Bleach 501 continues with its epic fight between Byakuya vs As Nodt. A powerful captain versus an incredibly powerful Stern Ritter. Ichigo is still stuck in the cage even after trying to cut it with he’s sword but fails. Byakuya notices that he’s very tired and doesn’t know whats going on. Renji is told to stay back to see what kind of technique he uses. Byakuya’s Fear is questioned and used against him.
Bleach 501 starts of with Ichigo still trapped within the cage tired as he tries to break out using his power but fails at each point. He starts by telling himself that not even his Getsuga Tenshou doesn’t work against the cage! He notices that on the phone Akon is still there while Urahara’s call has been disconnected.
Ichigo starts to panic because of the inability to do nothing from him. He’s all tied up and he can’t do anything! He starts to get tired quickly and is starting to use quite a lot of power. Back in Soul Society we see Byakuya Kuchiki is still fighting with his full force, except that he’s Bankai has been stolen from him.
Byakuya tells Renji to stay back because there is no point in attacking an enemy whose power they still have no knowledge about. He tells Renji to watch his fight and understand what his ability is. Renji asks if he’s going to be fighting after he knows his power. Byakuya tells him that he doesn’t have the intelligence in being able to lure As Nodt into showing his powers.
Byakuya notices that his limbs and such are starting to halt and stop as if they are tired or something. He notices that As Nodt has some kind of thorns surrounding him, would they be containing some kind of poison or something similar. As Nodt asks Byakuya if he’s noticed yet.
He tells him that you may have thought it was poison, but its not. As Nodt tells him that it’s something that he may have lost a long time ago, he reminds him that he had become a captain and then became really strong. He had the power to completely overpower his enemies, so he forgot about it a long time ago. He reveals that this feeling is nothing other than pure Fear!
Renji is shocked that Byakuya would actually be in fear. As Nodt tells him that he’s a good captain, plus he resisted very well. An average Shinigami would’ve started screaming in fear and go mad at the first strike of his arrows. They would have died and their heart unable to resist the shock. Therefore anything would instantly turn into fear.
As Nodt tells Byakuya that even if he moves towards him, something deadly may happen. Even if it’s a small amount of movement, something suspicious is likely to occur, and thus he will start to not think straight. He tells Byakuya that he’s currently resisting this with only his willpower, it’s very surprising to As Nodt.
The fear has already captured Byakuya’s heart. Byakuya’s notices the fear and tells him that there is no fights without fear. He has overcome it every time he fights, which are usually on the verge of his death by the opponent. He has never repressed his fear, he’s always acknowledge his fear and gained strength from it. He pictures Rukia happy, within a few moments he starts to notice that her face starts to degrade and starts to dissolve in a fearful way!
Byakuya is hit once more and this time it’s a critical hit to his torso. As Nodt tells him that he’s not currently moving and that most experienced fighters tend to believe that Fear can be overcome, plus Fear with a reason is gentle, this is what As Nodt says. Anyone can stop it with experience and willpower, if you know the reason and source of fear, you can stop it. But sometimes Real Fear doesn’t have a reason, because it’s not a feeling, it’s an instinct. It has no reason and no limits.
Byakuya imagines himself as thought a horde of bugs are crawling up his body. He cannot escape his own instinct and this is now caught within As Nodt technique. They are all crawling up above his body to his face. Byakuya uses his will power quickly to escape the dream. He does this and tries to slice As Nodt, but fails as As Nodt has backed away.
As Nodt quickly takes out the metal circular plate which holds Byakuya’s Bankai, it seems as though he’s going to be using it. Rukia who is somewhere else see’s one of Byakuya’s flowers pass by her head. It’s hard to explain what has happened but it seems that As Nodt has attacked Byakuya with his attack and Byakuya starts to fall as his Bankai circulates the sky. Bleach 501 ends here!
That was a crazy episode! Even if we still don’t know who killed Kirge Opie, it seems that next week we will get back to Hueco Mundo and see who killed him! Plus as Urahara disconnected his call he may have been attacked or just had to talk to them privately. Still it was an awesome chapter! Can’t wait for next week’s Bleach 502 chapter! It’s going to be fantastic!
