The Espada Gather! Aizen's Royal Assembly

'''The Espada Gather! Aizen's Royal Assembly''' is the one-hundred-forty-fifth episode of the Bleach anime.

As Ichigo and his friends head to Las Noches, Aizen holds a meeting with the Espada.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: October 24, 2007
 * English Airdate: August 22, 2009
 * Opening Song: After Dark
 * Ending Song: Tane wo Maku Hibi
 * Manga Chapters: Chapter 244 and Chapter 245
 * Kanji: エスパーダ集結！藍染の御前会議
 * Romaji: "Esupāda shūketsu! Aizen no gozen kaigi"
 * Arc: The Hueco Mundo arc Part 1

Summary
Sado uses El Directo and punches Demoura in the stomach, causing the Arrancar to fall on the ground, defeated. Aisslinger is shown to have been defeated as well, but he still attempts to shoot one of his energy beams from his finger at Uryū, only for his finger to be shot off by one of Uryū's arrows. Uryū tells Aisslinger that he's keeping him alive so that he can inform Aizen that he shouldn't fear the Shinigami, but instead the Quincy. The structure of the building suddenly begins to collapse and Ichigo blames this on Sado and Uryū's reckless fighting, but Aisslinger tells him that he's wrong. He explains that the building was set up to collapse once the guardians of this place were defeated, and he warns them that this is the type of person their dealing with. He then states that this war will continue on forever, and that they'll be no victory for any of them. Ichigo tells Sado and Uryū to forget about Aisslinger, and the three of them begin running towards the staircase. However, before Uryū can leave Aisslinger informs him that Aizen doesn't fear anything, including the Quincy, and that this is the reason why the Arrancar follow him. The structure suddenly begins to break more, and the building collapses in on itself. The three of them escape from the building in time, but to their surprise they arrive in a desolate desert landscape, which they come to realize is Hueco Mundo. Sado notices that there are plants here, but Uryū points out that the plants here are actually made of quartz-like crystals. The three of them suddenly notice a huge palace off in the distance and Uryū recognizes it as Las Noches. Ichigo states that it's likely Orihime is in there, and the three of them decide to run there.

Meanwhile in Las Noches, the Espada gather into a meeting about the intruders that have arrived in Hueco Mundo. As they talk about the intruders, Aizen, Gin, and Tōsen enter the room. Aizen tells them that they're under attack, but before they talk about the intruders they should have some tea first. Back outside, Ichigo complains about how it seems that they aren't gaining any distance to Las Noches, but his complaining eventually causes him to get into an argument with Uryū. Sado suddenly stops when he spots a sandstorm forming, and the three of them begin to run away once it fully forms. However, it catches up to them and the three of them are forced to hold onto one of the plants, but it easily breaks and they are sucked into the sandstorm. Uryū protects them though by putting them into an spirit shell, and Uryū remarks that he knew this would happen someday so he decided to keep the spirit orb he got from Kūkaku. Ichigo begins to argue with Uryū about this because he believes he stole the spirit orb, but because of his distraction of Uryū, the spirit shell begins to crack and Ichigo tells Uryū to fix it. Uryū tells him he doesn't know how to so Sado decides to punch the spirit shell, breaking it, and it ends up saving the three of them from the sandstorm.

At the Espada meeting, after giving everyone tea, Aizen has Tōsen put on the projector. The projector shows Ichigo, Uryū, and Sado running towards Las Noches, but the Espada don't think much of them. However, Aizen tells them that they aren't allowed to underestimate them as just the four of them broke into Seireitei and took on the Gotei 13. The Espada notice that one of the four people is missing and they realize it to be Orihime, whom the intruders must have come to save. One Espada named Nnoitra Jiruga continues to underestimate them and he gets into an argument with another Espada, Tia Harribel, who tells him that Aizen just warned them not to underestimate them. Nnoitra simply calls her scared but before the argument can go any further, Grimmjow gets up from his seat and decides to leave the room so he can kill the intruders. Aizen tells him that while he appreciates his help, he has not finished talking and he orders the Espada to sit back down. Grimmjow doesn't say anything, and Aizen begins to emit his immense spiritual pressure, forcing Grimmjow to kneel down, and he takes this as Grimmjow obeying him. Aizen continues his meeting and tells the Espada that while they shouldn't underestimate the intruders, they also shouldn't be fearful and he tells them to head back to their chambers and to stay there so the enemy can come to them. He then tells them that as long as they stay with him, they're unstoppable.

Back outside, Ichigo and the others stop to rest, and Ichigo complains about how far the palace is. Sado notices that the quartz trees look like needles from this distance, and due to the quartz trees regular size then that would mean Las Noches is unimaginably large. Ichigo points out the possibility that they might be looking at a a mirage, but Uryū tells him that mirages wouldn't happen in a place like this. A small Hollow suddenly goes next to the group, and it burrows itself into the sand. Ichigo remarks that this isn't the world of death he thought it would be, and he wonders how the small Hollow can survive since Hollows need to eat the souls of Humans. However, Uryū points out that Hueco Mundo has a high concentration of spiritual particles, and that would be enough for the Hollow to survive. Ichigo asks how he knows all this and Uryū explains that Quincy fight using large concentrations of spirit particles. He states that he felt this was the best way of fighting and that he confirmed this in his battle with Aisslinger. He remarks that since he's here, he should be much stronger then if he fought in the Soul Society or Human World. Ichigo says Uryū sounds more like a Hollow because of this, and the two of them get into an argument again. Uryū eventually stops the argument and tells Ichigo that while the spiritual particles will make him stronger, it will also make the Arrancar and Hollows stronger too, and that they should be careful. Ichigo tells him that he talks too much and he decides to keep heading out. However, before they can go any further they notice a girl being chased by Hollows, and the three of them decide to help her.

Arrancar Encyclopedia
Gin talks about Hueco Mundo and remarks that there's no water, but then realizes that if this was the case then it would have been impossible for them to have tea earlier. Aizen suddenly appears on the screen and asks Gin if he wants to know the secret with the tea, but Gin decides against it since it will probably come at a high price.

Fights
None.

Powers and Techniques Used
Techniques used:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Other powers: