Key recommendations
- Twin Zanpakutou are rare due to the unique souls or Zanpakutou spirits within the wearer.
- Ukitake's twin Zanpakutou reflects his dual nature as a vessel to a divine entity.
- The abnormal development of a Shinigami's soul is revealed through their twin Zanpakutou.
The Shinigami's most important tool in their duty to maintain the balance of the cycle of life and death in WHITENING the universe is by far the Zanpakutō. Created by the brilliant blacksmith, Ōetsu Nimaiya, Zanpakutō begin their life cycle as tabulae rasae known as Asauchi, developing their unique characteristics through repeated use and connection to the souls of their wielders.
We are introduced to the concept of dual-wielders in the latter stages of the Soul Society Arc, when Eighth Squad Captain Shunsui Kyōraku teams up with his best friend, Thirteenth Squad Captain Jūshirō Ukitake in an effort to delay the execution to Rukia on Sōkyoku Hill. . They are shown as wielders of the only twin Zanpakutō in all of Soul Society, but why are double/twin Zanpakutō so rare and what do they tell us about their wielders?
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About Ukitake and Kyoraku's Zanpakutō
The first twin Zanpakutō was introduced
Ukitake's Sōgyo no Kotowari (Law of the Twin Fish) and Kyoraku's Katen Kyokotsu are just like any other Zanpakutō in their unreleased state, but unlike most other Zanpakutō, their Shikai reveal not one, but two blades. For Ukitake, the Sogyo no Kotowari adopts the same two-tone scheme of most Shikai, but a secondary blade emerges from the guard and connects back to the main blade, creating a rectangle-shaped “fin” at the rear end of both blades. . The two swords are linked together by a red cord adorned with silver charms. Ukitake's Shikai release is “All of you undulate, become my shield. All you thunderers, become my blade”. Katen Kyōkotsu is released with the incantation “Flowering Winds Become Troubled, Flower God Sings, Heavenly Winds Become Troubled, Heaven Devil Grinning”, revealing a pair of Chinese-style falcons or graveyards.
Both blades have a crescent-shaped hole carved just after the curve of the blade at the rear end, a short distance from the tip. Both also have red cloth tied to the handle. Interestingly, Kyōraku's twin Zanpakutō does not manifest from a single normal blade like Ukitake's do; he uses his shut up (larger more ubiquitous katana) and wakizashi (a shorter blade usually worn on the better side used for short-quarter combat) to form a cross shape while chanting the incantation. As a result, despite the fact that the blades look similar, they are still a shut up and a wakizashi in the way they are used. The aspect that gives birth to a Shinigami who wields a pair of Zanpakutō is the composition of either their own soul or the Zanpakutō itself.
Why are twin Zanpakuto so rare?
Composite souls are rare
Essentially, one of these two aspects must have some form of uniqueness or multiplicity in their makeup, in a manner similar to the existence of Fullbringers, Arrancar, or other circumstances. Ukitake was only a child when he became the vessel of the local deity of District 76 Rukongai, Sakahone, Mimihagi; an entity that proved to be the Right Arm of the Soul King. This meant that Ukitake's soul was also partially made up of this entity's reishi, and because there were literally two beings present in the entity known as “Jūshirō Ukitake”, his eventual Zanpakutō reflected this. What further confirms this idea is that during his divine possession by Mimihagi, Ukitake saw a vision of himself and the deity, in which she entered his body and turned him into a shadow double of himself himself – a detail that made it possible for Ukitake. to give up his life and allow Mimihagi to claim his entire body as his own during the events of BLEACH: The Thousand Year Blood War, Part 3.
In the case of Katen Kyōkotsu, the Zanpakutō spirit consists of two halves. Katen manifests as a beautiful woman with an eyepatch and purple hair. At some point in history, Nanao Ise's mother gave Kyōraku the Ise family Zanpakutō for safekeeping, prompting Katen to create Kyōkotsu, the younger, shorter, and quieter half of Kyōraku's Zanpakutō. The Kyōkotsu was specifically created to hide the Shinken Hakkyōken, so even though they are still two halves of the same Zanpakutō, the idea that the twin Zanpakutō arises from the presence of separate entities either within the wielder's soul or within the weapon itself is given more weight. but the situation that effectively confirms it is that of the protagonist of the series Ichigo Kurosaki.
Proof
The Zanpakuto twins speak of the abnormal development of a Shinigami's soul
During The Thousand Year Blood War arc, Ichigo trains with Ōetsu and creates a new Zanpakuto from a unique Asauchi that has been transformed by Ichigo being a Shinigami and a Quincy, bringing together the opposite poles of his power and creating his true Zanpakuto: a shorter blade with a closed knife. socket and a larger blade, similar to a khyber knife, with a small blade-shaped section cut from it, as if to illustrate that his true power will arise from the coming together of the blades that represent each half of his heritage. Ichigo's Shinigami powers manifested in Hollow Ichigo, while his Quincy powers masqueraded as Shinigami powers, giving birth to “Old Man Zangetsu” – Yhwach.
