Spoilers after the cut.
I'm still not sure that this fight makes any sense. And the title of this chapter makes even less.
At any rate, Hyousube and Bach continue their battle, but where it looked like a stalemate last week (since the beginning, really) it now looks like a sure-fire win for Hyousube.
It turns out that releasing his zanpakutou, Ichimonji, is the the difference maker. Its strange power of "darkness" has basically neutered Bach's offense.
Oddly enough, Ichimonji's power seems to be like an extension (in an exponential sense) of Kyouraku's color game with Katen Kyoukotsu. Hyousube is proven to be much stronger than anyone else we've seen (with the possible exception of Yamamoto Genryuusai).
The only thing that troubles me about this chapter specifically is that Kubo seems to be painting himself into a corner. With Ichigo &co. already on their way to Reioukyuu and Urahara on the ground in Seireitei/Vandenreich getting ready for something, plus Ukitake/Kyouraku and the rest of the Shinigami, it's becoming unclear what all of these people are going to do if Hyousube actually succeeds in killing Bach.
And perhaps it is here that the snare reveals itself. That this battle is largely a feint by Bach to draw out Hyousube's power, even if that power cannot be taken from him (as has been shown). I'm not sure if Bach has another trick up his sleeve to increase his already prodigious power, save taking what was previously given to the elite Stern Ritter.
Let's assume that Hyousube kills Bach, though. That doesn't leave much of anything for Ichigo &co. to do, aside from taking out Ishida. But there may be a potential snare here as well, if Bach's power is transferred to his "successor" upon his death.
My understanding of the first battle of Seireitei vs. Vandenreich was that Ichigo would be the one to take out Haschwald and then Bach. And once Ishida was revealed to have joined the Vandenreich, Ichigo would then have the task of taking Ishida out as well. Either this is not the case (which is likely), or what's been happening in the last few chapters is a giant feint (also likely, given previous tendencies). To me, the best "ending" to the story involves Ichigo getting revenge on Haschwald for breaking his bankai. And Bach makes a pretty convincing "final boss". Then there's also the friend-vs.-friend battle with Ishida (although I'm sure he said that he and Ichigo were never really friends).
If any of those things change, I'm not sure the story would thus be improved.
At the moment though, it looks like Hyousube has the upper hand. That just might make the best-case scenario for ending the manga moot.
