Trapped In The Forest of Menos

 is an event taking place during the Invasion of Hueco Mundo, revolving around Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends' quest to rescue Orihime Inoue being unexpectedly impeded when they are dropped into the Forest of Menos, a vast home for Hollows beneath the desert sands.

Dragged Into The Forest
While Bawabawa is carrying Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends to Las Noches, Runuganga suddenly rises out of the sand before them, having survived Rukia Kuchiki's Tsugi no mai, Hakuren, which prompts 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai to express surprise at the former not being dead yet as Rukia expresses disbelief at him coming back after being smashed to pieces. In response, Nel Tu asserts that it is not strange for him to have more than one body to use since he is composed entirely of sand.

After Uryū Ishida deduces that this must be the second body, Rukia stands up and releases her Shikai, Sode no Shirayuki, and attempts to use Tsugi no mai, Hakuren once more, only to inadvertently stab her blade into Bawabawa three times, causing him to begin writhing around in pain and forcing the group to cling to his back. While Rukia apologetically admits that she was not thinking here and Nel accuses her of picking on Bawabawa, another antlion pit opens up beneath Bawabawa, who is dragged down and flings Rukia into the air with his continued thrashing as the others hold onto him.

Approaching the other side of the pit, Rukia spins around in the air and jabs the blade of Sode no Shirayuki into the sand in an attempt to anchor herself, but is quickly pulled beneath the sand anyway, followed shortly by Bawabawa and everyone on his back just before the pit quickly disappears behind them. Far below them, in a dark area, Ashido Kanō stands up and draws his Zanpakutō while Ichigo Kurosaki, Yasutora Sado, Uryū Ishida, and Renji desperately cling to a falling Bawabawa. Suddenly, Uryū sees several Menos Grande in the Forest of Menos below them prior to his group and Bawabawa crashing into the ground.

An annoyed Ichigo gets to his feet and inquires if the others are alright, which they affirm, and thanks Bawabawa for cushioning their impact before Nel hurtles down from above and directly onto Ichigo's head, causing him to fall over. With Nel commenting on how much this hurt and Ichigo angrily asserting that this is what he should be saying, Pesche Guatiche and Dondochakka Birstanne warn the group to get out of the way as they fall down onto Ichigo too, leaving him pinned to the ground while they thank him for the soft landing. Nearby, Nel claps and praises this as a perfect landing while Sado, Uryū, and Renji look away in embarrassment.

After getting up once again, Ichigo wonders where they are and looks up alongside his friends to see the surrounding trees extending into the darkness above, which Renji notes is where they fell from. Upon examining a nearby branch, a startled Uryū realizes it is identical to the trees they found in the desert above and deduces that those were the tops of these trees, leaving Ichigo shocked that the trees reach all the way up to the surface as Sado observes that the area they fell into is incredibly wide and Renji concurs that he cannot even see the walls. Trembling in fear alongside Pesche and Dondochakka, Nel tells Ichigo that this is the Forest of Menos.

Though Ichigo is confused by this name, Uryū notes that he thought as much and reveals that he saw a group of Menos Grande when he was falling prior to theorizing that Hueco Mundo has Espada and Arrancar living aboveground while the Gillians and lesser Hollows live underground. With Nel tearfully confirming this, Renji infers that the Forest of Menos must be filled with Menos Grande and Ichigo kindly asks Nel if she knows how to get out, only for Nel to explain that she had only ever heard rumors about the Forest of Menos and has never been here before, meaning that she does not know of any way to escape.

Nel breaks down and proclaims that they are all going to die here, with Pesche and Dondochakka concurring that it is a forest of death, but Ichigo assures her that there must be a way out since they entered the Forest of Menos from outside and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder while Uryū observes that there must be a way in and out as long as Hollows are here. Though Pesche praises this as a clever thing to say and Dondochakka agrees, Uryū states that it does not please him to be praised by Pesche prior to Ichigo declaring that they should get going. Suddenly, Renji gets Ichigo's attention and points out how Rukia is not here.

Shocked by this, Ichigo begins looking around alongside his friends and questions when she disappeared, prompting Uryū to theorize that it happened when they sank into the sand above. Meanwhile, in a different part of the Forest of Menos, Rukia regains consciousness and pushes several chunks of rock off of herself while wondering where she is and looking up to see the hole in the ceiling she crashed through above. Calling out for Ichigo, Rukia gets up and expresses confusion at her friends' absence prior to noticing something and assuming a combat stance as several glowing pairs of eyes appear in the shadows near her.

With Ashido emerging from his cave and moving out with Shunpo, Rukia purifies an attacking Hollow with a slash of Sode no Shirayuki and evades a swipe from a second Hollow. Upon seeing three more Hollows surrounding her, Rukia slashes through the Hollows in front of and behind her before leaping up and purifying the Hollow flying above her, only to see even more Hollows surrounding her and question why there are so many of them. Lamenting how the Hollows keep coming without reducing their numbers even as she purifies them, Rukia asserts that she has to rejoin her friends as soon as possible and sees a light beyond the trees in the distance.

After encasing her surroundings in ice with Some no mai, Tsukishiro, Rukia jumps over the Hollows and begins running toward the light with the intention of discovering what it is, only for a rotted snake-like Hollow to appear before her, forcing Rukia to stab Sode no Shirayuki through its skull and continue running with the horde of Hollows pursuing her. However, upon reaching the light, Rukia finds herself on the edge of a cliff before two Menos Grande, one of which turns to face her and begins charging a red Cero in its mouth. As Rukia assumes a combat stance, a chunk of the cliff breaks off underneath her foot, causing her to fall on her back.

Encounter With A Masked Shinigami
However, just as the Menos Grande fires its Cero, Ashido appears in front of the beam, grabs Rukia, and moves her away with Shunpo, leaving the Cero to explode against the empty cliff. Moving out of the resulting dust cloud with Rukia under his arm, Ashido draws his Zanpakutō, startling Rukia, and slashes it vertically toward the Menos Grande, which is split in half from the top down and purified, prior to decapitating the other Menos Grande with a horizontal slash and departing with Shunpo. During this, Ichigo's group walks through the Forest of Menos and repeatedly calls out for Rukia, but does not receive a response.

Though Renji asserts that there is no point to this since they cannot find her anywhere, Uryū reminds him that Rukia should not be too far away since they fell from the same place. Upon hearing this, Ichigo has a realization and reminds the others of how light Rukia is before theorizing that Rukia was blown far away during the fall, which leads Renji to concur with this and assume that this is why they could not find her when searching nearby, though Uryū simply wonders what exactly they think Rukia is. Suddenly, Bawabawa rears up, startling Ichigo and Renji, and begins talking to the group as Nel translates his intention to climb a tree and look for Rukia.

Pleased by this, Pesche praises Bawabawa and tells him to look for Rukia with his sharp eyes, which Dondochakka agrees with, while Renji picks up on Pesche calling Rukia a vile Shinigami and Ichigo notes that Bawabawa does not have eyes, leading Uryū to tell them to stop commenting on everything since it will never end otherwise. When Bawabawa begins climbing up a nearby tree, Uryū has him stop and expresses a desire to see what the entire area looks like prior to hopping on Bawabawa's back, with Sado joining him. While Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka cheer on a climbing Bawabawa, Renji admits that he is surprised they can keep this up.

Meanwhile, Ashido leaps across the treetops as he continues to carry Rukia, who thanks him for saving her and asks him to let her down, only for Ashido to not respond. Annoyed by Ashido not listening to her, Rukia pries his hand off her waist and springs off of his back in the opposite direction. However, as she apologizes to him, Rukia is astonished to see Ashido having disappeared from the air behind her just before he reappears before her with Shunpo, grabs her by the waist again, and lands on a nearby tree branch. With Rukia demanding to know what he is doing, Ashido asks her to endure this until they reach his hideout.

While Rukia looks at him uncertainly, Ashido announces that he is going to jump and begins leaping upward to successively higher branches on the same tree. Simultaneously, in the caves aboveground where he and several other Adjuchas are gathered around a fire, Teres Holcan notes that the Forest of Menos has been noisy lately, leading another Adjuchas to bring up how he has felt several odd Reiatsu signatures within and Parateraul to observe that the intruders will simply die if left alone. Suddenly, Aromazon approaches the group and reveals that Las Noches has contacted them while Vecuness expresses intrigue at this.

Back in the Forest of Menos, Ashido lands on a tree branch opposite a cliff leading to a cave entrance, which Rukia is startled by, and leaps over to it prior to setting Rukia down and walking into the cave, with Rukia following him shortly afterward. Looking around to see mushrooms and moss lying in square holes in one of the walls and greenery covering a knee-high level of the cave's floor, Rukia is surprised to see a medium-sized Kidō orb illuminating the cave from the ceiling and identifies it to Ashido, whom she determines really is a Shinigami and asks about his assignment and division, only to presume from his lack of response that he left his division.

With Rukia irritated by his continued silence, Ashido identifies himself and explains that this is the Forest of Menos where Menos live far away from the rules of Soul Society before unsheathing his Zanpakutō, leaping into the air, and coming down on a shocked Rukia with a vertical slash that she barely manages to block. After demanding to know what Ashido is doing and observing that he does not want to talk, Rukia is sent flying back with a scream of pain by Ashido rearing back and slashing at her horizontally, causing her to spring off the far wall back toward Ashido and enter a blade lock with him that results in Ashido quickly overpowering her.

Rukia lands far behind Ashido and muses on his fighting style possessing incredible strength despite its random nature just before Ashido moves into the air above her with Shunpo and slashes down from her right side, forcing Rukia to roll several meters away and leaving her panting with exertion as Ashido stands before her. Meanwhile, with Bawabawa having climbed up the tree and found a section to curl around in order to search for Rukia alongside Sado and Uryū, Ichigo calls up to them and inquires about whether they have found anything, only for Uryū to deny this and assert that it is no good while wondering where the Menos he saw earlier went.

On the ground below, Ichigo and Renji notice something and run toward it, and as Uryū wonders what they are doing now, Sado alerts him to the presence of flying Hollows, who approach from the nearby trees. Though he and Sado rapidly destroy three of the Hollows with two Heilig Pfeil and an El Directo, respectively, Uryū sees more flying Hollows hurtling down toward them from the treetops above and grimly aims his Heilig Bogen, Ginrei Kojaku, at them to continue firing more Heilig Pfeil. During this, Ichigo fends off a Hollow on the ground below by pushing him back with Zangetsu and expresses concern for Sado and Uryū.

Pushed back by another Hollow that he quickly destroys with a slash of his Shikai, Zangetsu, Ichigo is left aggravated and stands behind Renji, who purifies another Hollow as well, as they are surrounded by a horde of Hollows who begin howling at them instead of attacking, to their confusion. Around the nearby tree, Uryū sees the flying Hollows circling around Bawabawa and questions what is happening prior to the Hollows flying away from the tree, to his further bewilderment. On the ground below, a panicking Nel realizes that "they" are coming and frantically warns Ichigo to run away despite Pesche and Dondochakka telling her that it is dangerous to stay.

Suddenly, three Menos Grande appear between the nearby trees, which prompts Uryū to deduce that the howl was meant to summon them before a frightened Bawabawa begins trembling in fear beneath him and Sado, leaving Uryū unable to properly aim Ginrei Kojaku. When one of the Menos Grande begins reaching toward Bawabawa with its right hand, Ichigo appears in the air between them with Shunpo and fires a Getsuga Tenshō that repels the Menos Grande's hand and knocks it down. After moving to Bawabawa's head and confirming that Sado and Uryū are alright, Ichigo sees one of the other Menos Grande howling in turn.

Down on the ground, Renji releases his Shikai, Zabimaru, and wipes out multiple Hollows with each swing of the extending blade, but Dondochakka observes that the Hollows just keep coming and that they might actually get eaten at this rate, leading Pesche to declare that their only option is to bravely withdraw. With Nel protesting this since Ichigo is still in danger, Pesche informs her that she just has to pretend that she never knew Ichigo and his friends to begin with, only for Nel to note that she already knows them as a frustrated Pesche loudly asserts that this is exactly why he is telling her to forget about them.

However, Pesche is interrupted by the arrival of dozens of other Hollows, with Dondochakka realizing that they may already be too late, and one of the flying Hollows swoops down to grab Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka in its talons. Though Ichigo attempts to follow a shrieking Nel, he is cut off by the appearance of several more Menos Grande that the flying Hollow soars past, leaving Uryū to recognize the Menos Grande as being the same ones he saw earlier while falling prior to one of them opening its mouth and firing a red Cero at the group. Back in Ashido's hideout, Rukia leaps back from her blade lock with Ashido and pants heavily.

After Rukia demands to know if he brought her here just to kill her, Ashido silently rushes forward and slams into Rukia, who crashes into the wall and falls to her knees as Ashido observes that this is all she has got and levels his Zanpakutō at her head. Before Ashido can act, Rukia throws a handful of pebbles from the ground at his face, causing him to rear back, and stabs Sode no Shirayuki at him, only to find that Ashido has disappeared before her blade could reach him. Reappearing behind a stunned Rukia, Ashido thrusts his Zanpakutō toward her, but stops short, leaving his blade hanging inches from a surprised Rukia's face for several seconds.

Ashido stands up, turns around, and sheathes his Zanpakutō as he walks away. When Rukia demands to know what the meaning of this is, Ashido reveals he was simply testing her strength. Upon being followed out of the cave to the cliff outside by Rukia, Ashido stops her with an outstretched hand and observes someone is fighting, prompting Rukia to identify the Reiatsu as belonging to Ichigo and her other friends. Aghast at Ichigo's group fighting in such a brazen way, Ashido prepares to head out, and when Rukia asks him to wait, Ashido tells her to stay here, but Rukia insists on going because they are the friends she came here with.

In turn, Ashido requests to know Rukia's name, only to begin leaping away before she can state her division placement. With Rukia following Ashido, Ichigo fires a vertical Getsuga Tenshō that slices cleanly through a Menos Grande's head, destroying it instantly, and lands on a tree branch below to find several more Menos Grande charging and firing massive red Ceros, one of which engulfs him and the tree he was standing on. Emerging from this unscathed, Ichigo runs through the smoke and wonders why so many Menos Grande are coming to replace the ones he defeats while Sado, Uryū, and Renji join him in running and suggest they flee.

When Sado questions what they are going to do about Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka, Ichigo asserts that they will save the Arrancar and responds to Uryū bringing up Rukia by promising that they will find her once they ensure the safety of the former group since they are more at risk. Suddenly, Bawabawa slithers up in front of Ichigo's group and tells them to follow him since he knows where his friends are, leading Ichigo, Sado, Uryū, and Renji to jump onto Bawabawa's back as he slithers away through the smoke, evading several more Ceros from the Menos Grande in the process and disappearing into the trees.

Arrancar Hostages and Adjuchas Assaults
Elsewhere, Teres Holcan, Vecuness, Aromazon, and Parateraul fall into the Forest of Menos and land before a fallen, cracked tree, where Parateraul notes that the area is noisy today. With Vecuness wondering if this is the work of the intruders and Aromazon assuming that what Las Noches said was true, Teres denies this and declares that it is Ashido, whom he expresses irritation at the continued survival of. However, Parateraul draws their attention to the interior of the cracked tree, where Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka sit trembling in the middle of a large group of Hollows surrounding them, intriguing Teres as he and the others enter.

Inferring that these are friends of the intruders, Teres muses that they have something useful and wraps his tail around Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka, whom he lifts into the air and promises that they will find out what he plans to do with them. After telling the other Hollows to search for the intruders, Teres throws Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka into a side chamber covered in moss and chuckles while they demand to be let out. Meanwhile, Rukia and Ashido leap between tree branches toward the site of the battle, but discover that they have arrived in the aftermath when they move to the scarred ground and fallen trees below with Shunpo.

As Rukia confirms that Ichigo and the others fought here and ruminates on where they might have gone, Aromazon inquires about whether she is the intruder and appears behind her with Sonído prior to throwing a punch that Rukia evades with Shunpo. After looking over a laughing Aromazon, a shocked Rukia deduces that he is an Adjuchas due to his size and his Reiatsu being greater than that of a Menos Grande. Before Aromazon can punch Rukia again, Ashido tells her to stand back and jumps into the air to come down on Aromazon's right wrist with a slash, only for an unharmed Aromazon to force Ashido back with a swipe of his arm.

Upon recognizing Ashido, who comments on him being here too, Aromazon throws a punch that Ashido dodges with Shunpo before grazing Aromazon's mask with a slash that shatters a small piece of it. Irritated by this, Aromazon begins performing rapid consecutive punches with his left fist that Ashido continually evades with Shunpo. When Ashido succeeds in wounding him with an upward slash through his left arm, a panting Aromazon reappears several meters away with Sonído and respond to Ashido reassuming a battle stance by calling out the Menos Grande, who emerge from between the trees while Aromazon laughs maniacally.

With Rukia astonished that he can control Gillians like this, Aromazon has the Menos Grande fire their Ceros in unison, forcing Rukia and Ashido to leap away as the trees behind where they were standing are obliterated by the energy beams. Though Rukia is concerned about what will happen at this rate, Ashido instructs her to not worry about the Menos Grande and to stay here prior to running back toward the Menos Grande through the branches. When Aromazon has the Menos Grande fire their Ceros again, Ashido blocks them by holding one of the masks from his coat on his arm and vertically bifurcates a stunned Aromazon, who screams as he fades away.

Following this, Ashido quickly cuts each Menos Grande in half horizontally, causing them to disintegrate as well, and returns to Rukia while sheathing his Zanpakutō. Amazed that Ashido is strong enough to have done this without using a Bankai, Rukia asks him about who Aromazon was, prompting Ashido to explain that Adjuchas are the second-highest rank of Menos above Gillians and question if Aromazon was the first one Rukia ever saw. When Rukia confirms this and ponders how Adjuchas can control Gillians, Ashido reveals they only appeared recently and asks about what has happened in Soul Society since the the Hollows' power level has changed.

After Ashido brings up Shinigami like Rukia suddenly appearing here as well, Rukia reflects on Sōsuke Aizen obtaining the Hōgyoku and defecting from Soul Society before simply telling Ashido that Soul Society is not unchanging and that several troublesome things have happened there to lead to this. Staring at Rukia in silence for several seconds after this, Ashido affirms that he understands and decides that they should look elsewhere for Rukia's friends. Once Rukia and Ashido depart with Shunpo, Vecuness informs Teres that Aromazon was defeated, and when Teres assumes that it was Ashido, Vecuness notes that another Reiatsu is present.

With Vecuness confirming that this was another Shinigami intruder, Teres ponders one of Ashido's allies being here and looks to the side chamber while deciding to make use of Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka. During this, Rukia and Ashido destroy multiple Menos Grande with powerful slashes and move to a pathway between two rows of trees, where Rukia observes that this area is more like a nest than a forest, leading Ashido to affirm that it is a nest of Hollows and begin to walk away. However, Ashido stops for a moment and admits that he seems to have underestimated Rukia's strength since she is clearly strong enough to fight the Adjuchas.

A Past Explained, An Ambush Performed
Once she and Ashido resume walking down the path, Rukia mentions that she has been wondering about something, and when Ashido questions what this is, Rukia asks him why he wears the mask on his face, but assures him that he does not have to tell her if he does not want to. Despite this, Ashido takes off the mask to reveal his face, surprising Rukia, and reveals that he came here several hundred years ago by chasing a Hollow into Hueco Mundo and ending up in the Forest of Menos before he knew it, where he has spent a mind-numbing amount of time slaying Hollows. When Rukia inquires about whether there is a way out of the area, Ashido affirms that there is.

However, Ashido asserts that he has not used this exit because he is a Shinigami and elaborates to a stunned Rukia that all the Hollows who appear in the Human World likely go there from this location, meaning that him staying here and purifying as many as he can means that Humans will end up suffering less harm. With Ashido asking her if there have been fewer Hollow appearances, Rukia is reluctant to answer and responds to Ashido inferring from her expression that there have not by apologetically stating that she cannot lie about this. In turn, Ashido assures her that there is no need to apologize and begins walking away, with a startled Rukia joining him.

In a different part of the Forest of Menos, several Hollows gather around a large fire in a cavern and cackle while Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka huddle in the side chamber, with Dondochakka observing that they seem to be celebrating and Nel tearfully wondering if they are going to enjoy eating her, Pesche, and Dondochakka. As the three of them proclaim that they do not want this, Dondochakka has a realization and asks Nel if she has been keeping her hood covering her head the whole time. Once Nel confirms this, Pesche and Dondochakka grab Nel by the arms and run past the two Hollow guards out of the chamber and into the fire, which dissipates.

After coughing profusely in the clearing smoke, Pesche and Dondochakka present Nel as an Arrancar created by Aizen and the lord of the assembled Hollows, who growl at this until Pesche draws their attention to the cracked mask atop Nel's head, causing them to kneel in deference. While Nel and Pesche celebrate this, Dondochakka tells the Hollows that Nel is searching for an exit from the Forest of Menos and inquires if any of them know where it is, which prompts one of the Hollows to inform him that they can go through the hole in the nearby rock ledge. With Nel and Dondochakka walking toward this, Pesche tells the Hollows his mask is slightly cracked too.

Leaving the Hollows to express amazement at this, Pesche joins Nel and Dondochakka in striding triumphantly toward the exit, but as Dondochakka declares that their plan was a great success, Parateraul congratulates them and asserts that it is time for his own plan now. Despite Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka pointing out how Nel is an Arrancar once again, Parateraul merely dismisses this as irrelevant to his plan, which they dumbfoundedly accept. Simultaneously, Rukia and Ashido reach a rock clearing in the trees with a small patch of greenery dotted with stones on one side of a large ridge in the center of the area, which Rukia is left confused by.

When Ashido reveals that this is the place where they first arrived in the Forest of Menos, Rukia deduces that he was not alone when he came here, leading Ashido to confirm that he had comrades who followed him into the Forest of Menos in order to continue slaying Hollows who had attacked the Seireitei, only for them to be ambushed and killed in a protracted fight until only Ashido was left after his last comrade succumbed to being impaled by a Hollow whose mask he had cut off in retaliation, leading Ashido to don this mask and vow to continue his mission of purifying Hollows in order to one day tell his comrades that he protected Humans from harm.

When Rukia apologizes again, Ashido reiterates that there is no reason to apologize and asserts that she should return to Soul Society as soon as she reunites with her friends because there is no need for reinforcements here if the number of Hollow appearances have not already dropped. However, Rukia refuses to do so and informs Ashido that she is headed to Las Noches, which prompts a startled Ashido to warn her that there are Vasto Lorde who cannot be defeated with average skills within that area. A smiling Rukia acknowledges this and explains that they are saving an important friend prior to assuring Ashido that he does not need to worry since she is not alone.

With Ashido smiling slightly at Rukia promising that they will all work together to save her, Rukia inquires about why he brought her to this place, and as he looks at the mask of the Hollow who killed his comrade, Ashido observes that Rukia would respond, ask questions, and speak whenever he talked, which he wanted his comrades to hear. Upon learning this, a stunned Rukia turns around and realizes that the rocks dotting the green area behind her are gravestones while Ashido states that his comrades have not heard the voice of another Shinigami since they came here and smiles at Rukia before putting the mask back on, which Rukia smiles at in turn.

Suddenly, the two of them are interrupted by a brief surge of Reiatsu, which Rukia realizes belongs to her friends when Ashido wonders what it is, leading the two of them to depart with Shunpo. After moving across a considerable distance, Rukia and Ashido land in another clearing between trees, where they are left confused by the absence of Rukia's friends and their Reiatsu that was sensed here. From a tree behind Rukia and Ashido, Vecuness proclaims that he wiped out the remnants of that Reiatsu in order to ambush them and summons dozens of Menos Grande, who completely fill the space surrounding the clearing and intimidate Rukia with their numbers.

Once Ashido assures Rukia that the Menos Grande will move slower if they defeat him, Vecuness orders the Menos Grande to fire their Ceros, forcing Rukia and Ashido to move to separate trees with Shunpo while the resulting and combined energy blasts destroy the nearby trees. Leaping off their trees, Rukia and Ashido respectively dodge and block more Ceros from the Menos Grande and slash at Vecuness in unison with their Zanpakutō, forcing him to block with his wrists by crossing his arms in front of himself. With their attacks having slightly cut into Vecuness's arms, Rukia and Ashido move away with Shunpo once more.

When he notices Rukia on the ground below, Vecuness has the Menos Grande fire their Ceros at her location, forcing her to evade with Shunpo and move behind a nearby tree. As Ashido calls out to her in concern, Rukia watches the Menos Grande approach the tree she is hiding behind, but is caught off-guard when Vecuness appears behind her and stabs his talon toward her face. Upon seeing this, Ashido remembers his comrade dying in exactly the same way and moves between Rukia and Vecuness to intercept the blow, resulting in his mask being split down the middle and shattered while he is sent flying back, to Rukia's shock.

Ashido and Rukia land in the center of the group of Menos Grande, where Rukia apologizes to him for causing this to happen. As Ashido tells her to not worry about it, a chuckling Vecuness mocks Ashido for bringing a burden with him today and warns Ashido that he should be more concerned about himself, prompting Rukia to decide to defeat him in order to atone for Ashido getting hurt to protect her. Upon hearing this, Vecuness proclaims that he will defeat her first and leaps down toward them, and as Rukia runs forward to confront him, Vecuness transforms his arms into long talons once more and extends them both toward Rukia, who evades both of them with ease.

After Rukia jumps into the air, Vecuness extends the spikes on his shoulder toward her as well, but Rukia rolls out of the way in midair and lands on the ground below Vecuness before releasing Sode no Shirayuki and using Some no mai, Tsukishiro to encase a startled Vecuness in a pillar of ice, which shatters to pieces along with him while Rukia asserts that she is not a burden. Following Vecuness's death, the assembled Menos Grande lose their interest in the situation and walk away, leaving Ashido to kneel before the broken remnants of his mask as Rukia approaches him and expresses sorrow over him losing his last connection to his fallen comrade.

After a moment's pause, Rukia suggests that Ashido return to Soul Society despite his feelings of guilt and atonement over the deaths of his comrades because the realm has changed for the better recently and his friends will forgive him for leaving this place since he is alive, only for Ashido to stand up and bluntly declare that he decides his own path. However, with a Menos Grande roaring in the distance, Rukia and Ashido decide to keep moving and depart.

Rescued Hostages, Final Fight
Shortly afterward, Ichigo, Sado, Uryū, Renji, and Bawabawa reach the clearing, where Ichigo identifies the Reiatsu present as belonging to Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka. Once the group reaches the larger cavern adjoining the chamber where Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka were being held, Ichigo realizes the Arrancar are not here and that only traces of their Reiatsu being present means they must have been moved somewhere else. Suddenly, Bawabawa gets the group's attention and indicates he knows where Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka are, prompting Ichigo to have him take them there on his back. Some time later, the group is brought to a section of the forest near a cliff.

Bawabawa directs the group's attention to the top of the cliff, where Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka stand trembling. Though Ichigo is relieved that she is alright, a tearful Nel begs him to run away, which causes an alerted Ichigo to leap away alongside his friends just before a red Cero slams into the ground where they were standing. With several Menos Grande approaching and surrounding the group, a laughing Parateraul stands next to Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka, who are joined by several more Hollows appearing behind them, and admits that he failed to kill them in one shot like he planned as he warns Ichigo to not move an inch.

With Parateraul threatening to have the Hollows eat Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka if Ichigo tries anything, which Dondochakka affirms as Pesche asks Ichigo to save them. When Uryū assumes that Parateraul was planning to draw them out from the beginning by using the Arrancar as bait, Parateraul denies this and explains that Teres wants to fight Ashido himself after being appointed to guard the Forest of Menos, only for a confused Uryū to question who Ashido is. After concluding that this is why he made the group come to this amusing place, to Renji's confusion, Parateraul has the Menos Grande begin firing Ceros at the group.

Elsewhere, Rukia hears explosions in the distance and wonders what the Reiatsu she is sensing is, but Ashido urges her to hurry toward the exit. However, the two of them are cut off when Teres appears in front of them and menacingly inquires about where Ashido thinks he is going. Back at the cliff, Ichigo and his friends are bombarded with dozens of Ceros that obscure them in a massive cloud of dust, leading Parateraul to celebrate this and assume that they were killed prior to the smoke clearing to reveal that they have disappeared. With Parateraul wondering where they went, Uryū rises up in front of him and forms Ginrei Kojaku.

Uryū begins firing hundreds of Heilig Pfeil at Parateraul and the Hollows, forcing the former to leap back while the latter are destroyed by the barrage. Moving to the top of the cliff with Shunpo, Ichigo grabs Nel and Pesche as Renji grabs Dondochakka prior to moving the three of them down to the ground below with the rest of the group, which Parateraul curses at. While Sado praises Uryū, who casually thanks Sado and adjusts his glasses, Pesche attempts to claim that this was their team effort, only for Ichigo to bluntly assert that he should not talk, leaving Pesche dejected as Renji observes that they do not have to hold back now.

With Ichigo drawing Zangetsu and rushing forward in response to this, Teres notes to Rukia and Ashido that it is easy to get an understanding of their friends' Reiatsu from here and inquires if they wish to help their friends prior to refusing to let them pass because he wants them to die while unable to do anything about their friends being hurt. As an angered Rukia calls him wretched, Teres invites Ashido to finish this already, which prompts Ashido to tell Rukia to stand back because he has fought Teres many times and knows the latter cannot be underestimated like the others due to being placed in charge by Las Noches.

Despite Rukia's protests, Ashido states that he will defeat Teres as his final duty in this forest, to Rukia's astonishment, and requests that she tell him what has been happening outside afterward before leaping forward and drawing his Zanpakutō, which he slashes forward as Teres swings his long tail toward Ashido. Simultaneously, Ichigo clashes repeatedly with Parateraul, who matches Zangetsu with strikes from his Hierro-fortified shins and forearms prior to pushing Ichigo backward into the air with a powerful forward kick. Dodging Parateraul's subsequent spinning kick with Shunpo, Ichigo rushes up from below him and slashes his wrist.

While Parateraul curses at this, Uryū fires hundreds of Heilig Pfeil into the crowd of Menos Grande, who are felled one after another even as they counter with Ceros, and Renji evades a Cero in midair before releasing his Shikai, Zabimaru, and cutting three Menos Grande in half with one swing so he can move on to the next one. Nearby, Sado charges forward with his manifested Fullbring, Brazo Derecha de Gigante, and punches a Menos Grande's ankle hard enough to push it several dozen meters back, causing it to fall over in a massive cloud of dust and leaving Sado to look at his right fist with intrigue.

Following this, Parateraul clashes three more times with Ichigo and grows frustrated at his inability to overcome the latter's attacks prior to moving back and firing a red Cero from his outstretched palm. In response, Ichigo fires a Getsuga Tenshō that completely disperses the Cero and surges toward a shocked Parateraul, who screams in agony as the blast engulfs him. Upon seeing this, the Menos Grande begin roaring and milling about, to the confusion of those present, and while the frightened Arrancar join Ichigo and his friends, Uryū notices that the Menos Grande have begun moving slower with Parateraul gone.

Meanwhile, Ashido blocks Teres's swinging tail with his Zanpakutō and is pushed back through the air before he manages to deflect it, leap forward, and slash diagonally at Teres, who moves back to evade this and lands on the ground opposite Ashido. Knocked into the air by another swing of Teres's tail, Ashido springs back down off the tree he lands against and maneuvers around the spikes that sprout and extend toward him from the tip of the tail to come down on Teres with a vertical slash. Jumping high into the air to dodge this and followed by Ashido, Teres extends dozens of spikes from his back that converge on Ashido in midair.

After evading these with Shunpo, Ashido reappears next to Teres and slices through nearly all of his spikes, which drip with blood from the severed areas as Teres glares with irritation, rises up into the air, and opens his mouth to fire a red Cero from it down at Ashido. Though the blast seemingly obliterates him, to Teres's delight, Ashido appears unscathed above Teres and comes down on him to sever the latter's right arm near the elbow with another vertical slash, resulting in a stunned Teres falling on his back while his wound gushes blood. With Ashido pointing out how Parateraul's Reiatsu disappeared instead, Teres curses at him.

Behind his back and obscured from Ashido's view, Teres burrows his tail into the ground and begins extending it into the soil, and as Ashido declares that this is over, dozens of spikes burst out of the ground and extend toward him, forcing him to move into the air and out of the way while one of them scratches his left leg. When the spikes hurtle toward Rukia, Ashido warns her to get out of the way, only for Rukia to instead perform Tsugi no mai, Hakuren and encase both the spikes and Teres himself completely in ice, to the latter's disbelief. Upon seeing this, Ashido leaps forward and strikes Teres's head, causing his body to shatter to pieces.

Escape the Crumbling Forest
Following this, Dondochakka informs Ichigo and the others of the exit from the Forest of Menos being a hole on the cliff above them, which Uryū is surprised by. However, when Renji asserts that they cannot leave without Rukia, which Ichigo concurs with before deciding that they should go look for her, Rukia walks up behind them and assures Ichigo that this will not be necessary, leaving the group startled by her sudden appearance. After apologizing for worrying her friends, Rukia introduces them to Ashido, who joins her, and explains that he is a Shinigami like them who saved her and allowed her to reach this point.

Once Ichigo infers from this that the exit really is above them, Dondochakka questions if he did not believe the Arrancar telling him so prior. Suddenly, the group is interrupted by the distant roars of Menos Grande, which prompts Renji to comment on their persistence and the Arrancar to begin panicking about their impending doom. With Ichigo beginning to assert that they should dispatch these Menos Grande, Ashido observes that they are currently far away and Rukia reminds Ichigo that they should get out of here because they came to Hueco Mundo to save Orihime Inoue, leading Ichigo to acknowledge this and agree with her.

Shortly afterward, Bawabawa carries the group up the side of the nearby wall to the wide gap within, and once Dondochakka is pulled up, Ashido draws the group's attention to the light ahead, which he reveals is the exit they need to head toward. When Ichigo wonders if this is where they came in through, Ashido clarifies that it is not and that they will need to get on the current of sand past the light in order to reach the surface. However, after the group begins running forward, Ashido notices a Menos Grande charging a Cero outside the gap and stops just in time to shield himself when the blast hits the floor of the gap behind him.

While an annoyed Renji notes that they are here, a wounded Parateraul stands on the edge of the gap in front of multiple Menos Grande and refuses to let the Shinigami escape as the Menos Grande begin charging Ceros behind him. Though Ichigo and Renji run past Ashido to confront the Menos Grande, he moves in front of them with Shunpo and deflects a fired Cero with the large mask from his coat prior to demanding that they disengage and keep going. With Ashido continuing to move around rapidly with Shunpo and deflect Ceros with the mask, Rukia runs forward in concern just as one of the deflected Ceros strikes the roof.

The force of the blast breaks off chunks of the rock and causes the passage to begin collapsing, which leads Uryū to urge his friends to leave while Rukia tells Ashido to come with them. Promising to follow them out as he continues deflecting Ceros, Ashido dodges a punch from an irate Parateraul with Shunpo and draws his Zanpakutō to attack the latter, with Rukia being separated from him by the falling rocks creating a barrier. After clashing with Parateraul's tail and forcing him to move back, Ashido rushes forward and stabs his Zanpakutō through Parateraul's side, resulting in the latter falling to the ground below while screaming Aizen's name.

Though Rukia desperately calls out to him, Ashido faces away from her and tells Rukia to save her friend prior to leaping back into the Forest of Menos with a yell, leaving a sorrowful Rukia to watch as the rocks fill the passageway. Soon afterward, in the desert of Hueco Mundo above, a huge cloud of sand bursts out of the ground while Ichigo, Rukia, Sado, Uryū, and Renji fall to the ground and Nel, Pesche, Dondochakka, and Bawabawa land ungracefully on their heads. Despite this, Nel cheerfully proclaims they made it back to the desert, Pesche states he never thought he would see the moonlight again, and Dondochakka reveals they are almost at Las Noches.

Aftermath
Near the celebrating Arrancar, a kneeling Rukia brings up Ashido mentioning how the Adjuchas had gotten stronger recently and admits that she could not bring herself to tell him fellow Shinigami had allied with the Hollows to change the world with the Hōgyoku because he had been fighting here for several hundred years. Crouching next to Rukia, Ichigo suggests that they steal the Hōgyoku from Aizen in addition to saving Orihime, and when the Arrancar proclaim that they are about to leave, Rukia and her friends walk over to Bawabawa, where Rukia pauses and mentally promises to come back for Ashido one day.