The Legendary Quincy

At Karakura High School, the teacher Kagine hauls in Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends over the televised chaos from Don Kanonji's broadcast. Rukia Kuchiki fakes tears to weasel the group out of trouble, letting the boys slip away through a window. Later, a series of purification orders lead Ichigo and Rukia to find only a frightened Plus and no Hollow, leaving them convinced Rukia's Denreishinki is malfunctioning. Unseen, Uryū Ishida watches them work.

When the exam rankings are posted, Ichigo places 23rd and Sado 11th, but the top name belongs to Uryū Ishida, a classmate Ichigo cannot even recall. That night, as another false alarm frustrates them, Uryū finally steps forward, greets them by name, and reveals he knows Ichigo can see spirits. He points out where a Hollow will surface and drops it with a single arrow from his Heilig Bogen, Kojaku, before declaring himself a Quincy who hates Shinigami, Ichigo above all.

Stung by the insults, Ichigo trails Uryū the next day, first watching him coldly repair a classmate's doll, then confronting him on a stairwell. Uryū demonstrates his mastery of Reiraku, plucking Ichigo's own spirit ribbon from the air, and challenges him to a duel to settle whether Shinigami are needed at all. At the Urahara Shop, Kisuke Urahara explains to Rukia that the Quincy were a clan of Hollow-hunters wiped out two centuries ago, destroyed because, unlike Shinigami, they sought to annihilate Hollows rather than purify them. Goaded by Uryū's claim that a Substitute Shinigami is powerless without permission, Ichigo takes his Gikongan, leaves his body, and accepts the challenge.

Uryū Ishida is introduced and revealed to be a Quincy who resents Shinigami. He demonstrates Quincy abilities by sniping a Hollow with Kojaku and using Reiraku to prove Ichigo's spiritual dullness. Urahara recounts the history and extinction of the Quincy to Rukia. Uryū challenges Ichigo to a duel, and Ichigo accepts, entering his Shinigami form.

The episode adapts chapters 33 through 36 during the Agent of the Shinigami arc, with the opening *~Asterisk~ and ending Life is Like a Boat. It carries a heavy load of small anime alterations, including reordered scenes around the exam results and the Fat Ghost encounter, an added scene of a Quincy woman killed by Hollows, and a shift of Ichigo and Rukia's first meeting with Uryū to the night after the scores are posted.