| ShortSummary
| - Lunuganga sinks the group beneath the sands, and Rukia is separated from the group. Nel explains that they are in the Forest of Menos, where most hollows reside. As they begin to fight the hollows around them, Rukia attempts to fight the hollows attacking her. She is rescued by Soul Reaper Ashido Kanō, who attacks her after dispatching all of the hollows. Meanwhile, Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka are kidnapped by a hollow during an attack.
- Twelfth division Soul Reaper Rin Tsubokura is sent to Karakura Town to conduct research, and Hanatarō Yamada accompanies him as an escort. Yumichika Ayasegawa, one of the Soul Reapers based in the real world, is assigned as their guide. While Rin searches for sweets to purchase, they encounter the ghost of a cake maker who wants the three Soul Reapers to bake a cake for his mother. Upon delivering the cake, however, the chef's mother refuses to eat it because it reminds her of her son, causing the chef to begin transforming into a hollow. Attracted by the chef's transformation, a Menos Grande arrives, and Hanatarō is able to both stop the chef's transformation and defeat the Menos Grande with the shikai of his zanpakutō. Using a device, Rin makes the chef visible to his mother, and he convinces her to eat the cake.
- Ichigo and Nel encounter the Privaron Espada Dordonii Alessandro Del Socacchio, and Ichigo begins to battle him. Chad and Uryū each encounter an arrancar, and former Soul Reaper captains Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen observe the battles through the surveillance system in Las Noches. Although Ichigo and Dordonii fight evenly, Dordonii gains the upper hand by releasing his zanpakutō.
- After breaking into Las Noches and finding themselves at a five-way fork, Ichigo's group splits up and each takes one path. Nel chases after Ichigo, and Pesche and Dondochakka forget the direction she took, and travel down different paths. Meanwhile, Ulquiorra makes Orihime swear her loyalty to Aizen. Afterwards, he explains to Espada Nnoitra Jiruga the psychological traps Aizen created to ensure that Orihime does not have the will to resist. However, Orihime quietly resolves to destroy the Orb of Distortion by erasing its existence, an act that would derail all of Aizen's plans.
- In Hueco Mundo, Aizen creates the arrancar Wonderweiss Margera with the Orb of Distortion, and Aizen tasks Ulquiorra with gathering arrancar for a mission. Meanwhile, Ichigo's visored training has enabled him to use his hollow mask for eleven seconds. In Soul Society, Soul Reapers Jūshirō Ukitake and Shūhei Hisagi observe Orihime and Rukia, who are training for the winter war with Aizen. In the real world, Yumichika and Rangiku are training in an attempt to achieve bankai when the arrancar Luppi, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, Yammy, and Wonderweiss attack. Ichigo encounters Grimmjow and uses his bankai. In the training room beneath the Urahara shop, Kisuke Urahara prepares to leave to enter the battle.
- Ashido's mask absorbs the brunt of the adjuchas' attack, and Rukia kills the adjuchas. Meanwhile, Ichigo and the others locate Nel, and are led into an ambush; however, they defeat all of the hollows present. Elsewhere, Ashido and Rukia defeat another adjuchas, and everyone is subsequently reunited. Ashido leads them out of the forest, and an attack by one of the remaining adjuchas collapses the passage. Ashido leaves to fight the adjuchas as the rest of the group returns to the surface. As she leaves, Rukia promises to return for him. In Las Noches, Ulquiorra informs Orihime that her friends have mounted a rescue.
- Ashido reveals that his attack was test of her strength, and he decides to take her back to her friends. Along the way, he relates his past to Rukia, explaining that he was part of a hollow-hunting unit that inadvertenly came to Hueco Mundo. They are attacked by an adjuchas-class menos. Meanwhile, Nel and her friends are held captive by the other adjuchas, and Ichigo, Chad, Uryū, and Renji are searching the area for them. Ashido and Rukia easily destroy the first adjuchas, and another adjuchas prepares up an ambush, in which Ashido is hit while trying to protect Rukia.
- After being brought before Aizen, Orihime is asked to demonstrate her power by restoring Grimmjow's arm. After doing so, Grimmjow asks her to restore his tattoo. Following this, he kills Luppi to regain his rank among the Espada. Although she is worried that her actions will only cause more fighting, Orihime resolves to make herself useful until Soul Society has prepared for the upcoming war. Meanwhile, Ichigo, Chad, and Uryū enter Hueco Mundo with Urahara's aid. In the real world, Isshin Kurosaki meets with Ryūken Ishida in the training chamber underneath the latter's hospital, where they discuss how they raised their respective sons.
- As the battle with Luppi continues, Hitsugaya uses a sneak attack with his bankai and defeats Luppi. Meanwhile, Kisuke Urahara dodges Yammy's attacks using one of his inventions, and subsequently nullifies all of them. Grimmjow nearly kills Ichigo, but is saved by Rukia. She is nearly killed, but Shinji Hirako saves her. Grimmjow begins to battle Shinji, and after Shinji dons his hollow mask, he overwhelms Grimmjow. As Grimmjow prepares to release his zanpakutō, Ulquiorra stops him and orders all the arrancar to return to Hueco Mundo, as Orihime agreed to accompany him.
- In Hueco Mundo, Ulquiorra's staged death and the theft of the Orb of Distortion are revealed to be a ploy by Aizen, engineered using his illusion-casting zanpakutō. In the real world, Patros' subordinates are defeated, and Renji uses his bankai, forcing Patros to release his zanpakutō. Patros begins to overwhelm Renji, and reveals the secret of his attacks to the modified soul Ririn. Ririn, Cloud, and Nova prevent Patros from using his attacks, and Renji defeats him. Meanwhile, Ulquiorra delivers a report to Aizen, noting that Orihime Inoue is currently not in the real world.
- After arriving in Hueco Mundo, Ichigo, Chad, and Uryū traverse the halls of an unknown structure. After setting off several traps, they are greeted by Demōra and Iceringer, two arrancar under Aizen's command. Chad and Uryū insist that Ichigo watch them fight, and they overpower the arrancar, showing their new abilities in the process.
- Ulquiorra gives Orihime twelve hours to say goodbye to one person, and provides her with a bracelet that makes her invisible. Orihime travels through Karakura Town, watching her friends from a distance. She then visits Ichigo, who is recovering from the injuries Grimmjow inflicted on him. She makes a confession of her love to the sleeping Ichigo. She almost kisses him but cannot bring herself to do it. Before leaving the real world, she writes a line in a notebook, "Good bye, halcyon days".
- Karin Kurosaki meets Tōshirō Hitsugaya when she is playing soccer in the streets. Karin discovers that older students are using a soccer field for practice during a time slot that her team had booked. After a confrontation, the two teams decide to have a soccer match for control of the field. Karin asks Hitsugaya to join, but he refuses; however, he notes that she can see hollows and goes to the match. In the match, Karin injures her knee, prompting Hitsugaya to enter the game to help her. After the game is over, a hollow enters the area, and Hitsugaya easily defeats it. Realizing that Hitsugaya is a Soul Reaper, Karin questions Hitsugaya about her brother, Ichigo Kurosaki, and Hitsugaya assuages her fears concerning Ichigo's location.
- With the two arrancar defeated, the room collapses, forcing Ichigo, Chad, and Uryū to escape outside. Upon seeing the Las Noches, they begin running towards it, impeded by the various natural hazards of the desert. Meanwhile, Aizen gathers the Espada to inform them of the intrusion, stressing that the intruders are not to be underestimated, but not to be considered an immediate threat. In the desert, Ichigo, Chad, and Uryū encounter three hollows chasing a human child, and decide to help the child.
- Keigo Asano asks Ikkaku Madarame to help train a group of kendo students at his school. Ikkaku's brutal training causes most of the team to quit; the only remaining member is a boy named Shinji, who is dedicated to become stronger. To recruit more team members, Ikkaku asks his fellow Soul Reapers to participate in the kendo tournament. The Soul Reapers easily defeat their opponents. However, a hollow appears nearby, forcing them to leave in order to fight it. Shinji fights the final opponent in the tournament, and manages to defeat him as Ikkaku kills the hollow. Ikkaku, enraged at having missed an opportunity to fight, proceeds to attack the entire opposing team on his own.
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