Uryū is Attacked, A Threat Draws Near the Friends!

 is the three hundred and forty-fifth episode of the Bleach anime.

After Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Inoue visit Uryū Ishida in hospital, Keigo Asano is attacked.

Summary
A badly injured Uryū is loaded into an ambulance, and then taken to a hospital. Keigo and Mizuiro Kojima are seen walking home after dark. Mizuiro, thinking he has heard someone following them, turns around, but doesn't see anyone. Suddenly, Tatsuki Arisawa comes running at them and pushes both of them to the ground. Mere seconds later, a large steel beam crashes into the ground where Keigo and Mizuiro had just been standing. Mizuiro thanks Tatsuki and Keigo asks if she was the one following them. Tatsuki says no, she was just walking home and saw the beam start to fall from a distance.

Elsewhere, Kūgo Ginjō is walking, when he is greeted by two of his partners from Xcution. Riruka Dokugamine starts to taunt Kūgo by saying that he failed to recruit Ichigo into their group, and Giriko Kutsuzawa mumbles a quick and short agreement with her. Kūgo asks why they are here, since he told them not to follow him. Riruka says that he's not the boss and that they are all equals. Riruka further states that she will recruit Ichigo herself, since Kūgo clearly doesn't have any persuasive skills. Giriko reminds her that Kūgo persuaded all of them to join Xcution, which causes Riruka to become angry and retort that she was not persuaded, and that she joined cause it would be interesting. Kūgo simply tells them both to stop arguing and continues on his path.

Meanwhile, Ichigo is seen standing by the river. He takes out his Substitute Shinigami Badge and throws it into the river whilst commenting that he doesn't like clinging to the past. After returning home he is greeted by Yuzu Kurosaki who shows him a test in which she scored 95% in. Ichigo seems happy and tells her she should show their father, Isshin Kurosaki. Because he is merely happy and not as ecstatic as she is, this backfires and makes Yuzu seem a bit surprised by his attitude. Meanwhile, at her home, Orihime seems to have exaggerated her visit at Ichigo's house within her own thoughts, making it seem like the time they spent together was a lot more romantic then it actually was. An urgent phone call then interrupts her short fantasy. Back at their house, Karin Kurosaki and Yuzu are enjoying dinner alone, though Yuzu seems rather melancholic, since Ichigo opted to eat later. Karin points out that Ichigo is an adolescent boy, so he clearly has other things on his mind. Yuzu asks her not to talk like that, but Karin warns her that he's a teenage boy and that's all they think about. This seems to upset Yuzu who storms out, yelling as she leaves that Karin doing the dishes tonight. Karin tries to apologize, saying that she was only teasing Yuzu, but a slammed door ends the conversation. Karin suspects that Ichigo is responsible for Yuzu's bad mood, and says she's going to confront him about this. However, Ichigo comes running down stairs and out the door, all the while Karin asks where he is going.

Ichigo rushes to the hospital and meets with Orihime, who is already there in Uryū's room. Uryū tells Orihime that it was unnecessary for Ichigo to be called. Ryūken Ishida on the other hand says that Uryū is letting his ego talk for him again. Ryūken insults Uryū for being so easily beaten. When Ichigo asks Uryū what happened, Uryū says that its none of his business. Ryūken tells Uryū that sharing information is vital, and he asks "if Uryū is going to let all of his hard work go to waste"? This angers Uryū which almost causes his injuries to re-open. When Orihime politely asks for information, Uryū apologizes and says that he doesn't have anything of value to tell them. Out in the hallway, Ichigo is standing in an almost trance like state which Orihime snaps him out of. He offers to take her home, but Ryūken says he will drive her home instead. Ichigo thanks Ryūken and then leaves. Ryūken tells Orihime that it was neither a Hollow nor a Shinigami that injured Uryū. The Reiatsu was different from any he has ever felt before. Orihime asks what it means, but Ryūken says he doesn't know, but what he does know is that they are all in danger of an unknown enemy. He speculates that this enemy are actually Humans who have gained some sort of power, similar to herself, Yasutora Sado, and even the Quincy. Ryūken further suspects that either she or Sado will be targeted next.

Ichigo dreams again that night. In his dream he tries to talk to Rukia Kuchiki, but she asks who he is, which Ichigo can't answer. The mysterious assailant, who was seemingly responsible for Uryū's injuries is seen talking to someone. During breakfast, Ichigo asks Yuzu and Karin if they want to go shopping after school today. At school, Keigo tries to convince Ichigo to go bowling with him and Mizuiro, but Ichigo declines. After school, Ichigo meets up with Yuzu, whom tells him that Karin will be late so they should start without her. Keigo and Mizuiro are seen in town together, but are confronted by the robber Ichigo beat up two days ago. Tatsuki asks if Ichigo has seen them since she was supposed to meet up with them, but he says no. Tatsuki tells Ichigo what happened last night, and Yuzu tells Ichigo to go help them since they are his friends. Thus, Ichigo leaves to find them.

Ichigo finds them unconscious at the construction site where they were almost killed the previous night. Caught in a clever trap, the thief starts beating on Ichigo. The thief reveals that he is doing this because he was told to. Ichigo easily beats the guy, but he is confronted by Uryū's attacker. Before Ichigo can say or do anything, the attacker suddenly leaves. Ryūken arrives and says that he left because he felt his approach. Ryūken tells Ichigo that Keigo and Mizuiro are fine, but he will call for an ambulance just to be safe. Ichigo tries to get some information out of him, but Ryūken merely asks "What can you do?". Later that night, Ichigo calls the number on the card Kūgo gave him. A voice on the other end says "Welcome to Xcution".

Quincy Encyclopedia
Ryūken states that his long awaited arrival in the main storyline has put him behind his office work. But then, he is startled by Isshin from behind, who is welcoming him back. Ryūken then asks why is he always in his office, with Isshin replying that he has nothing to do. Ryūken then tells Isshin that isn't he also a doctor too, which Isshin responds by yawning. This irritates Ryūken, who proceeds to summon his bow and aim an arrow at him, as well as stating that he only examined a patient once in the main storyline (when Sado was attacked by a Hollow). Isshin then gets up and says that it is irrelevant, to which Ryūken asks him to shut up and proceeds to fire his arrow at him, which causes an explosion in the hospital.

Fights
None.

Powers and Techniques Used
Techniques used: