THE PRIMAL FEAR

Watching from a far palace, Tier Harribel, Emilou Apacci, Franceska Mila Rose, and Cyan Sung-Sun feel the air warp again, and Mila Rose faults Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez for firing a Gran Rey Cero inside the dome. Apacci scoffs and asks if she is scared, the two bicker, and Sung-Sun's remark that squabbling makes them look weak only sets them off further. A shockwave then rolls over the three Fraccion, leaving them braced and sweating. Harribel tells them the fright is natural, since Grimmjow has released his Resurreccion Pantera and they are tasting a primordial dread worth savoring, and she wonders aloud whether Ichigo Kurosaki is truly human, because the sheer weight and menace of his spiritual pressure make the clash feel like two Espada.

Meanwhile, Grimmjow rams Ichigo into a tower and notes he is holding his Hollow mask far longer than before, musing on whether it stems from training or his recent battles before waving the question off, glad only that the fight has not gone dull. He stabs a hand at Ichigo, who catches it mid-thrust, scoffs at the notion of a cracked mask making things boring, and rakes his blade across Grimmjow's chest in a spray of blood, adding that dullness would only come if Grimmjow were not released.

Ordering him to stay that way, Ichigo lunges and hammers down a strike that Grimmjow blocks with his forearm blades. Grimmjow kicks him, gets his foot elbowed aside, springs back to wind up a spinning kick, and when Ichigo dodges, whips his tail down onto Ichigo's head to slam him into the sand. As Grimmjow dives after him, Ichigo swings up from the dust, and the parried blade grinds along Grimmjow's arm before both land and collide again in a burst of scattered sand. Orihime Inoue, watching from afar, wonders whether that is even Ichigo anymore, and Grimmjow fires five Garra de la Pantera. Ichigo dodges, then realizes the projectiles are streaking toward Orihime and throws himself in their path to take them on his back. As Nel Tu cries out and Orihime falters at his masked face, he looks up with a sorrowful gaze and leaps back down at Grimmjow.

Harribel's group senses the released battle and remarks that Ichigo's aura resembles an Espada's. Ichigo begins matching Grimmjow's beast form, landing a deep chest cut and demanding he stay released. Grimmjow's Garra de la Pantera barrage forces Ichigo to shield Orihime with his own body, deepening her unease at his transformed appearance.

The fourth chapter of the thirty-second volume, HOWLING, it widens the lens to Tier Harribel's group before returning to the duel. Its events were adapted into Episode 166 of the anime, Desperate Effort vs. Desperate Effort! The Hollowfied Ichigo. The chapter deepens Orihime's fear that the mask is changing Ichigo into someone she no longer recognizes.