Forum:Where do Zanpakuto come from?

Is there any more information available on where a Shinigami actually receives their Zanpakuto? I have seen multiple references to the question of where the sword itself comes from; there have been suggestions that the Shinigami is given a blank sword and the Zanpakuto is born into it through training, suggestions that the Shinigami creates the sword itself when learning to commune with their Zanpakuto, or that a Shinigami even finds the sword one day.

One thing is for certain - most Soul Reapers don't merely suddenly receive power, as Ichigo did, and have their sword and Zanpakuto. So at what point in their development do they receive these weapons and the spirits within, because certainly not everyone is walking around Soul Society with a sword.

--TheWolfSage (talk) 06:42, December 7, 2012 (UTC)
 * A Zanpakuto is created when a Shinigami solidifies their reiryoku into sword form.--