The Swung-Down Edge! The Moment of Ruin

'''The Swung-Down Edge! The Moment of Ruin''' is the one-hundred-seventh episode of the Bleach anime.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: December 13, 2006
 * English Airdate: March 28, 2009
 * Opening Song: Rolling Star
 * Ending Song: Baby It's You
 * Manga Chapters: None
 * Kanji: 振り下ろされた刃！破滅の瞬間
 * Romaji: "Furiorosareta ha! Hametsu no shunka"
 * Arc: Bount Assault on Soul Society arc

Summary
After having Uryū Ishida take Ran'Tao away, Ichigo Kurosaki initiates Bankai and starts his battle with Jin Kariya. The Bount runs at first, but then uses his wind power to knock Ichigo completely through one tower and crashing into a second. Ichigo responds with a Getsuga Tenshō that completely destroys the first tower and cuts into the nearby wall, but is avoided by Kariya. Ran'Tao and Ishida meanwhile are making their way through Seireitei when they run into Orihime Inoue and Sado Yasutora along with the three mod-souls. Ririn notices that Ishida’s Quincy accessory is gone, yet there was not a large explosion like there was supposed to be when it broke. Ishida explains that he figured out it would not happen if he only used the accessory to amplify spirit particles.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto soon arrive and learn that Ichigo is fighting Kariya. The captain wants to go help, but Ran'Tao stops him and warns of another power. She reveals that there is more than one Joukaishō, which were experimentally used to create spirit particles, and after the first explosion that wiped out one-tenth of Seireitei, the rest were sealed off. If Kariya explodes the one he has inside of him, the others are likely to go off too. In order for this not to happen, Ran'Tao thinks that they should re-seal the other Joukaishō. She is about to hand Hitsugaya a book, but she grows faint on her feet and nearly falls over from pushing herself too far earlier. After the captain takes the book and leaves, Inoue leads the rest of the group to go help Ichigo.

By this time, Kariya and Ichigo have taken their fight to the hill where the Sōkyoku stood. Ichigo does not notice that an injured Maki Ichinose has also come up here, and so he is almost caught off guard when Ichinose attacks. Over at the library, Hitsugaya shows Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake the book he got from Ran'Tao, which includes a map of all the locations of the sealed Joukaishō. Nanao Ise then sends a message to the other captains and ranking division members informing them of the situation. Word of this reaches the Sixth Division where Rukia Kuchiki is resting at, causing her to wake up from the commotion outside. Concerned about Ichigo, she gets out of bed and goes out. Back on the Sōkyoku Hill, Ichinose locks blades with Ichigo, but he is actually here to ask Kariya about Gō Koga and the other Bount. After Kariya reports that they are all dead, Ichinose attacks Ichigo again, but Ichigo is able to knock him back. Although he gets back up, Ichinose turns his blade towards Kariya. He had originally gone along with what Kariya was doing because he saw his old captain in the Bount. However, Ichinose’s battle with Kenpachi Zaraki reminded him that he had once wanted to make Seireitei better. He and his old captain had the same goals, but his feelings had changed to revenge after the captain died.

Ichinose is thus willing to let Kariya’s power to restore Seireitei, but will stop the Bount if that power is used for revenge. He believes that revenge cannot give birth to anything, and since Koga and the others are dead, he’s the only one left to stop Kariya. All this time, Kariya has been powering himself up and eventually admits that he can’t do what Ichinose wants. He stops Ichinose’s wrist from swinging his Zanpakutō down and explains that thanks to Ichinose, he has gotten enough time to allow the Joukaishō to flow through himself. The devastating punch Kariya then delivers knocks Ichinose back and causes him to fall down. When Ichinose still tries to grab onto him, Kariya blows him away with his wind power. The Bount then turns toward Ichigo, who is angry that Kariya would do that to one of his comrade. Kariya, however, did not think of Ichinose in that way - he was just a chess piece to Kariya. To finish the battle with Ichigo, Kariya calls forth his doll Messer, which covers his arm and takes the form of a sword. As those two attack each other, Rukia is meanwhile getting caught by Renji as she is attempting to leave the sixth division. Rukia surprises Renji Abarai by asking him to take her to Sōkyoku.