Tōshirō Hitsugaya vs. Shawlong Koufang

 is a fight taking place during the Arrancar Invasion between 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Arrancar #11. Shawlong Koufang.

Prelude
Following Ichigo Kurosaki and his allies' brutal encounter with Ulquiorra Cifer and Yammy Llargo in Karakura Town, 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya joins Strike Force headed by 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai, meant to assist Ichigo and his friends in the new conflict, in order to keep an eye on his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto. Upon reuniting with Ichigo at Karakura High School, Hitsugaya stands by while Rukia Kuchiki forces Ichigo to battle a Hollow and later leaves with the rest of the Strike Force to discuss the situation at the Kurosaki Clinic.

Simultaneously, Ulquiorra returns to Las Noches and relays his confrontation to Aizen and the other Arrancar through Solita Vista, where they learn that Ulquiorra determined Ichigo was not worth killing and thus left him alive. Though Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez criticizes him for this since it presents the risk of Ichigo growing too strong to kill later, Aizen determines that Ulquiorra did nothing wrong, to Grimmjow's frustration. That night, Grimmjow comes to Karakura Town himself and is joined by Shawlong Koufang and the rest of his Fracción once the sun sets. When Shawlong notes that he sensed several different strong Reiatsu on their way here, Grimmjow has them utilize Pesquisa in order to accurately determine how many combatants are nearby, and once they are all detected, Grimmjow orders his Fracción to kill anyone with Reiatsu.

When he senses the Reiatsu of the Arrancar as they move out across Karakura Town, Hitsugaya swallows a King Gikongan and orders it to hide his Gigai. After Rangiku joins him on the rooftop and he draws his Zanpakutō, Hitsugaya questions where Orihime is, and once Rangiku assures him her Gigai will keep Orihime safe, Hitsugaya tells her the Arrancar are coming. Suddenly, Shawlong and Nakeem appear before Hitsugaya and Rangiku with Sonído, shocking Rangiku with their speed, and Shawlong greets them before attacking Hitsugaya, who manages to block Shawlong's slash from behind. After introducing themselves to each other, Hitsugaya and Shawlong separate, with Shawlong calling himself lucky for having found the 10th Division Captain and Hitsugaya countering that he has instead had fatally bad luck.

Battle
After Di Roy Rinker is killed, Shawlong notices and comments on his death. Some time later, Shawlong stands dispassionately across from Hitsugaya, who has activated his Bankai, Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, and pants heavily while bleeding from a wound on his forehead. Looking down, Hitsugaya sees Nakeem Grindina standing over an incapacitated Rangiku and mentally curses as Shawlong expresses disappointment at this being all a captain's Bankai can do and calls Hitsugaya pathetic. Moments later, Shawlong notices Yylfordt Granz having activated his Resurrección, Del Toro, and muses that he must have gotten bored or been wounded by an unexpected attack, though he considers the latter to be extremely unlikely.

Suddenly, Hitsugaya comes down on Shawlong from above with a downward stab of the blade of Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, leading Shawlong to block it with his Zanpakutō while ice explodes around them. Though Shawlong easily pushes Hitsugaya away and comments on how amusing this was, Hitsugaya reveals that he is not done yet as the tail of Daiguren Hyōrinmaru slams into a surprised Shawlong from behind. However, Hitsugaya is left annoyed when the water vapor clears to reveal an uninjured Shawlong having blocked the strike with his Zanpakutō and only gotten it and his right arm covered in ice, which he breaks off by opening his hand. After noting that Hitsugaya whipping his tail seems like an act of desperation, which he considers unfortunate, Shawlong brings up how the ice flower floating behind Hitsugaya is coming apart.

When Hitsugaya questions why this matters, Shawlong theorizes that the flower represents the energy left in Daiguren Hyōrinmaru since Hitsugaya's young age means it is likely not fully developed yet and the enormous amount of Reiryoku required to maintain a Bankai makes it difficult to sustain in a long fight even for a captain and especially when it is imperfect. With the right petal of the ice flower shattering, Shawlong concludes that the flower will continue to disintegrate like this and cause Daiguren Hyōrinmaru to disappear when all the petals are gone. Shawlong notes that Hitsugaya is down to three petals from twelve and that he could easily wait for Daiguren Hyōrinmaru in order to win, only to decide against this due to Hitsugaya deserving respect as a captain and instead choose to strike with everything he has while Hitsugaya still has some energy left. Upon positioning his Zanpakutō between his hands, Shawlong activates his Resurrección, Tijereta, creating a cocoon of Reiatsu that unfolds to reveal him having gained long, sharp blade-like claws and an armored carapace ending in a pointed tail. Inspecting his claws, Shawlong slashes a stunned Hitsugaya faster than the latter can react and introduces himself as Arrancar #11. prior to asserting that it was nice to meet him.

Shawlong proceeds to slash through the right wing of Daiguren Hyōrinmaru with the claws of Tijereta, which he cleans the blood off of as Hitsugaya begins regenerating his right wing with moisture from the atmosphere. Upon seeing this, Shawlong admits to being impressed by Hitsugaya proving himself a captain through standing his ground despite being hopelessly outclassed, only for an unfazed Hitsugaya to bring up Shawlong identifying himself as Arrancar #11. and questioning if this means he is the eleventh-strongest Arrancar. However, Shawlong denies this and clarifies that his number indicates his birth order rather than his strength.

Once he reveals that this only applies to numbers above ten, startling Hitsugaya, Shawlong explains that while Hollows reborn as Arrancar through the Hōgyoku are numbered according to the order of their birth, the strongest Arrancar are numbered one through ten in order of their Reiryoku, comprising the ten Espada whose numbers are inscribed somewhere on their bodies and who hold authority over the rest of the Arrancar. Musing that the strength of an Espada makes his own pale in comparison, Shawlong warns Hitsugaya that a member of the group of Arrancar who came to Karakura Town tonight is the sixth Espada, Grimmjow. Soon afterward, Hitsugaya is injured by Shawlong once more and mentally pleads with Rangiku to hurry up since he cannot keep this up much longer.

Suddenly, Rangiku informs Hitsugaya that he has been authorized to use Gentei Kaijo, which prompts an elated Hitsugaya to reveal his division insignia on his chest and perform Gentei Kaijo, resulting in a large column of Reiatsu surging out of his body into the sky. With Shawlong and questioning what Gentei Kaijo, he is struck by Hitsugaya's Reiatsu and has his right forearm blown off and frozen at the sharp stump. Emerging from the swirling Reiatsu, Hitsugaya explains to Shawlong that Gentei Kaijo is the result of Gotei 13 captains and lieutenants being required to wear a Gentei Reīn somewhere on their bodies when they enter the Human World.

After elaborating that this is done in order to avoid inadvertently harming or altering Humans with their power, causing their powers to be reduced by up to 80%, and concluding that their strength is consequently quintupled through Gentei Kaijo, Hitsugaya prepares to use Ryūsenka, which prompts a frightened Shawlong to order Yylfordt and Nakeem to retreat for now. However, as Shawlong attempts to flee, Hitsugaya asserts that he is not going anywhere and leaps after Shawlong to pierce his throat, creating a massive cross of ice in midair that shatters in his wake.

Aftermath
While the frozen body of Shawlong shatters into dozens of pieces, the penultimate ice petal of Daiguren Hyōrinmaru disintegrates behind him, resulting in a large amount of blood spurting from Hitsugaya's multiple injuries and causing him to collapse. Running over to Hitsugaya in concern, Rangiku begs Orihime to come up to the rooftop and heal him, which she begins doing immediately with Sōten Kisshun. The next day, on the rooftop of Karakura High School, a healed Hitsugaya learns that the Arrancar he and Rangiku fought were just Gillians and warns Rangiku that them needing Gentei Kaijo to defeat foot soldiers means that they cannot take the Arrancar lightly.