User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 563 - SUPERSTAR NEVER DIE/@comment-2211792-20131225191642

Didn't Kubo say Renji's bankai changed during the timeskip? Then it took us so long to finally see how exactly it changed. I'm sure Nimaya also made Zabimaru more powerful and probably fixed the damage done to its bankai, but he isn't the one responsible for Hihio Zabimaru's new look.

I hope Kubo doesn't have many more of Mask's abilities to show (seriously, we learnt his epithet power and saw his Vollstandig - that's more than enough), so Renji will finally defeat him in the next chapter. Maybe Hisagi, Ikkaku or Yumichika will get up and dust James for good to make it possible.