Thread:Omega64/@comment-4503935-20190703001710/@comment-10330822-20190831040743

In all honesty, its hard to say what would have happened if Rukia hadn't done what she did. The fact that Kaien was still alive to say goodbye proves he was just possessed, but hollowfied, so I sort of doubt there was no other way to save Kaien.

Still, it happened, and Rukia blaming herself didn't change anything, it only stopped her from moving on. Kukaku Shiba said as much during their conversation, which is something I advise you to review for more context.