The Swooping Descent of the Dark Emissary! The Propagation of Malice

'''The Swooping Descent of the Dark Emissary! The Propagation of Malice''' is the one-hundred-twenty-ninth episode of the Bleach anime.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: June 13, 2007
 * English Airdate: June 27, 2009
 * Opening Song: Alones
 * Ending Song: Tsumasaki
 * Manga Chapters: None.
 * Kanji: 舞い降りた闇の使者！増殖する悪意
 * Romaji: "Maiorita yami no shisha! Zōshoku suru akui"
 * Arc: The Arrancar arc

Summary
Rangiku Matsumoto allows Shōta Toyokawa to come with her to track down the flute noise, and the two arrive in time to see a businessman’s soul being eaten by the Arrancar. It seems to grow in power after eating the soul, and when Shōta starts throwing rocks at it, it fires a blast at him. Shōta is caught by Tōshirō Hitsugaya, and the captain helps Matsumoto attempt to capture their enemy. However, the Arrancar starts laughing evilly, and soon, more of it appear in front of them. In fact, there is a small army of them that all look the same, each with the power to divide into two. With Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa also fighting more of these Arrancar across town, Hitsugaya orders all of them destroyed and tells Rangiku to head to an open area. Rangiku takes Shōta to the park and is surrounded, allowing Hitsugaya to then jump in to destroy all the Arrancar in one large ice attack. Afterwards, Shōta notices a girl sitting on a nearby park bench and recognizes her as his younger sister Yui Toyokawa.

Once they bring Yui back to their apartment, Shōta finally explains that she had been with him - blowing a flute - when his family was headed to the amusement park one day. They had been in an accident, and Shōta woke up with a chain attached to his chest and his parents gone. Yui had been the one he was searching for, and he is very happy when she wakes up and recognizes him. Hitsugaya finds it strange that Yui would just appear suddenly in the park and questions Shōta, but before he can answer, their conversation is interrupted by a transmission from Jūshirō Ukitake and Akon from the Technological Development Bureau. Akon explains that the spiritual pressure of all those Arrancar matched, meaning that each of those Arrancar are part of one and share the same consciousness. The multiple bodies allow the Arrancar to absorb more souls while its main body can remain hidden and issue orders. Before cutting off the transmission, Akon promises to look more into the flute sound that was heared before the attacks.

While the others go out to keep watch over the town, Rangiku stays behind to keep an eye on Shōta and Yui. Later that night, she finds Shōta looking depressed despite being reunited with his sister and suspects that he is still hiding something. Shōta thinks that it is none of her business, and the two suddenly hear a noise from the other room. They find that Yui has disappeared, and all around town, the flute noise and Arrancar have appeared again. In chasing one of the Arrancar, Hitsugaya comes across a soul that seems too scared to talk to him, but that soul smiles evilly after the captain leaves. With Matsumoto following close behind, Shōta heads directly to the park to look for his sister. She is indeed there, sitting almost lifelessly on a swing set, and when Shōta questions her, she tells him that she just wanted to come to the park. Yui seems happy that Shōta came and says that she’s not scared since he’s here. However, this gets Shōta frustrated because he knows that he originally ran away and abandoned her here at the park.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
Yumichika wonders if it's really all right to be using Orihime's room but Rangiku says it's all right since she's at the Soul Society with Rukia. However, Rangiku is upset that she can't eat Orihime's cooking now and the others want to try it as well. Hitsugaya warns them though that they shouldn't eat it and remembers how bad the food was.

Characters in order of appearance

 * 1) Rangiku Matsumoto
 * 2) Shōta Toyokawa
 * 3) Tōshirō Hitsugaya
 * 4) Yumichika Ayasegawa
 * 5) Ikkaku Madarame
 * 6) Yui Toyokawa
 * 7) Jūshirō Ukitake
 * 8) Akon
 * 9) Cloning Arrancar

Fights
None.

Powers and Techniques used
Hollow techniques:
 * Cero (虚閃 (セロ), sero; Spanish for "Zero", Japanese for "Hollow Flash", 'Doom Blast' in the Viz translation)

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai: