340. The Antagonizer

Renji and Chad fight all the Hollows while Rukia begins her battle with Rudobōn. Meanwhile, up in the pillar, Ichigo and Ulquiorra continue to battle.

Summary
Renji and Chad continue to fight all the Hollows while Rukia prepares to take on Rudobōn, having taken care of all of the Exequias but him. Rudobōn then releases his Zanpakutō.

Ichigo and Ulquiorra continue to clash swords. Ichigo dodges a kick and attempts to counter, but Ulquiorra flips over him. Ichigo then releases a Getsuga Tensho at Ulquiorra, but he simply cuts through it and appears behind Ichigo, attempting to attack him from behind but Ichigo blocks Ulquiorra's blow. Ulquiorra then blasts a Cero directly at Ichigo. After the smoke clears, Ichigo is revealed to be mostly unharmed. Ulquiorra comments that Ichigo has gotten stronger since the last time they fought because he can now stand one of his Cero's without having to use his Hollow mask. Ulquiorra questions Ichigo how he has gotten stronger and continues to say that Orihime is one of them and even if he rescues her, that will not change and it is meaningless to do so. Ichigo tells Ulquiorra that it is not up to him to decide and Ulquiorra agrees, it was Aizen's decision.

Characters
Characters in order of appearance:
 * Renji Abarai
 * Yasutora Sado
 * Rukia Kuchiki
 * Rudobōn
 * Ulquiorra Cifer
 * Ichigo Kurosaki
 * Orihime Inoue