User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 564 (Mask is too fabulous to live)/@comment-24099400-20140115223446/@comment-6657474-20140118020334

I gave your reply some thought, Sternritter M, and while I realized that while Ichibei could have simply told Zaraki the name of his Zanpakto, that wouldn't have changed much, since his primary problem was communication. In real life you can simply know someone's name, but without communication, you can't work with them effectively to accomplish a goal. The primary purpose of his training was to unlock his full potential and remove the limits he put on himself that were preventing him from being able to communicate with his Zanpakto. As for Unohana's death as a result of his training, indeed that was somewhat saddening (especially since we currently know so little about her, or her Zanpakto's full abilities for that matter) I've more or less likened it to a loose take on the "Sith Rule of Two" in the "Star Wars" movies. There was a master and an apprentice. The only way for the apprentice to become the master was for the previous master to die (usually at the hands of the apprentice); in other words, in order for Zaraki (The apprentice) to become the legitimate heir to the title "Kenpachi" was for Unohana (the master) to perish at the hands of the former. Although there had been many between Unohana and Zaraki who held the title, it was largely due to tradition and held in name only. The death of Unohana, the first Kenpachi at the hands of Zaraki effectively made the title legitimately his. A bit twisted way of doing it admittedly, but, as Obi Wan Kenobi said, "Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view". Anyway that's my take on it, for whatever it can be considered to be worth. We'll just have to wait and see.