Uryū Ishida vs. Yoshi

 is a fight that takes place as part of the Bount Invasion, between the Quincy Uryū Ishida and the Bount Yoshi.

Prelude
On the eve of The Seireitei Siege, Uryū Ishida and Ichigo Kurosaki prepare to leave Ran'Tao after being informed of the location of the Bount. When Uryū wonders what she will be doing, Ran'Tao points out how this is unlikely to be the only thing the Bount are doing and notes that she has something to prepare just in case. After Ran'Tao agrees to meet up with him and Uryū afterward, Ichigo inquires about how long the Quincy Bangle will actually hold up, which prompts Ran'Tao to admit that she does not know if it will become useless today or tomorrow, only to warn Uryū that it could blow away everything in a radius of several kilometers if it were to detonate. Left nervous by this alongside Ichigo, Uryū claims that there is no reason to get scared at this point and walks away, leaving a startled Ichigo to run after him.

Following the Bount infiltration of the Seireitei, Yoshi begins cutting down the Shinigami she comes across and eventually faces off against a group inside an elevated pavilion lined with columns, where she demands to know if anyone worth fighting is around here. However, as the Shinigami rush forward and Yoshi throws the sword of her Doll, Nieder, at them, it is prevented from striking the last Shinigami, who loses consciousness, by a Heilig Pfeil that knocks it out of the air. Startled by this, Yoshi sees Uryū standing on the other side of the pavilion with Kojaku raised and smirks at the prospect of facing the Quincy before assuming her own battle stance.

Battle
Suddenly, Uryū moves high into the air with Hirenkyaku, casting a shadow on a shocked Yoshi as he passes in front of the sun, and fires a powerful Heilig Pfeil that slams into the area where Yoshi is standing. Leaping out of the resulting dust cloud onto one of the nearby pillars, Yoshi springs off of it right before another Heilig Pfeil pierces the stone where she had landed, and as she expresses irritation at this, Yoshi throws the sword of her Doll, Nieder, at Uryū while the latter lands on an opposite pillar, only for Uryū to sidestep the blade and drop to the ground while it carves out a chunk of the pillar in the wake of its slash.

Upon seeing Uryū fall past the edge of the pavilion, Yoshi retracts her sword and runs over to the edge, where she sees Uryū standing several meters away on an arched rooftop and running off the side, leading her to grin and deduce that Uryū is trying to lure her in. Intrigued by this, Yoshi follows Uryū to the flat rooftop of one of the buildings in the compound below, and while the two of them stand on opposite ends of the roof, Yoshi admonishes Uryū for not having given up on revenge yet, but Uryū asserts that this is not about revenge and questions why a confused Yoshi is doing this when there is no meaning to this battle, though Yoshi does not understand what he means by this.

Yoshi points out that Shinigami and Quincy are supposed to be enemies and wonders in turn why Uryū is helping Shinigami, which prompts Uryū to clarify that he is not helping the Shinigami and simply wishes to stop pointless battles. With Yoshi scratching her neck with her closed fan and claiming that this does not make sense, Uryū declares that he will put an end to this battle on his pride as a Quincy. As Yoshi mockingly permits him to do as he likes if he wants to die so badly, Uryū recalls Ran'Tao warning him that the Quincy Bangle he is using could become useless at any time or detonate in an explosion that will wipe out everything within several kilometers.

Internally, Uryū concludes that he has decided to do this regardless of the consequences because he cannot allow the Bount to roam free while he nocks another Heilig Pfeil in his Heilig Bogen, Kojaku, and a grinning Yoshi assumes a battle stance with Nieder. When Uryū asserts that he is ready, Yoshi tells him to enjoy himself and runs toward Uryū, who fires his Heilig Pfeil at her, only for Yoshi to sidestep it and shift Nieder into its Happonjin form, armoring her right arm and lower face as her sword generates several trailing energy blades that she slams into the rooftop below, which forces Uryū to leap into the air to evade the resulting destruction.

While in midair, Uryū fires another Heilig Pfeil at a running Yoshi, who sees it miss her and slam into a tower in the distance, breaking off the top half, which the sword of Nieder criticizes as pitiful. With a cursing Uryū landing and aiming another Heilig Pfeil at her, Yoshi leaps toward him and admits that it cannot be helped when he is so young before hurling four of the energy blades at him with a swing of her sword. Jumping back as the blades pierce the tiles where he was crouching, Uryū narrowly evades an approaching Yoshi's subsequent slash with Hirenkyaku and moves down to another rooftop, where Yoshi lands several feet away while Nieder compliments Uryū's speed.

However, the sword of Nieder is outraged when Yoshi reverts it to its normal form and demands to know why she stopped fusing with him, prompting Yoshi to remind him that she hates being fused with him throughout a battle, which the fan of Nieder agrees with, and inquire about what a sweating Uryū is going to do. Uryū mentally notes that he can only dodge her attacks at best and is at risk of getting hurt at this rate, only for Yoshi to decide that she will attack if he is not going to and run toward him along the roof. Quickly nocking another Heilig Pfeil, Uryū fires it at Yoshi, who unfurls her fan and deflects the blast into the roof behind her as she leaps forward.

With the fan of Nieder commenting on how gentle that attack was, Yoshi lands in front of Uryū, who moves down the roof and internally expresses frustration at losing power at a time like this prior to dodging Yoshi's slam of the sword of Nieder into the rooftop and jumping away. While observing that the Quincy Bangle is definitely unstable now and rendering his attacks futile regardless of whether or not they hit, Uryū moves to a far roof and runs along it as Yoshi fires more energy blades at him, each of which he manages to run ahead of as he mentally details how he ran out of Reishi on the third attack and how he needs to have absorbed enough Reishi in order to harm his opponent.

Skidding across the roof on his outstretched right foot and swinging around to face Yoshi running behind him with another Heilig Pfeil prepared in Kojaku, Uryū ruminates on how a Heilig Pfeil fired when he has absorbed too much Reishi could cause immense damage to both his surroundings and himself due to its great power while Yoshi wonders what he is brooding about. Though uncertain of whether or not he can control this Heilig Pfeil, Uryū concludes that he has to do this and comes to a halt prior to firing the Heilig Pfeil at Yoshi, who quickly grows solemn and shifts the fan of Nieder to its armored form in order to shield herself as the blast surges toward her.

The Heilig Pfeil tears a rut into the rooftop in its wake and explodes upon hitting Yoshi, creating a billowing cloud of dust and damaging the surrounding rooftop tiles. Initially believing that this should have at least injured Yoshi, Uryū is shocked to see her emerge from the dust cloud and retract her shield to reveal that she is unharmed, which leads the fan of Nieder to explain that this is her true form offering perfect protection and nullifying all of Uryū's attacks. As Yoshi returns Nieder to its base form, the sword notes that each Heilig Pfeil is different in power and the fan deduces that this means Uryū cannot control the power of each one.

With the fan admitting that it would have been dangerous had she not protected Yoshi from the last Heilig Pfeil, Yoshi berates them for discussing the situation so casually as Uryū curses the misfortune of this happening just when he was able to fire a powerful Heilig Pfeil, but he tells himself to not give up or forget this feeling and to keep on firing while nocking another Heilig Pfeil. As Yoshi invites him to attack, Uryū fires the Heilig Pfeil, which he is relieved to see is powerful, and Yoshi shifts the fan of Nieder to its armored state once more just before the Heilig Pfeil smashes into the shield, creating a circular shockwave that ripples through the air.

Leaping out of the resulting massive dust cloud, Yoshi shifts Nieder to its Happonjin form and falls toward Uryū, whom she fires dozens of energy blades at. After moving away from the roof and leaving the blades to crash into the area where he was standing, Uryū fires three more Heilig Pfeil at Yoshi, only for all of them to arc away from her and into the surrounding buildings while she unleashes another torrent of energy blades. Irritated by this, Uryū springs off the wall he lands on to the opposite roof just before the blades pierce the wall where he initially landed and jumps back to the roof adjoined to the wall, which he begins running along while more blades embed themselves behind him.

After a laughing Yoshi follows him across the roof to another rooftop, Uryū spins around as he skids across the rooftop on one foot and readies another Heilig Pfeil while mentally urging it to hit, though it curves away from Yoshi when he fires it at her. Uryū proceeds to rapidly fire several more Heilig Pfeil at Yoshi in a desperate attempt to hit her, and when the last Heilig Pfeil hits the rooftop in front of her, Yoshi leaps out of the dust cloud with her sword criticizing Uryū for using a weapon he cannot even control and slashes the string of energy blades at Uryū, who jumps away just before the blades slam into the tiles where he was standing and forms another Heilig Pfeil.

Suddenly, Yoshi moves next to Uryū in midair and swings her string of energy blades upward through his left shoulder, resulting in Uryū being sent hurtling through the air and crashing into a pavilion far away by the force of the blow, where he carves a rut into the ground before coming to a stop in front of the wall on the opposite side. As she lands on the roof of the building opposite a bleeding Uryū, Yoshi tells him to bring a better weapon if he wants to fight her and returns Nieder to its base form while calling him a fool in unison with her sword, who wonders if Uryū has died, leading the fan to claim that he has while Yoshi thanks him for letting the Bount come to Soul Society.

Despite this, when Yoshi turns around to walk away, Uryū questions where she is going and fires another Heilig Pfeil at her, leaving Yoshi shocked and caught off-guard as it hurtles toward her. An angered Yoshi spins around and shifts to the armored mode of Nieder in order to protect herself with its large, circular shield before and telling Uryū that he should have just died. Leaping down to the pavilion below, Yoshi contemptuously stands on the opposite side several meters away from Uryū, who forms another Heilig Pfeil with his Heilig Bogen, Kojaku, and reiterates his desire to simply put a stop to this meaningless battle being waged by the Bount.

Though the fan of Nieder calls him cocky for thinking that he can defeat them with such an unstable weapon, Uryū mentally notes that he is somehow getting used to controlling the Quincy Bangle and that he only needs to perfect his aim as he fires the Heilig Pfeil at Yoshi, only for the latter to casually shift her posture and watch as the Heilig Pfeil hurtles past her right side into the base of the building behind her, leaving Uryū to observe that his aim is still off while Yoshi and Nieder laugh. Uryū fires a third Heilig Pfeil at Yoshi, and when it curves to her left and hits the ground, he internally curses the fact that his power has now dropped.

After returning Nieder to its base form, Yoshi counters Uryū's assertion that this battle is meaningless by declaring that she never wanted battles to mean anything to begin with. Confused by this, Uryū nocks another Heilig Pfeil and demands to know what Yoshi's goal in fighting is if this is the case, prompting Yoshi to dismiss Jin Kariya's goal of exterminating the Shinigami of the Seireitei and explain that she simply wants to run amok as she did in the old days where she could risk her life in battle for what she wanted. With Uryū's Kojaku beginning to glow red-hot and rattle, Yoshi laments how the world has changed to frown on the strong killing the weak.

Yoshi leaps forward and stabs at Uryū with the sword of Nieder, resulting in his left shoulder being slashed, and proceeds to send Uryū flying back and onto the ground with a kick before jumping up to come down on Uryū with a stab of her sword, which he rolls out of the way of at the last second. Kicking Uryū several meters away once more, Yoshi begins walking away from him, but stops and grins when Uryū gets to his feet once again, which leads her to admit her surprise at him still being able to stand and express her excitement at this while declaring that she is going to finish him off and shifting the sword of Nieder to its Happonjin form while it commends Uryū's determined expression.

Internally, Uryū remembers Sōken Ishida telling him that a Quincy's Heilig Pfeil is released in the name of justice and of those one has sworn to protect, with their power coming from the heart, leading him to promise Sōken that he will try releasing a Heilig Pfeil from the heart prior to firing the Heilig Pfeil in Kojaku at Yoshi, who deflects it with her string of energy blades and is left sweating by the effort as Nieder expresses disbelief at Uryū's power increasing at this point. While Uryū draws back another Heilig Pfeil, causing Kojaku to glow red-hot once more and begin emitting a large amount of steam, Yoshi approaches him.

The sword of Nieder observes that Uryū seems to be reaching his limit regardless, and as a chuckling Yoshi shifts Nieder to its armored form in order to defend herself, Uryū begs the Quincy Bangle to hold up and fires the Heilig Pfeil, only to be stunned upon seeing it disintegrating and dispersing in midair to the point of completely vanishing by the time it reaches Yoshi, who reverts Nieder to its base form and wonders what Uryū is doing. However, Yoshi is shocked when another Heilig Pfeil forms in a trembling Uryū's Kojaku and fires on its own at her, narrowly missing Yoshi's head and crashing into the ground behind her.

Berating the fan of Nieder for this, which prompts her to point out that this is Yoshi's fault for dispelling her armored form prematurely, Yoshi asks Uryū about what this was while Uryū realizes what this means. With Yoshi deducing that Uryū did not seem to do this intentionally and that the Quincy Bangle fired off by accident, Uryū looks at his hands and once again requests that the Quincy Bangle hold up as he nocks another Heilig Pfeil. After mocking Uryū for already being at his limit, Yoshi shifts Nieder to its armored form once more and unfurls the shield to block Uryū's subsequently-fired Heilig Pfeil while Nieder claims her defense is impregnable.

As she leaps into the air above Uryū, who has already formed another Heilig Pfeil, Yoshi asserts that this is the end while Nieder returns to its base form, but Uryū suddenly moves to her in midair with Hirenkyaku and fires his Heilig Pfeil at point-blank range through the side of Yoshi's chest, causing her to scream in pain.

Aftermath
In the aftermath, Uryū and Yoshi fall to the ground several meters apart, and as Uryū gets to his feet, Yoshi trembles on the ground with a smoking hole in her chest and questions why Nieder stopped protecting her, leading Uryū to remind her that Nieder makes its own decisions while she is fused with them and gave her superhuman abilities. Uryū details how Yoshi's inability to attack while she is defending and defend while she is attacking, which forces her to revert Nieder to its original form whenever she shifts between its two fused states, and recounts how she carelessly undid her fusion when his previous Heilig Pfeil disintegrated before it could reach her.

Uryū further details how Yoshi visibly could not react at all to the Heilig Pfeil that fired on its own immediately afterward, meaning that there is a small time lag between transformations which is her only and greatest weakness. Struggling to her feet, a dying Yoshi inquires about how Uryū managed to fire this second Heilig Pfeil, which prompts him to recount Sōken's philosophy about releasing Heilig Pfeil from the heart. In response, Yoshi admits that she has lost and that this was fun before collapsing as she glows green and disintegrates into ashes that begin floating away on the wind, with Uryū clutching his shoulder wound in pain and falling to his knees as well.

As the sun begins to set, a panting Uryū limps down an outdoor corridor under the setting sun and leans against the wall as his vision begins to blur, but is astonished when he sees an apparition of Sōken standing before him. As he assures Uryū that he has done enough, Sōken takes his hand and praises him for releasing a wonderful Heilig Pfeil on his pride as a Quincy. When Uryū protests that he is not ready to pass on, Sōken reminds him that people have limits and that he has fought to this limit for now before insisting that Uryū rest for now, only for Uryū to assert that he cannot do so yet. In response, Sōken details how a desire for vengeance can both toughen one's heart and make their blade dull.

After telling Uryū to reflect on this, the apparition of Sōken fades away, leaving Uryū calling out to him prior to being found by Ichigo Kurosaki and Yasutora Sado, the latter of whom rushes over to steady him. Confirming that he fought and managed to defeat a Bount to an inquisitive Ichigo, Uryū is shocked to learn of Kariya's promise to blow away the Seireitei tomorrow and winces in pain while Sado urges him to not push himself. Affirming that he will be stopping Kariya and acknowledging Uryū's desire to join him, Ichigo asserts that they need to tend to Uryū's injuries first as Sado leans Uryū up against the wall and begins examining the deep and bloody cut on his left shoulder.