Ichigo・Byakuya・Kariya, The Battle of the Three Extremes!

is the ninety-sixth episode of the Bleach anime.

Ichigo and Byakuya continue to fight an ever-healing Jin Kariya when Ran'Tao shows up, prompting Kariya to leave.

Summary
As Ririn watches the ongoing battle, Ichigo begins attacking Kariya but he is soon forced to head back when Byakuya attacks Kariya with his Bankai. Ichigo tells Byakuya to stop attacking him as well, but Byakuya tells him that he's in the way. Kariya suddenly attacks Ichigo and is able to successfully punch Ichigo in the stomach, causing the Shinigami to crash into the ground. Ichigo wonders why he can't keep up with Kariya, and Kariya tells him that while he isn't as quick as him, he has had many years of fighting experience. Kariya is suddenly cut by something. Byakuya notes that it doesn't appear as if Kariya's wind barrier is impenetrable. Kariya tells Byakuya that he still won't be able to defeat him, and he begins using the spiritual particles in the air to heal himself again.

Byakuya attacks Kariya with his Bankai, and he is able to get Senbonzakura Kageyoshi to envelop the Bount. Kariya's wind barrier breaks and the Bount falls to the ground. Kariya begins healing himself, but Byakuya attacks him immediately and the two clash with each other again. Before the battle can continue, something crashes into the ground and the three are forced to separate from each other. A woman appears from the crash site, and Ichigo recognizes the person as Yoshino Sōma. The person tells Kariya that she has finally found him, and Kariya angrily asks who she is. She introduces herself as Ran'Tao, causing shock to Kariya as he believed she died. Ichigo suddenly asks Ran'Tao some questions, and Ran'Tao states that she's the only one outside of the Shinigami from Seireitei who knows about the Bount.

Ran'Tao tells Kariya that she knew he'd come someday, and that the wait for him felt like an eternity. Kariya begins to get angered at Ran'Tao as she was the one who caused all of the Bount's pain. As Ran'Tao asks Kariya if he's going to kill her, Ichigo steps in front of Ran'Tao and tells her that if she's really who she says she is, then she has a lot to answer for him, and that he can't just let her get killed. Kariya states that he isn't going to kill her, rather he wants her to watch the Bount fulfill their goal. As he explains that he'll kill her after he annihilates Seireitei, Byakuya suddenly uses his Bankai to attack Kariya and reiterates from before that anyone who disturbs Soul Society will be cut down.

Kariya tries to escape, but Ichigo attacks the Bount and the two of them begin battling. However, before they can continue Koga appears with his doll summoned and attacks the group to save Kariya. Koga uses his doll to distract the group, and both Kariya and Koga escape. Ichigo asks Ririn if she can sense where they are, but she says she can't because of all the confusion that happened. Ichigo asks Byakuya if he's going to chase Kariya, but Byakuya states that his aura has already disappeared and that they'll have to start from scratch to find him. Byakuya then leaves, and Ichigo asks Ran'Tao if she's an enemy or ally.

Meanwhile, Tōba tells Ichinose that there's a larger gathering of people than he expected, and Ichinose remarks that it appears that there's a large dislike for Seireitei. Tōba suddenly notices that Kariya and Koga are missing. Ichinose states that they'll be back soon.

Uryū appears at Ichigo's location, and is shocked to see Ran'Tao, since she looks exactly like Yoshino. Ran'Tao notices that Uryū is a Quincy, and remarks that it's interesting to see both a Shinigami and a Quincy working together. Ran'Tao states she is not their enemy, and she decides to lead them to her house so they can talk there. Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Ganju makes a whistling sound, and some people come out. Ganju tells Orihime and Sado that these people are the Kasjishi Bulls, with which one of them greets Ganju.

At Ran'Tao's house, Ichigo is healed by Ran'Tao. Then, she wonders where to start her story. Ran'Tao asks them how much they know about the Bount, and Ichigo states that he knows that she was conducting experiments on eternal life. Ran'Tao states that her experiments were supposed to have an overall high success rate, but Ichigo notes that an accident gave birth to the Bount. Ran'Tao tells him that he's correct; she adds on that the Bount decided to live in Soul Society. However, Soul Society didn't allow that since it would mean they would have to acknowledge the Bount's existence; and they wouldn't recognize something that was caused from their own mistake. She states that the Bount tried to force their way into Soul Society, and that's when the Quincy became involved. Soul Society tried to use this as an excuse to eliminate the Bount, but Kariya and a few others were able to escape.

Uryū asks Ran'Tao what she has been doing all this time, since she should have been able to go to the Human World and help them. Uryū questions how much Ran'Tao really cared about the Bount, so Ran'Tao decides to show Ichigo and the others a marking on her back. She states that when she was exiled from Seireitei, her powers as a Shinigami were sealed away, meaning that she wouldn't be able to go the Human World to help them. However, she states that after a long amount of hard work and research, she was able to gain just enough reiatsu to fight. Ichigo asks Ran'Tao why she was the only one exiled from Seireitei. She states that Soul Society was happy knowing that the Bount are incapable of manipulating spiritual particles, leading Ririn to state that Soul Society thought they could take care of everything in the Human World. Ran'Tao then states that Soul Society thought up ways to accept the Bount existence without damaging their reputation, and that this is the result of their decision.

Ran'Tao tells Uryū that she has caused him a great deal of trouble; she asks Uryū if he's a comrade of the Bount since he helped them get into Soul Society. Uryū begins to explain but Ichigo interrupts and simply says that a lot of things happened that made Uryū help out the Bount. Ran'Tao changes the subject and asks Uryū if he knows how dangerous the Quincy Bangle he's using is, but he says that he has to use it in order to defeat Kariya, regardless of the consequences. Ran'Tao suddenly falls down and begins to feel weak; Ichigo tries to help her. Ran'Tao tells him that she's fine explaining that she's a lot older than most Shinigami, yet she still has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. Ran'Tao then states that she's going to have to rest for half a day, and they'll talk after she feels better. She then falls asleep, and Ichigo decides that they should rest here as well.

Meanwhile, Koga asks Kariya how Byakuya was and he states that he was good, and that his fight with him will help promote their cause. Kariya then asks Ichinose where the other Bount are, and he states that they are currently observing Seireitei.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
Hisagi hands Komamura a comb he found in the Human World, and Komamura thanks him for it. Hisagi then thinks to himself that Orihime knows some good shops, and he is shown to have gotten the comb at a dog store.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Ririn
 * 2) Ichigo Kurosaki
 * 3) Byakuya Kuchiki
 * 4) Jin Kariya
 * 5) Ran'Tao
 * 6) Yoshino Sōma (flashback)
 * 7) Gō Koga
 * 8) Uryū Ishida
 * 9) Ganju Shiba
 * 10) Orihime Inoue
 * 11) Yasutora Sado
 * 12) Kurōdo
 * 13) Noba
 * 14) Mitsuru Ishino
 * 15) Sadatomo Saionji
 * 16) Taichi Miyamoto
 * 17) Kenji Yamashita
 * 18) Maki Ichinose

Powers and Techniques Used
Shinigami Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Bankai:

Dolls summoned:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Other powers: