Ulquiorra's Scheme, the Moment when the Sun Sets!

Ulquiorra's Scheme, the Moment when the Sun Sets! is the one-hundred-fortieth episode of the Bleach anime.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: September 12, 2007
 * English Airdate: August 8, 2009
 * Opening Song: Alones
 * Ending Song: Daidai
 * Manga Chapters: Chapter 234 (page 11 to end), Chapter 235, and Chapter 236.
 * Kanji: 策謀のウルキオラ、太陽が沈む時
 * Romaji: "Sakubō no Urukiora, taiyō ga shizumu toki"
 * Arc: The Arrancar arc

Summary
Having managed to avoid Wonderweiss Margera’s attack, Kisuke Urahara wonders what technique it was. Yammy then hits him with the same attack. Yammy then gleefully reveals that this Bala attack is not as strong as a Cero, but it is 20 times faster. He proceeds to fire shot after shot of it at Urahara, and even Luppi thinks that Urahara cannot live through it. Luppi then turns back to his own fight. He becomes annoyed when Rangiku calls him extremely chatty and says that that is the kind of man she hates. Before Luppi can do anything though, he discovers that all of his tentacles have been suddenly encased in ice by Tōshirō Hitsugaya, who has recovered from the earlier attack and now critiques Luppi for not following through. Since Luppi is so surprised to see him still alive, Hitsugaya explains that his Hyōrinmaru is the strongest of all the ice type Zanpakutō and that it can be revived no matter how many times it gets broken as long as there is water. Hitsugaya states that if Luppi’s weapons are his eight arms, then his weapon is all the water in the atmosphere, and he uses it all to surround the Espada in a prison of ice.

Yammy is surprised when Urahara appears behind him and mocks his fear of Sōsuke Aizen being angry. After having seen the Bala attack many times, Urahara says that he will not be hit by it again and strikes back at Yammy. Urahara reveals that he had managed to survive the earlier attacks by swapping himself out with his new portable Gigai. Furious that he has being belittled, Yammy tries to use the Bala attack again, but Urahara easily cancels it out, explaining that he has figured out how it works. Elsewhere, Ichigo Kurosaki is being beaten up by Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez as he attempts to re-summon his mask. When he cannot summon it, Grimmjow uses the opportunity to pin down Ichigo’s arms by spearing them with his sword, and he then charges a Cero blast at point-blank range. Rukia Kuchiki arrives and freezes his arm and body before he can fire the Cero. With Grimmjow immobilized, Rukia attempts to pull out the sword from Ichigo’s arms. However, Grimmjow breaks free and grabs her head. He attempts to finish her with a Cero to her head, is stopped by Shinji Hirako. Shinji claims to hate to get involved in Shinigami battles, but that it cannot be helped in this instance.

Despite Shinji not wanting to tell Grimmjow who he is, Grimmjow still attacks him. This leads to Shinji putting on his Hollow mask, and the battle quickly shifts in his favor, culminating in Shinji firing a large Cero. Grimmjow survives it only by firing his own Cero before Shinji’s hits him, and he responds by trying to release his Zanpakutō. He is stopped by Ulquiorra Cifer, who announces that their mission has been accomplished. All of the Arrancar are then surrounded by the Negación, which breaks Luppi free from Hitsugaya's ice prison. Before they disappear, both Yammy and Luppi vow to get revenge on their respective opponents. Ulquiorra meanwhile notices that there are traces of spiritual force that point to a new power from Ichigo, but he questions the extent of the power.