Murderous Intent! The Joyful Grimmjow

 is the one hundred and sixty-fifth episode of the Bleach anime.

Ichigo Kurosaki and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez begin their final battle.

Summary
In Szayelaporro Granz's palace, a battered and exhausted 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai gets to his feet, where Dondochakka Birstanne looms toward his face and asks him if he is alright. With Renji startled by this, Dondochakka questions what is wrong, prompting an annoyed Renji to push him back and remind Dondochakka that seeing the latter's face up close makes him feel like his heart is going to stop. When Dondochakka calls him mean for reacting this way to concern, Renji punches him onto the ground.

After Renji demands that Dondochakka not get close to him, which Dondochakka responds to by hopping back to his feet and agreeing, Pesche Guatiche watches this and commends their comedy routine before refusing to lose to them and encouraging Uryū Ishida to begin their turn with him. However, Pesche cannot find Uryū and begins calling out for him, leading Uryū to walk out from behind a chunk of rubble and criticize Pesche for being so loud since he can hear him, and despite Pesche inviting him to turn this into a game of shiritori, Uryū continues silently walking past him and approaches Renji.

Upon being informed by Uryū that Szayelaporro's Reiatsu does not seem to be anywhere nearby, Renji curses and wonders if he really did leave to change his clothes. Once Uryū affirms this and questions if he can run, Renji confirms that he can still do so while Pesche continues the shiritori game and Dondochakka is left confused by what is going on, which leads a resigned Uryū to comment on how stupid they are and Renji to reveal that they are running away. Meanwhile, Having confronted Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez in the tower where he ended his battle with Ichigo Kurosaki, Ulquiorra Cifer wonders what Grimmjow is doing here.

Though Ulquiorra inquires about why he is having Orihime Inoue heal someone Ulquiorra defeated, Grimmjow remains silent, causing Ulquiorra to infer that he has nothing to say for himself and stare at Orihime, who looks away, before dismissing this as irrelevant and ordering Grimmjow to give Orihime to him since Sōsuke Aizen put her under his supervision. However, Grimmjow refuses to do so and comments on how chatty Ulquiorra is today just before lunging forward to grab at Ulquiorra, who blocks this with the back of his left hand as Grimmjow asserts that he knows Ulquiorra is afraid to fight him under the belief that they might kill each other.

Grimmjow fires a point-blank Cero that sends Ulquiorra flying back, but as Grimmjow claims that he knew Ulquiorra would deflect it and that one strike would not be enough, Ulquiorra reappears above Grimmjow with Sonído and points his index finger down at Grimmjow's head to begin charging his own Cero with it. However, Grimmjow responds to this by holding his palm up against Ulquiorra's finger and firing another Cero in turn, creating an explosion of energy that levels the upper portion of the tower and engulfs a slightly burnt Ulquiorra in a large, swirling cloud of dust. From behind Ulquiorra, Grimmjow reaches over his shoulder.

After Grimmjow deposits a Caja Negación into Ulquiorra's Hollow hole, ricocheting beams of energy burst outward and encase an annoyed Ulquiorra prior to seemingly erasing him from existence. 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 Aizen to punish their Fracción with by sealing them inside a pocket dimension 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 he does not want Ichigo's pity, only for Ichigo to remind Grimmjow that he wanted a fair fight and assume he wants to keep his wounds so he has an excuse when he loses.

In response, Grimmjow draws his Zanpakutō and attacks Ichigo, who blocks with his Shikai, Zangetsu, prior to proclaiming they will have a good clean murder, which Ichigo accepts the challenge of. Soon afterward, with Grimmjow's arm being healed by Sōten Kisshun, Ichigo kneels in front of a tearful Nel, whom he comforts and assures alongside Orihime that he is going to win. Turning to Grimmjow, Ichigo requests they go somewhere else and leaps off the tower into the air alongside Grimmjow, blowing back Orihime and Nel with the resulting wind, before holding out Zangetsu and activating his Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu.

Following this, Ichigo lands atop a taller tower below him 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 before leaping down to meet Ichigo in midair for a fierce clash. As she watches Ichigo and Grimmjow battle from afar, Nel cringes and expresses concern for Ichigo, but Orihime kneels down, pats Nel's head, and promises her that Ichigo is going to win, and when Nel questions how she knows, Orihime simply reminds her that Ichigo said he would win, only for Nel to counter that scared people always speak overconfidently.

Orihime asserts that Ichigo is not the type to try to assure himself like this and only says he will win if he means it because he is a good guy who says such things as a promise, which she saw when Ichigo saved her from Acidwire and when they journeyed to Soul Society to rescue Rukia Kuchiki from her execution in order to reassure his friends. After theorizing that Ichigo has made this promise to himself, Orihime concludes that he is solidifying his resolve and cheerfully reiterates that Ichigo will win if he says he will. Despite this, a perturbed Nel notices Orihime's hand clenching while she claims they need to have faith and wait.

Back at the towers, 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.

With Grimmjow questioning if Ichigo does not feel the same, Ichigo denies having come here to kill him, but Grimmjow asserts that he is lying and that Ichigo wanting to rip him apart is understandable when he hurt Ichigo's friends, specifically when he impaled Rukia on his hand. 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, to Ichigo's confusion, before moving behind Ichigo with Sonído and striking 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.

Grimmjow mocks Ichigo for believing she was unharmed without perceiving what is happening to her internally, which leads an alarmed Ichigo to demand to know if they did something to her. Noting this is the expression he likes, Grimmjow pushes Ichigo back prior to decrying Ichigo's claim of coming here to save Orihime because he actually came here to fight, since him 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. Proclaiming that he does not need a better reason than this, Grimmjow concludes that whoever is left standing at the end gets to live.

Grimmjow encourages Ichigo to continue fighting, and 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 just before Grimmjow appears behind him with Sonído and slashes at Ichigo, who blocks with his sword. Moving to the ground far below Ichigo, who is injured in the process, Grimmjow embeds his Zanpakutō in the sands.

Cutting his finger on its blade, Grimmjow admits 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 he is about to use the ultimate Cero available only to the Espada, and as Ichigo realizes 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 seemingly 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.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
When 3rd Division Lieutenant Izuru Kira and 9th Division Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi open the door to her captain's quarters, 10th Division Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto photographs them with a camera and requests that they model for her, which they agree to. However, after photographing Izuru and Hisagi in increasingly brazen situations that remove more and more of their clothes until they are left wearing only fundoshi, Rangiku tells them to take those off as well and rips the fundoshi off an unwilling Izuru to take more photographs that she hands over to 8th Division Lieutenant Nanao Ise, who angrily declares that she cannot print these.

Fights & Events

 * Orihime's Confrontation (concluded)
 * Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez: Final Fight

Powers and Techniques Used
Zanpakutō Techniques:

Arrancar Techniques:

Other Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Bankai:

Other Powers:

Anime Notes
Added/Expanded Content= Censorship= Changes=
 * Dondochakka Birstanne and Pesche Guatiche annoying Renji Abarai and Uryū Ishida as they decide to flee from Szayelaporro Granz's palace.
 * Intense Reiatsu emanating off of Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and Ulquiorra Cifer as they initially clash.
 * Ichigo Kurosaki accepting Grimmjow's challenge of a fair fight to the death.
 * A concerned Nel Tu addressing Ichigo after he tells her not to worry.
 * Grimmjow verbally agreeing to move elsewhere when Ichigo asks him to.
 * Grimmjow shouting at Ichigo just before they begin clashing.
 * Nel asserting that people always say they will win in a fight, yet usually lose because the victor is not predetermined.
 * Orihime Inoue recalling Ichigo saving her from Acidwire and setting out alongside his friends to rescue Rukia Kuchiki as instances of him assuring victory in advance.
 * A flashback to Grimmjow impaling Rukia on his hand to determine if she or Ichigo was stronger.
 * A flashback to Ichigo scarring Grimmjow with a Bankai-enhanced Getsuga Tenshō.
 * A flashback to Ichigo grabbing Grimmjow's arm to make him stop choking Orihime.
 * Orihime and Nel reacting with shock to Ichigo donning his Hollow mask.
 * Grimmjow's arm is less severely burnt after countering Ulquiorra's Cero.
 * In the manga, when Orihime is clenching her hand behind her back, it is sweating; here, it is instead not.
 * In the manga, Ichigo prepares to fire a Getsuga Tenshō after intercepting Grimmjow's charging Cero with his sword; here, he instead does so beforehand.
 * In the manga, Ichigo is wounded by Grimmjow's slash that he blocks with his own sword; here, he is instead wounded by a rapid attack that Grimmjow makes while moving to the sands below.