Kariya! Countdown to the Detonation

'''Kariya! Countdown to the Detonation''' is the one-hundred-fifth episode of the Bleach anime.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: November 29, 2006
 * English Airdate: March 14, 2009
 * Opening Song: Rolling Star
 * Ending Song: Baby It's You
 * Manga Chapters: None
 * Kanji: 狩矢！爆発へのカウントダウン
 * Romaji: "Kariya! Bakuhatsu e no kauntodaun"
 * Arc: Bount Assault on Soul Society arc

Summary
Having finished his battle with Gō Koga, Tōshirō Hitsugaya returns to his division and asks his men to recover the Bount. He does not know if there is a body, but feels that they should bury it if there is. His men report to him about how everyone has gathered at this division, including Ichigo Kurosaki's group. They had run into Rangiku Matsumoto and ended up there with the injured Uryū Ishida. Hitsugaya relays to them how Jin Kariya is the only Bount left because of the defeats that he, Soifon, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, and Kenpachi Zaraki have dealt their enemy. Orihime Inoue soon arrives with Izuru Kira after having taken care of Jidanbō Ikkanzaka at the gate. While she is helping Ishida, Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa are out with their 11th Division around Seireitei looking for Kariya. Over at the First Division headquarters, Nanao Ise is relaying a message from Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto about how they have found documents that Ran'Tao left about the power of the Joukaishō. However, to bring out the full power of the Joukaishō, a period of time is needed before activating it. That period of time is about a day - the same amount of time Kariya gave them.

As the sun is rising the next morning, Kariya is standing on a wall inside Seireitei when he is approached by Ran'Tao, armed with a special gun. Without saying a word, she starts firing and manages to injure Kariya even though he tries to use his wind against the gunfire. It seems that Ran'Tao knew Kariya was here because of a Bount sensor and came to personally end this. However, seeing the exposed crest on Kariya’s injured body reminds her of something from the past. She recalls how the Bount were born into the Human World after the accident and attempted to live with Humans. They were unable to peacefully do that, so Ran'Tao helped them and brought them together in hidden communities. She went back to Soul Society to ask for protection for the Bount, but the Central 46 Chambers would not acknowledge the accident or help them. Afraid that the Bount will destroy the balance of souls in the living world, they sent a force of Shinigami against the communities Ran'Tao helped establish. She ended up assisting the Bounts escape being slaughtered and even saves a boy at the cost of fighting her own Shinigami allies. Giving him a necklace with a metal block attached, she told the boy about the Bounts’ still-hidden powers that this could draw out and urged him to run away.

Ran'Tao was captured afterwards and taken back to Soul Society where she was faulted for everything. The boy she gave the necklace item to found a way to control the Dolls perfectly, and the Bount wanted revenge. They tried unsuccessfully and Seireitei erased all records about it. Ran'Tao herself still remembers and thinks that Kariya is the boy - the crest appeared when he used the necklace item. She still feels that she can help the Bount and tries to dissuade Kariya from using the Joukaishō. Kariya, however, reveals that its energy has already been taken in by his body and he intends to use it to destroy the Shinigami. Meanwhile, Ishida leaves the rest of his sleeping friends when he senses Ran'Tao’s power and concludes that she must be fighting Kariya. But by now, the Bount leader has decided to kill Ran'Tao, so he attacks her with his wind power and blows her away.

Characters in order of appearance

 * 1) Tōshirō Hitsugaya
 * 2) Uryū Ishida
 * 3) Renji Abarai
 * 4) Ichigo Kurosaki
 * 5) Yasutora Sado
 * 6) Ririn
 * 7) Kurōdo
 * 8) Noba
 * 9) Soifon (flashback)
 * 10) Mabashi (flashback)
 * 11) Mayuri Kurotsuchi (flashback)
 * 12) Sawatari (flashback)
 * 13) Gō Koga (flashback)
 * 14) Orihime Inoue
 * 15) Izuru Kira
 * 16) Ikkaku Madarame
 * 17) Yumichika Ayasegawa
 * 18) Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto
 * 19) Nanao Ise
 * 20) Isane Kotetsu
 * 21) Jin Kariya
 * 22) Ran'Tao

Powers and Techniques used
Dolls summoned: Techniques used: Other powers:
 * Messer
 * Sōten Kisshun (双天帰盾, Twin Sacred Return Shield)
 * Shun Shun Rikka (盾舜六花, Six Flowers of the Hibiscus Shield; Viz: Six Princess Shielding Flowers)