Byakuya Kuchiki vs. Äs Nödt

Byakuya Kuchiki vs. Äs Nödt is a fight during the Quincy Blood War between the Sixth Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki and the Stern Ritter with the designation "F", Äs Nödt.

Prologue
When the Vandenreich invade Seireitei, Renji Abarai saves a Shinigami from Äs Nödt and attempts to fight the Stern Ritter. He attacks with Zabimaru, but the blows are all noneffective. Renji tries to attack faster, but is suddenly ambushed by another Stern Ritter. He dodges the initial attack, but the Stern Ritter attacks again. Before the attack can land, Renji is saved by Byakuya's shikai.

Byakuya says that they are the people responsible for killing Chōjirō Tadaoki Sasakibe, so they do not deserve mercy, as Renji listens, still surprised by the arrival of his captain.

Battle
Byakuya moves his Zanpakutō's hilt, directing his blades at Äs Nödt. Renji tells him that it's impossible to hurt Äs. However, Senbonzakura manages to slice Äs' hand in several places. The other Stern Ritter is shocked to see Äs get wounded so easily, but the ground under him suddenly falls due to Byakuya having modified it earlier. The captain tells Renji to activate his Bankai to defeat Äs if his Bankai was sealed. Renji disapproves his captain's request, knowing that they could simply seal his as well. Byakuya retorts that they would be hard to defeat if the didn't use Bankai. Byakuya drops his Zanpakutō and activates his Bankai. However, the thousands of small, tiny blades that were once circling Byakuya are all absorbed into Äs Nödt's medallion. Shocked, Byakuya stares at the medallion as he realizes that they do not seal their Bankai, but steal them.

Frustrated, Renji tries to use his Bankai as well, but is angrily told not to by his captain, who is then yelled at by Renji that they have no other way. When Byakuya is slashed, Renji tries to aid him. However, Byakuya declines the offer and tells him to view the battle for now to learn his abilities. Byakuya notes that it feels like his limbs are frozen, leading him to wonder if the Reishi Thorns Äs used had some sort of poisonous property. Äs, noticing the captain's puzzlement, begins to tell Byakuya that the thorns have infected him with something that he has most likely lost a long time ago; the feeling needed most for survival, fear. Äs says that it is impressed, as a normal shinigami would have screamed in fear the moment the thorns speared their body, and he is resisting with his willpower alone. However, he is already in total fear of it.

Byakuya, as he continues to resist his newfound fear, says to himself that he has overcome it each time on the verge of death, calmly moves in to slash Äs. In spite of that, he ends up imagining Rukia in a gruesome state, and Äs, taking advantage of the sudden distraction, delivers a blow straight through his opponent's chest. Äs continues to state that most experienced fighters believe that fear can always be overcome, but "real fear" is a primal instinct that can never be stopped, with no reason or limit whatsoever, similar to a horde of bugs crawling up one's body. Losing his cool temperament, Byakuya once again tries to eliminate Äs. Äs takes the stolen Bankai to use one of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi's techniques, causing a now bloody Byakuya to fall to the ground.

Äs tells the captain to surrender, knowing that there was no possible way to defeat a Bankai with only Shikai. Renji appears from above, enraged by the result of the battle and uses Zabimaru in an attempt to assault Äs. He blocks the attack with only his hand and tries to get rid of the lieutenant with his medallion, but is stopped by Byakuya, who is consequently forced to face another torrent of his own blades over and over, further worsening his already weak state. Before Renji can use his Bankai, he is knocked unconscious by the other Stern Ritter that had fallen down the pit earlier. Defeated, Byakuya leans on a nearby wall as his Zanpakutō begins to break, and silently asks that Rukia and Renji forgive him for his failure.

Aftermath
When Ichigo arrives to Soul Society, he goes to speak to Byakuya, who is now in a near-death state, and assures the wounded captain that Rukia and Renji are alive. Byakuya says the he is glad that they are, but he himself will not last much longer. He expresses his shame of letting the deaths of many Shinigami not go avenged, asking Ichigo to forgive him as well and to go do what he was unable to; protect Soul Society. After the Substitute Shinigami leaves, Byakuya comments on how typical it is of him for his lack of reply, before he drops the remaining part of his Zanpakutō, letting it disintegrate.