Mala Suerte!5 (LUCKY)

The snapped blade of Ryumon Hozukimaru falls from the smoke and buries itself in the pavement as Ikkaku, clutching the ruined handle, coughs blood and drops to the ground. Behind him Edrad, his right arm and much of his torso torn away by that final strike, is glad to have learned Ikkaku's name before his eyes roll back and his body crashes down blocks away in a thunderous burst. Lying there gripping the broken haft, Ikkaku is carried back to a nearly identical moment years earlier.

In the memory, a battered Ikkaku on the fringes of Rukongai begs a young Kenpachi to finish him off, having lost. Kenpachi refuses, telling him it is not his job to put down injured dogs, and berates him for wishing for death when he loves to fight, ordering him never to concede until he is dead and to count himself lucky just to have survived a loss. He names himself before walking away, a young Yumichika looking on. A later flashback shows Ikkaku turning down Renji's plea to become a captain after Aizen's defection, unwilling to broadcast his Bankai or give up his dream of fighting and dying under Kenpachi. In the present, Yumichika finds him crawling along a bloody trail, certain he would still be alive, and Ikkaku agrees that his luck outstripped anything Yumichika could picture. Across the town, a bloodied Renji fights on against Yylfordt while a spent Hitsugaya faces Shawlong.

Opening Volume 24, IMMANENT GOD BLUES, within the Arrancar arc, and adapted into Episode 119, Zaraki Division's Secret Story! The Lucky Men. In Weekly Shonen Jump the chapter appeared as Mala Suerte!5 LUCKY. Its flashbacks lay out the origin of Ikkaku's bond with Kenpachi and his reasons for hiding his Bankai from everyone but Yumichika and Renji.