Lesson 1: One Strike! + Jailed at Home

Deep inside the Sixth Division's prison, Renji visits Rukia and pushes her to eat, only for her to trade barbs about his recent promotion before turning somber. When she asks whether she is truly to be executed, Renji admits it will come soon and mentions that Byakuya may plead for a lighter sentence. Rukia dismisses the notion, convinced her brother will sooner kill her himself, since he has never once looked her way in the four decades since the Kuchiki family took her in.

Beneath the shuttered shop, Ichigo is led into a vast underground wasteland that Urahara claims to have built overnight and cheerfully passes off as a training ground. After some banter about the sheer absurdity of the place, Urahara knocks Ichigo's soul loose from his body with his cane, leaving him gasping and feeble. He explains that Byakuya's strikes destroyed the two points that generate and amplify a Soul Reaper's power, reducing Ichigo to a powerless spirit who must rebuild his energy from scratch.

To manage that, Urahara tells him, he first has to learn to command his soul-body, and introduces the opening lesson: strike down the small girl standing in front of him. Ichigo recoils at the thought of hitting a child, but Ururu calmly tosses him protective gear, warns him to put it on or die, and unleashes a single punch that detonates with terrifying force. Urahara only smiles and points out that he did warn him. The chapter was adapted into episode 18, Reclaim! The Power of the Shinigami.