Lesson 2-2: Bad Ending in the Shaft

Pinned at the bottom of the pit beneath Kisuke Urahara's shop, Ichigo watches tiny mouths sprout along the frayed end of his Chain of Fate and start eating it, a process Urahara names Encroachment. Bound by Tessai's spell, Ichigo grinds the chain against the wall to crush the mouths, only for a chunk to be torn from his own chest. Urahara reveals a gas in the pit accelerates the ordeal, leaving seventy-two hours before Ichigo either wakes as a Shinigami or is put down as a Hollow.

In a derelict Karakura building, Yoruichi coaches Orihime and Sado, who cannot summon their abilities by shouting. She has them recall the moment they first fought back, teaching that power surfaces from the wish to shield something dear. Orihime pictures Tatsuki, her hairpins glitter, and the Shun Shun Rikka erupt once she declares she is going to Soul Society for Ichigo's sake, though Tsubaki scolds her for the needless summons.

Back below, the mouths sleep between bouts, and Ichigo tries scaling the wall during the lull, managing only a short climb before tumbling down. Jinta torments him with talk of hunger signaling Hollowfication and dangled spit, while Urahara notes how the place erases any sense of time. Later, Jinta names the grim milestone: seventy hours in, the point most souls turn. Mouths bloom across every remaining link, devour the whole chain, and a mask begins forming over Ichigo's face as he screams.

Urahara explains Encroachment and imposes a seventy-two-hour deadline on Ichigo. Yoruichi teaches Orihime and Sado that their powers arise from wanting to protect someone, and Orihime manifests the Shun Shun Rikka by resolving to save Ichigo. Deep in the pit, Ichigo's Chain of Fate is entirely consumed, and a Hollow mask starts to form.

This chapter opens the eighth volume, THE BLADE AND ME, within the Agent of the Shinigami arc. Its events feed Episode 18, Reclaim! The Power of the Shinigami, and Episode 19, Ichigo Becomes a Hollow. Viz released it under the title Lesson 2-2: Bad Ending in the Shaft.