Suì-Fēng Dies? The Last of the Special Forces

 is the one-hundredth episode of the Bleach anime.

2nd Division Captain Suì-Fēng is forced to fight Mabashi after being weakened by his poison.

Summary
Having been weakened by poison delivered to her system through a Bitto stabbed into her shoulder by one of the assembled Keigun, a kneeling and pained 2nd Division Captain Suì-Fēng sees the Bitto lying on the ground where she threw it and realizes that this is a Bount's poison. Upon seeing the feral Keigun who threw the Bitto go limp in the arms of his comrades and be pronounced dead, Suì-Fēng gets to her feet and instructs the concerned Keigun to not make a fuss.

Suì-Fēng brings up how she heard of a Bount who can control people like puppets and theorizes that this Bount took control of the Keigun when the two came into contact. As she mentally realizes that this means there could be others under the Bount's control, Suì-Fēng inquires if anyone else came into contact with the Bount, and as a female Keigun confirms that her group did so around the second east street, one of her comrades suddenly begins groaning in pain and approaches Suì-Fēng while grasping the handle of his sword behind his back.

With the female Keigun being thrown aside when she attempts to stop the attacker, the other Keigun rush forward to restrain him, only for the attacker to rapidly subdue them with Hakuda as two of the remaining Keigun suggest that Suì-Fēng tend to her wounds while they handle this, prompting Suì-Fēng to run off despite her concern. Nearby, Ichigo Kurosaki runs down a street with Ririn, who expresses confusion and frustration at how the Reiatsu of the Bount keeps appearing and disappearing. Realizing that the Bount are up to something, Ichigo suddenly comes to a stop, which causes Ririn to flip over his shoulder and onto the ground in front of him.

From the intersection in front of Ichigo and Ririn, three groaning Shinigami run toward them with their Zanpakutō drawn and begin attacking Ichigo, who dodges the first slash and draws his Shikai, Zangetsu, before blocking the second strike and demanding to know what the Shinigami are doing as Ririn rejoins him and reveals that they smell like Bount. From within the Shinigami, Mabashi's Doll, Ritz, declares that Ichigo will die, and with Ichigo realizing that she is a Doll, the three Shinigami rush forward and resume their assault, leading Ichigo to block the first blow with Zangetsu and kick the Shinigami back with a blow to the abdomen from his knee.

After ducking to evade a horizontal slash from the second Shinigami, Ichigo bashes the hilt of Zangetsu into his stomach prior to slamming the flat side of the blade into the respective side and neck of the other two Shinigami, knocking all three of them out. While Ichigo deduces the Shinigami were being controlled by Mabashi's Doll, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai finds himself and Kurōdo confronted elsewhere by several more Shinigami with their Zanpakutō drawn, whom Renji tells to knock it off as he blocks two strikes from them and moves back so the group is completely in front of him, which leads Kurōdo to observe this is just like when Rukia was being controlled.

Meanwhile, Yasutora Sado and Noba are confronted by a dozen more Shinigami in a different part of the Seireitei. Though Sado leaps out of reach to evade their strikes, the Shinigami simply begin cutting each other down instead, prompting a chuckling Mabashi to praise Ritz for her performance from a rooftop overlooking the chaos, only to tense up upon sensing a strong Reiatsu approaching him. Simultaneously, 9th Division Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi informs 7th Division Captain Sajin Komamura of the Shinigami who have been possessed by Ritz and are attacking their allies, which he recognizes from his previous encounter with Mabashi in the Human World.

When asked by Komamura if there is a way for the possessed to regain control, Hisagi notes it is difficult to defeat only Ritz when she is inside their bodies, to Komamura's concern. Elsewhere, on a rooftop pavilion, Suì-Fēng sheds her bloodied haori and other overgarments, leaving her Keisen Shōzoku, and internally asserts the puppets should be brought under control if the one controlling them is defeated, which means she must eliminate the Bount, as she stumbles away. However, Suì-Fēng quickly senses the presence of Mabashi, who casually walks into the pavilion and details how he came here upon sensing a strong Reiatsu that should mean Suì-Fēng is a captain.

Mabashi observes Suì-Fēng has been injected with the poison of a Bitto and reveals leaving a condensed living Soul alone in the Bitto causes it to rot before concluding Suì-Fēng is going to die soon, since there is no way to counteract the poison. Briefly falling to her knees, Suì-Fēng pushes herself up and leaps into the air, where a grinning Mabashi follows her and begins trading blows. While the two of them evade multiple strikes from each other, Mabashi begins blocking Suì-Fēng's punches and kicks with his hands and elbows, and as Suì-Fēng continues her assault, Mabashi attempts to pull her in by the ankle, but Suì-Fēng breaks free and kicks at his face.

After grabbing a dodging Mabashi's wrist, Suì-Fēng pulls him aside and tries to kick him once more, only for Mabashi to outmaneuver this, grab Suì-Fēng's fist when she throws a punch at his face, and throw her over his shoulder, where Suì-Fēng recovers and trades several more blows with Mabashi prior to the two leaping off of and away from each other into pillars on opposite sides of the pavilion. With Suì-Fēng having gone up and Mabashi having gone down, the two rush toward each other in midair once more and block multiple strikes from each other before Suì-Fēng swings Mabashi around by the wrist and kicks him away from herself so they land on the ground below.

Admitting he is impressed by a panting and kneeling Suì-Fēng, Mabashi reminds her the poison will spread faster if she moves. Upon realizing it is disadvantageous for her to drag this out, Suì-Fēng moves behind Mabashi with Shunpo, presses her Zanpakutō to his neck, and releases her Shikai, Suzumebachi, only to wince in pain before she can attack, which allows Mabashi to free himself from her grip and leap into the air. As she follows Mabashi, Suì-Fēng refuses to let him get away and stabs at him with Suzumebachi, forcing a shocked Mabashi to twist his body away from her at the last second and move to the other side of the pavilion while Suì-Fēng falls down.

An angered Mabashi curses Suì-Fēng as a Hōmonka forms on his chest, which he recognizes with amusement and describes as killing him if he gets struck in the same place twice, but points out how Suì-Fēng's time is almost up and decides to hide so he can take his time watching her until she dies. With her vision beginning to blur, Suì-Fēng sees Mabashi leap away and tells him to wait as she begins crawling forward. Meanwhile, Komamura finishes knocking out several possessed Shinigami alongside Hisagi, whose analysis of Ritz being completely fused with the bodies of the Shinigami he concurs with as the latter notes they might lose control again later.

In response, Komamura suggests they move the possessed Shinigami to the Sōgō Kyūgo Tsumesho so 4th Division Captain Retsu Unohana can give her opinion on the matter, due to there being no one else who can help the afflicted Shinigami, which leads Hisagi to order the other Shinigami to move the possessed to the Sōgō Kyūgo Tsumesho. Soon afterward, Unohana stands in one of the infirmary rooms with her lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu, and 3rd Seat, Yasochika Iemura, as two of Komamura's subordinates relay the status of the possessed and the uncertainty of how many have been afflicted to her, which is why they want her opinion on how to proceed.

Moving her hands over the possessed Shinigami lying in front of her, Unohana realizes extraction of Ritz from his body without extensive preparation is impossible because of how strongly his mind and body are being controlled, and when asked about what they should do, Unohana instructs the Shinigami to bring in the other possessed Shinigami in order to stop their movement, leading the two Shinigami to run off while Unohana laments about using an unreliable method for this and orders Isane to make preparations. Back in the pavilion, a panting Suì-Fēng struggles to crawl forward and falls flat on her face as she mentally observes she cannot see anything in front of her.

Uncertain of what she should do in the face of her unexpected helplessness, Suì-Fēng thinks of Yoruichi Shihōin and looks at Suzumebachi, where she realizes what she needs to do and screams in pain as she stabs the tip into her own body. Simultaneously, Komamura incapacitates three possessed Shinigami at once with shockwaves from open-palmed strikes while Hisagi takes out several more in rapid succession with powerful punches and kicks. When one of the Shinigami embeds his Zanpakutō in Komamura's chest, one of his subordinates expresses concern, but Komamura insists that he focus on his own enemies and tosses his attacker away.

While Iemura directs nurses in the Sōgō Kyūgo Tsumesho to put patients in new rooms and Unohana attempts to heal one of the possessed Shinigami with Kaidō, Mabashi sits on the steps leading up to a building and expresses confusion at his inability to send orders to some of the Ritz copies, which he deduces is the result of the Shinigami knocking out those whom Ritz is attached to, but declares that it does not matter when his increased power allows him to multiply Ritz as much as he wants to and summons Ritz once more. Splitting Ritz into multiple copies that he spreads across the Seireitei, Mabashi comments on how easy this is for him to do.

Upon remembering that it is almost time for Suì-Fēng to die, Mabashi decides to make her feel a little more despair first. Elsewhere, Ichigo incapacitates three possessed Shinigami with a sweeping kick, jabs the handle of Zangetsu into a fourth, and uppercuts a fifth with his free hand while Ririn knocks out the fourth Shinigami by repeatedly kicking him in the face. At the same time, Renji uses '''Bakudō #1. Sai on the Shinigami surrounding him, causing their arms to be locked behind their backs, and as Kurōdo praises him for being able to fight with Kidō as well, Renji notes that he is doing so due to his current inability to use his Shikai, Zabimaru'''.

However, Renji assumes Kurōdo was subtly making fun of him by mentioning this and demands to know if it is really so unusual for him to use Kidō as a lieutenant, leaving Kurōdo unnerved and submissive. On a rooftop in the Second Division compound, Mabashi lands and sees Suì-Fēng lying face-down in a pavilion nearby, where he approaches her and questions if she is still alive. When Suì-Fēng questions why he came back if he was planning on hiding until she died, Mabashi reveals he sensed the Shinigami incapacitating those he had possessed with Ritz and decided to hit them with someone strong, which leads Suì-Fēng to conclude he wants to use her for this.

Claiming that he cannot stand to see Ritz hurt, Mabashi wonders what Suì-Fēng is looking at and presumes that she wants to kill him by striking the Hōmonka on his chest once more, though he asserts that this is impossible. Suddenly, ten Keigun appear on the far rooftop and leap over to Suì-Fēng, which prompts Mabashi to move back and comment on there still being some Keigun left who want to avenge their captain. With the Keigun expressing concern for Suì-Fēng and promising to get her to the Sōgō Kyūgo Tsumesho, Mabashi inquires if they are really her allies and calls out to Ritz, causing the Keigun to begin writhing in pain.

Upon seeing the flower of Ritz sprouting from the abdomen of each Keigun and spreading purple root-like markings across their chests, Suì-Fēng is left staring in shock as Mabashi proclaims that all of her subordinates already belong to Ritz and has them pull her to her feet. With Suì-Fēng aghast at this, Mabashi asks her how it feels to be restrained by her own subordinates and observes with irritation that she can still talk pretty well despite not being able to move when Suì-Fēng curses at him before proclaiming that he is going to take Suì-Fēng's body and enslave it with Ritz until she dies as he summons Ritz once more with a chuckle.

After sarcastically apologizing to Suì-Fēng, Mabashi has Ritz fly toward her, but Suì-Fēng suddenly activates her Shunkō, sending Ritz flying back in distress and forcing the Keigun back, allowing Suì-Fēng to move to a stunned Mabashi with Shunpo and stab the center of his Hōmonka with Suzumebachi to initiate Nigeki Kessatsu. As Suì-Fēng pulls the blade out and leaps back, Mabashi clutches his chest and demands to know how she is able to move, leading Suì-Fēng to reveal that she already detoxified the Bitto poison by stabbing herself in the arm with Suzumebachi, which she proves by sliding down her sleeve to display her own Hōmonka.

Suì-Fēng elaborates that being trained to enter the Keigun from a young age left her immune to most poisons and taught her how to build resistance to new poisons, which she did by countering the Bitto poison with the poison of Suzumebachi. When Mabashi questions why she pretended that she could not move in this case, Suì-Fēng concludes that she had no chance of saving her subordinates if Mabashi did not come after her and that it was a last-resort gambit. With Mabashi falling to his knees and panting heavily, Suì-Fēng asserts that it is over, only for Mabashi to counter that she should not underestimate him and summon the ten Ritz copies out of the Keigun.

Though Mabashi deduces he can save himself from the poison if he kills Suì-Fēng and assumes she is not moving because she is so afraid of him, Suì-Fēng merely calls him foolish, and when an angered Mabashi orders Ritz to attack her, the copies instead begin attacking him, to his shock and confusion. Watching this, Suì-Fēng brings up how she heard the power of a Doll is a double-edged sword because it will turn on its controller if their power weakens. As Mabashi falls over and begs Ritz to stop while his body begins to desiccate and release green energy, Suì-Fēng tells him the poison of Suzumebachi is already affecting his body, which turns to dust as he screams.

In the aftermath, Suì-Fēng walks over to Mabashi's empty clothes and looks down solemnly while the possessed Shinigami surrounding Ichigo suddenly groan and collapse, to his and Ririn's confusion, with the same occurring to the Shinigami being bound by Renji, prompting Kurōdo to note the presence of Ritz has disappeared. With Sado and Noba looking over the unconscious Shinigami around them, Komamura sees the signs of possession disappear from the face of the Shinigami he is holding up by the collar while in the Sōgō Kyūgo Tsumesho, Unohana sees her patients regaining consciousness and assures them someone has defeated the controller.

Elsewhere, Yoshi stands on a rooftop with her Doll, Nieder, and observes the disappearance of Mabashi's Reiatsu prior to criticizing him for being pathetically naïve in the end. In a different part of the Seireitei, Sawatari surfaces while sitting on his Doll, Baura, and acknowledges that the enemy must be skilled if they defeated Mabashi before telling the individual hiding nearby to come out, which results in 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi emerging from the Nisehada he had performed on the nearby wall and inquiring about how Sawatari was able to notice him even though he tried to hide his spiritual presence like the Bount do.

A chuckling Sawatari asserts that anyone could detect Mayuri's bloodthirst no matter how much he suppresses his Reiatsu, and when Mayuri asks him where Maki Ichinose is since that is who Mayuri was looking for, Sawatari admits that he does not know due to Ichinose's Reiatsu disappearing a while ago and questions if one of Mayuri's allies was responsible for this. Disappointed by this news, Mayuri decides to settle for Sawatari in order to make the Bount pay for embarrassing him. Though he does not like Mayuri underestimating him, Sawatari accepts this since he has been tasked with eliminating captains, leaving Mayuri to glare at him.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
In the Rukongai, 11th Division Captain Kenpachi Zaraki stands with his lieutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi, clinging to his shoulder. Upon looking inside one of the nearby gambling halls, a disappointed Kenpachi discovers that it is uninhabited and sits on a bench outside with a fan to cool himself down. When Yachiru inquires about why he is not pursuing the Bount, Kenpachi explains that he has never found anyone that he chased and declares that the one he really wants to cut is Ichigo Kurosaki, who suddenly gets a chill down his spine, to Ririn's confusion.

Fights

 * Suì-Fēng vs. Mabashi (concluded)

Powers and Techniques Used
Hohō Techniques:

Kidō Techniques:

Zanpakutō Techniques:

Doll Techniques:
 * Possession

Other Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Dolls summoned:

Anime Notes
Errors=
 * Because the completion of Nigeki Kessatsu would not be depicted in the canon storyline for several more years, here it is portrayed as a slow-acting but completely lethal poison within the victim's body instead of the immediate and total obliteration of their body.