The Pride

The blast leaves Yammy clinging to a broken ledge. Uryu Ishida identifies him as the Arrancar that Szayelaporro once mentioned and offers a mocking Mala suerte, Spanish for tough luck, as the ledge crumbles and Yammy drops away. Because Uryu shattered the supports on every floor during his climb, the fall should carry the giant all the way down. Uryu then explains to Ichigo why he took so long and how he concealed the mine on the ceiling below. Ichigo asks him to guard Orihime, with his own body if her Shun Shun Rikka cannot, and Uryu answers that he meant to anyway.

Ichigo tells Ulquiorra he will finally show him the Hollowfication he wanted to witness and pulls the mask over his face. His opening rush cracks Ulquiorra's blade and carries the fight beyond the pillar. Ulquiorra looses a Cero, which Ichigo blocks with Zangetsu, then races upward toward the false sky. Ichigo chases him, and the pair burst through the ceiling onto the outer dome. There Ulquiorra states that Espada ranked Cuatro and above are barred from releasing inside, and he begins to unseal his Zanpakuto with the command Enclose.

Collected in the fortieth volume, THE LUST, the chapter was adapted in Episode 269. It appears in English as The Pride, the same title used, in capital letters, for its Weekly Shonen Jump printing.