Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-25199543-20140719134821/@comment-5553481-20140719224545

Xilinoc wrote: * sigh* Alright, let's get this out of the way once and for all.

Waaaaay back during the Soul Society arc, when Kenpachi is fighting Ichigo, he makes the following statement:

"This is the only form of my sword. / I didn't put any seal on it. // This is the true form of my Zanpakuto."

There's our proof for it always being in Shikai: Kenpachi himself said so, and there's no reason for him to lie. As for the second part of the statement you're calling into question...

Kenpachi: "The reason why there's no seal is because my Reiatsu is so strong that even the strongest seal won't do any good."

Now, regarding your question about the recently revealed true form of Nozarashi, it works like this: normally, Nozarashi is in a largely diminished Shikai state, namely due to Kenpachi being Kenpachi, but Kenpachi can have it enter its true Shikai by calling out its release command and name. It's as simple as that, and we've seen weirder things with Shikai for it to be unbelievable (Ruri'iro Kujaku, anyone?). As for what proof we have that the normal sword isn't the sealed form of Nozarashi: again, Kenpachi isn't a liar, and if it were the sealed form there would be a sheath.

I hope that helps. Yes, Kenpachi said so, because he believed so, but that's exactly how the asauchi looked since he 'took' (read: looted of a dead corpse) the blade, and the zanpakuto's unreleased state tends to change. AFAIK, you simply CANNOT release the blade without knowing it's name. The reason he doesn't have a sheath is because, well, when he took the blade he didn't have a sheath either.