This episode takes place in Soul Society 110 years ago. Most of the Captains have gathered to celebrate the promotion of the 12th Squad Captain to the Royal Guard, known as Zero Squad. Meanwhile, Yoruichi (currently the Captain of Second Squad) has recommended her Third Officer, Urahara Kisuke for the now vacant position. However, Soi Fon is not happy about this and follows Urahara in an attempt to prove he is unworthy of the position. Yoruichi hears of this and mistakenly thinks that Soi Fon has a crush on Urahara. Because of this Yoruichi arranges for her to attend the Captain's Qualification Exam to watch him in action. Although Urahara, is delayed in getting to the exam because of having to capture a group of deserters he makes it in time and manages to pass. As such Urahara Kisuke is appointed as the new Captain of the 12th squad, although vice-captain Aizen Sousuke is less than pleased.
Elenco: Masakazu Morita , Fumiko Orikasa , Yuki Matsuoka , Kaya Matsutani , Shinichiro Miki , Wataru Takagi , Hisayoshi Suganuma , Kazunari Tanaka , Hideo Ishikawa , Tomoko Kaneda , Akio Ohtsuka , Nobuyuki Hiyama , Toshiyuki Morikawa , Akemi Kanda , Takahiro Sakurai , Hiroki Takahashi , Nobutoshi Canna , Junichi Suwabe , Paku Romi , Susumu Chiba , Daisuke Namikawa , Jun Fukuyama , Katsuyuki Konishi , Toshihiko Seki , Junko Noda , Fumihiko Tachiki , Hiroki Yasumoto , Hisayo Mochizuki , Katsumi Suzuki , Kenji Nomura , Kenji Hamada , Kiyoyuki Yanada , Masaaki Tsukada , Nobuo Tobita , Reiko Takagi , Tôru Ôkawa , Yumi Kakazu , Noriaki Sugiyama , Houko Kuwashima , Hikaru Midorikawa , Tomoko Kawakami , Rie Kugimiya , Tomokazu Sugita , Kentaro Ito , Satsuki Yukino , Ryōtarō Okiayu , Takako Honda , Tomokazu Sugita , Shô Hayami , Ryūsei Nakao , Tetsu Inada , Daisuke Ono , Takuma Terashima , Saki Nakajima , Rikiya Koyama , Taketora , Asami Sanada , Mitsuaki Madono , Kumi Sakuma , Daisuke Matsuoka , Kanako Hattori , Sayori Ishizuka , Rintarou Nishi , Takashi Nagasako , Tsubasa Yonaga , Yoshikazu Nagano .