Good Bye Halcyon Days

Later that night, Ichigo is visited by Orihime, wearing Ulquiorra's bracelet that renders her invisible and intangible to anyone else. She chose him as the one friend she will bid farewell to, over all her other friends, as Ulquiorra dictated. Excited by being in Ichigo's room for the first time, Orihime leans to kiss Ichigo, but can't bring herself to do it. She confesses her love to Ichigo, saying even if she had five lives to do all the things she wanted, she would still want to fall in love with Ichigo every time.

The next morning Ichigo finds he has healed completely from his injuries. Tōshirō comes to pick him up to participate in a conversation with Captains Jūshirō Ukitake andShigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, who inform Ichigo and the others of the disappearance and possible death of Orihime Inoue. When Ichigo presents evidence that Orihime still lives, Yamamoto intervenes, saying while this proves Orihime lives it also proves she was not abducted but committed an act of betrayal. He forbids anyone, including Ichigo, to go after Orihime and recalls all the Gotei 13 members back to Soul Society, he enforces those decisions through Captains Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki

In school, Ichigo is forced to lie to his teacher and friends about the reasons for his absence. He shuns Mizuiro and Keigo, but when Tatsuki confronts him about Orihime and Ichigo won't give a stright answer, Tatsuki punches him in the face, and reminds of their long friendship. Keigo grabs Tatsuki to stop the fight, but Ichigo just wlaks away telling his three friends to keep a distance from him, hoping to protect them from the oncoming hardships. That very evening he departs to Hueco Mundo, accompanied by Chad with new found powers and Uryū, who recently regained his Quincy powers and acquired some useful items from his fathers vault, in a quest to save Orihime.

Having succeeded in their mission, the Arrancars return to Las Noches and face Aizen. As Aizen welcomes Orihime to Las Noches, he requests Orihime to show her powers as he notices Luppi's discontent over Orihime's presence. Luppi expresses his discontent over the fact that their entire excursion was merely a decoy to allow Orihime's abduction. Aizen then orders Orihime to heal Grimmjow's left arm. Luppi expresses his skepticism over what he sees as an impossibility, since Grimmjow's left arm was burned off by Tōsen, even threatening to kill Orihime if he finds her powers are false, but stops as he watches in disbelief at Grimmjow's severed arm being completely restored. Luppi then asks how the restoration occurred. Aizen calmly explains it as the "rejection of events" as it was not the "temporal regression" or "spatial regression" that Ulquiorra believed to be. Grimmjow asks Orihime to heal one more spot: his burnt number 6 tattoo. Luppi becomes suspicious, asking what Grimmjow was up to. Grimmjow responds by impaling him through the chest with his renewed hand and firing a pointblank Cero at the former No. 6, obliterating all of Luppi's upper body. Grimmjow then proceeds to laugh manically over his restored title and power.

Having succeeded in their mission, the Arrancars return to Las Noches and face Aizen. As Aizen welcomes Orihime to Las Noches, he requests Orihime to show her powers as he notices Luppi's discontent over Orihime's presence. Luppi expresses his discontent over the fact that their entire excursion was merely a decoy to allow Orihime's abduction. Aizen then orders Orihime to heal Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's left arm. Luppi expresses his skepticism over what he sees as an impossibility, since Grimmjow's left arm was burned off by Tōsen, even threatening to kill Orihime if he finds her powers are false, but stops as he watches in disbelief at Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's severed arm being completely restored. Luppi then asks how the restoration occurred. Aizen calmly explains it as the "rejection of events" as it was not the "temporal regression" or "spatial regression" that Ulquiorra believed to be. Grimmjow asks Orihime to heal one more spot: his burnt number 6 tattoo. Luppi becomes suspicious, asking what Grimmjow was up to. Grimmjow responds by impaling him through the chest with his renewed hand and firing a pointblank Cero at the former No. 6, obliterating all of Luppi's upper body. Grimmjow then proceeds to laugh manically over his restored title and power.