Deva

Deva (देव, God; Diety) is a state of a Zanpakutō in which the Shinigami will combine with their Zanpakutō spirit and become a unique and powerful Shinigami. The overall appearance, ability, and power is crafted as the Shikai and Bankai appear. The Deva takes up large amounts of reiatsu and can leave the user in a state of exhaustian or worse.

History
Thousands of years before the main storyline, a powerful young noble name Gatō whom was growing angry with the Gotei's involvement with a fued his family was having with another family. The Gotei was ordered to go in and preserve the peace between the two families, but all they did was split the land and give the larger portion to the other family. Gatō complained to the Gotei's Captains of this problem and they simply shrugged him off. Enraged he sent his families best fighters to attack the 1st Division barracks. They trained for years in secret in a secret training ground owned by Gatō's family called Teldrassil. Here, they mastered the Deva by becoming one with their Zanpakutō's spirit. Shortly after mastering their Deva powers, they stormed the 1st Division Barracks and killed many innocent Shinigami. They mananged to kill the former 1st Division Lieutenant and were put into a deadlock with Captain Commander Yamamoto Genryusai. The battle lasted long and this was the first recorded and shown released of the Captain Commander's Bankai. He killed three of the four and took many scars in this battle. With his last efforts, he burned the surronding ground, encasing the last of the brothers within melted rock. He procceded to build Sokyoku Hill around the encasement creating a permenant coffin. What happened to Gatō was left to history and it is believed that he was put to death by suttee, an embarrasing and humilating end to a powerful family head and noble. The ability of Deva was lost with history and learned by only few who have the calibur to do so.

Training & Requirements
In order to master Deva, their are certain training requirments involved, which usually takes 5 years of training.
 * 11 months-12 months (roughly one year)- Reiatsu mending, abosrption and the focusing of reiatsu through all living things. 9 hours of meditation a day followed by 3 hours of simplistic fighting and then sleep. For food, the trainee will eat only nuts, grain and tea.
 * 24 months (two years)- Extensive training with the art of Zanjutsu and creating a link with one's Zanpakuto. If not mastered, one must master there Bankai during this period. At the end of this course, the Shinigami will be able to materialize their Zanpakuto spirit on the whim.
 * 12 months (one year)- The first materialazation of Deva in which they will become one with their Zanpakuto spirit. This form of Deva is weaker than the final product and the Zanpakuto spirit will simply become armor over their natural form.
 * 12 months (one year)- The final year of training with Deva, that can be extended if needed. The wielder will fully master Deva in this period and spend the rest of their training, mastering and improving their Deva's abilities.