The Invisible Enemy! Hitsugaya's Merciless Decision

'''The Invisible Enemy! Hitsugaya's Merciless Decision''' is the one-hundred-thirtieth episode of the Bleach anime.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: June 20, 2007
 * English Airdate: July 4, 2009
 * Opening Song: Alones
 * Ending Song: Tsumasaki
 * Manga Chapters: None.
 * Kanji: 見えない敵！日番谷、非情な決断
 * Romaji: "Mienai teki! Hitsugaya, hijō na ketsudan"
 * Arc: The Arrancar arc

Summary
Continuing his explanation, Shouta reveals that on the day of the accident, he and Yui were separated from their parents. They couldn’t find them no matter how much they looked, and on one particular night, Shouta woke up in the park to find that Yui was gone. Her scream eventually led him to her, but upon discovering his being threatened by the pseudo-Arrancar, Shouta ran away in fear instead of saving his sister. Regretting it later, Shouta returned to the park and encountered the pseudo-Arrancar again, and that’s when Rangiku had gotten involved. With Shouta now crying because of what he did, Rangiku comforts him by reminding him that Yui survived and by saying that it’s not too late for him to protect Yui now. However, Rangiku also knows that if Shouta’s story is true, then Yui encountered the pseudo-Arrancar. She then gets a phone call from Hitsugaya who had lost sight of the pseudo-Arrancar he was chasing. Hitsugaya is still with the soul that he had run into earlier, and this soul surprises him by suddenly transforming into the pseudo-Arrancar and attacking. Hitsugaya easily manages to cut off one of its legs, so the pseudo-Arrancar transforms back into the human disguise and runs away.

Back at their apartment, Rangiku tells Hitsugaya of how Yui was probably the first to have encountered the pseudo-Arrancar, but they don’t know how she survived, and Yui doesn’t remember anything. Hitsugaya, however, is more concerned about how the pseudo-Arrancar can disguise itself as a human soul. This makes Rangiku suspect Yui, so Hitsugaya goes ahead with an attempt to send her off to Soul Society. When he isn’t able to do so with the hilt of his sword, he confirms his suspicions that the pseudo-Arrancar must have done something to her. Hitsugaya then contact Soul Society so that they can do an analysis of Yui’s spiritual pressure, but until the analysis results come back, he places her behind a force field. Shouta objects to this, so Rangiku tries to explain that it’s to protect her from the pseudo-Arrancar. Since Yui is still afraid, Rangiku decides to give her the whistle item she bought at the shop earlier. With Yui now cooperating, Hitsugaya sends Yumichika to Urahara’s to tell Renji about what’s going on and leaves the children in the care of Rangiku again.

The next day, Shouta recalls how he and Yui had searched for their parents without any luck. When Yui wakes up from her sleep, she says she wants to go outside and wants to see their parents. To Shouta’s surprise, Yui claims that with his power, she can leave the force field, and she gets him hold his hand out to match hers on the other side. The force field disappears as a result, and Rangiku returns later from the convenience store to find them both gone. Before she and Hitsugaya can go look for the two, they get a transmission from Soul Society with the results, so Hitsugaya sends Rangiku ahead to look while he listens to the analysis. According to the findings, Yui is actually a clone created by the pseudo-Arrancar. She had been a human with strong, latent spiritual powers, and when the pseudo-Arrancar absorbed her soul, it gained tremendous power that allowed it to multiply. Akon thinks that there’s a high probability that she’s being controlled by the pseudo-Arrancar and her outward appearance is just acting. As for Shouta, Akon admits the possibility of him having an equally high spiritual power, making Hitsugaya realize that the enemy used Shouta to get out of the barrier and its target is Shouta’s power.

Unaware of what Hitsugaya just learned, Rangiku finds the two kids in the park, but Yui tells her not to interfere. Yui then starts emitting a great spiritual pressure that brings forth many of the pseudo-Arrancar. She motions her brother to her, and when Rangiku tries to stop him, Yui uses her power to pull him in. Rangiku can’t help because the pseudo-Arrancar are keeping her busy, and it is ultimately Shouta crying out Yui’s name that seems to knock her out of the trance. In pain, Yui now tells her brother not to come.