Welcome to our EXECUTION 3

After navigating a needlessly elaborate procedure just to speak with Kugo, Ichigo arranges an evening rendezvous in Naruki City. The next day at school, Orihime mentions that Sado has stopped attending, and later she leaves bread and a prayer at his empty apartment, shrugging off Ryuken's grim warning. Ichigo, meanwhile, keeps his own appointment, arriving a few minutes early.

He tells Kugo that a friend has been hurt and asks for help, pointing out that a man who knows so much about both him and Isshin can hardly be an ordinary human. Kugo counters that Ichigo has no one else to rely on and leads him into a run-down building. There he admits that digging into Isshin had only ever been bait, then has Ichigo swipe a card at a keypad. Beyond the door lies a surprisingly spacious room, its walls knocked through, a bar, and several waiting members. Kugo states their aim plainly: to return Ichigo's Soul Reaper powers.

Kugo confesses that the Isshin investigation was only a lure, then reveals Xcution's true purpose of restoring Ichigo's powers. The chapter also seeds worry about Sado's whereabouts as Orihime finds him repeatedly absent.

The eighth chapter of the volume, adapted within anime Episode 346. It offers the first full look at Xcution's headquarters and glimpses members Yukio Hans Vorarlberna and Jackie Tristan.