El Violador

With his mask gone and his strength spent, Ichigo drops through the air after a slashed chest, barely raising Tensa Zangetsu to fend off Grimmjow, who reads his heavy breathing as proof the fight is won and taunts that even Ichigo's new power was not enough. Nearby, Luppi whips his tentacles into a spin to batter Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika bloody, bored that supposed Gotei 13 officers offer so little, while Yammy sulks at having nothing to do and Wonderweiss idly eats a dragonfly.

Luppi binds the three Shinigami and, leering at Rangiku, sprouts a mass of spikes to run her through, only for Urahara to arrive at the last second and shear the tentacle away with Benihime. He introduces himself with mock courtesy as a humble candy-shop owner and readies an attack, but Wonderweiss lunges from behind and forces him to fend the newborn Arrancar off, taking a wound in the exchange that proves the vacant creature is far from harmless.

At the central gate in the Seireitei, Orihime is cleared to cross the now-stabilized Dangai and sets off with two low-ranking escorts, no longer treated as an intruder, silently promising her friends she can finally help. Waiting in the passage, Ulquiorra scorns the thin guard and steps out of a Garganta at her back, calling the Dangai the deadliest stretch of her journey. This chapter was adapted into episode 139.