Time For Scare

Atop a ruined wall, Nanao receives a messenger bearing word signed jointly by Yamamoto and Hitsugaya, and wonders whether the double signature marks it as top secret. Below, Kyoraku stands over a defeated Sado, praising him for fighting so well. When Nanao rushes to him, she reports that Aizen is dead: his Saketsu and Hakusui were removed and his heart destroyed by a zanpakuto, which marks it a killing at some unidentified hand.

Kyoraku resolves to pay his respects. Nanao offers to finish Sado, but he stops her, reasoning that they cannot yet be certain the Ryoka are responsible, and that if they were, it is all the more reason to keep Sado alive. He orders the Fourth Division to secure him instead. Gazing at the sky, Kyoraku murmurs that matters are growing complicated.

At Senzaikyu, Ichigo barely blocks a downward blow from Kenpachi and flees, cursing himself for cowardice as he remembers his earlier failure. Kenpachi crashes through walls in pursuit, scolding him for running like a rabbit. Slipping away again, Ichigo reasons that his fear of Kenpachi's reiatsu is what stops his blade, and that steadying himself should let him cut. He recalls Zangetsu's warning that hesitation and fear mean death. When he senses Sado's spiritual pressure fade and then flicker back, Ichigo realizes his friends are doomed should he fall and hardens his resolve. Facing Kenpachi once more, he dashes past the captain's blade and cuts him across the chest, declaring that dying now is out of the question, since it would cost him all he has fought for.

Aizen's murder is confirmed, with his Saketsu and Hakusui removed and his heart destroyed. Kyoraku spares Sado and has him secured. Ichigo conquers his fear and lands his first genuine wound on Kenpachi.

The chapter opens the thirteenth volume, THE UNDEAD, and was adapted into Episode 38, Desperation! The Broken Zangetsu. The VIZ edition titles it A Time to Scare.