Gray Shadow, the Secret of the Dolls

 is the eighty-third episode of the Bleach anime.

Gō Koga tells Ichigo Kurosaki that he reminds him of a boy from his past, Cain, whom Koga was assigned to train by Jin Kariya until tragedy struck.

Summary
Outside a set of warehouses, Rukia Kuchiki hold out her arm and fires '''Hadō #33. Sōkatsui at Yoshi, who mocks her for being slow and blocks the blast with the fan of her Doll, Nieder''', before running forward, leaping into the air, and falling down on Rukia with a kick to her stomach that sends the latter flying back to Orihime Inoue and Kurōdo. Though Orihime expresses concern for her, Rukia assures the former that she is alright, to Orihime's relief.

With Yoshi questioning if this is the best she can do, Rukia notes that an Eishōhaki spell is not enough and that an incantation will take too long against Yoshi's speed, prompting Kurōdo to declare that they can leave this to him, surprising Orihime and Rukia as he steps to the right and uses his Shape-shifting to take on the form of 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai. Drawing his sword, Kurōdo promises to distract Yoshi in order to give Rukia enough time to recite an incantation while Nieder comments on his intent to fight with a sword.

As Yoshi asserts that it does not matter because they will simply defeat him, Kurōdo rushes forward and begins slashing repeatedly at her, only for Yoshi to effortlessly dodge each swing. Despite Rukia's concern, Orihime reveals that Kurōdo will be fine due to his ability to copy the fighting ability of anyone whose form he takes and tells Rukia to recite the incantation now while running off to help Kurōdo, who slashes at Yoshi and refuses to give up after she blocks with the fan of Nieder. However, Yoshi admonishes Kurōdo for believing this will be easy and pushes his sword away as she begins rapidly jabbing the sword of Nieder at Kurōdo, forcing him to block just as rapidly.

Watching this, Rukia begins to recite the incantation for another '''Hadō #33. Sōkatsui, and as Yoshi kicks Kurōdo into the air, Orihime jumps up behind him and summons Tsubaki to use Koten Zanshun, though Yoshi simply blocks this with the fan of Nieder''' while simultaneously crossing swords with Kurōdo. Upon completing the incantation, Rukia fires a massive and powerful blast, but Yoshi shifts Nieder into its armored form, enlarging the shield to cover her whole body, and leaps above the blast as she admits that they were close, shocking Rukia, Orihime, and Kurōdo. Yoshi lands in the middle of the group and kicks Kurōdo into a closed garage shutter.

While Nieder mocks their effort, Yoshi throws her sword into Kurōdo's shoulder, causing him to scream in pain, and pulls it out, leaving Kurōdo to collapse and return to his normal form. With Rukia cursing her, a smirking Yoshi inquires about what she and Orihime will do next. Meanwhile, at the construction site, Gō Koga and his Doll, Dalk, stand over an injured Ichigo, who lies on the ground and realizes that he cannot move. As Ichigo's vision begins to blur, Koga muses that he seems to be fated to witness the deaths of young men with bright futures ahead of them, which saddens him, and sees Cain in Ichigo's position while recalling him begging for his life to be saved.

In the past, outside a house in the grassy countryside at the edge of a cliff, a younger Koga does his laundry and is surprised to see a younger Jin Kariya approaching him with Cain. After greeting Koga as Claude, Kariya wonders if Koga has a different name now, and when asked what he wants, Kariya explains that he is entrusting Cain to Koga and wishes for him to be taught how to live as a Bount. Exchanging glares with Cain, Koga refuses to do this since Bount live by training themselves in secret and believing in only their own strength before concluding that he has no intention of conspiring with anyone, leading a disgruntled Cain to walk away as Kariya walks up to Koga.

Kariya genially claims that he wants to entrust Cain to Koga precisely because the latter believes this, only to grow stern when Koga reiterates his refusal and grasp Koga's shoulder while insisting that he is asking a favor of the latter. After clarifying that he wants to entrust Cain to Koga due to the latter living for a mind-numbingly endless period of time, Kariya describes Cain as the seed of hope for the Bount. With Cain drawing in the dirt with a stick, Koga questions what will happen if he refuses, which prompts Kariya to state that they will lose an important friend and that he is sure Koga will accept as he observes that Cain's name is all he has for himself.

While Koga notes that Cain does not even have a bit of respect, Kariya reminds Koga that he has a lot of time to train Cain and make him into a person before handing the latter a book on Doll summoning that he wrote with the hope of allowing at least one of their comrades who does not have a Doll to obtain a bright light. Wishing glory upon their tribe, Kariya departs, leaving Cain to walk over to Koga and watch Kariya walk away silently. Upon being asked if he is leaving as well, Cain belligerently declares that he shares Koga's sentiment of refusing to work with another Bount and begins to walk away, but Koga quickly catches up to him and restrains Cain's right arm behind his back.

Angered by this, Cain turns to confront Koga and finds himself picked up by his suspenders and thrown several meters away, losing his cap in the process. As he approaches Cain, Koga promises to let him go if he still wishes to leave, but warns Cain that he will not survive for very long if this is his level of power. Sidestepping Cain's attempt to rush at him and shoving the former into the dirt from behind, Koga instructs him to help with the farmwork if he understands this. Over the following days, Cain assists Koga in hoeing the fields, chopping up logs for firewood, climbing trees, carrying buckets of water on a rod over his shoulders, doing laundry, and harvesting crops.

Some time later, Koga and Cain walk into a town with sacks of potatoes on their backs, where Koga enters a bar and offers them to sell them to the bartender. As Cain sits outside and three patrons glare at Koga, the bartender praises the quality of the potatoes and pays Koga, who thanks him. At a different shop, Koga buys a coat with the coins from the bartender and gives it to Cain before explaining that it is going to get cold at this time of year and that Cain cannot train if he is frozen, causing Cain to look at the coat and smile. Upon leaving the town with Koga, Cain flaunts his new coat and thanks Koga for it because it has turned out to be good that he met the latter.

Cain reflects on how he was living in a horrendous way prior to meeting Koga and initially considered the latter to be a joke, and after telling Cain to be proud to have been born a Bount, Koga resumes walking, leading a surprised Cain to run after him. Ahead of them, the three men from the bar sit on a crumbling wall and snicker as they begin to follow Koga and Cain after the latter pass them. Dragging a long stick on the ground, one of the men catches up to Cain and comments on how nice his jacket is while another orders him and Koga to leave all their belongings here for their own good. With Koga coming to a halt as the second man confronts him, Cain demands to know who they are.

Despite this, Koga merely tells Cain that these men are not worth wasting his time on, which leads the second man to punch him in the chest, only for his strike to have no effect on Koga. Intimidated by this, the second man walks back to the others and the first man swings his stick at Koga, but is shocked when the stick breaks in two on impact and does not injure Koga, who pulls a protesting Cain away and asserts that they are leaving as the men stare after them. Later, with the sun beginning to set, Koga and Cain walk through a forested area and stops to look at each other. Suddenly, the two of them see the men from before running toward them with comrades wielding weapons.

Koga observes that the men followed them just as he predicted they would as one of the men aims and fires a rifle at Koga, striking the ground near his feet, to Cain's shock. Glancing at Cain, Koga remains still while the men accuse them of being forest monsters and proclaim that monsters should stay in the forest. With the men preparing to attack them, Koga notes that it cannot be helped and summons Dalk, further shocking Cain and terrifying the men. After being told by Koga that he is leaving the men to her, Dalk promises to give it her best since it has been a while, and when one of the men fires his rifle at her, Dalk simply extends her left arm and chops off the barrel.

Seeing this, the men turn around and run away screaming, leaving Cain to express amazement at this being Koga's Doll. As she turns around to face Cain, Dalk extends her left forearm again and chops down a nearby tree, startling Cain, while noting he is still alone. Upon hearing this, Koga assures a grim-faced Cain he will have a Doll one day as well because he is a chosen Human and not a stray dog, which Cain repeats to himself. Later, outside a cave under a cliff, Koga sits by a campfire as Cain practices hand-to-hand combat on a hanging wooden pillar studded with dull spikes. When Koga instructs him to leave it at this for today, Cain insists he can still train more.

Upon being asked by Koga what he wants to do once he becomes strong, Cain pauses and breaks the wooden pillar in two with a punch. After reiterating Koga's question, Cain asserts that he wants to catch up to Koga and live with him if possible since he has found the hard-working lifestyle of Koga to make him feel like he is actually living, which Koga acknowledges before observing it might be time for Cain to gain a Doll of his own, to the latter's surprise. Koga pulls out Kariya's book and details how the steps to gain a Doll are written within as he stands up. However, when Cain reaches for it, Koga pulls it back and clarifies a Doll will understand Cain only if he raises it properly.

After giving the book to Cain, who eagerly flips through it, Koga firmly states that he will be the one to perform the summoning steps and cautions Cain to not do anything on his own, prompting the latter to affirm this as Koga asserts that this was too early for Cain and that he is the one who killed him. That night, in the cave, Cain kneels before a candle embedded in the center of a Bount crest composed of colored sand and encircled by eight vials of different substances while reciting the Zauberspruch für die Ladung. With a sleeping Koga grimacing and waking up in shock at the sensation of this, Cain continues the incantation, causing Waineton to form within the candle's flame.

Bursting out of his house, Koga runs into the forest as the ritual concludes in a burst of green light, where he finds the cave entrance and calls out to Cain. From within the cave, Cain emerges with Waineton in his hands and revels in finally having a Doll of his own. After presenting her to a stunned Koga and praising how beautiful she is, Cain lays Waineton on the ground and declares that he will make her follow orders. Despite Koga warning him that he cannot do so at his current level of power, Cain claims that he can do it if he speaks to her kindly and leans down as he tells Waineton to do something just like Dalk did, only for Waineton to refuse due to wanting to sleep.

With Cain politely requesting that she lend him her power instead of saying this, Waineton tells him to show her his power because she will not do anything for him if he does not. When a confused Cain wonders what he is supposed to do, Waineton decides to test him and smiles. Though an unaware Cain smiles as well and looks up at him, Koga realizes what is about to happen and rushes to separate Cain from Waineton, who grows into her true form and cackles maniacally as a screaming Cain is engulfed in a pillar of green flames that stretches into the sky before dispersing, leaving Koga doubled over on the ground while Cain glows green and stumbles toward him.

Cain clutches at himself and tearfully asserts that he does not want to die before reaching out to Koga as his body begins to rapidly age. Before Koga can grab his outstretched hand, Cain suddenly disintegrates into ash that swirls into the air, leaving his empty clothes to fall to the ground. Collapsing in turn, a heartbroken Koga desperately calls out to Cain and picks up some of his ashes, but can only watch as the wind blows them out of his hand. Some time later, Koga stand before a stone grave constructed for Cain with the latter's hat resting on top as a kneeling Kariya weeps next to him, leading a teary-eyed Koga to beg for forgiveness over having lost the life of an important comrade.

Hours later, as the sun begins to rise, Kariya stands up and admits that he wanted to show the dawn breaking to Cain as well, with Koga revealing he did as well. After turning to face Koga, Kariya suggests they live together because this sadness is too painful for them to bear while living in isolation, which Koga agrees with. In the present, Koga reflects on how Kariya has been the leader of the Bount to him ever since and sees Ichigo struggling to get up, which leads Dalk to praise his persistence. When Ichigo demands to know what the Bount plan to do, Koga explains that Kariya wants a create a new and clean world that is ruled by Bount, astonishing Ichigo.

As he details how the Dolls of Bount gain exponentially more power than their masters do upon being empowered by the Soul of a living Human, Koga concludes that the Bount will soon rule the world, only for Ichigo to refute this while getting to his feet and assuming a battle stance. Though Ichigo refuses to let the Bount use Keigo Asano's life for this, Koga counters that he needs to accept that he cannot beat them, but Ichigo denies this, prompting Koga to declare that Ichigo's eyes are dangerous and reflect power without ideals. Despite Koga pleading with him to understand, Ichigo curses and proclaims that he will not allow Keigo to die here.

Koga muses that he was evidently born under a star that forces him to witness the deaths of young men with bright futures ahead of them and bids Ichigo farewell. However, before Dalk can resume her attack on Ichigo, an alerted Koga turns around to see a light swinging next to a figure on the upper floor of the building skeleton and inquires about who is there. Recognizing Koga as a Bount, 3rd Division Lieutenant Izuru Kira leaps down to the ground and introduces himself.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
Standing on a field of grass outside the Seireitei at night, 9th Division Captain Kaname Tōsen vows to become justice itself if the world lacks justice so he can erase the world's evil like clouds. After declaring that he is risking all of his justice, Tōsen releases his Shikai, Suzumushi, only to be alarmed when hundreds of crickets begin chirping around him in response, causing two guards on a bridge within the Seireitei to comment on how nice crickets sound as Tōsen screams.

Fights

 * Rukia Kuchiki & Orihime Inoue vs. Yoshi
 * Ichigo Kurosaki & Izuru Kira vs. Gō Koga

Powers and Techniques Used
Kidō Techniques:

Other Techniques:
 * Shape-shifting
 * Shape-shifting

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Dolls summoned:

Other Powers: