Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26830922-20150829155234/@comment-5780397-20150919235854

That's a very good theory. In chapter 614 we can see the Soul King's legs are separated from its body, while in Chapter 519, it has all four limbs. Either this was a drawing mistake (which is likely, since Mimihagi seems to have been fully sealed inside Ukitake), or it has sent them off into the world so that pieces of itself would survive.