Uryū vs. Ryūken! Clash of the parent-child Quincy

 is the one hundred and twenty-sixth episode of the Bleach anime.

As Ichigo Kurosaki is informed of Sōsuke Aizen's plan, Uryū Ishida finishes his training.

Summary
Seeing 5th Division Lieutenant Momo Hinamori appearing from behind Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto on the monitor connecting to Soul Society set up in Orihime Inoue's apartment, 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya observes that Hinamori is awake and questions if she is sure that she should be walking around, and though Hinamori assures him that she is fine now, Hitsugaya internally notes that her tired eyes indicate that she is not fine.

After a moment's pause, Hinamori apologize for having ever doubted Hitsugaya and for having drawn her Zanpakutō against him, not knowing what she was thinking when she did this, but Hitsugaya cuts off her self-criticism by asserting that he has already forgotten about the matter because it is behind them and that Hinamori should focus on going back to sleep so she can get rid of the bags underneath her eyes. With Hinamori tearfully thanking him for this, Hitsugaya elaborates that she already looks like a child and that children need twice as much sleep as adults do since they will stop growing otherwise, to her astonishment.

When Hitsugaya claims that she will need ten years of sleep to catch up to someone like Rangiku, a flustered Hinamori counters that Rangiku is abnormal and that Hitsugaya is in no position to give somebody else advice about growing, causing the screen to move around in tandem with her. However, a smiling Hitsugaya reminds her that he is a captain now and no longer just her childhood friend, which she acknowledges as she calms down. Hesitating for several seconds, Hinamori asks Hitsugaya if he is going to fight Sōsuke Aizen and inquires about the possibility of killing him before begging Hitsugaya to not do so, to the latter's shock.

While a sweating Hinamori claims that Aizen must have had a reason for the terrible things he did and could have been forced to do so by Gin Ichimaru or someone else, Yamamoto holds his hand over her face and performs Inemuri, causing Hinamori's eyes to go blank as she loses consciousness, with 1st Division Lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe catching her body when she collapses. Yamamoto turns to Hitsugaya and apologizes for granting Hinamori's request to speak with him because it may have been too soon, only for Hitsugaya to tell him that it is alright and bid Yamamoto farewell despite his concern prior to turning off the video feed.

As he clenches his fist, Hitsugaya ruminates on what Aizen has done to Hinamori. Meanwhile, in the Study Chamber underneath the Urahara Shop, Yasutora Sado fires an energy blast with his Fullbring, Brazo Derecha de Gigante, at 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai, who leaps into the air while wielding his Bankai, Hihiō Zabimaru, and mocks him as seemingly getting weak, prompting Sado to claim that he is not while Kisuke Urahara watches them. In the past, Renji is startled by Urahara's request for him to train Sado and wonders why he was chosen, which leads Urahara to admit that he does not think Sado will leave even if asked.

Once Renji points out that this did not answer his question, Ririn questions why he should not do so since it is not a big deal, which Kurōdo concurs with, and Noba states that he must have a big heart, though Renji merely tells them to stay out of this as outsiders and observes that Urahara should be the one to train Sado if he wants to be trained, prompting Urahara to state that whoever trains Sado needs to have Bankai. With Renji asserting that this further solidifies why he should train Sado since he can perform Bankai, Urahara claims that he could not possibly perform Bankai since he is simply a lowly-but-handsome merchant.

In turn, an exasperated Renji declares that everyone knows he is the former captain of the Twelfth Division and the creator of the Hōgyoku, spilling the rice he is eating everywhere in the process, which results in Ririn voicing her disgust and Kurōdo declaring that this is why young people are said to not have manners. When Renji tells them to shut up and reiterates that Urahara should do it since Sado asks him, Jinta Hanakari mockingly tells Ururu Tsumugiya that Renji clearly has no manly spirit despite being a freeloader, but as Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba concur with this, Renji refuses to let them use this logic since they are also freeloaders.

Following this, Urahara clarifies it must be Renji since his Bankai is not suited for training or strengthening people. As Renji stares in surprise at this, Urahara recalls the former wanting to ask him something, which he has managed to avoid up until now, and proposes Renji do odd jobs for him for the next three months in exchange for Urahara answering any question he asks. Despite Renji asserting that training someone is not an odd job, Urahara claims it is since training is a nuisance and one could get killed doing it before inquiring about whether Renji would rather give up on the question he wished to ask.

In the present, Sado is pushed back and sent crashing into a large rock formation by Hihiō Zabimaru, but quickly recovers and fires another energy blast narrowly to the left of Renji, who grins and resumes the battle. From afar, Urahara continues to watch Renji spar with Sado and notes that the former is certainly throwing himself into it despite how resistant he was to the idea as Sado runs out of a cloud of dust and away from a pursuing Hihiō Zabimaru. When Renji berates him for not realizing that he cannot get stronger by fleeing, Sado stops and fires another energy blast down a canyon at Hihiō Zabimaru, which evades it.

Sado fires two more energy blasts at an approaching Hihiō Zabimaru, and when both of them miss while the latter turns around to charge at him, Sado leaps up to the top of the canyon and punches the ground with a yell, causing a large portion of the cliffside to break apart and fall down onto a startled Renji below. After rolling out of the way, Renji demands that Sado not underestimate him and has Hihiō Zabimaru crash into Sado with its mouth open, resulting in more of the cliffside being destroyed and Sado falling to the ground below in a shower of rubble and dirt that he emerges from mostly unscathed to face Renji once more.

Turning to Sado, Urahara internally asserts that his powers clearly have the potential to increase through repeated battles against a Bankai, yet is left troubled by the fact that Brazo Derecha de Gigante is something different and distinct from the powers of Shinigami and Quincy. Simultaneously, at the Visored warehouse, Ichigo Kurosaki manages to don his Hollow mask for a brief second, only for it to immediately shatter while Hiyori Sarugaki kicks him in the face and into a rock for failing to stay Hollowfied, though Ichigo protests that he would be in great danger if he remained Hollowfied.

However, Hiyori sends him crashing into another rock with a second kick to the face and counters that this is the point of his training before concluding that he should just refrain from doing it at all if he is not going to do it right with a third kick to the face, prompting Love Aikawa and Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi to observe that they are getting along swimmingly. Outside the Visored warehouse, Orihime Inoue nervously approaches and realizes that this must be where Ichigo is located as she notices a cat, two birds, and several ants conspicuously moving as though they are near an invisible wall surrounding the Visored warehouse.

In turn, Orihime realizes that this is the result of the Hachigyō Sōgai barrier erected around the warehouse that is blocking the building out of the minds of others, who cannot even think of approaching it. However, upon pressing her hand against the barrier, which ripples around it, Orihime notes that it is similar to the Santen Kesshun of her Shun Shun Rikka despite its power, and as her fingers breach the barrier, a determined Orihime concludes that she can enter it. Meanwhile, in the Study Chamber below the warehouse, an annoyed Ichigo responds to being told to do it one more time by summoning and donning his Hollow mask.

Immediately after this, Ichigo raises his left arm in order to block a kick from Hiyori, who has her own Hollow mask resting on the side of her head. In response to Ichigo expressing pain at this, Hiyori reminds him once again that he is slower immediately after Hollowfying and asserts that he would have been dead had her blow landed as she performs Gatling Mad-Stomping, which sends a defending Ichigo smashing through several rocks across the Study Chamber. Upon seeing this, Hachigen Ushōda observes that Ichigo's retention time is not increasing very quickly, only for Shinji Hirako to state that it is not easy to do so.

When Ichigo's Hollow mask shatters, Kensei Muguruma announces that it lasted for four seconds, leaving Shinji nonplussed. When Mashiro Kuna wonders why Ichigo is doing this, Kensei clarifies that he is doing it to increase the amount of time that he can remain Hollowfied and asserts that Mashiro did it too, and when Mashiro denies this, Shinji informs an irritated Kensei that Mashiro has been able to Hollowfy for over fifteen hours and is the only Visored who has not done this part of the training, prompting a surprised Kensei to conclude that he must have forgotten, only to become angered once more when Mashiro mocks him over this and calls him a grouch.

Suddenly, Hachigen looks up in astonishment and warns a quizzical Shinji that someone just slipped through the Hachigyō Sōgai, which shocks the other Visored. With Love asking him if it is a Shinigami, Hachigen elaborates that the Hachigyō Sōgai is an original technique which he developed after becoming a Visored and which cannot be broken by a Shinigami's Kidō, leading Kensei to demand to know if it is another Visored. Admitting that he does not know, Hachigen muses that this individual slipped through the barrier rather than breaking through it, something not even a Visored can do.

As an unnerved Kensei questions who or what they could be, the Visored look up at the steps leading up to the warehouse to see Orihime nervously descending them. With the Visored stunned at the intruder being a Human, Orihime timidly asks them where the bathroom is and immediately clarifies that she was joking, though Kensei still expresses irritation at this as Lisa Yadōmaru berates him for taking it so seriously and Love asserts that he would not be making jokes in this situation. However, they are interrupted when Orihime's attention is drawn to Ichigo slamming into the ground nearby to Hiyori's derision, causing them to recognize each other with surprise.

Some time later, after Orihime relays Yamamoto's warning about Aizen's true intentions, a battered Ichigo ponders this in silence, and when Ichigo wonders why she is staring at him over this, Orihime notes that he does not seem very surprised by what she told him. In response, Ichigo explains that he is simply having a hard time wrapping his head around the idea of Karakura Town being destroyed to create an Ōken, but assures Orihime that he is going to stop Aizen because he can feel how much stronger he is getting and thanks her for the warning prior to returning to his training with Hiyori while Orihime watches him silently.

Orihime realizes that Ichigo cannot really process what she told him because he is so busy training and getting stronger, which allows him to know exactly what he needs to do without fear regardless of what Aizen is planning, though she is still cautious about Ichigo's empowerment being strange rather than nice or scary like it was before. After Orihime leaves, Kensei wonders who she was as Lisa notes that she ran away after speaking to Ichigo and Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi observes that they seemed to be friends. When Shinji identifies Orihime by name, Kensei demands to know if he knows her, only for Shinji to melodramatically claim that Orihime was his first love.

In turn, an infuriated Kensei asserts that this is an obvious lie while Lisa reminds him that he says this about every attractive girl, including her, and Rose mentally wonders if she is saying that Orihime is attractive. Behind Shinji, Hiyori is aghast at the idea of Shinji saying this to every attractive girl since he did not say it to her, which Shinji confirms, prior to leaping back when Ichigo attacks and warns her to not get distracted. During this, Love assures Hachigen that his barriers are undoubtedly flawless, which Hachigen affirms, but questions how Orihime detected the warehouse and got inside the barrier when this is the case.

An uncertain Hachigen theorizes that Orihime possesses the same type of barrier ability as he does since he examined her Reiatsu at close range, which is what allowed her to detect the warehouse and slip through the Hachigyō Sōgai, though he admits that it is incredible for a Human to possess such powers. Simultaneously, outside the warehouse, Yoruichi Shihōin lands in front of Orihime and reveals that Urahara sent her to find Orihime because he wants the latter brought to his Study Chamber right away. Meanwhile, at the Karakura Hospital Study Chamber, a panting and ragged Uryū Ishida stands amid dozens of holes in the walls and floor around him.

After leaping to the side in order to avoid another barrage of attacks, which causes him to slip off the edge of the platform he was standing on and fall toward another platform far below, Uryū frantically uses Wolke to cushion his fall. From nearby, Ryūken Ishida approaches with his Heilig Bogen in hand and observes that Uryū was cautious to keep some Gintō stored on his person. When Uryū wonders if he is being called a coward, Ryūken confirms this and attacks with Klavier, forcing Uryū to evade the Heilig Pfeil with Hirenkyaku while they create several more explosions of force upon impact with the surrounding area.

As he admonishes Uryū for being so slow to dodge and assumes he is reaching his limit due to how much Uryū has slowed down, Ryūken continues to track Uryū with his barrage, and as he continues to evade the dozens of Heilig Pfeil fired by Ryūken, Uryū mentally admits that he can barely move his arms and legs at this point, only to realize that Ryūken's Reiatsu is weakening too. As he ruminates on Ryūken's promise that his Quincy powers would come back if Uryū kept dodging his Heilig Pfeil, Uryū internally asserts that there is no sign of it working and wonders if Ryūken was lying to him, since he will certainly die if they keep going like this.

After concluding that he has reached his limit and must end this exercise, with his chance coming as Ryūken pauses his onslaught, Uryū lands before him and brings out his last Gintō, shocking Ryūken, before using Gritz to encase Ryūken in a large, oval-shaped, stone-like barrier. However, Uryū's triumph is cut short when Gritz dissipates to reveal an unfazed Ryūken wielding a much larger Heilig Bogen with an intricate Heilig Pfeil notched in its string. Apologizing to Uryū and declaring that it is over, Ryūken fires the Heilig Pfeil and hits Uryū near the center of his chest, leaving Uryū to curse this while collapsing.

With Uryū's glasses flying off and landing on the floor, Ryūken walks over and details how striking a Quincy with a Heilig Pfeil 19 millimeters to the right of their heart's sinoatrial node after pushing their mind and body to their limits is the only way to regain the powers lost from using Quincy: Letzt Stil, with Uryū having gained a Quincy Zeichen on his chest centered over the area where the Heilig Pfeil pierced his body. While kneeling next to Uryū, Ryūken wonders why he did not use Heizen instead of Gritz since it would have let him at least inflict an injury even if he could not win, and though he asserts that Uryū's stupid choice makes him sick, Ryūken decides to let him live this time.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
At the Urahara Shop, a fatigued 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai sweeps the front room as Kisuke Urahara asks him to clean the back room in addition since they are going to be resuming Yasutora Sado's training once they let him rest for half an hour, which Renji acknowledges. On the table in the back room, Kurōdo observes that Urahara has gotten Renji to do general chores in addition to training Sado, prompting Ririn to assert that he is very good at this and Noba to note that Urahara tricked Renji while Jinta Hanakari and Ururu Tsumugiya call an increasingly frantic Renji stupid for doing this.

Events

 * Visored Training

Powers and Techniques Used
Hakuda Techniques:

Hohō Techniques:

Kidō Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Bankai:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Quincy Techniques:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Fullbring:

Other Powers:

Anime Notes
Removed Content= Added/Expanded Content= Changes=
 * Tōshirō Hitsugaya identifying Momo Hinamori by name after seeing her on the screen in Orihime Inoue's apartment.
 * Rangiku Matsumoto solemnly leaving Orihime's apartment as Hitsugaya begins talking to Hinamori.
 * Hitsugaya confirming that he is going to fight Sōsuke Aizen.
 * Tessai Tsukabishi restraining Renji Abarai from attacking Kisuke Urahara after the latter aggravates him.
 * Renji agreeing to Urahara's terms for getting his question answered.
 * Orihime Inoue mentally detailing how the Hachigyō Sōgai blocks the Visored warehouse out of the minds of others.
 * Orihime mentally asserting that she has to get stronger alongside Ichigo as she leaves the Visored warehouse with Yoruichi Shihōin watching her from behind.
 * Uryū Ishida cursing as he falls off a high ledge to the ground below.
 * The screen in Orihime's apartment moving around in time with Hinamori as she berates Hitsugaya for talking about growing up.
 * Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba offering reasons for Renji to train Yasutora Sado, prompting Renji to tell them to stay out of the conversation.
 * Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba being disgusted by Renji spraying rice everywhere while criticizing Urahara.
 * Jinta Hanakari and Ururu Tsumugiya attempting to guilt Renji into training Sado by calling him a freeloader with agreement from Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba, only for Renji to refuse to fall for this again and point out that this is also true of them.
 * Renji chasing Sado through a canyon with Hihiō Zabimaru, where Sado brings down part of the cliff onto Renji after his energy blasts fail to connect and Renji responds by bringing Hihiō Zabimaru crashing down onto him.
 * Hiyori Sarugaki repeatedly kicking Ichigo Kurosaki in the face and through rocks between sentences after he fails to maintain his Hollow mask.
 * Ichigo and Hiyori continuing to spar while Love Aikawa asks Hachigen Ushōda about Orihime slipping through his barrier.
 * In the manga, Tessai is the one to realize that Urahara tricked Renji into doing odd jobs on top of training Sado; here, Kurōdo does so instead.
 * In the manga, Jinta and Ururu call Renji stupid for being tricked by Urahara immediately after Renji agrees to his terms; here, they instead do so while Renji is cleaning the Urahara Shop.
 * In the manga, Orihime is sweating when she finds the Visored warehouse; here, she is instead not.
 * In the manga, when Hiyori attacks Ichigo with Gatling Mad-Stomping, he blocks her kicks with both arms and she uses solely the bottom of both feet; here, Ichigo instead only blocks with his left arm and Hiyori uses only her right foot in addition to finishing with an upward kick to Ichigo's chin.
 * In the manga, Uryū remains moving while internally analyzing his fatigue and Ryūken Ishida's intentions as the latter continues to attack him; here, he instead briefly collapses against a wall and pulls himself to his feet during an interlude in Ryūken's onslaught.
 * In the manga, when preparing to use Gritz, Uryū lands in front of Ryūken; here, he instead flips over and lands behind Ryūken, who turns around to face him.
 * In the manga, the Heilig Pfeil that Ryūken shoots Uryū with has an intricate arrowhead underneath the flame-like Reishi at its tip; here, it instead does not.