Father 2

Bursting free of the wall, Ichigo throws himself at Yhwach again, and the king answers with a battering wave of black energy while urging him not to hurry. Insisting that shaping Ichigo cost him dearly and that the boy's strength was never his alone, Yhwach commands him to pour out everything and die so the power can flow back to its source.

Below, Rukia and Renji press across the ruins until Gerard sweeps at them; Byakuya snatches the pair clear and sends them off to reinforce Ichigo, whom he ranks a match for Yhwach, blocking the giant's blow with his Bankai as he insists he needs no assistance. Once they thank him and go, Byakuya drops down beside Hitsugaya, who notes that the two lieutenants read the worry beneath the order. He explains that graduates of the Shino Academy are trained to spend their lives for friends and ordinary people rather than for kin or commanders, which makes Ichigo's close companions the fitting ones to stand with him while the two captains remain mere acquaintances.

On a lower floor, Haschwalth muses that everyone sorts their experiences on a balance that defines them and demands to know whether Uryu truly means to gamble his life for selfish humans. Uryu replies that his real self will stay hidden until every last member of the Wandenreich has fallen, then conjures a new bow. Meanwhile, Ryuken and Isshin step through a Gate of the Sun, recalling that Soken once fled by the same route during his exile, with Isshin ribbing Ryuken for badmouthing his own father.

Yhwach demands that Ichigo expend his power and die so it returns to him. Byakuya carries Rukia and Renji to safety and orders them to join Ichigo. Hitsugaya explains why the lieutenants, as Ichigo's friends, belong at his side. Uryu refuses to define himself until the Wandenreich is destroyed and forms a fresh bow. Ryuken and Isshin arrive in Wahrwelt through a Gate of the Sun.

This is the 674th chapter of Bleach and the final chapter gathered in the seventy-third volume, BATTLE FIELD BURNING. Its material was adapted into the anime as part of episode 406, MY LAST WORDS. The chapter positions Ichigo's allies and the returning Ishida and Kurosaki elders for the climax to come.