The Superchunk

With the Seireitei sealed behind its stone wall, the assembled Shinigami note that the intruders have fallen outside, leaving the matter to Jidanbo. The giant plants his huge axe beside Ichigo and asks to see what he can do. Watching from a distance, Yoruichi explains that Jidanbo was chosen from all of Soul Society's giants to guard the White Way Gate, that none has passed him in three hundred years, and that one swing of his axe can kill thirty Hollows.

When Orihime and Sado run to help, Jidanbo upturns the ground with his axe to wall them off, then lays out the city's rules, including that fights must stay one-on-one. He claims Ichigo as his opponent for arriving first and asks the others to wait. Uryu protests that Ichigo cannot possibly win alone after only ten days of training, but Ichigo tells them all to stay put.

Ichigo recounts that he reclaimed his Shinigami powers in just five days, then spent the remaining five in relentless combat against Urahara, gaining stamina and grit rather than any secret technique. He draws Zangetsu. Jidanbo brings his axe down, and as Sado recalls Urahara's point that Ichigo simply needed real experience to match the Shinigami, the dust clears to show Ichigo halting the enormous blade with one hand, coolly asking whether attacking before he was ready counts as bad manners too.

Jidanbo walls off Orihime and Sado and enforces a one-on-one fight. Yoruichi details Jidanbo's reputation and the White Way Gate. Ichigo explains he regained his powers in five days and trained against Urahara for five more. He blocks Jidanbo's opening axe strike one-handed with Zangetsu.

The chapter is adapted in Episode 21, Enter! The World of the Shinigami. Viz kept the title as The Superchunk. Izuru Kira and Shuhei Hisagi appear among the watching Shinigami.