Hitsugaya pondered his words and ignored the hand that grabbed for his noodles. "It does sound similar," he agreed. "To a point. My reiatsu...spiritual power...is directly tied to the zanpakuto. But at the same time, we have to work together to attain greater power. Fighting on my own, I'm nothing compared to fighting with Hyorinmaru."

He paused for a moment, thinking about the words Kurikara used. "Our power." "We choose our masters."

Just like when Jean revealed she was a living weapon, Kurikara's words gave him hope. "I wonder...if they could pull you shikigami here, maybe they did something to our zanpakuto."