The Evil Eye, Aizen Again

 is the one hundred and sixteenth episode of the Bleach anime.

More Arrancar invade Karakura Town following Ulquiorra Cifer's return to Las Noches.

Summary
With Ulquiorra Cifer and Yammy Llargo having returned to his throne room in Las Noches, Sōsuke Aizen instruct Ulquiorra to relay everything he saw and felt in the Human World, prompting Ulquiorra to comply by pulling out his left eye and crushing it in his hand to initiate Solita Vista, with the fragments spreading around the room and showing everything Ulquiorra experienced to Aizen and his fellow Arrancar in their minds, primarily the defeat of Ichigo Kurosaki.

When Aizen brings up his decision that Ichigo was not worth killing, Ulquiorra affirms this and reiterates his specific orders to kill Ichigo only if he proved to be a threat to the Arrancar, prompting Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez to accuse him of being compassionate and claim that he would have killed Ichigo with the first strike had he been the one to go to Karakura Town instead. As Ulquiorra looks back to glare at him, Grimmjow angrily criticizes Ulquiorra for not using his permission to kill when he had it, something he cannot see himself or the other Arrancar doing and which he does not understand the logic of.

Shawlong Koufang concurs with Grimmjow by noting Ulquiorra should have killed Ichigo simply because the latter stood up to him regardless of his threat level, followed by Grimmjow turning to Yammy to observe he has sustained significant injuries and it seems more like they could not kill Ichigo rather than them choosing not to. Though an annoyed Yammy reminds him it was Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihōin who proved too powerful for him to handle, Grimmjow simply claims he would have easily killed them as well. Before Yammy can initiate a fight over this, Ulquiorra tells him to calm down and clarifies Ichigo is not a problem to them at the moment.

With Grimmjow confused by this, Ulquiorra explains that Aizen is concerned about Ichigo's growth rate rather than his current power level since Ichigo possesses tremendous potential before elaborating that Ichigo's powers are extremely unstable and that he might prove useful to the Arrancar if he does not simply destroy himself in the future, which is why Ulquiorra let him live, and when an incredulous Grimmjow questions what they will do if Ulquiorra is proven wrong and Ichigo stabilizes his powers in time to fight them, Ulquiorra bluntly concludes that he will deal with Ichigo in this scenario and asks a stunned Grimmjow if they still have a problem.

In response, Aizen grants responsibility for Ichigo to Ulquiorra and instructs the latter to do as he likes, with Ulquiorra accepting this as Grimmjow fumes behind him. Meanwhile, in Ichigo's room in the Kurosaki Clinic in Karakura Town, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai pulls a protesting Kon's Gikongan out of his plushie body, to 10th Division Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto's disgust and intrigue, and examines it in his hand as Rangiku notes that the Shinigami Research and Development Institute makes interesting things, only for an unimpressed Ichigo to interrupt by questioning when the Shinigami Strike Force intends to return to Soul Society.

When Renji asserts that they are not leaving until the Arrancar have been defeated. However, Ichigo reveals that they will not be able to sleep at his house since there is not enough room for all of them, which leads to a shocked Rangiku wondering if even she cannot stay. After a flabbergasted Ichigo confirms that she in particular cannot stay and wonders why she in particular thought he would let her stay here, Rangiku begins unbuttoning her shirt to expose her breasts and slightly lifts up her skirt, leading to Ichigo reacting with astonishment to this and ordering Rangiku to button her shirt back up while he covers his eyes with his fingers and claims that he has an iron will.

However, an unimpressed Rukia Kuchiki notes Ichigo is still peeking through his fingers at Rangiku as Renji gawks in surprise. Following this, while the sun begins to set, Rangiku decides to stay with Orihime Inoue, leading Kon to bleed from the nose at the mental image of Orihime and Rangiku naked together as Rangiku responds to Ichigo wondering if Orihime has been informed of this by cheerfully stating Orihime will not turn her down when she asks. Nonchalantly chopping Kon down to the ground with her arm when he attempts to join them as a mascot, Rangiku walks off with her captain, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, whom she invites to come with her while he stoically refuses.

11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame and 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa decide to leave as well, and when Ichigo asks him if they have somewhere in mind, Ikkaku denies this and explains that they will be finding beds on their own since they never intended for Ichigo to take care of them, leaving Ichigo to caution Ikkaku to hide his wooden sword when in public while Renji announces that he is going to the Urahara Shop. After denying that he will be freeloading off Urahara again when Ichigo assumes that he will be, Renji admits that he wants to ask Urahara something and walks away while Rukia cheerfully warns Renji to be careful.

Upon being asked by Ichigo about where she will be staying, Rukia immediately runs back into the Kurosaki Clinic and kicks off her shoes as she proclaims that this is the only place for her, but a startled Ichigo counters this by reminding Rukia that his family already saw her and that she needs to make up a story to tell them. Nearby, Yumichika smells a Hollow and suggests that he and Ikkaku take care of it, only for Ikkaku to brush this off due to Zennosuke Kurumadani being assigned to the area as Yumichika muses on the strange scent of the Hollow. Simultaneously, at her house, Tatsuki Arisawa sits on her bed and recalls seeing Ichigo running in his Shinigami form.

Following her recollection of Ichigo's confrontation with Shinji Hirako, Tatsuki sighs and admonishes herself for worrying about it. Meanwhile, while Orihime recounts the events of the past few days to her shrine of Sora Inoue, she remembers Rukia snapping Ichigo out of his depressive mood and sadly admit to being somewhat envious of her forceful personality, with Yasutora Sado lying on his back and looking out the open door of his apartment while Orihime's Sōten Kisshun heals his right arm. Soon afterward, at the Kurosaki Clinic, Rukia tearfully concludes her story next to Ichigo by claiming she has lost everything and does not even have money for food.

In response, an openly weeping Isshin Kurosaki and Yuzu Kurosaki immediately agree with each other that Rukia can stay with them for as long as she wants. Though Ichigo criticizes Rukia for cheekily giving him a thumbs-up because it could lead to his family realizing that it is all an act, he changes his mind upon seeing Isshin telling the poster of Masaki Kurosaki on the wall that he now has a third daughter as Karin Kurosaki stares at Ichigo during this. Elsewhere in Karakura Town, Keigo Asano finishes detailing his encounter with Rangiku to Mizuiro Kojima by proclaiming that even a uniform can be a weapon on the right person by shattering his self-control.

Despite this, an annoyed Mizuiro bluntly promises to leave Keigo here if he does not shut up, and as a startled Keigo questions what is wrong, Mizuiro clarifies he was not addressing the person he is speaking to on the phone and begins walking off. Suddenly, when Keigo begins chasing after Mizuiro, he notices a winged Hollow flying through the air above and stops in confusion before Mizuiro addresses him by his last name, which Keigo demands he not do while informing Mizuiro of the monster he just saw in the sky, though Mizuiro continues to do so as they leave. However, in the sky above them, a Garganta opens to reveal a smirking Grimmjow.

Meanwhile, Orihime finds Rangiku asking to spend the night at her apartment and admits it is fine with her despite not knowing why she was chosen, prompting a grateful Rangiku to hug Orihime and assert she knew the latter would not turn her away as she invites Orihime to take a bath with her since her outfit has left her sweaty and feeling compressed despite Orihime protesting that Rangiku is hurting her. After bluntly telling Hitsugaya he can join them if he has no other place to go and closing the front door to Orihime's apartment, leaving Hitsugaya sitting on the roof above and dismissing this, Rangiku gets in Orihime's bathtub and begins taking a bath.

Assuring Orihime, who is sitting outside the door, that the temperature is perfect and that the slightly small size of the tub is not a problem, a solemn Rangiku inquires about why Orihime is so somber. When a flustered Orihime claims to be fine, Rangiku threatens to do painful things to her if she does not talk, unnerving Orihime, who brings up how amazing Rukia is for snapping Ichigo out of his depressive state with just one kick despite how long he had been feeling that way and hunches up while calling herself a bad person due to thinking that she wanted Ichigo to be happy, only to find herself feeling jealous of Rukia after she cheered him up as she begins crying.

With tears running down her cheeks, Orihime declares she considers Rukia to be kind, strong, and beautiful and she loves her for cheering up Ichigo, but does not know why she feels this way when she is alone at home and not when she is at school. However, as Orihime criticizes herself for sounding so self-absorbed, Rangiku opens the door to stand naked before a confused Orihime prior to hugging and ferociously tickling her sides, leaving Orihime laughing uncontrollably and hitting her head on the wall. Coming to a stop on top of Orihime, Rangiku calls her foolish for not realizing Ichigo needs both her and Rukia right now as a kid who can barely stand on his own.

As she elaborates that jealousy is not necessarily a bad thing and points out how Orihime is doing her best to deal with her feelings instead of taking the easier routes of running away from them or lashing out at someone, Rangiku concludes that Orihime doing this means that she is a good person, which leads Orihime to cry into a supportive Rangiku's chest. Simultaneously, Shawlong, Nakeem Grindina, and Di Roy Rinker emerge from another Garganta in the air above Karakura Town near Grimmjow, who looks up from the corner of the building he is sitting on to see them standing in midair alongside Edrad Liones and Yylfordt Granz.

After assuring Grimmjow that no one saw them, Shawlong observes that he sensed several different, powerful Reiatsu across Karakura Town despite Ulquiorra's report, leading an unimpressed Grimmjow to perform Pesquisa alongside his Fracción and deduce that reinforcements from Soul Society were called in, which he asserts would not have happened if Ulquiorra had simply killed Ichigo. Irritated by this perceived mercy on Ulquiorra's part, Grimmjow addresses his Fracción by name and instructs them to begin identifying the individual Reiatsu by location. Back at the Kurosaki Clinic, Rukia is annoyed to find her bed in Karin and Yuzu's room.

In turn, Ichigo dryly notes that this is the normal thing to do, and when Rukia protests that she was going to sleep in Ichigo's closet and had brought furniture to brighten it up, Ichigo rejects this notion and takes offense at her calling his closet dirty. Simultaneously, Renji sits in the central room of the Urahara Shop and is given tea by Ururu Tsumugiya, who begins staring at him and calls Renji's face funny, to his annoyance. Elsewhere, Ikkaku sits on the roof of a building with Yumichika and brings up the onigiri they purchased earlier, which he observes the intricate and neat packaging of in their complex wrapping paper and how they are in all the local stores.

However, Ikkaku reveals that a sales girl told him they are replaced dozens of times each day, something he considers impossible and concludes that the sales girl could not possibly have the skill to pull this off and that something nefarious must be going on behind the scenes, with Yumichika concurring and admitting that he was just thinking the same thing. At Orihime's house, Rangiku finishes eating dinner with Orihime and praises the quality of the food, to Orihime's surprise. When Rangiku notes that the food was a lot better than it looked, Orihime tearfully thanks her due to no one ever eating what she prepares despite how much she cooks.

Admitting that she was beginning to think something was wrong with her taste buds, Orihime offers ice cream to Rangiku and brings back several different toppings for her to add. With Orihime and Rangiku enjoying the ice cream with toppings and relishing in how good it tastes, Hitsugaya sits silently on the rooftop above them and looks up at the moon. Simultaneously, in the air above Karakura Town, Grimmjow decides that he and his Fracción are ready and orders them to kill anyone who has even a trace of Reiatsu without holding back before the group splits up in multiple different directions across the city by leaping through the air.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
At the Fourth Division barracks, 7th Seat Hanatarō Yamada brings a large box of mail to Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu and 3rd Seat Yasochika Iemura as they are filling out documents. After Hanatarō hands one piece of mail to Isane and begins carrying the rest away, Iemura inquires about where the other mail is going, prompting Hanatarō to explain that it is for 4th Division 8th Seat Harunobu Ogidō and that most of it is from women, with Isane noting that Harunobu is popular with women. When Iemura questions why Harunobu is so popular, Hanatarō assures him that he has many finer points, but when Iemura inquires about what they are, both Hanatarō and Isane are unable to respond, to his chagrin.

Events

 * The Cold War (concluded)

Powers and Techniques Used
'''Arrancar Techniques:

Other Techniques:

Other Powers:

Anime Notes
Removed Content= Added/Expanded Content= Censorship= Changes=
 * Ulquiorra Cifer's memory of a bloodied and defeated Ichigo Kurosaki.
 * Tier Harribel experiencing Ulquiorra's memories through his Solita Vista.
 * Rukia Kuchiki warning Renji Abarai that Kisuke Urahara is a strange man.
 * Tōshirō Hitsugaya noting that he is hungry.
 * Additional Arrancar silhouettes being exposed to Ulquiorra's Solita Vista.
 * An extended flashback to Ichigo's fight against Yammy Llargo.
 * Rangiku Matsumoto slightly lifting up her skirt in an attempt to entice Ichigo as Renji Abarai blushes in astonishment and Ikkaku Madarame sighs.
 * Kon's ear twitching when Rangiku mentions staying with Orihime Inoue.
 * An extended flashback to Rukia forcing Ichigo to apologize to Orihime.
 * Shawlong Koufang getting Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's attention by saying his name.
 * Grimmjow instructing his Fracción to identify all of the individual Reiatsu they can sense across Karakura Town.
 * Ulquiorra is not shown pulling his left eye out of its socket, and the eyeball does not have a thin string of liquid connecting it to his socket when it is in his hand.
 * Ulquiorra keeps his left eye closed after removing its eyeball instead of openly displaying the empty socket.
 * Orihime and Rangiku's breasts are not visible when Kon envisions them naked.
 * Rangiku's rear end is not visible when she steps out of the bathroom.
 * In the manga, Ulquiorra tells his fellow Arrancar to witness what he saw after crushing his eyeball to initiate Solita Vista; here, he instead does so beforehand.
 * In the manga, Grimmjow interjects to criticize Ulquiorra by cutting the latter off while he is speaking to Sōsuke Aizen; here, he instead begins speaking after Ulquiorra has stopped.
 * In the manga, Renji does not know what Kon is and takes his Gikongan out with a Gokon Tekkō on a hunch while Rangiku admits that she did not know it would work on stuffed animals; here, having become familiar with him during the Bount Invasion, Renji instead takes out Kon's Gikongan to demonstrate his nature to Rangiku, who comments on how easily the Gikongan came out.
 * In the manga, Kon envisions Rangiku and Orihime together prior to Ichigo asking Rangiku if Orihime knows she and Hitsugaya will be staying with her; here, he instead does so afterward.
 * In the manga, when departing for the Urahara Shop, Renji explains that he has always wanted to meet Urahara due to him being the one who trained Ichigo to fight the Gotei 13 in just a few days; here, due to the events of the Bount Invasion, Ichigo instead inquires if Renji will be freeloading off of Urahara again, which Renji denies.
 * In the manga, Tatsuki Arisawa's bedroom has a poster of a famous martial artist on the wall behind her; here, it instead has two posters, one of a famous boxer and the other of a man kicking the air.
 * In the manga, when recalling her witnessing Ichigo's dual life as a Shinigami, Tatsuki remembers Rukia pulling him out of his body in the middle of their classroom and Renji being left holding his lifeless body; here, she instead remembers seeing Ichigo running across the track of Karakura Town in his Shinigami form and discussing his inner Hollow with Shinji Hirako.
 * In the manga, Keigo Asano relaying his encounter with Rangiku to Mizuiro Kojima and Grimmjow arriving in Karakura Town take place prior to Rukia convincing Isshin Kurosaki and Yuzu Kurosaki to let her stay at the Kurosaki Clinic; here, they instead take place afterward.
 * In the manga, both Isshin and Yuzu cling to Masaki Kurosaki's poster and inform her of Rukia joining the family; here, only Isshin does instead.
 * In the manga, Grimmjow's Fracción arrive in Karakura Town after Rukia is allowed to stay at the Kurosaki Clinic; here, they instead arrive after Orihime discusses her feelings with Rangiku.
 * In the manga, Grimmjow orders his Fracción to kill anyone they find with even a trace of Reiatsu right after they finish using Pesquisa; here, he instead does so after confirming that all of the individuals with high Reiatsu across Karakura Town have been located and right before he and his Fracción split up.
 * In the manga, Renji waits outside the Urahara Shop for hours after deciding to go there, with Urahara and his employees being confused as to why he is present; here, due to the events of the Bount Invasion, Renji is instead let inside and served tea by Ururu Tsumugiya, who makes fun of his face.
 * In the manga, Orihime brings Rangiku cookies and cream ice cream; here, she instead brings Rangiku a different type of ice cream and several toppings to add to it, which she considers the optimal way to eat it.