The Past Chapter Begins! The Truth from 110 Years Ago

Time swings back 110 years to unravel long-buried secrets. In the Seireitei, Lieutenant Sousuke Aizen greets his fellow Shinigami on his way to speak with his captain, Shinji Hirako, and the two discuss preparations for the Twelfth Division's incoming captain before heading to the First Division barracks. There they meet Lieutenant Hiyori Sarugaki and Captain Love Aikawa, and as more captains and lieutenants gather, talk turns to the current situation and vacant seats. Shunsui Kyōraku also mentions to Aizen that Captain Kirio Hikifune has been promoted to the Zero Division.

A week earlier, Captain Yoruichi Shihōin spars with her Third Seat, Kisuke Urahara, in their hidden training ground beneath the Sōkyoku. She informs him she has recommended him for the open captain's post and that a proficiency test awaits. Back at her own barracks, Yoruichi is scolded by Suì-Fēng for being too lenient, prompting the younger officer to shadow Urahara for a week and record his every move. Her thorough report changes nothing, as the light-hearted Yoruichi remains unmoved.

When a messenger reports that they have located "them," Urahara departs for a bamboo forest even with his test scheduled that afternoon, unaware Suì-Fēng is again tailing him. He enters a shack, and a violent burst of Reiatsu levels the structure and flattens surrounding trees, leaving several Shinigami inside defeated. Leaving the cleanup to others, Urahara returns to take his exam and rushes into the captains meeting late, now wearing a Captain's haori. Shinji brands him a flake, and Aizen agrees.

The episode launches the Turn Back the Pendulum flashback arc, showing the Gotei 13 as it stood 110 years in the past. Kirio Hikifune's promotion to the Zero Division creates the captain vacancy that Yoruichi recommends Urahara to fill. Suì-Fēng's devoted surveillance of Urahara establishes her early relationship with Yoruichi, and Urahara passes his proficiency test to become a new captain, arriving late to the meeting in his fresh haori.

Part of the Turn Back the Pendulum arc, the episode adapts the prequel Chapter -108. It aired in Japan on February 10, 2009, and in English on May 29, 2011, using the opening Velonica and the ending Sky Chord ~Otona ni Naru Kimi e~. In the English dub, Love Aikawa mistakenly refers to the 11th Division captains as the 12th Division. The Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book segment has Rukia present the illustrations for her Soul Society report and announce the Substitute Shinigami Work Diary.