Ishida's Strategy, the 20-second Offense and Defense

 is the one hundred and sixty-fourth episode of the Bleach anime.

While Uryū Ishida and 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai continue their battle against Szayelaporro Granz, Ichigo Kurosaki is healed by Orihime Inoue.

Summary
Facing down Szayelaporro Granz alongside Uryū Ishida, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai is asked about how long he can hold off Szayelaporro and estimates that he can do so for twenty seconds at most. In response, Uryū affirms that this should be enough as an intrigued Szayelaporro tells his Fracción so he can find out what Uryū and Renji can do in their condition. Nearby, Pesche Guatiche slides down between two of the pillars lining the walls while quietly screaming in pain.

After he lands crotch-first on an upturned chunk of rock and falls to the ground while denying that it hurt him, Pesche complains about Uryū going off on his own and depriving him of the second half of his comedy team that could have pointed out how his fall was real instead of comic relief. Suddenly, while observing that he has landed in the middle of a situation and can sense an intense Reiatsu, Pesche sees Dondochakka Birstanne's foot sticking out of the rubble several meters away and realizes that he was not only with Renji, but ended up in this comedic position completely by chance, to Pesche's irritation.

Despite this, Pesche creeps behind the rubble separating him from the Arrancar so he can save Dondochakka and prays that he is not noticed, which leads him to assure himself that he does not lack presence as the Arrancar hear a rustling and assume that it is a cockroach. When one of the Arrancar is questioned over his fear of something so much smaller than he is, he asserts that cockroaches scare him because they can fly, move their antennae, and glisten, all of which Pesche unconsciously replicates while continuing to sneak behind the rubble. In response, a third Arrancar berates the first for expressing his fear at a time like this.

With the Arrancar continuing to argue about this, Pesche deduces that none of them know he is here and mentally admits that he is slightly sad over no one actually perceiving his existence, such that it would be nice if he was noticed just a little. However, upon being reached by him, Dondochakka bursts out of the rubble and loudly greets a startled Pesche. As Dondochakka tearfully proclaims that Pesche has come to save him and that he was so scared, a frustrated Pesche repeatedly warns him to be quiet and eventually kicks Dondochakka in the face to silence him as well as transfer some of the pain he felt from his landing to the latter.

In turn, a stunned Dondochakka tells Pesche to be quiet just before the Fracción begin ganging up on him, only to be sent flying by a massive blast of force from behind them, to Pesche's confusion. On the other side of the chamber, Renji rapidly spins his Shikai, Zabimaru, in a wide arc above his head, generating radial waves of force outward from his position, and as Szayelaporro comments on him choosing brute strength out of all possible courses of action, Renji sends Zabimaru hurtling toward him, prompting Szayelaporro to deflect it with his Zanpakutō and call this pathetic. Suddenly, Renji rushes forward and grabs a surprised Szayelaporro by the collar.

Renji wraps the blade segments of Zabimaru around the two of them, binding them together in place with the end segment embedded in the ground nearby. With Szayelaporro questioning what this awkward position is, Renji mumbles an incantation under his breath and admits there is a wide gap in power between Szayelaporro and his Shikai, with him also not being very effective at close-range combat either, before pointing out how Szayelaporro is helpless at this distance despite being much more powerful than him while generating red, smoking energy in his left hand, alerting Szayelaporro in the process, and revealing that he has never been good at Kidō.

After admitting that he always got reprimanded by his teachers for not controlling it better, Renji invites Szayelaporro to find out which of them is more durable and unleashes a point-blank '''Hadō #31. Shakkahō''', resulting in a large explosion of energy that engulfs the two of them and reaches the ceiling above. In the aftermath, a burnt Szayelaporro stumbles out of the smoke as Renji collapses behind him and curses the latter, but is interrupted when Uryū appears several meters behind him and levels a Seele Schneider at Szayelaporro, whom he brings up moving away from Renji just as the latter attacked in order to maintain the distance between them.

With Uryū accusing him of preferring to look down on his enemies by keeping just out of their reach, Szayelaporro wonders why this matters since Uryū likes to attack from behind and assumes that Uryū believes he has won, but Uryū confirms this, flips the Seele Schneider so its blade is pointing downward, and stabs it into the ground, causing energy from it to extend outward and connect to a shocked Szayelaporro alongside four other Seele Schneider embedded in the ground around him in a pentagonal formation. Though Szayelaporro insists he sealed all of Uryū's weapons, Uryū counters that there are things Szayelaporro does not know about the world.

Telling Szayelaporro it is over in Spanish, Uryū pours the contents of a Gintō onto the Seele Schneider in front of him, activating a surge of energy leading toward a stunned Szayelaporro and initiating Sprenger, a massive pentagonal explosion of energy that engulfs him as Uryū walks away and discards the Gintō. With Szayelaporro's concerned Fracción rushing toward him and past Uryū in the aftermath, Pesche asks Uryū what this move was, prompting Uryū to explain that Sprenger consists of him creating a zone of destruction with Seele Schneider, which store Reishi in their pommels to maintain themselves.

Noting that this feature is meant for usage against Reishi-diffusing enemies, Uryū details how he marks a Quincy Zeichen on the ground before creating a large explosion inside of the zone with a drop of concentrated Reishi from a Gintō. However, Uryū clarifies that its lengthy setup time makes it useless in single combat despite its power unless the user has dependable backup, which leads a prone Renji to dismiss Uryū's attempt at flattering him, though Uryū insists he is being sincere. Suddenly, a badly burned and bloodied Szayelaporro makes his presence known within the clearing smoke behind Uryū, who is startled alongside Renji.

When Uryū admits that he is amazed at Szayelaporro still being able to stand after this, Szayelaporro reminds Uryū that he has already analyzed the latter's Reiatsu, which allows him to diffuse the impact of any technique Uryū uses even if it is new to him prior to maniacally declaring that he has reduced the damage, grabbing Lumina, and slamming him head-first into the ground to transform his entire body into a small purple orb that Szayelaporro proceeds to rapidly consume, causing his own injuries to rapidly heal when a wave of pink energy passes over them by traveling from his head down to his hands and feet.

Following this, Szayelaporro tells an aghast Verona to stop screaming because he will make him a new friend later and explains to a stunned Uryū and Renji that his unique Fracción exist to help him recover from his injuries by being eaten, and when Uryū calls him a monster for this, Szayelaporro counters that genius is the more accurate term. Once Szayelaporro turns on his heel and begins to walk away, Uryū demands to know where he is going, prompting Szayelaporro to assert that he is going to change into a new set of clothes since he cannot be expected to fight in the rags of his current outfit, which is missing its entire top half.

Though Uryū is incredulous at this, Szayelaporro holds out his hand to stop the former and suggests Uryū and Renji use this time to come up with a plan because he will be thinking of a horrible way to kill them, leaving Uryū and Renji speechless. Meanwhile, a battered Nel Tu crawls over the rubble in the tower that Ichigo Kurosaki smashed into to find him lying motionless and unresponsive on the floor, causing her to begin crying as she drops to the floor and pulls herself over to Ichigo, whom she repeatedly begs to not die. However, Nel finds her path blocked when Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez appears in front of her and tells her to get out of the way.

With a terrified Nel recognizing him, Grimmjow approaches Ichigo and flips the latter over with a rough kick, exposing the hole left in the center of his chest by Ulquiorra Cifer's hand, which Grimmjow notes he expected. Though Nel begs him to not harm Ichigo, Grimmjow instead brings out a bound and gagged Orihime Inoue from underneath a cloak, and as a stunned Orihime falls to her knees in front of Ichigo with her gag removed, Grimmjow sits down on a chunk of rubble behind her and orders Orihime to heal Ichigo. Simultaneously, Loly Aivirrne and Menoly Mallia find themselves confronted in Orihime's chamber by Ulquiorra.

After Ulquiorra wonders what has happened, Nel blames herself for Ichigo's injuries since he shielded her from Ulquiorra's Cero with his own body and got beaten up afterward, but as Nel pleads with Orihime to save Ichigo, Grimmjow tells her to shut up and threatens to obliterate her if she does not. While a frightened Nel complies with this, Grimmjow asserts Ichigo does not need her help as Orihime mentally notes she cannot reject the Reiatsu swirling around Ichigo's wounds. When Orihime wonders who could do something like this, Grimmjow informs her it was Ulquiorra while the latter simultaneously learns from Loly that Grimmjow is the one who took Orihime.

Grimmjow elaborates that Ulquiorra always unconsciously leaves a hole in the same location as his own on opponents he is intrigued by, and as Grimmjow promises to teach him a lesson for going after someone else's prey, Ulquiorra leaves Loly and Menoly in Orihime's chamber. Suddenly, Ichigo's fingers twitch and he regains consciousness, resulting in him recognizing Orihime and Nel as they call out to him in relief, but Grimmjow angrily tells Orihime to heal Ichigo instead of wasting time. Upon being asked about what he is doing with Orihime by Ichigo, Grimmjow declares that she is going to heal Ichigo because he wants the latter healthy when he kills him.

With Orihime left aghast at Grimmjow wanting her to heal Ichigo solely so he can kill the latter, Grimmjow questions if she would rather leave him to die instead and warning her that Ulquiorra will be here soon, only for Ulquiorra to suddenly appear behind Grimmjow with Sonído and glare at him.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
At a waterfall, a bathing Yoruichi Shihōin is approached by 13th Division 3rd Seat Kiyone Kotetsu, who claims to have always been a fan of hers and requests an autograph from her, prompting a chuckling 2nd Division Captain Suì-Fēng to hold up a camera in preparation as she hides in a tree behind Yoruichi. However, Yoruichi simply requests paperboard to write on and uses her thumb to launch the cap of the marker Kiyone handed to her off at high speeds, striking Suì-Fēng and knocking her out of the tree. Walking over to Suì-Fēng, Yoruichi declares she is a thousand years too early to outwit her and takes several compromising photos of an embarrassed Suì-Fēng.

Fights & Events

 * Renji Abarai & Uryū Ishida vs. Szayelaporro Granz
 * Orihime's Confrontation

Powers and Techniques Used
Kidō Techniques:

Quincy Techniques:

Arrancar Techniques:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Other Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Bankai:
 * (flashback)

Spirit Weapons:

Items:

Anime Notes
Added/Expanded Content= Censorship= Changes=
 * Pesche Guatiche realizing he has entered a tense situation due to the high Reiatsu he can sense and briefly panicking.
 * The Arrancar hearing a rustling noise as Pesche sneaks past them and assuming that it is a cockroach, which one of them describes the attributes of as Pesche unconsciously exhibits them.
 * Pesche repeatedly telling Dondochakka Birstanne to be quiet and progressively growing more frustrated as the latter continues being loud until he kicks Dondochakka in the face to transfer some of his pain and gloats over it, causing Dondochakka to tell him to be quiet instead.
 * Szayelaporro Granz watching in terror for several seconds as the Gintō droplet falls onto the Seele Schneider.
 * Pesche reacting with disgust to Szayelaporro's explanation of the healing properties of his Fracción.
 * Renji Abarai and Szayelaporro are less severely burnt by Shakkahō.
 * Szayelaporro is far less severely burnt by Sprenger.
 * Szayelaporro consumes Lumina by first slamming the latter into the ground to kill him, then transforming his body into a small purple orb that he eats, instead of taking large and bloody bites out of Lumina's actual body starting with the head until only less than one-half of Lumina's torso is left in his hands and one of Lumina's arms sticks out of his mouth.
 * Nel Tu's face is not bloodied and is far less scuffed.
 * Ichigo Kurosaki does not have a pool of blood spreading on the ground beneath him.
 * The hole in Ichigo's chest does not release blood when Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez flips him over.
 * In the manga, Pesche enters the chamber by sliding down the side of one of the pillars; here, he instead slides down the gap between two of the pillars.
 * In the manga, the Arrancar notice Pesche and Dondochakka due to the latter's outburst; here, they instead do so because of the former's subsequent shouting.
 * In the manga, Renji's mumbling is indistinct; here, it is instead clearly the incantation for Shakkahō.
 * In the manga, Orihime Inoue's gag is distinctly severed by Grimmjow's finger; here, it is instead cut through by a general slashing motion from him.
 * In the manga, Nel's flashback to Ulquiorra firing his Cero specifically depicts Ichigo shielding her from the blast with his own body; here, it instead shows previously-animated footage of Ichigo seeing the blast approaching him, running through the sands with Nel, and being kicked into the tower by Ulquiorra.
 * In the manga, Orihime performs Sōten Kisshun a few feet away from Ichigo's side; here, she instead performs it almost directly across from Ichigo's head.