A Dispute in School?! Ichigo and Uryū, Fight Together!

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

Summary
Obuta and his gang show up at Karakura High School looking for Ichigo Kurosaki after he attacked one of the gang for stealing the previous day. Ichigo hides from them until he notices Uryū Ishida approaching the gang to admonish them for their rowdy behavior in the schoolyard.

One of the gang mistakes Uryū for Ichigo, which enrages Uryū to the point that he breaks the mans nose and knocks him back into the pole. This action greatly angers Obuta but Uryū calmly replaces his glasses while dismissing the notion that anything about him should remind them of Ichigo.

In anger, Uryū changes his mind and tells the gang that they no longer have the option to leave the school yard. Watching, Ichigo wonders why he is trying to make things worse. Obuta insults Uryū while spitting and his gang suddenly spring into action, moving forward to attack Uryū. Ichigo gets involved, pushing one to the ground and twisting his leg as he counts the number of gang members watching him. Instead of thanking Ichigo for the aid, Uryū kicks Ichigo's shoulder from behind, scolding him for getting involved in his fight but Ichigo states he got involved to make Uryū back off.

Upon seeing Ichigo, the injured gang member points to him and informs Obuta that he was the one who beat him up. Distracted, Ichigo looks his accuser and recognizes the thief from the previous day. He reminds the thief that he attacked him for a good reason as he had stolen a duffel bag from an innocent passerby. The two of them argue about it but Obuta interrupts them, cracking his knuckles as he tells Ichigo to prepare for a beating. However, before he can finish his threat, both Uryū and Ichigo punch him at the same time, knocking the large gang leader to the ground easily.

Despite working together to defeat the leader, both Ichigo and Uryū glare angry daggers at one another. Ichigo begins by arguing that since the gang had originally shown up to find him then the confrontation was none of of Uryū's business and he should stay out of it. However, Uryū retorts that the fight became his business a while ago before Ichigo showed up. Ichigo retaliates that Uryū will only turn the confrontation into a bigger deal and reminds him that he is also class president and thus, better behavior is expected from him. The other members of the gang become even more enraged and begin to attack the duo, interrupting their argument.

The two of them begin to easily evade the gangs attacks and knocking the members aside while continuing their argument. Ichigo states that Uryū needs to be more careful in hunting Hollows as he may attract negative attention from the Soul Society. Uryū disputes that he does not enjoy exterminating Hollows and he only does so when he gets an order from Urahara Shop. Ichigo reminds him that Kisuke Urahara was a wanted man in the Soul Society until only recently but Uryū retorts that it is not the time to bring that up. Uryū suggests that he e-mail him but Ichigo declines, knowing he would never e-mail him.

Ichigo demands to know when Uryū got a cellphone and he informs him that he got one from Urahara after helping out with the shop. Upon hearing this, Ichigo doubts the phone would function properly in the Human World. Just then, someone calls out to Ichigo, drawing both of their attentions. The members of the gang still standing, smirk as they stand aside to reveal Yokochini. Carrying a large baseball bat, the thug greets Ichigo in a sardonic fashion and insists that he has a score to settle with him. Ichigo stares at him blankly and Yokochini demands to know if he remembers him but Ichigo is clueless on the matter.

Realizing that Ichigo has forgotten him, Yokochini becomes enraged and moves to attack him. However, he is suddenly kicked powerfully from behind, knocking him towards Ichigo and Uryū on his face, sliding along the ground. Everyone is stunned by this development before the remaining members of the gang are flung into the air by an angry woman from behind. She angrily admonishes Ichigo prompting Uryū to enquire who she is. Sweating profusely, Ichigo haltingly reveals that she is his boss, Ikumi Unagiya. She asserts that she is tired with his lame excuses to skip work and she has had enough and is here to retrieve him. Livid, Ikumi demands that Ichigo come with him peacefully but the teenager quickly refuses to do so. In response, a mischievous gleam appears in Ikumi's eyes and she charges at her employee and bundles him quickly into her fan in reminiscent of a kidnapping. When she drives off, Uryū stands stunned in the schoolyard, amazed that she was able to haul Ichigo off in such a fashion and wonders just who she is. On the ground, an wounded Obuta asks Yokochini what good they are. Crying, an upset Yokochini replies that he shouldn't use his Yokochini name.

Ikumi throws a bound Ichigo on her sofa and the teenager protests, demanding the tape be removed. Ikumi agrees to remove them on the condition that he doesn't try to run away. Perplexed, Ichigo insists she is beginning to sound like an actual kidnapper. The phone rings and Ikumi answers it in a friendly fashion, informing the caller they've gotten through to the Unagiya Shop, promoting its services. However, she soon gets angry when she realizes the callers wants to order "Unagiya Eel" and she retorts that her shop is not a diner, and actually does odd jobs at a price.

She then dons a more motherly attitude towards her son, Kaoru Unagiya, who hates Ichigo. After taking Kaoru out of the room, Ikumi returns to talk with Ichigo, but they are interrupted by the mysterious stranger from yesterday. He offers Ichigo some Ramen and asks if he can come in since he has a job he needs done. Ichigo becomes frustrated by his arrival and asks why he is following him; however, the man states that running into Ichigo is actually a coincidence.

After sitting down the man lays a picture down on the table. It is revealed to be a picture of Ichigo's dad, Isshin Kurosaki. Ichigo's frustration as he calls out the guy for lying about their meeting being a coincidence. Ichigo also demands to know exactly how and what he knows about his dad. He tells Ichigo there are things that Ichigo doesn't know about his father. Before their conversation can go any further, Ikumi interrupts and tells him that she will review the information and get back to him about the job. Before leaving, he tells Ichigo to stop by Urahara's Shop before going home.

Ichigo decides to take the man's advice and stops by Urahara's shop. He finds Karin Kurosaki leaving it. Surprised by this, Ichigo doesn't reveal his location and spies on her from a distances as she leaves. The man appears again and tells Ichigo that there is a lot of things he still doesn't know. The man finally introduces himself to Ichigo as Kūgo Ginjō. Kūgo invites Ichigo to join his group, and hands him an "Xcution" card before leaving. After getting home, Ichigo is met by Orihime Inoue, who gives him a lot of leftover bread from her part-time job. She asks if everything is okay, but Ichigo deflects all of her questions and just says that everything is fine. Ichigo asks why she suspects if anything is wrong and Orihime says that it was just intuition, and that she is just overreacting. Ichigo compliments this part of her personality.

Outside, Uryū is seen standing. Apparently, he too was worried about Ichigo. Suddenly, Uryū spots a man walking on the power lines. The stranger quickly teleports away (using a technique similar to Shunpo). Uryū gives chase and remarks at the man's incredible speed, despite the fact that his Reiatsu isn't changing. Suddenly and abruptly, the man turns a 180 and rushes right at Uryū. Back at his house, Ichigo is looking at the card Kūgo gave him, when he hears sirens outside. The sirens arrive to help Uryū, who has been badly injured and is laying in a pool of blood.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
Jinta Hanakari is shown angry towards Tessai Tsukabishi, stating that he shouldn't simply pound on his head like that because he might get brain damage and threatened him to show himself. But Tessai suddenly appeared behind Jinta and grappled him, while Ururu Tsumugiya also appeared and tickled Jinta's foot with her hair. This caused a ruckus in their shop, with Jinta pleading them to stop, saying that Karin is still around. Karin is then shown leaving the shop, speechless on what is happening inside.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Obuta
 * 2) Gang
 * 3) Ichigo Kurosaki
 * 4) Uryū Ishida
 * 5) Yokochini
 * 6) Ikumi Unagiya
 * 7) Kaoru Unagiya
 * 8) Kūgo Ginjō
 * 9) Orihime Inoue
 * 10) Shūkurō Tsukishima
 * 11) Isshin Kurosaki (picture)
 * 12) Jinta Hanakari
 * 13) Tessai Tsukabishi
 * 14) Ururu Tsumugiya
 * 15) Kisuke Urahara
 * 16) Karin Kurosaki
 * 17) Yuzu Kurosaki (flashback)

Fights
None.

Powers and Techniques Used
Techniques used: