Ichigo Kurosaki & Don Kanonji vs. The Demi-Hollow

Ichigo Kurosaki & Don Kanonji vs. The Demi-Hollow is a fight during the Agent of the Shinigami arc.

Prelude
Don Kanonji decides to bring his extraordinary popular show, Ghost Bust, to an abandoned hospital in Karakura Town. This brings much joy to many of the locals, but not Ichigo. When he gets there, the entire town gathers to watch the celebrity ghost hunter at work; as do Ichigo and Rukia. As soon as the filming crew starts treading into the hospital's vicinity the The Demi-Hollow therein starts howling to try and drive the Humans away. Rukia assures Ichigo they need not fret about the Demi-Hollow, as it still has a long time before becoming a Hollow. When Kanonji arrives at the scene he fearlessly approaches the Demi-Hollow, ignoring his empty threats. Without hesitation, Kanonj shoves his Super Spirit Stick into the Demi-Hollow's half opened Hollow hole and starts twisting it. This causes the Demi-Hollow tremendous pain and also hastens his Hollow transformation. Ichigo manages to reach Kanonji and stop him, but he arrives too late as the Demi-Hollow's body dissipates. Soon after, his body recomposes as a Hollow on the hospital's roof; right above Ichigo and Kanonji.

Battle
Shortly after his body recomposes, the Hollow begins to feel the ravenous hunger typical to Hollows. Recognizing both Ichigo and Kanonji as possessing high Reiryoku, they immediately become his targets. When the Hollow lunges. Kanonji pulls Ichigo back and orders him to run away, he then challenges the "bad spirit" to attack armed only with his Spirit Stick. Ichigo manages to save the medium's life by blocking the Hollow with his sword and throwing him back. While Ichigo and Kanonji are busy arguing about which of them should run away the Hollow tries a surprise attack; which Ichigo manages to block. The Hollow attacks again. This time Ichigo must forcefully push Kanonji out of harm's way. The lunging Hollow misses the two and breaks through a wall. For a second it seems as though the Hollow is stuck and Kanonji spots a "golden chance" to attack, however the Hollow frees himself and Ichigo grabs the medium in order to make a retreat into the hospital.

A few minutes later, the Hollow cuts another argument between Ichigo and Kanonji short by breaking up through the floor. Ichigo attempts to draw his sword but the bulky weapon gets lodged in the narrow corridor's ceiling. To make matters worse, the Hollow uses his adhesive saliva to glue Ichigo's hands to the handle. The undeterred substitute Shinigami challenges the Hollow, saying he can defeat him using only his legs. The Hollow lunges forward but is blocked by Don Kanonji and his Spirit Stick, which he jams into the monster's mouth. Kanonji admits he is not strong enough to defeat the Hollow but says he was impressed by Ichigo's ideals of thinking of the safety of others first. He therefore asks to be allowed to die while protecting Ichigo. Despite Ichigo's protest Kanonji pushes the Hollow away from Ichigo and uses his Kan'onball attack to release Ichigo's Zanpakutō from the ceiling. When Ichigo attacks, the exhausted Kanonji hurriedly moves out of the way; wishing Ichigo all the best.

Ichigo finds it hard to fight with his hands glued to the hilt of his sword. He manages to cut through the Hollow's shoulder, but this only serves to make him angrier. The Hollow breaks through a window and climbs to the roof of the building, with Ichigo and his sword still dangling from his shoulder. On the roof the Hollow manages to release the sword from his shoulder, but here Ichigo can finally use his sword with greater ease. The Hollow attempts an attack which Ichigo evades. The fight seems all but over when Kanonji, having revealed to his public that the "bad spirit" escaped to the roof, arrives and distracts the Hollow from Ichigo. Unable to run and facing an attack, Kanonji depends on Ichigo to save him, which Ichigo does by sideswiping the Hollow and then slashing through his mask; purifying him.

Aftermath
After the Hollow is defeated his body begins to dissipate. As Ichigo and Kanonji watch, his mask disappears and Kanonji can now see that it was the Demi-Hollow from before. He asks Ichigo what it means and Ichigo explains the process in which Souls become Hollows. Kanonji realizes that he hasn't been sending spirits to heaven but instead turning them into Hollows. Seeing that Kanonji has learned enough to mend his ways, Ichigo decides to cheer him up by reminding him his public is waiting for him. Kanonji hesitates for a second but eventually responds with his signature pose, which the crowd cheerfully emulates. Kanonji thanks Ichigo and compliments him for a superb battle, he asks him to lend him a hand from that day on; to which Ichigo replies he might, every now and then. As they shake hands Kanonji informs Ichigo he is now his #1 disciple, proving he still doesn't fully understand the situation.

The next day Ichigo, Rukia, Tatsuki, Orihime, Keigo, Mizuiro and Chad are summoned by Kagine to the principal's office to be told off for the embarrassment they caused Karakura High School by interrupting Kanonji's show. However, they all manage to escape punishment eventually.