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

'''Uryū vs. Ryūken! Clash of the parent-child Quincies''' is the one-hundred-twenty-sixth episode of the Bleach anime.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: May 16, 2007
 * English Airdate: June 20, 2009
 * Opening Song: Alones
 * Ending Song: Tsumasaki
 * Manga Chapters: Chapter 224, Chapter 225, Chapter 226.
 * Kanji: 雨竜VS竜弦！激突クインシー親子
 * Romaji: "Uryū VS Ryūken! Gekitotsu kuinshī oyako"
 * Arc: The Arrancar arc

Summary
Tōshirō Hitsugaya is surprised to see Momo Hinamori, but he quickly realizes that she finally woke up. When Hinamori apologizes for doubting him and pointing her sword at him, Hitsugaya acts like he does not care about small things like that and instead urges her to go back to bed since she looks tired. After teasing her about her looks, he reminds her to call him Captain Hitsugaya as opposed to the “Hitsugaya-kun”. A moment of silences passes before Hinamori asks if Hitsugaya is going to fight and kill Sōsuke Aizen. She desperately wants him to save Aizen and thinks that Gin Ichimaru or someone else forced Aizen to betray Soul Society. Before she can get too far with this however, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto steps in and knocks her out with one hand motion in front of her face. The commander suggests that they might have let her do this too early and then bids Hitsugaya farewell.

At the Urahara Shop, Sado Yasutora is training rigorously against Renji Abarai and his Bankai. Renji had initially not wanted to do this, but Kisuke Urahara convinced Renji to train Sado because Sado needed opponents who had achieved Bankai and Urahara’s own Bankai was not suited for training someone. Renji had eventually agreed to the training after Urahara offered to answer all his questions in three months time. Now, as he watches the two men fight, Urahara thinks to himself that Sado’s power is not like a Shinigami or Quincy, but rather something else.

Meanwhile Orihime Inoue has tracked down the building hidden behind a special barrier that Ichigo Kurosaki is in and notices that the barrier feels similar to her own power, so she is able to pass through it. Inside the training area, Ichigo is fighting Hiyori Sarugaki with short bursts of putting on his Hollow mask. The point of this training is to extend the length of time Ichigo can keep the mask on, but the length that Ichigo can currently manage is only four seconds. The Vizard all had to go through this training with the exception of the Mashiro Kuna, who was able to keep on her mask for 15 hours from the very beginning. Hachigen Ushōda suddenly detects someone entering the barrier he had set up, which is impenetrable to Shinigami Kidō, and to their surprise, Orihime appears. After learning about Aizen’s plot and the King's Key, Ichigo tells Orihime not to worry and promises to stop Aizen because he can get stronger. Orihime notices how calm Ichigo is and attributes it to how he has found his strength and became stronger. Realizing that she needs to become stronger too, Orihime leaves and runs into Yoruichi Shihōin outside. Yoruichi had been searching for Orihime, as Urahara wanted to talk with her. Back inside, Love Aikawa questions how Orihime was able to get through Hachigen’s barrier. Hachi reveals that Orihime seems to have the same type of power that he does, even though she is only a Human.

In the Karakura Hospital, Uryū Ishida continues his training with Ryūken Ishida. Uryū is spending most of his time running away from his father’s attacks and attempting to counterattack with his Silver Tubes of stored spiritual energy. He recognizes that his father’s spiritual energy is getting weaker, so he decides to stop his father from moving with his last silver tube. The technique, however, does not work as Ryūken breaks out and shoots son in the chest with a spirit arrow. After Ishida falls, Ryūken reveals that the only way for a Quincy who has lost his powers to the Quincy Final Form to regain his powers is for that person to be taken to the limit mentally and physically before being hit with an arrow exactly 19mm to the right of the sinoatrial node of the heart. With his son lying on the ground with a Quincy star pattern on his chest, Ryūken is disgusted with how Ishida did not use the right technique earlier with the silver tubes. He decides to let Ishida off the hook for tonight.

Characters in order of appearance

 * 1) Tōshirō Hitsugaya
 * 2) Momo Hinamori
 * 3) Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto
 * 4) Chōjirō Sasakibe
 * 5) Yasutora Sado
 * 6) Renji Abarai
 * 7) Kisuke Urahara
 * 8) Ururu Tsumugiya
 * 9) Jinta Hanakari
 * 10) Kurōdo
 * 11) Ririn
 * 12) Noba
 * 13) Ichigo Kurosaki
 * 14) Hiyori Sarugaki
 * 15) Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi
 * 16) Love Aikawa
 * 17) Orihime Inoue
 * 18) Lisa Yadōmaru
 * 19) Shinji Hirako
 * 20) Hachigen Ushōda
 * 21) Kensei Muguruma
 * 22) Mashiro Kuna
 * 23) Yammy Riyalgo (flashback)
 * 24) Yoruichi Shihōin
 * 25) Uryū Ishida
 * 26) Ryūken Ishida

Powers and Techniques used
Kidō used:
 * Hachigyō Sougai (8 Joined Twin Cliffs)

Zanpakutō released

Bankai:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Other powers:
 * Quincy Bow & Spirit Arrows
 * Quincy Bow & Spirit Arrows