Fury of the Shark! Harribel Releases

'''Fury of the Shark! Harribel Releases''' is the two hundred seventy-third episode of the Bleach anime.

As Rukia Kuchiki, Yasutora Sado, and Lieutenant Renji Abarai battle Yammy Llargo, the captains in the Fake Karakura Town continue battling the Espada.

Summary
Outside the walls of Las Noches, Yammy, Rukia, Renji, and Chad all sense the disappearance of Ulquiorra Cifer's Reiryoku. Ichigo Kurosaki's friends wonder if he had won, but Yammy punches through the wall in anger as he realizes Ulquiorra was defeated, as he had intended to go help him after he was finished with the three. He tells the trio that they are no match for him, since he has been increasing his Reiatsu during the past few days by eating and sleeping a lot. Chad notices that Yammy grew larger as he speaks and Chad remembers that he was near Human size when he first came to Karakura Town. Renji then tells them to look at the tattoo on Yammy's shoulder, signalling him as the 10th Espada, and reminds them that they each fought stronger Espada than him and survived. He tells them they should not worry about Yammy just because of his size, but that they should simply defeat him and go see Ichigo.

These words, however, only serve to enrage Yammy, who draws his Zanpakutō and releases his Resurrección, Ira. The sheer force that erupts from Yammy's release pushes the three back, and they stare in amazement as Yammy grows to a gargantuan size. As they look on, the 1 digit in the tattoo is erased. In his released form, Yammy looks like a titanic beast with eight pairs of legs, two arms and a tail. Yammy then reveals that, if he properly recharges beforehand, his release turns him into the strongest Espada, and so the Espada ranks go from nine to zero instead of ten to one, as they thought. With that, he clenches his fist and throws a punch at the trio, who all dodge the blow. Renji attempts an attack with his Shikai, but is swatted away by Yammy. Rukia manages to stop Yammy's next attack with Tsukishiro, but Yammy effortlessly breaks the ice and continues his rampage. Chad is able to withstand Yammy's punch with his armored right hand's shield, which he follows with a La Muerte. Although Yammy was surprised by the attack, it leaves him unharmed.

Renji decides to release his Bankai, Hihiō Zabimaru, but the sword's first clash with the Espada's fist causes it to break into its links. Renji uses the broken links for a binding technique on Yammy, allowing Chad and Rukia to use a united assault of El Directo and Hakuren, but Yammy manages to defeat all of their techniques by simply increasing his Reiatsu. The three are pushed back and half buried in the sand that rose to the air when Yammy blocked their attack. As they look back at Yammy, they find that once again he was left unscathed. Yammy says that he told them they would not be a match and launches a Cero at the three.

In the Fake Karakura Town, Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya is fighting 3rd Espada, Tier Harribel. The Espada attacks, forcing the captain to release his Bankai, Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, but still he is thrown down into the street. Harribel launches her Ola Azul at Hitsugaya. At a nearby street, Captain Sajin Komamura is standing guard as Lieutenant Izuru Kira is healing four incapacitated lieutenants. Kira grows concerned as he watches the captains struggling against the enemy. Captain Shunsui Kyōraku is fighting 1st Espada, Coyote Starrk. Starrk manages to land a successful hit, tearing through the captain's straw hat and nicking his head. Kyōraku tells Starrk he was surprised by his abilities, but Starrk replies that since Kyōraku's hat and kimono are still in place, he is the one truly surprised. Hitsugaya tries to make his way to Harribel, but she manages to keep him at bay with shots of Ola Azul. Eventually she surprises him and lands a hit of her own, sending him into the pavement again.

Captain Suì-Fēng and Lieutenant Marechiyo Ōmaeda are fighting 2nd Espada, Baraggan Louisenbairn. Suì-Fēng is crouching on a rooftop, exhausted. Ōmaeda regains consciousness and gets out from under the rubble in which he was buried. Baraggan remarks that their efforts were not very impressive, as they were not even able to get him to move. He smashes his throne with a single punch and takes out his Zanpakutō, a large battleaxe. Ōmaeda suggests to his captain that it's time to release the limit seals so that they could go all out against their enemies. Baraggan is fascinated to learn that the Shinigami might still have something up their sleeve and urges them to use it. Suì-Fēng, however, explains that the limit seals were not applied this time, because of the emergency situation they were in. Ōmaeda shudders when he realizes they were all fighting at the peak of their powers from the start.

Harribel, seeing how little effort it took of her to get the upper hand over Hitsugaya, asks if this is all a captain has to offer, since her Fracción were put down by one. She decides to finish Hitsugaya off and then go avenge the defeats of her Fracción. She releases her Resurrección, Tiburón. Hitsugaya notes that her outward appearance was hardly changed by the release, but remembers that he must keep his guard against her. Without a word, Harribel raises her weapon and slashes off Hitsugaya's right hand and wing. Believing the young captain to be defeated, Harribel tells him he never stood a chance, as one bite from the shark was enough to send the ice dragon flying into the sea. Kira cries out for Hitsugaya, but Komamura reminds him that he must have faith in his comrades. He asks him to keep on healing the other lieutenants. Harribel now sets her sights on Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the man who destroyed her followers, but she is forced to hold back an attack from an unharmed Hitsugaya; the one she cut down was an illusion made of ice. Hitsugaya advises Harribel not to belittle the captains' abilities so much.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto tells Suì-Fēng he has great expectations of her in this battle, Suì-Fēng acknowledges it. But when the Captain-Commander wants to tell Marechiyo Ōmaeda to do his best as well, he can not remember the lieutenant's name. Embarrassed, Ōmaeda tries to whisper his name to the Captain-Commander, but the latter either does not hear or ignores the lieutenant and refers to him as 'you'. Ōmaeda is crushed to find his supreme commander does not know his name, but he is devastated when his captain tells him that this shows his opinion about him.

Fights

 * Yammy's Rampage (concluded)
 * Tōshirō Hitsugaya vs. Tier Harribel
 * Shunsui Kyōraku & Jūshirō Ukitake vs. Coyote Starrk
 * Suì-Fēng & Marechiyo Ōmaeda vs. Baraggan Louisenbairn

Powers and Techniques Used
Kidō used
 * Kira's Some Unknown Barrier
 * Bakudō #37, (flashback)
 * Bakudō #73, (flashback)

Techniques used
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Hollow techniques used

Fullbring used:

Zanpakutō released

Shikai:
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Bankai:

Resurrección used
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