Ishida・Chad, the Quickening of a New Power

Ishida・Chad, the Quickening of a New Power is the one-hundred-forty-fourth episode of the Bleach anime.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: October 7, 2007
 * English Airdate: August 22, 2009
 * Opening Song: After Dark
 * Ending Song: Tane wo Maku Hibi
 * Manga Chapters: Chapter 241 page 16, Chapter 242, and Chapter 243
 * Kanji: 石田・チャド、新しき力の胎動
 * Romaji: "Ishida・Chado, atarashiki chikara no taidō"
 * Arc: The Hueco Mundo arc

Summary
Ichigo Kurosaki, Sado Yasutora, and Uryū Ishida burst into Hueco Mundo and find themselves inside a building that is not quite what Ichigo imagined. Against Ishida’s judgement, Ichigo feels that it does not matter if they make noise because then they can catch an enemy and find out where Orihime Inoue is. Ishida then inadvertently activates a booby trap that causes the floor to fall away, and he and Ichigo have to save Sado from falling into the hole. Further down the hallway, Ichigo activates another trap, this time in the form of a giant rolling ball, but Sado shatters it with a punch. Shortly thereafter, the three are discovered by an Arrancar, but instead of facing him, Ishida and Sado run away, dragging Ichigo with them. Ishida has realized that they are underground, as there are no windows, and so they cannot risk collapsing the building by fighting in the narrow hallway. They soon arrive in a large circular room, though Ishida is still more interested in the exit on the far side. A second Arrancar appears in front of him, and the first one soon arrives behind them.

Ichigo is ready to fight these Arrancar by himself, but Sado elbows him out of the way and insists that Ichigo be the one who steps back. Both he and Ishida think that Ichigo should save his strength until they find Inoue, and Ishida also reveals what they know about the Arrancar. Their opponents are the small and fast Iceringer and the large and strong Demōra. Sado initially fights the former while Ishida battles with the latter. Demora uses a technique that gathers surrounding spirit energy into his palms for attacking, which prevents Ishida from gathering spirit energy to construct his own weapon. As Ishida is wishing that he could get more distance between himself and Demōra, he notices Sado having a hard time hitting Iceringer due to the distance between them. Because of this, Ishida stops moving and lets Sado punch Demōra instead. Ready to counterattack against a foe he is better matched against, Ishida forms his new bow called the Ginrei Koujaku and fires off a volley at Iceringer.

Iceringer manages to survive with only a shoulder injury, but Ishida matches the Arrancar’s speed and reveals that he is not a normal human as the Arrancar had though - he is a Quincy. His opponent responds by unleashing his Uña Tirotear attack that can rapidly fire 108 shots. This does not bother Ishida at all though, as his Ginrei Koujaku can fire 1200. He easily overwhelms Iceringer. Sado meanwhile has to deal with Demora’s deadly tongue attack, however he is able to stop it with his arm. He says that he does not like finishing off opponents who have lost their will to fight, but he realizes that this is not the time to be like that, so he powers up his arm for an attack he calls El Directo.