Through the Crumbling Forest, a Million Menos

is the one-hundred-forty-ninth episode of the Bleach anime.

Ichigo Kurosaki and the others escape the Forest of Menos.

Summary
Ashido Kanō's mask cracks away into small fragments and Rukia Kuchiki apologizes to him for having to be saved. The Adjuchas tells Ashido that he should worry more about himself than Rukia, causing Rukia to decide to fight the Adjuchas herself. The Adjuchas doesn't think of her as much of a threat though and attacks, but Rukia releases her Zanpakutō, Sode no Shirayuki, immediately using Some no mai, Tsukishiro. The Adjuchas is successfully encased in ice, Rukia causes the ice to break away, killing the Adjuchas and causing the Gillian to leave the area as a result. Ashido examines the mask fragments on the ground and Rukia apologizes to him again. Rukia then tells Ashido that, while it may not be her place to say this, he should return to the Soul Society and explains that his friends will forgive him if he does so. Ashido gets back up and tells Rukia that everyone chooses their own path. Gillian are suddenly heard in the distance, and Ashido tells her that they should go now.

Ichigo and the others sense Nel Tu's Reiatsu and Lieutenant Renji Abarai decides that they'll break in and save them. Uryū Ishida advises against this idea because they don't know of the dangers ahead, but the others simply ignore him and barge in anyway. However, when they go inside, they find nothing and Ichigo wonders if they simply found leftovers of their Reiatsu. Bawabawa suddenly points them into a new direction on where they could be and they ride him into the new location. When they get there, they find Nel and the others standing on top of a cliff, but Nel tells Ichigo and the others to run away. A Cero is suddenly shot at the group and they jump off into different directions. Many Gillians arrive and they surround the group, while several Hollows and an Adjuchas reveal themselves near Nel, with the Adjuchas laughing. The Adjuchas warns Ichigo and the others not to move or else the Hollows will devour his friends. He then informs them that they had to be separated from Ashido because one of the guardians that Sōsuke Aizen put in charge of this forest wants to fight Ashido on his own. The Gillian then begin firing Ceros at the group.

Rukia senses the Reiatsus of Ichigo and the others, while Ashido tells her that they're heading towards the exit. However, they are suddenly stopped by the Guardian of the Forest of Menos. Ichigo and the others are enveloped in a barrage of Ceros, but when the dust clears they seem to have disappeared. Uryū suddenly appears in front of the Adjuchas and begins firing off Quincy arrows at the Hollows; killing them. Ichigo and Renji suddenly appear next to Nel and the others and use Shunpo to take them away. The group then prepares to escape and begins fighting against the Hollows. The Guardian tells Rukia and Ashido that they should realize that Ichigo and the others are in trouble. He informs them that he isn't going to budge from this place and let them pass to save them. The Guardian then prepares to fight Ashido. Ashido tells Rukia to step back, explaining that he has fought this Adjuchas many times already. He explains to her that Las Noches gave him the position of guardian of this forest, meaning that he doesn't even compare to the others they've fought before. He then tells her that he'll defeat him as his last act in this forest and tells Rukia to tell him all about the outside world later. Ashido then charges towards the Guardian and begins battling him.

Ichigo fights against the Adjuchas and quickly overwhelms his opponent. As this happens, the others use their powers to easily defeat the Gillian. The Adjuchas fires off a Cero at his opponent, but Ichigo fires off a Getsuga Tenshō, easily destroying both the Cero and the Adjuchas. Due to this, Uryū notices that the Gillian have stopped working together. The Guardian and Ashido share blows with each other and Ashido begins to slowly gain an advantage over his opponent. Ashido eventually cuts off the Guardian's arm and the Adjuchas falls to the ground. Ashido informs him that his friends' Reiatsus have disappeared and the Guardian curses to himself. The Guardian suddenly performs a sneak attack on both Ashido and Rukia, but Rukia counters his attack by using Tsugi no mai, Hakuren, resulting in the Guardian being encased in ice. Ashido then goes for the finishing blow and easily kills the Guardian. Ashido decides to continue on going through the forest, but Rukia stops him and begins to heal his wounds with Kidō.

Renji activates his Bankai, Hihiō Zabimaru, and swings the Bankai around to kill many of the Gillian. Ichigo then fires off a Getsuga Tenshō and kills off the remaining Gillian. Dondochakka Birstanne informs the group of the exit, but Renji points out that they can't just leave Rukia here. Ichigo decides that they're going to look for her first, but Rukia appears behind them and tells them not to bother. She then introduces Ashido to them, but as this happens they hear more Gillian off in the distance. Ichigo decides that he's going to finish them off, but Rukia reminds him that they came to save Orihime Inoue and that they should just leave immediately. They climb up a wall and reach where the exit is and Ashido tells them that they should follow the flow of the sand to reach the surface. They then begin running towards the exit, but before they can a Gillian fires off a Cero at them and the Adjuchas that Ichigo defeated before appears again. Ichigo and Renji charge towards the Gillian, but Ashido appears in front of them with a new Hollow mask, deflecting the Ceros fired at them, and he tells them to head towards the exit. A cave-in suddenly begins and Ashido tells them that he'll catch up with them and he begins fighting the Adjuchas. He then cuts down the Adjucahas whilst telling Rukia to go and save her friend right before charging towards the Gillian to battle them. As Rukia calls out to Ashido, the place collapses in on itself and the group escapes to the surface.

As Nel and the others begin cheering at the fact that they've gotten out, Rukia tells the others that Ashido said that the Adjuchas have been becoming stronger and that she couldn't tell him that another Shinigami was using the Hōgyoku to work with the Hollows to change the world. She remarks that Ashido has been underground, fighting alone as a Shinigami for 100 years and Ichigo tells her that they'll steal the Hōgyoku from Aizen once they've rescued Orihime. Nel suddenly yells at them that they have to go and as the group walks towards Bawabawa, Rukia thinks to herself that she'll definitely come back for Ashido. Meanwhile, in Las Noches, Orihime stares at the window in her room as Ulquiorra Cifer walks in and remarks that this is unexpected. Orihime is surprised by Ulquiorra coming in and Ulquiorra tells her not to make such a fuss. Ulquiorra then informs Orihime that her friends have come to save her and she asks him why they're doing this. Ulquiorra tells her that they've simply come to save her. As this happens, the group reaches the walls of Las Noches and they quickly realize that the place isn't made of Sekkiseki. Because of this, Renji and Ichigo decide to break in with force and they swing their Zanpakutō's down on the wall.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
Renji asks Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi what he should do if his Zanpakutō breaks, but before he can answer Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi walks up to them and states that he can fix it for him, handing Renji a catalogue. As he and Hisagi read over it, Mayuri explains that there are many options to choose from since Zabimaru is a primate type. Hisagi spots that he can change his Zanpakutō's species and gender. Renji then tells Mayuri to do this for his Zanpakutō immediately.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Ashido Kanō
 * 2) Rukia Kuchiki
 * 3) Uryū Ishida
 * 4) Ichigo Kurosaki
 * 5) Renji Abarai
 * 6) Bawabawa
 * 7) Yasutora Sado
 * 8) Nel Tu
 * 9) Pesche Guatiche
 * 10) Dondochakka Birstanne
 * 11) Guardian of the Forest of Menos
 * 12) Orihime Inoue
 * 13) Ulquiorra Cifer

Fights
None.

Powers and Techniques Used
Kidō used:
 * Unnamed healing Kidō

Shinigami techniques:

Hollow techniques:

Techniques used: Fullbring used:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Bankai:

Other powers: