This kid was introduced in the very first chapter of this final arc, and in the first few chapters he was featured in the cover pages with Ichigo suggesting he would be prominent in the arc, but we have not seen him since chapter 500. The covers he was displayed in showed Ichigo in a mentor role towards him. Therefore, I pondered to when Shunsui told Ichigo's friends that if his power grew to great they would not let him return to the World of the Living. If this were the case, I was thinking maybe Ichigo would train him to protect Karakura Town in his stead. What do you guys think?