Reality of the Despair, the Assassin's Dagger is Swung

 is the sixtieth episode of the Bleach anime.

A conspiracy connecting several recent events in Soul Society is revealed.

Summary
10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya mentally details how Central 46 is comprised of six judges and forty sages brought together from all across Soul Society, acting as the highest court in the realm where crimes committed by Shinigami are tried, with the power to enforce a ruling by calling upon the Gotei 13, Onmitsukidō, or Kidō, and whose rulings are so absolute that not even a captain can dissent once they are made, as he and his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, stare in shock at the massacred Central 46.

Having entered the Central Underground Assembly Hall, Hitsugaya and Rangiku walk down the steps among the slaughtered Central 46. As he runs two fingers across the blood pooled on one of the tables, Hitsugaya observes that it is dry, brown, and flaking, meaning that the Central 46 was not killed today or yesterday. Internally, Hitsugaya wonders when this could have happened because the underground chamber should have been completely sealed after 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai was defeated and the special wartime order was proclaimed.

After noting that this means that no one would have been allowed anywhere near here and that the defense system was engaged until today with no sign of forced entry when he and Rangiku forced their way in today, Hitsugaya realizes that the Central 46 has been dead for some time and that all the orders they have received regarding Rukia Kuchiki's execution were false. Though he assumes 3rd Division Captain Gin Ichimaru did this, Hitsugaya is uncertain that one man could massacre the highest court and keep it secret alone, but as he questions if others were involved, Hitsugaya is alerted when 3rd Division Lieutenant Izuru Kira states that he knew Hitsugaya would come.

As Izuru stands at the top of the stairs leading into the chamber, Hitsugaya demands to know if he did this, only for Izuru to walk away, prompting Hitsugaya and Rangiku to run after him while a mysterious figure lurks behind the other entrance leading into the chamber. Pursuing Izuru outside after following him up the stairs, Hitsugaya demands to know if he killed them, but Izuru denies this and reveals that he was let in only moments before Hitsugaya and Rangiku arrived by those within opening the lock and letting him inside. When Hitsugaya inquires who let him in, Izuru asserts that the Central 46 did, to Hitsugaya's confusion and chagrin.

Suddenly, Izuru notes that Hitsugaya should be protecting 5th Division Lieutenant Momo Hinamori rather than chasing him. Though an unnerved Hitsugaya is unsure of what he is talking about, Izuru informs him that Hinamori is no longer in the Tenth Division's barracks and recounts how Hitsugaya used Kyōmon to surround the room Hinamori was sleeping in with a high-level barrier that deflects attacks from the outside, thinking this would keep her safe. However, Izuru points out that Kyōmon is meant to keep people out rather than inside as he reminds Hitsugaya that Hinamori is a master of Kidō who could easily break that kind of barrier.

With Izuru concluding that Hinamori put one around herself to conceal her Reiatsu while she moved about and has been following Hitsugaya and Rangiku this whole time, a stunned Hitsugaya asks Rangiku to deal with Izuru in his stead, which she affirms, and leaps back to return to the Central 46 Compound. Rangiku is surprised when Izuru looks back with a smile and stops running, and when Izuru inquires if Rangiku does not know what his Zanpakutō can do Rangiku confirms that she does not because Izuru is not the type to divulge such things, though Izuru notes that Hinamori and Renji probably know before deciding to show Rangiku as well.

After drawing his Reiatsu-emitting Zanpakutō and releasing his Shikai, Wabisuke, which causes the blade to bend inward at two right angles to form a square hook, and moves to her side before slashing at Rangiku, who draws her Zanpakutō just in time to block. With Rangiku forced back by the force of their clash, Izuru praises her reactions, though Rangiku demands that he not talk down to her, and the two cross blades several more times as Rangiku attempts to reason with Izuru. Suddenly, Izuru asks Rangiku how many times she blocked his sword, and as she expresses confusion, Rangiku is pulled down by her Zanpakutō, which shatters a roof tile as it lands on the ground.

Izuru explains that Wabisuke doubles the weight of whatever it strikes and continues doing so with each successive strike until the defender can bear the weight no more and grovels on the ground with their head bowed as if in penitence, per the name. As he observes that Rangiku blocked seven of his blows with Wabisuke, Izuru assumes that an average sword weighs close to 2 lbs and concludes that, after being doubled seven times, Rangiku's Zanpakutō now weighs 225 lbs, which he does not think she can run with. Despite this, Rangiku merely asserts that she will not carry her Zanpakutō if she cannot run with it and releases her Shikai, Haineko, turning the blade into a cloud of ash.

Wondering what 3rd Division Captain Gin Ichimaru has done to Izuru, what he wants with her, and where he intends to go, Rangiku recalls Gin leaving her when they were children. Meanwhile, back at the Central Underground Assembly Hall, a stunned Hinamori stands at one of the entrances and wonders is going on as she stares at the dead council members. While Hinamori recounts what she witnessed and questions why Hitsugaya was so shocked at this if he killed Aizen and by extension the council members, leading her to question if Izuru did it, Gin approaches her from behind and leans over her shoulder as he greets her.

With Hinamori shocked by his presence, Gin requests that she follow him. While Hitsugaya rushes back to the compound, Hinamori follows Gin to the Seijōtōkyorin and inquires why Gin has brought her here. Upon being asked by Gin if she has ever been here before, Hinamori denies having even seen it prior because it is off-limits. However, while entering a dark room, Gin reveals that there is someone he wants Hinamori to see and instructs her to look at the doorway behind her, where Hinamori is stunned to see her captain, Sōsuke Aizen, standing calmly. With Aizen asking her how she has been, Hinamori expresses disbelief at seeing him again after thinking he was dead.

While Aizen simply notes that he is clearly alive, Hinamori walks up to him and grasps his haori as she begins to tear up, leading Aizen to apologize for how heartbroken she must have felt as he caresses her head. Internally, Hinamori details how his hand heals her heart as it did the night before his supposed death and realizes by smell that it really is Aizen, causing her to begin sobbing. After recalling the events prior and following Aizen's supposed death, Hinamori mentally asserts that she always knew Aizen would not die and that she had no reason to lose hope. Startled, Aizen hugs Hinamori and observes that she has lost weight before expressing sorrow for how badly he has hurt her with this.

As Aizen explains that it had to be her and that he had to stay hidden to do something, which is why he faked his death and had her receive his letter, Hinamori assures him that it is alright and that knowing he is alive is enough for her. Aizen tells Hinamori that their time together was a joy to him and thanks her, only to bid her farewell as he shoves his Zanpakutō through her chest. Left speechless by this, Hinamori looks up at Aizen, who merely stares coldly at her and pulls his Zanpakutō out, leaving Hinamori to collapse, before departing alongside Gin. During this, 4th Division Captain Retsu Unohana and her lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu, approach the central chamber.

Back at the Seijōtōkyorin, Aizen smiles maliciously as he walks outside the room with Gin. Suddenly, Hitsugaya arrives and is shocked to see Aizen standing alongside Gin. While Aizen greets him, Hitsugaya questions if it is really him, prompting Aizen to assure him that he is here in the flesh before noting to Gin that Hitsugaya is back sooner than expected. With Gin apologizing and assuming that Izuru must have failed, a confused Hitsugaya wonders what they are talking about, which leads Aizen to reveal that he is referring to the tactic of dividing and conquering, the most basic way of weakening an enemy, leaving Hitsugaya perplexed.

Hitsugaya demands to know where Hinamori is, and as Aizen points out that he should already know, Hitsugaya angrily rushes past him and Gin to the dark room, where he discovers Hinamori lying on the ground. Expressing embarrassment at Hitsugaya having found her, Aizen apologizes for him finding out like this before suggesting that he should have chopped up Hinamori and hidden the pieces. Stunned by this, Hitsugaya asks Aizen and Gin if they have been conspiring together since the period before Aizen faked his death, but Aizen clarifies that they have done so from the beginning and that he has never considered anyone but Gin to be his lieutenant since he became a captain.

With Hitsugaya accusing him of having deceived Hinamori and the other Shinigami this whole time, Aizen claims that he never thought of it like this and that he perceived it as none of the other Shinigami recognizing his true identity. Demanding to know how Aizen could blame them and be so cruel, Hitsugaya reminds him that Hinamori joined the Gotei 13 and worked hard just to be at his side, only for Aizen to acknowledge this as making her very easy to manipulate and pointing to this as the reason he requested her to join his division. As Hitsugaya stares at him in astonishment, Aizen instructs him to remember that admiration is the state furthest from understanding.

In response, Hitsugaya grasps his Zanpakutō and unleashes a surge of power that destroys the Seijōtōkyorin, leading Aizen and Gin to leap out to the ground outside, before activating his Bankai, Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, which grants him a large pair of ice wings, an ice dragon encasing his right arm and ice claws on his left hand, and twelve large ice petals comprising three lotuses floating in the air behind him. When Hitsugaya attacks him with three slashes of ice, Aizen leaps over him and lands on the other end of the platform, and while Unohana and Isane join them in the chamber Hitsugaya declares that he is going to kill Aizen.

A grinning Aizen simply admonishes Hitsugaya for making rash threats because it makes him seem weak, prompting a yelling Hitsugaya to leap forward and seemingly stab Aizen through the chest before encasing him in ice. However, Aizen continues to grin within the ice and fades away, which leaves Hitsugaya shocked as the real Aizen appears behind him and slashes Hitsugaya across the chest, causing him to collapse in shock while bleeding heavily as Daiguren Hyōrinmaru breaks apart. While Hitsugaya collapses in the ice-encrusted chamber, Aizen comments on how nice it is to see ice at this time of year despite it being the wrong season and suggests to Gin that they depart.

Suddenly, Aizen and Gin are confronted by Unohana, who stands with Isane and asserts that she thought she would find Aizen here before correcting her addressing of him as Captain Aizen, since he is simply a traitor now. After greeting Unohana, Aizen inquires if it really took her this long to figure out where he was, and when Unohana details how the Seijōtōkyorin being the only absolutely off-limits area in the Seireitei makes it the perfect place to hide for someone who had elaborately faked his own death and made a corpse doll, Aizen admits that she is almost correct before clarifying that he did not come here to hide and that his fake body was not a doll as he holds it in his hand.

With a shocked Unohana and Isane wondering when he got his fake body, Aizen states that he had it in his hand the entire time, but simply did not allow them to see it until now. After promising that they will understand soon enough, Aizen releases his Shikai, Kyōka Suigetsu, causing the fake body in his hands to burst apart, revealing his Zanpakutō held upside-down in his hand. While Unohana and Isane stare in astonishment, Aizen lets go of his Zanpakutō, which embeds itself in the platform underneath his feet, and explains that its ability is complete hypnosis, though Isane is left in disbelief by this claim because of what Aizen told her prior.

Isane asserts that Aizen brought the lieutenants together and showed them how Kyōka Suigetsu is a water-type Zanpakutō that uses reflections of fog and water to confuse enemies so they kill each other, but Aizen merely smiles, leading Unohana to realize that this is when he hypnotized everyone. Confirming this, Aizen details how Kanzen Saimin disrupts all five senses of its victims and allows them to see whatever he wants, such as a fly as a dragon or a swamp as a flower garden. After noting that the spell is activated when a victim sees the release of Kyōka Suigetsu, Aizen elaborates that even seeing it once places victims underneath its hypnotic power.

As Aizen concludes that the hypnotic control returns each time he releases Kyōka Suigetsu, Unohana suddenly picks up on Aizen's mention of seeing the release and is mortified by the implication, prompting Aizen to deduce what has just occurred to her and affirm that the spell will not work against a blind person since it must be seen in order to function before concluding that 9th Division Captain Kaname Tōsen has been working for him from the very beginning. In a different part of the Seireitei, as Renji runs through the streets with Rukia in his arms, he is confronted by Tōsen, and as a surprised Renji questions what he is doing here, Tōsen begins spinning a long cloth around them.

With Renji confused by this, Gin performs the same maneuver around himself and Aizen, who takes a moment to praise Unohana for examining his fake body far more thoroughly than anyone else did because feeling even a bit of suspicion while under the effects of Kanzen Saimin is most remarkable. With Aizen bidding them farewell and stating that he will likely never see them again while Isane attempts to attack, he and Gin vanish in a burst of light. Renji finds himself kneeling with Rukia on Sōkyoku Hill after Tōsen stops spinning the cloth, and as he wonders what this is all about, Aizen appears behind Renji with Gin and welcomes him before instructing Renji to put Rukia down and leave.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
Having seen his plushie body strapped to Jinta Hanakari's hip during the beginning of their kickball match, Kon, inhabiting Ichigo Kurosaki's body, mentally asserts that he is going to get it back. As the match begins, Jinta dribbles the ball forward and promises to turn anyone who gets in his way into mincemeat, only to be shocked when a screaming Kon leaps forward and crashes into him, causing an explosion. Karin Kurosaki's Friends watch this from the side of the field and wonder what Kon is doing as Ryohei Toba responds to the referee whistle by claiming that this was a foul. Upon seeing Ururu Tsumugiya with the whistle allowing it, the four boys wonder when she became the referee as Ichigo Kurosaki pops up and demands to know when they are going to focus on Shinigami.

Fights & Events

 * Rangiku Matsumoto vs. Izuru Kira
 * Conspiracy Revealed: End Game

Powers and Techniques Used
Hohō Techniques:

Kidō Techniques:
 * (flashback)

Zanpakutō Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Bankai:

Music

 * 01:46 - Bleach 5th Anniversary Box CD 1 - 18 - BL_33
 * 03:04 - Bleach 5th Anniversary Box CD 1 - 04 - BL_75
 * 04:04 - Bleach 5th Anniversary Box CD 1 - 03 - BL_73
 * 05:16 - Bleach OST 1 - 08 - Raw Breath Of Danger
 * 06:35 - Bleach 5th Anniversary Box CD 1 - 15 - BL_35
 * 07:50 - Bleach OST 1 - 10 - Will of the Heart
 * 09:06 - Bleach 5th Anniversary Box CD 1 - 01 - BL_29
 * 10:08 - Bleach 5th Anniversary Box CD 1 - 16 - BL_92
 * 11:30 - Bleach OST 1 - 22 - Going Home
 * 12:53 - Bleach 5th Anniversary Box CD 1 - 17 - BL_13
 * 13:19 - Bleach 5th Anniversary Box CD 1 - 10 - BL_93
 * 15:13 - Bleach OST 1 - 07 - Creeping Shadows
 * 16:23 - Bleach OST 1 - 09 - Enemy Unseen
 * 18:47 - No Official Release
 * 20:24 - Bleach OST 1 - 01 - On the Precipice of Defeat

Anime Notes
Removed Content:
 * Tōshirō Hitsugaya describing the Central Underground Assembly Hall as a slaughterhouse after finding the dead Central 46.
 * The flashback to Rukia Kuchiki being brought to Senzaikyū.
 * The flashback to Jūshirō Ukitake retrieving the Shihōin Shield.
 * Hitsugaya specifying that he is not sure one man could massacre the highest court in Soul Society and keep it hidden until now.
 * Izuru Kira revealing that his task was to stop Rangiku Matsumoto and refusing to answer her question about who gave him this task because he does not need to answer to a dead woman.
 * Hitsugaya internally berating himself for not realizing Hinamori would drag herself on the ground in order to follow him since she believes he killed Sōsuke Aizen.
 * Aizen looking somber prior to grinning after impaling Hinamori.

Added/Expanded Content:
 * Hitsugaya and Rangiku chasing Izuru up the stairs with Shunpo.
 * Rangiku accusing Izuru of being mentally ill and attempting to reason with him while they clash.
 * Gin Ichimaru asking Hinamori to follow him.
 * An extended flashback to Hinamori's time with Aizen prior to his faked death.
 * Hinamori internally claiming that there was no reason for her to lose hope because she knew Aizen would never die and leave her alone.
 * A shocked Hinamori wondering what just happened and finding blood on her hand after Aizen impales her.
 * Retsu Unohana and Isane Kotetsu approaching the Central Underground Assembly Hall.
 * Additional scenes of Hinamori training to become Aizen's lieutenant.
 * Renji Abarai expressing shock upon seeing Aizen and Gin after being transported to Sōkyoku Hill.

Censorship:
 * In the original broadcast of this episode, Aizen's impalement of Hinamori was censored by covering the left side of the screen in shadow at a slant, thus obscuring the blade and blood coming out of Hinamori's back; the DVD release removed this shadow and the scene is otherwise unaltered aside from the blade of Aizen's Zanpakutō not being covered in blood.

Changes:
 * In the manga, after drawing Hitsugaya's attention, Izuru leaps away from the doorway; here, he walks away instead.
 * In the manga, Gin releases Wabisuke prior to asking Rangiku if she knows of its ability; here, he does so after deciding to show her and before attacking her.
 * In the manga, Rangiku and Izuru's clash takes place after Gin approaches Hinamori; here, it takes place beforehand.
 * In the manga, Hitsugaya asks Aizen how long he and Gin have been conspiring, and when Aizen replies that they have done so from the beginning, Hitsugaya assumes that this is referring to the period of time before he faked his death, only for Aizen to admonish him for not catching on very fast; here, Hitsugaya assumes from the start that they were conspiring just prior to the faking of Aizen's death without Aizen answering him vaguely, and Aizen does not insult his intelligence.
 * In the manga, Aizen remains standing prior to cutting down Hitsugaya, who does not successfully perform any attacks prior; here, he evades an attack and leaps onto the platform across from Hitsugaya, who seemingly impales and freezes him, only to discover he attacked an illusion, before cutting Hitsugaya down.
 * In the manga, Unohana and Isane do not arrive until after Aizen cuts down Hitsugaya; here, they arrive as Hitsugaya is confronting Aizen, though they do not do anything.

Trivia:
 * When remembering Aizen's deception prior to faking his death, Hitsugaya recalls the time Aizen attended his birthday celebration; despite the events of that chapter not being adapted in an episode before or after this one, the scene is still presented with the filter used on flashbacks created with existing footage.