Shaken

Gin Ichimaru teases Rukia for addressing him too familiarly, then admits it was only a joke and claims he is merely out for a stroll. Inwardly, Rukia recalls her lifelong dread of him, how his very presence during his visits to Byakuya felt like a serpent's coils tightening around her throat, a revulsion that never faded. When Gin remarks that Renji still clings to life, Rukia realizes she can faintly sense his fading spiritual power.

Gin plays on her fear, observing that death grows far more terrifying when one dreads for the people they love, then offers to free her and rescue her friends outright. Just as Rukia starts to believe he might be sincere, Gin reveals it was all a joke and walks off, promising to meet her at the Sōkyoku. Certain she had already surrendered every hope and every fear of death, Rukia finds that the dangled chance of rescue has broken her resolve, and she crumples screaming while Gin smiles behind her. At the pavilion, Komamura and Tōsen strike Kenpachi together, only for him to parry both blades at once, hurl Tōsen through a wall, and slam Komamura down, demanding they release their Bankai before they die.

The chapter belongs to the seventeenth volume, Rosa Rubicundior, Lilio Candidior, and was adapted into episode 53, Gin Ichimaru's Temptation, Resolution Shattered. It sharpens the enmity between Rukia and Gin while pushing Tōsen toward unleashing his Bankai against Kenpachi.