Ichigo’s Bankai was destroyed, and he had to reforge his sword, which ended up unleashing its true powers in the season finale of the first cour of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War. Ever since Ichigo became shinigami, the sword Zangetsu has been a constant presence in his life. He had to learn several secrets about his power before being able to release the true form of his Zanpakuto.
Ichigo has a soul sword like every shinigami called the Zanpakuto, which he uses to fight and purify the creatures known as Hollows before sending their souls to the afterlife. Each Zanpakuto has distinct powers, personality, and appearance. Ichigo wields the Zangetsu, which takes the form of a huge khyber knife in his Shikai and a black daito sword in his Bankai.
Ichigo’s new Zangestu portrays him perfectly in Bleach
The 13th episode of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, titled “The Blade Is Me”, showed Ichigo returning to Ho-ohden. It is the palace of Zero Division’s Nimaiya Oetsu, the creator of all Zanpakuto. After the destruction of Ichigo’s Bankai by Yhwach, he was unable to acquire a new sword. He finds out that his mother was Quincy when Nimaiya sent him back to Earth.
As Ichigo acquires a better understanding of his own nature, he resumes the process of reforging Zangetsu. He believes that confronting the sword spirit will help, but it turns out to be a vestige of Ichigo’s Quincy powers. The actual spirit of his Zangetsu is his inner Hollow, White. Ichigo resolves to reconcile the two parts of his soul and wield both in battle. All these finally lead to the formation of his Zangetsu, consisting of two separate black blades.
Two parts of Ichigo’s spirits are represented by the Zangetsu
Ichigo’s Shinigami or Hollow powers are manifested by his inner Hollow, which is represented by the larger blade. The smaller blade represents “the old man,” now revealed as the manifestation of his Quincy powers.
What the brand-new powers of Zangetsu might look like has still not been revealed. It was shown that the heat of the reforged blade instantly evaporates the sea that Nimaiya uses to quench his blades. There wasn’t much information about his Zangetsu revealed in the manga as well. However, one thing is very clear: Ichigo’s new Zanpakuto represents the balance he has worked so hard to reach between his different sides. The duality of his sword reflects his distinct nature.
