User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 569 (You've been hit by / You've been struck by / Senbonzakura~)/@comment-11477779-20140219111155/@comment-26420452-20140219165222

I wish it were true, but it simply is not.

Two months before, Rukia was using her "dancing" Sode no Shirayuki. So she apparently learned the true nature of her Zanpakutō during her stay in the Royal Palace.

Renji learned about his true Bankai with Ichibei. During his first raid, he was unable to injure Äs Nödt with his Shikai, a thing which Byakuya was able to.

Byakuya openly tells he was able to strengthen Senbonzakura just because he had his Bankai stolen.

The sad truth is that they got stronger between the two raids.