Byakuya, the Truth Behind his Betrayal

 is the two hundred fifty-second episode of the Bleach anime.

Senbonzakura reveals the truth about Captain Byakuya Kuchiki's betrayal as he squares off against Kōga Kuchiki. Muramasa loses controls and unleashes hundreds of Menos.

Summary
Kōga sees Byakuya’s scarf and hairpiece; although he has never met Byakuya before, he concludes that he is from the Kuchiki Clan, which Byakuya confirms. Kōga inquires if Ginrei Kuchiki is still alive, but Byakuya refuses to answer. Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki both ask how Byakuya knows about Kōga, but Senbonzakura appears and tells them to simply observe, which comes as a surprise for both Ichigo and Rukia since they think that Senbonzakura is still under Muramasa's control. Senbonzakura responds by telling them the truth: that Byakuya had defeated Senbonzakura at the beginning of the rebellion and, on hearing Senbonzakura’s summation, immediately recognized Kōga's abilities, having been told of him by Ginrei. Byakuya and Senbonzakura then decided to work as double agents to find Kōga. Byakuya states he will kill Kōga for disgracing the Kuchiki Clan. Muramasa offers to help Kōga, but Kōga breaks his Zanpakutō, saying he’ll just get in the way. Muramasa, having lost control of his reiatsu, can no longer hold the Menos he’s been keeping inside himself. Ichigo destroys several of them, and tells Byakuya to fight Kōga, while he and Rukia fight the Menos.

Byakuya and Kōga are evenly matched in terms of swordsmanship, so Kōga switches to using Kidō, again with neither being able to gain an advantage, until Kōga uses a large scale ice spell which seemingly freezes Byakuya, until his Senbonzakura releases him. Kōga catches him with an immobilizing spell, similar to the one used by Muramasa, but Senbonzakura cuts the threads. Byakuya seems to have won, but Kōga begins using illusions to confuse him, and begins to land some hits. Kōga explains that he can send his Reiatsu into his enemy in order to manipulate their senses, creating illusions for his enemies. The only way to get rid of the illusions is to close their own heart, just like what Ginrei and Yamamoto had done when they fought and sealed Kōga. Byakuya says he didn’t close his heart from the very beginning because he intended to end Kōga's life instead of repeating the same mistake his grandfather made by sealing him instead of killing him. Kōga uses his ice Kidō to immobilize him again, and tries to finish the fight by stabbing him with the spear that sealed him, but Senbonzakura blocks the attack and frees Byakuya. Byakuya then activates Senkei, and the two continues the battle, with Byakuya gaining the upper hand. Byakuya decides to finish the battle, and as a mark of respect for Kōga, who was once a member of the Kuchiki Clan, Byakuya attacks with his Shūkei: Hakuteiken technique. Kōga then reacts by forming his battle stance and emits a large amount of reiatsu the two clash, creating a huge explosion.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
Yasutora Sado begins to lament the non-sentient nature of his powers when Ishida comforts him and says that he is certain Chad will eventually be able to communicate with his weapon, just as Uryū Ishida has. Ichigo, who is still pretending to be Ishida's bow, then reminds Ishida that he has another weapon. Ishida is excited at the prospect of being able to converse with his Seele Schneider as Ichigo encourages Chad to pretend to be the voice of Seele Schneider.

Fights

 * Byakuya Kuchiki vs. Senbonzakura (concluded)
 * Byakuya Kuchiki vs. Kōga Kuchiki (concluded)

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Kōga Kuchiki
 * 2) Byakuya Kuchiki
 * 3) Ichigo Kurosaki
 * 4) Rukia Kuchiki
 * 5) Muramasa
 * 6) Senbonzakura
 * 7) Ginrei Kuchiki
 * 8) Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto
 * 9) Renji Abarai (flashback)

Powers and Techniques Used
Kidō used
 * Hadō #4 (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * Hadō #63
 * Hadō #33
 * Bakudō #81
 * Bakudō #81
 * Bakudō #81
 * Bakudō #81

Techniques used
 * Kōga’s unnamed Spiritual Threads technique
 * Kōga’s unnamed Illusion technique
 * Kōga’s unnamed Spiritual Threads technique
 * Kōga’s unnamed Illusion technique

Zanpakutō released

Shikai:

Bankai: