Ichigo and his friends make the journey to the soul society and are promptly set upon by the guardians of the spirit world. As they dodge one foe after another, they gradually draw nearer their goal: to rescue Rukia from the tower cell where she awaits her death sentence. But their presence threatens the very order of the Soul Society itself, and they must face the ultimate opponents--the captains of the guard squads whose Spiritual Pressure is unmatched, even by Ichigo himself!