Bleach/Unseal! The Black Blade, the Miraculous Power

Unseal! The Black Blade, the Miraculous Power
Season 3, Episode 17
Airdate	November 15, 2005
Production Number	58
Written by	Genki Yoshimura Masahiro Okubo Masashi Sogo Michiko Yokote Natsuko Takahashi Rika Nakase
Directed by	Noriyuki Abe
← 3x16 Senbonzakura, Crushed! Zangetsu Thrusts Through the Sky	3x18 → Conclusion of the Death Match! White Pride and Black Desire
Bleach — Season Three

Unseal! The Black Blade, the Miraculous Power is the seventeenth episode of the third season of Bleach, and the fifty-eighth episode overall.

Co-Stars: Dan Woren (Byakuya Kuchiki), Steve Staley (Toshiro Hitsugaya), Megan Hollingshead (Rangiku Matsumoto), Kyle Hebert (Ganju Shiba), J.B. Blanc (Makizo Aramaki)

Plot Overview

After dissipating Byakuya's first unsealed attack, Ichigo is still trying his hardest to push Byakuya into unsealing his zanpakuto entirely and fighting with the power of his bankai. He believes that if he can defeat Byakuya utterly, then Rukia will be safe from her brother. At his request, Byakuya attacks with his bankai, which resembles his first attack, except multiplied countlessly. The same attack nearly killed Renji, but Ichigo puts up a better fight. But, he still takes a severe hit from Senbonzakura's omnidirectional attack, millions of razor sharp cherry blossom petals which Byakuya can seemingly control with his mind.

Byakuya, after striking this blow, tells Ichigo that he'll never be able to defeat him with his blunt brute force attacks. To this, Ichigo responds by saying that he was foolish to think he could defeat Byakuya's bankai attack with simply his Shikai attack. When Byakuya discovers that Ichigo actually has reached his bankai after such little time, he's shocked to say the least. Although Ichigo is losing a great deal of blood, Ichigo humors Byakuya by releasing his own bankai. When he sees Ichigo's bankai for himself, Byakuya is even more shocked considering that Ichigo isn't a legitimate soul reaper, much less from a noble family.

From a distance, Ichigo's recently reunited friends can see the spiritual pressure from Ichigo's actions all the way from their position deep in the city. They marvel over the bright glow for a bit before continuing their journey towards where Ichigo is. When Ichigo finally releases the full extent of his power, everyone stops again to marvel at the sheer amount of power being exerted. On Sōkyoku Hill, a massive torrent of dust is kicked up that only dissipates when Ichigo exerts his power again to clear the visibility. When the dust is settled, Byakuya sees that Ichigo's sword looks like an ordinary zanpakuto, one which looks as if the owner didn't know its name, except black. He takes this subtle bankai as an insult against soul reapers and a trampling of their pride. Byakuya vows to cut Ichigo down for this grave injustice, but before he can gather his powers again, Ichigo already has his sword to Byakuya's throat. But, he doesn't kill him. Instead, Ichigo leaps backwards and declares that the reason why he's assumed this power is because he's dedicated to flying in the face of a tradition which would have Rukia killed.

Byakuya demands to know why Ichigo withdrew his blade and tells Ichigo that what he has can't be a bankai because it's so undersized. He also still can't understand how a "lowly ryoka" could make it to the highest level a soul reaper can muster. The two return to their fight and Byakuya is disturbed by Ichigo's speed, which is such that it looks like there are multiple copies of him revolving Byakuya. The concern gets to the point that Byakuya is forced to control the movement of his bankai with his hands to give them extra speed. At one point, all of the pedals surround Ichigo and Byakuya believes that he finally has him. And yet, he doesn't. Ichigo knocks down all of the pedals and uses his speed to maneuver around Byakuya and impale him on Zangetsu. Byakuya takes this seemingly mortal wound in stride and still claims that he'll be able to defeat Ichigo.

Meanwhile, Captain Hitsugaya and Rangiku are still investigating the conspiracy which killed Aizen. Yoshiro places a barrier on the room where Momo is recovering and the two decide to take the matter to the highest authorities that they can find. They arrive at the gates, but find that none of the security detail is there to stop them. Despite the barrier, however, Momo also finds her way out of the room and moves towards destinations unknown.