The Final Trump Card! Ichigo, Towards the Decisive Battle

'''The Final Trump Card! Ichigo, Towards the Decisive Battle''' is the two hundred eighty-eighth episode of the Bleach anime.

As the battle with Yammy Llargo continues, Ichigo Kurosaki begins his return to Karakura Town.

Summary
Ichigo and Captain Retsu Unohana are standing in front of Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi's Garganta. The captain spares them the lengthy explanations and simply states if they make it to the other side they'll be in the Human World. Mayuri adds a warning though, saying one false step inside the Garganta could cause them to lose their way in the uncharted space between Hueco Mundo and the Human world from which they will never return. Ichigo compares the situation to the time Kisuke Urahara sent Uryū Ishida, Yasutora Sado, and himself into Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime Inoue. He remarks that Mayuri must have been Urahara's disciple at one point, as the two of them are quite similar. The 12th Division captain takes great offense to this remark, but before he can do anything, Ichigo bids him goodbye and jumps into the Garganta. Unohana, before following him, instructs Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu to take care of the rest. Mayuri says he was going to shut Ichigo inside the Garganta to pay him back for his insult, but now, instead he will come up with ways to instill such terror in him, that this battle would seem like a nice memory in comparison.

Not far from there, Captain Kenpachi Zaraki and Yammy are locked in combat. The 11th Division's captain seems evenly matched to Yammy's enormous Resurrección, that is until the Espada manages to pin the captain down and punches him in the desert sands. With one final punch, Yammy believes he has finished the job; instead Kenpachi chops off two of his fingers. Yammy is about to begin another fit of rage when he spots Kenpachi standing on his wrist. The captain runs up Yammy's arm then leaps and slashes his forehead.

Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, of the 6th Division and his colleague of the 12th Division are watching the fight from a safe distance. Byakuya inquires with Mayuri as for why he stayed behind, while the focus of interest has shifted to the Human World. Mayuri replies that for the time being the pickings of interesting corpses is larger in Hueco Mundo; once the battle in the Human World is finished, someone will open a Garganta from the other side, which will allow him to gather curiosities from there as well. When Byakuya keeps his stare on him, Mayuri loses his cool and demands to know what he has to say, Byakuya replies that from the way Mayuri spoke it sounded as if he believed sending Ichigo to the Human World would end the fight over there. Mayuri denies it and says he didn't expect to hear such words from Byakuya.

En route to the Human World, Captain Unohana asks Ichigo about his previous encounter with Sōsuke Aizen. Ichigo describes the fight as completely one-sided, so much so that Aizen didn't even use his Shikai. Unohana tells Ichigo the differences in strength between himself and Aizen in their last encounter are an advantage, as Aizen's technique, Kanzen Saimin, works automatically on anyone who has watched him release his Shikai. The only one who has yet to see it, among both Aizen's enemies and his allies, is Ichigo; he is therefore the only one qualified to fight him. She tells him as long as he does not see Aizen's release he has an advantage in the battlefield, but adds that if he should lose this advantage, all will be lost, so he must never, under any circumstances, look upon Aizen's Shikai. Ichigo thanks her. He then tells her, he realizes he is the only one who can defeat Aizen and therefore he is the one that must do it.

The ongoing fight in Hueco Mundo is not going very well for the Zero Arrancar, he cannot keep up with the much smaller, much faster, though equally powerful Kenpachi. The captain slashes at his chest with such force that the mammoth Yammy is thrown back and falls on his back. Mayuri comments that Kenpachi's physical strength must be enormous if he is able to knock back such a large foe, but says he wishes Kenpachi would be quicker in finishing the fight as he is itching to start dissecting Yammy. When the Espada lands a successful hit, Mayuri remarks he might be dissecting Kenpachi before Yammy, which will also be enjoyable. Rukia Kuchiki asks the 4th Division lieutenant how Lieutenant Renji Abarai and Yasutora Sado are doing. Isane replies that they are grievously injured, but that she can treat them. Rukia asks her to save them and Isane promises she will.

When Unohana sees that Ichigo leaves great gaps in his trail of Reishi, she politely suggests that she should take point. When Ichigo starts to refuse the captain reiterates her suggestion even more politely, which makes it clear the suggestion was in fact a command. Ichigo wisely obliges. As soon as the captain takes point the trail becomes as steady as any concrete trail. Ichigo says the differences in Reiryoku are evident, but Unohana corrects him, saying they have the same level of Reiryoku. His wounds seem to have healed, but still he was making a mess of the pass. She says his spiritual power is just too sloppy for this kind of task. Ichigo denies this, claiming he only has one sleeve left of his shihakushō which signifies the level of his Reiryoku while doing Bankai. He says while Orihime was healing him she was only able to restore half of his shihakushō, since she is able to heal wounds quickly, but restoring Reiryoku takes more time. He had to leave before the process was finished to help Rukia and the others against Yammy. Realizing Ichigo's Reiryoku is at half his maximum, Unohana decides to allow Ichigo to run ahead, while she restores his Reiryoku on the move. She thinks if Ichigo's full Reiryoku is that high, he might indeed be the trump card they need.

Back in Hueco Mundo, Kenpachi takes the lead, slashing Yammy over and over in different parts of his body, eventually cutting off another leg. Kenpachi's next slash knocks the Espada back and he lands on his side, unconscious. Seeing his opponent is out cold, Kenpachi brazenly summons Byakuya to finish the job, as he dislikes finishing weaklings. Byakuya refuses, saying it is not his job to clean up Kenpachi's unfinished business. Before their argument can continue, Yammy wakes up and rises, angrier than ever. He charges his enormous Cero and fires it at the two captains.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
While healing Renji and Chad, Isane suddenly feels like she has forgotten something starting with 'Hana'. Hanatarō Yamada is then shown to be walking in Las Noches by himself and presumably lost. Meanwhile, Isane pulls out her 'Hana Megane' (funny glasses) and says she cannot concentrate on her work without them. Hanatarō starts crying and yells out for someone to help him.

Fights

 * Ichigo Kurosaki, Kenpachi Zaraki & Byakuya Kuchiki vs. Yammy Llargo

Powers and Techniques Used
Kidō used:

Hollow techniques:

Techniques used:
 * (flashack)
 * (flashack)
 * (flashback)

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai: Bankai:
 * (flashback)

Resurrección used: