Annihilation of the Lieutenants!? Trap in the Underground Cave

 is the eighty-eighth episode of the Bleach anime.

Ichigo Kurosaki and his allies discover and enter the Bount cave, only to encounter Ugaki's Doll, Gesell.

Summary
At nighttime in the Urahara Shop, Ririn bursts into the central room through one of the sliding door panels on Kon's back and frantically warns Kisuke Urahara that Ichigo Kurosaki is in danger before crying in distress at how she was severely delayed by Kon getting lost along the way. However, Urahara assures Ririn that Ichigo is fine as the latter sits up at the table next to him and 4th Division 7th Seat Hanatarō Yamada, where he apologizes to Ririn for leaving her behind in the process of saving Keigo Asano from the injuries inflicted on him by the Bitto.

Staring in silence at this, Ririn leaps onto the table and tearfully embraces Ichigo, who notes that he seems to have upset her, prompting Ririn to stubbornly deny being concerned about him. With Ichigo apologizing again and thanking her, Ririn continues crying into his chest, and when Urahara attempts to comfort her, Ririn demands that he shut up and returns to crying. As he questions whether Ririn wants to cry or be angry, Ichigo turns to Hanatarō and asks him about Keigo's condition.

Hanatarō explains that Keigo is better already due to receiving Ichigo's Reishi and has had his memories replaced with a Kikanshinki, allowing him to return home as though nothing has happened after he rests for a while, to Ichigo's relief. Suddenly, Tessai Tsukabishi slides open the door on the other side of the room and informs Ichigo and his friends that all the others have returned. Upon running out to the front room of the store to greet Rukia Kuchiki, Orihime Inoue, Yasutora Sado, Kurōdo, and Noba, Ichigo sees Sado carrying Rukia on his back and inquires about what happened to her, only for her to assert that it is nothing to worry about.

While Sado sets Rukia down on the raised platform near Ichigo, Kurōdo expresses deep shame at letting this happen to Rukia despite being there specifically to protect her and Orihime tells Ichigo that she is going to tend to Rukia's wounds. However, as Orihime sits down next to her, Rukia states that what Orihime did earlier was enough and that she should tend to her own wounds instead since she is covered in scratches, though Orihime claims to be fine, prior to Urahara inviting them all to come in. Later, as the sun rises in Karakura Town, 9th Division Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi and 10th Division Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto run across several rooftops to cross the town.

Eventually, Hisagi and Rangiku reach a forested area on the outskirts of Karakura Town and run up a narrow hill path lined with trees, where they find 3rd Division Lieutenant Izuru Kira standing at the top and skid to a halt behind him. When Izuru observes that they seem to have discovered the Bount, Hisagi reveals that 11th Division 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa was searching for the Bount hideout by himself while they were fighting last night. After confirming with Izuru that Ichigo and his friends are safe at the Urahara Shop, Rangiku declares that they are going to finish this like they came to the Human World to do and runs off with Izuru and Hisagi.

Meanwhile, within the Bount cave, Jin Kariya stands on the central altar before Maki Ichinose, Gō Koga, Yoshi, Mabashi, and Sawatari. Upon having Koga apologize to him for making a mistake, Kariya assures him that it is alright because the Bount got to display their new level of power from consuming only a small amount of living Souls. Despite this, Mabashi insists it was not enough, leading Koga to warn him against becoming addicted to living Souls since he will regret it, but Kariya approaches Mabashi and assures him he does not need to worry about one loss due to how well he did, though Mabashi asserts that he was going to win prior to Ichinose intervening.

Hearing this, Ichinose counters that Mabashi would have been reduced to ashes if he had fought any longer, and while Mabashi denies this, Kariya notices something and informs the others that the Shinigami are coming, to their surprise. Kariya tells the Bount to not panic and to continue consuming Souls acquired by the Bitto before addressing Ugaki, who emerges from the shadows on the far side of the cave and notes that it is about time for him to make an appearance. When Kariya inquires about what Uryū Ishida is doing, Ugaki looks through the eyes of his Doll, Gesell, and sees Uryū standing on a large rock in the riverbed with his right arm outstretched.

With a chuckling Ugaki informing him that Uryū is struggling and has not regained his power yet, Kariya acknowledges this and orders Ugaki to go, which leads the latter to promise a magnificent public performance that will not leave anyone bored before leaving the central chamber. As Kariya turns to him and asks about the matter he was sent to investigate, Ichinose reveals that the Gotei 13 will be making a move soon, to Kariya's intrigue. Back at the Urahara Shop, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai kneels over the unconscious boy he saved last night and angrily shakes Hanatarō by the collar when the latter details the boy's condition to him.

Upon being confronted by Ichigo and Rukia over this disturbance, Renji angrily tells them the injured should stay out of this, only for Rukia to instruct him to calm down since she cannot rest when he is being so loud while entering the room with Ichigo and being followed by Orihime, Sado, and Urahara. After the group sits down around the boy, Ichigo asks Hanatarō what the matter is, prompting Hanatarō to reveal the boy's injuries are greater than Keigo's were and his Soul is progressively weakening despite Hanatarō's best efforts, to Orihime and Sado's shock and disbelief. In turn, Sado offers to let Hanatarō use his Soul for healing as he did with Ichigo since he is uninjured.

However, Hanatarō sadly states the boy can no longer be healed with that treatment at this stage and all they can do is trust in his life force. Though Renji blames himself for the boy's condition due to him handling the Bitto attack improperly, Rukia tells him to calm down, and while Renji expresses irritation at this, Rukia reveals Rangiku and the other members of the strike force will be confronting the Bount, to Renji's surprise, before cautioning him that things will not go well if they let their emotions control them. With Renji cursing at this, Ichigo puts a hand on his shoulder and reassures Renji that the boy will be saved that it will be alright, which leaves Renji touched.

Ichigo turns to Hanatarō and brings up how the latter saved him in Soul Society when he believed that he could not go on any longer, which makes him trustworthy, as he asserts they will be focusing on fighting since they cannot let the Bount get away with their plans. Hearing this, a chuckling Renji simply stands up and notes he has gotten soft if Ichigo is lecturing him, to an annoyed Ichigo's confusion. Shortly afterward, while Ichigo and his friends begin to leave the Urahara Shop, Urahara requests Ichigo stay behind to talk with him for a moment and looks away. After closing the sliding door to the central room, Ichigo sits in front of Urahara and waits patiently.

As Ichigo affirms his observation that the Bount have become stronger than anticipated, Urahara questions if Ichigo believes he can defeat them without his Bankai, leading Ichigo to admit he still cannot use his Bankai and recall Hollow Ichigo taking control of his body during the battle against Koga's Doll, Dalk, which prompts him to conclude he is close to being able to use Bankai again and will manage while Urahara acknowledges this and decides to leave it to him. Elsewhere, Yumichika stands in a clearing near the Bount cave entrance and looks at his reflection in a mirror, where he sees Izuru, Hisagi, and Rangiku standing behind him.

Despite Hisagi and Rangiku demanding to know why he is standing in front of the entrance to the enemy's hideout and what he intends to do if they discover him, Yumichika claims that it is fine because they already have and notes that the Bount are more formidable than he expected them to be. With Rangiku telling Izuru and Hisagi to follow her, Yumichika states that he does not work well in groups, but follows them into the caves after they run past him. Meanwhile, in Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's office in the First Division barracks in the Seireitei, 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki stands before Yamamoto, who is sitting at his desk.

When Byakuya expresses disbelief at what he has just been told, Yamamoto asserts that he would not have called Byakuya here if it were not true and that 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi cannot fool him no matter how hard he tries to hide it. Stroking his mustache, Yamamoto declares that a blatantly destructive movement has been initiated and concludes that there is a traitor among the Shinigami. As Byakuya wonders if this could be the work of Sōsuke Aizen, Yamamoto admits that he cannot rule out the possibility, but notes that he does not seem inclined to help the Bount and promises that the investigation into the three Shinigami traitors will conclude soon.

Yamamoto brings up how the Kuchiki Clan is the noble family charged with recording the history of Soul Society and requests that Byakuya check his records for any mention of the Bount, which Byakuya agrees to. Back in Karakura Town, Ichigo stands with his friends and Urahara's employees outside the Urahara Shop. Upon being asked by Ichigo if he is coming along, Kon, who is sitting on Rukia's shoulder, belligerently reminds Ichigo that Rukia will be fighting and hops down to the ground as he vows to protect her like he usually does. Though Kon tells them to not underestimate him, Rukia simply notes that he might make a good shield, leaving Kon to fall over in shock.

With Urahara asking them to take care of this, Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba respond affirmatively as they sit on Ichigo, Orihime, and Sado's respective shoulders. Getting Renji's attention, Jinta Hanakari tosses him a small wrapped package, and when Renji questions what this is, Jinta informs him that they are onigiri for him to eat along the way since he gets irritated when he is hungry, which prompts Ururu Tsumugiya to come up behind Jinta and elaborate that he prepared the onigiri since he could not always get second helpings for Renji at dinner. Angered and embarrassed by this, Jinta grinds his fists into Ururu's temple and berates her for saying something so unnecessary.

After thanking Jinta for this with a smile, Renji turns to Hanatarō and requests that he take care of the boy, which Hanatarō promises to do. With this, Ichigo and his friends begin walking away, and when Tessai wonders if it is alright to not help them, Urahara explains that they must face certain challenges without aid at times. Elsewhere, in the Bount cave, Ugaki pulls on white gloves and sits before a table decorated with four tall candles at the corners and a mat decorated with incantations in the center, on top of which rests the playing card deck of Gesell. Deciding to begin, Ugaki spreads the cards out across the eight points of the mat and summons Gesell.

As Ugaki lays a Wächter card down in the center of the mat, causing dozens of Wächter to appear in the darkness, Izuru, Hisagi, Rangiku, and Yumichika walk through a different part of the cave system, only to stop upon hearing strange noises from the darkness at the other end of the corridor. Despite Yumichika stating he does not have a good feeling about this, Hisagi insists they keep going, and the group continues forward into a cavern with a massive pillar decorated with simplistic stone masks that is flanked on either side by three lined columns. With Izuru wondering what the pillar is, Ugaki claims they are four Shinigami being led on a journey to their deaths.

Ugaki places the Phalanx card on the central pile and decides to test the strike force first. In the cavern, Hisagi questions why the pillar is here and Yumichika comments on how horridly ugly the construction is while Izuru points out another one nearby. With Rangiku suggesting it is just architecture and Hisagi asserting they should keep going, the strike force walks through the exit on the other side of the chamber. Suddenly, multiple eyes of Gesell emitting beams of light from their cornea illuminate the other side of the cavern, causing the strike force to stop and look back while a shadow cast by the central pillar sprouts two large spears, one of which extends toward Yumichika.

Blocking this strike with his Zanpakutō, Yumichika pushes the spear back and informs the others that they let their guard down too much. With Yumichika fending off more strikes from the two spears, Rangiku sees a third spear extending toward her from another pillar's shadow and cuts off the head with her own Zanpakutō, but is forced to leap back when a fourth spear extends toward her. While Hisagi fends off another strike with Izuru holding a battle stance at his back and wonders where these came from, Rangiku and Yumichika back up and join them in the intersection of the shadows cast by the pillars, causing Ugaki to grin as Hisagi cuts through another spear head.

When Hisagi proposes that they split up due to being surrounded, Yumichika endorses this idea, and the four of them leap away in separate directions right before three more spears jab through the air where they were standing. However, a smiling Ugaki observes that this is exactly what he wanted them to do and moves a card from the top of the mat to the center. Elsewhere, in a different cavern, Rangiku reaches a set of rectangular pillars and pauses as she looks toward the other end of the cavern to several Wächter of Gesell hiding in the space between the pillars, which leads her to release her Shikai, Haineko, and use the ash to rapidly cut through all the pillars.

Despite this, the Wächter are not caught up in Rangiku's attack and disappear, to her confusion. As Ugaki moves another card to the central pile, Rangiku walks down a corridor while a Wächter in the air behind her emits a beam of light that casts a shadow across the ceiling from a jagged piece of rock, allowing a spiked disc attached to a limb to slam down onto Rangiku from above, which she narrowly evades by rolling away at the last second. With Ugaki adding another card to the pile, six thin ropes drop from the shadow on the ceiling, wrap themselves around a struggling Rangiku, and hoist her up to the ceiling, where she sees the rock casting the shadow behind her.

Drawing her Zanpakutō, Rangiku succeeds in slashing through the ropes binding her, allowing her to fall to the floor as the light behind the outcropping fades. Nearby, another Wächter of Gesell emits light from behind another jagged rock on the floor, causing Rangiku herself to cast a shadow on the wall behind her, from which more spears emerge while Rangiku turns around in shock. As a chuckling Ugaki states one combatant is now dispatched, Hisagi and Izuru find themselves confronted by dozens of Wächter of Gesell in a narrow corridor and run through a nearby hallway noticed by Izuru in an attempt to shake them off, only to find a dead end with another pillar.

Hisagi fends off the Wächter behind them with his Zanpakutō as Izuru sees several more Wächter emerge from openings near the pillar and emit light behind it, casting a large shadow that the hand of Gesell partially emerges from to send Izuru flying with a flick of its index finger. With Izuru slamming into the wall on the far side of the chamber, Hisagi turns around in surprise and finds himself staring at two more Wächter who shine light directly on him, allowing Gesell to sprout thin tendrils from his shadow that wrap around his arms from behind. While Izuru tries and fails to get to his feet, the hand of Gesell begins emerging from Hisagi's shadow, only to stop partway.

Upon seeing this, Izuru notes that the shadow is smaller than the hand of Gesell and deduces that this is why it cannot fully emerge as Ugaki grimaces in irritation. After managing to move his arm forward and point his finger at one of the Wächter, Hisagi fires '''Hadō #4. Byakurai through it, destroying the Wächter''' and causing the light to fade, which in turn frees Hisagi from his restraints. When Ugaki places Dämon Kraft on the central pile in response, the hand of Gesell sinks back into the shadow as Hisagi runs over to Izuru and helps him up, only to burst fully out of the shadow and into the ceiling, creating a large hole that causes the ceiling to begin cracking apart.

Attempting to run out of the collapsing room, Hisagi and Izuru scream in pain as several large rocks fall on top of them in the connecting hallway, leaving Ugaki to smile in amusement while the Wächter of Gesell in the main corridor turn and float away. Meanwhile, in another cavern, Yumichika faces off against dozens of Wächter and criticizes their ugly appearances as not being appealing to him before releasing his Shikai, Fuji Kujaku, and slashing through four of them at once with it. However, Ugaki simply requests Gesell show his true form for a moment and places another card in the central pile, resulting in the remaining eyes shining a beam of light down on Yumichika.

With Yumichika narrowing his eyes in response to the bright light, the right hand of Gesell emerges from the large shadow cast by the light behind him, and when a startled Yumichika attempts to leap away, the hand of Gesell grabs him in midair and slams him against a far wall prior to crushing him even further into it while Yumichika gasps in agony, leaving Ugaki to cackle maliciously. Outside the entrance to the cave system, Ichigo and his friends huddle on either side and hear roaring within the caves, which leads Rukia to observe the battle seems to have already begun as Ichigo tells his friends they are going to head inside and gathers with them inside the entrance.

Simultaneously, at the waterfall on the forested outskirts of Karakura Town, Uryū stares at his right arm and holds it out straight while reiterating Sōken Ishida's instructions to pull straight back and release instead of squeezing his underarm. Despite his Quincy Cross briefly glowing, Uryū is ultimately unable to form his Heilig Bogen, Kojaku, and falls to one knee in exhaustion, where he stares at his reflection in the water. Suddenly, a strong wind blows through the trees, alerting Uryū, who stands up in surprise as he sees 12th Division Lieutenant Nemu Kurotsuchi approaching on the other side of the river. Bowing, Nemu observes that it has been a while since they last met.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
As he stands with Rukia Kuchiki, Orihime Inoue, Yasutora Sado, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai, Kon, Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba before the entrance to the Bount cave, Ichigo declares that they are going, only for Renji to tell him to hold on since he needs to eat something before fighting. With Rukia realizing that he is referring to the onigiri packed for him by Jinta Hanakari earlier, Renji pulls the package out of his shihakusho sleeve, and though an irritated Ichigo insists that there is no time for this, Renji counters that he will have no energy if he does not eat and takes a bite of one of the onigiri, only to heat up and begin spitting flames from his mouth as he screams in pain at how spicy the onigiri is and tosses it to Rukia, who sees that there are chili peppers inside, leaving Ichigo to note that Jinta is still pulling pranks on Renji.

Fights

 * Shinigami Task Force vs. Ugaki

Powers and Techniques Used
Kidō Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Dolls summoned:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)