The Swung-Down Edge! The Moment of Ruin

 is the one-hundred seventh episode of the Bleach anime.

Ichigo Kurosaki and Jin Kariya begin their final battle while the Shinigami discover that there are other Jōkaishō.

Summary
Having confronted Jin Kariya on the damaged pavilion where he was fighting Uryū Ishida and Ran'Tao, Ichigo Kurosaki stands with his Shikai, Zangetsu, and inquires if Uryū is okay, prompting Uryū to kneel beside Ran'Tao and assure Ichigo that he does not need to be worried about. After Ran'Tao confirms that she is alright, Ichigo instructs Uryū to get her away from here since he is going to fight Kariya, and after Uryū notes that this seems to be their only option, Ichigo activates his Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu.

The energy released by the activation of Tensa Zangetsu surges over Kariya and off the side of the pavilion, resulting in Kariya jumping back high into the air, where he sees a tornado and swirling winds briefly coalesce around Ichigo before dissipating to reveal him clad in his Bankai. As he declares the start of the battle, Ichigo leaps toward Kariya, who casually evades both of Ichigo's subsequent slashes and falls down the side of the elevated pavilion with a smirk as Ichigo pursues him.

With Kariya springing off the wall to another pavilion that he begins running across the rooftops from, Ichigo catches up to him and attacks, leading Kariya to counter with wind condensed around his left fist that creates a large explosion of force on impact. In the aftermath, the dust settles to reveal Ichigo leveling his sword at Kariya, who is surrounded by a thin tornado, and grinning fiercely prior to rushing forward, only for Kariya to unleash a torrent of wind across the hole in the roof that sends Ichigo flying back and crashing through one stone tower into a next, where he coughs up blood from the impact and leaves a bloodstain in the crater where his back hit the building.

Upon seeing Kariya mockingly smiling at him through the hole in the first tower, an angered Ichigo leaps out of the crater and unleashes a Getsuga Tenshō that smashes through the tower and surges toward a shocked Kariya, who dodges to the side right before it tears through the rooftop where he was standing and carves a trench into the side of the base of the Senzaikyū pavilion. Noticing that Ichigo has vanished from the cratered tower as he stands on one side of the trench, Kariya sees the former appear in front of him with Shunpo and jumps to the other side of the trench just as Ichigo slashes down at him, which causes his sword to strike the ground instead.

After Kariya pushes Ichigo back with a wind-infused kick, the two of them glare at each other on opposite sides of the trench before Kariya smirks at this. Elsewhere, Uryū helps Ran'Tao walk through one of the streets of the Seireitei, and as she thanks him for his concern for her, Orihime Inoue runs up to them with Kurōdo and Noba, where she expresses her relief at Uryū being alright as Yasutora Sado joins them with Ririn on his shoulder. When Ririn inquires about what happened to his Quincy Bangle, a smiling Uryū nonchalantly notes that it broke, prompting a surprised Ririn to join her fellow Mod-Souls on the ground and bring up how it was supposed to explode if it broke.

Uryū explains that he learned how to use the Quincy Bangle solely for amplifying Reishi as he was reaching his limit, preventing it from exploding when he surpassed his limit because it was already empty. With Kurōdo admitting that he does not understand what this means and Noba expressing his exasperation at this, Ririn insists that it is fine as long as Uryū is safe, but chastises the latter for going off on his own and leaving everyone worried about him, which Uryū apologizes for. Suddenly, 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya and his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, appear in the street with Shunpo while Hitsugaya asks Orihime if Uryū and Ran'Tao are alright.

Once Orihime confirms this, Hitsugaya questions where Ichigo is, only to be alerted by the sound of an explosion in the distance after Uryū reveals that he is fighting Kariya. Though Hitsugaya and Rangiku agree that they cannot let Ichigo handle this burden on his own and prepare to depart, Ran'Tao frantically tells them to wait. As Hitsugaya and Rangiku are left startled by Uryū's identification of Ran'Tao and recognize her as the engineer behind the creation of the Bount, Ran'Tao requests that Hitsugaya do something for her upon learning that he is a captain and asserts that the Seireitei is doomed at this rate, which leads Hitsugaya to wonder what she means by this.

After Ran'Tao brings up Kariya's absorption of the power of the Jōkaishō into his own body, Hitsugaya affirms that they have already researched this and details how Kariya is currently buying time in order to use the full power of the Jōkaishō, but Ran'Tao reveals that the Jōkaishō power within Kariya is not important and that there is a different power they need to worry about, to Uryū's confusion, before clarifying that Jōkaishō is a general term for giant Reishi-generated devices that were used by her research team during their experiment on Souls and that there were at least several dozen of these devices located within the Seireitei.

Ran'Tao recounts how one of the Jōkaishō had a meltdown during an experiment and annihilated about a tenth of the Seireitei when it exploded, which the leaders at the time took very seriously, resulting in the Kidō Corps sealing away all of the remaining Jōkaishō within the Seireitei. With Hitsugaya astonished that there are more Jōkaishō, Ran'Tao concludes that Kariya detonating the Jōkaishō energy within his own body would most likely set off all of the other Jōkaishō in a chain reaction, releasing unfathomable energy, as his true goal, which causes a frightened Kurōdo to question why such dangerous things are kept within the walls of the Seireitei.

In response, Ririn asserts that the Jōkaishō are kept within the Seireitei because they are dangerous and must be monitored, which Kurōdo interprets as reflecting on how people often know little about what is happening in their own backyards, though Noba denies this. When asked what they should do by Hitsugaya, Ran'Tao concludes that they will simply have to seal each Jōkaishō with Kidō once more since their current seals have weakened over the years to the point where they will react to Kariya's explosion. Deciding to have the Jōkaishō re-sealed immediately, Hitsugaya inquires if Ran'Tao knows where the remaining ones are, prompting her to retrieve a book from her haori.

Suddenly, Ran'Tao grunts in pain and begins to collapse before a concerned Uryū catches and helps her up. As she assures Uryū that she is alright, Ran'Tao reminds him that she is overextending herself by fighting with her Reiatsu sealed away and has just reached the limit to which she can be active. After handing the book to a smiling Hitsugaya, Ran'Tao declares that she is leaving the rest to him and falls back into Uryū's arms. Upon being asked by Hitsugaya what they will do now while he and Rangiku prepare to leave, Orihime proclaims that they will be going after Ichigo, who is currently clashing repeatedly with Kariya and leaping up the stairs leading up to Sōkyoku Hill alongside him.

Orihime states that they cannot just run away when Ichigo is fighting and insists that she will have to heal Ichigo's injuries as Sado requests that Uryū let him carry Ran'Tao to somewhere she can rest before they leave, which Uryū agrees to. With Hitsugaya and Rangiku departing with Shunpo while Sado picks up Ran'Tao, Ririn instructs the others to get going and Kurōdo observes that they are drawing toward the conclusion as Noba concludes that they should see this through to the end, leaving a touched Uryū to encourage them to go after Ichigo. Meanwhile, near the tip of Sōkyoku Hill, Ichigo leaps back from an explosive clash with Kariya and pants heavily as Kariya stands before him.

With Kariya commending Ichigo for keeping up with him this far, Ichigo reiterates that he is going to settle this, and when Kariya merely wonders if Ichigo knows what kind of place this is, Ichigo confirms that he knows far better than Kariya does, which prompts an annoyed Kariya to declare that Sōkyoku Hill is the perfect place to settle this. While Ichigo agrees with this and assumes a battle stance, a grievously wounded Maki Ichinose limps through the nearby copse of trees and releases his Shikai, Nijigasumi, prior to encasing a surprised Ichigo in light, unleashing three shadowy slashes that Ichigo easily cuts through, and rushing forward to cross blades with Ichigo, who recognizes him.

Simultaneously, at the Seireitei Library, Hitsugaya meets with 8th Division Captain Shunsui Kyōraku, his lieutenant, Nanao Ise, and 13th Division Captain Jūshirō Ukitake, whom he informs of the additional Jōkaishō and gives Ran'Tao's copy of the map showing where they are. When Shunsui expresses exasperation at something like this being left after all that has happened and rendering the time they spent researching the data here meaningless, Nanao admonishes him for saying such a thing at a time like this as Ukitake inquires if Hitsugaya has alerted Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto to this yet, which Hitsugaya affirms he has sent Rangiku to tell him.

After Hitsugaya observes that they should be receiving orders soon, Ukitake laments that they will have to mobilize their remaining captains, lieutenants, and seated officers in order to seal so many Jōkaishō at once, which causes Shunsui to wonder in turn what they will do about Kariya. As Hitsugaya reveals that Ichigo has gone after him, a Jigokuchō flies down onto a nearby stack of books, allowing Nanao to relay the order being delivered to all captains, lieutenants, and seated officers that the Ryoka are after several Jōkaishō that need to be sealed away immediately and which they will be led to by Jigokuchō under a level one precautionary warning.

In Yamamoto's office in the First Division barracks, 7th Division Captain Sajin Komamura instructs Rangiku to go after a Jōkaishō as well, and as Rangiku agrees to this, Yamamoto proclaims that he will be directly leading everything due to the nature of their circumstances and requests that Komamura assist him in this as Rangiku excuses herself and leaves. During this, a resting Rukia Kuchiki wakes up upon hearing that Ichigo is fighting the Ryoka on Sōkyoku Hill and that the Shinigami are being mobilized to find the Jōkaishō in the Kuchiki Manor. With the attendants deciding to ask 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki for instructions, Rukia gets up to find Ichigo.

Back at Sōkyoku Hill, Ichigo expresses disbelief at Ichinose still being alive and forces him back, where he perturbs Kariya by mentioning that he has something to ask him. With Kariya acknowledging this, Ichinose questions where Gō Koga and the other Bount are and is surprised to learn that they have all died. When Ichigo demands to know what he is doing, Ichinose runs forward and clashes with him twice more despite Ichigo's protests for him to stop. After Ichinose evades a horizontal slash from him by jumping into the air and crosses swords with him again, an irritated Ichigo reiterates that Ichinose needs to stop and sends him flying back and landing on his back with another slash.

Ichinose's Zanpakutō reverts to its sealed state while he sees an unimpressed Kariya glaring down at him. Seeing Ichinose refuse to give up as he pushes himself up on his broken Zanpakutō, Ichigo wonders what he is doing in his worn-out state, but is shocked alongside Kariya when Ichinose releases Nijigasumi once more and moves behind Kariya with Shunpo to hold his blade to the latter's neck. Upon being asked what he is doing by Kariya, Ichinose asserts that he would have no choice but to destroy the Seireitei if Kariya ordered him to do so since he has abandoned it to the point of no longer caring what happens to it, only to clarify that this is what he used to believe.

As he details how he served Kariya because he saw Kenpachi Kiganjō in him, Ichinose reveals that he remembered his desire to improve the Seireitei and the Gotei 13 by even the slightest amount during his battle with 11th Division Captain Kenpachi Zaraki, an ideal which Kiganjō shared and which was the reason Ichinose served by Kiganjō's side to the point of maintaining that ideal even after the latter was gone, though the emptiness of Kiganjō's death turned his desires into revenge. With Ichigo relaxing his stance at this, Ichinose points out how Kariya has gained the power to change Soul Society and promises to kneel before him once more if he uses his power to rebuild the Seireitei.

However, Ichinose vows to stop Kariya if he chooses to use this power only for revenge because nothing can be born of it and concludes that he is the only one who can stop Kariya with Koga and the other Bount being dead. While Ichigo is startled to see wind condensing around his right hand, Kariya simply claims that he cannot do that, and as a Wind Barrier forms around him, Ichinose proclaims that he is not getting away and attempts to slash at Kariya, only for the latter to turn around and effortlessly grab Ichinose's right wrist and left hand, partially disarming him and preventing him from completing his strike, as he notes that Ichinose cannot defeat him with this power.

Holding Ichinose up by his right wrist, Kariya thanks him for providing time for the power of the Jōkaishō to spread through Kariya's body and summons more wind around his right hand. Upon seeing this, Ichigo attempts to rush forward, but finds himself stopped in his tracks by swirling wind while Kariya lets go of Ichinose and shoves his hand into Ichinose's chest, blasting compressed wind through his back and causing Ichinose to collapse. When Kariya turns around in contempt, a gasping Ichinose grasps his left ankle, which leads an angered Kariya to surge powerful winds into him, lifting Ichinose high into the air in a spray of blood and leaving his body to fall on the ground far behind Kariya.

With Ichinose's broken Zanpakutō embedded in the ground by Kariya's feet, Ichigo furiously demands to know if Kariya knows what he just did, and when Kariya wonders what he is so angry about, Ichigo reminds him that he just killed a comrade who served by his side, but Kariya merely brushes this off as unimportant, to Ichigo's disbelief, and looks back at Ichinose's Zanpakutō prior to questioning why Ichigo feels pity for someone who was his enemy, prompting Ichigo to clarify that he does not pity Ichinose and simply cannot forgive Kariya for killing his comrade so coldly. Despite this, Kariya informs Ichigo that he never considered the others to be comrades and that they were just pawns for his goal.

Enraged by this, Ichigo glows with blue Reiatsu as Kariya decides to settle this with him now and raises his right hand in the air before summoning his Doll, Messer, causing wind to swirl around his hand while storm clouds swirl in the air above and a tendril of coiling wind extends from them to connect to the wind emanating from Kariya's hand, forming a powerful tornado, to Ichigo's shock. On the ground below and several hundred meters away from Sōkyoku Hill, Orihime, Sado, Uryū, and the Mod-Souls see the swirling storm clouds and feel the strong winds surging through the area while Ririn senses Kariya's Reiatsu rapidly rising, which leads them to hurry toward the fight.

Back on Sōkyoku Hill, Kariya's right hand and forearm turn metallic as they grow curving protrusions above and below his clenched fist to form the base of a pata sword. Admitting that he did not think there was a reason to show Ichigo his Doll, Kariya generates a long blade of condensed wind and notes that he is almost out of time prior to introducing Messer to Ichigo and declaring that the latter cannot come near him anymore. With the dust around Kariya settling, Ichigo mocks his confidence and assumes a battle stance. After glaring intensely at each other for several seconds, Ichigo and Kariya fire a Getsuga Tenshō and Wind Licht Schneide, respectively, at each other.

Meanwhile, at the Kuchiki Manor, Rukia walks out of the front gate and begins heading toward Ichigo's location, only to be stopped by 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai, who inquires about where she is going. Explaining that he came to the manor because he could not find Byakuya elsewhere, Renji approaches Rukia, but is astonished when the latter requests that he take her to the Sōkyoku.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
3rd Division Lieutenant Izuru Kira and 9th Division Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi bring Kon to the Tenth Division barracks, where Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends should be resting. With Kon raptly envisioning how he will use his soothing powers to ease the stress of Orihime Inoue and 10th Division Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto, a Riteitai appears behind them and informs Izuru and Hisagi that Ichigo has begun fighting the Bount, allowing them to return to their posts. Following this, Izuru, Hisagi, and the Riteitai depart with Shunpo while Kon enters the barracks and become enraged upon finding it is completely empty, which leaves him alone once more.

Fights

 * Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Jin Kariya: Final Fight

Powers and Techniques Used
Hohō Techniques:

Zanpakutō Techniques:

Doll Techniques:
 * Wind Barrier

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Bankai:

Dolls summoned:

Anime Notes
Errors=
 * Ichigo Kurosaki's Reiatsu when using his Bankai is portrayed as light-blue here, identical to his Reiatsu when using his Shikai, instead of black with a red outline.