Bleach

- Season 9

(2008)

A new captain joins Squad Three, taking the place of the rebel Gin Ichimaru. His name is Shusuke Amagai. Shusuke is an unknown captain who was away on a long-term assignment and has only recently returned to the Seireitei.

In the middle of the night, a strange Senkaimon opens in Karakura Town, and a mysterious team of three arrives in the World of the Living. That morning, when Ichigo and Rukia go to school, they get word of a Hollow sighting.

A mysterious team of three transfers into Ichigo's class. Their names are Rurichiyo Kasumiohji, Kenryu, and Enryu. Rurichiyo acts like a princess, and Kenryu and Enryu obsessively guard her surroundings. Ichigo is clearly suspicious of the three of them, but the rest of his classmates welcome them without question.

Ichigo and Rukia assume the responsibility of being Rurichiyo's bodyguard. It is Rurichiyo's first time in the World of the Living, and she asks Ichigo to teach her about everything she sees. Rukia takes Rurichiyo out to play. Kenryu and Enryu cry tears of joy at seeing Rurichiyo have fun in the World of the Living...

Since welcoming Shusuke Amagai as the new captain, Squad Three has been hard at work. But the duties Shusuke assigns them are tasks that one couldn't imagine a Soul Reaper doing. Izuru Kira senses the dissatisfaction of the squad members, and as Lieutenant, he decides to advise the new captain.

One morning, Rurichiyo suddenly disappears. Kenryu finds some indication that leads him to believe that she used the Kasumiohji Clan's private Senkaimon to return to the Soul Society. He heads back to the Soul Society along with Ichigo and Rukia to look for Rurichiyo.

Ichigo returns to the World of the Living, and he draws up a countermeasure at Kisuke Urahara's shop. According to Kisuke, there is a shortage of a kind of Reishi that is used as a raw material for merchandise at the shop. He says it is not a natural phenomenon, but that it is highly likely that someone is behind it all.

Hanza Nukui, the leader of Gyokaku Kumoi's assassins, has misjudged the power of Ichigo and his friends, and has failed to assassinate Rurichiyo. He forms a unit of assassins, armed with powerful Bakkouto swords, and prepares to go back to the World of the Living.

Hanza Nukui and his team of assassins, armed with Bakkoutos, arrive in the World of the Living, and they challenge Ichigo and the others to fight. When Ichigo and Hanza take off to fight one on one, a creepy assassin, Jinnai Douko, appears before Rurichiyo, wielding a Bakkouto.

The respective battles of Rukia, Uryu, and Chad continue. Jinnai Douko becomes one with his Bakkouto, Retsurai, and keeps attacking. Rukia has a tough battle against Jinnai, whose whole body transforms into a weapon. Uryu, who is fighting against Kuzuryu, is trapped inside a sea of mist...

Hanza Nukui uses his Bakkouto, Saiga's weak point, to act as a trap for Ichigo. Ichigo ends up getting caught in Hanza's scheme, an expanse of mirrors. The mirrors take the memories of the captive and turn them into nightmares.

At a captain's meeting in the Soul Society, Shusuke Amagai proposes to the Thirteen Court Guard Squads that they train directly with the squads. But Kenpachi Zaraki and Mayuri Kurotsuchi speak out against the idea, and the captains object due to their lack of interest.

Ichigo and his friends have narrowly escaped Hanza Nukui's team's attacks. But Uryu and Chad have been inundated with the Spirit Energy of Bakkoutos, and Orihime's healing power doesn't seem to be working.

Rurichiyo has gone back to the Soul Society to take back control of the Kasumiohji Clan. Ichigo, Rukia, Kenryu, and Enryu follow her through the Senkaimon, and they barge in on Rurichiyo and Shu's wedding at the Kasumiohji palace. However, the Soul Reapers of Squad Two, led by Soi Fon, are waiting for them there.

Ichigo and Rukia are being chased down by the Thirteen Court Guard Squads after sabotaging Rurichiyo and Shu's wedding and taking Shu hostage. The Soul Reapers, led by Squads Two and Three, put out an intense search effort, but when dawn comes they still haven't found Ichigo and Rukia.

After Shu Kannogi tearfully tells Shusuke Amagai how he feels, Shusuke loses his feelings of ill will towards Ichigo and instead decides to help in their search for Rurichiyo. Ichigo worries that this would be considered an act of betrayal to the Thirteen Court Guard Squads on Shusuke's part.

The Soul Reapers stop chasing after Ichigo for the time being and focus on restoring order in the Seireitei. In the midst of it all, Jushiro Ukitake and Shunsui Kyoraku begin to question why Genryusai doesn't enter the Kasumiohji Clan's grounds. In the meantime, Ichigo and Shusuke rush to the Third Squad's barracks at Izuru's notification.

The intense battle between Izuru Kira and Makoto Kibune continues at Squad Three's training facility. Makoto, who was tired of not being taken seriously despite possessing an overwhelming amount of Spiritual Pressure, took part in the Kasumiohji Clan's conspiracy in order to become the best Soul Reaper.

At the Head Captain's command, all the Soul Reapers of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads break into the Kasumiohji Clan's palace at once. The Kasumiohji Clan is a special aristocratic family who make the swords presented to the royal family. They are exempt from the law, and the Soul Reapers cannot do anything about that.

The battle at the Kasumiohji Clan's palace between the Thirteen Court Guard Squads and the Kasumiohji Clan's assassins continues. Against the Soul Reapers, the assassins use Bakkoutos, which forcibly emit more power than the wielder himself can actually produce.

The chaos in the Kasumiohji Clan was all a scheme formulated by Shusuke Amagai. Shusuke joined the Thirteen Court Guard Squads in order to avenge his father's death at the hands of Head Captain Yamamoto. For years, Shusuke has been seeking an opportunity to kill him.

Shusuke Amagai wields both a Bakkouto, which seals the powers of Soul Reapers, and his Bankai, Raika Gouenkaku. Ichigo defends against Shusuke's Bankai while Hollowfied and counterattacks with his most powerful Getsugatensho.