When holding the Getsuga on his Bankai, Masked Bankai Ichigo's strikes are enough to cut into Ulquiorra's Zanpakuto. Ichigo demonstrates the ability to hold the Getsuga on his Bankai, so his cutting attacks have the power of the Getsuga behind them. Well, time to bring life back to this thread.ДЄfter his fights with Grimmjow and Nnoitra, Ichigo can now withstand Ulquiorra's Cero with his Shihakusho intact, whereas in their initial encounter, the Cero blew off at least a third of Ichigo's Shihakusho. The resulting crescent moon of light is called 'Getsuga Tenshou' (Moonfang Skyshock) and it can slice cleanly through anything rock, buildings, people. He can translate Ichigo's spiritual pressure into tangible energy. Shikai Zangetsu's power is simple but deadly. There's no connection or anything, he just puts Zangetsu across his back and the blade sticks. Instead of the heavy belt for Zangetsu's sheath, a red chain of interconnecting triangles (one that looks a lot like a spinal column if you look right) runs from Ichigo's right shoulder to left hip. The cloth wrapping on the tang seems to react to Ichigo's will, changing length at a thought or twining about the blade in an impromptu sheath. From there it tapers in one long arc into a sharp, pointed tip. Zangetsu is as tall as Ichigo, but the blade is hand-width only at it's base. He has no crossguard and no proper hilt what Ichigo holds is the cloth-wrapped tang. Shikai Zangetsu looks more like an elegant cleaver than a formal 'katana' (looks like a huge arabian sword). ^^) Triggering a zanpaku-to's bankai needs only a one-word incantation: Bankai.Д«ankai zanpaku-to get additions to their names, indicating it is New and Special, and it changes even more drastically, usually (presently with only 1 exception) becoming something far, far larger than the wielder. Increasing the zanpaku-to's power by as much as a factor of ten, it takes many decades of intense training to learn bankai (or three days of cheating courtesy of Urahara and Yoruichi. Only shinigami that are at a Captain's level, or highly powerful Vice-Captains can acquire bankai. 'Bankai', the third form, means 'full release'.

Also, shikai zanpaku-to usually has special powers a shinigami can use, such as poisons, illusions or power blasts. Easily triggered by an incantation unique to each sword, a shikai zanpaku-to changes immensely, often becoming a weapon far removed from a sword. But for those that do, they gain a whole new level of power. Discovering it is not the easiest thing in the world some Shinigami never do manage it (for example, Kenpachi). The key to Shikai is learning the zanpaku-to's name. The second form is called 'Shikai', or 'first release'. With a few exceptions, a zanpaku-to's normal form is indistinguishable from that of a plain katana. The first one that doesn't take any effort to attain, is the blade's normal form. Each blade has up to three distinct forms which its wielder can access according to their strength and skill. The other major point that separates them from plain ol' swords is a zanpaku-to's ability to transform. In fact, 'zanpaku-to' literally means 'soul cutting sword.' Since shinigami are spirits, normal blades and weapons can't touch them. The foremost difference is the zanpaku-to ability to harm shinigami. While they mostly look like any other katana an old-time samurai might carry around, zanpaku-to's are far from normal. A zanpaku-to directly reflects the power of its wielder,and can be considered a shinigami's reiatsu given physical form. Ichigo wields a sword known as a zanpaku-to aka, the soul slayer.

Ichigo final getsuga tenshou sword