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Song to listen to while reading this chapter: "Deliver Us" by In Flames
Well that was definitely a chapter. Let's get into it.
FIRMLY GRASP IT
So we start off with Yhwach still getting hit by the crescent moon-like Getsuga Rey Cero. He's a little fazed, but apparently Ichigo's still out of his league, as Yhwach just kinda grabs and throws the attack back at him. As the two start clashing, Yhwach details Ichigo's pretty logical thought process of "he doesn't know how strong I am so let's take advantage of that", only to hammily proclaim that THE WINDOW IS SHUT as a bunch of eyes appear on his body, which I guess means The Almighty is on once more given his subsequent note that he can't underestimate Ichigo anymore. Ichigo and Yhwach begin clashing even harder, and when Ichigo pulls out the short sword Yhwach just separate his broadsword into two swords and pushes Ichigo back, complete with a "since when were you under the impression..." line, no less.
It's gotta be the work of enemy Stands
Then we get something unexpected: Yhwach apparently laid some traps for Ichigo with his precognition because wherever he lands, his feet get stabbed. Ouch. At least he's not getting holes blown in them like Shunsui did against Lille, I guess. However, during another close-range skirmish, Yhwach's attack doesn't connect, so Ichigo's left to believe that there's a weakness to The Almighty and resolves to find it...only to then get stabbed through the arm when he pauses to catch his breath. Cue a very apt monologue from Yhwach about how the future works: it's not linear, but is instead akin to countless grains of sand in the wind that he can choose and move between at will, and moving through these blindly is what inspires hope in humans. Or something. It's 4 am don't judge me. More importantly, however, Ichigo refuses to even consider the possibility of him perhaps maybe falling into despair because, well, he's Ichigo and promptly utters the magic word: BANKAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Good chapter overall. I think we all knew Ichigo's new form, as impressive as it is, wouldn't quite match up to Yhwach once he got serious, but it still made sense for him to use it, as Yhwach himself pointed out. Even though the shadow blade traps were a little strange, I really like Yhwach's sand explanation for how the future works, and of course I'm hyped for Ichigo's Bankai - though I highly doubt that will mark the end of this battle/series either.
Hoping beyond hope that we get another full-color chapter for it too, lel.