It’s Ichigo versus the Quincy Quilge in the desert wasteland of Hueco Mundo! Deemed as one out of the so-called “five special threats” by the Stern Ritter, Ichigo is more or less trapped a world away from his Soul Reaper comrades.

Quilge’s motives for detaining Ichigo in Hueco Mundo are suspicious and unknown, and any attempts on Ichigo’s part to get Quilge to flap his lips a little more is only met with the infuriating response, “Silence is golden.”

Well, never let it be said that Ichigo doesn’t attempt diplomacy before action! With Quilge unwilling to divulge any useful information, it becomes a no-holds barred battle of bankai against the Quincy’s final form, Quincy voll stern dich—whew, isn’t that a mouthful.

Caught in between all of this are Nel, Orihime, Chad, and Halibel’s three Fracciónes. An unlikely but necessary truce has sprung up between the humans and the hollows who once tried to kill them. Apache, Mila Rose, and Sun-Sun have definitely seen better days, but don’t count them out just yet. They have quite the hairy ace up their sleeve. With Ichigo struggling to match Quilge’s powers, the ladies put their hands together (quite literally) and summon up their pet chimera (and reoccurring star of my nightmares), Ayon.

Is their berserk monster strong enough to pound Quilge into a pulp? Or is there more to Quilge’s Quicy voll stern dich than he originally let on?

Meanwhile, Soul Society is suddenly confronted with an invasion of epic proportions. Brutal and merciless, an army of Quincies arrive and begin conducting what can only be described as a purge of Soul Reapers. The captains spring into action but quickly run into a disturbing problem: the Quincies have figured out how to effectively deal with a Soul Reaper’s bankai! The captains aren’t completely aware of how they’re doing it, but the metal plates the Quincies are holding look like they can provide some clues.

In the face of the Quincies’ devious new strategy, the Soul Reapers are faced with a horrible Catch-22: if they just avoid using their bankai, then the Quincies can't use their special technique against them. But how in the world are they supposed to defeat their powerful opponents without their strongest attacks?

It sounds like Ichigo’s unique Soul Reaper powers are ideal for solving such a problematic situation—now, if only he can get away from Quilge! Ichigo needs to get to Soul Society as quickly as possible if he has any hope of saving his friends. Will he make it in time before the Thirteen Court Guard Companies suffer more fatalities, or will he be too late? And if Ichigo is "one of five special threats" to the Quincy, who could the other four possibly be? 

Bleach volume 56 is available at VIZ.com!

by Gretchen Smail