Quote:
Originally Posted by Whewt22  Because those weren't his powers, he didn't have to die to obtain them.
Becoming a soul reaper or hollow only prevented him from passing to soul society, and losing his memories and chance of anything. |
Yeah, see, I don't think it actually counts as "die" unless your body is destroyed or you're sent to SS/Turned hollow.
Cutting the chain was only a temporary death, as shinigami do not need the chain to keep their bodies in suspended animation(and how Urahara knows that, well either Isshin is also using his own body, which would be really weird, or it's just part of his research. Or it didn't cross Tite's mind at the moment that Ichigo was going to be the only shinigami with an actual real body to return to. Somehow I think the last one.)