Unleash the Beast

A shaken Orihime repeats Nnoitra's claim that Nel is a former Espada, and Nnoitra mocks both her and Ichigo for being fooled by a helpless-looking child. Nel weakly denies ever holding the rank, insisting her memory is fine, so Nnoitra lifts his foot to stomp her, calling her a bore. Ichigo darts between them and knocks the leg aside with his fist. As Nel begs him to believe she was not deceiving him, Ichigo warmly assures her he already knows and starts to remind her they are friends, only for Nnoitra to boot him in the head and send him flying.

Concluding that Nel truly has lost her memory, Nnoitra admits he should not be surprised, since her skull was split open the last time he saw her. He then seizes her head and declares that he was the one who cracked it, enraging Ichigo into a charge. Nnoitra spears Ichigo's ankle, but Ichigo pushes through and swings for his chest, only for the blade to leave the Espada untouched, a reminder that he cannot be cut. A rising kick to the jaw hurls Ichigo away.

Musing that Nel used to annoy him the same way Ichigo does now, Nnoitra explains this is why he cracked her head and abandoned her in the desert. When Ichigo lunges again, Nnoitra shields himself with Nel just long enough to smash Ichigo into the sand, then kneels beside him and slowly bends his sword arm sideways to break it. Nel's anguished scream detonates into a wave of Reiatsu behind Nnoitra, who turns to find a grown Nelliel glaring at him through the clearing dust.

Nnoitra confesses that he personally cracked Nel's mask, causing her regression and amnesia, and continues to overpower Ichigo, whose blade cannot pierce him. Nel's desperate emotion over Ichigo triggers a surge of power that returns her to her original adult body, transforming the fight.

The chapter ran in Weekly Shonen Jump under the alternate title The Broken Mask and was adapted in Episode 192, Nel's Secret, a Big-Breasted Beauty Joins the Battle!? Nel's involuntary transformation begins her return as a genuine combatant.