Dissension in the Substitute Team? Rukia's Betrayal

 is the eighty-fourth episode of the Bleach anime.

3rd Division Lieutenant Izuru Kira fends off Gō Koga's Doll, Dalk, while Mabashi arrives to take over for a struggling Yoshi.

Summary
At the Urahara Shop, Tessai Tsukabishi carries a protesting 4th Division 7th Seat Hanatarō Yamada down the hallway and into the back room, where Hanatarō questions what this is about since he still has to tend to the register at the convenience store before expressing shock upon seeing 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai and the boy he was protecting lying unconscious on two bedspreads with pained expressions as Kisuke Urahara apologizes for having Tessai take him so abruptly.

With Urahara noting that he is now aware of their situation, a horrified Hanatarō exits his Gigai, which Tessai grabs, and moves to Renji's side. Upon seeing Renji grimace, Hanatarō observes that his pulse is very weak and instructs Tessai to gather Reiryoku after putting up a barrier while he takes care of the rest, prompting Urahara to praise this as being what he expected of an Advanced Relief Team member as he expresses gratitude that Hanatarō was sent to the Human World.

Meanwhile, having shielded herself from Rukia Kuchiki's powerful '''Hadō #33. Sōkatsui and incapacitated Kurōdo using her Doll, Nieder''', Yoshi leaps into the air and throws three thin blades down at Orihime Inoue, who is tackled out of the way by Rukia as they embed themselves in the ground. Landing on a nearby spotlight on one foot, Yoshi throws three more blades at Rukia and Orihime despite Nieder warning her this technique has not yet been perfected, resulting in Nieder chiding her for not listening when Rukia and Orihime once again evade the blades, to Yoshi's irritation. Upon being asked what is wrong by Yoshi, Nieder suggests that she take a break to restore confidence.

Yoshi inquires if Nieder is ordering her around, and despite denying this, Nieder asserts that she should meditate for a few seconds in order to gather power at her center of gravity. However, Yoshi simply smacks the fan of Nieder against the sword and orders them to shut up and start working properly. Down on the ground, Orihime runs to Kurōdo's side and expresses concern for his condition, but Kurōdo gets up and assures Orihime that he is alright since the Mod-Souls are just Gikongan and will not die no matter what happens to their Gigai, though he admits that it still hurts a bit, before declaring that this is their chance to escape.

While Rukia, Orihime, and Kurōdo begin to run away, Yoshi, having stood still and meditated like Nieder instructed her to, wonders if this is enough, prompting Nieder to affirm this and point out that there is no point in doing this if the enemy gets away, which leads a startled Yoshi to notice the three of them running off. Refusing to let them get away, Yoshi jumps high into the air and throws Nieder toward the full moon, where the two spinning halves revel in the correct timing and how beautiful they look prior to hurtling toward Rukia. Suddenly, as Orihime moves to shield Rukia with her own body, Nieder bounces off of her harmlessly with a metallic clang, confusing Yoshi.

With Nieder flying back into the air, Mabashi appears several feet away from Yoshi on the rooftop she landed on and offers to take over from here because old women should not be involved in this. After catching Nieder, an irate Yoshi demands to know what Mabashi is doing, only for Mabashi to stick out his tongue and assert that everything is fine due to him now feeling like an omnipotent and omniscient god. Despite Yoshi deducing that he is drunk on the taste of his first living Soul, Mabashi simply calls her ugly and rushes toward her, but leaps over a battle-ready Yoshi at the last second and lands before Rukia, Orihime, and Kurōdo on the ground below.

Mabashi partially unzips his top to reveal the collar around his neck and removes the crystal hanging off of it before dropping it and summoning his Doll, Ritz, causing a yellow flower on a purple stem to grow out of the point in the ground that the crystal sinks into and extend all the way up to Mabashi's outstretched hand, where it furls outward and retracts the stem into the main body to form Ritz. While Rukia and her friends realize that this is a Doll and Yoshi inquires what Mabashi plans to do with her, Mabashi has Ritz fly past Rukia's group and up the side of the building to confront a surprised Yoshi, who begins slashing at her and reminding Ritz that she is an ally.

Unable to strike Ritz, Yoshi leaps off the side of the building, with Ritz following her down, and jabs upward with the sword of Nieder, but Ritz effortlessly maneuvers around the blade and Yoshi's arm to reach her left shoulder, where she flattens her head into a thin tendril and stabs it into Yoshi's neck, causing the latter to scream in pain and violently throw Ritz to the ground, which leads Ritz to giggle and flatten into a tendril once more prior to jabbing it into the ground and disappearing. Laughing at this, Mabashi criticizes Yoshi for not paying any attention to how she presents herself when in danger, which he considers unsightly and further proof that she is ugly.

When Ritz returns to his side from the ground near his feet and asks him if there is anything else that he wants her to do, Mabashi instructs Ritz to wait, which she complies with, and asks Yoshi what she is going to do. Still angered by his interference, Yoshi accuses Mabashi of being out of his mind and decides to let him take over the fight since she cannot keep up with him before returning a resigned Nieder to the sealed form of a folded paper form and jumping back up to the rooftop. After vowing to get revenge on Mabashi for this, Yoshi runs off, leaving Mabashi to laugh maniacally as Kurōdo admits that he never thought Yoshi could be so frightened and questions what Ritz is.

As she tells Orihime to stand aside, Rukia fires '''Hadō 33. Sōkatsui at Mabashi, who leaps out of the way of the blast with Ritz''' to a storage container behind the blast and orders her to play with them. Acknowledging this, Ritz flies forward, leading Rukia to roll to her right and Kurōdo to roll to his left with Orihime, and when Ritz turns diagonally right and left to hurtle past an evading Rukia and Kurōdo again, Kurōdo expresses shock at her being able to maneuver like this when an elevator can only go up and down. Upon seeing Ritz crash into the ground and burrow underneath it, Rukia warns Orihime to be careful since they do not know where Ritz will emerge.

Suddenly, Ritz bursts out of the ground beneath Rukia's left foot, which she frantically withdraws, and returns to Mabashi's side as she asks him if there is anything else that he wants her to do, causing Mabashi to laugh maniacally once more and proclaim that it is time for them to stop playing as he snaps his fingers. After acknowledging this, Ritz arches up the petals around her head and rockets toward Rukia in a zigzag pattern. Upon evading Ritz, Rukia is astonished to see her blast through the garage shutter behind her and through several other warehouses on the complex in rapid succession, causing an intimidated Kurōdo to comment on the high speed of Ritz.

Listening to Ritz damage the surrounding buildings, Rukia wonders where she is, and when Ritz moves through the ground and bursts out near her, Rukia attempts to attack with Kidō, but is unable to do so prior to Ritz ricocheting off the ground near her, which leads her to realize that she cannot use Kidō under these conditions. Mabashi describes Ritz as cute and snaps his fingers again, resulting in Ritz halting her assault on Rukia and instead moving to Orihime, whom she loops around dozens of times. With Orihime frightened by this, Rukia struggles to find an opening in the movements of Ritz to help her during and finds a broken metal fixture on the ground that she whacks Ritz with.

As a dazed Ritz falls to the ground and burrows into it, Rukia looks at and tosses away the broken fixture while Kurōdo enthusiastically praises her performance. However, as Orihime thanks Rukia for her help, Ritz rises up behind her and rushes forward, forcing Rukia to shove Orihime to the ground before having Ritz embed herself in her chest and swim inside. Staring down in shock at this, Rukia collapses, to the concern of Orihime and Kurōdo, as Mabashi continues to laugh maniacally. When Orihime demands to know what is so funny, Mabashi states that she will know soon enough and snaps his fingers once more, causing Rukia to open her eyes with unfocused pupils.

While a confused Orihime stares at her, Rukia stands up with a glazed expression and turns to face Mabashi, who addresses her as Ritz and calls her cute. Simultaneously, at the construction site, Ririn regains consciousness next to a motionless Keigo Asano and looks around for Ichigo Kurosaki before seeing him kneeling next to 3rd Division Lieutenant Izuru Kira, who is facing down Gō Koga and his Doll, Dalk. After wondering what she should do to help, Ririn comes to a realization and runs off, leaving Izuru to explain to a perplexed Ichigo that 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya dispatched four lieutenant-level combatants to the Human World.

With Izuru telling Ichigo to stand back and promising to deal with them, Dalk licks her spiked left arm and observes that Izuru is another different type who is fighting over her before expressing delight at having been born a woman as she transforms her left arm into a machine gun and opens fire on Ichigo and Izuru, who leap away in opposite directions. Upon leaping over Dalk and landing behind her, Izuru assumes a battle stance once more and declares that Soul Society has already decided to subdue the Bount while preparing to battle Dalk, only for the latter to praise his rigid nature as cute and decide to express her feelings by opening fire once more.

Jumping up to dodge the bullets, Izuru releases his Shikai, Wabisuke, and when Dalk swings up her lower body and fires a large metal sphere at him, Izuru deflects it with Wabisuke and lands on the ground before Dalk, where he begins clashing repeatedly with Dalk, who uses her upper two arms to block and wound him on his left forearm prior to Izuru moving back into the air with Shunpo and deflecting a second large sphere fired at him by Dalk. Izuru lands back on the ground and gets to his feet as Dalk absorbs the motionless metal sphere back into her body through her front left leg and revels in how excited Izuru's cornered expression makes her.

When Dalk fires several more bullets at him, Izuru blocks each with Wabisuke, causing them to roll back to Dalk along the ground. Suddenly, as she tries to reabsorb one of the bullets into her body through her front left leg, Dalk is shocked to see the tip of her leg melt into a misshapen mass of metal against the ground and realizes that her body feels very heavy as she begins to tilt to the side, leading Izuru to detail how Wabisuke doubles the weight of whatever it strikes and note that the steel body of Dalk has reached its weight limit. With an aghast Dalk no longer able to stand up, Izuru tells Ichigo that this is his chance to attack, but Ichigo insists on getting Keigo to the Urahara Shop.

Suddenly, Koga steps up behind Ichigo, who turns around and assumes a battle stance with his Shikai, Zangetsu, while demanding that Koga move. Upon being asked by Koga what will happen if he refuses, Ichigo vows that he will kill Koga if he does not, but Koga simply walks up to the tip of Zangetsu, which prompts Ichigo to internally observe that Koga is still Human even if he is a Bount. After commenting on Ichigo's hesitation, Koga picks up an I-beam and asserts that he will go first before swinging the beam at a stunned Ichigo, who evades multiple blows from Koga and expresses astonishment at his physical strength prior to moving several feet away with Shunpo.

Ichigo assumes a battle stance once more and refuses to let Koga interfere any longer as he rushes forward with the intention of killing Koga for Keigo, only for Koga to jump over and come down on Ichigo with another strike of the I-beam, which Ichigo evades and cuts in half with a slash from Zangetsu. However, Koga simply grabs Ichigo by the collar and slams him into the ground, causing Ichigo to cough up blood and roll onto his side. Assuming that Ichigo did not believe an unarmed Human could have this much power, Koga reminds him that Bount have the mental strength to withstand eternity and declares that he has used this strength to train himself to his physical peak.

With Ichigo rolling out of the way of his subsequent ground punch and getting to his feet, Koga grabs Ichigo by the collar once again and concludes that this is just a Human's potential power. Nearby, Dalk discards her forearms to decrease her weight and dismisses their loss as irrelevant while swinging up her lower body to fire a third large sphere at Izuru, who moves over and behind her with Shunpo, prior to firing a smaller sphere on a tether that wraps itself around Wabisuke, which leads Dalk to promise to take it away from a struggling Izuru. Slammed against a vertical beam by Koga with the latter's fist pressed against his throat, Ichigo is forced to drop Zangetsu.

As Koga notes that he could either wait for Ichigo to stop breathing or simply snap his neck in one twist, which he considers to be the merciful option since Ichigo would not suffer, Ichigo presses his feet against Koga's abdomen and manages to launch him back with great effort, allowing Ichigo to fall to the ground and catch his breath while grabbing Zangetsu. Despite this, Koga emerges unharmed from the resulting dust cloud and admits that he did not expect Ichigo to have this much strength left, and as Ichigo vows to defeat him, a stunned Koga sees Cain in Ichigo's place and utters his name in shock, confusing Ichigo while he assumes a battle stance.

Upon being asked what is wrong, Koga pinches the bridge of his nose and observes that he may have lived for too long because people are supposed to be born, grow, and age, though all the lives that are supposed to live end up slipping through his hands. Koga recalls Cain summoning Waineton and being consumed by her power, causing him to rapidly age and disintegrate into ashes, which led Koga to build a tombstone of rocks for him and scatter his ashes on the wind at the edge of a cliff. Suddenly, Koga is alerted when a screaming Dalk crashes to the ground under her increased weight, where she states that she can no longer move despite refusing to lose to Izuru.

Moving to Koga with Shunpo, Izuru slashes at him, forcing Koga to leap back and allowing Ichigo to get to his feet while confirming that he is alright. After noting that Ichigo is young and has not lived for very long yet, Koga turns around and begins walking toward Dalk despite Ichigo claiming that they are not done yet and attempting to follow him. As he reaches Dalk, Koga tells her that this is enough and responds to her lamenting how heavy she has become by praising her performance and returning her to her sealed form. After instructing Ichigo and Izuru to not rush their lives since there is no shame in holding onto them, Koga bids them farewell and departs into the darkness.

Elsewhere, Ririn wanders down a street and laments how exhausted she is before colliding with Kon, who points out her disheveled appearance and berates her for not taking better care of herself despite being a woman, resulting in an angered Ririn riding on a tearful Kon's back like a horse and beating him with a stick so she can travel to the Urahara Shop. Back at the warehouses, Kurōdo wonders what is happening while Mabashi orders Rukia to tell him her name, and when Rukia says her name, Mabashi asserts that it sounds nice and makes her worthy of being his newest subordinate, to Orihime's surprise. Agreeing to work for Mabashi, Rukia grabs Orihime by the collar and hoists her into the air, frightening her and Kurōdo.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
The members of the Shinigami Women's Association stand around an empty plate on a table as they realize the snacks they prepared are gone. When 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi enters the room and complains about the noise, his lieutenant, Nemu Kurotsuchi, asks him if he knows what happened to the snacks, prompting Mayuri to declare that there is no way he would know as a fart is heard. While the members of the Shinigami Women's Association wonder who it came from and discuss how the snacks were baked sweet potatoes, Mayuri demands that they leave before turning around and expressing relief.

Fights

 * Rukia Kuchiki & Orihime Inoue vs. Yoshi (concluded)
 * Ichigo Kurosaki & Izuru Kira vs. Gō Koga (concluded)
 * Orihime Inoue & Shūhei Hisagi vs. Mabashi & Rukia Kuchiki

Powers and Techniques Used
Hohō Techniques:

Kidō Techniques:

Doll Techniques:
 * Possession

Other Techniques:
 * Shape-shifting

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Dolls summoned:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Other Powers:

Anime Notes
Errors=
 * In both the Japanese and English dub of this episode, Yumichika Ayasegawa is mistakenly referred to as a lieutenant by Izuru Kira when the latter is describing the strike team sent to the Human World.