Ichigo・Byakuya・Kariya, The Battle of the Three Extremes!

 is the ninety-sixth episode of the Bleach anime.

As Ichigo Kurosaki and Captain Byakuya Kuchiki continue to fight a continuously healing Jin Kariya, Ran'Tao shows up, prompting Kariya to leave.

Summary
As Ririn watches the ongoing battle, Ichigo, attacking Kariya, is forced to head back when Byakuya attacks Kariya with his Bankai. When Ichigo tells Byakuya to stop attacking him as well, Byakuya tells him he is in the way. Attacking Ichigo, Kariya punches him in the stomach. Crashing into the ground, Ichigo wonders why he cannot keep up with Kariya, who states while he is not as quick as him, he has had many years of fighting experience. As Kariya is cut by something, Byakuya notes it looks like Kariya's wind barrier is not impenetrable. Telling Byakuya he still will not be able to defeat him, Kariya begins using the spiritual particles in the air to heal himself again.

Attacking Kariya with his Bankai, Byakuya envelops the Bount with Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. As Kariya's wind barrier breaks, the Bount, falling to the ground, begins healing himself, but Byakuya attacks him. As the two clash with each other again, something crashes into the ground, and the three are forced to separate from each other. As a woman appears from the crash site, Ichigo recognizes the person as Yoshino Sōma. When the person tells Kariya she has finally found him, Kariya angrily asks who she is. When she introduces herself as Ran'Tao, Kariya, having believed she died, is shocked. When Ichigo asks Ran'Tao some questions, Ran'Tao states she is the only one outside of the Shinigami from Seireitei who knows about the Bounts.

Ran'Tao tells Kariya she knew he would come someday, and the wait for him felt like an eternity. Kariya begins to get angry at Ran'Tao, for she was the one who caused all of the Bounts' pain. As Ran'Tao asks Kariya if he is going to kill her, Ichigo, stepping in front of Ran'Tao, tells her if she is really who she says she is, she has a lot to answer for him, and he cannot just let her get killed. Kariya states he is not going to kill her, but instead let her watch the Bounts fulfill their goal. As he explains he will kill her after he annihilates the Seireitei, Byakuya, attacking him with his Bankai, states anyone who disturbs Soul Society will be cut down.

As Kariya tries to escape, Ichigo attacks the Bount, and the two of them begin battling. Before they can continue, Gō Koga, appearing with his Doll summoned, attacks the group to save Kariya. As Koga uses his Doll to distract the group, both Kariya and Koga escape. When Ichigo asks Ririn if she can sense where they are, she says she cannot because of all the confusion. When Ichigo asks Byakuya if he is going to chase Kariya, Byakuya states his aura has already disappeared, and they will have to start from scratch to find him. As Byakuya leaves, and Ichigo asks Ran'Tao if she is an enemy or ally.

Meanwhile, when Tōba tells Maki Ichinose there is a larger gathering of people than he expected, Ichinose states it appears there is a large dislike for Seireitei. When Tōba notices Kariya and Koga are missing, Ichinose states they will be back soon.

Appearing at Ichigo's location, Uryū Ishida is shocked to see Ran'Tao, who looks exactly like Yoshino. Noticing Uryū is a Quincy, Ran'Tao, stating it is interesting to see a Shinigami and a Quincy working together, says she is not their enemy, deciding to lead them to her house so they can talk there. Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, as Ganju Shiba makes a whistling sound, some people come out. Ganju tells Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado these people are the Kusajishi Bulls, one of whom greets Ganju.

At Ran'Tao's house, Ichigo is healed by Ran'Tao, who wonders where to start her story. When Ran'Tao asks them how much they know about the Bounts, Ichigo states he knows she was conducting experiments on eternal life. As Ran'Tao states her experiments were supposed to have an overall high success rate, Ichigo notes an accident gave birth to the Bounts. Telling him he is correct, Ran'Tao states the Bounts decided to live in Soul Society, but Soul Society did not allow this because it would mean they would have to acknowledge the existence of the Bounts, and they would not recognize something which was created by their own mistake. She states the Bounts tried to force their way into Soul Society, which is when the Quincy became involved. Though Soul Society tried to use this as an excuse to eliminate the Bounts, Kariya and a few others were able to escape.

Asking Ran'Tao what she has been doing all this time, since she should have been able to go to the Human World and help them, Uryū questions how much Ran'Tao really cared about the Bounts. Showing Ichigo and the others a marking on her back, Ran'Tao states when she was exiled from Seireitei, her powers as a Shinigami were sealed away, meaning she would not be able to go the Human World to help them, but after a long amount of hard work and research, she gained just enough reiatsu to fight. When Ichigo asks Ran'Tao why she was the only one exiled from Seireitei, she states Soul Society was happy knowing the Bounts are incapable of manipulating spiritual particles, leading Ririn to state Soul Society thought they could take care of everything in the Human World. Ran'Tao states Soul Society thought up ways to accept the Bounts' existence without damaging their reputation, and this is the result of their decision.

Telling Uryū she has caused him a great deal of trouble, Ran'Tao asks Uryū if he is a comrade of the Bounts, for he helped them get into Soul Society. As Uryū begins to explain, Ichigo, interrupting, says a lot of things happened which made Uryū help out the Bounts. Changing the subject, Ran'Tao asks Uryū if he knows how dangerous the Quincy Bangle he is using is, but he says he has to use it in order to defeat Kariya, regardless of the consequences. Falling down, Ran'Tao begins to feel weak. When Ichigo tries to help her, Ran'Tao, telling him she is fine, reveals she is a lot older than most Shinigami, but she still has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. As Ran'Tao, stating she is going to have to rest for half a day, and they will talk after she feels better, falls asleep, Ichigo decides they should rest here as well.

Meanwhile, when Koga asks Kariya how Byakuya was, he states he was good, and that his fight with him will help promote their cause. When Kariya asks Ichinose where the other Bounts are, he states they are currently observing the Seireitei.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
When Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi hands Captain Sajin Komamura a comb he found in the Human World, Komamura thanks him for it. As Hisagi thinks to himself Orihime knows some good shops, he recalls getting the comb at a dog store.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Ririn
 * 2) Ichigo Kurosaki
 * 3) Byakuya Kuchiki
 * 4) Jin Kariya
 * 5) Ran'Tao
 * 6) Yoshino Sōma (flashback)
 * 7) Gō Koga
 * 8) Uryū Ishida
 * 9) Ganju Shiba
 * 10) Orihime Inoue
 * 11) Yasutora Sado
 * 12) Kurōdo
 * 13) Noba
 * 14) Mitsuru Ishino
 * 15) Sadatomo Saionji
 * 16) Taichi Miyamoto
 * 17) Kenji Yamashita
 * 18) Maki Ichinose

Fights

 * Byakuya Kuchiki & Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Jin Kariya (concluded)

Powers and Techniques Used
Shinigami Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Bankai:

Dolls summoned:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Other powers: