Vice It

With his Bankai unleashed, Komamura faces Tōsen, who scoffs that a mere Bankai makes for foolish opposition and braces to strike. Elsewhere, Aizen unsheathes Kyōka Suigetsu with an unhurried, confident smile. Reading that leisure as fear, Shinji Hirako reveals that he deliberately kept Aizen ignorant of his Zanpakutō's abilities, warning that if Aizen assumed his own sword was the only one to toy with the senses, he was gravely mistaken. Shinji then releases his Shikai with the command to collapse, Sakanade.

Tōsen and Komamura wound each other's arms, the latter suffering feedback from his own Bankai while Tōsen's left arm is crushed by Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō. Unshaken, Tōsen points out the flaw in a Bankai that harms its wielder and hinges on a single crushing blow, then regenerates the shattered limb at speed, proof, Komamura says, that he has forsaken his Shinigami nature. Tōsen calls that mere excuse-making and recasts his treason: staying loyal to an organization that preached justice yet murdered his friend would be the deeper disgrace. Forgiving the Gotei 13 might be a lovely gesture, he argues, but true justice demands its destruction, and a Hollow mouth splits open across his mask as he speaks. Conceding he has wholly misjudged Tōsen, Komamura resolves to strike him down for Soul Society's sake, his heart having already forgiven him. Tōsen mocks the godlike presumption of that forgiveness and dares him to survive what comes next, unleashing his Resurrección, Suzumushi Hyakushiki: Grillar Grillo, in a surge of black energy.

Shinji releases Sakanade against Aizen after concealing its powers, while Tōsen and Komamura cripple each other's arms. Tōsen regenerates his crushed limb and recasts his treason as true justice against a corrupt Gotei 13, then answers Komamura's resolve by releasing his Resurrección, Suzumushi Hyakushiki: Grillar Grillo.

The eighth chapter of volume 44, VICE IT, it shares the volume's title and was adapted into episode 290, For the Sake of Justice?! The Man Who Deserted the Shinigami. The chapter crystallizes Tōsen's warped notion of justice as he sinks further into his Hollow power.