Ichigo Strikes Back! This is my Bankai

Wandering the corridors of Las Noches, Renji mistakes an approaching presence for Ichigo, only to find a weeping Dondochakka trailing him in search of Nel. Nearby, Ichigo weathers the storm birds spawned by Dordoni's Resurrección, Giralda, holding them off with his Shikai while the Arrancar taunts him to release his Bankai or perish. Pinned in midair, Ichigo blasts the restraining bird apart with a close-range Getsuga Tenshō instead.

Dordoni keeps reforming the creatures and battering Ichigo with brutal kicks, determined to force his hand. When he readies a Cero, Nel throws herself in front of it, swallows the blast whole, and belches it straight back at him as a Cero Doble. Punished for the trick with a Bala, she nearly takes another strike before Ichigo finally draws Tensa Zangetsu, shields her, and carves open Dordoni's shoulder. He admits he had hoped to save the Bankai for the Espada rather than burn energy on a weaker enemy.

Revealing that the Arrancar have studied Ichigo's every battle, Dordoni presses him to display his Hollow powers and repeatedly targets Nel to bait him. Ichigo relents, dons the mask for a single promised second, and cuts Dordoni down from a distance in that instant. Beaten and later doused in Nel's healing drool, the old warrior confesses he sought to earn his way back among the Espada, then springs up and charges anew, declaring his ambition undimmed.

Nel demonstrates her ability to absorb and return a Cero, saving Ichigo mid-battle. Ichigo abandons his self-imposed restraint, activating his Bankai to protect her and severing Dordoni's shoulder horn, then briefly summons his Hollow mask to end the fight in a single unseen slash.

Dordoni exposes how thoroughly the Arrancar have analyzed Ichigo's fights in the living world, including his Hollowfication. Though defeated and even healed by Nel's saliva, he reveals his true motive was to reclaim a seat among the Espada by beating Ichigo at full strength, and he rises to resume the duel regardless of his wounds.

Adapted from chapters 252 through 254, this episode belongs to the first half of the Hueco Mundo invasion. The anime adds several touches absent from the manga, including Ichigo checking on Nel after her Cero Doble and Dordoni imagining sandwiches when Ichigo garbles his name. The Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book segment jokes that Byakuya dodged an Ōin escort duty by tending the carp at his manor.