Ikkaku's Hot-Blooded Kendo Tale

 is the one-hundred and thirty-third episode of the Bleach anime.

11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame helps a school student named Shinji Iijima win a Kendō tournament.

Summary
At the kendō club of Karakura High School, Mizuho Asano is shocked to discover several members of her team sitting around a table with bandaged wounds and demands to know how this happened, prompting one of them to reveal that they were ambushed by the kendō team of Kotei Academy, who viciously beat them with shinai in order to proceed unopposed to the regional championship tournament, though Mizuho is aghast at the team identifying themselves for an ambush.

Sitting nearby, Shinji Iijima apologizes and blames himself for fleeing too slowly, only for the student speaking to Mizuho to assure him that it is the fault of the opposing team and note that they will have to pull out of the tournament next month with such injuries. However, Mizuho refuses to give up over something as trivial as this and vows to arrange a match with Kotei Academy, to the bewilderment of her team, before pointing out how them withdrawing from the tournament is what Kotei Academy's team intended to cause with this ambush and asserting that they should be furious over the treatment they have received.

Mizuho concludes that they can get their revenge with this match and gain some momentum for the regional tournament, and when Shinji counters that they were ambushed just yesterday, an unimpressed Mizuho observes that the first-year students seem to be in good shape, prompting Shinji to declare that they cannot possibly defeat Kotei Academy. In response, Mizuho grabs Shinji by the collar with both hands and begins rapidly shaking him as she insists that they are going to avenge their upperclassmen no matter what it takes because they are men, leaving a frightened and unresponsive Shinji to internally realize that she is crazy.

Some time later, a glaring 11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame stands in a kendō uniform next to 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa and Keigo Asano, who nervously tells Mizuho that he has brought the two of them just like she asked him to and questions who Shinji and the four other students standing with him and Mizuho are, prompting Shinji to identify them as the first-year students of Karakura High School's kendō team. Once Shinji states that it is nice to meet them, Ikkaku wonders what Mizuho wants with them since she had him put on this uniform, though Yumichika notes that he does not seem too dissatisfied by it.

With Mizuho proclaiming that the outfit looks good on a grimacing Ikkaku and makes him look like a man among men, Keigo warns Ikkaku that this is bad and that Mizuho's request probably will not do him any good even though Keigo is the one who brought him here, but an irritated Mizuho tells Keigo to stay quiet and punches him into a nearby window, which cracks extensively from the impact and shatters where his face hits it. Clinging to Ikkaku, Mizuho lovingly details how the kendō team is having a friendly match with Kotei Academy's kendō team this weekend and how she wants him to prepare them for the event, to Ikkaku's surprise.

When Ikkaku inquires about whether she is referring to the weaklings standing before him, Mizuho confirms this and requests that he somehow mold them into real men prior to Shinji stepping forward and requesting that Ikkaku make him stronger. Despite Keigo claiming that Ikkaku would never participate in youthful club activities, Ikkaku agrees to do this and explains to a shocked Keigo that he is indebted to Mizuho for giving him food and shelter, which Mizuho gushingly thanks him for. After Yumichika refuses to take part in this and walks away, Ikkaku criticizes him for being unmanly before Mizuho asks him to take care of this.

Once Shinji asserts that the team is counting on him and bows his head alongside his teammates, a grinning Ikkaku declares that his training will be tough and Mizuho praises him as Keigo realizes that he is completely invested in doing this. Later, with the sun beginning to set, Ikkaku has a crying Shinji pull him around the grounds of Karakura High School on a cart laden with sandbags and demands that the latter not be a coward like his teammates who have already collapsed next to their own carts, which leads an intimidated Shinji to promise that he will not be while Keigo questions the use of carts and observes that Ikkaku is waving his actual Zanpakutō around.

The next day, Ikkaku forces Shinji and his teammates to reach the top of a long set of stairs embedded into a hillside by hopping up each step from a squatting position with their hands tied behind their backs, which Keigo notes is bad for their backs, and later suspends them in the air upside-down by their ankles so they can practice dozens of swings with their shinai, to Keigo's confusion, prior to binding their arms and forcing them to kneel with heavy stones on their legs, which they are left agonized by but determined to persevere through as Ikkaku promises them that real men will find victory by enduring through the pain.

When Mizuho pops up behind him and revels in how good they are doing, a stunned Keigo points out how none of this has anything to do with kendō, only to immediately bow in deference and tearfully apologize upon being glared at by Mizuho. Though Keigo believes that Ikkaku is going too far with this training, Mizuho casually states that he will not kill the team members and that he simply has his own ideas, leaving Keigo aghast and defeated. Some time later, Ikkaku stands before the exhausted and kneeling members of the team in the gymnasium and fiercely wonders if they have already given up, which they do not respond to.

Though Ikkaku is unimpressed by one of the members expressing resignation at his defeat, Shinji asserts that he can still keep going and steps onto the combat mat with Ikkaku, who admits that he expected Shinji to give up first and praises the latter for having spirit. Once the two of them have drawn their shinai and assumed their combat stances, Shinji charges forward with a yell at Ikkaku's prompting and slashes downward, but Ikkaku easily sidesteps him and whacks Shinji's right hand with his shinai, causing Shinji to drop his own shinai and clutch his hand in pain while Ikkaku inquires about whether this is the extent of his spirit.

In turn, Shinji proclaims that he has to become stronger for the upperclassmen that protected him and curses before picking up his shinai and attacking Ikkaku again, only for Ikkaku to slam his own shinai into Shinji's stomach with enough force to make him collapse afterward. Ikkaku criticizes Shinji for being too direct and instructs him to look for his opponent's openings, and when Shinji counters that Ikkaku does not have any openings to exploit, Ikkaku insists that they will continue until Shinji finds one and continues sparring with Shinji in the gymnasium for several more hours, to the immense grief and pain of the latter.

Later, as the sun begins to set, Ikkaku removes his kendō uniform and washes himself at one of the outdoor sinks on the Karakura High School grounds as Keigo stands nearby with a towel and questions why he is working so hard for this, prompting a smiling Ikkaku to reveal that he is doing so simply because it is fun. Having collapsed in astonishment at this, Keigo hands the towel to Ikkaku and wonders what this means before Ikkaku indicates the doorway to the gymnasium nearby, where Shinji is practicing swings with his shinai, and elaborates that he has not seen the desperate expression that comes from one's desire to get stronger in a long time.

With Ikkaku departing, a stunned Keigo observes that he is really enjoying his youth. The next day, Ikkaku finds the bandaged first-year members kneeling on the ground in their meeting room and demands to know what is wrong with them, which leads one of them to tearfully declare that they are at their limit. When Keigo notices that they have worse injuries than the upperclassmen do, a startled Ikkaku realizes that he may have gotten carried away with the training. Suddenly, Mizuho pops up behind the two of them to confirm the rumor she heard about all of the team members being injured and clings to Ikkaku, whom she asks about what they will do.

After Ikkaku observes that he did not think the team members would be hurt just by this and they meekly apologize, Mizuho notes that this presents a problem and kindly inquires about whether the team can win with these injuries, but one of them bluntly states that it is impossible, causing an infuriated Mizuho to question how they are going to win the match and respond to Keigo suggesting that they forfeit by shaking him by the collar and declaring that she refuses to ever change her schedule as the student body president, since she always wins matches that she has decided she will win, only to admit that they will also look foolish because they requested the match.

Once Keigo frantically apologizes again under her baleful glare for pointing out how she requested the match in order to get revenge, Mizuho turns to Ikkaku, who scratches his chest and brings up how they just have to win the match prior to deciding that he and the rest of the Shinigami Strike Force could just enter the match instead. Assured by Ikkaku that his companions are quite skilled while the team members watch in awe, an overjoyed Mizuho embraces him and proclaims that she knew she could count on him, and when a stunned Keigo theorizes that Ikkaku just wanted to enter the match from the start, Ikkaku intimidates him into silence.

Ikkaku announces that he will ask Yumichika and the others to help out and questions if any of the team members have the guts to participate, which leads an initially hesitant Shinji to request that Ikkaku let him enter the match as well. Approving of Shinji's choice, Ikkaku observes that they just need three more people to join the team. Shortly afterward, Ikkaku sits on the roof of Karakura High School with Keigo, who is shocked to see Yumichika and 10th Division Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto standing before them and wonders if Ikkaku only has two friends due to them being three people short of a full kendō team.

In response, an angered Ikkaku smacks Keigo on the head with his shinai, which he points at Rangiku and Yumichika as he asserts that he is going to ask them for help. When a nonplussed Rangiku pushes the shinai aside and wonders what Ikkaku wants help with while Yumichika notes that he has an idea of what it might be, Ikkaku praises this as making things easier and begins asking them to participate in the upcoming kendō match, but Rangiku and Yumichika immediately refuse to do so, to Ikkaku's mortification, and admit that they know he is begging them for help and that they are the only ones whom Ikkaku can approach for this.

With Ikkaku tearfully demanding to know why they are refusing to help in this case, Rangiku and Yumichika pinch their noses and flatly state the protective gear of the kendō uniforms smells bad, which they reiterate as they rapidly back away from Ikkaku and flee down the stairwell connected to the rooftop, leaving a bewildered Ikkaku unaware of his own stench while Keigo pinches his nose as well and slowly moves away from Ikkaku. Later that day, with the sun beginning to set, Ikkaku walks along a bridge with Keigo and Shinji, where he concludes he is perplexed and Keigo inquires about what they should do next while Shinji laments the match being tomorrow.

As Keigo jokingly wonders if they can make strong friends by tomorrow, Shinji apologizes again for not running away from the ambush fast enough, and when Keigo points out how Shinji would have been fine if he could run away as fast as Keigo can, to Shinji's amusement, Ikkaku grabs Keigo by the collar and berates him for choosing to run away instead of getting stronger prior to pointing his shinai at Shinji's head to get him to stop laughing and asserting that the location of Shinji's bruises indicate that they belong to someone who has been running away, which he contrasts with real men not caring if they get bruised when confronting issues.

While Shinji stares in awe at this, Ikkaku tells him to not worry about the unbruised areas of his body and walks away. However, upon being asked by Keigo if he is going to make some strong friends, Ikkaku turns around and calls him an idiot. The next day, several dozen students from both Karakura High School and Kotei Academy gather in Karakura High School's gymnasium for the kendō match, where Mizuho stands with the injured upperclassmen of the kendō team as they wonder if they have got a full team of five members by now. In a side room, Ikkaku stands before 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya, who wonders why he has to participate in this.

An apologetic Ikkaku kneels and slides over a box of snacks as repayment for Hitsugaya, who refuses to accept them as a bribe, though Rangiku steps in and points out how he is already wearing a kendō uniform, prompting an annoyed Hitsugaya to clarify that Ikkaku made a fuss and told him to put the uniform on without explaining why. To repent for this, Ikkaku slides over a box filled with children's toys, and while Hitsugaya glares at him for this, Shinji enters the room and expresses relief over his grade school brother having a kendō uniform, which leads Ikkaku to cheekily envision Hitsugaya as a grade school student before Hitsugaya curses him for this.

With Hitsugaya gripping him by the collar in anger, Ikkaku asserts that he really wants to win this match, but Hitsugaya reminds him that they were not supposed to get involved in Human affairs and 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai enters in his own kendō uniform to affirm this by pointing out how it is inconvenient for them to take part in the match when they are all currently busy with training. When Hitsugaya expresses surprise at Renji being here as well, Renji admits that Kisuke Urahara kept pressuring him to join and recalls a lollipop-licking Urahara telling him and Yasutora Sado that they are done training for the day.

After recounting how Urahara had them come to Karakura High School instead under the premise of something troublesome arising that had summoned all the other Shinigami and promising that they would know what it was when they got there instead of telling them if it was a Hollow, a flustered Renji concludes that this was all he found when he got here, leaving Shinji bewildered, as a smirking Ikkaku apologizes for taking up his time and responds to Renji accusing him of giving Urahara a box of sweets in order to coax him into doing this by stating that bribes are always necessary for this sort of thing and inquiring about Sado's whereabouts.

In turn, Renji bluntly states that Sado is not coming because he does not accept bribes, which leads a shocked and outraged Ikkaku to grab him by the collar and furiously bring up how expensive the sweets were, only for Renji to counter that he does not care and begin glaring at an equally livid Ikkaku prior to Shinji wondering what they are going to do since it is almost time for the match to begin. Startled by this, Ikkaku holds up the odorous kendō helmet before Rangiku and begs her to join them, prompting a disgusted Rangiku to once again pinch her nose with her fingers and refuse due to how wearing it will make her hair smell bad.

With no other options left, Ikkaku proceeds to turn to Keigo, who looks at him in astonishment, and fiercely demands that he enter to make up for their missing teammate. However, Keigo grabs Ikkaku's pointing hand and pushes it back while tearfully explaining how he has never even held a shinai, but a grinning Ikkaku informs him that he simply needs to run away because only three out of the five of them need to win their matches, which Keigo gives up at. Moments later, Ikkaku, Renji, Hitsugaya, Keigo, and Shinji stand in the center of the gymnasium across from Kotei Academy's kendō team as the start of the match is announced.

Once the announcer clarifies that the friendly nature of the match means that the winner of each round will be the first person who gets a point, Shinji realizes that he is in the semifinals, prompting Ikkaku to promise that he will win and secure the victory for the team even if Shinji loses, though he questions if Shinji is really alright with the idea of this, to Shinji's surprise. Shortly afterward, Hitsugaya begins the first round against one of the Kotei Academy team members and calms himself by envisioning a gray, windy plain of grass before making his strike faster than the eye can follow and reappearing behind his opponent while the referee gives him the point.

With Mizuho and the other Karakura High School students cheering at this, Rangiku and Yumichika slide over to Hitsugaya, who removes his helmet, and praise his performance as they bring up how he claimed to not want to do it, which causes Hitsugaya to demand that they shut up. When the second round begins, Keigo blocks his opponent's first strike and confidently asserts that he can run away really fast and begins side-stepping around his opponent, to the criticism of the Kotei Academy team and the confusion of Mizuho. Upon being told to take a stance by the referee, Keigo refuses due to not wanting to get hurt before his opponent strikes his head.

After the point goes to Kotei Academy, Renji begins his match, but immediately notices alongside the other Shinigami that a Hollow has appeared nearby and quickly finishes his match with a single strike, awarding the point to Karakura High School as Hitsugaya exits his Gigai with his Gikongan, King, and runs out of the gymnasium alongside Renji, Rangiku, and Yumichika, telling Ikkaku to not be late in the process. In response, Ikkaku informs Shinji that he has to step out momentarily and reminds the latter that he will win if Shinji loses, only to observe that Shinji is the one who wants to win the most and encourage him to become a real man.

Seeing Ikkaku leaving his Gigai and departing as well, Keigo notices Renji and Hitsugaya's expressionless Gigai sitting on either side of him and wonders where Ikkaku is going prior to the latter's Gikongan, Blues, tearfully admitting that he is scared and Renji's Gikongan, Ginnosuke, deciding to lie on his side until Renji returns while Yumichika's Gikongan, Gringo, declares that he will kill anyone who looks at him and King deciding to stay put before Rangiku's Gikongan, Momone, gushes over how many men are in the gymnasium, leaving Keigo astonished and confused by their sudden personality changes.

Shinji begins the fourth round by approaching his burly opponent, who sneers at him, and recalling Ikkaku's promise to avenge them even if he loses the round prior to steeling his resolve and clashing with his opponent. Outside the gymnasium, Renji, Hitsugaya, Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika face down a Menos Grande, where Renji activates his Bankai, Hihiō Zabimaru, and Rangiku and Ikkaku release their respective Shikai, Haineko and Hōzukimaru, to engulf the Menos Grande in a large cloud of energy and ash prior to Ikkaku stabbing it between the eyes with enough force to shatter its mask and topple it.

After landing on the ground, Ikkaku ruminates on only weak enemies appearing despite Sōsuke Aizen using the Hōgyoku to create Arrancar prior to realizing that this is not what he should be doing. Back in the gymnasium, Shinji and his opponent clash fiercely across the mat with repeated shinai locks as Keigo instructs him to run away and lose at a suitable time instead of pushing himself. Suddenly, Mizuho knees him in the side of the head and puts him in a headlock to begin grinding her fist into his skull as she berates him for not remembering that they are here to inflict divine retribution onto Kotei Academy.

Though Keigo points out how Ikkaku will win even if Shinji loses, Mizuho tells him to shut up and Shinji proclaims there is no point to this unless he wins. On the sidelines, Shinji's upperclassmen assure him that he does not need to push himself, only for Shinji to resolve to become a real man by winning the match and continue pushing back against his opponent, who calls him annoying. With Shinji envisioning himself on a gray, grassy plain and Ikkaku running back to the gymnasium while urging Shinji to not lose before he arrives, Shinji's opponent claims this would not have happened if the upperclassmen were better at running away.

With his opponent noting that this was all it took to defeat them and that the ambush proved unnecessary after all, an angered Shinji declares that this is for his upperclassmen and breaks their shinai lock to resume clashing with his opponent as Ikkaku runs into the room prior to outmaneuvering his opponent's slashes and striking his head with the tip of his own shinai, scoring the final point in favor of Karakura High School to the jubilant glee of Shinji's fellow students and Mizuho. While Keigo expresses shock at this and the referee declares that Karakura High School has one, Ikkaku runs up and demands to have his round as well.

When Keigo tells him that they have already won the match, Shinji informs Ikkaku that they did so without him going through any trouble and sincerely thanks him for his advice that Shinji will never forget, and though he praises this, Ikkaku reiterate that he still wants his round, prompting the referee to assert that he does not have a turn because Karakura High School won three to one. In response, an outraged Ikkaku smacks the referee's head with his shinai, causing the latter to collapse, and promises to kill the captain of the Kotei Academy team, which leads Mizuho to cheerfully point to him sitting with the rest of his team.

After Mizuho reveals that the captain is a bad man who broke off a relationship with her long ago and leaves, a stunned Keigo realizes that this entire match has been about her personal grudge and revenge against the captain before a screaming Ikkaku strikes the captain's head, causing his toupée to fly off and enraging his teammates, whom Ikkaku invites to attack him so he can defeat all of them. With Mizuho squealing in delight at this, Ikkaku proceeds to defeat the other Kotei Academy team members with a single powerful blow each and continues rampaging through the gymnasium as Yumichika happily joins in and Shinji begs him to stop.

As an exasperated Hitsugaya leaves and the referee declares the match forfeit due to the actions of Karakura High School's kendō team captain, Ikkaku sits atop the unconscious bodies of the Kotei Academy kendō team and declares that he has won while Mizuho praises him for truly being the man she thought he was and laughs maniacally.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
In the Seireitei, 11th Division Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi sits before a large screen and has 12th Division Lieutenant Nemu Kurotsuchi begin playing footage of Blues, Ginnosuke, Gringo, King, and Momone in 11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai, 11th Division 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa, 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya, and Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto's respective Gigai. When Nemu concludes that this is the result of the special Gikongan they prepared, Yachiru praises her work as the Substitute Vice-President of the Shinigami Women's Association, because this will make them a lot of money, leaving a blushing Nemu pleased while 8th Division Lieutenant Nanao Ise, the real Vice-President, drops the book she was holding and gets a chill up her spine.

Powers and Techniques Used
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