353. The Ash

Summary
The blast from Hollow Ichigo's Cero destroys Ichigo's Hollow mask. Ichigo collapses to the ground and Orihime runs to his side. Ulquiorra watches in silence. In thought, Ulquiorra says that even though the rest of his limbs are regenerating, he cannot restore the organs that Hollow Ichigo had blown away.

Suddenly, a strong whirlwind of spirit energy surrounds the Hollow hole in Ichigo's chest before exploding from the hole itself, making the Hollow hole disappear. Everyone is shocked by this and Ulquiorra says it was high-speed regeneration. Ichigo suddenly rises to his knees and grabs his chest where the hole used to be. He exclaims, "Wasn't there a hole in my chest!?" in disbelief. He then asks Orihime if she was alright before suddenly noticing Uryu off to the side with Zangestu sticking out of his stomach.

Uryu smiles and says finally he was back. In shock, Ichigo asks if it was him who did that to Uryu. Ulquiorra suddenly interupts Ichigo and then roughly yanks Zangestu out of Uryu's stomach. He tosses the Zanpakutō at Ichigo saying he wants to finish this. Ichigo questions Ulquiorra if it was him who cut off his arm and leg and stabbed Uryu. He then tells Ulquiorra to cut of his own arm and leg too so they can fight equally. Before Ulquiorra can do so, his wing suddenly starts to disinergrate into ash. Ulquiorra says it's the end for him. He asks Ichigo to kill him quickly or it'll never be over. Ichigo won't do it saying it wasn't the way he wanted to win.

Ulquiorra then turns to Orihime and says that he finally has started to find them to be a little interesting. He then asks Orihime if she was afraid of him. Orihime answers that she is not. The two reach for each other's hands, but Ulquiorra completely fades to ash before they can touch.

Characters
Characters in order of appearance:
 * Uryu Ishida
 * Orihime Inoue
 * Ichigo Kurosaki
 * Ulquiorra Cifer