THE ROYAL PALACE – MAIN ENTRANCE
All right.
We're ready!
I sure hope you're ready, Ichigo!
Yeah.
Hey, don't you think these are a few too many layers?
Those clothes will allow you to get through the seventy-two-layer barrier
that exists between the Royal Palace and the Seireitei.
You have a need for that, do you not?
Your trip back will be on foot.
We'd love to send you in the Tenchuren,
but we can't be casually going down all the time!
It's not that far!
It should only take about a week if you use Flash Step!
Got it.
Huh?
You do?
If I hurry, then it should only take me half a day.
As long as I can get back before they attack...
No need to worry about that!
Those Quincies have already begun their attack three hours ago.
Why didn't you tell me that sooner, you idiot!
You were still training three hours ago, remember?!
Ichigo!
Here're some rice balls!
Hey, thanks!
That boy has changed, hasn't he?
He sure did.
He has become a true Soul Reaper.
One who has surpassed that of an ordinary Soul Reaper.
So, how do you propose we turn the tables from here?
Well, let's see...
Hello?
Kurosaki?!
Yeah... So it'll take me a little longer to get there.
I see.
Got it.
Please be careful.
Hey, Urahara.
Yes?
This may sound cocky, but...
even if the battle starts to look bad for you guys,
just hold out until I get there.
I'll handle the rest. I promise.
Understood.
We'll be waiting for you, Kurosaki.
Urahara didn't say anything about how things are going down there.
Oh, my darling, I don't even know where my heart has gone
And I've forgotten that dream I once had
Becoming an adult = keeping a public face and bluffing?
Tell me, what is reflected in the painted-over mirror?
Your photo is starting to fade
Leaving me, as I change
I'll shout at the top of my voice as it pierces through the night
Burning my chest, formless fear and all
It's okay if I can't laugh like that day
Sadness, scars, everything... I want to take them all with me
You can't kill my vibe, oh baby
Burning out now, like a shooting star
You can't kill my vibe, oh baby
Burning out now, like a shooting star
BLEACH: THOUSAND-YEAR BLOOD WAR
I suppose I can tell you...
what sort of being His Majesty is.
Being that you are His Majesty's successor.
Follow me.
The defeated shall now face judgment.
RITTER SECOND SPIRE – EXECUTION GROUND
"The Iron."
You were fortunate to block the blade of judgment.
However, the life that was spared by your good fortune...
will be removed with the same amount of misfortune.
Can you see it?
The scale is tipping.
You look confused.
All those who are given His Majesty's soul
will have their powers absorbed by His Majesty upon death.
All the knowledge and skills their soul possessed
become part of His Majesty's own power.
But those two were powerful assets.
Did you have to kill them?
His Majesty's true goal is not the Soul Society.
It is up to His Majesty to decide
what is and is not needed to achieve his goal.
You too, have drank His Majesty's blood
and had a Schrift engraved in your soul.
There is no way for you to escape it.
His Majesty must continue to fight and absorb souls,
or else...
POST INVASION – URBAN AREA
I can't sense any Spiritual Pressures of the Court Guards.
Likely a sign that things are not going very well for the Soul Reapers...
If that's the case, it might not be such a bad idea to join up with Renji
and attack the enemy's castle right away.
What was that sensation...?
Who's there?
Where are you?!
Hehe... Are you scared?
As for me... I'm lonely...
Lonely... lonely...
Who are you?
Lonely...
I'm so lonely...
My Senbonzakura... Where is it?
I see...
So you're the one who stole my brother's Bankai...
Äs Nödt...
I know you...
You're Byakuya Kuchiki's younger sister,
Rukia Kuchiki...
Where is Byakuya Kuchiki?
I've got no obligation to tell the likes of you.
Do you think he will come here if I kill you?
Perhaps he will.
So that's his ability...
"Fear"...
Sodenoshirayuki!
It's useless.
Fear can't be blocked by ice.
That is fear.
That is what fear feels like.
So this... is fear?
That's right.
Then what is it that you fear?
What?
Perhaps fear having no effect... is your fear?
Fear having no effect?
That's not possible.
Not possible?
If you truly believe that,
then point those thorns at me once more.
Behold...
and tremble with fear.
This is the real Sodenoshirayuki.
Although I'm now able to draw out Sodenoshirayuki's true power...
...it takes some time for my body to grow accustomed to it.
I couldn't afford to be struck by your attack until then.
So what if you froze them.
As I said, fear cannot be blocked by ice.
My fear does not enter through wounds.
The slightest skin contact allows it to dissolve and seep in.
It cannot be guarded against. Ever.
Every person has objects of safety and objects of fear.
When they step into a place of safety
and are asked why they feel safe,
they give a vague answer like: "It just kind of does."
However, when they step into a place of fear,
even an idiot can provide a clear reason.
"It's dark." "It's cold." "It's too high." "It's confined."
"It's painful." "It's filthy." etc.
They can give you a list of fears.
It's because all feelings of safety tie back to life
and all feelings of fear tie back to death.
Even those who are not able to provide reasons for wanting to live
can provide reasons for not wanting to die.
It's not just creatures that possess feelings.
All living things instinctively avoid death, in other words, fear.
All those with life, live to avoid fear,
strengthen themselves to avoid fear,
and grow to avoid fear.
As long as you're alive, fear will always have an effect.
I know.
And that's why fear won't work against me.
Don't you get it?
I'm saying that I'm not alive right now.
What do you mean by that?
It turns out that Sodenoshirayuki was not a sword
that emits freezing air from its tip.
Sodenoshirayuki is...
a Zanpakuto that lowers the body temperature
of its possessor to below freezing.
All that it comes into contact with freezes over.
The blade is nothing more than an arm
to extend the range of its freezing.
Don't be ridiculous.
If you lower your body temperature to below freezing,
your bodily functions will cease to function.
There is no way you can stay alive.
That's right.
I am currently dead.
By controlling my Reishi,
I've gained the ability to temporarily kill my body.
All molecular movement within my body has ceased.
Even the fear that has seeped into me
has lost its effect the moment it touched my body.
That's... absurd.
Negative 18 degrees Celsius.
Blood freezes.
Blood won't flow out of any wound.
Negative 50 degrees Celsius.
The water in the ground under my feet will freeze,
causing an ice quake.
Negative 273.15 degrees Celsius.
Absolute zero.
I'm going to have to make this quick.
I'm only able to function at this temperature for four seconds.
Negative 198 degrees Celsius...
Negative 142 degrees Celsius...
Negative 116 degrees Celsius...
Negative 85 degrees Celsius...
Negative 67 degrees Celsius...
A power where I need to take my time undoing it
– to prevent my body – Negative 31 degrees Celsius...
– from breaking down... – Negative 14 degrees Celsius...
I still need more practice.
It seems I slightly exceeded four seconds.
Fear...?
Fear, you say?
You call this fear?
Breathing is so agonizing.
To have to endure such agony just to live.
Life is so inconvenient.
I wonder if heaven is a place where it's easy to breathe?
I wonder if hell is an even more agonizing place than this?
If it is, I'm scared...
You have survived...
I shall bestow power to you.
No, this is not fear at all.
The only thing I fear...
...is to be rebuked by His Majesty!
Compared to that,
I feel neither fear nor pain from battle!
Tatar Foras!
You can't reach me, can you?
It's useless. You can't reach me.
It's because you got cold feet.
Impossible...!
You're seeing me, right?
The cells in your body may be inactive at below-freezing temperatures,
but your nerves are still active!
Tatar Foras instills fear in you through your optic nerves!
You see?
Everywhere you look, you will see my eyes!
Your nerves cannot escape me!
Closing your eyes will do nothing!
Fond memories may last in your heart,
but bad memories last even longer!
Just as past fears arise in the dark of night,
a fear once experienced will resonate
even stronger in the depths of your brain
when you close your eyes!
Now, I shall burn away your soul with your past fears!
You're...
Byakuya Kuchiki!
THE ROYAL PALACE AND THE SEIREITEI
Byakuya Kuchiki...
Brother...!
Good to see you.
I've been waiting.
Tell me...
How are those innards that I gouged out doing?
I scraped out your entire stomach.
You must be starving from not being able to eat.
Did you lose some weight?
Brother, look out!
Don't make eye contact with him!
It's too late!
Too late for whom?
I see...
You've already surrounded the area with your Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.
Nice.
I really wish I could have kept that Bankai!
Bankai?
Look carefully.
You've used my Bankai before, so you should be able to tell...
that this is Shikai.
It's just a normal Senbonzakura.
What... did you just say?
Thanks to getting my Bankai stolen by you,
I was able to rediscover the true essence of Senbonzakura.
Bonds are like a pointillist painting.
One must take a step back to see its true form.
I had forgotten that.
Allow me to thank you, Äs Nödt.
I will not kill you... I will not kill you... I will not kill you...
I will not kill you... I will not kill you... I will not kill you... I will not kill you!
I will never kill you!
I will keep you conscious and your mind intact
as I sink you into a sea of pain and fear.
I will make you live for eternity begging for a blissful death!
Rukia.
I could sense your Spiritual Pressure even as I was coming down here...
You've become strong, Rukia.
Brother...
Brother just said that...
I've become strong...
Fear is not born in a vacuum.
It feeds off the insecurity in one's heart.
Do you still have any fears... Rukia?
No!
Time to end this, Byakuya Kuchiki!
All at once, the lights went out
So you wish to end this, huh?
Reminding me
with a voice
and I cannot move
But sorry. I'm afraid...
I'm not the one putting an end to you.
Unable to convey even a millimeter
What...?
of the lines that I dubbed
I've had enough of your mockery!
All lines that I don't want to forget
Rewound
Repeated
Became a mark
Take a good look, Rukia.
And I notice the dust
It is not your fear that you see reflected in him.
I wait and wait
But it won't start
If it's already ended
I give up
If there is no fear in your heart, what you are seeing...
But can I
borrow your shoulder?
With that knife
that was left behind
...is his own fright.
Pierce it through
Bankai...
Still
in the middle of a dream,
Hakka no Togame.
We kept searching
For the scar that
the revolving world remembers
With just the strong desire
to keep on living
We'll choose a tomorrow that will not return
I'm scared...
Am I...
In just a little while
...going to die?
I'm sorry, Your Majesty.
The final curtain will fall
Please don't be angry with me...
Shining upon us
I'm scared...
The agony...
The blurred end roll
The pain...
It scares me...
I'm scared... I'm scared... I'm scared...
I'm... scared...
Undo it slowly, Rukia.
Slowly.
That was a magnificent Bankai.
But it's also a difficult Bankai.
The tiniest of missteps will cost you your life.
It's a perilous Bankai.
Handle it with caution. Never be impatient with it.
Know that there is nothing that can be saved
by a sword swung in exchange for one's life.
Let's go, Rukia.
Let's go protect the Soul Society.
Yes,
Brother!
POST INVASION – SQUAD 4 TEMPORARY FIRST-AID STATION
Kotechin!
I found something new we could use for bedding!
I'm sorry to have given you such a dangerous assignment.
I don't mind at all!
It's taking a while for Kenny to return,
so I have nothing else to do!
Besides, when I find bedding or medicine,
I just charge in, grab it and make a run for it!
It's not dangerous at all!
What?!
Seriously? I'm surprised—
"I'm surprised we haven't been found yet."
Is that what you're thinking?
Where are you looking?
I'm right...
over here.
See?
You can't see me again...
Boom!
That's weird.
I thought I hit him...
"Hit him"?
Wait, what was I trying to hit?
Lieutenant Kusajishi!
Zhazha... Zhazhazha...
Did it seem like you hit me?
That will never happen.
My presence will completely disappear
from your sight and mind.
"Beauty means that there is nothing there."