4-1...

How long are you going to lie there?

Zabimaru...

Lazy scumbag.

We haven't seen each other in all this time, and that's the kind of greeting I get from you?

Your manners certainly do leave something to be desired.

I'm recovered and ready to fight again.

It's time you did your part.

Now get out of that bed and get healed so we can fight again.

I want to take on that Zangetsu one more time.

You idiot. You must've been brain-damaged in that battle.

He's no longer the one I must fight.

He's not?

Well then, who is it?

Who will you fight now?

............

It's not over yet!

That makes number fifty-two.

(Ichigo's making steady progress.)

(But still, I just can't seem to shake this uneasy feeling I have.)

(I'm sensing something out there, something ominous approaching this place.)

I was wondering what you could be doing, holed up in this place. So, you're hiding out here and secretly training for Bankai, are you?

Renji!

Looks like fun to me. Let me train along with you.

But the fact is, I'm not here for any special reason.

It's just, we're out of time now, so I needed someplace where I could concentrate and train in peace. Just like you.

What do you mean, we're out of time?

What the hell are you talking about?!

Well, all right. I guess I can at least tell you that much.

It's about Rukia's execution. They've moved the time forward.

Huh!

And though I hate to admit it, the fact is, at my current level I'm not quite good enough to save Rukia.

That's why I came here: to train.

............

Don't worry about me. I don't have any intention of getting in the way of your Bankai training.

In fact, I'm close to achieving the Bankai release myself. I've already mastered manifesting it.

So, if it's okay with you, I'm just gonna do my own thing here.

No way...

There's no way he can reach Bankai that quickly.

What? Are you just gonna give up on me then?

Come on Yoruichi. You're the one who started me on this training program.

It was your idea, so you can't be the first one to quit on it.

Ichigo, no! What if tomorrow comes and you still can't achieve Bankai?

We can't waste time worrying about what ifs!

Failure is no longer an option. If they have changed the deadline to tomorrow...

...then the only option there is, is to finish training today.