Hero is Always With Me?

Straining to hold the Hollow back, Kanonji's spiritual pressure surges and he conjures a small blue orb, his self-styled finishing move. He aims it not at the enemy but at Ichigo's sword wedged in the ceiling; the sphere drifts up the blade and detonates, knocking it loose. Ichigo grudgingly praises the trick and rushes in, but the Hollow shoves the spent host aside, and Kanonji collapses after declaring the fight now rests in Ichigo's hands. With his palms still fused to the hilt, Ichigo cannot land a killing strike to the head, and the enraged creature crashes through the wall to the outside, dragging him along and scaling the roof.

Below, the show's helicopter films the gaping hole and spots Kanonji apparently shouting. Forcing himself upright, he tells the crew to cut away and crawls toward the rooftop. Up top, Ichigo is thrown clear and, freed of the cramped space and the host's presence, declares the monster finished. Just then Kanonji bursts through a rooftop door, barely able to stand, and Ichigo must dive in to repel the Hollow before slashing clean through its cracking mask.

As Kanonji celebrates, the slain Hollow's body dissolves to expose the bound spirit lying beneath, which then crumbles away as well. Devastated, the host insists he had purified the man's soul and begs for an explanation. Ichigo reveals the grim truth: souls still tethered by a chain of fate become Hollows when torn free of it, meaning Kanonji's habit of ripping open holes and breaking chains has been dooming spirits rather than saving them. Ichigo softens the blow, noting the host acted in ignorance and that his earlier subjects did not turn. Kanonji waves to his adoring crowd, resumes his trademark routine, and, to Ichigo's horror, declares the boy his number one disciple.

The chapter closes out the Don Kanonji episode, cementing the odd alliance between Ichigo and the medium while delivering a somber lesson about the origin of Hollows. It was adapted into the anime's tenth episode, Casual Soul Realm Assault Trip! Viz published it as A Hero is Always With Me? and it belongs to the fourth collected volume.