The Moment of Collision! An Evil Hand Draws Near to the Quincy

 is the seventy-first episode of the Bleach anime.

With Ryō Utagawa attempting to devour his Soul, Uryū Ishida finds himself abducted and saved by Yoshino Sōma.

Summary
While Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, and Uryū Ishida face down Ryō Utagawa and the snakes produced by his Doll, Fried, from the front of the parking lot, Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado run around the two trucks flanking Utagawa and crouch behind him, prompting a smirking Utagawa to claim that a five-against-one battle seems cowardly. However, Ichigo simply tells him to shut up and instructs Uryū to stay close while Utagawa decides to not hold back in these circumstances.

At Utagawa's command, Fried forms more snakes out of the gouges in the concrete, and when Ichigo moves to attack, Utagawa cautions him against doing so as one of the larger snakes wraps itself around the unconscious woman lying next to Utagawa and lifts her into the air, leading Utagawa to observe that they are now five-against-two, though he still does not consider this to be even. Ichigo calls Utagawa a coward since he and Fried should count as two.

Utagawa counters that he and Fried are of one mind and body and that this would be akin to counting Ichigo's Shikai, Zangetsu, as a separate member of his group, though he claims to be willing to tally up the numbers again in this case. Upon being asked by Rukia what he intends to do with the woman, Utagawa asserts that he would never kill her, but threatens to have the snake cover her skin with countless cuts and permanently disfigure her with its poison if Ichigo and his friends make the wrong move. Watching this from afar, Kurōdo declares that this is a stand-off and that their only option is to give up, only for Ririn to punch him in the back.

With Ririn admonishing Kurōdo for suggesting such a thing at a time like this, Uryū gets to his feet and observes that he is the one Utagawa is after before proposing that Utagawa take him instead of the woman. As his friends express shock at this, Uryū states that they have no other choice since they cannot get innocent people involved, which Ichigo does not have an argument against. After praising Uryū's intelligence, Utagawa instructs him to come closer, but Uryū requests that he release the woman first, leading Utagawa to wonder if he seems that untrustworthy. Though offended by this, Fried has the snake holding the woman slither toward Ichigo and his friends while Uryū approaches.

Uryū stands before Utagawa as the snake holding the woman releases her and wraps itself around him, to his surprise. While Utagawa tells Ichigo and his friends to not move, Rukia informs Ichigo that their chance will come when Utagawa moves to devour Uryū's Soul, which Ichigo and the others acknowledge. Suddenly, the snake holding Uryū slams him head-first into the concrete, leaving his friends shocked as a pool of blood begins spreading from his temple, and lifts him back up as Utagawa explains that Fried is realistic and never trusts anyone, with Fried claiming in turn that he is an idealist, before asserting that Humans are delightfully whimsical creatures.

As Utagawa licks some of Uryū's blood off his finger, Rukia angrily demands to know what he is doing and Ichigo questions if he is not going to devour Uryū's Soul, which prompts Utagawa to clarify that he occasionally needs some entertainment in order to enjoy his main dish while chuckling maliciously. Suddenly, a fireball hurtles toward Utagawa, who turns around with a grin and forms Fried into a circular shield in front of his hand that he uses to block the fireball, dispersing it all over the parking lot and starting an intense blaze that separates Ichigo and his friends from Uryū while Yoshino Sōma picks the latter up with her Doll, Goethe, guarding her.

With Ichigo and his friends astonished to see Yoshino again, Utagawa inquires if she has snuck out once more, and as the fire covering him clears to reveal Fried shielding him by coiling around his body, Utagawa warns Yoshino that she will not be given special treatment forever. Upon being ordered by Yoshino to take care of things here, Goethe acknowledges this and unleashes a torrent of flames as Yoshino leaps away with Uryū despite the protests of Ichigo and his friends. When Goethe throws two fireballs at him, Ichigo slashes through the first with Zangetsu and backhands the other one into the truck on the right side of the parking lot, which is knocked over by the force of the projectile.

An irritated Utagawa narrows his eyes while Goethe disappears within the rising flames. Next to the toppled truck, the flames clear to reveal Orihime shielding herself, Sado, the woman, and the Mod-Souls with Santen Kesshun, which disperses as Ichigo and Rukia run over to them. After Orihime confirms that she is okay, Rukia looks at the unconscious woman and expresses relief that they were able to save at least one person. When Ririn reveals that she can still sense Yoshino and that the latter has not moved very far with Uryū yet, Ichigo and his friends begin running out of the parking lot in the indicated direction, only to be confronted by Utagawa once more.

Though Ichigo grips Zangetsu and demands that he move because there is no time to waste on him, a stern Utagawa asserts that he is not in a very good mood right now. When asked by Fried if she can attack, Utagawa permits her to do as she wishes, leading Fried to transform nearby ropes and barricades into large snakes that encircle Ichigo and his friends before attacking. While Ichigo decapitates two snakes, Sado rips apart a third with his bare hands, and Rukia vaporizes a fourth with Kidō, Orihime turns around and uses Koten Zanshun to decapitate four more as Ichigo slashes through the rest and regroups with his friends.

Chuckling, Utagawa spins the whip end of Fried around and promises that they have not see anything yet as he gouges into the pavement and slashes through power lines above them to create more snakes. With Ichigo bemoaning how there is no end to the snakes, Utagawa orders the snakes to attack. However, before the snakes can reach Ichigo and his friends, they are blasted apart by Ururu Tsumugiya's Senren Bakusatsu Taihō, forcing Utagawa to shield himself, as Ururu stands next to 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai, with Jinta Hanakari and Tessai Tsukabishi climbing over the fence behind them while Tessai observes that they arrived just in time.

With Renji apologizing for keeping them waiting and Jinta ordering her to fire, Ururu unleashes another barrage that destroys the remaining snakes despite Utagawa's attempt to have them attack her, leaving Utagawa to wrap Fried around himself for protection. As the smoke clears to reveal that Utagawa has vanished, Renji and the others run over to the area where he was standing and determine that he has escaped, and while Kurōdo proclaims that they will let Utagawa off easily today, only to be startled when Noba reminds him that he did not do anything, Ichigo asks Ririn about Yoshino's Reiatsu and is left expressing concern for Uryū when Ririn informs him that she is gone.

Meanwhile, at the Shinigami Research and Development Institute within the Seireitei in Soul Society, 8th Division Captain Shunsui Kyōraku slides open the door to 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi's laboratory and announces his presence. When he does not receive a response, Shunsui assumes that no one is present and attempts to use one of the machines in the laboratory, but is interrupted when Mayuri points out how no one has confirmed that the laboratory is uninhabited and spins around in the chair behind him. While Shunsui expresses resignation at this, Mayuri criticizes him for acting like a thief despite his reputation, which Shunsui denies.

Upon being asked what he wants by Mayuri since the latter is busy despite appearances, Shunsui requests to see data on the Bount and notes that Mayuri should know what they are, prompting Mayuri to muse on how the subject is very old and dust-covered. Shunsui explains that the materials on the Bount which should have been preserved in the Seireitei Library have disappeared, leaving him with only the data in the SRDI to examine, and asserts that it should not be a problem to show this data to him if it is so old and dust-covered, only for Mayuri to counter that this is for him to decide and that it is going beyond Shunsui's authority as a captain to give orders to another captain.

Despite this, Shunsui merely affirms that this is exactly why he is here because he is certain that Mayuri is the only one who can help him on this matter as both the head of the SRDI and the man rumored to be the most excellent captain in Soul Society. When Mayuri bluntly states that he should go through the official channels if he wants data from the SRDI, Shunsui reminds him that this would take at least three months, and though he acknowledges that the data might not be important, a grinning Mayuri concludes that people going through the official channels gives his position meaning and authority, which Shunsui takes to mean that he will not provide the data.

Irritated by this, Shunsui expresses a desire to see Mayuri go to Hell one day and denies having said anything when Mayuri questions what he said. Walking past Mayuri toward the door, where 12th Division Lieutenant Nemu Kurotsuchi is waiting, Shunsui looks back and admits that his description of Mayuri as the most excellent captain was just flattery. After observing that he has also heard Mayuri is the worst captain, Shunsui invites Mayuri to go through the proper channels if he wants to learn more and departs, leaving an infuriated Mayuri to bemoan his attitude and order Nemu to give him the key to his terminal, which he turns on by inserting and turning the key.

However, as Mayuri attempts to delete the Bount data in order to punish Shunsui for his comments, he discovers that he has been locked out of doing so by a password system, which causes him to stand up in shock and express confusion since he did not give such an order, meaning that someone else has done this. With Mayuri berating Nemu for not preventing this since she was left in charge of supervision, Shunsui, who has been watching this through the slightly-ajar door, turns around and pulls down his hat as he observes that this could become more complicated than he expected and walks away. Back in the Human World, at the Urahara Shop, Ichigo and his friends sit in the back room.

While Kisuke Urahara and his employees sit in the room with him and his friends, Ichigo recalls Uryū being wounded and abducted, leading him to stand up and declare that they cannot wait around here as he asks Urahara where Yoruichi Shihōin is. When Urahara reveals that she has not yet returned, Ichigo laments her absence at a time like this, and while Rukia asserts that having more people improves their odds of success, Orihime, Sado, and Renji all agree to join in the search and prepare to leave alongside Ichigo and Rukia, only for Urahara to request that they wait, to Ichigo's disbelief, as he inquires if they have a destination that they are heading to.

Though Ichigo asserts that they can find Uryū if they split up, Urahara cautions him against doing so since they still do not know the objective of the Bount and points out how Utagawa might come after someone who is alone like he did yesterday, stunning Ichigo. Urahara concludes that the Dolls wielded by the Bount seem to have powers surpassing those of Zanpakutō and that Ichigo and his friends will be playing into their hands if they proceed without a solid plan, leading Ichigo and the others to reluctantly sit back down. Suddenly, when Ichigo sits down on his cushion, a loud farting noise is heard, shocking everyone in the room into silence.

Kon triumphantly reveals that this was his doing and recounts how he placed a whoopee cushion underneath Ichigo's seat before observing that they got a nice sound out of him, only to find an enraged Ichigo looming behind him, which leads him to claim that he was simply trying to ease the tension in the room before being hurled through the nearby set of doors and out of the window into the distance by Ichigo, leaving considerable property damage in his wake. Elsewhere, Uryū regains consciousness to find himself bandaged and staring at Yoshino as he lies on a couch within a desolate, abandoned house, causing him to back up instinctively.

Clutching his head from the ensuing pain, Uryū sees that Yoshino is sitting still and wonders why she saved him, only to assume that dead Souls do not taste as good. When asked by Yoshino if he is a Quincy, Uryū notes that he is being asked this again and that his Soul must smell very different compared to that of an ordinary Human, which Yoshino confirms as she describes it as not smelling very tasty, especially when it has lost all of its Quincy powers. With Uryū commenting on her bluntness, Yoshino inquires about how he lost his powers, prompting Uryū to recall activating the Quincy: Letzt Stil to defeat Mayuri and his Bankai, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō.

Uryū describes this as the result of his lack of training combined with reaching the limits of his capabilities, only to be startled when Yoshino questions if self-pity is a common Quincy characteristic, causing him to blush. Upon hearing Yoshino muse that she should have found another Quincy, Uryū reveals that he is the only Quincy left, to her surprise and melancholy. After reiterating Uryū's statement of there being no other Quincy, Yoshino moves onto the couch and begins to lean down toward Uryū, who is left sweating in fear. Back at the Urahara Shop, Urahara admits that he had been debating whether or not to reveal something to Ichigo and his friends.

As he details how they decided to research the Bount because of a special substance that was found inside their Reishi residue sample, Urahara elaborates that while this substance is nothing to worry about in small quantities, it becomes capable of affecting space in larger quantities, leaving Ichigo confused while Rukia holds up a notebook and requests more detail. With Urahara clarifying that this substance allows two mutually exclusive spaces to be connected with a tunnel-like construct, Rukia begins sketching out this scenario in her notebook, and despite Ichigo's protests, Rukia finishes her drawing and shows it to a flabbergasted Urahara.

When Urahara moves on and concludes that this would make it possible to connect the Human World with Hueco Mundo, a shocked Rukia asserts that this would cause many living beings to be sucked into Hueco Mundo and illustrates this on her drawing. Affirming this, Urahara points out how Soul Society uses the time that it takes Hollows to enter the Human World from Hueco Mundo to determine how they will position Shinigami and begins to ruminate on the consequences of Hollows being able to move between the two worlds instantly, with an astonished Renji concluding that they would not be able to stop the Hollows even if they stationed every single Shinigami here.

After confirming this, Urahara describes this scenario as being akin to a Soul buffet for Hollows, but assures the others that this is only a possibility. However, when Sado asks him how big the possibility is and Urahara holds up all five fingers on his right hand, Ichigo presumes that this represents a 5% chance, only for Urahara to tell him to not joke around as Rukia pushes Ichigo aside and expresses horror at Urahara's gesture meaning 50%, which Urahara confirms as the others stare in shock. Suddenly, Tessai slides open the door to the room and informs Ichigo and his friends that they have been contacted by Uryū, further surprising them.

Soon afterward, at Karakura Hospital, Ichigo and his friends walk briskly down a hall and enter one of the rooms, where they find Uryū in a hospital bed as he greets them and requests that they enter more quietly next time since loud noises aggravate his injuries. While Rukia and Orihime express relief at him being alright, Sado pulls back the covers to look at Uryū's lower body, prompting an unnerved Uryū to confirm that he is not a Soul before agreeing to tell his friends what happened at Ichigo's prompting by relaying the unbelievable story that Yoshino told him. In the past, Yoshino instructs Uryū to listen quietly to her so she does not have to hurt him.

Yoshino walks to one of the broken windows and explains that the Bount have an ancient, unbreakable rule of never devouring the Souls of living Humans because doing so would grant them immense energy that would allow them to affect space. When asked by Uryū what this means, Yoshino notes that they could travel to Soul Society, shocking Uryū, but observes that no one decided to break this rule until now because it would upset the balance of the worlds. As she paces across the room, Yoshino elaborates that a Bount has appeared who has decided to do this and that his name is Jin Kariya. Though a stunned Uryū reminds her that she also attacked Humans, Yoshino asserts that she failed.

Detailing how she needed more strength in order to fight Kariya, Yoshino admits that she no longer wants to do this since rules should never be broken and declares that she will be using the power she has now to defeat Kariya and put an end to his ambition. With Uryū wondering what this has to do with him, Yoshino warns him that Kariya will definitely be pursuing him now and that she wants to him live, and as Uryū begins to lose consciousness again and questions why Kariya is pursuing him, Yoshino concludes that the outcome of this whole situation will depend upon a Quincy while Uryū fully loses consciousness and slumps over on the couch.

In the present, Uryū finishes his recounting by revealing that he was in the hospital when he woke up again. When Urahara ponders why a Quincy is crucial to this situation, Uryū apologetically states that he did not get to ask Yoshino this while Ichigo expresses uncertainty over whether they can trust this story. Though he admits that he does not know this, Uryū reflects on how Yoshino looked when standing in front of the window, only to be snapped back to reality by Ichigo, prompting him to point out how it is likely not completely false because Yoshino brought him back safely like this as Ichigo notes that they will need to protect Uryū if he is being pursued.

While Rukia promises that they will protect Uryū, who thanks her, Urahara decides to return to his shop with his employees in order to formulate a plan. Ichigo informs Uryū that they will see Urahara off and Orihime instructs him to get some rest as she closes the curtain in front of his bed, leaving Uryū to lie back and think about how Yoshino heavily resembles his mother, whom he once saw with an expression mixed between laughing and crying when he was a child. Meanwhile, in the abandoned hotel, Utagawa questions Kariya's decision to allow Yoshino to roam around freely like this, but Kariya assures him that Yoshino can never leave him and that he has taken precautions as Hō and Ban stand up behind him and smile maliciously.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
As several members of the Eleventh Division wait outside a building, Kenpachi Zaraki orders them to not come inside, prompting Ikkaku Madarame to note an hour has passed since Kenpachi went in there. Inside, Kenpachi sits in front of a mirror while trying to attach a small bell to the top-most spike of his hair, which he notes always takes longer than the others. However, he declares that going out without his bells is unthinkable and resumes trying to attach it while Ikkaku notes three hours have passed.

Fights

 * Battle against Ryō Utagawa (concluded)

Powers and Techniques Used
Quincy Techniques:
 * (flashback)

Other Techniques:

Zanpakutō released: Shikai:

Bankai:
 * (flashback)

Dolls summoned:

Other Powers:

Other Weapons: