The film starts with a recap of Bleach (season 14) in which Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki's battle against one of his nemesis, List of Hollows in Bleach#Espada, and transforms into an incredibly powerful and uncontrollable Hollow. Some time later, Soul Reapers Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai arrive in the human world to inspect a strange occurrence, though they remain vague about what. Shortly after, powerful masked spirits attack Ichigo and his friends at school. When the mask of one of the spirits breaks, the gates of Hell appear and a Kushanāda—one of the guardians of Hell—impales the unmasked spirit, dragging him into Hell. It is revealed that the masked spirits are Sinners and they hide their faces to avoid being dragged back to Hell. During the battle, Ichigo's two sisters, List of Bleach characters#Karin Kurosaki and Yuzu Kurosaki are attacked by Shuren, the leader of the Sinners. Ichigo manages to return in time to attack Shuren, but is unable to defeat him. Kokutō, a Sinner not allied with Shuren, rescues Karin, but Shuren manages to depart with Yuzu. Kokutō offers to assist Ichigo by showing him the route into Hell, and Rukia, Renji, and Uryū Ishida decide to join the quest.