Ichigo and Hiyori face off, but Ichigo has a bit of trouble holding his own. Hiyori urges him to use his Bankai, but he refuses for the fear of the presence of his inner hollow taking over. Hiyori succeeds in drawing it out eventually, however, and Ichigo passes their test of strength to join the Vizard. The Vizard have Ichigo train endurance before teaching him how to subdue his inner hollow, but after acknowledging Ichigo's already advanced shinigami abilities Shinji takes the training into the next phase. The episode ends with Ichigo in his subconscious world facing off against his inner hollow.
From creator Tite Kubo, comes the story of a world where passing lurks impalpable to an everyday human's eyes. Ichigo Kurosaki helps run a local clinic with his family but Ichigo has the unusual ability to see poltergeists but rather than react with surprise he merely sees it as an annoyance. Ichigo helps those when he cares but can't bring himself to care enough... until one fateful day. A small, mysterious woman appears on duty inside his room, a Soul Reaper known as Rukia. Soon enough Ichigo and Rukia get formal in the oddest of ways and in such an untimely matter the losses begin. The Kurosaki family is soon attacked. This leads Ichigo on his first step to accepting the roles and responsibility's a Soul Reaper must uphold.