Sheathebreaker

While Urahara and Isshin, the latter carrying a glowing sword-shaped object, move through moonlit streets, Ichigo and Ginjo reach a run-down building that Ginjo set aside in case Tsukishima ever uncovered Xcution's base, a precaution he kept even from Riruka and Giriko. Ichigo lashes out and blames Ginjo for pulling him into the mess, then admits the fault is not really his, and Ginjo tells him to stop shouldering the guilt.

Ginjo lays out his revised theory of the enemy's Fullbring. From Sado's earlier report he had guessed it merely scrambled memories, but after hearing his own teammates turn against him, he concludes that Tsukishima slots himself into the recollections of anyone his blade cuts, much like a bookmark tucked between the pages of a book. Those touched by it truly believe he has always been part of their lives, and any protest against them, he warns, would look like madness.

Ichigo asks whether killing Tsukishima would undo the effect, and Ginjo concedes he cannot promise it, cautioning that they might instead be branded as murderers by the very people they hope to free. Even so, he argues the man must die and asks Ichigo point-blank if he is able to do it. Yukio then makes himself known, explaining that he traced Ginjo through his own Fullbring, and invites them to come back with him, claiming no one holds a grudge and everyone will soon be set right. Elsewhere, a fully dressed Uryu waits in his hospital room, while Ichigo, Ginjo, and Yukio arrive at a sprawling house set among the trees.

This chapter runs in Volume 52, End of Bond, as part of the Lost Substitute Shinigami arc. It was adapted into the anime as Episode 359, The Sorrowful Battle! Ichigo vs. Sado & Orihime! Ginjo's bookmark comparison is the story's first clear account of how Book of the End rewrites its targets.