Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-5693502-20140410203934/@comment-5398287-20140413003714

No, no, you're not understand what I'm saying. Visored are Shinigami who gain Hollow powers, yes? Well, Arrancar are Hollows who gain Shinigami powers - but Shinigami isn't a race. It's a job. Meanwhile, being a Soul is what allows someone to use Kidou. Hollows are not Souls, and becoming Arrancar doesn't make them part-Soul either. Hope that makes sense.

Also, you don't have to be a Shinigami to obtain a Zanpakutou, although they are the ones who get Asauchi - Kenpachi pilfered an Asauchi off the corpse of a Shinigami he killed, and that eventually turned into his Zanpakutou, even before he became a Shinigami.