is bleach episode 98 filler?

In a clearing in the Fugai forest, Maki Ichinose stands with his Zanpakutō drawn before Ichigo Kurosaki, Orihime Inoue, Yasutora Sado, Uryū Ishida, Ririn, Kurōdo, Noba, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai, 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya, and Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto, where he declares that he will not allow them to reach Jin Kariya. However, Hitsugaya questions how he plans to do this when he is so heavily outnumbered and criticizes his overconfidence.