Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25235798-20140729081637/@comment-26892028-20160211190916

"Ichigo, I don't know if you understand or not ... but, Zangetsu and I have always been one and the same" -Hollow Ichigo

In the recent arc of the mangá, is made clear what the "Old Man Zangetsu" is (a manifestation of Ichigo's Quncy powers) and is stated by himself (the Old Man) that he never was Zangetsu, and he was trying to supress Ichigo's shinigami powers (but he states that he became too "attached" to ichigo, helping him out and strenthening him) at the point of letting Ichigo become a shinigami.

Thinking about this, the Zangetsu look (the "Khyber Knife-Greatsword" Shikai and the Longsword Bankai) is White Ichigo's sword form, while the Old Man's sword form is the short blade/knife that Ichigo got when Zangetsu was reforged