Nice to meet you, I will beat you

On a darkened street, Uryu wedges himself between Rukia and the two Soul Reapers, masking his intentions behind a laughably poor excuse about a late-night errand for sewing supplies. Renji is unconvinced, severs the archer's shopping bag with a flick of his blade, and demands a name. Uryu eventually offers one, reasoning that a man deserves to know who ends his life, and the lieutenant happily promises to oblige.

In the Kurosaki bathroom, Ichigo stumbles on Kon bound and gagged behind the toilet, and once freed the mod-soul reveals a note Rukia left behind. The message reads as a jumble of syllables until Ichigo notices her doodle of a tanuki and realizes he must skip every ta, decoding a plea to stop searching, burn the letter, and lie low. Kon works out that she fled to shield them from Soul Society, and Ichigo resolves to chase after her, only to remember he cannot enter his Shinigami form without the device Rukia carries.

As Ichigo despairs, Urahara leans through the open window and offers a one-time favor on credit, brandishing the cane that can pull a soul loose. Back on the street, Renji has already cut Uryu down and lifts his sword for the killing blow, sneering a mock farewell, when Ichigo's oversized blade crashes into the concrete beside him. Leaping clear, Renji demands to know the newcomer's name, and Ichigo answers that he is the man who will beat him. The events here became episode 16, The Encounter, Renji Abarai.