Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Renji Abarai: Rematch

Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Renji Abarai: Rematch starts when Lieutenant Renji Abarai goes out to fight Ichigo Kurosaki alone, blaming him for Rukia's troubles.

Prelude
After his fight with Ikkaku Madarame, Ichigo Kurosaki heads to Senzaikyū, to rescue Rukia. Ichigo later reunites with Ganju, who has successfully defeated Yumichika Ayasegawa, but are soon confronted by a large group of Shinigami, and escape by using a clumsy 4th Division officer, 7th seat Hanatarō Yamada, as a distraction. Hanatarō informs them of a shortcut to the place where Rukia is being held.

Battle
Renji and Ichigo face off against each other. The two battle using swordsmanship, as Ganju Shiba and Hanatarō Yamada watch on. Ichigo quickly puts Renji on the defensive, forcing him back against a rock wall. Renji then asks him how does he expect to save Rukia. Even if he were to beat him there are still 11 more lieutenants and 13 captains above them. In order to save her, he would have to defeat them all. Ichigo quickly yells back that it doesn't matter he will fight them all if he has to. Renji then questions were does all of Ichigo's confidence, wondering with just one or two life or death battles he think he can survive anything or is that because his Zanpakutō is different. Renji then asks that could it be that with a little difference in power he has just become arrogant, as he backhands Ichigo, sending him flying away from him.

Renji then release's his Zanpakutō and attacks Ichigo who quickly uses the flat portion of his blade to block the extended blade. He tries to slow his momentum, but Renji's Zabimaru wont stop pushing him back and continues until its momentum rams Ichigo into a wall. Renji retracts his blade and states that Ichigo has made the mistake of thinking he can determine his abilities by just one fight. He then notes that when lieutenants and higher ranked Shinigami go to the Human World in order to not cause unnecessary disturbances to the souls in the Real World, they try hard to suppress their powers. Currently, Renji mentions that his power is 5 times stronger then when they last met. Therefore he states that it doesn't matter how strong Ichigo is, he is near impossible for him to defeat. Ichigo then remarks that if Renji is using his full strength, then he should mention that his attacks are totally ineffective. He then proclaims that if there are 11 others like him they should be easy to beat. Renji is impressed by his cockiness.

Ichigo's vision starts to blur and he begins to lose his balance, noting that Renji's hit was too strong to take and he has lost too much blood fighting Ikkaku. Renji notices and goes to finish him off while destroying an entire building right down the middle. Ichigo is injured, but blocks most of the attack and escapes by jumping up to the roof and running away. Renji follows suit and continues his attack destroying more of the building, beating back Ichigo, who has been forced onto the defensive. Ichigo continues to block the attacks with Renji asking if he really wants to save Rukia that much. Ichigo responds that he doesn't want to save her, but that he has to save her. Renji, enraged, goes back on the attack and yells at him that it's his fault Rukia lost her power and that is why her sentence is so heavy. He then blames Ichigo entirely for Rukia's fate, to which Ichigo responds that he knows it's his fault and that is why he has to save her. Ichigo deflects Renji's attack, he recalls his training with Urahara and makes note that Renji can only attack 3 times before he must return it to its normal form. Ichigo times the hits perfectly to counter the attack much to Renji's surprise. He goes to finish Renji off thinking he is open and defenseless, but is surprised when Renji uses Shunpo and moves before he can make contact. Renji counters and slashes Ichigo from his shoulder and down his chest.

As Ichigo falls Renji explains how he dodged the attack. He notes that it is a good idea to attack during the break, as his timing was perfect. But the reason was simple, he was too slow. Renji then tells Ichigo that they are on two completely different levels and it's that simple. He then goes to strike Ichigo down, stating that he can't save Rukia as he is gonna die right here. Ichigo again remembers his training and catches Renji's Zanpakutō with his bare hand, he then resolves to defeat Renji. Ichigo then fires an unnamed Getsuga Tenshō at Renji, breaking the lieutenant's Zanpakutō and critically injuring him, much to his surprise.

Aftermath
Upon his defeat, Renji recalls his past with Rukia. He then makes Ichigo promise to save her. The fight in turn gives Renji the resolve to do the right thing and save Rukia, but also gave him the strength to do the one thing he has never been able to do and in fact was afraid to do, fight his Captain, Byakuya Kuchiki.