Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-10266932-20130531151056/@comment-1387259-20130602214249

It seems unlikely that Ichigo will outright lose Zangetsu this far in; Oetsu may have been speaking in a cryptic manner that will be clarified in the next few chapters. It's possible that he will stil have Zangetsu, just a (yet again) souped-up version, like after the Xcution arc. I'm mainly coming to this conclusion because it has been proven that the spirit and abilities of a Zanpakuto is based on the Shinigami's soul, and the physical blade is more of a medium of release than a source of power.

My guess: Ichigo will still have Zangetsu, but more powerful, along with a more powerful Bankai. He will probably be able to carry around Zangetsu in a sealed form after this, something that hasn't happened since before he started communicating with the spirit, and if Kubo really wants to troll us, Ichigo will be the first to be able to do one of the following: 1) Have a third release, because come on, this is Kubo we're talking about, he already gave us Segunda Etapa. 2) Combine his Shinigami powers and Quincy powers completely and fight with a hybrid Zanpakuto/Spirit Weapon.