Rukia Kuchiki vs. Di Roy Rinker

 is a fight taking place during the Arrancar Invasion between Rukia Kuchiki and Arrancar #16. Di Roy Rinker, acting as the first clash between a Shinigami of the Gotei 13 and a member of Sōsuke Aizen's Arrancar army.

Prelude
Following Ichigo Kurosaki and his allies' brutal encounter with Ulquiorra Cifer and Yammy Llargo in Karakura Town, Rukia Kuchiki is selected to join a Strike Force headed by 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai, meant to assist Ichigo and his friends in the new conflict, because she knows Ichigo the best. Upon reuniting with Ichigo at Karakura High School, Rukia forces him to confront his fears about his inner Hollow and promise Orihime Inoue that he will never fail to protect her again in order to improve the spirits of both of them.

Simultaneously, Ulquiorra returns to Las Noches and relays his confrontation to Aizen and the other Arrancar through Solita Vista, where they learn that Ulquiorra determined Ichigo was not worth killing and thus left him alive. Though Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez criticizes him for this since it presents the risk of Ichigo growing too strong to kill later, Aizen determines that Ulquiorra did nothing wrong, to Grimmjow's frustration. That night, Grimmjow comes to Karakura Town himself and is joined by Di Roy Rinker and the rest of his Fracción once the sun sets. When Shawlong Koufang notes that he sensed several different strong Reiatsu on their way here, Grimmjow has them utilize Pesquisa in order to accurately determine how many combatants are nearby, and once they are all detected, Grimmjow orders his Fracción to kill anyone with Reiatsu.

Meanwhile, at the Kurosaki Clinic where she has gained permission to stay, Rukia is perplexed to find that Ichigo's family has put her bed with those of Karin Kurosaki and Yuzu Kurosaki, which Ichigo dryly notes is the normal thing to do. When Rukia protests that she was going to sleep in Ichigo's closet and had brought furniture to brighten it up, Ichigo rejects this notion and takes offense at her calling his closet dirty. However, upon sensing the Reiatsu of Grimmjow and his Fracción when they move out, Ichigo realizes it is like that of Ulquiorra and Yammy, which he alerts Rukia to.

Seeing six marks on the screen of her Denreishinki, Rukia is aghast at how many Arrancar are here, and when Ichigo asks her if they are coming this way, Rukia observes that they seem to just be probing for Reiatsu at this point, but warns Ichigo that this means they are making a list to kill everyone with even a hint of Reiatsu. Mortified by this and grabbing his Substitute Shinigami Badge, Ichigo recalls that Uryū Ishida has none right now and inquires about Orihime and Yasutora Sado, prompting Rukia to assure him that Hitsugaya and Rangiku will be able to protect Orihime prior to informing Ichigo that one of the Arrancar is headed toward Sado.

Elsewhere, Sado sits up on the floor while Shun'ō and Ayame fly away from his restored arm, which he inspects. Despite Shun'ō warning him that he is not fully healed, Sado assures him and Ayame that he is okay and that they can return to Orihime's apartment in order to heal her. When Sado runs outside with his Fullbring, Brazo Derecha de Gigante, manifested, Di Roy expresses disappointment at him not being a Shinigami and attempts to stab his left hand into a surprised Sado's chest, only for Ichigo to arrive in his Shinigami form and grab Di Roy's left hand before he can complete his attack while criticizing him for evaluating his attack before he has won the fight, which a chuckling Di Roy accepts. However, Di Roy decides instead to kill Ichigo and his friends, then tell the other Arrancar that none of them were any good.

With Di Roy freeing himself from Ichigo's grasp, a stunned Sado stands behind the latter and mentally observes that Di Roy would have killed him with his strike had Ichigo not shown up when he did, due to the stopped attack still puncturing Sado's skin. When told by Ichigo to stand back, Sado protests that his arm was healed by Shun'ō and Ayame, but Ichigo insists that Sado let him handle this, leading Sado to recall Yammy mangling Brazo Derecha de Gigante and agree to Ichigo's request before running off and ignoring Rukia when she encounters him in the street and inquires about his wellbeing, which leaves her confused. As he continues to run, Sado wonders if Ichigo does not trust Sado to watch his back anymore.

Back outside the house Sado was resting in, a grinning Di Roy questions how he should kill Ichigo, who rips the bandage off his head and notices Rukia approaching him from behind. After confirming her identity, Rukia asks Ichigo what he told Sado, and when a sweating Ichigo states that he just told Sado to stay back and let him handle this, Rukia requests that he step back as well, to Ichigo's astonishment. However, Ichigo is left further shocked upon seeing Rukia holding a Chappy Gikongan dispenser as Rukia asserts that she should handle this since Ichigo is too tense and pops the Gikongan into her mouth, causing a release of energy that swirls around her. Warning Ichigo that he could get himself killed fighting like this, Rukia stands in front of her Chappy-controlled Gigai in her proper Shinigami form with her Zanpakutō at her hip. When Ichigo expresses surprise at Rukia having gotten her powers back, Rukia explains that she could not get her powers back before due to being in Kisuke Urahara's Gigai and that she regained her Reiryoku with ease once she discarded that Gigai and lived in the Reishi-rich Soul Society.

Suddenly, Chappy leaps toward a startled Ichigo and repeats Rukia's instructions for him to step back, leaving Ichigo irritated and perplexed by who she is supposed to be. Rukia informs him that this is Chappy, the Gikongan most popular with female Shinigami whom she was trying to purchase before when she ended up with Kon instead, and with Ichigo expressing disbelief at Chappy potentially inhabiting his own body instead and relief that Kon does instead, Chappy takes issue with this as Ichigo discovers her surprising strength when she wrestles him to the ground.

Battle
During this, Di Roy leaps forward and strikes at Rukia, who blocks with her Zanpakutō and is pushed down the block by the force of his strike while Ichigo calls out to her in concern. Upon being pushed into the air by Di Roy swinging his arm upward, Rukia lands on the side of a telephone post and pushes herself off it to slash at Di Roy, who blocks her blade with the side of his hand and introduces himself. However, when Rukia attempts to do the same, Di Roy cuts her off and notes that he does not waste time learning the names of those he kills.

In response, Rukia tells Di Roy to at least remember the name of her sword and releases her Shikai, Sode no Shirayuki, which turns the blade of her Zanpakutō pure white and causes a long, flat tassel to become attached to the bottom of the handle. With Di Roy shocked to see a white Zanpakutō, Rukia initiates Some no mai, Tsukishiro, creating a freezing circle on the ground encompassing both herself and Di Roy, who sees ice beginning to encompass his lower body from the feet up and frantically jabs his hand into the ice covering his foot. Leaping high into the air with a bleeding foot, Di Roy proclaims that the sky is his domain and mocks Rukia for having a sword that only freezes the ground as he lifts the bandages covering his right eye and prepares to fire a Cero. However, Di Roy swiftly finds himself frozen in a tall pillar of ice originating from the circle while Rukia clarifies that the domain of of Sode no Shirayuki is everything within its circle instead of the ground and walks away as the pillar shatters into tiny pieces.

Aftermath
Chappy continues to restrain Ichigo by holding his arm behind his back while pinning him to the ground and promises to force him to remain still if he does not do so on his own. Despite Ichigo protesting that he cannot remain still when she is hurting him like this, Chappy responds to him threatening to beat her up if she does not stop by asserting that she will kill him before he can kill her, visibly unnerving Ichigo by exceeding her orders to simply hold him down, and wrenches his arm further behind his back as Rukia approaches them and questions what they are doing. Upon seeing Rukia, a startled Ichigo frantically asks her if she is okay and if she defeated Di Roy.

In response, Rukia points out that she obviously did since she is still here while Ichigo notices Sode no Shirayuki, prompting Chappy to inform Ichigo that Sode no Shirayuki is currently regarded as the most beautiful Zanpakutō in all of Soul Society due to its blade, guard, and hilt all being completely white, though Ichigo admonishes her for ruining the mood when she finishes her sentence by making a hopping noise, and explain that Rukia has the potential to be a seated officer, but the increased danger that seated officers face compared to regular Shinigami led a certain person who did not want her to be exposed to peril to pull some strings and have her removed from seated officer candidacy, which Chappy reveals was Byakuya Kuchiki.

When Chappy concludes this by making a hopping noise once more, an unimpressed Ichigo determines that exposition is not her forte and requests that Chappy get off of him, only for Chappy to wrench his arm once again while an exasperated Rukia tells them to stop this. Suddenly, Ichigo and Rukia experience a powerful Reiatsu as Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez stands in the air above them and comments on Di Roy's death meaning that he will simply have to kill them both himself before introducing himself to an intimidated Ichigo. As a smiling Grimmjow lands on the street several meters away from them while Rukia recognizes his Reiatsu as being that of an Arrancar.

With Rukia mentally expressing fright at how incredibly strong it is, Grimmjow inquires about which one of them is stronger, leading a startled Rukia to warn Ichigo to retreat before Grimmjow stabs his right hand into her abdomen and observes that it is not her, which he expected. While a disgusted Rukia is thrown to the ground by Grimmjow, a shocked Ichigo rushes toward Grimmjow, who grins sadistically over his shoulder at Ichigo. Once Grimmjow is forced to return to Hueco Mundo, Orihime finishes healing Rukia and Renji is shocked by her swift recovery, which causes Rukia to observe how incredibly fast it was and thank Orihime, whom she tells that she is getting stronger all the time, though Orihime attempts to deny this.