Ants And Dragons

Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kira, and Hisagi finish off the Hollows loosed against the pillars they were posted to protect. Ōmaeda, startled to see them, had assumed the four were left back in Soul Society, a notion that had let him feel superior; he demands to know whether he alone was unaware they would join the defense of the fake town. Yamamoto ignores him, but Kyōraku and Matsumoto confirm that everyone knew, and Suì-Fēng claims she told him, though he likely tuned her out, before second-guessing whether she ever mentioned it at all.

Unmoved by the quartet, Baraggan announces that if the enemy has stationed four ants to mind the pillars, he will loose four dragons to grind them down, and he orders his Fracción, Poww, Chuhlhourne, Abirama, and Findorr, to scatter toward the towers. Poww arrives first and squares off with Madarame, who remarks on his bulk and says he will pray the giant is as sturdy as he seems. Poww asks who a Shinigami would even pray to, and Madarame, admitting he worships nothing in particular, offers to pray to Poww's god instead; Poww answers that his god and king already knows Madarame stands no chance.

Findorr drops in on Hisagi and at once asks his rank; told he faces the vice-captain of the Ninth Division, Findorr resolves to fight at that same tier. Chuhlhourne fixes on Yumichika, who refuses to so much as look at him, calling him too ugly to view and earning a slap for it; the two bicker over who is uglier, with Chuhlhourne insisting the only ugliness lies in a heart that judges by appearance, until his patience snaps and he attacks. The final pairing sets Abirama against Kira; Abirama, roaring himself into a frenzy, mocks Kira for staying calm, while Kira dismisses such bluster as a childish, negative ritual. When Abirama sneers that Kira is a coward abandoned by his captain Ichimaru, Kira shears off a piece of the arrancar's mask and warns him never to speak Gin's name so lightly, adding that although Abirama's life is already forfeit, an easy death would be the kinder outcome.

Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kira, and Hisagi are revealed as the hidden guardians of the four pillars and destroy the Hollows sent after them. Baraggan dispatches his four Fracción to overwhelm them. The matchups form: Poww against Ikkaku, Findorr against Hisagi, Chuhlhourne against Yumichika, and Abirama against Kira. Kira slashes Abirama's mask after the taunt about Gin.

The chapter frames the entire pillar-guardian sequence, pitting Baraggan's Fracción against the Gotei 13's overlooked officers. Its events were adapted in episode 216 of the anime, Elite! The Four Shinigami.