Orihime has been abducted by the Arrancars.
In order to save her, Ichigo, Ishida, and Sado
have marched into Hueco Mundo, the world of the Hollows.
They crush the Arrancars standing in their way
and make their way through the desert.
Along the way,
they meet up with Rukia and Renji, who have followed after them.
Ichigo and his friends head for Las Noches once more.
But the Guardian of the White Sand, Runuganga, appears before them
and blocks their way.
They are sucked deep beneath Hueco Mundo into the Forest of Menos.
While falling, Ichigo and his friends are separated from Rukia.
They dodge Hollows as they look for Rukia and head deeper into the forest.
Ichigo!
We've been caught!
They're going to eat us!
Nel?!
Meanwhile, Rukia is with Ashido,
a mysterious Soul Reaper wearing a Hollow mask.
Is that a light made of Kido?
You really are a Soul Reaper.
Where are you assigned? What's your squad?
Did you leave your squad?
Hey! Say something…
My name is Ashido.
Ashido?
What are you doing?!
What’s the meaning of this?
I was just testing your strength.
Testing?
This forest is harsh…
It's not easy to survive here.
Ashido!
Someone's fighting.
This Spiritual Pressure… It's Ichigo and the others.
What a way to fight!
They're only drawing Menos towards them!
Wait!
You stay here!
They're the friends I came with!
I'm going too!
What's your name?
Your name.
Oh… Yeah… I'm Rukia Kuchiki.
Thirteen Court—
Getsugatensho!
What is this?!
The more I beat, the more Menos keep springing up!
Ichigo!
Kurosaki, we should run away!
Yeah! We'll never finish off this many of them!
All right!
Ichigo, what should we do about Nel and the others?
Save them!
What about Kuchiki?
We’ll find her!
But it's worse if Nel and the others get lost!
Bawabawa!
It sounds like he's saying we should follow him.
Do you know where they are?
All right! I'm counting on you!
The forest is really noisy.
Is it the work of the intruders?
It seems what Las Noches said is true.
No. That's not all…
It's Ashido again!
That bastard… When is he going to die?!
Damn it!
Hey! There's something interesting.
Oh? Some of the intruder's friends?
Looks like we've got something good.
What do you plan to do with us?
You'll find out.
Hey, someone go look for the intruders!
Oh no!
– Let us out! – Yes, let us out!
They're around this area.
There's no mistake. It's Ichigo and the others.
Where did they go?
Are you the intruder?
I found you!
What is this guy?
He's that size and has a larger Spiritual Pressure than a Menos?!
Could it be?
So this is an Adjuchas!
Rukia, stand back!
Ashido…
You're here too, huh?
Come, Gillians!
What?!
He can control the Menos?!
Gillians, fire your Cero!
At this rate…
Don't bother with the Menos!
What?
You stay here!
H-Hey!
Now! Fire!
Ashido!
What?!
He hasn't even used a bankai…
He's strong!
Who was that just now?
An Adjuchas…
They're superior to the Gillians.
They're the second-highest ranking Menos.
Was that the first time you saw one?
Yeah. That was my first.
An Adjuchas controls the Gillians, huh?
They only appeared recently.
What happened in Soul Society?
The power of the Hollows here has changed.
And Soul Reapers… you appeared.
What happened?
Soul Society isn't monolithic… A lot of troublesome things happened.
I see…
Your friends weren't here.
Let's look elsewhere.
Yeah… Thanks.
It looks like he was defeated.
What?!
Was it Ashido again?!
Well… No…
There's another Spiritual Pressure.
Is it the intruder?
Yeah…
It looks like this one’s a Soul Reaper too.
Oh?
The intruder is a friend of Ashido's, huh?
We can use them.
This is more like a nest rather than a forest.
Yes… It's a nest of Hollows.
Let's move on.
Yeah…
It looks like I underestimated your strength.
You're more than strong enough to fight the Adjuchas.
There's something I've been wondering about.
What is it?
That mask…
Why?
No, if you don't want to answer that…
I came here from Soul Society several hundreds of years ago.
That long ago?
Yeah…
I chased a Hollow disappearing into Hueco Mundo and,
before I realized it, I was here.
Ever since,
I've just been fighting Hollows here for a mind-numbingly long time.
Isn't there any way out of here?
Yes… There is.
Well, why don't you try to get out?
Because I'm a Soul Reaper.
What?
All of the Hollows that appear in the World of the Living
probably head there from here.
If I reduce their numbers as much as possible
then the World of the Living will suffer less damage.
That's why I continue to fight Hollows here.
Have there been fewer Hollow appearances in the World of the Living?
Well…
I can tell from your expression, there haven't.
I can't lie about that.
Sorry…
There's no need to. Don't apologize.
It kind of feels like a celebration.
Are they going to enjoy eating us?!
Which means…
– We don't want that! – We don't want that!
Oh!
TOOTH
Nel, have you been wearing your hood ever since we arrived?
Y-Yeah…
I've got it!
Settle down, settle down!
Do you know who our sister here is?
She has been transformed into an Arrancar by Lord Aizen.
She is Lord Nel Tu!
Oh!
Don't you see this wonderfully cracked mask?!
– Yeah! Yeah! – Yeah! Yeah!
Lord Nel is looking for an exit!
Does anyone know where it is?!
You can go above through the hole in the rock ledge over there!
All right, then!
By the way, mine is a little cracked here, too!
Farewell then!
Our plan was a great success!
Oh? That's good for you.
Now it's time for my plan.
N-N-Nel is an A-Arrancar, you know.
That is that. This is this.
– Oh… Is that so? – Oh… Is that so?
What is this place?
This is the place where we first arrived.
You weren't alone, were you?
No… I had friends.
We discovered where we were
and began to fight as Soul Reapers under the same belief.
But…
The Hollows were great in number and Menos prowl during the day and night.
One by one, my friends who were with me became worn out by the battle.
Then they were defeated.
In order to uphold the vow I made with my friends
to defend human souls by fighting here as a Soul Reaper…
I have been fighting here ever since.
I asked you whether the number of Hollows had dropped…
I wasn't asking you about the results of my work.
I wanted to report it to my friends.
Sorry…
I told you, there's no need to apologize.
Rukia.
When you meet up with your friends,
you should go back to Soul Society immediately.
If the number of Hollows hasn't dropped, there's no need for reinforcements here.
No, I'm going to Las Noches.
What?!
One of my friends is being held in Las Noches.
There are Vasto Lordes there…
You can't defeat them with average skills.
I know… But I must go.
She's an important friend of ours.
There's no need to worry, I'm not alone.
We'll all help to save her.
Ashido… Why did you bring me here?
If I talked, you'd respond, ask questions, and speak.
I wanted to let my friends hear that.
The voice of a Soul Reaper, something they haven’t heard since…
What's this?
It's Ichigo and the others!
Follow me!
Where are we?
That's odd…
I faintly sensed your friends' Spiritual Pressure earlier.
Yeah… Right now, there aren't even any remains of their Spiritual Pressures.
I wiped out those remains!
If I don't wipe them out, I can't ambush you, right?
Come out Gillians!
Th-There're so many of them!
Don't panic.
If we defeat him, the Menos will get slower.
Yeah…
Fire your Cero!
Aim there, Gillians!
Rukia!
Ashido!
Our plan to make them lay face down before us
by showing them Nel's cracked mask was a failure.
Our vice-shogun was no good.
Hey, hey, don't tell me that you don't remember this cracked mask!
That's it!
Let's try again!
Will that plan really work?
ARRANCAR ENCYCLOPEDIA
The Arrancar Encyclopedia!
Today, I shall discuss the Forest of Menos.
The Gillians who live under Hueco Mundo
can be tamed and made to follow orders.
Hollows, follow my orders!
Oh yeah! The only ones who can order them around
are Captain Aizen and the guys in charge of the forest.
What?! You should have told me that earlier!
I'm going to kick you!
Also, if you attack a Hollow, his friends will come, so be careful.
You should have told me that earlier!