The Burial Chamber

Across the Seireitei, Shinigami watch the aftermath of the summit battle in disbelief. Standing with his back to Byakuya Kuchiki and leaning on Tensa Zangetsu to stay upright, Ichigo Kurosaki bleeds from a fresh wound as the captain, cut across the chest, recalls his opponent's blade splitting the edge of Shūkei: Hakuteiken. Byakuya at last answers the question put to him: those who break the law must be judged and punished, and a noble of the Kuchiki Clan cannot let affection for kin outweigh that duty, since the great houses exist to set the example. Ichigo replies that he still cannot understand it and would have defied the law in the captain's place.

The answer stirs Byakuya's memory of Kaien Shiba, and he realizes he was never truly the young man's foe, for Ichigo has been at war with Soul Society's rules all along. Conceding that this same ferocity has shattered his sword, Byakuya renounces his pursuit of Rukia, grants Ichigo the win, and departs by flash step. Ichigo's brief celebration collapses into dizziness from blood loss, and Orihime Inoue's attempt to catch him ends with his skull knocking into her face. Sado, Uryū, Ganju, and Makizō Aramaki gather around, and Orihime tearfully admits she was never in danger, having been shielded by Uryū and even carried by Kenpachi Zaraki, and was simply frightened for Ichigo.

Away from the reunion, Tōshirō Hitsugaya and his lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto descend through the thirteen sealed walls of the Central 46 Compound and are horrified to find the realm's entire ruling council slain in their seats, a discovery that pivots the arc toward its conspiracy. The chapter falls in the Soul Society arc, appears in the nineteenth volume, and was adapted into the fifty-ninth episode of the anime.