Ichigo Kurosaki & Uryū Ishida vs. Kūgo Ginjō

Ichigo Kurosaki & Uryū Ishida vs. Kūgo Ginjō is the fight during the Tale of the Lost Agent between Ichigo Kurosaki the Quincy Uryū Ishida and the Fullbringer Kūgo Ginjō.

Prologue
Yukio Hans Vorarlberna uses his Fullbring to split everyone up into individual rooms. Ichigo finds himself facing Kūgo, in a replica of Karakura Town. Kūgo says he picked the environment so Ichigo could fight easier and that they can go one-on-one. However, Uryū Ishida steps out, declaring their fight to be two-on-one. Ichigo asks if he is hurt but Uryū says that Rukia healed him. Uryū then apologizes to Ichigo, saying that when he first saw the Substitute Badge, he had thought there were other Substitutes before him. He thought that if the previous one was alive, they would have told Ichigo and if he was dead, they would have said why, leading Uryū to believe the Soul Society did not know. Ichigo responds by kicking Uryū, telling him it does not matter as they could not have done anything anyhow and that he would have forgotten in a few days. He tells Uryū to stop worrying all the time. The two friends insult each other before Ichigo tells Uryū to clean his glasses as they prepare to face Kūgo.

Battle
While Ichigo and Uryū fight Kūgo, they eventually begin hiding from him. Kūgo uses his attacks to cause some destruction in the surrounding areas. He then calls out to the two high school students, asking them what was wrong and that they were taking an awfully long time just to warm up for battle. Uryū observes him from his hiding spot, realizing that Kūgo has done more than just absorb Ichigo's Fullbring powers, but has infused his Reiatsu with his own. Ichigo appears and asks Uryū if he has a plan. Uryū tells him that he was not trying to come up with a plan, explaining that he was observing Kūgo's Reiatsu. Realizing the Uryū is not trying to come up with a plan, Ichigo confronts Kūgo, who was thinking they were trying to come up with a plan as well which he denies was the case.

From below, Uryū tries to warn his friend not to attack however, Ichigo begins charging a Getsuga Tenshō anyway. Recognizing his actions, Kūgo dares Ichigo to attack him with it, stating that given the last attack almost killed him, it really was the only chance Ichigo has of defeating him. Uryū screams for him to stop, insisting that Kūgo is baiting him but despite this, Ichigo attacks Kūgo with the Getsuga Tenshō anyway. Shockingly, Kūgo cuts through the attack with his sword and, even more surprisingly, unleashes a Getsuga Tenshō as well, surprising and mildly injuring Ichigo.

Uryū appears and begins to unleash a barrage of ranged attacks towards Kūgo. The leader of Xcution dodges these attack, giving Ichigo time to regroup with Uryū in the meantime. Uryū berates Ichigo for not listening to him in the first place, but Ichigo tells him to "shut up" which makes Uryū even angrier about the situation. He asserts that Ichigo should have listened to his explanation before attacking but Ichigo disagrees as regardless if he knew or not, it wouldn't have made Kūgo weaker anyway. However, Uryū counters that they at least could have prepared more effectively to battle Kūgo. He warns Ichigo to be careful, concluding that Kūgo took Ichigo's abilities as well, in addition to taking his Fullbring and Reiatsu.

Kūgo and Ichigo continue to fight each other, countering each other with their respective Getsuga Tenshō's. Kūgo comments that Ichigo is fighting well, but it looks like to him he does not care what happens to himself. Ichigo disagrees with him. Kūgo then asks him what he is fighting for, which confuses Ichigo. Kūgo states that he can sense Tsukishima is dead, he then clarifies that he isn't dead yet but his reiatsu is nearly gone, so he gives him 10 seconds at best. He also explains that if a Fullbringer dies, then all traces of their ability disappears. Therefore if Tsukishima does die, then the pasts he modified will return to normal. He asks Ichigo again what he is fighting for, but when Ichigo does not answer him, Kūgo informs him of an enemy that he should be fighting.

Ichigo dismisses this as an attempt to shake his resolve. Uryū appears behind Kūo and agrees with this sentiment since that now the battle is in their favor, Kūgo hopes that Ichigo will fall prey to his words and join his side instead by twisting some truths to benefit his cause. Kūgo dismisses this claim and taunts the both of them by stating that he can easily wipe the floor with both of them right then. He urges Uryū to even try and shoot him, asserting that he would quite simply knock away every single one of his attacks and still keep talking as if nothing happened. He then turns his back on Uryū and begins addressing Ichigo again.

Kūgo begins talking about the Substitute Shinigami Badge, saying that the badge is awarded whether the person is of benefit to Soul Society or not, saying that it carries no authority. Ichigo remembers showing his badge to Zennosuke Kurumadani, who had no idea what it was. Kūgo goes on to say that the badge's true purpose is to observe and restrict Ichigo as a Shinigami. He notes that Ichigo's reiatsu was always rampaging in Shinigami form but completely calm while in Human form. When he first activated his Fullbring, Ichigo's reiatsu came pouring out of the badge and Ichigo's friends were heard through it. Kūgo then says that this whole scheme was designed by 13th Division Captain Jūshirō Ukitake to control Substitute Shinigami.

While Ichigo appears speechless, Kūgo asserts that they were both conned and tricked by the most peaceful man in Gotei 13. Uryū observes the situation, already having come to the same conclusion as Kūgo but having not told Ichigo before. The Fullbringer insists that Ukitake wanted to observe and keep control of them which meant executing them should they ever rebel against the order of the Gotei 13. Uryū yells for Ichigo not to listen as Kūgo goes on to say that everyone in Soul Society was in on this, an enraged Ichigo yells "shut up" and shouts to release his Bankai. The release of his Bankai shatters the pocket dimension.

Kūgo asks why he should remain silent, wondering if Ichigo planned on using his Bankai to shut him up. He taunts him by asking if he succeeds will he just run away from the truth again. Again Ichigo say "Shut up" but states that the first time was meant for Uryū because he wanted his friend to stop worrying about him. He then dismisses Kūgo's words saying that he had had his suspicions about the Combat Badge all along due to it not doing what Ukitake said it would do. Ichigo then asserts that Ukitake is a lot smarter than he and he soon realized that if he had really wanted to fool him, he'd have gone to a lot more trouble and done it in a much more effective way, thus he always knew Ukitake was not trying to mislead him.

Ichigo maintains that Ukitake acted as he did, and allowed him to choose his own path. Kūgo scoffs at this, saying that Ichigo never really had a choice to begin with. Ichigo counters this by saying that he could choose and that he chose to protect everyone around him and that everyone in Soul Society had always allowed him to do that, from the moment Rukia had first given him her powers, until he lost his own powers and everyone worked together to return his powers to him. Ichigo insists that now he will defeat Kūgo to protect everyone. Kūgo decides that negotiations are over, informing Ichigo that he didn't want to kill him in the first place. Ichigo looks on as Kūgo activates his Bankai.

Ichigo remembers that Kūgo is a former Substitute Shinigami. Kūgo reminds Ichigo that he has some Hollow in him and the pair clash. Ichigo blocks an energy blast from Kūgo and slashes him across the chest. They clash again, resulting in Kūgo's sword breaking and him slumping to the ground badly injured. As Shūkurō Tsukishima appears and attempts to attack Ichigo, Rukia Kuchiki steps between them and Riruka Dokugamine bursts forth from her chest, taking the attack instead. Ichigo catches Rukia and looks on as the Fullbringers talk.

Aftermath
Sometime after the fighting ends he is at Urahara's shop waiting for Riruka to wake up so he can make sure she is okay. He then tells Riruka that none of the other Fullbringers have been found. He then looks on as Orihime Inoue and Riruka converse.

Ichigo goes to Soul Society with the intention of asking for the return of Kūgo's body so that he may bury it in the Human World. Upon arriving at the 1st Division HQ, he finds the captains assembled before him. He is told to go inside the building by the 9th Division Captain Kensei Muguruma. He is surprised to see Kensei in a captain's uniform. After informing Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto of his request, he is lectured about the issue by 2nd Division Captain Suì-Fēng and the 5th Division Captain Shinji Hirako. Ichigo explains that his friends and family are back to normal and calls Kūgo a "mere Substitute Shinigami". Yamamoto notes that he must have thought carefully about using that phrase. Afterwards, Ichigo is asked about his badge, but he states that he trusts them and keeps it.