Battle against Ryō Utagawa

Prologue
Ichigo senses Kariya's immense spiritual pressure and guesses that Kariya is the leader of the Bounts. Kariya introduces himself to the Shinigami and he refers to Ichigo by his full name. Ichigo asks Kariya how he knows of him and Kariya explains that "he makes it his business". He then reveals that he knows about Rukia as well. Ryō suddenly enters the room and he asks Ichigo and his friends why they look so surprised to see them. Ryō asks them if it's because their afraid of them, causing Rukia to get angered but Ichigo calms her down. Rukia then looks at Kariya and remarks that he has a "repulsive glare", causing her to warn Ichigo to be careful. Ichigo tells Kariya that he has come to take back Uryū but Kariya informs him that he has no intention of returning him. Ichigo doesn't take that for an answer though and he decides to battle the Bounts himself while Rukia and the mod souls look for Uryū. However, Ryō activates his doll, 'Fried, and sends his snake after Rukia but Ichigo is able to deflect the snake away. Rukia and the others successfully escape and Ryō jumps down to where Ichigo is.

Ichigo looks around the room at the other Bounts, and realizes he's going to fight seven Bounts at the same time. However, Ryō informs him that the Bount are independent and that they would never fight in a group. He informs him that he's going to take him on himself, and to prove that he can do this, he asks Kariya to remove his crest. Ryō explains that a Bount needs his crest in order to activate their doll, but without it they're completely powerless. Kariya removes his crest and puts it on the ground. He tells Ryō to take his time, and he remarks that he's going to enjoy watching this. Ryō explains to Ichigo that if he were to defeat him, then he can go after his leader and be able to easily kill him. Ichigo tells Ryō that he doesn't know what kind of game he's playing, but either way he's going to cut him down

Battle
Ryō sends his snake towards Ichigo, but the Shinigami is able to deflect it with a single swing of his Zanpakutō. Ryō immediately brings his snake back, and he begins swinging his snake on the ground, causing several other snakes to form from the locations that were hit. Ichigo deflects several snakes with his Zanpakutō, but one of the snakes is able to wrap itself around Ichigo's leg. As Ichigo struggles to get it off, Ryō charges towards the Shinigami. As Ryō creates more snakes to battle against his opponent, Ichigo charges towards the Bount to attack him but Ryō uses his snake as a shield and blocks the attack. Ichigo remarks that he's going to have to attack him directly if he's going to win, and he uses Shunpo to appear behind Ryō. He then swings his Zanpakutō and successfully cuts Ryō's shoulder. Ryō asks his doll if the preparations are complete and the doll tells him that it is. A pentagram suddenly forms under Ryō's feet, which in turn causes a pentagram to form under Ichigo's feet as well. Snakes begin charging at Ichigo from the pentagram, so Ichigo tries to get away but the pentagrams form in every location Ichigo goes on top of. Ryō explains to Ichigo that this technique is called Snake Net, and he claims it to be his dolls "absolute barrier". He states that a sensory reflex is reacting to something that you touch, and he remarks that this ability is exactly like that. Ryō tells Ichigo that even if he uses Shunpo, he won't be able to run away from this technique. Ichigo asks him what he knows about Shunpo, and Kariya tells him that since Soul Society is desperately tracking the Bounts movements, it would be only natural for them to know about the Shinigami. Ryō states that the conversation is over, and he has the snakes become more aggressive. Ichigo begins to get overwhelmed and he is eventually sent crashing into a wall. Ryō remarks that this wasn't a challenge at all, and he disables his technique. He then apologizes to Kariya for accidentally damaging his mansion, but Kariya tells him it doesn't matter. Ryō asks if he should chase after the other intruders, but Kariya informs him that Ichinose should be taking care of them, and he tells him that more of Ichigo's comrades are coming here. Ichigo suddenly gets back up and tells the Bounts that he's going to have to finish up quickly so he can help Rukia and the others. Ryō asks him what he can do with his body so injured, but Ichigo tells him that his attack didn't hurt him nearly as much as he thinks it did. Kariya tells his Ichigo that his reiatsu must have protected his body, but Ryō states that this still won't be enough for him to escape his technique. He then tells him that he'll crush him with a power that's far greater than his own, but Ichigo informs him that he has no intention of letting that happen. Ryō then sends a barrage of snakes towards his opponent, but Ichigo is able to destroy them all by firing off a Getsuga Tenshō, which ends up going towards Kariya and destroying part of the mansion.

Aftermath
Kariya is shown to have dodged Ichigo's attack, and he tells the Shinigami that he's interesting for being able to dispose of Ryō's attack through pure force alone. Ryō, who's hiding from the other Bounts, sends his doll out to do something. Kariya tells Ichigo that this was his favorite mansion, but now it's worthless, so Ichigo apologizes to him. He then asks Kariya if he'll let Uryū go now, but he says that doing so would be inconvenient. Ryō's doll suddenly comes out and takes Kariya's crest. Ryō reveals himself to the rest of the Bounts again, and Kariya asks him what he's doing. Ryō states that he's going to become the leader of the Bounts now, but the other Bounts don't believe that he would do well in that position. Ryō tries to convince them that he would do well, and points out that Kariya can't do anything to them without his crest. Kariya suddenly interrupts Ryō, and begins angering the Bount to the point where Ryō sends his doll to attack Kariya. However, Kariya easily blocks the attack and states that he already released his crests power before putting it down. Ichinose suddenly arrives and releases his Zanpakutō, Nijigasumi, allowing him to easily kill the traitorous Bount.