The Nightmare Which is Shown, Ichigo's Inside the Mirror

Caught again inside Hanza's Bakkōtō, Ichigo is plunged into a vision of his childhood and his mother Masaki's death, and Hanza reveals that the weapon's true power is hypnosis meant to torment him with his worst memories before killing him. Within the illusion, Masaki returns only to turn on Ichigo and begin strangling him. As he starts to sense the trick, Hanza urges him to slay the person he loves most to escape. Instead, a surge of Reiatsu gathers as Ichigo embraces his mother, shattering the false world.

The two combatants trade insults and resume fighting. Hanza's Bakkōtō steadily devours his body, and when Ichigo asks why he would go this far, Hanza declares he will die for his pride and for the Kasumiōji Clan his family has served since ancient times, even killing Shinigami when ordered. Ichigo throws the contradiction back at him: his target is Rurichiyo Kasumiōji, the clan's own leader, whom Hanza dismisses as a powerless child unworthy of the title. Both push their power to its peak, but Hanza has poured too much of himself into the Bakkōtō, and it consumes him entirely.

Back in Soul Society, Izuru Kira trails Makoto Kibune to the Kasumiōji estate. Inside, Gyōkaku Kumoi ignores a lost Shū Kannogi and meets with Kuzuryū, the sole assassin to survive the Karakura battle. When Kumoi coldly casts him aside as no longer useful, an enraged Kuzuryū lunges to kill him, only for Kibune to cut the assassin down with a single strike.

Ichigo overcomes the hypnotic illusion of Hanza's Bakkōtō by refusing to harm his mother, then survives the rematch as Hanza is devoured by his own weapon. Hanza's loyalty to the Kasumiōji Clan and the plot to eliminate its rightful heir Rurichiyo are laid bare. In Soul Society, Kibune's true colors edge into view as he silences the discarded assassin Kuzuryū, protecting Kumoi's conspiracy. The battle is fought using Ichigo's Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, and his Getsuga Tenshō.

An anime-original episode of the Kasumiōji Conspiracy, shown on screen as the New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc, it adapts no manga chapters. It aired in Japan on July 2, 2008, and in English on November 7, 2010, using the opening Chu-Bura and the ending Orange. The Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book segment features Tetsuzaemon Iba reacting to a joint meeting with the Women's Association, only to learn Nanao Ise summoned him to demonstrate how to repel pushy salesmen.