Ichigo Becomes a Hollow!

 is the nineteenth episode of the Bleach anime.

Kisuke Urahara helps Ichigo Kurosaki regain his Shinigami powers.

Summary
In the Sixth Division prison ward in the Seireitei, a stunned Lieutenant Renji Abarai grips the bars of Rukia Kuchiki's cell and expresses disbelief at what Captain Byakuya Kuchiki just said, prompting Byakuya to assert that Renji heard him and that he should not have to repeat himself before reiterating that Rukia has been found guilty of a capital offense and will be executed in 25 days, as this is the final verdict of Soul Society, leaving Renji speechless.

Informing Rukia that this will be the last time they speak, Byakuya pockets the decree he had been reading from and leaves the room while stating that the next time he and Rukia see each other will be at the execution stand. Rukia silently contemplates this in the darkened cell and decides that she shall not shed tears over this because that would represent her heart defeating her body and proving itself a burden through its very existence.

Meanwhile, in the training area underneath the Urahara Shop, Ichigo Kurosaki kneels in his Soul form with his arms bound by '''Bakudō #99 Part 1. Kin at the bottom of the Shattered Shaft across from Tessai Tsukabishi, who declares the start of lesson two and its name while Kisuke Urahara tells Ichigo that he has 72 hours to ascend the Shattered Shaft as a Shinigami before his Chain of Fate completes its Encroachment'''. When Urahara notes that they will have to kill the Hollow he becomes if he does not succeed at this, Ichigo angrily demands to know if they plan to kill him, which Urahara confirms will only happen when he gives up.

Elsewhere in Karakura Town, in an abandoned factory, Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado yell as they attempt to bring out their spiritual powers, prompting an embarrassed Yoruichi Shihōin to assert that they are hopeless, to their dismay. Yoruichi declares that they will never be ready to travel to Soul Society at this rate, and as Orihime protests this, Yoruichi clarifies that they will die an undignified death in Soul Society if they are not able to bring out their spiritual powers at will. Upon being instructed to remember the first time she used her powers and retrace her steps, Orihime claims that this is easier said than done because of how desperate she was at the time.

However, Yoruichi merely inquires what she was so desperate about, to Orihime's surprise, and elaborates that one takes up a sword when they are trying to protect something, whether physical or otherwise, before concluding that there is no difference in the desire to protect regardless of the motive. As Yoruichi asks them to recall what they were trying to protect when they first activated their powers, Orihime concentrates while Sado remembers that he was protecting Karin Kurosaki, but fails to properly remember what she looked like and instead envisions Ichigo with Karin's hair, a baseball cap, and lipstick, leading to him being shocked and left sweating.

Watching in confusion alongside Orihime, Yoruichi observes that Sado failed to remember before turning to Orihime and requesting her reason. Orihime recalls Chizuru Honshō and Tatsuki Arisawa being injured by Numb Chandelier's attack on Karakura High School and asserts that this is why she was desperate. Upon seeing one of Orihime's hairpins briefly sparkle, Sado points this out to Orihime, who is suddenly surrounded by the Shun Shun Rikka as her hairpins glow and separate. While Orihime expresses delight to see them again, Shun'ō inquires if she called and assures her to never hesitate to do so if she is in trouble, only to suddenly be kicked from behind by Tsubaki.

When Tsubaki demands to know why Orihime would need them in a situation like this and indicates the lack of threats in the area, Shun'ō questions what he was doing as Orihime apologizes and explains that she brought them out by remembering her first experience, only for Tsubaki to crash into her forehead and criticize her for calling them while not in danger. As Tsubaki begins pulling on Orihime's hair, Lily scolds him for kicking her and tells him to stop, but Tsubaki refuses due to his anger, resulting in Orihime running around the room and frantically apologizing while Shun'ō asks him to stop, with Hinagiku and Baigon criticizing his rough nature.

After congratulating Orihime on bringing out her power, Yoruichi observes that she will need practice taming it and turns to Sado before asking him why he is going to Soul Society, only for Sado to remain silent. Later, in the Shattered Shaft, the mouths on the end of Ichigo's Chain of Fate stop chewing on the other links and shrink as the end links return to their normal shape and fall to the ground, where Ichigo is lying on his side. Mentally noting that this was the fifth Encroachment and detailing how the links follow a cycle of eating for a few minutes between sleep periods of several hours, Ichigo begins getting to his feet while admitting that Encroachment makes it too painful to move.

Ichigo declares that this is why he has to act while his Chain of Fate is "asleep" and runs toward the side of the Shattered Shaft, where he begins ascending the wall, only for his foot to slip partway up, causing him to fall back down to the bottom while screaming. As he watches this from the top of the Shattered Shaft alongside Urahara and Ururu Tsumugiya, Jinta observes that Ichigo is managing to climb about 10 feet up a sheer surface with his reckless method and calls him crazy for doing so while Urahara expresses slight surprise and Ururu criticizes him. After attempting to climb up once more, a panting Ichigo lies on his back at the bottom of the Shattered Shaft.

When Jinta calls out to him and inquires if he is getting hungry, Ichigo angrily asserts that he is not and reminds Jinta that he should not be able to get hungry as a Soul, only for Jinta to reveal that a Soul getting hungry means they are about to transform into a Hollow, shocking Ichigo. Claiming that it is okay to get thirsty as a Soul, Jinta offers to let Ichigo drink his saliva and begins lowering a strand of drool down into the Shattered Shaft, to Ichigo's irritation. As Jinta has Ururu join him in drooling, Ichigo threatens to beat them up if they do not stop, but switches to begging them to stop when the saliva begins touching him while Urahara eats an apple and watches.

Some time later, after eating several apples and tossing away the cores, Urahara wonders if it is dark outside yet and observes that it is hard to tell time in this room. Down in the Shattered Shaft, Ichigo lies on the ground and looks up at the top while admitting that he cannot climb up and questioning how much time has passed. While Ichigo tries to figure out how to escape, Jinta looks down into the Shattered Shaft, startling Ichigo, before running down the side with a platter of fruit, which he presents to Ichigo while mockingly noting that he thought Ichigo might be getting hungry by now, prompting Ichigo to laugh this off as unlikely while pointing out how many links are left on his Chain of Fate.

However, Jinta stops smiling and notes that it cannot be helped if Ichigo cannot tell time down here as he sets down the platter. While Ichigo picks up on his mention of time, Jinta reveals that 70 hours have passed since Ichigo first came down here, which is usually how long it takes Souls to transform into Hollows in this pit, and informs Ichigo that the final Encroachment is nothing like the others. Suddenly, a stunned Ichigo sees all the remaining links on his Chain of Fate grow tiny mouths, and while he futilely begs them to stop, the links devour each other and the base of the chain on his chest, leaving Ichigo with a hole in his chest.

As Ichigo stares in horror at this, white fluid begins leaking from his eyes and bursting out of his mouth, causing him to scream while a mask starts forming itself over the right side of his face. Watching this as he climbs over the side of the Shattered Shaft, Jinta realizes that Ichigo is actually going to become a Hollow, prompting Ururu to hold out her left fist and brace it with her right arm as she declares that she is going to take preventative measures. However, Urahara orders her to stop and points out how Ichigo's body is remaining intact while the mask is forming instead of exploding and recomposing itself as a Hollow like other Souls do.

Urahara explains that this is proof of Ichigo resisting and asserts that there is still a chance of him becoming a Shinigami again before requesting that Jinta and Ururu wait just a little longer to see if he truly becomes a Hollow. Meanwhile, within Ichigo's inner world, Zangetsu inquires if Ichigo can hear him as Ichigo wakes up on the side of a skyscraper. As a confused Ichigo looks around in the dead silence and wonders where he is, Zangetsu draws his attention behind him to where he is standing on a pole, and when Ichigo asks him who he is, Zangetsu states that he should know and says his name, only for Ichigo to be unable to hear it.

Expressing disappointment that his name still cannot reach Ichigo, Zangetsu questions how many times he must cry out before Ichigo hears him because he knows Ichigo better than anyone else in the world does. As Zangetsu begins to step onto the side of the pole, Ichigo wonders what he is talking about and asserts that he does not know anyone as depressing as Zangetsu, only to be shocked upon seeing Zangetsu standing on the side of the pole. When Zangetsu asks him how he can be sitting in a place like that, Ichigo realizes he is sitting on the side of a skyscraper with the ground behind him and begins to fall down while screaming, leading Zangetsu to join him in falling.

After mockingly noting that Ichigo has time to spare if he can scream and assuring him that this is a good sign, Zangetsu tells him to not worry because Shinigami control many spiritual phenomena, including death, only for Ichigo to point out that he is not a Shinigami right now. However, Zangetsu reveals that the Shinigami powers which Byakuya destroyed were merely the ones given to Ichigo by Rukia, as this was all he was targeting under the assumption that destroying them would end Ichigo's life as a Shinigami, before criticizing Byakuya as being careless because he overlooked the fact that Ichigo has Shinigami powers of his own, stunning Ichigo.

Zangetsu details how Ichigo's Shinigami powers, which were awakening due to Rukia's own, hid themselves in Ichigo's soul an instant before Byakuya attacked him with Senka before flipping over to stand in midair while Ichigo continues to fall. As the skyscraper behind him begins to dissolve into hundreds of boxes, Zangetsu commands Ichigo to find his Shinigami powers now because this world has begun to collapse and explains that one of the boxes falling around them contains Ichigo's Shinigami powers. Though a confused Ichigo tells him to stop speaking nonsense, Zangetsu refuses to accept excuses due to how little time is left and reiterates his command to Ichigo.

With Zangetsu promising that Ichigo will become a Hollow if he fails, Ichigo falls into a rift opening behind him and plunges into a body of water as the boxes surround him. Wonder how he is supposed to find his Shinigami powers among all these boxes, Ichigo bemoans his inability to search for Reiryoku to begin with and recalls Uryū Ishida telling him something similar once. However, upon thinking of Uryū, Ichigo tries to recall how he figured out Ichigo was a Shinigami to begin with, and when he remembers Uryū informing him that a Shinigami's Reiraku is red unlike all other Reiraku, Ichigo realizes that this is the solution as dozens of Reiraku appear around him.

Finding a red Reiraku floating in front of him, Ichigo yanks on it and declares that this must be it as the other Reiraku disappear, only to be surprised when the box that the Reiraku is attached to opens to reveal the hilt of his Zanpakutō. As he stands behind Ichigo, Zangetsu praises his performance in finding his Shinigami powers and expresses hope that Ichigo will hear his name next time, which leads Ichigo to realize who he might be. However, when the world around them begins shaking, Zangetsu demands to know what he is waiting for and commands Ichigo to pull him out, prompting Ichigo to begin pulling on the handle of the Zanpakutō.

Back in the real world, Urahara, Jinta, and Ururu continue watching the mask form on Ichigo's face as he screams. When the iron shafts pinning the fabric to Ichigo's arms burst out behind him, a surprised Tessai tells Urahara that this is the limit and declares that he is switching to suppression mode before initiating '''Bakudō #99 Part 2. Bankin''' by plunging his hands into the ground, which causes a white mass to burst from the point of contact. The white mass wraps itself around Ichigo in the form of long strips of fabric, which are subsequently punctured by numerous metal bolts around Ichigo's head and shoulders, prompting a shocked Jinta to warn Tessai that this will kill Ichigo.

Tessai asserts that there is no other way because he can no longer restrain Ichigo and must destroy him before he becomes a Hollow as he concludes the spell by summoning a gigantic iron cube, which hurtles downward toward Ichigo. However, as the cube reaches Ichigo, the fabric covering his chest and face is destroyed, revealing a Hollow mask underneath, and Urahara pushes Jinta and Ururu to the ground in order to shield them with his body as a torrent of golden-yellow Reiatsu erupts from the Shattered Shaft. Stunned by this, Jinta watches as something bursts out of the Reiatsu torrent and bounces off the ceiling multiple times before crashing into the ground nearby.

Wondering what this is, Jinta gets up and begins approaching the dust cloud as he demands to know if Ichigo is in there, only to be shocked upon seeing a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at him. The dust clears to reveal a figure standing with both a shihakushō and a Hollow mask, leaving Jinta unable to determine if he is a Shinigami or a Hollow as the figure draws his broken Zanpakutō from the sheath on his back. Though Jinta and Ururu immediately assume battle stances under the assumption that he is going to attack, the figure instead smashes the end of the handle into the lower half of his mask, shattering it, and pulls aside the rest to reveal Ichigo.

While Jinta expresses surprise at him not turning into a Hollow, Ichigo repeatedly clenches and unclenches his fist before having his attention drawn by Urahara, who congratulates him on regaining his Shinigami powers and clearing the second lesson, only for an irritated Ichigo to jab the end of his Zanpakutō's handle into Urahara's face. When Ichigo declares that Urahara is doomed because he promised himself that he would kill Urahara if he ever got out of the Shattered Shaft alive, Urahara notes that this is perfect timing and explains to a puzzled Ichigo that lesson three simply requires him to knock Urahara's hat off with no time limit.

As Urahara finishes explaining this, however, Ichigo moves in and delivers a powerful upward slash with his Zanpakutō directly in front of Urahara, who observes his hat receiving a small cut on the brim from the force of the attack and commends Ichigo for being able to do this with a broken blade. Asserting that he has not even gotten serious yet, Ichigo proclaims that he does not need a lack of a time limit because he will finish this in five minutes, leading Urahara to draw his own Zanpakutō out of his cane as he encourages Ichigo to try and meet this goal.

Next Episode Preview
Yoruichi Shihōin explains that a Shinigami must discover the name of their Zanpakutō and summon it in order to draw out its true power. When Yoruichi wonders if Ichigo Kurosaki can do this, Kisuke Urahara bets 1000 points that he cannot, only for Ichigo to angrily bet 2000 points that he can as Urahara screams in fright.

Events

 * Trials of the Shattered Shaft

Powers and Techniques Used
Kidō used: