Ichigo vs. Dalk! Appearance of the Faded Darkness

'''Ichigo vs. Dalk! Appearance of the Faded Darkness''' is the eighty-second episode of the Bleach anime.

Renji fights off many Bitto but many still get away. Ichigo squares off against Koga's doll, Dalk, in her new form.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: May 30, 2006
 * English Airdate: October 4, 2008
 * Opening Song: Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
 * Ending Song: Hanabi
 * Manga Chapters: None
 * Kanji: 一護ＶＳダルク！白き闇の出現
 * Romaji: "Ichigo VS Daruku! Shirakigami no shutsugen"
 * Arc: The Bount arc

Summary
Renji is shown struggling against the huge amount of bitto in front of him and he eventually collapses onto the ground. In another location, Ichigo and Rukia sense Renji's reiatsu disappear but before they can do anything about it they're confronted by both Jinta and Ururu. They tell them that Urahara finally made the new Bount sensors but Ichigo doesn't want to use it because the Bount sensor is the headband he used during Urahara's training and he has to activate it with the same phrase he used on it before. Despite this, he reluctantly puts the headband on and shouts out "''"Take the power of Justice! The Armor and Headband of justice! Protect yourself!''" Rukia is shocked that Ichigo would actually say that, causing Ichigo to begin arguing with her. However, before he can do anything he begins to move in a random direction and Jinta tells him that he'll eventually reach one of the Bounts because of this. Rukia yells to Ichigo that she's going to find Renji but before Ichigo can fully respond to this he crashes into a fence. He then jumps over the fence and continues his search for the Bounts. Jinta remarks that he can't sense Renji's reiatsu either and wonders if he's dead, causing Ururu to remark that Jinta must care about Renji. This causes Jinta to angrily hit Ururu and he states that he doesn't care about him. He then runs towards Renji's location.

Keigo leaves a convenience store with some food and as he walks home he wonders why he wants to eat junk food in the middle of the night. Keigo suddenly notices some bitto in front of him and they charge after him. Keigo runs away and eventually escapes from them. He wonders if he's dreaming and he decides to immediately head home and get some sleep. However, before he can do that he is stabbed in the heart by a bitto and eventually collapses onto the ground. As this happens, Ichigo arrives on the scene and notices several bitto now surrounding Keigo. Ichigo begins to fight off the bitto and he tells Keigo to hang on. Ichigo is suddenly attacked by Koga and Ichigo asks him what he did to Keigo. He states that he isn't going to explaining anything to him and he summons his doll, Dalk. The doll fires off a metal ball at Ichigo, who blocks the attack with his Zanpakutō. Ichigo stops the metal ball and it falls to the ground, but he feels his hand go numb; causing the doll to notice that she has gotten stronger. The metal ball on the ground then turns into several, much smaller metal balls. The metal balls attack Ichigo again and he blocks the attack with his Zanpakutō but as he does this Dalk attacks the Shinigami. Ichigo dodges the attack and he goes into the air only to fend off more of the metal balls. His headband eventually breaks and he falls back to the ground. As Ichigo remarks that Dalk has gotten stronger than before, Koga tells his doll that their investigation is over. Ichigo suddenly tells them that he's not going to lose and that he's going to save Keigo.

In another location, Orihime asks Kurōdo what happened to Renji and he states that he either lost consciousness or completely lost the will to fight. Before he can point out another possibility, Rukia, Ururu, and Jinta arrive. They ask about Renji's status but they are told they don't know since as soon as they got there Renji's reiatsu disappeared. Orihime inquires about what happened to Ichigo and Rukia states that he's going after the Bount, and that Orihime and Kurōdo should go and back Ichigo up. She then states that she's going to look for Renji herself but before they can do anything they're attacked by the Bount Yoshi. As Yoshi begins to talk with her doll, Nieder, Rukia orders Ururu to go after Sado and Jinta to look for Renji. Jinta begins to argue about this, but before he can do anything about it they're attacked by Yoshi again. Rukia uses Hadō #33 Sōkatsui but Yoshi dodges the attack. Yoshi remarks to herself that she'd much rather fight a man than a women but her doll tells her it's all the same after he kills her. Yoshi suddenly throws the sword-half of her doll towards Rukia but she is able to dodge the attack. However, before Rukia can react, Yoshi sends the fan-half of her doll towards Rukia; only for it to be stopped by Orihime's Santen Kesshun. Orihime and Kurōdo tell Rukia that they're going to be fighting as well and they ask Yoshi where Kariya is and what the Bounts are after.

Back at Ichigo's location, Ichigo fends off more of the metal balls sent after him but he is eventually overwhelmed by them. Koga tells his doll that her bad habit is that she always plays with her prey. However, Dalk states that when in a life and death battle you should let your prey feel the ultimate pain and fear, as it would be a tragedy if the prey never got to feel those feelings. Ichigo gets back up to battle and Dalk begins sending a barrage of metal spikes towards Ichigo and Keigo. Ichigo protects Keigo and he tells Dalk not to mess with him, but as he does this Keigo spots Ichigo; who is shocked that Keigo can actually see him in his Shinigami form. Koga remarks that the reason for this is because most of his soul has been sucked out of his body and he informs Ichigo that he can't save him now; but Ichigo isn't convinced that this is the case. Ichigo asks Koga why he's using the bitto to collect souls and Koga informs him that the bitto gives the Bounts further strength and this helps them further achieve their goals. Keigo suddenly tells Ichigo to run away and he passes out, causing Ichigo to angrily fire off a Getsuga Tenshō at Dalk; with the attack splitting the doll in half. Ichigo then goes to take care of Keigo but Dalk suddenly stretches her arm around his Zanpakutō and immobilizes it. Dalk then stretches more of her arms around Ichigo and immobilizes him as well. She then begins to tighten her grasp on him, but Ichigo is able to pull out enough strength to free himself.

In another location, Ururu informs Sado and Noba of the situation but as she does this the Bount Sawatari confronts the group. Back at Ichigo's location, Ichigo was able to escape from Koga's sight due to Ririn's illusions. Ririn warns him that they have to hurry and escape, but Ichigo tells her that he has to save Keigo first. Ririn tries to convince Ichigo not to, but Ichigo tells her that if he can't save Keigo then he can't save anyone, including himself. Koga suddenly appears with his doll and tells Ichigo that he's correct in thinking that he can't save anyone and that thinking otherwise would be a foolish illusion. Dalk tells Ichigo that she won't forgive him if he tries to escape in the middle of battle and she creates a metal spider web around Ichigo so he can't leave. Ichigo fires off a Getsuga Tenshō at Dalk but she dodges the attack and Ichigo tells her that he wouldn't run away. Ichigo's Zanpakutō is suddenly immobilized by Dalk's arm again and he realizes that he himself is stuck on the web. Dalk suddenly uses her stretched out arms as a whip and begins hitting Ichigo; causing him to kneel down and drop his Zanpakutō. She then takes Ichigo's Zanpakutō and begins to thrust it towards the Shinigami to finish him off, but Ichigo easily catches the Zanpakutō to the surprise of Koga and Dalk. Ichigo then takes his Zanpakutō back and throws Dalk away.

Ichigo is suddenly shown to have been taken over by his inner Hollow again and Koga asks him who he is, only for the Hollow to answer with "I'm me". Koga remarks that he thought he was only a Shinigami but the Hollow tells him that Ichigo is the Shinigami, not him, and that he isn't as naïve as Ichigo. The Hollow then remarks that as much as he'd like to say that Ichigo isn't a part of him, it would be bad for him if Ichigo were to die. Dalk doesn't think Ichigo can fight anymore and she begins to attack her opponent, but "Ichigo" easily dodges and thrusts his Zanpakutō through Dalk's chest. He then splits Dalk in half and he begins to laugh madly, but his arm is suddenly put on his Hollow mask and begins to rip it off. The Hollow realizes that Ichigo is the one doing this and he advices Ichigo against this, but his words do nothing and the Hollow mask is ripped off; causing Ichigo to come back. Ichigo collapses onto the ground and Koga tells him that a strong heart is needed to control a strong power, but that he lacks that strong heart. Koga tells him that because of this he'll destroy himself in the near future, but before that happens he'll finish him off himself and he calls for his doll to come back. Dalk wonders what happened and Koga tells her that the battle is over now. He then tells her not to make him suffer too much. In another location, Jinta finds Renji passed out on the ground.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
Ikkaku Madarame is in a barbershop, and Yachiru Kusajishi appears and asks what he's doing there since he's bald. She then begins to draw a line separating his face from his head, but he stops her. Sajin Komamura comes in, and Yachiru tries to do the same to him, but Ikkaku stops her again.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Ichigo Kurosaki
 * 2) Ririn
 * 3) Rukia Kuchiki
 * 4) Orihime Inoue
 * 5) Kurōdo
 * 6) Yasutora Sado
 * 7) Noba
 * 8) Ugaki
 * 9) Yoshi
 * 10) Gō Koga
 * 11) Hollow Ichigo
 * 12) Sawatari
 * 13) Mabashi
 * 14) Jin Kariya
 * 15) Renji Abarai
 * 16) Ururu Tsumugiya
 * 17) Jinta Hanakari
 * 18) Keigo Asano

Powers and Techniques Used
Kidō used:

Techniques used:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Dolls summoned:

Other powers:
 * Illusions
 * Illusions