Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez: Final Fight

 is a fight taking place during the Invasion of Hueco Mundo between Substitute Shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki and Espada #6. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, acting as the final and climactic battle between the two.

Prelude
Following Ichigo Kurosaki being left for dead by Ulquiorra Cifer, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez brings Orihime Inoue to his location so she can heal him, only for Ulquiorra Cifer to interrupt them. After a brief skirmish with Ulquiorra, Grimmjow successfully traps Ulquiorra in an alternate dimension with a Caja Negación. Having erected Santen Kesshun in front of herself and Ichigo to protect from this, Orihime dispels the barrier and wonders what this was, prompting a landing Grimmjow to explain that Caja Negación are given to the Espada by Sōsuke Aizen to punish their Fracción with by sealing them away forever, though it was not designed for use against Espada and can likely only hold Ulquiorra for a few hours at most.

Despite this, when Grimmjow orders her to continue healing Ichigo, Orihime refuses, and though Grimmjow grabs her by the throat and declares that he is not asking her, Orihime vows to not help him kill Ichigo, to Grimmjow's further frustration. Suddenly, Ichigo grabs Grimmjow's arm and tells him to let Orihime go, which Grimmjow does, before asking Orihime to heal his wounds as well as those of Grimmjow, who has had his right armed severely burned by his clash with Ulquiorra. Grimmjow claims that he does not want Ichigo's pity, only for Ichigo to remind Grimmjow that he wanted a fair fight and assume that he wants to keep his wounds so he has an excuse when he loses.

Battle
In response, Grimmjow draws his Zanpakutō and attacks Ichigo, who blocks with his Shikai, Zangetsu, prior to proclaiming that they will have a good clean murder. Shortly afterward, with Grimmjow's arm being healed by Sōten Kisshun, Ichigo kneels in front of a tearful Nel Tu, whom he comforts and assures alongside Orihime that he is going to win. Turning to Grimmjow, Ichigo requests that they go somewhere else and leaps off the tower into the air alongside Grimmjow, blowing back Orihime and Nel with the resulting wind force, before holding out Zangetsu and activating his Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, causing him to land atop a taller tower below with enough force to crater and shatter it upon impact.

Standing on top of an even taller tower above Ichigo, a grinning Grimmjow glares down at him with his Zanpakutō drawn and their respective Reiatsu surging in intensity before leaping down to meet Ichigo in midair for a fierce clash. Following this, Ichigo and Grimmjow engage in a ground-shattering blade lock, where Grimmjow attempts to fire a Cero at Ichigo with his left hand upon being repelled by the latter. However, when Ichigo moves forward to intercept the Cero at Grimmjow's palm with his sword and prepares to fire a Getsuga Tenshō, a manically grinning Grimmjow simply tosses his Zanpakutō away and charges a Cero in his right hand that he aims at Ichigo's head.

With the Getsuga Tenshō and Cero bursting off the tower in opposite directions, a laughing Grimmjow declares that he has been waiting to crush Ichigo with everything he has got and questions if a slightly burnt Ichigo does not feel the same. Though Ichigo denies having come here to kill him, Grimmjow asserts that he is lying and that Ichigo wanting to rip him apart is understandable when he hurt Ichigo's friends. After wondering if Ichigo knows why he kept the scar across his chest from their first battle, Grimmjow promises to slit Ichigo's throat and prove who is stronger between them. Grabbing his Zanpakutō that he had left embedded in the side of the tower behind him, Grimmjow leaps up to the top of the tower to face down Ichigo, who remains on the lower tower and looks at him silently. Upon seeing this, Grimmjow questions what Ichigo is thinking and calls the latter pathetic for not actually wanting to kill him.

With Ichigo confused by this, Grimmjow moves behind him with Sonído and strikes at the ground where he is standing, forcing Ichigo to leap away at the last second. When Grimmjow slashes at him in midair, Ichigo blocks with his sword while still upside-down, and the two begin rapidly clashing and moving back through the air. After coming to a halt, Grimmjow asks Ichigo what he came here for, and when Ichigo asserts that he did so to save Orihime, Grimmjow points out how his first action upon seeing her was not to get her to safety and mocks Ichigo for believing she was unharmed without perceiving what is happening to her internally. When an alarmed Ichigo demands to know if they did something to her, Grimmjow notes that this is the expression he likes and pushes Ichigo back prior to decrying Ichigo's claim of coming here to save Orihime because he actually came here to fight.

After observing that Ichigo being a Shinigami and Grimmjow being a Hollow made Ichigo's fighting instincts bring him here so they could battle to the death as has been done for a thousand years, Grimmjow proclaims that he does not need a better reason than this, concludes that whoever is left standing at the end gets to live, and encourages Ichigo to continue fighting. Once he clashes with Grimmjow several more times in the air, Ichigo is pushed back by Grimmjow and charges a Getsuga Tenshō as Grimmjow does the same with a Cero, with the two energy beams colliding in midair. However, the Cero manages to pierce through the Getsuga Tenshō and hurtles toward Ichigo, who narrowly dodges it by moving to the side.

Suddenly, Grimmjow appears behind him with Sonído and slashes at Ichigo, who is injured despite blocking this with his sword as well. Moving to the ground far below Ichigo, Grimmjow embeds his Zanpakutō in the sands and cuts his finger on its blade as he admits that Ichigo is doing well, only to assert that he is not yet the person that Grimmjow wants to fight. While aiming his bleeding hand up at Ichigo, Grimmjow declares that he is about to use the ultimate Cero available only to the Espada, and as Ichigo realizes that Orihime and Nel are directly behind him and frantically tells him to wait, Grimmjow fires a massive Gran Rey Cero at Ichigo, leaving a massive gap in the sand in front of him and engulfing the upper half of the tower behind Ichigo.

Suddenly, the dust clears to reveal Ichigo in front of an unharmed Orihime and Nel, having donned his Hollow mask to block the blast, and a smirking Grimmjow notes that his opponent is finally here. A confused and intimidated Orihime addresses Ichigo, who looks back at her, and upon seeing Orihime terrified by his appearance, Ichigo apologizes for scaring her and acknowledges how creepy he looks right now before promising to end this quickly. Down in the sands below, a maniacally laughing Grimmjow declares that this is what he has been waiting for and puts his hand against the flat side of his Zanpakutō, where he pulls his fingers along the blade in a clawing motion and activates his Resurrección, Pantera, in a massive surge of energy. In response, Ichigo instructs Orihime to put up Santen Kesshun in front of herself and Nel without lowering it for even a second.

Simultaneously, the sand clears to reveal Grimmjow having gained an armored, panther-like body with a long tail, a large mane of hair, talons, blades on his forearms, lengthened ears, and an overall feral appearance. With an unnerved Ichigo raising his sword at this, Grimmjow roars loudly, creating a shockwave that slams into Ichigo and forces him to brace himself, prior to leaping up to Ichigo in seconds and hitting him with a powerful strike that knocks Ichigo out of the air, causing him to crash through two nearby towers in a row. After catching up to Ichigo mid-flight, Grimmjow delivers a brutal upward kick that sends Ichigo flying upward above another tower.

After Grimmjow moves above Ichigo, he swipes his hand down with a feral grin, resulting in Ichigo smashing vertically through the tower with enough force to destroy its far side. Despite this, Grimmjow tells Ichigo to come out of the resulting dust cloud since he knows the latter cannot be done yet, prompting Ichigo to appear behind him and fire a massive Getsuga Tenshō that engulfs Grimmjow, who simply cuts through it with his hand and remains unharmed while cackling and declaring that he cannot stand Ichigo's eyes. Soon afterward, Grimmjow tackles Ichigo into the side of a tower and observes that he can maintain his mask longer than he could before, causing him to wonder if this is due to Ichigo training after their last battle or growing stronger from the battles he fought up until now before dismissing it as irrelevant since he is mainly glad that the battle has not been made boring by Ichigo's mask cracking and attempting to stab his hand at Ichigo.

In response, Ichigo grabs Grimmjow's hand mid-strike and ridicules the idea of this battle becoming boring if his mask cracks prior to slashing a startled Grimmjow horizontally across the chest, causing a large amount of blood to spurt out, and asserting that this would be truly boring if Grimmjow were not in his Resurrección. After ordering Grimmjow to stay that way, Ichigo lunges toward him in a burst of Reiatsu and brings his sword down in a powerful strike, forcing Grimmjow to block it with the blades on his left forearm. Pressured by the attack, Grimmjow kicks Ichigo in the side, leading Ichigo to elbow his foot away, and springs back to begin rapidly spinning in order to build up a strong downward kick.

Though Ichigo dodges this and prepares to counterattack, Grimmjow uses the same momentum to bring his tail down onto Ichigo, striking him hard in the head and sending him crashing down into the sands below. When a grinning Grimmjow rushes down toward him, Ichigo swings his sword up out of the dust cloud, forcing Grimmjow to counter with a strike of his left hand that causes the blade to grind along his forearm. Once Grimmjow lands, he and Ichigo clash once more, creating a radial explosion of force that kicks up the sand around them.

Moments later, Grimmjow fires five Garra de la Pantera at Ichigo, and as the latter dodges, he realizes that they are headed directly toward Orihime, forcing him to move in front of her and intercept the projectiles with his back. While Nel calls out to him in concern and Orihime nervously addresses him, Ichigo looks up, startling Orihime once more with his masked appearance, and stares sorrowfully prior to leaping back down toward Grimmjow. With Ichigo landing before him, Grimmjow mockingly calls his desire to protect Orihime and notices Ichigo panting, which he attributes to having withstood five Garra de la Pantera as he demonstrates their power by firing one at a tower behind him, causing its upper half to be blown apart by the impact, and notes that he would be shocked if Ichigo had not been hurt by this.

Grimmjow notices Ichigo's mask beginning to crack on its left side and deduces that it is at its limit, but Ichigo repairs the mask by swiping his hand over the cracks and denies this. In turn, an impressed Grimmjow commends Ichigo's toughness and assumes a battle stance, and when Ichigo notes that he seems to be hurting as well, Grimmjow refutes this and leaps forward to clash fiercely with Ichigo once more, creating a large explosion of force. Soon afterward, the side of Ichigo's head is wounded, taking off a chunk of his mask in the process, and Grimmjow's cheek is cut before the two engage in another blade lock. Having blocked Ichigo's sword with the blade on his left forearm, Grimmjow kicks Ichigo hard with his right leg.

Once Ichigo is sent flying back by this, Grimmjow follows up with a spinning leg drop just as Ichigo regains his footing, resulting in the tower behind Ichigo being destroyed when it connects. Moments later, Ichigo crashes into the side of the tower that Orihime is standing on with the entire left half of his mask gone, where an approaching Grimmjow observes that he really is at his limit and proclaims that it is over. Suddenly, Orihime calls out to Ichigo from atop the tower and tells him to not die. When a stunned Ichigo looks up at her, Orihime assures him that he does not have to win or try so hard and tearfully begs him to not get hurt anymore, causing Ichigo to casually grab Grimmjow's jab aimed at his head and apologetically announce that he is not allowed to sustain another injury before slashing Grimmjow down his chest, which results in a huge amount of blood spurting into the air.

Ichigo mentally asserts that it is over, but Grimmjow grabs his sword by the blade and declares that it is not over before berating Ichigo for thinking that this would be enough to win. After stabbing his hand into Ichigo's side, causing a great amount of blood to drip onto the sand, Grimmjow leaps back to leave Ichigo clutching his side as more pieces of his mask break off. Despite this, Grimmjow becomes angered by Ichigo's gaze and claims that they are mocking him by conveying Ichigo's constant belief that he can beat Grimmjow and is superior to the latter no matter how badly he is beaten. Declaring that he cannot stand this, Grimmjow lunges forward and swipes at Ichigo's face, sending him flying several meters back, only for Ichigo to block Grimmjow's subsequent strike with his sword.

When Ichigo laugh at Grimmjow's hatred of a Human considering himself equal, Grimmjow stabs his other hand into Ichigo's other side, causing the latter to cough up blood, and brings his leg up to kick Ichigo high into the air while he proclaims that anyone who looks down on him will be crushed whether they are a Human, Shinigami, or Arrancar. After following Ichigo into the air, Grimmjow moves above him with Sonído, concludes that he will start with Ichigo, and initiates Desgarrón, creating five large energy talons floating above each of his hands.

While Ichigo stares in shock at this, Grimmjow states its name and declares that it is his ultimate technique before bringing the left half of Desgarrón down onto Ichigo, who frantically blocks it with his sword. Pushed down to the desert below by the incredible force behind the talons, Ichigo is injured when they slip past his blade and has more of his mask broken as a laughing Grimmjow declares that it is over. With Orihime and Nel watching in horror, Grimmjow recalls his consumption of the flesh of his Fracción and calls them cowards, though he accepts consuming them so they can become part of him and see what lies beyond because he is the king. Suddenly, Ichigo regains his footing and begins dragging his sword through the length of one of the Desgarrón talons until it shatters into dozens of pieces, leaving Grimmjow stunned.

With pieces falling around him, Ichigo asserts that Grimmjow is not the only one who wants to win and claims that he knows how Grimmjow feels when the latter says that Ichigo's gaze makes him murderous prior to lunging forward, prompting Grimmjow to send the right half of Desgarrón hurtling toward Ichigo. While the talons converge on him, Ichigo admits that Grimmjow was right about Ichigo coming here to fight and defeat him, and while cutting through another talon, which disintegrates in his wake, Ichigo declares that this is true for Ulquiorra and Aizen because he is taking Rukia Kuchiki, Yasutora Sado, Uryū Ishida, Renji Abarai, and Orihime back with him, which is why he cannot lose to Grimmjow, before impaling the latter on his sword.

Aftermath
A cursing Grimmjow falls off the blade, only to be caught by a solemn Ichigo as the last of the latter's mask breaks off his face. After lowering Grimmjow to the sands below, Ichigo leaps up to the tower Orihime is located on, where he kindly asks her if she is okay, prompting Orihime to confirm this while internally expressing relief at him being her Ichigo again. Suddenly, Nel slams into Ichigo's midsection, which makes him cough up blood and forces him several meters back from the tower's edge into the air with Hohō, and as Ichigo berates her for doing something so reckless since she could have fallen off, Nel buries her face in his chest and expresses gratitude at him being alive.

In turn, Ichigo smiles and thanks Nel for this prior to expressing relief at Orihime being okay as well, which prompts Orihime to cheerfully claim that she is tough like a horse and rarely ever gets sick, only to be interrupted when Ichigo hoists her over his shoulder. Upon being asked why he is doing this, Ichigo nonchalantly points out how they have to get down and notes that floating will be faster than finding the stairs. Though Orihime covers her face in embarrassment at how heavy she is, Ichigo assures her that she is not as heavy as he expected her to be, prompting Nel to hit him in the crotch and assert that this is not how he should talk to a young lady since he should instead be telling her how light she is even if she is extremely dense, with Orihime admitting that this is not helping.

Upon landing on the sands below, Ichigo states that he is going to go help Sado and Rukia now, and when Nel questions if he intends to leave them there, Ichigo clarifies they will be coming with him due to it being too dangerous for them to stay here. However, Ichigo is interrupted when a heavily bloodied and panting Grimmjow appears behind him, to his, Orihime, and Nel's alarm. As Ichigo sets them down and grabs his sword, Pantera dissipates around Grimmjow's body and reseals itself into his Zanpakutō. Despite Grimmjow proclaiming that he is not giving up and there is no way he would ever let Ichigo win while rushing toward the latter, Ichigo tosses away his sword, sidesteps Grimmjow's stab at his head, and grabs Grimmjow's sword wrist as he firmly states Grimmjow has lost and needs to stop. Ichigo brings up Grimmjow's apparent situation of eating everybody he hates until he is alone as a king in Hueco Mundo and questions the point of this since it would be more satisfying for him to fight Ichigo over and over prior to insisting Grimmjow let it go for now. Suddenly, when Grimmjow refuses to do so and breaks out of Ichigo's grip to attack him again, Nnoitra Gilga's Zanpakutō slams into his chest, causing him to collapse while Nnoitra pulls his Zanpakutō back and tells Grimmjow to die already since Ichigo is now his prey.