User blog comment:AldenHeathcliffe/Chapter 551: The Burnt Offerings/@comment-2211792-20131002150708/@comment-10630156-20131006011926

@SternritterM are you forgetting the fact that Isshin is in contact with the Shibas one of which (ganju) is currently training with the fullbrings? If Isshin was to show up he'd show up with lots of support. Think about the possibilities of a fight with this many multiple people and look at who they are if Isshin is with them you have:

Isshin- Ex Captain probably at Stern Ritter level

Ganju- Nothing more than an annoyance (unless he has trained a a set of powerful abilities of some sort)

Tsukishima- let's see the Ritters fight amongst themselves (this would be useful)

Kūgo- Bankai user and energy beams not as powerful as a ritter though (unless soul society powers up fullbrings)

Giriko- Probably has more forms than that useless enlarged form but won't be able to fight at ritter level.

Alone the last four would not be able to face a ritter but what was the training? I think that whoever was pulling the strings to get him to enter this fight (probably both Kukaku and Isshin) would have known that they'd not fight ritters equally but if they had learned to use abilities in tandem they could hold off a ritter, though I doubt they'd defeat one. They'd give time for more back ups to arrive though and that back up could be a Ukitake. You have to remember the last time we saw Ukitake he was pretty far away from the fighting I doubt he'd get there that quickly without running into a ritter or two.