YOUR ENEMY IS MY ENEMY

Shinji's killing blow never lands. Tosen's sword whips toward his face, forcing a desperate retreat, and when Tosen presses the follow-up, Komamura's blade catches it. The wolf captain announces he has come to back the Visored, and to Shinji's puzzled question replies simply that wiping out the Menos was service enough to earn his gratitude.

Nearby, a freed Harribel lunges at Hitsugaya, only for Lisa to bat her weapon aside and Hiyori to slash at her, both blows evaded. Hitsugaya decides there is no time to fret over whether the Visored are friend or foe, and Hiyori snaps that she has no wish to aid any Shinigami anyway. Hachi voices the same sentiment, and Lisa sums it up: a shared enemy makes them allies for now. After Kensei fells another Menos, Mashiro sulks that she wanted the kill, so he sends her off to deal with Hooleer instead.

Rose launches into a speech about how banding together against a common threat is both a human vice and a universal survival instinct, until Love clouts the back of his head and tells him to concentrate. The pair square off against Starrk, who idly wonders whether they should have kept their masks on. Mashiro, meanwhile, plants herself before Wonderweiss and batters Hooleer with kick after kick, splitting the beast open and drenching herself in its blood. Elsewhere Komamura reflects to Tosen that their roles have reversed: once he guarded Tosen from Kenpachi's strike, and now he shields someone else from Tosen's own. Tosen answers that he always knew the two would eventually cross swords, and that one of them would not walk away. Before he can act, Hisagi lashes his chained Zanpakuto around Tosen's blade, apologizing to Komamura for muscling into a fight he means to share.

Tosen blocks Shinji, then Komamura intervenes to protect the Visored. Harribel escapes the ice and is driven back by Lisa and Hiyori. The captains and Visored settle into an uneasy alliance against Aizen's forces. Mashiro ruptures Hooleer with repeated kicks. Komamura confronts Tosen over their inverted history, and Hisagi joins the fight by ensnaring Tosen's sword.

The closing chapter of volume 42, Shock of the Queen, adapted into episode 279, Hirako and Aizen...the Reunion of Fate!. A brief flashback recalls Komamura once shielding Tosen from Kenpachi Zaraki during the Soul Society arc. The chapter braids several duels together and formally pairs Hisagi and Komamura against their former comrade Tosen.