User blog comment:FairyRaven/Fairy Tail Chapter 408: The Definitive Demon, Review and Commentary/@comment-4829046-20141110140118/@comment-7418318-20141110141237

The sword-smith guy certainly needs to survive or be revived, since he is the source of all zanpakuto and I don't see anything being able to just replace him.

Kurotsuchi might have the experteese, but I can't imagine him leaving the science department to become a full-time smith.