Ichigo Kurosaki & Izuru Kira vs. Gō Koga

 is a battle taking place during the Bount Invasion where, in order to protect a wounded Keigo Asano, Ichigo Kurosaki fights Gō Koga and his Doll, Dalk, with 3rd Division Lieutenant Izuru Kira arriving later and aiding Ichigo.

Prelude
In downtown Karakura Town, Ichigo Kurosaki stands with Rukia Kuchiki under an overpass and asks Ririn if she senses anything, only for Ririn to reveal that she does not and wonder what is going on, which prompts Rukia to express frustration at Urahara not having finished the sensor yet and Ichigo to resign himself to this. Some time later, Ichigo and Rukia sense the collapse of 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai before havin their attention drawn to Jinta Hanakari, who runs up to them with Ururu Tsumugiya while holding the small case and reveals that Kisuke Urahara's new Bount sensor is ready. However, upon seeing the sensor in the opened case, Ichigo is left stunned by its appearance and a confused Rukia comments on its shape.

Jinta smugly asserts that Ichigo knows what to do and explains alongside Ururu that the development process being rushed means that the sensor will only work for fifteen minutes once switched on. With Jinta concluding the switch is the password that Ichigo knows, Rukia questions why a mortified Ichigo is hesitating, and when Ichigo wonders if he really has to put it on, Ririn reminds him they are racing against the clock and Jinta comments on Ichigo always complaining. After swallowing his pride, Ichigo puts the headband-shaped sensor over his forehead and shouts the activation phrase, causing the gem in the center to glow brilliantly and the chin guards to drop over the sides of his face while Jinta expresses surprise at it actually being a switch.

An aghast Rukia admits that she did not think Ichigo could say something so embarrassing, but Ichigo angrily counters that she told him to do so. Before Ichigo can continue his rant, the gem on the headband glows once more and begins pulling him down the street, prompting Jinta to smulgy reiterate Urahara's promise of the sensor leading him to the Bount. As Ururu nonchalantly confirms that it is impossible to turn this off, Rukia decides to tend to Renji while Ichigo confronts the Bount, which Ichigo frantically affirms before crashing into and heavily damaging a fence that the sensor subsequently pulls him over.

Simultaneously, Keigo Asano exits a convenience store with a bag of junk food and nonchalantly asks himself why he always craves this at night as he unwraps a candy bar, only to be interrupted when he hears a droning noise and sees dozens of Bitto hovering down the street. Suddenly, one of the Bitto hurtles toward a confused Keigo, causing him to duck down while his candy bar is blown apart by the Bitto. Though he does not know what the Bitto are, Keigo tearfully runs away in fright and hides behind the entrance to a construction site, where the swarm of Bitto pass by without detecting him. Keigo emerges from the construction site and admits that he cannot tell if the Bitto were real, only to be suddenly stabbed in the chest by another Bitto.

With Keigo collapsing and believing this is a realistic dream, the swarm of Bitto returns to his location. Meanwhile, Ichigo runs down the street with Ririn, who observes that the Bount might be nearby, and finds Keigo lying on the ground with several Bitto hovering over him as three of them begin to suck out his Soul. When Ririn points this out to him, Ichigo draws his Shikai, Zangetsu, and slashes away the other Bitto between him and Keigo before cutting through the Bitto on Keigo's back, causing the orange liquid in their sacs to spurt into the air. While trying to resuscitate Keigo, Ichigo leaps back to evade a metal sphere that slams into the ground.

Battle
Landing nearby, Ichigo demands to know who is there, only to be shocked alongside Ririn when Koga emerges from the entrance and introduces himself. When asked by Ichigo what he did to Keigo, Koga declines to answer and proclaims his intention to crush Ichigo as he summons his Doll, Dalk, who emerges in an eight-legged form and revels in her new level of power. While Ichigo and Ririn express confusion at this difference in appearance, Dalk comments on how her body is tingling and declares that Ichigo is her type, which means that she wants to chase him rather than be chased by him, before swinging up her lower body and firing a large metal sphere at Ichigo.

Though he manages to block the sphere with the broad side of Zangetsu, Ichigo finds himself pushed back several meters and is shocked by how heavy the sphere is as he comes to a halt and the sphere drops to the ground, leading Dalk to inquire if his hands are numb and promise to give him a good taste of her new and enhanced body. The sphere at Ichigo's feet splits apart into dozens of tiny spheres that rocket upward, forcing Ichigo to shield himself with the broad side of Zangetsu, while Dalk leaps forward and jabs her two right arms down at Ichigo, who leaps into the air with Shunpo, prior to arching back and firing hundreds more tiny spheres at Ichigo.

Despite successfully blocking most of the spheres with Zangetsu, Ichigo has the right side of the headband destroyed by a sphere that hits it, causing it to fall off in pieces as he lands on the ground with a bleeding head wound, where Dalk sarcastically apologizes since the headband suited Ichigo as he and Ririn observe she is faster, heavier, and tougher than she was the last time they encountered her. With Dalk affirming she is done toying with Ichigo to an impatient Koga, Ichigo admits Dalk is pretty good, but assumes a battle stance and proclaims he does not have time to be fighting her because he has to save Keigo, impressing Dalk with his tone.

Ichigo blocks and evades machine gun fire from an overjoyed Dalk prior to moving into the air above her with Shunpo and coming down to attack. Before Ichigo can complete his strike, one of the spheres on the lower body of Dalk fires upward at him with a tether attaching it to Dalk, knocking Ichigo off-balance and forcing him to fall back to the ground below. As Ichigo tries to catch his breath, Dalk resumes firing her machine gun arm at him, engulfing Ichigo in a large cloud of dust that he moves out of with Shunpo before collapsing. With Dalk sadistically inquiring if she hit him, Koga admonishes her for her bad habit of toying with her prey.

However, Dalk counters that she should let him taste extreme pain and fear since they are fighting for their lives and not knowing when one will die is tragic. Laughing at this and getting to his feet, Ichigo asserts that Koga and Dalk talk too much and are treating him like some pushover, and after praising how manly this is, Dalk swings up her lower body and fires another large sphere on a tether at one of the vertical girders on the nearby building frame, where the sphere becomes liquid-like and attaches itself to the metal on impact, allowing Dalk to reel herself up and attach the tips of her lower four limbs to the metal as well.

After demanding that Ichigo accept her feelings, Dalk fires several dozen jagged metal spears downward at him, which prompts Ichigo to move back with Shunpo and slash through the spears with Zangetsu, only for Dalk to fire more down at him. Having been separated from Ichigo by this, Ririn watches in concern as he is enveloped in another cloud of dust that clears to reveal a panting Ichigo surrounded by the spears, which he has protected Keigo from being struck by. With Koga and Dalk amused by this, Ichigo orders Dalk to not touch Keigo and turns around to ensure that he is okay while the spears separate into tiny spheres and return to Dalk.

While Ichigo promises to save him soon, Keigo looks up and recognizes Ichigo, who is shocked that Keigo can see him. Upon witnessing this, Koga deduces that Keigo has had a sizable portion of his Soul removed if he can see Shinigami. As Koga concludes that Keigo cannot be saved, a stunned Ichigo looks at him and declares that he will be taking Keigo with him, only for Koga to assert that this is pointless due to Keigo's body being unable to handle the strain of his Soul being returned to him. Upon being asked by Ichigo what he plans to do with the Souls collected by the Bitto, Koga points to the increased power of Dalk as being received from the Souls concentrated by the Bitto.

With Koga detailing how the Bount plan to absorb more of this power to achieve their ultimate goal, Ichigo is left staring in disbelief at this and is alerted when a struggling Keigo begs him to run away before losing consciousness. Remembering his time spent with Keigo at school, Ichigo yells in fury and exerts his Reiatsu in a surge around his body, leading Dalk to assume he has not had enough and fire more spears at him. However, Ichigo responds by firing a Getsuga Tenshō through the spears and up at Dalk, who is cut in half at the waist and screams in shock as several severed girders fall from the building skeleton and onto Koga, engulfing him in a cloud of dust.

After panting heavily, Ichigo turns around and attempts to move Keigo out of the construction site, but is alerted when one of the metal spears of Dalk melts and slithers down the side of the building skeleton. Suddenly, two strands of metal whip out from the pile of severed girders and wrap themselves around Zangetsu as Dalk reforms her body and criticizes Ichigo's attack as not being good enough. Near Dalk, an unharmed Koga pushes two girders off of himself and admits Ichigo's attack was good, but concludes it will not work against them. Expressing her enjoyment of this, Dalk turns her upper two arms into strands of metal and wraps them around Ichigo before pulling them tightly, causing Ichigo to groan in pain before his body swells up and bursts, leaving Koga and Dalk staring in shock and confusion while light engulfs them.

Shortly afterward, Ichigo lies on his hands and knees within the building skeleton and struggles to catch his breath. Beside him, Ririn instructs Ichigo to run away quickly because Koga and Dalk will not fall for her Illusions forever, but Ichigo simply stands up. When Ririn questions why he is not running, Ichigo insists he has to save Keigo, and as Ririn protests that his Soul being drained means they cannot save him even if they go, Ichigo asserts he cannot save anyone, not even himself, if he cannot save Keigo right now. Agreeing with this, Koga confronts Ichigo alongside Dalk and claims believing one can save someone else is either arrogance or an illusion.

After refusing to forgive Ichigo if he runs away before she is finished, Dalk swings up her lower body and fires all the spheres on it with tethers, which attach themselves to nearby girders and form additional tethers between them in the shape of a web. With Ririn separated from Ichigo by the ricocheting tethers, Dalk proclaims she is not letting Ichigo get away anymore and pulls herself into the air as Ichigo fires another Getsuga Tenshō at her, which she evades while it crashes into her web. However, Ichigo finds Zangetsu has been locked in place at the end of his swing by strands of metal attached to its tip and the web has coalesced around his body to prevent him from moving. Reveling in Ichigo falling for her trap, Dalk repeatedly whips him with long strands of metal, injuring Ichigo in several places and forcing him to drop Zangetsu.

After Ichigo collapses, a disappointed Dalk wraps her two tendrils around Zangetsu and pulls it to her before rushing at Ichigo with it outstretched in an attempt to impale him, but within Ichigo's subconscious, Zangetsu scoffs and takes control of Ichigo's body, allowing him to grab Zangetsu by the blade, shocking Koga and Dalk, whom he throws over himself with Zangetsu. As she lets go of Zangetsu, Dalk demands to know what is going on alongside Koga, leading Zangetsu to admonish them for referring to someone as an object and spin Zangetsu around by the cloth attached to its tang while laughing prior to driving it into the ground in a burst of Reiatsu.

Upon being asked for his identity by Koga, Zangetsu mocks this as a stupid question and declares that he is himself, and when Koga admits that he thought Ichigo was an ordinary Shinigami, Zangetsu counters that Ichigo is the ordinary one and that he is not soft like Ichigo is before explaining that he is only intervening due to not wanting to be crushed within Ichigo's body. With Zangetsu concluding that he will be crushing them instead, a bemused Dalk presumes that he fights a little better and agrees to test him as she extends her four arm tendrils toward Zangetsu, who leaps up to evade them and criticizes Dalk as slow while impaling her with Zangetsu.

Pushing a shocked Dalk out of the building with Zangetsu still embedded in her, Zangetsu warns her to not treat him like Ichigo because the latter does not even compare to him and slashes Zangetsu through her, cutting Dalk completely in half and causing her to separate into hundreds of spheres as she screams in agony. Suddenly, a maniacally-laughing Zangetsu finds his left arm gripping his mask and realizes that Ichigo is interfering with his possession again, which he derides since Ichigo regaining control right now will get him killed as he flails Zangetsu around. Despite this, a yelling Ichigo successfully rips off his mask, blowing Ririn back with his intense Reiatsu.

After panting in exertion, Ichigo falls forward and collapses, leaving Koga to walk past him and note that one needs a strong mind and heart in order to use strong power. With Ichigo looking up and expressing confusion at this, Koga turns around to face Ichigo and clarifies that he cannot control his power due to his lack of these, which he believes will cause Ichigo to destroy himself in the near future. As Ichigo refuses to believe this, a grinning Koga summons Dalk again and informs her that this is over after she wonders what happened. Though Dalk considers this boring, Koga instructs her to not make Ichigo suffer too much, which she acknowledges.

Koga and Dalk stand over an injured Ichigo, who lies on the ground and realizes he cannot move. As Ichigo's vision begins to blur, Koga muses that he seems to be fated to witness the deaths of young men with bright futures ahead of them, which saddens him, and sees Cain in Ichigo's position while recalling him begging for his life to be saved. When Ichigo demands to know what the Bount plan to do, Koga explains that Kariya wants a create a new and clean world that is ruled by Bount, astonishing Ichigo. As he details how the Dolls of Bount gain exponentially more power than their masters do upon being empowered by the Soul of a living Human, Koga concludes that the Bount will soon rule the world, only for Ichigo to refute this while getting to his feet and assuming a battle stance before refusing to let the Bount use Keigo's life for this.

Though Koga counters that he needs to accept he cannot beat them, Ichigo denies this, prompting Koga to declare Ichigo's eyes are dangerous and reflect power without ideals. Despite Koga pleading with him to understand, Ichigo curses and proclaims he will not allow Keigo to die here. Koga muses he was evidently born under a star that forces him to witness the deaths of young men with bright futures ahead of them and bids Ichigo farewell. However, before Dalk can resume her attack on Ichigo, an alerted Koga turns around to see a light swinging next to 3rd Division Lieutenant Izuru Kira on the upper floor of the building skeleton and inquires about who is there.

Recognizing Koga as a Bount, Izuru leaps down to the ground and introduces himself. Soon afterward, Ririn regains consciousness next to a motionless Keigo and looks around for Ichigo prior to seeing him kneeling next to Izuru, who is facing down Koga and Dalk. After wondering what she should do to help, Ririn comes to a realization and runs off, leaving Izuru to explain to a perplexed Ichigo that 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya dispatched four lieutenant-level combatants to the Human World in order to counteract and assess the threat of the Bount after some of the forces of the Onmitsukidō were incapacitated by the Bitto.

With Izuru telling Ichigo to stand back and promising to deal with them, Dalk licks her spiked left arm and observes that Izuru is another different type who is fighting over her before expressing delight at having been born a woman as she transforms her left arm into a machine gun and opens fire on Ichigo and Izuru, who leap away in opposite directions. Upon leaping over Dalk and landing behind her, Izuru assumes a battle stance once more and declares that Soul Society has already decided to subdue the Bount while preparing to battle Dalk, only for the latter to praise his rigid nature as cute and decide to express her feelings by opening fire once more.

Jumping up to dodge the bullets, Izuru releases his Shikai, Wabisuke, and when Dalk swings up her lower body and fires a large metal sphere at him, Izuru deflects it with Wabisuke and lands on the ground before Dalk, where he begins clashing repeatedly with Dalk, who uses her upper two arms to block and wound him on his left forearm prior to Izuru moving back into the air with Shunpo and deflecting a second large sphere fired at him by Dalk. Izuru lands back on the ground and gets to his feet as Dalk absorbs the motionless metal sphere back into her body through her front left leg and revels in how excited Izuru's cornered expression makes her.

When Dalk fires several more bullets at him, Izuru blocks each with Wabisuke, causing them to roll back to Dalk along the ground. Suddenly, as she tries to reabsorb one of the bullets into her body through her front left leg, Dalk is shocked to see the tip of her leg melt into a misshapen mass of metal against the ground and realizes her body feels very heavy as she begins to tilt to the side, leading Izuru to detail how Wabisuke doubles the weight of whatever it strikes and note the steel body of Dalk has reached its weight limit. With an aghast Dalk no longer able to stand up, Izuru tells Ichigo this is his chance to attack, but Ichigo insists on getting Keigo to safety.

Suddenly, Koga steps up behind Ichigo, who turns around and assumes a battle stance with his Shikai, Zangetsu, while demanding that Koga move. Upon being asked by Koga what will happen if he refuses, Ichigo vows that he will kill Koga if he does not, but Koga simply walks up to the tip of Zangetsu, which prompts Ichigo to internally observe that Koga is still Human even if he is a Bount. After commenting on Ichigo's hesitation, Koga picks up an I-beam and asserts that he will go first before swinging the beam at a stunned Ichigo, who evades multiple blows from Koga and expresses astonishment at his physical strength prior to moving several feet away with Shunpo.

Ichigo assumes a battle stance once more and refuses to let Koga interfere any longer as he rushes forward with the intention of killing Koga for Keigo, only for Koga to jump over and come down on Ichigo with another strike of the I-beam, which Ichigo evades and cuts in half with a slash from Zangetsu. However, Koga simply grabs Ichigo by the collar and slams him into the ground, causing Ichigo to cough up blood and roll onto his side. Assuming that Ichigo did not believe an unarmed Human could have this much power, Koga reminds him that Bount have the mental strength to withstand eternity and declares that he has used this strength to train himself to his physical peak.

With Ichigo rolling out of the way of his subsequent ground punch and getting to his feet, Koga grabs Ichigo by the collar once again and concludes this is just a Human's potential power. Nearby, Dalk discards her forearms to decrease her weight and dismisses their loss as irrelevant while swinging up her lower body to fire a third large sphere at Izuru, who moves over and behind her with Shunpo, prior to firing a smaller sphere on a tether that wraps itself around Wabisuke, which leads Dalk to promise to take it away from a struggling Izuru. Slammed against a vertical beam by Koga with the latter's fist pressed against his throat, Ichigo is forced to drop Zangetsu.

As Koga notes that he could either wait for Ichigo to stop breathing or simply snap his neck in one twist, which he considers to be the merciful option since Ichigo would not suffer, Ichigo presses his feet against Koga's abdomen and manages to launch him back with great effort, allowing Ichigo to fall to the ground and catch his breath while grabbing Zangetsu. Despite this, Koga emerges unharmed from the resulting dust cloud and admits that he did not expect Ichigo to have this much strength left, and as Ichigo vows to defeat him, a stunned Koga sees Cain in Ichigo's place and utters his name in shock, confusing Ichigo while he assumes a battle stance.

Upon being asked what is wrong, Koga pinches the bridge of his nose and observes he may have lived for too long because people are supposed to be born, grow, and age, though all the lives that are supposed to live end up slipping through his hands. Koga recalls Cain summoning Waineton and being consumed by her power, causing him to rapidly age and disintegrate into ashes, which led Koga to build a tombstone of rocks for him and scatter his ashes on the wind at the edge of a cliff. Suddenly, Koga is alerted when a screaming Dalk crashes to the ground under her increased weight, where she states she can no longer move despite refusing to lose to Izuru.

Moving to Koga with Shunpo, Izuru slashes at him, forcing Koga to leap back and allowing Ichigo to get to his feet while confirming he is alright. After noting Ichigo is young and has not lived for very long yet, Koga turns around and begins walking toward Dalk despite Ichigo claiming they are not done yet and attempting to follow him. As he reaches Dalk, Koga tells her this is enough and responds to her lamenting how heavy she has become by praising her performance and returning her to her sealed form. After instructing Ichigo and Izuru to not rush their lives since there is no shame in holding onto them, Koga bids them farewell and departs into the darkness.

Aftermath
Later, Ichigo runs down the street while carrying Keigo on his back. Suddenly, Ichigo's injuries and fatigue cause him to drop to his knees in the middle of the street, leading Izuru, who had been running alongside him, to kneel beside Ichigo and offer to take turns carrying Keigo. Though he thanks Izuru for this, Ichigo explains Keigo is a friend of his who got caught up in the situation despite having nothing to do with it, but Izuru counters that Ichigo does not need to feel responsible for this since the Bount seem to be attacking Humans at random. However, Ichigo insists he does and cannot let a friend like Keigo die, but finds himself unable to get up and resume running.

As he steadies an apologetic Ichigo, Izuru reminds him that the Bount are their enemy and that there is no point in them arguing before revealing that he has also lost someone important to him despite not exactly being friends with them. After concluding that he understands Ichigo's feelings because of this, Izuru shifts Keigo onto his back and assures a surprised Ichigo that he is not as weak as he looks while extending his hand toward Ichigo and pointing out that it does not matter who is carrying Keigo if they intend to save him. Agreeing with this, a smiling Ichigo takes Izuru's hand. Some time later, Ichigo and Izuru enter the Urahara Shop with Keigo, prompting a concerned Tessai Tsukabishi to alert Urahara.

Upon being asked about his identity by Urahara, Izuru introduces himself as Ichigo approaches Urahara and pleads with him to save Keigo before collapsing. After being invited into the shop by Urahara, Izuru helps lay Keigo and Izuru down in the back room on bedspreads before 4th Division 7th Seat Hanatarō Yamada, who expresses concern over the low power of Keigo's Soul and suggests that they directly inject Ichigo's Reiryoku into Keigo in order to save him. Hanatarō asks Tessai to fetch his first, third, and sixth Reishi injection tools. As Tessai returns to the room with the Reishi injectors, Hanatarō thanks him and prepares to begin connecting Ichigo and Keigo.