Chapter 225: Slip Into my Barrier
Animals acting weirdly
tip Orihime off, so she sees Hachi's barrier. Apparently it's not just a barrier, it's also a perception filter. But for some reason, it's similar in nature to Orihime's own power, allowing her to not only perceive it, but walk right through. Back with Ichigo, it turns out that the next part of the training to fight Hiyori. Doesn't seem to be going well, judging from Shinji's comments. The idea, apparently, is to increase the amount of time he can stay hollow, since he can only keep for 4 seconds as it is. Also note that one of the Visored, Mashiro, didn't have to do this because she has always been able to hold it for 15 hours. Hachi then notices that his barriers been breached. The other Visored are instantly on guard, and are surprised to see a human. Orihime notices Ichigo, so things are quickly explained offscreen. Ichigo doesn't seem to worried about the impending doom from Aizen. You see, Ichigo doesn't particular care exactly what Aizen's planning, since he feels that with his current rate of growth, he'll be able to take Aizen when the time comes; so the consequences of Aizen winning are kind of a non-issue. Orihime, encouraged, resolves to get stronger.
Chapter 226: The Right of The Heart
The Visored discuss Orihime a bit. Hachi finds it odd, since he could tell that Orihime has an ability similar to his own, and human's don't usually get that level of power. Yoruichi shows up in front of Orihime, telling her Urahara wants to talk. And Ishida. he's still fighting Ryuuken and is visibly tired. He pulls out his last silver tube, forming a shield around Ryuuken, trapping him. Or, in theory it traps him. In practice, Ryuuken breaks out easily and arrows his son in the chest. But apparently, when a burnt quincy is pushed to his limit mentally and physically and then shot in a precise spot, the arrow acts as a system reboot, restoring his powers. Ryuuken, however, reflects that if Ishida had used the last silver tube offensively, he would've been in trouble.
Orihime slipped into Hachi's barrier, and Ishida was shot to the right of the heart. Now then… It seems Orihime's barrier, despite not being all that strong, has an underlying principle behind it that puts regular kido to shame. That's noteworthy, wouldn't you say? And Ichigo here… he's free from Hichigo's Grand Theft Me attempts, and since he can free himself getting tangibly stronger, free from his feeling of uselessness as well. Mind you, for me, knowing what going to happen, Ichigo current confidence is… less uplifting. Mainly because of how easily it is to compare and contrast it with his behaviour latter on. But I don't feel I can talk any more about that now without getting spoilery, so on to the other chapter!
So you see, despite acting like a total jerk, Ryuuken had a totally good reason for putting Ishida though all that. He couldn't have been pushed to his mental limit if he knew what Ryuuken was up to, and the arrow thing was so specific that there was no way Ishida could've gotten his powers back without Ryuuken's help. We also have bit more of their relationship being revealed, with Ishida being totally ready to believe he was in real danger and Ryuuken still speaking to him is a harsh tone even after his son loses consciousness, but Ishida refraining from using a potentially dangerous attack on him and Ryuuken's every action being for his son's own good.
