Desperation! The Broken Zangetsu

Inside the Senzaikyū grounds, Ichigo Kurosaki keeps sprinting away from Kenpachi Zaraki, unable to land a single scratch despite putting his full weight behind every swing. Each clash leaves craters and sends him skidding backward, and the fear of the captain's overwhelming Reiatsu keeps blunting his blade. Panting in an alley, Ichigo talks himself down, reasons that raw spirit pressure is the only thing dulling his edge, and sharpens his own resolve after recalling Zangetsu's warning that hesitation means death.

When he senses Yasutora Sado's Reiatsu nearly vanish, then flicker back to life, Ichigo strips away his doubt and charges. This time his strike opens a clean gash across Kenpachi's chest, delighting the captain, who reveals his sword has no name and never carried a sealed shape. Kenpachi confesses he holds back constantly because his power is too immense to seal, then drives his blade through both Zangetsu and Ichigo's chest, snapping the sword in two and dropping the boy. As Kenpachi walks off, time freezes and the spirit of Zangetsu steps forward toward the collapsing Ichigo.

A Riteitai messenger reaches Lieutenant Nanao Ise with a top-secret order jointly sealed by Yamamoto and Hitsugaya. Elsewhere, Shunsui Kyōraku stands over the beaten Sado and marvels that a mere Human could breach the Seireitei. Nanao arrives to report that Aizen was killed, his Saketsu and Hakusui torn out and his heart destroyed. When she offers to finish off Sado, Shunsui catches her Kidō-charged hand and insists the boy be jailed alive, reasoning a living witness matters if one of the Ryoka is truly the assassin.

In the Fourth Division's relief station, Retsu Unohana confirms to Kaname Tōsen and Sajin Komamura that Aizen has genuinely died, having ruled out a Gigai deception. Tōsen resolves to enter the fighting, believing the fastest path to the truth is ending the conflict, even as he laments that he detests battle. Ichigo finally cuts Kenpachi, only to be run through moments later, his Shikai shattered.

This installment belongs to the Soul Society: The Sneak Entry arc and adapts material from chapters 108 through 110. It aired in Japan on June 28, 2005, and reached English audiences on June 24, 2007, opening with D-tecnoLife and closing on Hōkiboshi. The anime trimmed some panels, such as Ichigo scolding himself for cowardice, while expanding the flashback of his earlier failure and adding Rukia standing alone in the Shishinrō. Censorship reduced the blood shown when Kenpachi takes his first wound, and several beats were reordered from the manga's sequence.