User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 568. Hear. Fear. Here 2/@comment-1604252-20140214215806

Well a lot of us are irritated about Rukia not beating As, but I can understand it would upset the balance of the story if she did. Still though, I think Rukia has a lot of potential, despite not being a captain class fighter. Rudoborn (sorry if I spelled that wrong) stated himself Rukia had infinite potential. Also, I think Rukia now has one of the most powerful shikai and is one of the stronger lieutenants. The fact she quickly pushed a Sternritter into using their Volstandig with her shikai says a lot. I feel like it's also a sign Rukia may have a very powerful bankai, if she ever achieves it, since her shikai is so strong. That makes me wonder what the abilities of Rukia's potential bankai might be. If there were a epilogue after the series ends taking place 100 years later, I would like to think Rukia would be a captain along with Renji.