Immediately after checking into the Kurosaki Clinic with a mysterious scar on his back, the muscle-bound Chad goes AWOL. Accompanying Chad is a talking parakeet imbued with the soul of a young boy named Yûichi. It doesn''t take newbie Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki long to surmise that a Hollow must be involved--the strongest spirit he''s faced to date. Ichigo is about to discover that not every soul is bound for the Soul Society, especially if it''s tainted with innocent blood.