Rukia Kuchiki vs. Rudbornn Chelute

 is the battle between the Shinigami, Rukia Kuchiki and Captain of the Exequias, Rudbornn Chelute, taking place during the Invasion of Hueco Mundo. It is Rukia's second battle and Rudbornn's first battle where he exhibits his powers.

Prelude
After Orihime Inoue is taken back to Sōsuke Aizen by Coyote Starrk, Aizen makes an announcement to all of Hueco Mundo. He informs them Orihime is in the fifth tower, should anyone want to retrieve her, and he has closed the Gargantas the captains used for entry into Hueco Mundo. Stating he is leaving to destroy Karakura Town, he orders Ulquiorra Cifer to take charge of Las Noches. Ichigo Kurosaki runs off to rescue Orihime as Ulquiorra declares his challenge to Ichigo. Before he gets far, he is attacked by Rudbornn and the Exequias. The Exequias look to stop Ichigo from going any further as they overwhelm him with their numbers. They are ambushed by Lieutenant Renji Abarai, Yasutora Sado, and Rukia. As Rudbornn tells the Calaveras to not get distracted, he, drawing his swords, moves to attack Ichigo. He is halted by Rukia's Tsugi no mai, Hakuren, which freezes his right arm. As Ichigo expresses his joy that Rukia is alright, she tells him to hurry up and continue on. Rudbornn, freeing his right arm, faces off against Rukia as Ichigo leaves the battlefield.

Battle
The battle begins with Rukia fighting Rudbornn's subordinates, defeating all of them. As Rukia tells Rudbornn his underlings have all been defeated, Rudbornn releases his Zanpakutō, Árbol. Rudbornn, disregarding Rukia's comment, asks her what difference is there if all of his subordinates have fallen, telling Rukia she will soon learn that defeating his underlings will not bring her victory. Turning her head towards the fifth tower as she hears a loud rumble and blast from the building, Rukia murmurs Ichigo's name out of concern for her friend.

As their battle continues, Rukia continues to fight one Calavera after another. Rudbornn, taunting Rukia as she struggles against his numerous Calaveras, tells her Árbol's "godlike" ability is to continuously create loyal soldiers without limit. More Calaveras, created from Rudbornn's Árbol, attack Rukia. Rudbornn laments at how, despite being given a power like a divine creator from Aizen, he could not make the level of an Espada. He tells Rukia they can never match them, as opposing such "greatness" is the pinnacle of foolishness for the "undisciplined dogs" Rukia and her allies are because they are just "'birds against a shield.'" After fighting more Calaveras, Rudbornn compliments her on still having the will to fight after defeating so many enemies. He notes she has infinite aptitude as a Shinigami, but she is fighting an endless battle, as he can provide an infinite number of combatants for her to fight. As the Calaveras move to attack her, Rukia stabs one of them, but he, falling on top of her, pins her under him. As other Calaveras move to attack while she is trapped, she is saved by the arrival of Yasutora Sado and Renji Abarai, who takes the Calaveras out with Hihiō Zabimaru. As Renji and Rukia get into a mild argument, they are interrupted by Rudbornn, who asks the new arrivals if they are Rukia's backup. He states it does not matter, as their arrival will not change anything because he will simply create more soldiers to deal with their increased numbers. When Renji asks if Rudbornn can grow a large number of soldiers, similar to a fruit tree, Sado, correcting him, states fruit trees grow a finite amount of fruit. The two begin to argue, and as Rukia listens, she formulates a plan. The trio, surrounded by Calaveras, are grossly outnumbered. Rukia tells Renji and Sado to deal with Rudbornn's subordinates while she deals with the "root" of the problem. As Renji attacks with his Bankai and Sado uses El Directo, Rukia goes for Rudbornn. As Rukia and the others notice the reiatsu coming from up above them, Rudbornn, turning his head, notes that Ulquiorra has gone through the dome of Las Noches.

Rukia, Sado, and Renji continue their battle against Rudbornn inside Las Noches, with Rudbornn creating more of his Calaveras. Sado uses El Directo against Rudbornn, but Rudbornn, using his subordinates to create a shield against the attack, explains his powers have no limit. Rukia, stating she never thought Rudbornn would use his own subordinates as a shield, explains her plan to Sado and Renji: she'll use Hakuren to freeze Rudbornn's warriors, Sado will attack the frozen soldiers, and Renji will finish Rudbornn off with Hihiō Zabimaru. When Renji uses his Hikotsu Taihō technique with Hihiō Zabimaru against the now-vulnerable Rudbornn, Rudbornn, creating more of his soldiers to stop the attack, causes Renji's Bankai to collapse. Rudbornn compliments them on their plan being an excellent effort, but explains again that, with an infinite number of warriors, no one can reach him. As Rudbornn is about to finish off the three, he is caught by Rukia's ice, and his body begins to freeze from the bottom up. Rukia reveals the real plan was to keep Rudbornn's attention away from herself. Because Rudbornn's attention was diverted, Rukia, seeing this as an opening, took advantage of it by freezing Rudbornn's "branches." She tells Rudbornn he should not have shown her his power because if his power is to bear soldiers like fruit, it is simply a matter of freezing his "fruit-bearing limbs" because frozen limbs bear no fruit. As Rudbornn curses her, his body is fully encased in ice.

Aftermath
Before Rukia can finish Rudbornn, both combatants are surprised by the sudden appearance of an angry and bigger Yammy Llargo who immediately attacks Rudbornn, breaking a significant part of his mask in the process.