Ichigo and the others have to go through a (dark) tunnel before they arrive in Soul Society, but that was easier said than done. The walls of the tunnel have a life of their own and were closing in on them. Ishida got distracted for a moment and was almost sucked into the walls. Luckily Chad helped him out and carried him on his back. Then something appeared behind them. It was Goutotsu, the cleaner of the tunnel that comes every seven days. Ichigo and the others had to run even faster to avoid being "cleaned" by the cleaner. When the cleaner almost closed in on them, Orihime used her powers to create a shield to protect them. The cleaner hit against the shield and caused an explosion. The explosion blasted Ichigo and the others right into Soul Society. They arrived in Rukongai, the outer area of Soul Society. Rukongai is where the poorest, freest and most abundant souls live. The Death gods live in Seireitei, the inner area of Soul Society. Ichigo wanted to enter Seireitei, but was stopped by a huge wall that appeared out of nowhere. A large man appeared as well. His name is Gidanbou and he is the gatekeeper. For the 300 years he has been the gatekeeper, not a single intruder has managed to pass the gate. Yoruichi wanted to come up with a plan to defeat Gidanbou, but Ichigo already walked up to Gidanbou and wanted to challenge him. Orihime and Chad wanted to help Ichigo, but were stopped by Gidanbou. He wanted to have an one-on-one battle with Ichigo.

Gidanbou attacked Ichigo first, but his attack was easily blocked. He complimented Ichigo, because up till now only three people have managed to block his first attack. No one has been able to block his second attack though. After saying this, Gidanbou started to attack Ichigo ten times in a row. Ichigo managed to block all his attacks though. Gidanbou became enraged and took out a second axe. Ichigo apologized to him and said he will crush those axes. Ichigo is a man of his words, because after apologizing to Gidanbou he used his Soul Cutter to crush his axes. Gidanbou hadn't realised his axes were crushed and wanted to continue the fight, but after he saw that his axes are gone he broke down in tears. Ichigo felt uncomfortable seeing Gidanbou like this and thought it might comfort him if he apologized for breaking his axes. Gidanbou thinks Ichigo is a great guy, because he even cares for his enemy. He admitted his defeat and decided to open the gate for Ichigo and the others. Everyone was surprised by Gidanbou's enormous strength, because the gate is extremely heavy. When the gate was half open, Gidanbou suddenly stopped. He stopped because he saw that the captain of the third division, Ichimaru Gin, has appeared before them.

Ishida is funny. I can't believe he brought a spare cape with him. Besides, who still wears a cape nowadays?
The fight between Ichigo and Gidanbou was kinda boring. As expected Ichigo won very easily. I guess the training with Urahara really paid off, huh? I hope the upcoming battles will be more interesting, because for now they are a bit one-sided. I want to see some suffering, I want to see some blood.............bwahahahahahaha!!!

Art: 75
Music: 80
Story: 75
Overall: 76

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