Rages at Ringside (episode)

For the chapter of the same name, see Rages at Ringside.

Rages at Ringside is the eighteenth episode of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and the three hundred and eighty-fourth episode of the Bleach anime overall.

9th Division Captain Kensei Muguruma and 3rd Division Captain Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi face off against Mask De Masculine, but find themselves unprepared for his power.

Summary
Within 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi's hidden laboratory, one of the technicians monitoring the replaced Seireitei brings up a topographical map of the city produced by the Wandenreich and announces that the Gotei 13 has roughly 42% of its forces currently alive, but its active military strength is less than 30%, prompting 12th Division 3rd Seat Akon to curse at the Wandenreich trampling them in such a short amount of time as Kisuke Urahara muses that they used the chaos to crush the Gotei 13's chain of command.

At Akon's behest, the technicians detail that 2nd Division Captain Suì-Fēng is currently injured and being transported by Lieutenant Marechiyo Ōmaeda to the first-aid station, 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya's Reiatsu has disappeared after his battle with Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto's status remaining unknown, and 11th Division Captain Kenpachi Zaraki is not responding to any of their calls, though Akon asserts that they can ignore this. In response, one of the technicians reveals that 9th Division Captain Kensei Muguruma and 3rd Division Captain Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi are alright.

Once the technicians conclude that Kensei and Rose are currently assessing their surroundings, Urahara observes that the remaining unseated Shinigami will just be hunted down at this rate, and after criticizing them for getting worked up just because their superior officers were killed since it indicates an inability to think and act for themselves, Mayuri contacts Captain-Commander Shunsui Kyōraku and sarcastically suggests he rejoice at the news of the Gotei 13 losing 70% of its combat capability while he was sipping tea with the enemy. In turn, Shunsui admits that he ran out of tea and the enemy was about to sip on his blood.

Telling Shunsui to do his job, Mayuri connects him to the Denreishinki of all remaining division members across the city and assures him that he can handle this since it is only 30% of their forces, which leads Shunsui to thank Mayuri for the fair assessment of his capabilities prior to addressing the Shinigami, sending the new map to their Denreishinki, and ordering them to use it to rendezvous at one of the remaining five barracks and receive orders from a senior officer so they do not have to exhaust themselves by continuing to fight alone now that the Wandenreich has changed the map, resulting in dozens of Shinigami running across the city.

Meanwhile, after challenging Mask De Masculine alongside Rose, Kensei activates his Bankai, Tekken Tachikaze, to gain a pair of gauntlets on his fists connected by a band behind his head. In response, Mask rips off his cloak, promises to defeat Kensei in a ten count, and launches himself toward Kensei with Star Dropkick, only for Kensei to casually block his feet with his right gauntlet while being pushed back several meters and express disbelief at his lieutenant, Shūhei Hisagi, being defeated by such a weak attack before switching his left gauntlet to a set of spikes and driving it into Mask's stomach.

With Mask spitting up saliva and collapsing in pain at this, to the concern of James, Kensei picks him up by the collar and explains that his Shikai, Tachikaze, can detonate things in the trajectory of its blade, while Tekken Tachikaze compresses the force of those explosions into his fists. Burying his right gauntlet in Mask's midsection, which causes the latter to begin vibrating from the repeated tremors racking his body, Kensei declares that this explosive force will continue to assault Mask so long as the gauntlet remains in contact with his body and sends Mask flying hundreds of meters away into a building.

While Rose muses that Kensei will not be needing any help from him, a despondent James tells Mask that he cannot lose, and as a nonplussed Kensei notes that the enemy's weakness is making them look like the villains here, Hisagi pushes himself up from the ground nearby and warns Kensei that he needs to take out James first just before James begs Mask to come back, which causes Mask's eyes and mask to glow with golden light while he jumps down from the building, lands behind Kensei and Rose, and sends them flying with powerful punches prior to introducing himself. Atop the tower he crashed into, an annoyed Kensei sits up and cracks his neck.

However, when Kensei launches himself down toward Mask, the latter appears in front of him with Hirenkyaku to knee him in the chest with Star Eagle Kick and smash his head with Star Headbutt. Angered by this, Kensei switches his right gauntlet to brass knuckles and delivers a powerful punch to Mask's blocking forearm, creating a barrage of force that engulfs them. Once James cheers for him again, Mask grabs Kensei's fist, proclaims that this has no chance of working on him, and breaks Kensei's right arm with a downward chop before smacking him down to the ground, where Kensei screams in pain over the bone protruding from his elbow.

Slamming down knee-first into Kensei, Mask sees the latter has lost consciousness and concludes that he will not need a ten-count just before James is ripped in half by Rose's Shikai, Kinshara, sending the top half of his body flying several meters away. Though Mask curses him for harming an innocent fan, Rose counters that loud and noisy guests are not welcome at his dance and refuses to let this chance go to waste after Kensei went to such great lengths to create it before activating his Bankai, Kinshara Butōdan, creating a dozen large, humanoid figures, a large set of hands in the air behind him, and a conducting wand out of the length of Kinshara.

After describing Kinshara Butōdan as a dance troupe of death whose admission cost is Mask's life, Rose has the figures encircle Mask and initiates Sea Drift, crushing a bewildered Mask in a surging flood of water as Rose tells him to sing his song of pain and dread to the tune of the sea. For his second attack, Rose unleashes Prometheus, causing the figures to blast Mask with fire generated from the petals on their faces while the latter expresses disbelief at a Zanpakutō being able to use both fire and water. With Mask realizing this must be an illusion, Rose confirms this and asserts that illusions captivate the heart.

As the flames intensify around a howling Mask, Rose describes the magma as the boiling fury of the earth for Mask to stomp to with his despair and details how his control of music causes the deceptive melody in Mask's ears to captivate his heart, which means that Mask will burn and breathe his last from hearing the melody, causing Mask to notice that the right shoulder of his shirt has been burned off. However, before Rose can finish him off with Ein Heldenleben, Mask sticks his fingers in his ears, and though Rose states that covering his ears will not help, Mask withdraws his fingers to reveal they are covered in blood.

Upon seeing this, a horrified Rose realizes that Mask ruptured his eardrums to deafen himself, which Mask grins at prior to blasting a star-shaped hole into Rose's torso with Star Flash and declaring that the villain shall die by the hero's beam of light. Laughing maniacally at this, Mask stops when he sees Rose's hand twitch and comments on his remarkable vitality before unleashing another Star Flash. However, the blast is deflected off 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai's Shikai, Zabimaru, into a building as the latter appears in front of Rose in new clothes and introduces himself to Mask as a villain.

Landing next to Renji, 13th Division Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki agrees to leave the battle to Renji and take care of Kensei and Rose, since Mask is no match for what Renji has become, and carries them away with a shawl, leaving Mask to question if Renji does not want to gang up on him with Rukia since villains are free to use whatever dirty tactics they would like to against him. Though Renji decides to fight in a cowardly manner because of this, Mask admits that he cannot hear what Renji said because of his ruptured eardrums and calls on James, whose top half leaps over and cheers on Mask to heal his eardrums as Renji stares in confusion.

Despite this, when Mask proclaims that his hearing is better than ever and invites Renji to say something to test it out, Renji simply slashes Zabimaru through James, cutting off his left hand and decapitating him, prior to responding to a mortified Mask accusing him of being cowardly by asserting that all villains are cowards and slashing Zabimaru horizontally toward him as well. Simultaneously, Rukia carries Kensei and Rose through the air, where she muses that the two of them need urgent treatment since their Reiatsu is growing weaker and fails to see a safe place to hide them before coming across the Fourth Division's healing station.

Upon landing next to 4th Division Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu, Rukia informs her of Kensei and Rose needing immediate treatment for their injuries. Back at the fight, a large amount of blood spurts from Mask's wound and the side of his mask rips open, which leads Renji to state that a hero of justice should not hide their face like a petty criminal. Suddenly, Mask forces his wound shut and multiple clones of James emerge from the bloody remains of the original to cheer Mask on in a chorus of voices, causing Mask's wound to heal and his mask to change color and design while he reprimands Renji for scratching the soul of a masked man.

After his enlarging muscles rip through most of his clothes, leaving him nearly naked, Mask declares that his Star Power-Up is complete, though Renji wonders why it changed his mask's appearance, and slams his arm into Renji with Star Lariat, sending the latter flying several hundred meters back and crashing through a building. While following Renji into the air to hit him with another Star Lariat that propels him even further back, Mask proclaims that Renji can no longer rest his feet on the ground and barrages him with both Star Rocket Punch and Star Satsujin Punch, which Renji blocks with his arms.

With Renji hurtling through another tower, Mask leaps off the corner of a building and activates his Quincy: Vollständig while promising that Renji will die and turn to dust at the hands of a divine superstar without ever touching the ground. Tracing a large star in the sky with his flight pattern as the clones of James cheer him on below, Mask creates an energy star from it and unleashes Star Flash: Super Nova by slamming it into the ground below, creating a massive explosion that incinerates the stunned clones. As he watches this from above, Mask assures James that their link will ensure he eventually comes back to life.

However, after bidding Renji farewell, Mask sees a large snake skull in the clearing smoke and assumes that Renji activated his Bankai just before dying, something he considers pitiful, but is bewildered when the skull loops around Renji's torso and settles on his right hand with a blade emerging from it as a skeletal, green-furred hand clambers up to Renji's left shoulder and doubles over on his arm, leaving Mask to question if a Bankai is supposed to change its form like this. In the past, at his temple in the Soul King Palace, Ichibē Hyōsube tells Renji that the name "Hihiō Zabimaru" is a lie, to Renji's confusion.

Elaborating that this is only half of the true name, Ichibē tells Renji that his Zanpakutō only partially acknowledges him, and when Renji wonders how he knows this after expressing disbelief at this happening after fighting alongside Zabimaru for so long, Ichibē reveals that he named Zanpakutō, Shikai, Bankai, and every other phenomenon occurring in Soul Society because the Soul King assigned him the title of "Monk Who Calls the Real Name". Though he promises to reveal the true name of Renji's Bankai to him, Ichibē warns Renji that he will have to prove his strength to Zabimaru right now in order to wield it.

In the present, Renji activates his true Bankai, Sōō Zabimaru, which Mask calls dangerous. With Renji confirming this and noting that he had to work hard in order to be able to speak that name, Mask declares that his soul is burning with the flames of true justice to defeat Renji and flies down toward the latter, who uses Hihiō to reach out and grab Mask with the large left limb attached to his shoulder. Despite Mask claiming that this is nothing, the hand easily breaks his left arm, causing Mask to scream in pain, and throws him into a nearby building, where Mask bursts out of the rubble and curses Renji.

Mask vows to abandon thoughts of justice and evil in order to murder Renji for breaking the left arm of a star and flies down toward him, but Renji simply activates Orochiō, giving his blade a serrated edge, and leaps up to impale Mask on his sword before twisting it and unleashing Sōō Zabimaru, Zaga Teppō, which creates a giant snake head composed of burning Reishi that bites down on Mask, reducing him to an ashen husk. In the aftermath, as Mask's body crumbles and flies away in the wind, Renji observes that he completely burned himself out and concludes that this is what Mask ultimately wanted.

During this, Yhwach observes Mask's defeat from his outdoor throne room and notes that James is dead prior to praising his performance and bidding him to return, causing the ashes of Mask's body to convert to energy that hurtles toward Yhwach and enters his body. With Uryū Ishida watching in surprise, Yhwach's body is engulfed by a Shadow that slips off the throne and moves a few feet along the ground before clearing to reveal Jugram Haschwalth, who explains to Uryū that Yhwach is now asleep and building his strength as the Father of the Quincy, which is why his sleep cannot be interrupted at any cost.

When Uryū wonders why he is here, Haschwalth states that he and Yhwach are connected, only to correct himself that Yhwach is connected to all Quincy, which he knows Uryū has deduced. Once Uryū confirms this, Haschwalth questions if Uryū knows why Yhwach has these powers and if he knows what sort of being Yhwach is since not even Sōken Ishida could have figured it out before deciding to tell Uryū since he is Yhwach's successor.

Fights & Events

 * Kensei Muguruma & Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi vs. Mask De Masculine (concluded)
 * Renji Abarai vs. Mask De Masculine (concluded)

Powers and Techniques Used
Zanpakutō Techniques:

Hohō Techniques:

Kidō Techniques:

Quincy Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Bankai:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Schrifts:

Items:
 * Sanrei Belt

Anime Notes
Removed Content= Added/Expanded Content= Changes=
 * James expressing disbelief at Mask De Masculine being incapacitated by a single attack.
 * A flashback to Kensei Muguruma killing a Hollow on the outskirts of the Rukongai with Tachikaze.
 * Rukia Kuchiki calling out to Renji Abarai after landing behind him.
 * Mask pointing out how Kensei Muguruma and Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi opted to fight him two-on-one.
 * Renji expressing disbelief at James still being alive and Mask requesting cheers from him, which James readily accedes to.
 * Renji calling Mask creepy, prompting the latter to attack him with Star Rocket Headbutt, only for Renji to elbow him in the back hard enough to embed Mask's head in the ground, where he pulls himself out and admits that Renji has some luck.
 * Mask pointing out the star mark appearing on the back of his fist and explaining that it makes his Star Satsujin Punch ten times more powerful, only for Renji to effortlessly catch it and mock Mask's inability to kill a Shinigami with it, greatly angering Mask.
 * Renji explaining that he cut up James while Mask was using Star Satsujin Punch to prevent the latter from coming back to life.
 * Mask asserting that a superstar cannot be killed by a villain and asking James for affirmation after forcing his body back together.
 * Mask remembering that Renji is the one he defeated with a Star Dropkick in the first invasion and claiming that superstars do not remember every villain they defeat, to Renji's disbelief, before asserting that Renji should be proud to witness his true power since he somehow got so strong.
 * Mask proclaiming that he can take down an enemy from a mile away with his true power and referring to his Star Lariat as One-Mile Arts.
 * Renji attempting to grab onto a wall to stop flying through the air, only for it to crumble and give way.
 * Ichibē Hyōsube musing that calling "Hihiō Zabimaru" a lie makes it sound bad.
 * Renji questioning why Ichibē would tell him the true name of his Bankai.
 * Flashbacks to Ichigo wielding his original Shikai and Yoruichi Shihōin revealing the existence of Bankai.
 * Ichibē stating that he knows the names of all Zanpakutō from the moment they are handed to a Shinigami as an Asauchi.
 * Mask refusing to let Renji live any longer since he survived Star Flash: Super Nova.
 * Jugram Haschwalth questioning what Uryū Ishida wants with Yhwach twice, only for Uryū to assert that he does not need to explain himself and observe that Haschwalth looks different at night, prompting Haschwalth to explain that he wears the "Mask of the Ruler" at night while Yhwach returns to being the Father of the Quincy.
 * The Shinigami Research and Development Institute technicians producing a topographical map of the Wandenreich city and the current combat capability of the Gotei 13, which Mayuri Kurotsuchi relays to Shunsui Kyōraku before having him contact the remaining Shinigami so they can regroup at the barracks.
 * Rose skidding along the ground for several dozen meters after being punched by Mask.
 * Rose describing Sea Drift as a churning sea that Mask can sing his song of pain and dread to.
 * Rose describing Prometheus as the wrath of the earth for Mask to stomp his despair to.
 * Rukia carrying Kensei and Rose through the air and bringing them to Isane Kotetsu for healing.
 * The side of Mask's mask ripping open, prompting Renji to criticize him for wearing a mask even though he claims to be a hero and Mask to reprimand Renji for scratching the soul of a masked hero.
 * Renji telling Mask that he had to work hard to call the name of his true Bankai.
 * Mask flying down toward Renji after promising to kill him.
 * In the manga, Kensei blocked Mask's Star Dropkick with his left fist and punched Mask with his right; here, he instead blocks the attack with his right fist and punches Mask with his left.
 * In the manga, Rose responds to Mask criticizing him for attacking James by noting that he cannot release his power without the latter; here, he instead asserts that loud and noisy guests are not welcome at his dance.
 * In the manga, Renji cuts James's entire body to pieces; here, he instead simply decapitates James with a slash that also severs his left hand.
 * In the manga, Mask bids Renji farewell before assuring James that he will eventually come back to life; here, the order of these statements is instead reversed.
 * In the manga, after Renji expresses disbelief at Zabimaru not entrusting his full power to him after they have fought together for so long, Ichibē states that this is why it was difficult to tell him; here, Renji instead questions how Ichibē knows this is not the true name of his Bankai.
 * In the manga, Ichibē identifies his title of "Monk Who Calls The True Name" before listing off the phenomena he has named; here, he instead does so afterward.
 * In the manga, Uryū and Haschwalth are outside the throne room in Silbern when Yhwach falls asleep; here, Uryū is instead in the outdoor throne room with him, while Haschwalth emerges from the Shadow that envelops Yhwach during the process.