Break Through! The Trap Hidden in the Labyrinth

 is the sixty-sixth episode of the Bleach anime.

Ichigo Kurosaki, Lieutenant Renji Abarai, and Uryū Ishida must navigate a labyrinth in order to free their friends.

Summary
At nighttime in the Urahara Shop, Tessai Tsukabishi pours a cup of tea for himself and Kisuke Urahara as they sit together at a table before drinking from their cups, leaning back, and sighing in unison. Suddenly, a commotion from outside startles Urahara, causing his hat to briefly fly off his head and his tea to spill from his cup when he jumps slightly, as Ichigo Kurosaki barges in with Kon, inhabiting his body, under his arm and Uryū Ishida following him alongside 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai.

After pushing Kon's Gikongan out of his body with the aid of his Substitute Shinigami Badge, Ichigo inserts into his plushie body, which comes to life and leaps down to the floor as Kon demands to know why Ichigo did this so suddenly. When Ichigo requests to leave his body here for some time, Urahara affirms that this is alright and inquires why Ichigo is doing this, only to narrow his eyes when Ichigo reveals that Yasutora Sado was also abducted and that he and his friends are being attacked one by one.

With Ichigo concluding that it is too dangerous to leave his body lying around unattended, Kon questions what he is meant to do, and when Ichigo tells him to come with his group, Kon assumes that Ichigo is finally taking his abilities seriously and crosses his arms approvingly as he asserts that Ichigo should have done so sooner. Tessai carries Ichigo's body over his shoulder into another room as Urahara confirms his understanding of the situation and promises to keep it safe for Ichigo. Sitting down at the table with Urahara, Renji sets his sheathed Zanpakutō on the ground and expresses frustration at how hard it was to fight Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba.

While Uryū states that this simply means there is more to fighting than charging at one's enemies, Renji wonders if Sōsuke Aizen is involved, though Ichigo remains uncertain. Upon being asked by Uryū if he discovered anything, Urahara reveals that there was no Reimon present when he analyzed the telephone conversation, to Ichigo's confusion, and explains that this likely means Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba are not Humans or Shinigami. Hearing this, Uryū notes that their Reiatsu was indeed strange and mocks Ichigo's poor Reiatsu-sensing ability when the latter expresses surprise at this, leaving an irritated Ichigo to tell him to shut up.

As he sets down cups of tea for Ichigo and his friends, Tessai observes that it will be difficult to attack Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba directly with a Zanpakutō if their powers are derived from Kidō, leading Ichigo to inquire if this means that he cannot damage them with a Getsuga Tenshō from his Shikai, Zangetsu. Though he says that this is true in theory, Urahara asks Ichigo if he can control the power of his Getsuga Tenshō, which causes Ichigo to express shock while Renji notes that the Getsuga Tenshō being able to match 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki's Shikai, Senbonzakura, means that it will cause too much collateral damage.

Ichigo turns the question on Renji and points out how he cannot use Kidō-type attacks with his Bankai, Hihiō Zabimaru, and Renji admits that he is uncertain if he can control his Bankai since captains and lieutenants have limiters put on their power while they are in the Human World. Upon learning this, Ichigo concludes that Uryū is the only one they can rely on and instructs him to attack Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba with his Quincy power, prompting Uryū to assert that he did not need to be told this while adjusting his glasses. With Ichigo confused by this, Tessai observes that Orihime Inoue and Sado were abducted first because they were the easiest targets.

While Ichigo notes with irritation that everything is proceeding exactly as they planned, he and his friends are startled when the rotary phone in the room begins to ring, and when Urahara picks up the phone and answers it as the owner of the Urahara Shop, a giggling Ririn asks him where Ichigo is, causing a solemn Urahara to hand the phone to the latter. After Ichigo identifies himself, a smiling Ririn suggests that they continue their game at the Karakura Museum and tells him to bring everyone before hanging up as Ichigo demands to know what happened to Orihime and Sado, leaving him to put the phone back with irritation before relaying this to his friends.

With Renji annoyed at the game being continued, Kon proclaims that they can put their hearts at ease because he is coming with them this time. However, as Ichigo and his friends walk down the moonlit street soon afterward, Kon is outraged to find himself strapped to Uryū's back. Though Ichigo reminds him that they need Kon to watch their backs since they do not know where Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba will come from, Kon questions the need to turn him into a backpack and strains away from Uryū, who tells him to not do this since it hurts. Moving up to Uryū's shoulder, Kon pinches his face while expressing his preference to be strapped to Orihime's back instead.

In response, Uryū grabs and stretches Kon's head while countering that he would not have modified the latter if he knew that he would be carrying him. Ichigo points out how he and Renji cannot carry Kon since people cannot see them in their Shinigami forms before assuring Uryū that he can throw Kon away and run if something happens as Kon reiterates his preference for being strapped to Orihime's back. Though Kon is further angered by this, Uryū declines since he has stored important tools inside of Kon, who expresses surprise and zips open a newly-added pouch on his stomach, causing various sewing supplies like yarn and buttons to fall onto the ground.

With Kon mortified by this as he holds up the yarn, Uryū explains that he removed some of the stuffing from Kon's stomach and modified him so he could put things inside Kon as Ichigo praises his handiwork and asserts that this would sell well if Uryū made duplicates, causing Kon to angrily vow to sue Uryū for infringement of stuffed animal rights. Shortly afterward, Ichigo and his friends reach the Karakura Museum, and when Renji suggests that one of them stay outside to keep watch, Ichigo dismisses this as pointless since Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba have hostages. Opening the front door, Ichigo and his friends stand before the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

As Ichigo looks at a sign advertising a special exhibit for him and his friends next to the Tyrannosaurus rex, a giggling Ririn welcomes them, prompting Ichigo to demand that she show herself since he accepted her invitation. However, Ririn reveals that she, Kurōdo, and Noba are hiding and that Orihime and Sado will be returned if Ichigo and his friends can find them. Though Ichigo agrees to this, he is shocked when Ririn instructs him and Renji to leave their weapons here and observes that they do not know what will happen to Orihime and Sado if they do not comply, which leads him to realize that Ririn is threatening them as she tells them to leave the weapons in nearby cases.

Upon seeing that the first case is labeled with a sign containing a pun on the name of his Shikai, Zabimaru, a furious Renji asserts that they are being messed with and tells Ichigo to shut up while breaking the sign when the latter snidely comments on how fitting this is, only to become enraged himself when he sees that the second case is labeled with a sign containing a pun on the name of Zangetsu, which he kicks to pieces while promising to kill Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba. When Uryū tells them to not fall for the cheap shots of their enemies, Ichigo and Renji tell him to shut up in unison, leading Uryū to note that everything is going the way Ririn wants.

After Ichigo and Renji put their Zanpakutō inside the cases, they, Uryū, and Kon walk into the next room, where Uryū stops in surprise upon sensing something and asks Kon if he feels something strange when the latter pops up to inquire if something is wrong. Denying this, Kon admits that he has been sensing strange Reiatsu since they arrived here, to Uryū's concern. As Ichigo tells Kon to inform them if anything strange happens behind the group, which Kon affirms, Renji expresses shock at their surroundings, leading Ichigo to look forward and realize that they are in a nine-by-nine square-tiled room that seems to repeat infinitely through three of the four doorways.

With Ichigo noting that the building was never this big, Ririn's voice claiming to be in a specific location echoes around the room and through each of the doorways. In response to Renji wondering what they should do, Uryū asserts that a labyrinth can be escaped from by advancing with one's hand placed against the same wall and suggests that they go right, but after the group proceeds through three rooms in this direction, Renji discovers that there is a doorway connecting the third room to the room they started in even though that doorway is where they entered the first room from the main hall, leaving Ichigo and Uryū surprised and confused.

Ichigo and his friends return to the original room after Ichigo suggests that they do so, only for a shocked Ichigo to discover that the doorway to the entrance now leads to another set of infinite rooms. When Ichigo accuses Kon of not keeping watch, Kon angrily counters that he was watching and did not see anything out of the ordinary as a giggling Ririn declares that this is no good since they will never clear the labyrinth at this place. However, as Ichigo curses and Renji decides to simply break down the wall, Uryū assures him that there is no need to do this and reminds his friends that they need to solve some sort of puzzle in this game in order to proceed.

With Ichigo surprised by this, Uryū begins searching for a hint to the solution while Ririn affirms that he is correct and giggles, leading Renji to assert that they are being mocked. Uryū states that they should not indulge their enemies since the latter are just stalling them, and while Ichigo bemoans how annoying they are, Uryū observes that they are using a fighting style that makes the best use of their power while restraining the power of Ichigo and his friends to a minimum, which means that they will lose if they do not do this calmly. Acknowledging this, Ichigo begins walking into the room behind them with Renji before being stopped by Uryū.

Despite the protests of Kon, Uryū pulls a ball of red yarn out of his chest and ties the end of it to one of the barricade poles lining the room as he tells Ichigo and Renji that they will use this room as the basis of their investigation. Though Kon is disappointed at being forced to hold the yarn, Uryū asserts that it is an important job which only he can do, causing Kon to cheer up and agree to do it while demanding that Ichigo thank him, to the latter's bemusement. At Uryū's behest, the group moves straight forward into the next room and is surprised to find that the door on the opposite side of this room has the lights turned off with no rooms in sight.

Upon entering the room, Ichigo and his friends find several display cases labeled with their names before being further shocked to find Orihime and Sado being held in cases with their names on either side of the room, which begins to darken further. Suddenly, Ichigo, Uryū, and Renji find themselves trapped in their matching display cases as Ririn giggles from the doorway. Ichigo and Renji quickly realize that they cannot move their bodies and begin panicking before Ichigo is punched repeatedly in the face by Kon, who tells him to wake up. Grabbing Kon by the head, Ichigo sits up and complains about how much that hurt while Kon informs him that his stuffing is coming out.

As he realizes what has happened, Ichigo wakes up Uryū and Renji, who are lying on either side of him, before urging them to go back to the previous room with him while Kon declares that this room is dangerous. After the group returns to the previous room by following Kon and begins catching their breath, Kon recounts how they suddenly passed out and collapsed, forcing him to free himself from Uryū and wake up Ichigo. With Uryū questioning if the mist in the room has hallucinogenic effects, a giggling Ririn warns them to be careful, causing Renji to curse as he and his friends proceed into an adjacent room, which Uryū observes to be safe, while Kon holds the red string.

However, upon passing through the doorway at the opposite end of the room, Renji suddenly stops, and when Ichigo approaches him, Renji prevents him from moving forward as they find themselves looking over a deep and cavernous hole in the floor. With Renji stating that the floor suddenly disappeared, Ririn mocks them over the intercom as the group proceeds into a different room, which Renji tests the solidity of with his foot before walking forward. Following Renji and Ichigo, Uryū notes that this kind of infinite loop should be impossible even with the large size of the building, and as Ichigo acknowledges this, an astonished Renji directs their attention to the next room.

Ichigo and his friends see the end of Uryū's yarn tied to the barricade pole on the opposite end of the room, leaving them shocked as Ichigo instructs Uryū to put Kon down. With Uryū complying, Ichigo unties the yarn from the pole and tells Kon to not let go before yanking hard on the yarn, causing a screaming Kon to be pulled through all the rooms that the group traveled through, eventually slamming into one of the entrance frames after attempting to slow down and find his footing, which prompts Ichigo to yank the yarn even more forcefully until a battered Kon stumbles into view and collapses in front of them as Uryū realizes that this is a Möbius strip.

With Uryū clarifying that this labyrinth was formed and connected by twisting space, Renji observes that this is why they were going around the same place while Ichigo questions if this is possible. Though he admits that he is not sure, Uryū asserts that they have to solve the puzzle and pulls a sketchbook out of Kon's stomach, where he proceeds to sketch out the route they took through the labyrinth and the traps they encountered. As Ichigo notes that they will encounter another trap if they proceed straight ahead, Uryū concludes that they will not encounter any traps if they move in an L-shaped pattern, prompting Renji to assume that this is the secret of the labyrinth.

However, as Ichigo and Renji head off with the intention of solving the labyrinth, Uryū merely notes that this is incorrect even though it would be convenient before closing the sketchbook. Ichigo and his friends proceed to walk through several different rooms of the labyrinth, but do not make any progress in escaping, which results in them sitting on the floor in one of the rooms in exhaustion. While Uryū states that they must have missed something and pulls a large plastic bottle of tea out of Kon, who questions how many things were put inside of him, Renji realizes that they have not heard Ririn's voice for a considerable amount of time.

Telling Renji to shut up and think, Ichigo belittles the idea of him serving as a lieutenant of the Gotei 13 for so long, and as Renji reacts angrily to this despite Uryū demanding that they both calm down, Ichigo asserts that none of this would have happened if Renji had fulfilled the duties he had been assigned to in Karakura Town, only for Renji to counter that Ichigo should be grateful for a lieutenant taking time to come here to begin with. Suddenly, a giggling Ririn comments on them arguing, which prompts Renji to order her to show herself as Ichigo observes that it is pointless to do so until they solve this puzzle, though Renji points out that he does not know how to do this.

With Ichigo angered by this, Uryū instructs them to both stop since they are all tired and annoyed, but Renji tells him to shut up and insists that he will do this by himself, which Ichigo agrees with since he no longer wants to work with Renji. As the two of them walk off in separate directions, Ririn describes this as a split among friends, leading the two of them to briefly return and declare that they were never friends to begin with before walking off once more. However, as he expresses exasperation at this, Uryū is surprised to see the space behind one of the entrances twisting as Kon wonders what is wrong and notes that there should be a trap in that room.

Looking at both Renji and Ichigo moving through opposite rooms, Uryū ponders the traps and loops of the labyrinth, the mysterious skeletal gates that appeared when Orihime and Sado were abducted, and the strange Reiatsu he has sensed ever since he entered the labyrinth before realizing how they are all connected. After calling out to Ichigo and Renji, Uryū reveals that he knows the secret, causing the two of them to run back to him, and whispers his explanation to them, which results in Ichigo expressing shock at it being so simply while Renji questions if Uryū's plan is really alright. Uryū assures Renji that it is fine and requests to borrow Ichigo's Substitute Shinigami Badge.

When Ichigo questions what he will use it for while handing the badge over, Uryū comments that he needs it just in case before running into the room ahead, which begins to crumble underneath his feet as Ichigo expresses concern. However, even after the floor breaks apart and falls away into a pit, Uryū remains standing above the pit and continues running while mentally asserting that he knew it. Upon reaching the next room as Ririn giggles, the group stands in surprise as the room glows bright blue and fades away to reveal the main hall of Karakura Museum. Sitting atop the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton's head, a laughing Ririn inquires how they figured it out.

After admitting that they had the hint for a while and that he only realized it once he sketched out their route, Uryū describes the labyrinth as a children's game where all the rooms loop indefinitely and passing through three of them in a straight line would allow them to win, which led Ririn to create traps whenever they got close to winning that were obviously illusions since she could not set them up in response to their movements, allowing her to lead her any way she wanted, before noting that their avoidance of the traps once they discovered them was a psychological trick due to them moving as a group out of caution for their abducted friends.

However, Uryū observes that Ririn never predicted they would suddenly split up and move in different directions, causing them to occupy three different spaces and eventually stand nine spaces apart from each other, which led to the twist in space appearing in Uryū's line of vision, though he admits that finding this was a coincidence. With Uryū concluding that they simply needed to pass through the rooms with the traps and connect three spaces, Ririn confirms that he is correct as Uryū suddenly finds Noba putting him in a chokehold from behind, leading Ririn to remind him that they game will not end until Ichigo and his friends catch them.

Despite this, Uryū merely proclaims that the game is over and slams Ichigo's Substitute Shinigami Badge into Noba's leg, causing him to reel back and scream in pain before a Gikongan flies out of his mouth and lands on the floor, leaving his Gigai to crumple to the ground. Massaging his neck, Uryū asserts that this confirms his suspicion of Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba being Modified Souls, and when a shocked Ririn questions how he knew this, Uryū details how the small traces of their Reiatsu which he felt upon entering the museum matched that of Kon and how he learned the characteristics of such Reiatsu from carrying an embarrassing backpack around.

With Kon reacting angrily to being described like this, Renji bashfully confirms to Ichigo that he did not notice this while Uryū points to Noba's sudden appearance as meaning that he has the power to control space before presuming that Ririn is the one who set up the illusions, leaving her glaring at him. Suddenly, as Uryū demands that Ririn tell them what she is planning, Kurōdo leaps down from the upper level of the museum and picks up Noba's Gigai and Gikongan before exiting the museum into the daylight and leaping away while laughing wildly as Ririn follows him, prompting Ichigo and his friends to follow them outside.

Upon reaching the steps of the museum, Ichigo and his friends are astonished to find Orihime and Sado standing before them, and as Sado explains that they were suddenly thrown out here, the skeletal gates appear in front of the museum, prompting Ichigo to wonder if the Mod-Souls plan on using them again. However, as he stands atop the gates with Ririn while carrying Ichigo and Renji's Zanpakutō, Noba denies this and Ririn clarifies that they returned Ichigo's friends because he won the game. After Noba tosses Ichigo and Renji their Zanpakutō, the skeletal gates slide open, prompting him to leap down and enter them as Ririn follows suit after announcing that she will begin the next game and warning the group that their friends will continue to disappear if they do not go to Karakura High School right away.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
In Soul Society, the Shinigami Women's Association holds a meeting, with 10th Division Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto applying lipstick, 4th Division Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu sitting uncomfortably next to 13th Division 3rd Seat Kiyone Kotetsu as the latter bashfully hides the crackers she was eating behind her back, 12th Division Lieutenant Nemu Kurotsuchi staring blankly ahead, and 2nd Division Captain Suì-Fēng playing with a black cat plushie while the organization is a described as a powerful entity who decision affect even the Central 46. Walking into the room and up to the podium, 8th Division Lieutenant Nanao Ise thanks those present for waiting and announces the arrival of the chairwoman as 11th Division Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi pops up and asks those present what they would like to play today.

Events

 * Mod Soul Training

Powers and Techniques Used
Other Techniques:
 * Shape-shifting
 * Illusions
 * Mod-Soul Teleportation

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai: