother if he never stops searching, sealing it with a pinky vow.

That night, Yoruichi tells the group that storming the gate again is hopeless and asks the Elder about Kūkaku Shiba. Their meeting is interrupted when the boar Bonnie launches Ganju Shiba through the door. On seeing Ichigo, Ganju announces himself the self-proclaimed boss and top Shinigami-hater of West Rukongai and picks a fight. The two brawl across the street, trading punches and tricks, with Ganju burying Zangetsu in the ground using Seppa, until a nine-o'clock alarm sends Ganju scrambling to whistle for Bonnie and flee.

Gin Ichimaru wounds Jidanbō and ejects Ichigo from the Seireitei, closing off the White Way Gate. Orihime heals Jidanbō's arm, and Sado reunites with Yūichi Shibata. Yoruichi decides the group must find another route in and asks after Kūkaku Shiba. Ganju Shiba is introduced and brawls with Ichigo before fleeing at nightfall.

The episode adapts chapters 74 through 78 in the Soul Society infiltration arc, with the opening *~Asterisk~ and ending Thank You!. The anime tones down Gin's attack, showing a forearm cut rather than a fully severed limb, and reduces blood from the Ichigo-Ganju fight. Numerous small scenes are trimmed, expanded, or reordered from the manga, including added detail on Sado's afternoon with Yūichi.