Through the Crumbling Forest, a Million Menos

 is the one hundred and forty-ninth episode of the Bleach anime.

Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends escape the Forest of Menos.

Summary
With Ashido Kanō having been struck by Vecuness in defense of Rukia Kuchiki and the pieces of his shattered mask falling to the ground, he and Rukia land in the center of the group of Menos Grande, where Rukia apologizes to him for causing this. As Ashido tells her to not worry about it, a chuckling Vecuness mocks Ashido for bringing a burden with him today and warns Ashido that he should be more concerned about himself, prompting Rukia to decide to defeat him in order to atone for Ashido getting hurt to protect her.

Upon hearing this, Vecuness proclaims that he will defeat her first and leaps down toward them, and as Rukia runs forward to confront him, Vecuness transforms his arms into long talons once more and extends them both toward Rukia, who evades both of them prior to jumping into the air. When Vecuness extends the spikes on his shoulder toward her as well, Rukia rolls out of the way in midair and lands on the ground below Vecuness before releasing her Shikai, Sode no Shirayuki, and using Some no mai, Tsukishiro to encase a startled Vecuness in a pillar of ice, which shatters to pieces along with him while Rukia asserts that she is not a burden.

Following Vecuness's death, the assembled Menos Grande lose their interest in the situation and walk away, leaving Ashido to kneel before the broken remnants of his mask as Rukia approaches him and expresses sorrow over him losing his last connection to his fallen comrade. After a moment's pause, Rukia suggests that Ashido return to Soul Society despite his feelings of guilt and atonement over the deaths of his comrades because the realm has changed for the better recently and his friends will forgive him for leaving this place since he is alive, only for Ashido to stand up and bluntly declare that he decides his own path.

However, with a Menos Grande roaring in the distance, Rukia and Ashido decide to keep moving and depart. Shortly afterward, Ichigo Kurosaki, Yasutora Sado, Uryū Ishida, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai, and Bawabawa reach the clearing, where Ichigo identifies the Reiatsu present as belonging to Nel Tu, Pesche Guatiche, and Dondochakka Birstanne prior to looking to Bawabawa for confirmation on this. Once Bawabawa nods his head, Renji asserts that they need to move in fast and grab the Arrancar so they can begin searching for Rukia as soon as possible due to them not having much time.

Though Uryū protests that it is dangerous to barge in without knowing the situation inside, Ichigo, Sado, and Renji run on ahead past him, to his annoyance. Once the group reaches the larger cavern adjoining the chamber where Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka were being held, Ichigo realizes that the Arrancar are not here and that only traces of their Reiatsu being present means that they must have been moved somewhere else. Suddenly, Bawabawa gets the group's attention and indicates that he knows where Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka are, prompting Ichigo to have him take them there on his back. Shortly afterward, the group is brought to a section of the forest near a cliff.

Bawabawa directs the group's attention to the top of the cliff, where Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka stand trembling. Though Ichigo is relieved that she is alright, a tearful Nel begs him to run away, which causes an alerted Ichigo to leap away alongside his friends just before a red Cero slams into the ground where they were standing. With several Menos Grande approaching and surrounding the group, a laughing Parateraul stands next to Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka, who are joined by several more Hollows, and admits that he failed to kill them in one shot like he planned as he warns Ichigo to not move an inch.

With Parateraul threatening to have the Hollows eat Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka if Ichigo tries anything, which Dondochakka affirms as Pesche asks Ichigo to save them. When Uryū assumes that Parateraul was planning to draw them out from the beginning by using the Arrancar as bait, Parateraul denies this and explains that Teres Holcan wants to fight Ashido himself after being appointed to guard the Forest of Menos, only for Uryū to question who Ashido is. After concluding that this is why he made the group come to this amusing place, to Renji's confusion, Parateraul has the Menos Grande begin firing Ceros at the group.

Elsewhere, Rukia hears explosions in the distance and wonders what the Reiatsu she is sensing is, but Ashido urges her to hurry toward the exit. However, the two of them are cut off when Teres appears in front of them and menacingly inquires about where Ashido thinks he is going. Back at the cliff, Ichigo and his friends are bombarded with dozens of Ceros that obscure them in a massive cloud of dust, leading Parateraul to celebrate this and assume that they were killed prior to the smoke clearing to reveal that they have disappeared. With Parateraul wondering where they went, Uryū rises up in front of him and forms his Heilig Bogen, Ginrei Kojaku.

Uryū begins firing hundreds of Heilig Pfeil at Parateraul and the Hollows, forcing the former to leap back while the latter are destroyed by the barrage. Moving to the top of the cliff with Shunpo, Ichigo grabs Nel and Pesche as Renji grabs Dondochakka prior to moving the three of them down to the ground below with the rest of the group, which Parateraul curses at. While Sado praises Uryū, who casually thanks Sado and adjusts his glasses, Pesche attempts to claim that this was their team effort, only for Ichigo to bluntly assert that he should not talk, leaving Pesche dejected as Renji observes that they do not have to hold back now.

With Ichigo drawing his Shikai, Zangetsu, and rushing forward in response to this, Teres notes to Rukia and Ashido that it is easy to get an understanding of their friends' Reiatsu from here and inquires if they wish to help their friends prior to refusing to let them pass because he wants them to die while unable to do anything about their friends being hurt. As an angered Rukia calls him wretched, Teres invites Ashido to finish this already, which prompts Ashido to tell Rukia to stand back because he has fought Teres many times and knows the latter cannot be underestimated like the others due to being placed in charge by Las Noches.

Despite Rukia's protests, Ashido states that he will defeat Teres as his final duty in this forest, to Rukia's astonishment, and requests that she tell him what has been happening outside afterward before leaping forward and drawing his Zanpakutō, which he slashes forward as Teres swings his long tail toward Ashido. Simultaneously, Ichigo clashes repeatedly with Parateraul, who matches Zangetsu with strikes from his Hierro-fortified shins and forearms prior to pushing Ichigo backward into the air with a powerful forward kick. Dodging Parateraul's subsequent spinning kick with Shunpo, Ichigo rushes up from below him and slashes his wrist.

While Parateraul curses at this, Uryū fires hundreds of Heilig Pfeil into the crowd of Menos Grande, who are felled one after another even as they counter with Ceros, and Renji evades a Cero in midair before releasing his Shikai, Zabimaru, and cutting three Menos Grande in half with one swing so he can move on to the next one. Nearby, Sado charges forward with his manifested Fullbring, Brazo Derecha de Gigante, and punches a Menos Grande's ankle hard enough to push it several dozen meters back, causing it to fall over in a massive cloud of dust and leaving Sado to look at his right fist with intrigue.

Following this, Parateraul clashes three more times with Ichigo and grows frustrated at his inability to overcome the latter's attacks prior to moving back and firing a red Cero from his outstretched palm. In response, Ichigo fires a Getsuga Tenshō that completely disperses the Cero and surges toward a shocked Parateraul, who screams in agony as the blast engulfs him. Upon seeing this, the Menos Grande begin roaring and milling about, to the confusion of those present, and while the frightened Arrancar join Ichigo and his friends, Uryū notices that the Menos Grande have begun moving slower with Parateraul gone.

Meanwhile, Ashido blocks Teres's swinging tail with his Zanpakutō and is pushed back through the air before he manages to deflect it, leap forward, and slash diagonally at Teres, who moves back to evade this and lands on the ground opposite Ashido. Knocked into the air by another swing of Teres's tail, Ashido springs back down off the tree he lands against and maneuvers around the spikes that sprout and extend toward him from the tip of the tail to come down on Teres with a vertical slash. Jumping high into the air to dodge this and followed by Ashido, Teres extends dozens of spikes from his back that converge on Ashido in midair.

After evading these with Shunpo, Ashido reappears next to Teres and slices through nearly all of his spikes, which drip with blood from the severed areas as Teres glares with irritation, rises up into the air, and opens his mouth to fire a red Cero from it down at Ashido. Though the blast seemingly obliterates him, to Teres's delight, Ashido appears unscathed above Teres and comes down on him to sever the latter's right arm near the elbow with another vertical slash, resulting in a stunned Teres falling on his back while his wound gushes blood. With Ashido pointing out how Parateraul's Reiatsu disappeared instead, Teres curses at him.

Behind his back and obscured from Ashido's view, Teres burrows his tail into the ground and begins extending it into the soil, and as Ashido declares that this is over, dozens of spikes burst out of the ground and extend toward him, forcing him to move into the air and out of the way while one of them scratches his left leg. When the spikes hurtle toward Rukia, Ashido warns her to get out of the way, only for Rukia to instead perform Tsugi no mai, Hakuren and encase both the spikes and Teres himself completely in ice, to the latter's disbelief. Upon seeing this, Ashido leaps forward and strikes Teres's head, causing his body to shatter to pieces.

In the aftermath, Rukia runs to Ashido's side and asks him if he is alright. Though Ashido affirms this and urges her to hurry onward, Rukia has him wait so she can heal his leg wound with Kaidō, which he thanks her for. Back at the cliff, Renji activates his Bankai, Hihiō Zabimaru, and destroys dozens of Menos Grande by swinging it through them while Ichigo fires multiple Getsuga Tenshō that obliterate many more. In the clearing dust, Renji notes that they seem to have cleaned things up as Ichigo inquires if his friends are alright, with Sado and Uryū affirming this and the Arrancar huddling together in exhaustion.

Following this, Dondochakka informs Ichigo and the others of the exit from the Forest of Menos being a hole on the cliff above them, which Uryū is surprised by. However, when Renji asserts that they cannot leave without Rukia, which Ichigo concurs with before deciding that they should go look for her, Rukia walks up behind them and assures Ichigo that this will not be necessary, leaving the group startled by her sudden appearance. After apologizing for worrying her friends, Rukia introduces them to Ashido, who joins her, and explains that he is a Shinigami like them who saved her and allowed her to reach this point.

Once Ichigo infers from this that the exit really is above them, Dondochakka questions if he did not believe the Arrancar telling him so prior. Suddenly, the group is interrupted by the distant roars of Menos Grande, which prompts Renji to comment on their persistence and the Arrancar to begin panicking about their impending doom. With Ichigo beginning to assert that they should dispatch these Menos Grande, Ashido observes that they are currently far away and Rukia reminds Ichigo that they should get out of here because they came to Hueco Mundo to save Orihime Inoue, leading Ichigo to acknowledge this and agree with her.

Shortly afterward, Bawabawa carries the group up the side of the nearby wall to the wide gap within, and once Dondochakka is pulled up, Ashido draws the group's attention to the light ahead, which he reveals is the exit they need to head toward. When Ichigo wonders if this is where they came in through, Ashido clarifies that it is not and that they will need to get on the current of sand past the light in order to reach the surface. However, after the group begins running forward, Ashido notices a Menos Grande charging a Cero outside the gap and stops just in time to shield himself when the blast hits the floor of the gap behind him.

While an annoyed Renji notes that they are here, a wounded Parateraul stands on the edge of the gap in front of multiple Menos Grande and refuses to let the Shinigami escape as the Menos Grande begin charging Ceros behind him. Though Ichigo and Renji run past Ashido to confront the Menos Grande, he moves in front of them with Shunpo and deflects a fired Cero with the large mask from his coat prior to demanding that they disengage and keep going. With Ashido continuing to move around rapidly with Shunpo and deflect Ceros with the mask, Rukia runs forward in concern just as one of the deflected Ceros strikes the roof.

The force of the blast breaks off chunks of the rock and causes the passage to begin collapsing, which leads Uryū to urge his friends to leave while Rukia tells Ashido to come with them. Promising to follow them out as he continues deflecting Ceros, Ashido dodges a punch from an irate Parateraul with Shunpo and draws his Zanpakutō to attack the latter, with Rukia being separated from him by the falling rocks creating a barrier. After clashing with Parateraul's tail and forcing him to move back, Ashido rushes forward and stabs his Zanpakutō through Parateraul's side, resulting in the latter falling to the ground below while screaming Sōsuke Aizen's name.

Though Rukia desperately calls out to him, Ashido faces away from her and tells Rukia to save her friend prior to leaping back into the Forest of Menos with a yell, leaving a sorrowful Rukia to watch as the rocks fill the passageway completely. Soon afterward, in the desert of Hueco Mundo above, a huge cloud of sand bursts out of the ground while Ichigo, Rukia, Sado, Uryū, and Renji fall to the ground and Nel, Pesche, Dondochakka, and Bawabawa land ungracefully on their heads. Despite this, Nel cheerfully proclaims that they made it back to the desert, Pesche states he never thought he would see the moonlight again, and Dondochakka reveals they are almost at Las Noches.

Near the celebrating Arrancar, a kneeling Rukia brings up Ashido mentioning how the Adjuchas had gotten stronger recently and admits that she could not bring herself to tell him fellow Shinigami had allied with the Hollows to change the world with the Hōgyoku because he had been fighting here for several hundred years. Crouching next to Rukia, Ichigo suggests that they steal the Hōgyoku from Aizen in addition to saving Orihime, and when the Arrancar proclaim that they are about to leave, Rukia and her friends walk over to Bawabawa, where Rukia pauses and mentally promises to come back for Ashido one day.

Some time later, in her room in Las Noches, Orihime stands before the window, having donned a white outfit given to her by the Arrancar to wear. From the doorway behind Orihime, Ulquiorra Cifer notes that she looks quite good in the outfit, and when a startled Orihime questions how long he has been there, an annoyed Ulquiorra states that he has only been here for a moment and tells her to stop overreacting. Stepping forward, Ulquiorra informs Orihime of her friends entering Hueco Mundo, leaving her astonished. Outside Las Noches, Bawabawa reaches the wall, allowing Ichigo and his friends to drop down to the sand below.

Upon approaching the wall and wondering how they can get through it, Rukia deduces that it is not made of Sekkiseki, which prompts Ichigo to assert that they can just break through it and draw Zangetsu as he invites Renji to join him, leaving Renji annoyed at being ordered around. With Ulquiorra revealing that Orihime's friends have come to rescue her, Renji releases Zabimaru and attacks the wall alongside Ichigo, who surges with Reiatsu, in a powerful explosion of force.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
In the Seireitei, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai asks 9th Division Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi about what one should do when their Zanpakutō breaks. While Hisagi wonders if Renji's Zanpakutō broke and Renji clarifies that this is simply hypothetical, 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi approaches them and reveals that he could repair it for a small fee. Handing Renji and Hisagi a catalog for his services, Mayuri notes that Zabimaru being a monkey makes the fourth option available as Hisagi expresses amazement at Mayuri being able to change a Zanpakutō Spirit's sex and Renji begs Mayuri to do this for him, both envisioning a female and humanoid Zabimaru in the process.

Events

 * Trapped In The Forest of Menos (concluded)
 * Enter The Home of Hollows

Powers and Techniques Used
Zanpakutō Techniques:

Hohō techniques:

Kidō Techniques:

Hollow Techniques:

Quincy Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Bankai:

Spirit Weapons:

Fullbring:

Anime Notes
Removed Content= Added/Expanded Content= Errors= Trivia=
 * Nel Tu congratulating Bawabawa on making it to Las Noches while Uryū Ishida comments on them finally reaching the structure.
 * Ichigo Kurosaki glowing with Reiatsu as he prepares to attack the outer wall of Las Noches alongside Renji Abarai.
 * When Teres Holcan is frozen solid by Rukia Kuchiki, he has both arms fully intact despite Ashido Kanō cutting off his right arm near the elbow less than a moment prior.
 * The events surrounding Ashido were originally intended to appear in the manga as well, but ended up being added to the anime storyline when Tite Kubo was forced to cut them for pacing and production time.