Marching Out the ZOMBIES 2 (episode)

For the chapter of the same name, see Marching Out the ZOMBIES 2.

Marching Out the ZOMBIES 2 is the twenty-third episode of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and the three hundred and eighty-ninth episode of the Bleach anime overall.

12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi contends with a zombified 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya while 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki faces off against PePe Waccabrada.

Summary
Having seen a zombified 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya appear on a nearby rooftop, 11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame and 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa express disbelief at this after having sensed the former's Reiatsu nearly vanish, and when Hitsugaya prepares to attack, Yumichika attempts to protect himself and Ikkaku with a Bakudō spell, only for Ikkaku to frantically warn him that this will not stop Hitsugaya and slam his Shikai, Hōzukimaru, into Yumichika, sending him flying back.

With Hitsugaya's slash unleashing a massive wave of ice, Yumichika tumbles to a halt and thanks Ikkaku for his reckless action, only to be horrified upon seeing that Ikkaku's right leg has been frozen by the blast. Though Ikkaku claims to be lucky to have only lost a leg since Hitsugaya is still a captain even as a zombie, Hitsugaya appears behind him and stabs his Zanpakutō into a cursing Ikkaku's right shoulder before slashing him across the back, forcing Yumichika to intercept Hitsugaya's next slash with his own Zanpakutō, promise to make Hitsugaya pay for hurting Ikkaku, and attempt to release his true Shikai, Ruri'iro Kujaku.

Before Yumichika can do so, Hitsugaya knees him in the stomach with a shard of ice on his kneecap, headbutts Yumichika, and finally slashes him across the chest, leaving him to collapse as blood splatters across the ground. Nearby, 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi comments on Hitsugaya's lack of diminished mobility despite his zombification, prompting Hitsugaya to attack him as well. However, Mayuri reappears unharmed behind Hitsugaya once he concludes his slash and theorizes that the latter was zombified while still alive, which leads Giselle Gewelle to confirm that this keeps the cells of the zombies fresh while landing behind Mayuri.

Once Giselle concludes that this lets those zombies move faster and also removes their personality to make them easier to control, which she describes as fully positive for her, Mayuri questions what is fun about controlling individuals with no minds of their own, only for Giselle to counter that she does not know since she is not a sadist. Suddenly, Charlotte Chuhlhourne lands in front of Hitsugaya, whom he presumes will be his next opponent now that he has defeated Bambietta Basterbine prior to expressing joy that an attractive young man like Hitsugaya will battle him and moving to attack the latter with his hand.

Before Charlotte can react to Mayuri's urgent warning to retreat, Hitsugaya slashes through his chest and cuts off his left hand with a single attack, leaving Charlotte to collapse as a bloodied Hitsugaya attempts to finish him off. Moving next to Charlotte, Mayuri erects a net-like Kidō barrier to block Hitsugaya's strike, punishes Charlotte for not realizing Hitsugaya is far more powerful than him by leaving him near-dead, and turns to Hitsugaya, whom he refuses to allow to kill his test subjects. Upon remembering that conversing with Hitsugaya is useless, Mayuri asserts that he would never harm someone without their consent.

After attributing this to himself overflowing with kindness, Mayuri announces that he has several drugs to test on Hitsugaya and assures the latter that this is all for the sake of the Seireitei. Quickly evading a strike from Hitsugaya, Mayuri fires a swath of sticky web-like fluid from his sleeves that Hitsugaya leaps off the ground and moves around with Shunpo in midair in order to dodge. When Hitsugaya comes down on him and begins performing rapid slashes with his Zanpakutō, Mayuri effortlessly blocks every attack and assumes that Hitsugaya is wondering how he can be so proficient in Zanjutsu when he rarely leaves his laboratory.

Mayuri informs Hitsugaya that he installed a sensor on his Zanpakutō recently that detects and intercepts any blade that comes within two feet of himself at an angle of 60 degrees or more, allowing it to automatically block all of Hitsugaya's strikes. In turn, Hitsugaya attempts to drive his knee into Mayuri, but the latter catches this with a cushion in his left hand and infers that Hitsugaya thought to attack him with something other than his sword before pointing out the possibility that he was baiting Hitsugaya into this while the cushion flattens onto Hitsugaya's knee and explodes, leaving it visibly burnt and forcing Hitsugaya to cover it with ice.

Despite this, when Mayuri slashes at him, Hitsugaya blocks it with his Zanpakutō and activates his Bankai, Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, to encase Mayuri's Zanpakutō in ice and perform a vertical slash up the middle of Mayuri's body before shoving his blade through Mayuri's chest, causing the latter to cough up blood. However, as he begins to address Hitsugaya, Mayuri appears unharmed several feet away from him, with Hitsugaya no longer having Daiguren Hyōrinmaru activated, and announces that he has several drugs to test on Hitsugaya, whom he assures that this is all for the sake of the Seireitei.

Leaping forward to attack Mayuri, Hitsugaya responds to the former assuming that he is wondering how Mayuri can be so proficient in Zanjutsu when he rarely leaves his laboratory by asserting that Mayuri already told him about this and demanding to know what is going on, though Mayuri merely expresses delight at discovering that Hitsugaya can still hold a conversation in this state. After activating Daiguren Hyōrinmaru once more, Hitsugaya swings his Zanpakutō to the side, engulfing Mayuri in a wave of icy air that completely freezes him solid. With his body shattering and thawing out, Mayuri commends Hitsugaya for his strength.

Suddenly, Mayuri appears unharmed several feet away from a startled Hitsugaya, who no longer has Daiguren Hyōrinmaru activated, and announces that he has several drugs to test on Hitsugaya while the latter questions what is happening. Realizing that Hitsugaya's brain is becoming aware, Mayuri greets Hitsugaya and inquires about how many times he has returned to this point before details how all of his drugs provide new and wondrous sensations to the users in order to bestow them with power, sensation, reaction, and courage beyond human comprehension, with Hitsugaya himself having been given the power to see the past.

Mayuri elaborates that Hitsugaya's mind returns to a moment in the past every time he crosses a certain point in their battle, with that point being when he kills Mayuri, and clarifies that Hitsugaya's future continues forever if he does not kill Mayuri and ceases whenever he does kill Mayuri, presenting a predicament where Hitsugaya is unable to win the fight. However, Mayuri notes that the one shortcoming of the Postcognition Drug is that it affects the user's hippocampus, which controls the brain's short-term memory, and prevents them from remembering how many times they have returned to the past.

With Mayuri revealing that the part of the brain which controls one's sense of balance becomes paralyzed for thirty seconds once the user returns to the past ten or more times, Hitsugaya drops his Zanpakutō and collapses as Mayuri presumes that Hitsugaya has no issue with this paralysis since he is so kind-hearted, only to note that it can be fatal if it occurs in the middle of battle. After lamenting that the Postcognition Drug cannot currently be introduced to the market even though side-effects are inevitable with new drugs, Mayuri asks Hitsugaya to ponder when the drug was administered to him and promises to receive his answer in the past.

Stabbing his Zanpakutō down into Hitsugaya's neck, Mayuri releases his Shikai, Ashisogi Jizō, to paralyze Hitsugaya's limbs before withdrawing a syringe from his sleeve and claiming it pains him greatly to administer this to someone who cannot fight back. As Hitsugaya begs him to stop, Mayuri notes Hitsugaya can at least resist with his words and pushes the syringe into Hitsugaya's neck, causing a darkness to begin spreading across his body while Hitsugaya screams in pain. In response, the zombified 3rd Division Captain Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, 9th Division Captain Kensei Muguruma, and 10th Division]] Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto appear behind Mayuri.

Mayuri simply states that another two captains and a lieutenant being turned into zombies as well is too pitiful to even be funny and asks his Arrancar to take care of them since they are interrupting his follow-up observation, prompting Luppi Antenor to attack Rangiku, Cirucci Sanderwicci to clash with Rose, and Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio to kick Kensei. With the attacks kicking up a huge cloud of dust, Mayuri continues impassively watching the darkness progress across a screaming Hitsugaya's body. Meanwhile, 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki stands among the rubble before seeing Robert Accutrone rushing toward him.

Having activated his Quincy: Vollständig, Grimaniel, Robert leaps over Byakuya and fires several shots with his Reishi Pistol, forcing Byakuya to block each with his Zanpakutō prior to Candice Catnipp rushing in with her own Quincy: Vollständig, Barbarriel, and rapidly slashing at Byakuya with two of her wings held in her hands. As Byakuya is pushed back by this, NaNaNa Najahkoop emerges on a chunk of rubble behind him and uses his Morphine Pattern to imprint a U-shaped mark onto Byakuya and visualize the latter's Reiatsu, only to deduce with shock that there are no openings within it.

When NaNaNa forms his Heilig Bogen and fires three Heilig Pfeil at him, Byakuya simply releases his Shikai, Senbonzakura, to bypass this and engulf a shrieking NaNaNa, who is slammed into a nearby building and incapacitated. Following this, Candice attempts to use Galvano Javelin, but sees the crackling electricity behind her back fade and realizes that she has run out of power before Byakuya overwhelms her with Senbonzakura as well, leaving her prone on the ground. Reappearing behind Byakuya with his Reishi Pistol leveled at the former's head, Robert fires another shot that Byakuya evades with Shunpo.

After dodging Byakuya's subsequent slash of his sealed Zanpakutō with Hirenkyaku, Robert vows to defeat him and Ichigo Kurosaki so he can join Yhwach's side and initiates Sklaverei to empower Grimaniel, adding a mask and boots made of Reishi to it, before rushing toward Byakuya, who in turn activates his Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, and uses it to cut through the single bullet that Robert manages to fire, leaving the latter to be consumed and defeated by the horde of blade petals. In the aftermath, Byakuya stands over the three incapacitated Sternritter, whom Liltotto Lamperd calls pathetic.

Behind her, Meninas McAllon points out that it makes sense for them to be the only ones left considering their abilities, which Liltotto acknowledges as she questions if Byakuya is really the captain defeated by Äs Nödt and curses his toughness. Taking a bite out of an apple, Liltotto demands to know where PePe Waccabrada has gone since the battle would be more even with his powers, and when Meninas insists that they can fight without him since she finds him disgusting, Liltotto counters that he is better than nothing. During this, 9th Division Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi lands near Byakuya and announces that he defeated one of the Sternritter.

Looking around, Hisagi realizes that Byakuya has already defeated three others and ruminates on how this displays the difference between a captain and a lieutenant while approaching Byakuya with his Shikai, Kazeshini, only for Byakuya to strike away one of Hisagi's kusarigama with his Zanpakutō. Shaken by this, Hisagi questions Byakuya's intentions and moves to swing the other kusarigama at him, prompting Byakuya to casually block it with his Zanpakutō, return the question since he does not understand why Hisagi is attacking him, and theorize that Hisagi is under the enemy's control or an enemy in disguise.

In response, Hisagi assures Byakuya that he is himself and not being controlled by the enemy, and as Liltotto realizes who is responsible, Hisagi proclaims that he is just following the will of his master, PePe, before attacking Byakuya again. Nearby, PePe floats along the ground on his basket and describes how a single glance from him will split the one heart and body that everyone has in two so they can belong to him prior to announcing himself as Sternritter "L", The Love. Having formed a heart shape with his hands during this, PePe fires a heart-shaped projectile from them at Liltotto, who dodges so that the heart instead hits Meninas.

Instantly becoming enamored with PePe and ignoring Liltotto's warning, Meninas enlarges the muscles in her right arm and punches Liltotto in the face, leaving PePe to halfheartedly tell them to not fight over him and claim that he never even considered killing them all so he could keep the glory to himself. With Byakuya repeatedly clashing with Hisagi, PePe asserts that all battles are sad because they come from love, though he declares that this is also what makes them beautiful. Suddenly, Byakuya slams the hilt of his Zanpakutō into Hisagi's abdomen, causing him to collapse, and assumes that PePe is done with his speech since Byakuya is also done.

Byakuya deduces that PePe's babbling about love simply means he can control people at will and concludes that cutting down the puppeteer will also sever the strings from the puppet while raising his Zanpakutō. Confirming this, PePe praises Byakuya and calls him scary before unleashing a heart-shaped beam of energy from his hands that Byakuya rushes across the rubble to evade, tracing a pink trail behind him. After cutting through the beam with his Zanpakutō, Byakuya observes that The Love cannot control anything without a Soul due to the rubble simply being partially melted, only for PePe to question why he blocked it with his Zanpakutō if he knew this.

Upon seeing his Zanpakutō moving toward his head, Byakuya is forced to let it cut into his free hand instead while PePe affirms that he knows of Zanpakutō having their own souls and reveals that this is why he did not steal a Bankai during the first invasion, as he can steal a Zanpakutō at any time. With Byakuya throwing his Zanpakutō away so it embeds itself in a nearby broken wall, PePe wonders why he did this since it has only presented an opportunity for a Shinigami who loves him to use a weapon that loves him while Hisagi pulls the Zanpakutō out of the wall with his right hand and coughs up a small amount of blood.

Claiming that the power of love lets one overcome any challenge and pursue any goal, PePe calls it magnificent as Hisagi begins rapidly assaulting Byakuya with both his Zanpakutō and Kazeshini. While moving back across the rooftops and fending off Hisagi's strikes with Hakuda, Byakuya internally muses that he can only do this for so long and chastises himself for discarding his Zanpakutō instead of breaking its blade. Suddenly, PePe appears behind Byakuya and hits the back of his right shoulder with Love Kiss, but the heart-shaped mark it leaves instantly shatters, to PePe's surprise.

After assuming that Byakuya has no love in his heart and refusing to forgive him for this, PePe traces a heart through the air with his hands and activates his Quincy: Vollständig, Gudoero, destroying his glasses in the process and stripping him down to a large thong. As he asserts that he is now as innocent as a baby and that this must make Byakuya want to love him, PePe embeds three Love Ropes in Byakuya's right shoulder, and when Hisagi moves to attack Byakuya, PePe orders him to wait since he has decided to kill Byakuya with his own love before pulling a Heilig Bogen and Heilig Pfeil out of his throat.

However, with PePe preparing to fire the Heilig Pfeil at Byakuya, he is kicked in the face by Kensei and sent crashing into a building dozens of meters away. While the Love Ropes disappear, Byakuya turns to see Kensei and Rose, now with black markings on their faces, and questions what happened to them. When Hisagi falls on Kensei from the air with a downward stab, the latter punches him in the gut and slams him into the ground, knocking Hisagi out and causing him to release Byakuya's Zanpakutō, which Kensei picks up and approaches a cautious Byakuya with before offering it to him handle-first, to Byakuya's further surprise.

Stepping up behind Byakuya, Mayuri asserts that it is quite a coincidence to come across an enemy like this because it is the perfect time to test his Corpse Unit. Upon being interrogated by Byakuya about what he did to Kensei and Rose, Mayuri counters that he has actually saved them. In the past, the zombified Kensei and Rose lie incapacitated on the ground before the Arrancar, where Mayuri asks them how it felt to travel to the past and reveals that he injected the Postcognition Drug into the bodily fluids of the Arrancar, causing Kensei and Rose to come into contact with it when the two of them were sprayed with their blood.

In turn, Cirucci raises her hand behind Mayuri, who advises her against trying to inflict it on him since his body has a tolerance for all of the drugs he creates. With Kensei groaning in pain, Mayuri promises to ease his pain shortly and injects more of the drug from his sleeve into both Kensei and Rose, causing them to begin screaming as Mayuri turns his attention to Giselle and infers that the amount of blood she needs to zombify someone is dependent on the victim's Reiatsu, with weak individuals needing only a single drop of blood to reach their brain while strong ones need the blood to multiply and travel throughout their body.

After concluding that this is why the captains and lieutenant she has taken control of have a reddish-brown hue to their skin, which Giselle does not deny, Mayuri reveals that his drug alters the composition of that blood by using the blood samples he has of every officer in the Gotei 13 to replace Giselle's blood with a blood-like substance of his own making. Though Giselle admits to not understanding what he is saying, Mayuri decides to skip to the conclusion and informs Giselle that this drug turns her zombies into his zombies, and as Kensei and Rose rise behind him, Mayuri thanks a mortified Giselle for listening and has Kensei stab her in the chest.

In the present, Byakuya asserts that Mayuri could have let Kensei and Rose die if he wanted to and demands to know why he is toying with their lives, prompting Mayuri to observe that they have a difference of opinion as usual and ask Byakuya if he does not believe it is the duty of the Gotei 13 to protect the Seireitei even in death, though Byakuya calls this a rationalization and Mayuri dismisses him. Suddenly, a chuckling PePe fires a heart-shaped mark at Kensei's left shoulder and claims that The Love is stronger than The Zombie since he has taken control of one of Giselle's zombies in the past, only for Kensei to punch him in the face.

With PePe being propelled through more rubble by the force of this, Mayuri admonishes him for not listening, reminds PePe that Kensei and Rose are now his zombies instead of Giselle's, and proclaims that his zombies do not understand the concept of love, leaving PePe horrified as Kensei batters him with Sandbag Beat and flings him into another building. On the ground floor, PePe curses Mayuri and vows to make him pay, but is startled when a bloodied Liltotto appears behind him. While PePe claims that he is glad to see she is okay, Liltotto wordlessly activates her Quincy: Vollständig, Gagael, and approaches him.

After reminding PePe that he tried to kill the other Sternritter by pitting them against each other, Liltotto asserts that he knows how to take responsibility for that and begins enlarging her mouth with The Glutton, leaving PePe to tearfully beg for forgiveness before Liltotto devours him. Simultaneously, a blue pillar of Reishi bursts through the sky and destroys a large portion of the Vestibule-Road. With chunks of debris raining down on the platform, Yhwach lands alongside Uryū Ishida and Jugram Haschwalth, where he comments on the appearance of the Soul King Palace.

Fights & Events

 * Battle of the Zombies (concluded)
 * The Gotei 13 vs. The Sternritter

Powers and Techniques Used
Hakuda Techniques:

Hohō Techniques:

Kidō Techniques:
 * Unnamed Barrier

Quincy Techniques:



Arrancar Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Bankai:

Spirit Weapons:
 * Reishi Pistol
 * Reishi Pistol

Schrifts:

Items:
 * Postcognition Drug

Anime Notes
Removed Content= Added/Expanded Content= Changes= Errors=
 * Yumichika Ayasegawa expressing disbelief at seeing a zombified Tōshirō Hitsugaya.
 * PePe Waccabrada denying that battles occur just because there are differences in beliefs between combatants and listing off the different types of love that spur conflict while also asserting that attachment to material things is love.
 * Byakuya Kuchiki pointing out that PePe's control over people does not mean anything if his victims are immobilized.
 * Byakuya noting that he could have simply cut off his arm if that were the thing struck by The Love.
 * PePe claiming that Byakuya's purpose is to die for him.
 * NaNaNa Najahkoop, Candice Catnipp, and Robert Accutrone battling Byakuya, with NaNaNa realizing Byakuya has no openings in his Reiatsu, Candice running out of electric power when she tries to use Galvano Javelin, and Robert vowing to join Yhwach in the Soul King Palace and empowering Grimaniel with Sklaverei before Byakuya defeats them all with Senbonzakura and Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.
 * Liltotto Lamperd eating an apple while discussing Byakuya with Meninas McAllon.
 * Shots of NaNaNa, Candice, and Robert lying defeated as Shūhei Hisagi realizes that Byakuya defeated them.
 * Byakuya blocking his Zanpakutō with his left hand when it turns against him.
 * Cirucci Sanderwicci raising her hand when thinking about splashing Mayuri Kurotsuchi with her blood.
 * In the manga, when Mayuri Kurotsuchi is explaining the effect of the Postcognition Drug on the brain's hippocampus, a cross-section of a human brain is shown; here, Mayuri himself is shown talking instead.
 * In the manga, Robert is left lying face-down upon being defeated; here, he is instead left lying on his back.
 * In the manga, Kensei is in his base state when he performs Sandbag Beat against PePe; here, he instead has Tekken Tachikaze activated.
 * Hitsugaya's usage of Daiguren Hyōrinmaru do not add four more spikes to the hilt of his Zanpakutō.