The Avengers

The Avengers is the forty-seventh episode of the Bleach anime.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: August 30, 2005
 * English Airdate: September 1, 2007
 * Opening Song: D-tecnoLife
 * Ending Song: Happypeople
 * Manga Chapters: Chapter 129, Chapter 120, Chapter 131.
 * Kanji: 仇討つ者たち
 * Romaji: "Adautsu monotachi"
 * Arc: Soul Society: The Rescue arc

Summary
Momo Hinamori escapes her cell, thinking of the letter she got from her Captain Sōsuke Aizen. He claims that he knows something that nobody else does, and proceeds to tell her about it as she runs away. Meanwhile, in the 10th Division Office, Rangiku Matsumoto awakens from a long nap, which included a dream about her first encounter with Gin Ichimaru. Tōshirō Hitsugaya is sitting at the desk, and he tells her he wants her to finish up the paperwork he's working on (evidently he picked up the 5th division's paperwork in Aizen's absence). There isn't much left because he finished most of it, and she admits that she was asleep for a long time. He sympathizes with her, saying that it must have been hard for her to see a comrade and classmate commit such treason. A member of the 10th division then comes in to report that Izuru Kira, Hinamori, and Renji Abarai have all escaped from their cells.

Hitsugaya goes to interrogate the guard in charge of Hinamori, and mentions that if they intended to keep her in her cell, they should have sealed her spirit force, as she is a master of Kidō, or demon magic. Hitsugaya decides that he is going to go save Hinamori from whatever it is she has gotten herself into.

We cut to Ichigo and Zangetsu fighting. Yoruichi mentions that he is learning some very advanced attacks very quickly.

Back in the real world, Kisuke Urahara sneezes, and mentions that he thinks that someone beautiful must be talking about him. Tessai mentions that he has some medicine that is great for colds, and proceeds to give it to Urahara.

The focus returns to Hinamori, who is still thinking of the letter Aizen left her. He mentions that he wanted at least her to know his secret, so she could reveal it to the rest of Soul Society.

Ichigo is again fighting with Zangetsu, who suddenly turns back into the doll.

We then see Hitsugaya inspecting Kira's cell, and coming to the realization that the door was opened from the outside.

Meanwhile, Ichigo is relaxing in some hot springs. He mentions that he cannot tell day from night, and notices that his wounds are healing rather fast. Yoruichi decides to torture him by stripping and getting in. Ichigo objects, and Yoruichi taunts him some more. Yoruichi gets the best of him, and she enters the water in her cat form. She calls him a lecher, and Ichigo mentions that he will drown her if she keeps it up.

Yoruichi tells Ichigo that the cave underground was built by Urahara and herself when they were kids, and that they battled underground there when Urahara entered Soul Society and she her military service. Ichigo turns to ask her a question, and sees her sitting naked at the side of the hot spring. After a few tense moments, Ichigo inquires about Urahara, and Yoruichi tells him that Urahara was captain of the 12th, and founder of the Research and Development department (Mayuri Kurotsuchi is the current president).

The focus moves to Ichimaru and Kira walking somewhere, when Hitsugaya interrupts them. Hitsugaya mentions he knew that they were together, and Ichimaru says he wanted Hitsugaya to find out (which was why he opened the door and let Kira out as opposed to a more secretive method). Hitsugaya swears to kill Ichimaru, and suddenly Hinamori shows up. She draws her sword against Hitsugaya, because she thinks that he killed Aizen (Hitsugaya was the traitor Aizen named in his letter).

In the letter, Aizen mentions that Hitsugaya wanted to steal something from the Sōkyoku, which holds the power of 1,000,000 Zanpakutō. Hitsugaya is the person named behind the plot, and Aizen tells Hinamori that he wants her to stop Hitsugaya, since Aizen is dead. She asks Hitsugaya to stand down, or else she will fight to the death with him. Hitsugaya tells Hinamori that he didn't think that Aizen would leave such a job to her, but she says that she was going to believe Aizen to the end. Hitsugaya concludes that someone had to have forged Aizen's letter, because he believes that the letter is rather unlike Aizen, and decides that Ichimaru is behind all of it. Hitsugaya goes in to attack Ichimaru, but can't because Hinamori is in his way. Unable to avoid her, he bodyslams her in the air and she falls out of the sky and passes out. Ichimaru scolds Hitsugaya for being mean, and Hitsugaya has a flashback in which he remembers seeing Aizen and Ichimaru exchanging in the hall, and thinks that Ichimaru did it because of what he said after a particular exchange (something about the last siren Aizen would hear). Hitsugaya swears to kill Ichimaru, and Ichimaru finally takes up the invitation to fight, claiming he's going to stop Hitsugaya.

Kon-sama's Ultimate Shinigami Illustrated Guide
The featured character is Sentarō Kotsubaki.

Characters in order of appearance

 * Momo Hinamori
 * Sōsuke Aizen
 * Rangiku Matsumoto
 * Gin Ichimaru
 * Tōshirō Hitsugaya
 * Kōkichirō Takezoe
 * Momo's Prison Guard
 * Ichigo Kurosaki
 * Yoruichi Shihōin
 * Zangetsu
 * Kisuke Urahara
 * Tessai Tsukabishi
 * Kira's Prison Guard
 * Jinta Hanakari
 * Ururu Tsumugiya
 * Izuru Kira