The title of the chapter spoiled that it would be calling back to the first volume of Bleach, where Rukia first gave Ichigo his powers with another chest-stab. Ginjo's betrayal was masterfully done, even though Death Note already did the same device.
Still, nice to see Rukia's return, and it was a nice "coming full circle" moment to celebrate the 10th anniversary. Interesting to see Byakuya finally stopped protecting her an let her become a lieutenant!
I wonder if Yama-jii stopped letting Ikkaku and Renji sit on their thumbs and made them captains already. Everyone's seen Renji's Bankai because he can't fight without it, and Ikkaku's Bankai seems to be a very open secret, to be honest. It's one thing to be all "I wanna die under this man's command!" but eventually you have to take the lead yourself.
I kinda hope that after he beats down Ginjo he gets his Fullbring powers back, and we see some kinda wicked shinigami/fullbring/hollow? hybrid mode. Also, if that was Rukia's zanpakuto that he got stabbed with at the end, would be be able to use her shikai powers? Just a thought ...
4/5