Episode 4

Black Bullet is the 4th episode of the Black Bullet Anime. It aired on April 29, 2014.

Rentaro and Enju locate and confront Kagetane Hiruko and his Initiator, Kohina, after Kayo volunteers to stay behind and prevent Gastrea from interrupting their battle with the masked man. The battle quickly escalates, leading to Kagetane's defeat. However, the Stage V Gastrea appears regardless, leaving Rentaro with no other option but to use the Ladder of Heaven to save the Tokyo Area.

Summary
Overlooking the forest, Kayo decides to fight all the Gastrea in the forest so that Rentaro and Enju can go locate Shougen under the promise that she'll run away if she gets pressured. The pair then make their way to the nearby village, where they find a severed arm and Shougen, who walks out of a building before collapsing, dead, with his Buster Sword sticking out of his back; Kohina and Kagetane appear before the two on top of a nearby building, with the latter man demanding to settle his and Rentaro's score. Concurrently, in the control room for the operation, Seitenshi calls upon Kisara to come in and asks her what the Rentaro and Enju's success rate is, to which she responds total victory. When doubts regarding Rentaro's abilities surface, Kisara explains that ten years ago, Rentaro lost his right arm, right leg and left eye to a Gastrea and that he was saved by surgeon Sumire Muroto.

Back at the village, Kagetane tells Rentaro he will not retrieve the Legacy of the Seven Stars because they are in his way; Rentaro talks briefly about his humiliation at the hands of Kagetane and promises to eliminate him, breaking through the man's Maximum Pain with his own Rokuro Kabuto, punching him away and leaving Kagetane surprised. However, the skin around Rentaro's right arm and right leg deteriorate (as well as his left eye changing into one more metallic), revealing that his limbs are Varanium replacements, making Rentaro part of the New Humanity Creation Plan like Kagetane himself. Feeling pain from Rentaro's strike, Kagetane expresses his delight at "feeling alive", but Kohina attacks Rentaro in anger, though Enju and Rentaro block her strike; Enju goes after Kagetane whilst Rentaro deals with Kohina. Ceasing their battle for a moment, Kagetane reveals that battling Gastrea gives his life a purpose, and that with another Gastrea war, people like him, Rentaro, Kohina and Enju will have purpose, once more offering him a chance to join him, which Rentaro once again refuses to take. Enju then proceeds to attack Kagetane, but he blocks her strike and attacks her with his Varanium firearms; Rentaro blocks the bullets, but Kagetane uses the opening to blast a hole through Rentaro's lower body, critically wounding him.

Fearing that he is going to die and leave Enju all alone, Rentaro injects himself with multiple AGV Experimental Drug syringes, which heals his injuries; he then proceeds to brutally defeat both Kohina and Kagetane in a single strike each. After the fact, Rentaro receives a phone call from Kisara and learns that a Stage V Gastrea has appeared, which wreaks havoc. Learning that the only way they can stop it is with the Ladder of Heaven, Rentaro and Enju rush to the device and start it up, intent on killing the beast with a high-powered Varanium blast. However, Rentaro quickly learns that there are no Varanium rounds loaded into the Ladder and, running out of options, decides to tear off his own Varanium arm to use as ammunition. Unable to remotely fire the railgun, Rentaro is forced to fire it manually, which he successfully does, killing Scorpio.

After the fact, Rentaro covers a sleeping Enju with his jacket and goes off in search of Kayo, where he finds her fatally wounded, surrounded by multiple Gastrea corpses. When she sees him, Kayo asks if Shougen is safe, which Rentaro lies about and says yes; he notices her body turning into that of a Gastrea's, saying that without a doubt that her corrosion rate has exceeded fifty percent. Kayo then tearfully asks Rentaro to kill her while she's still human, expressing her gratitude at the fact that he recognized her as such. As he pulls out his Springfield XD, Kayo asks Rentaro if he has many friends and states that she'll be his friend; Rentaro calls her his irreplaceable friend, and after she tells him to follow his heart if he ever gets lost in darkness, he painstakingly shoots the Initiator, fulfilling her final wish.

Rentaro later on meets with Kikunojyo Tendo and confronts him about Kagetane, asking if the one who hired the masked man worked under him. Citing the old man's hatred for Gastrea and the Cursed Children, Rentaro accuses Kikunojyo of trying to summon Scorpio to destroy Tokyo and stop the New Gastrea Law; Kikunojyo asks Rentaro how he could have forgotten the pain and suffering the Gastrea caused both of them and many others, as well as how he could expect him to give ones who carry their power equal rights. Pulling his gun out on the man, Rentaro tells him that he will spare his life as gratitude for saving his own years ago and leaves, telling Kikunojyo that he never forgot what happened ten years ago. Thereafter, Rentaro visits Seitenshi and asks her about the tricycle that was inside the case for the Legacy of the Seven Stars; she denies Rentaro any information about what the Legacy truly was, or about what Gastrea truly are. Leaving Seitenshi, Rentaro meets up with Enju in a park and reflects upon Seitenshi's words about the New Gastrea Law and rising up in ranks, explaining that if he does with Enju, he'll be given the answers to all the questions he seeks. However, in Sumire's lab, she leaves the computer on, which reads that Enju's corrosion rate is at 42.1% and that she is nearing full bodily breakdown.

Battles & Events

 * Death of Shougen Ikuma (started and concluded)
 * Rentaro Satomi & Enju Aihara vs. Kagetane Hiruko & Kohina Hiruko (started and concluded)

Abilities used

 * Maximum Pain (マキシマㇺ・ペイン Makishimamu Pein)
 * Tendo Combat Style: First Style, Number Three ((天童式戦闘術　一の型　三番 Tendō Shiki Sentō Jutsu Ichi No Kata San Ban)
 * Rokuro Kabuto (轆轤鹿伏鬼, ろくろかぶと, Rokuro Kabuto)
 * Initiator's Ability: Physique
 * Initiator's Ability: Agility
 * Enhanced Strength
 * Enhanced Speed
 * Superhuman Healing Capabilities
 * Unebiko Ryu
 * Inzen Kokutei

Weapons used

 * Springfield XD (スプリングフィールドＸＤ Supuringuhuīrudo XD)
 * Lupara
 * Short Swords (脇差 Wakizashi)
 * Spanking Sodomy (スパンキング・ソドミー Supankingu Sodomī)
 * Psychedelic Gospel (サイケデリック・ゴスペル Saikederikku Gosuperu)
 * Guns

Items used

 * Varanium (バラニウム Baraniumu)
 * AGV Experimental Drug (ＡＧＶ 試験薬 AGV Shiken Kusuri)
 * Ladder of Heaven (天の梯子 Ten no Hashigo)
 * Phone