Renji Abarai vs. Uryū Ishida is a conflict taking place during the Quincy Blood War that focuses on 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai's battle against Sternritter "A" Uryū Ishida after the Soul King Palace is reshaped into Wahrwelt.
Prelude[]
Renji Abarai attacks Uryū Ishida with Zabimaru after the latter fires at him.
While the captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13 are splitting up to evade Sternritter "X" Lille Barro's sniper fire in Wahrwelt, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai is startled to find several regular Heilig Pfeil being fired at him by someone else on a different street. Slashing through the Heilig Pfeil with his sealed Zanpakutō, Renji looks up to see Sternritter "A" Uryū Ishida standing in the air with his Heilig Bogen formed. After leaping between two buildings several times to get up to Uryū, who readies another Heilig Pfeil, Renji releases his Shikai, Zabimaru, and extends it toward Uryū.[2]
Renji confronts Uryū and begins asking him about his true motivation for being here.
In response, Uryū fires the Heilig Pfeil just before the tip of Zabimaru can reach him, forcing Renji to whip his head around at the last second to evade it while the Heilig Pfeil destroys part of the building behind him. Looking back to Uryū with a scratch on his left cheek, a grinning Renji addresses him as a Quincy and wonders what is going on. Moments later, Renji stands on the ground across from Uryū and sarcastically compliments his new cape before inferring that Uryū did not come here to be Renji's guide. When Uryū states that the Shinigami have no future up ahead, Renji points out that he did not answer the question.[2]
Uryū promises to kill Ichigo the next time they fight since he failed before.
After clarifying that he is saying the Shinigami cannot defeat Yhwach now that the latter has absorbed all of the Soul King's power, to Renji's astonishment, Uryū declares that a new world made for the Quincy and Yhwach will begin from Wahrwelt and looks toward the main castle. In turn, Renji asks Uryū if he has come across Ichigo Kurosaki yet, and when Uryū reveals that he tried to kill Ichigo and will definitely do so next time once he takes Ichigo's stubbornness into account, an angered Renji decides that he has heard enough and rushes toward Uryū while proclaiming that he will smash both the castle and Yhwach to pieces.[2]
Battle[]
Renji clashes directly with Uryū after weaving past and blocking his Heilig Pfeil.
Renji proceeds to dodge past two Heilig Pfeil from Uryū and let a third shatter over Zabimaru while perched on the side of a building prior to leaping above Uryū and coming down on him with an overhead slash, forcing Uryū to reinforce his Heilig Bogen with additional Reishi and block Zabimaru with it. Once he and Uryū clash twice more, producing enough force to shatter the fountain that they are standing on, Renji activates his Bankai, Sōō Zabimaru, leaving Uryū startled as the large simian arm, bone tail, and long wrist-mounted blade of the Bankai form around Renji in the aftermath of his explosive burst of Reiatsu.[2]
Renji physically overpowers and outmaneuvers Uryū by extending his blade with Zazekka.
With Uryū inquiring if this is a new Bankai, Renji initiates Zazekka, which serrates the blade on his arm and extends it toward Uryū, only to produce a powerful explosion upon impact that sends Uryū flying into the air even after he blocks it with his Heilig Bogen. Following up with Orochiō, Renji slams the extended blade into Uryū from the side and smashes him through a spire with another flick of the blade. Though Uryū is irritated by Renji's reliance on brute force and gets close enough on the ground to fire another Heilig Pfeil at him, Renji easily redirects it upward with his foot and moves back to a windowsill.[2]
Renji's blade turns red-hot on the end of the bone tail and melts through a building.
Countering that there is nothing wrong with this reliance, Renji attaches the blade to the end of his bone tail, heats it until it is glowing, and throws it at Uryū, who attempts to intercept it with a Heilig Pfeil but is surprised to see the blade disperse the Reishi comprising it without slowing down. After narrowly evading the red-hot blade, Uryū watches it pierce through the wall behind him and engulf the next three buildings in large explosions prior to moving high into the air and unleashing Licht Regen, which rains a hail of Heilig Pfeil on Renji and forces him to shield himself by extending Hihiō and holding the palm above his head.[2]
Renji retracts his blade so the snake head can bite down on a brick and slam it into Uryū.
Despite sustaining scratches from the few Heilig Pfeil that bypassed his defense, Renji stuns Uryū by moving Hihiō aside to reveal that he is largely unharmed and destroys the Heilig Pfeil embedded in Hihiō by swiping it against the ground, which ruptures the pavement and produces a shockwave that sends Uryū flying back through the air. Renji refuses to let Uryū get away and retracts the blade so that the snake head containing it can bite down on a brick flying through the air, which Renji slams hard into Uryū to send him hurtling down toward the ground prior to having the snake head catch up to and bite down on Uryū.[2]
Renji pins Uryū down and initiates Sōō Zabimaru, Zaga Teppō to finish him.
After pinning Uryū against the side of a building with enough force to crater it, Renji retracts the bone tail from the other end to pull himself over to Uryū, grins wildly, and punches Uryū with Hihiō hard enough to destroy several buildings behind him as Uryū is send crashing through them. Once Uryū falls to the ground at the end, Renji catches up to him, leaps into the air, and stabs his blade into Uryū's stomach to conclude his assault with Sōō Zabimaru, Zaga Teppō, which forms a large snake head out of burning energy that bites down onto Uryū engulfing him and the surrounding area in a massive explosion that obliterates the rubble.[2]
An unharmed Uryū activates his Quincy: Vollständig and prepares a bulky Heilig Pfeil.
However, in the clearing smoke, Renji is astonished to see Uryū unscathed due to the latter protecting his entire body with Blut Vene, and after lifting himself up to a standing position, Uryū inquires if Renji believed he was the only one who had become more powerful before activating his Quincy: Vollständig with a massive pillar of Reishi. With Haschwalth watching this from Silbern, Uryū stands with his wings formed, summons twelve flechette-shaped Heilig Pfeil, spreads them out, and arranges them in a circle to condense them into a thick Heilig Pfeil that he fires at Renji, who barely deflects it with Zazekka.[2]
Renji initiates Hihi Tenshō to entrap Uryū after seemingly being overwhelmed by him.
The Heilig Pfeil hurtles past Renji and into the open air surrounding Wahrwelt, leaving Renji to stare at the large, burning hole it left in a building prior to cursing at Uryū, who interrupts Renji's attempt to rush at him again by bombarding him with hundreds of flechette-shaped Heilig Pfeil. In turn, Renji shields himself with Hihiō and performs the vitarka mudrā, which Hihiō mirrors while its fur is shredded, leaving only its arm bones. Eventually, Renji is overwhelmed by the barrage and sent flying back, but as Uryū walks after him, Renji initiates Hihi Tenshō, which sprouts copies of Hihiō from the fur patches after they writhe on the ground.[2]
Renji prepares to finish off a restrained Uryū with Sōō Zabimaru, Zagai Zekkō.
With the massive arms grabbing, restraining, and covering Uryū, who is left only a small area between their fingers to see Renji through, Renji gets to his feet and notes that this should temporarily hold Uryū, who looks at him in shock, as he reveals that he apparently needs twenty seconds for his next technique and begins flaring his Reiatsu around his body. Renji expands the bone tail of his Bankai into a form resembling Hihiō Zabimaru and grabs it with Hihiō to set up Sōō Zabimaru, Zagai Zekkō by spinning the bone tail around like a flail, wreathing it in flames, before throwing it at Uryū in a massive explosion that engulfs dozens of buildings.[2]
Uryū recovers with Sklaverei and entraps an unsuspecting Renji with Federzwinger.
Following this, Renji walks over to Uryū, who lies in the center of a charred crater atop an intact section of the ground with slight burns, and asserts that it is nothing personal. Suddenly, a twitching Uryū initiates Sklaverei, converting the surrounding rubble into Reishi that he absorbs into his Quincy: Vollständig, restoring his clothing and furnishing his arms and legs with gauntlets. Noting that a confused Renji hesitated on the killing blow, Uryū wonders if this was Ichigo's influence and generates hundreds of flechette-shaped Heilig Pfeil, with which he initiates Federzwinger around Renji.[2]
Renji has his Reiatsu drained by Federzwinger, returning his Zanpakutō to its sealed state.
The Heilig Pfeil combine into five long and sturdy rods that embed themselves in a pentagram formation around Renji before stabbing his sides with electrified protrusions. With Renji screaming in pain at this, Federzwinger crackles with electricity and produces a wall of Reishi between each of the five rods, sealing Renji off, as Uryū explains that it absorbs Reiatsu from everything inside it and will deprive Renji of everything that he is so long as he remains within its walls. Once Uryū concludes that Renji's Shikai and Bankai will lose their power from this, Federzwinger shatters in an explosion of force, leaving Renji to fall to his knees.[2]
Renji is shot through the chest and defeated after his final attack is overpowered.
Thoroughly exhausted by this, Renji sees that his Zanpakutō has returned to its sealed form while Uryū declares that his Bankai ends here. Despite this, Renji berates Uryū for speaking as though he knows what Bankai is, and as Uryū calmly draws back a normal Heilig Pfeil in his Heilig Bogen, a groaning Renji notes his Bankai is not called "Sōō" for nothing while a spectral, skeletal form of Hihiō rips itself out of his arm. After Uryū muses on the name meaning "Two Kings" and targets his chest, Renji fires a smaller Hikotsu Taihō just as Uryū fires his Heilig Pfeil, which disperses the energy blast and punches a hole through Renji's chest.[2]
Aftermath[]
Lille Barro watches Uryū defeat Renji from afar.
In the aftermath, as Renji collapses and the skeletal Hihiō disintegrates, Uryū approaches him and asserts that Renji lost because he was unconsciously holding back, he did not know about Uryū's powers, and he is a Shinigami that Uryū despises.[2] With Uryū deactivating his Quincy: Vollständig and standing solemnly as blood pools underneath Renji's body, Lille eyes him from his perch on a different branch and holsters his Spirit Weapon, Diagramm, before watching the remaining captains and lieutenants regroup on the streets below and continue running toward the central palace.[3]