Marching Out the ZOMBIES (episode)

For the chapter of the same name, see Marching Out the ZOMBIES.

Marching Out the ZOMBIES is the twenty-second episode of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and the three hundred and eighty-eight episode of the Bleach anime overall.

Summary
With Uryū Ishida ascending into the pillar of light piercing the Shakonmaku, Ichigo Kurosaki screams at him for an explanation of his betrayal, but Uryū remains silent as the beam transports him, Yhwach, and Jugram Haschwalth out of the Seireitei, producing a powerful shockwave that blows Ichigo back and forces Orihime Inoue to catch him and Yasutora Sado with Santen Kesshun while Ichigo calls out to Uryū. Nearby, Liltotto Lamperd and Meninas McAllon notice the incoming shockwave and move back with Hirenkyaku.

With 9th Division Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi using Shunpo to escape the shockwave as well, 13th Division Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki sees a large chunk of rubble coming down on her, forcing 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai to move in front of her and intercept it with his Shikai, Zabimaru. From afar, Captain-Commander Shunsui Kyōraku watches more chunks of rubble crash into a barrier set in front of him by his lieutenant, Nanao Ise, and wonders why the Royal Guard are not shooting down Yhwach, Haschwalth, and Uryū before assuming that letting them into the Soul King Palace is part of Ichibē Hyōsube's plan.

In the aftermath, as it begins to rain, Orihime sits next to her Santen Kesshun in the debris and comments on the ride that the shockwave sent them on, which she hopes did not result in Ichigo or Sado hitting their heads. However, Orihime notices Ichigo looking forlorn, which leads Sado to tell Ichigo that they are as shocked as he is prior to reminding him that they know Uryū well enough to believe that he has a very good reason for joining the Wandenreich, only for Ichigo to reveal that he has expected this to happen since the war began because a conflict between Shinigami and Quincy would naturally put them on opposite sides.

Despite this, Ichigo insists that Uryū is their comrade and friend because of what he has been through with them, and though Ichigo admits that does not know if Uryū feels the same way, Sado asserts that they know what they have to do, which Ichigo affirms will be them going after Uryū to hear what he has to say since they cannot let him get away with this without an explanation. Once Ichigo promises to smack Uryū and bring him back regardless of whether or not he is satisfied by the latter's answer, a bemused Sado raises the question of how they will catch up to Uryū, prompting Kisuke Urahara to step up and offer a ride to the Soul King Palace, which Ichigo accepts.

Elsewhere, 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki emerges from a protective layer of blade petals formed with his Shikai, Senbonzakura, and observes that the Quincy have been targeting the Soul King Palace instead of the Seireitei all along before questioning why. In response, NaNaNa Najahkoop appears behind Byakuya and inquires if he is going after Yhwach even though the Sternritter are still alive as Candice Catnipp lands nearby and demands to know where Ichigo is. Walking up to Byakuya from the front, Robert Accutrone looks back warily at the tower that Yhwach, Haschwalth, and Uryū used for the departure.

In a different part of the replaced Seireitei, 7th Division Lieutenant Tetsuzaemon Iba pushes a chunk of rubble off himself and offers to help his transformed captain, Sajin Komamura, to his feet, but Komamura simply stands up with a growl and begins walking toward the tower, with Iba following suit as he vows to not let Yhwach get away. Meanwhile, Renji stands with his Bankai, Sōō Zabimaru, holding up the large chunk of rubble that had flown toward Rukia and asks the latter if she is alright, which Rukia confirms. When Renji wonders if she sensed what he did, Rukia affirms this and questions why Uryū is defecting.

Suddenly, Bazz-B appears in the air above them and comments on their anger toward Uryū prior to informing them that the Sternritter also hate him and offering to team up with them to kill Uryū. In turn, Renji shatters the chunk of rubble and blasts it toward Bazz-B, startling the latter, and calls him a "chicken head" while denying that they need help to smack Uryū. However, Bazz-B remains caught on Renji's insult and angrily warns him that he should not demean his mohawk, only for Renji to sarcastically assure him that chickens are awesome for getting up early to lay eggs and that he respects Bazz-B for looking like one.

Infuriated by this, Bazz-B points all four fingers on his right hand at Renji, vows to kill him, and explains that he thought Renji would be cool because of his stylish eyebrows prior to declaring that he was wrong, though Renji is flattered by the compliment as Rukia snidely congratulates him. Despite this, Bazz-B uses Burner Finger 4, enveloping his hand in a large flaming sword as the area is engulfed by fire. Simultaneously, 11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame holds his Shikai, Hōzukimaru, to a sitting Giselle Gewelle's throat as he and 11th Division 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa stand before her.

Giselle frantically warns Ikkaku against cutting her down since she is an unarmed girl, which would make such an act go against his code as a man, but Yumichika deduces that she is baiting them and advises Ikkaku to be careful since her emphasis on being cut means it is likely dangerous to be sprayed with her blood. Though Giselle nervously denies this and cautions them against cutting her, Yumichika confidently decides to expose more of her lies and accuses Giselle of actually being a man, which he calls obvious while holding his hand over his mouth and nose in disgust, leaving Giselle aghast prior to calling out a zombified Bambietta Basterbine.

Blasting Ikkaku and Yumichika with explosive Reishi projectiles, Bambietta lands before Giselle, who wraps her arms around Bambietta's neck and encourages her to destroy the Shinigami. Meanwhile, in 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi's hidden laboratory, Urahara types on one of the consoles as Ichigo questions why no one else is here, leading Urahara to explain that the captains and lieutenants are still battling the Quincy so Ichigo can reach the Soul King Palace. Suddenly, an entrance appears on the thick black column behind them, and at Urahara's prompting, Ichigo, Orihime, and Sado get inside the column.

Upon realizing that the column is a replica of Kūkaku Shiba's Kakaku Taihō, Ichigo questions when Urahara found time to build it beneath the 12th Division barracks, only for Urahara to reveal that Mayuri is the one who began building the base structure after foreseeing the potential outcome of the Wandenreich invading the Soul King Palace around the time that the Royal Guard visited the Seireitei, with Urahara himself only putting on the finishing touches after arriving during the second invasion. When Ichigo admits to being impressed by this since he thought Mayuri was just crazy, Urahara asserts that Mayuri is a genius second only to himself.

Despite this, Urahara clarifies that this is not an exact replica because the Kakaku Taihō is uniquely built using Shiba Clan secrets, which means that their replica will disintegrate after a single shot, to Ichigo and Orihime's shock. Assuring them that this just means they have to hit their target on the first try, Urahara elaborates that their true problem is a lack of energy to fire the replica, though he promises a concerned Orihime that they will have the solution to this soon, and responds to 12th Division 3rd Seat Akon informing him that his guest has completed her assignment and returned, to Urahara's delight.

With Urahara instructing Akon to have his guest begin the next phase, Yoruichi Shihōin lands behind him, waves at a surprised Orihime, and reveals two rows of glass bottles containing a mysterious substance within her coat when Urahara asks her if she got it, which he is pleased by. After Ichigo wonders what these are, Yoruichi identifies them as the distortions that the Quincy have been creating, to his confusion, and Urahara details how they began seeing these shortly before the Wandenreich began their invasion and pulls up a recording of Hiyori Sarugaki announcing the creation of a Visored task force to clean up the distortions.

While the Visored discuss the strange appearance of the distortions in the video, to Hiyori's irritation, Urahara explains that the distortions act as a wedge between the Human World and Soul Society, causing them to connect in those areas, and when Ichigo wonders what purpose this serves, Urahara admits that they are still trying to find out and redirects Ichigo's attention to the fact that each distortion is comprised of a massive amount of energy linking the two worlds, which prompts Ichigo to realize that they are going to use the energy to fire the cannon while Urahara notes that he had Yoruichi and the Visored collect the distortions for such an occasion.

With Yoruichi complaining about being forced to work so hard by him, Urahara announces they will be traveling to the Soul King Palace. Back outside, Ikkaku runs away from a barrage of Bambietta's projectiles alongside Yumichika and questions how she can throw so many bombs at them, but Yumichika deduces they are not exactly bombs and seem to be turning anything they touch into an explosive, which means Ikkaku cannot deflect them with Hōzukimaru. In turn, Ikkaku assumes they just have to cut Bambietta down without touching the projectiles and leaps toward her, leading an amused Yumichika to launch rubble after him with '''Hadō #57. Daichi Ten'yō'''.

The rubble intercepts some of Bambietta's projectiles and allows Ikkaku to evade others in midair by leaping off the rocks, culminating in him stabbing Hōzukimaru through Bambietta's neck and out the back of her head, which splashes some of her blood on his cheek. Though Bambietta presses her right hand against Ikkaku's head and begins to create another projectile with it, Yumichika swiftly reaches them and cuts off Bambietta's arm with his Zanpakutō, leaving it and the projectile it created to fall to the ground below, which detonates and sends the bleeding limb flying several feet away for Giselle to pick up.

However, Giselle calls the two of them stupid and informs them that nothing they do can kill Bambietta because she is already dead just before Bambietta creates an explosion right in front of her body, blasting Ikkaku and Yumichika back down to the ground. Skipping over to the injured Ikkaku and Yumichika, Giselle explains that it was not easy turning Bambietta into a zombie because she cannot turn Quincy into zombies unless they are already dead, which forced her to squeeze the life out of Bambietta herself first and made her very excited. With Yumichika calling her perverted for this, Giselle bites her finger to draw blood from it.

As she clarifies that it is much easier to turn a Shinigami into a zombie because simple contact with her blood will do it and wonders if Ikkaku or Yumichika wants to become a zombie first, Giselle is interrupted by a bright light shining behind her and Mayuri praising her ability as extremely interesting while standing in his Anti-Shadow Clothing next to his lieutenant, Nemu Kurotsuchi. When Giselle states that she cannot see him because of how bright it is and inquires about his identity, Mayuri calls her ignorant for not knowing that great people often appear to be shining, though Giselle counters that she was not asking why he was shining.

On the ground behind Giselle, Ikkaku notes that the voice sounds like Mayuri if even if he cannot see the latter, which Yumichika affirms since Mayuri is the only one who would wear such an outfit. Suddenly, Bambietta leaps down in front of Giselle, but when the latter inquires if she is here to protect her, a drooling Bambietta begins begging for something of Giselle's and claiming that she cannot go on without it, leading Giselle to slap her to the ground for being disgusting, berate her for being so insatiable, and promising to give her the treat when the battle is over, which results in Bambietta tearfully apologizing as Giselle grins depravedly.

From behind them, Mayuri praises this dynamic as something he respects, and when Giselle notices that he has turned down the brightness of his clothing, Mayuri asserts that he did this so even an ordinary person like Giselle can see him. With Giselle picking up on him calling her ordinary even though he had previously called her outstanding, Mayuri clarifies that everyone is ordinary next to him. In response to this, Giselle has Bambietta activate her Quincy: Vollständig and launch a volley of projectiles at Mayuri, only for Nemu to pull him out of the resulting smoke cloud and into the air unscathed, to Bambietta's surprise.

Upon observing that each of Bambietta's projectiles moves at roughly the same velocity, Mayuri has Nemu prepare the Reishi Kotei Sōchi within the briefcase she is carrying, and when Giselle and Bambietta follow them into the air, Mayuri tells Nemu to set the devices for a three-second delay and scatters them into the air, causing Bambietta's next volley of projectiles to be absorbed by the devices before they surround her and Giselle with delayed explosions. With the smoke clearing to reveal an unharmed Giselle shielding herself with a burnt Bambietta and wondering why it took so long for the devices to detonate, Mayuri calls it simple.

Landing on a nearby building, Mayuri explains that the Reishi Kotei Sōchi halts the activity of Reishi it comes into contact with for a preset amount of time, which means that the device simply paused the effect of the projectiles for three seconds rather than taking more time than usual to become bombs. Though Mayuri concludes that this very simple effect let him completely disable Bambietta's attack and has allowed him to take the two of them as test subjects, a grinning Giselle summons dozens of 11th Division Shinigami that she has turned into zombies and asks Mayuri which two of them are going to become his test subjects.

With a horrified Ikkaku and Yumichika recognizing the zombies, Giselle reminds Mayuri that he should know she has been creating zombies since she entered the Seireitei, only for Mayuri to muse that this poses a problem because they are former members of the Gotei 13 and he simply does not have the heart to fight them because he is so full of love and kindness, which means he will need someone with no attachments to do it. At Mayuri's beckoning, Charlotte Chuhlhourne, Luppi Antenor, Cirucci Sanderwicci, and Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio step forward with surgical scars and stitches running across their bodies.

While Ikkaku stares in shock at Luppi, whom he once fought in the Human World, Yumichika is astonished to see Charlotte, whom he definitively killed in the Fake Karakura Town. In turn, Charlotte peers down at Yumichika, calls him ugly, and pretends to forget his name because of this, leading an aggravated Yumichika to stand up and promise to kill Charlotte again so he remembers despite Ikkaku cautioning him against being reckless. At the same time, Dordoni looks around for Ichigo, whom he was promised would be here, and Cirucci demands to know where Uryū so she can make him pay for what he did to her, though Luppi remains uninterested.

With Luppi pointing out how they have time to accomplish these goals later now that they are alive again and Dordoni and Cirucci admonishing him for being so calm when Mayuri could change his mind and kill them at any time, Mayuri flips open a button and presses it, delivering powerful electric shocks to the three of them, as he questions who gave them permission to talk and muses that it was still worth finding them in Szayelaporro Granz's vault. After Mayuri shocks Charlotte for pointing out that he was not in this vault, Giselle observes that Mayuri got his own zombies and ridicules him for thinking he can win with just four of them.

However, Mayuri merely asks the four Arrancar if it is true that they cannot win this battle, which leads Dordoni to admonish Giselle for her nerve while Cirucci and Luppi assert that they could never lose to Shinigami before the three of them leap down to attack the Shinigami. Though Ikkaku and Yumichika protest this since most of the zombified Shinigami are from the Eleventh Division, Mayuri counters that this is uncharacteristic to hear from their division and that pleading for the lives of their comrades is uncharacteristic to hear from the Gotei 13 since their only objective is to protect the Seireitei, which they should not relent on.

Bringing up the tenets that Shinigami should die in the service of the Gotei 13 and be killed if they ever harm the Gotei 13, Mayuri reminds Ikkaku and Yumichika that these were the words of Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, a man they respect. Simultaneously, Dordoni kicks a Shinigami away from himself and avoids the resulting blood splatter, but Luppi assures him that there is no need to do this since Ikkaku was splashed with Bambietta's blood without issue, and after Cirucci points out that they are already dead and cannot be altered much further beyond that while cutting a Shinigami in half with her Zanpakutō, Dordoni accepts that this makes sense.

Dordoni proclaims that this will let him fight without any reservations and runs over to another group of zombified Shinigami to deliver a powerful downward kick, creating a large cloud of dust as Giselle comments on how much of a mess this has become and reattaches Bambietta's severed arm, which reconnects its tissue and flesh automatically. Suddenly, Charlotte appears behind Giselle, and when the latter expresses confusion at Charlotte coming to fight her instead of Mayuri, Charlotte claims that his instincts are telling him to fight Giselle because they are very much alike, repulsing Giselle as she questions how this is true.

At Giselle's behest, Bambietta activates her Quincy: Vollständig again and fires a volley of projectiles at Charlotte, who casually dodges all of them, grabs Bambietta by the head with one hand when she flies toward him, and throws her into a building near Mayuri while declaring that he does not need to draw his sword in order to deal with a baby like her. Though Mayuri states that it is too bad Charlotte could not hit him, Charlotte claims that his hand slipped, and upon seeing Bambietta flying out of the dust cloud and debris toward him, Charlotte deduces that she will not stop until she is reduced to dust because of her zombie nature.

Placing his hands in front of his chest and forming a heart shape with his fingers, Charlotte fires Beautiful Charlotte Chuhlhourne's Final Holy Wonderful Pretty Super Magnum Sexy Sexy Glamorous Cero Revived, engulfing Bambietta in a powerful blast that propels her high into the sky. As she watches this, Giselle concludes that Bambietta is no match for Charlotte and calls out 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya, who stands on the roof of another building in a Wandenreich uniform while the ground beneath his feet becomes encrusted in ice, to the shock of the present combatants.

Fights & Events

 * The Gotei 13 vs. The Sternritter
 * Battle of the Zombies

Powers and Techniques Used
Zanpakutō Techniques:

Hohō Techniques:

Kidō Techniques:
 * Unnamed Barrier
 * '''Hadō #57.

Arrancar Techniques:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Quincy Techniques:



Other Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Bankai:
 * (flashback)

Schrifts:

Resurrección released:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Other Powers:

Items:

Anime Notes
Removed Content= Added/Expanded Content= Censorship= Changes=
 * Orihime Inoue noting that Uryū Ishida would be upset to hear Ichigo Kurosaki and Yasutora Sado talking about him being too stubborn to convince.
 * Rukia Kuchiki noting that the shockwave separated the Shinigami.
 * Rukia commenting on Renji Abarai admitting that he was upset over Uryū's defection.
 * Renji expressing awe at Bazz-B thinking his eyebrows are cool.
 * Sado bringing up Orihime's new outfit with Ichigo, who admits that it is more revealing than he expected as an aghast Orihime frantically tries to explain that Kisuke Urahara tricked her into wearing it before Yoruichi Shihōin intervenes and admonishes Ichigo for not simply praising Orihime's beauty as Urahara chuckles from the sidelines.
 * Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, Cirucci Sanderwicci, and Luppi Antenor shrieking over being shocked by Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who shocks them again and admits that he is surprised they can still talk before assuring them that this is just a signal stimulating pain in their brain instead of actually damaging their body, only for Dordoni to assert that this is worse.
 * Liltotto Lamperd, Meninas McAllon, and Shūhei Hisagi evading the shockwave as Renji Abarai moves to protect Rukia Kuchiki from a chunk of rubble.
 * Shunsui Kyōraku watching Yhwach's departure and inferring that allowing him to reach the Soul King Palace is part of Ichibē Hyōsube's plan.
 * Flashbacks to Uryū helping Ichigo and his other friends in previous adventures.
 * Sado questioning how they will reach the Soul King Palace, to Ichigo and Orihime's surprise.
 * Byakuya Kuchiki being confronted by NaNaNa Najahkoop, Candice Catnipp, and Robert Accutrone.
 * Tetsuzaemon Iba and Sajin Komamura continuing to approach the tower that Yhwach departed from.
 * Ichigo discussing the whereabouts of the rest of the captains and lieutenants with Urahara before the latter opens the hatch to the replica cannon.
 * Urahara showing Ichigo and his friends a recording of Hiyori Sarugaki leading the other Visored in cleaning up the distortions across Karakura Town.
 * Expanded flashbacks to the battles against Luppi and Charlotte.
 * Charlotte calling out the long name of his Cero and adding Revived to it when blasting Bambietta Basterbine.
 * The other combatants reacting to Tōshirō Hitsugaya's arrival.
 * The subtitled streaming versions of this episode posted on Hulu and Disney+ alter Yumichika Ayasegawa's claim that Giselle Gewelle smells like semen to him simply asserting that her being male is obvious.
 * In the manga, Sado throws Ichigo into a building to snap him out of his depressive funk over Uryū's defection; here, he instead calmly talks to him without touching Ichigo.
 * In the manga, Bazz-B notes that Rukia and Renji used to be friends with Uryū and assumes that they are upset to see a friend become an enemy; here, he instead asserts that they are also mad at Uryū.
 * In the manga, Rukia sarcastically congratulates Renji after he realizes Bazz-B is praising his eyebrows; here, she instead does so after Renji calls Bazz-B nice.
 * In the manga, Yoruichi joins Ichigo and his friends by sliding her hand between Orihime's breasts to keep them contained and berating Ichigo for his reaction to her new outfit; here, she instead drops from the ceiling and waves to Orihime from outside the replica cannon.
 * In the manga, Urahara theorizes that the distortions in the Human World were created to cause confusion in Soul Society and split up the Gotei 13 forces; here, when Ichigo asks about why the Wandenreich created them, Urahara admits that they are still trying to figure this out.
 * In the manga, Giselle is not surrounded by her zombies when she questions if Mayuri intends to beat hers with just four of his own; here, she instead is.