Inside the Seireitei, a gong is being sounded and orders given for group 4 to detour to the west quarter and group 3 to go to the south quarter and seize Ryoka on sight. Yoruichi, standing on a roof, watches as Shinigami run past below, the leader urging his team on so that another group doesn’t find the Ryoka before them. They run into a dead end and promptly run back out and start a little quarrel as Yoruichi runs down the roof.
A Shinigami with a tray of food in his hands makes his way along the corridor, a very blank look on his face as others run past him. A whole group comes at him, demanding that he move out of the way, which he cannot do in time and is therefore spun around as they pass him, saying that he is only 4th Division so not to get in their way and asking if he can even do chores right. The rotation stops and he walks, taking large steps, into a nearby room, calling to Rukia, who is supposed to be inside, that her meal is here. He is surprised to see that the chair that she normally occupies in the cell is empty. He calls out Rukia’s name, and is heard by a female Shinigami, whom he asks about Rukia, after whom he has been assigned to look. She informs him that Rukia has already been transferred over to the Shrine of Penitence, and he starts to shiver in disbelief. She continues to say that there have been orders to search for the Ryoka that have infiltrated the Seireitei, so he should return to his squad immediately, and walks out of the room. He stares after her as the tray falls from his hands. The subject of his thoughts is looking out the slit of a window at the Soukyoku, wondering what the light that morning had been. She cannot sense spirit power, but wonders if it really is
Ichigo is still fighting Ikkaku, who comments that Ichigo is just bragging as Ichigo pronounces that this time, Ikkaku’ll be the one unable to hold his weapon. Ikkaku wonders where Ichigo’s confidence is coming from and flicks Houzukimaru at Ichigo, who blocks it with Zangetsu. Ikkaku disappears and runs at him again, from a different direction this time, and saying that Ichigo is too slow. Ichigo just barely blocks the end of Houzukimaru with Zangetsu, but the impact causes him to lose his balance and almost fall. He attacks Ikkaku this time, catching Houzukimaru at the chain, but Ikkaku re-joins those two sections of Houzukimaru, and uses the remaining section to
Ichigo sticks his
Meanwhile, Yachiru is directing her Captain around as she rides on his back, and he remarks that he has been running for quite a while and yet has not seen anyone. Yachiru assures him that her instincts are really sharp, and promptly directs him right into a dead end. Still upbeat, she tells her annoyed Captain to turn back and go a different direction, but he asks her if he can really trust those instincts of hers.
Ishida and Orihime peek out from behind a wall, and on Ishida’s command, duck back inside just as a group of Shinigami converge nearby, from which they would have been visible. Ishida comments that things have really gotten to serious – forget about Rukia’s rescue, it’d be hard enough just trying to meet up with Ichigo and the rest.
However, if a fight were to break out somewhere, they’d know one of them were there. He contemplates going and starting a fight, and seeks Orihime’s opinion on the matter, only to see that she has disappeared. As he wonders where she could have gone, he hears his name and the pounding of footsteps as she appears behind him, trailed by 2 groups of Shinigami. He starts running too, and she apologizes for getting seen whilst scouting. He decides that since they’ve been found, they’ve no choice but to fight. He stops, and she puts a hand on her hair, saying that she will fight too, but is stopped by Ishida, who asks her to leave this to him. Just then, another group of Shinigami come charging at them from another side, and yet another. Ishida decides that he can’t take them all on and yells for Orihime to run, and they do, via the only exit available. The three different groups of Shinigami who were charging at them end up crashing into each other as they make their getaway. Chad, still sitting in a tree, sees the moving dust cloud and wondering if it is Ichigo, hops out of the tree and gives chase.
Ikkaku continues to stare at the red fabric off his Houzukimaru on the floor, his eyes widening as Ichigo steps on them. Ichigo asks if he isn’t being too surprised, and if he has lost the will to fight. If he won’t go, then he will. With that, he leaps into the air, reminding Ikkaku, who re-joins Houzukimaru, that the next one unable to hold a weapon will be him. He seems to have performed his Shikai (Getsuga Tenshou; he used it on Urahara during training) on Ikkaku, destroying the chain between two sections of Houzukimaru and spilling Ikkaku’s blood. Ikkaku flings away the useless section of Houzukimaru, asking Ichigo what’s wrong and if that is all he’s got, because, too bad – he’s still able to hold Houzukimaru. Holding on to one section of Houzukimaru and
He charges at Ichigo, seeming to change his angle every few seconds. This is not the first time Ichigo has seen this technique – what he sees before him now is Urahara and Benihime, not Ikkaku and Houzukimaru, and he spits out two words, “Too slow!” and gives one powerful swing of Zangetsu. A line of blood is drawn all the way up Ikkaku’s arm, who mutters that Ichigo is strong and that his own luck is bad before crumpling to the ground. Ichigo remarks that they both have bad luck as he stares at his bleeding arm, blood seeping through the bandages.
Ganju stops running as he does not see Yumichika anywhere, wondering where the latter is. Yumichika runs stealthily along the roof behind him and jumps off with Fujikujaku ready to smash down on Ganju, but Ganju rolls away in time. Yumichika asks him how long he plans to run, and Ganju, his chopper in hand, says that he will until Yumichika gives up. Yumichika sighs, asking Ganju to give him a break as he’s about fed up with him already, adding that he will end this now with Fujikujaku, opening it up into its fan form (into the four sickles, rather). Ganju sniggers and sheaths his chopper, putting his hand into the barrel over the scabbard and withdrawing what appears to be a bomb, which he strikes on the panels on his arm, saying that Yumichika is getting ahead of himself. As he drops the bomb on the floor, they are engulfed by red smoke, and Yumichika starts to tear and cough, complaining that it’s getting into his
Ikkaku opens his eyes, an indignant look on his face as he asks why he is still alive. He sees Ichigo sitting near by, and asks why he is still here. Ichigo ignores the question and holds up Houzukimaru, remarking that he never knew that when the wielder lost consciousness, the liberated Zanpakutou would return to its normal form. Ikkaku demands that Ichigo returns Houzukimaru, and Ichigo replies that he’s just using the cauterizing medicine, which, after being used on both himself and Ikkaku, was gone. Ikkaku looks down at his body, at his wounds covered in the cream as Ichigo looks pleased and praises the medicine. Ikkaku is still pissed, asking what the hell Ichigo has done, and Ichigo mistakes Ikkaku for being angry over the use of the styptic without permission. Ikkaku says that he thought it weird that he didn’t die of excessive loss of blood, adding that it’s such a disgrace to have survived because Ichigo saved him, and if he could move, he’d beat Ichigo up. Ichigo comments that if he had known that Ikkaku would be pissed over this, he wouldn’t have helped him in the first place. Either way, he doesn’t care if Ikkaku is grateful or not – he just wants answers. Ikkaku agrees to answer his questions, asking Ichigo if he’d like to know his birthday. Ichigo goes straight to the point, asking for “Kuchiki Rukia’s location”.
Ganju complains that his hand is at its limit, asking Yumichika to let go and the latter begging him not to let go – if they fall inside… Ganju remembers Yumichika telling him that those who fall inside could never climb back out, but he cannot hold on any more. His hand slips and the two fall, screaming into… bags of trash? Ganju emerges from the trash bags, calling out that he doesn’t want to die and for someone to come save him. The smell of the rubbish wafts into his nose and Yumichika also gets up, brushing off bits of
As Rukia sits by the window, Ikkaku asks Ichigo if he means the death row inmate, and what he has to do with that trash. Ichigo, a scary, intimidating look on his face declares that he’s come to save Rukia, and Ikkaku asks how many of them had come. Meanwhile, Ishida and Orihime are cleverly dodging Shinigami, Chad continuing to run in the direction he thinks Ichigo is and Yoruichi running along a roof and looking around. Ikkaku assumes that there’d be at least 7 or 8 of them,
Zaraki, thanks to Yachiru, has met with yet another dead end, but Yachiru denies responsibility, pushing everything onto his shoulders. Zaraki, being obliging, just says that they’ll go to the next one.
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