Collision! Black Bankai and White Bankai

Deep in his inner world, Ichigo and his white double invoke Bankai together, and the surge freezes his real body mid-fight against Lisa Yadōmaru as spiritual pressure erupts and pale matter spills from a fresh hole in his chest. Shinji Hirako recognizes the process is starting. The two Ichigos, clad in mirror-image Tensa Zangetsu, cross blades before the white one splits away in a burst of contrasting energy.

Ichigo is abruptly relocated to Sōkyoku Hill, where Byakuya Kuchiki bombards him with Senbonzakura and then its Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, mocking him as weak and unfit to command a true Bankai. Blade petals cleave the hill in two and shred Ichigo repeatedly. He rejects the taunts, insisting he already wields his Bankai, before the vision snaps back to his Hollow, who urges him to enjoy the fight rather than seethe. The Hollow bats aside Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshō and answers with a devastating white one of his own.

Outside the barrier, Kensei Muguruma spells Lisa after her ten-minute turn, introducing himself as the one who will finish the Hollow. He slices through its shoulder, only for it to seal instantly with High-Speed Regeneration, and a follow-up Bakudantsuki is countered by a worm-like maw before the Hollow grows a new, spiked left arm.

The hallucinations continue with Jin Kariya confronting Ichigo in the Bount underground city and the Sōkyoku Hill study chamber. Kariya lectures him on the endless cycle of conflict, strips away his sword, forces him to manifest Zangetsu from nothing, then proves Ichigo cannot cut a foe with a blade that regrets cutting. Back in the true inner world, the Hollow poses his riddle about the king and the horse, arguing that raw instinct and bloodlust decide dominance, and impales Ichigo to claim the throne. Grasping the buried sword, Ichigo turns it black from his grip outward, startling the Hollow, as a bell chimes and his focus returns.

This installment adapts chapters 219 through 221 and heavily expands the manga with the invented duels against Byakuya and Kariya, plus flashbacks to Kenpachi Zaraki. The Visored timing gag is played out fully, with Hiyori reminding Shinji that resting Lisa cannot fight and Hachigen protesting being counted while he holds the barrier. Several censorship edits reduce the blood from Kensei's slash, the Hollow's point-blank Getsuga, and Ichigo's impalement. The Kon-sama comedy segment shows Yachiru returning Kon to his plush body only to try eating him.