Roronoa Zoro/History

Zoro and Kuina


As a child, Zoro trained at a dojo in Shimotsuki Village. Zoro stated in the Baratie, that, "Once he decided that he would become an invincible swordsman, he left his life behind".

Even as a child, Zoro was strong enough to defeat most adults, but could not defeat Kuina, the Dojo master's daughter. After their 2000th fight (and Kuina's 2000th victory) Zoro challenged her in private for one more match - with real swords. Although he had improved tremendously since their first match, he still lost and cried with frustration, telling Kuina about his dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman. Hearing this, Kuina confided in Zoro, telling him that she shared the same dream but knew she could never attain it - her father had told her that girls could never be true sword masters, and that her fighting potential would decrease as her body matured. Zoro, annoyed by her defeatist attitude in spite of repeatedly winning against him, told her that one day he would beat her because he was more skilled, not just because she was a girl. The two made a promise - that either of them had to become the world's best swordsman.

The next day, Kuina suffered a fatal fall down the stairs of her dojo (to get a sharpening stone for her sword, something she would not have needed if she and Zoro had not fought with real swords), much to Zoro's anger and disappointment. Realizing that she would never have a chance to fulfill her dream, Zoro took it upon himself, asking his sensei, Koshiro, for her sword, Wado Ichimonji, and began working to develop his signature Santoryu, holding his own two swords in each hand, and Kuina's clenched between his teeth.

The World's Best
Eventually, Zoro learned of Dracule "Hawk-Eye" Mihawk, who currently holds the title of the Greatest Swordsman in the world. He set off to sea, searching for him in order to challenge him to a duel. However, he lost his way, and could not find his way back home. In order to survive on his own, he took on bounties to pay for living expenses. He quickly built a famous reputation for himself as a "Pirate Hunter" in East Blue and even in Grand Line as Baroque Works had heard about him; he was even considered the greatest swordsman of East Blue, after which he met the two bounty hunters, Johnny and Yosaku.

Because of his reputation as a bounty hunter, Zoro was offered a position as a numbered agent within the Baroque Works. He replied with that he would accept only on the condition that he would lead the organization (which they refused). He then killed Mr. 7, the agent who offered him the position, to defend himself.

Meeting Luffy
During his journey, Zoro arrived in Shells Town where Helmeppo, the spoiled son of the corrupted Marine captain Axe-Hand Morgan, released his pet wolf in town. It attempted to attack a girl named Rika, but Zoro saved her by killing it. Based on Rika's story, it is presumed that Helmeppo told Zoro to agree to be tied to a pole for a month to gain amnesty which would preserve his reputation in Marine's eyes.



On the ninth day of Zoro's restraint, Coby and Luffy arrived in town with the intentions of Coby joining the Marines and Luffy inviting Zoro to be his first crewmember. They eventually arrived where Zoro was being held, in time to witness Rika trying to feed him some rice balls which Zoro refused, most likely to avoid the girl being caught as there was a sign forbidding anyone to aid Zoro. The food ended up being stomped badly by Helmeppo because it was sweet while rice ball is supposed to be salty. After they left, Luffy asked Zoro to join him but he flatly refused to become a pirate. He then asked Luffy to feed him the dirtied rice balls as well as telling Rika that the food was delicious, revealing his kindness. Later in town, Rika explained to Luffy and Coby the reason for Zoro's capture, which only reinforced Luffy's decision to have him as his crewman. When Helmeppo stated that he would execute Zoro in three days time, Luffy angrily punched him for breaking his promise, which send Helmeppo scurrying to his father, seeking revenge.

With the assumption that Zoro would join his crew if he got Zoro his swords back, Luffy went to the Marine Base. Luffy caught Morgan's wrath by crushing his new-built statue and forced Helmeppo to show him where Zoro's swords were. Meanwhile, Coby explained the situation to Zoro while trying to untie him. Luffy came back just in time to save them from a firing squad. Refusing to die, Zoro accepted Luffy's invitation and revealed his unique fighting style. He also revealed his dream of becoming the best swordsman in the world, which Luffy supported, believing that the Pirate King should have the best in his crew. Luffy then proceeded a fight with Morgan. However, when Helmeppo threatened to kill Coby, Luffy knocked him out while Zoro defeated the captain.

The Marines, seeing their tyrant leader finally defeated, rejoiced and allowed Luffy and Zoro to go free. However, since they were pirates, the Marines asked them to leave the island but promised not to report them to headquarters. As they were leaving, Officer Ripper asked about Coby's past. To help Coby hide it, Luffy provoked him into starting a brief fight between them. Zoro stopped the fight before it could get too serious, but it was enough for Coby to muster up the courage to ask Ripper if he could join the Marines, for which Ripper granted permission. Upon leaving, Luffy and Zoro were saluted by Coby and the Marines for their efforts. Luffy and Zoro then sailed onto their next destination.

Searching for a Navigator and Battle with Buggy the Clown
After leaving the Marine Base, Zoro and Luffy realize that they do not know how to navigate, and begin searching for a navigator. Luffy then managed to get his head stuck in the beak of a giant bird, leaving Zoro to paddle after him. Zoro comes across three pirates adrift at sea, and tells them to get on quickly because he was not stopping. The three are revealed to be pirates working for Buggy the Clown and planned to rob/kill Zoro.



Once they discover Zoro's identity, then begin rowing for him, though the commotion caused Zoro to lose track of Luffy's location. In Orange Town, Luffy managed to get tricked by Nami, tied up, and put into a cage with a cannon aimed at him. Zoro shows up just in time to save Luffy and Nami from Buggy's crew. Zoro appears to slice Buggy into several pieces. However Buggy is revealed to be immune to blades due to his Devil Fruit powers. Buggy then stabs Zoro from behind, heavily injuring him. Despite this, Zoro manages to flip the cannon aimed at Luffy to point it at Buggy and his crew instead. Once the cannon is fired at them, Zoro picks up the iron cage Luffy was stuck in and drags him for a few blocks.

After being taken in by Boodle, the mayor of the town, Zoro is taken care of and sleeps at his house until it is demolished by Buggy. Zoro rises from the debris, and is soon pitted against Cabaji, Buggy's second mate. Zoro fights Cabaji who plays dirty by striking Zoro's wounds whenever he has the chance. He also creates flames through his breath and breathes it directly into Zoro's face.



However, once Cabaji is knocked off his unicycle, he becomes angered and attacks with a slew of spinning tops and more deadly acrobatic maneuvers. Buggy tries to help him by sending his arm to help hold Zoro in place for Cabaji's strike, but Luffy does not allow Buggy to interfere in Zoro's duel. Zoro then takes his own sword and slits his own side to ensure that he can battle Cabaji even when he is greatly injured. Cabaji recognizes Zoro's honor and thinks of this as the perfect opportunity to take him down.

Zoro declares that if he cannot topple all men who call themselves swordsmen, such as Cabaji, then he should give up his own dream to become the greatest swordsman. Cabaji is then defeated by Zoro's "Oni Giri" which cuts open his chest. After Cabaji falls to the ground, Zoro also falls, claiming that he needs a rest after the grueling struggle. As he falls to the ground, Cabaji is stunned that he, along with Buggy's deadly crew are all defeated by "common thieves". Zoro responds by saying they are not common thieves; they are pirates. Zoro falls back asleep while Luffy battles against Buggy.

As the trio starts to relax, however, the townspeople come back into the town, and seeing their mayor knocked out, demand answers. Luffy replies that the three are pirates, and the townspeople chase them out of town, though the three manages to lose them thanks to Shushu's intervention. Nami agrees to temporarily team up with Zoro and Luffy, and the three sail off in the two small boats they obtained.

A Man in a Chest
After Buggy's incident in Orange Town, the crew then came upon the island of strange animals. There they met a man in a chest named Gaimon. They quickly make their acquaintance and help Gaimon with his goal. Gaimon decided to stay on the island and the crew bid him farewell. However since Zoro was asleep in their raft the whole time, he never personally met Gaimon.

Duel with Captain Kuro
The crew later arrived at Gecko Island. Upon landing, they met Usopp, the local troublemaker of Syrup Village and leader of the Usopp's Pirates. After some misunderstanding about coming to the island, they discover that Usopp's wealthy friend Kaya is bedridden, but is well-provided for by her two butlers Merry and Klahadore. Luffy believes Kaya would be able to give them a boat, so they move forward to visit her. The group is sent flying into the backyard (by Luffy) only to intrude on an argument between Usopp and Klahadore, who insults Usopp's father, and forces the group away from the house. While Usopp and Luffy bond, Nami, Zoro and the boys (Usopp's Pirates) came across the moon-walking hypnotist Jango.

After Usopp runs past them hysterically screaming that Klahadore is a pirate, they go in search for Luffy. Luffy confirms that Klahadore is actually Captain Kuro, who plans on killing Kaya and getting all her money. Usopp returns but tell the boys that it was just a lie, as they leave disappointed at Usopp lying to hurt people not to entertain. The Straw Hats gain a great deal of respect towards Usopp for tricking the boys to protect their well being, and his planning to take on an entire pirate crew and agreed to help him. Usopp planned to have an oil slip to stop the pirates, to which he could snipe them with ease. However the four are shown to be on the wrong side of the island. Nami fell into the oil slick but managed to switch spots with Zoro and ran off to fight. Luffy became lost on his dash causing Usopp and Nami to initially fight the pirates alone.

Just before the two are killed, Zoro and Luffy arrived to fight Kuro's crew. Jango hypnotized the crew to increase their strength but accidentally hypnotized Luffy, and Jango is forced to hypnotize Luffy to sleep again, but accidentally causes the crew to be knocked out by the ship's stempost which Luffy was holding onto when he fell asleep. Meanwhile Jango summoned the ship's guards the Nyaban brothers, Buchi and Sham, who starts a fight against Zoro. Disarmed of all but one sword, Zoro must fight an uphill battle against the team-work of Buchi and Sham, which is difficult without all three swords, and Zoro prevents Usopp from helping him by taking a hit from his Lead Star to keep him from getting dragged into the fight. Kuro then appears disgusted by how Black Cat pirates are getting beaten by children and gives the Nyaban brothers five minutes before he kills everyone.

Zoro still fighting with a disadvantage was helped by Nami who is able to recover Zoro's swords and kick back to him, allowing him to defeat the Nyaban brothers, but Buchi gets back up and is in turn hypnotized by Jango which injures Zoro faster. Nami then ran to wake Luffy up, and Jango tried to stop her with his Chakram, but at the last second Nami steps on Luffy's face which gets him up in time to stop the Chakram with his rubbery body. Usopp ordered his crew to take Kaya and flee; the three then took Kaya into the forest, while Kuro sent Jango after them. Zoro finished off Buchi and then heads out with Usopp as his guide on his back to rescue Kaya and the boys (since Usopp cannot move due to his injuries and Zoro needs him to navigate through the forest), while Luffy deals with Kuro and his lightning-fast movements and ten deadly finger-blades.

Eventually Jango caught up with his target and easily overpowered the boys. Kaya then threatened to kill herself with Jango's Chakram to stop Jango from hurting Usopp's crew and allowed Jango to force herself to sign the will that allow Kuro to "legally" acquire her wealth after he kills her. Zoro and Usopp caught up and Usopp proved himself less useless than he may seem, as he aids Zoro in defeating Jango and rescuing Kaya and the boys with his sniper skills.

Usopp decided during the aftermath that news of a real pirate attack might be too upsetting for the villagers and would affect their peace of mind since pirates do not normally come to an out of the way village. So he ordered everyone to keep it a secret, which Kaya and his crew agree with. Kaya, is grateful to the Straw Hat Pirates, and gives them her ship, the Going Merry. Usopp is shown grateful to them as well, and now has the confidence to disband his pirate crew and strike out on his own to be a real pirate. Usopp bid the Straw Hats crew farewell, who become confused and tell him to stop and get on their boat with them instead as he is now part of their crew.

Meeting Mihawk


The crew met Johnny and Yosaku, Zoro's former bounty hunter companions, and they sat sail for the Baratie restaurant in search for a cook. Luffy began his job as a waiter to pay for the damage he did to the Baratie for Zeff, and tried to convince Sanji to join his crew. Gin returned to the Baratie with his also-starving captain, Don Krieg, to whom Sanji once more gave food, but Don Krieg betrayed the cook once he regained energy and attacked the Baratie, despite the cooks' best efforts to stop him. It is revealed that Head-Chef Zeff was a great pirate known as Red Leg Zeff who traveled the Grand Line for a whole year before heading back into the East Blue

Gin explained the catastrophe the fleet met in Grand Line when they encountered Dracule Mihawk, and Don Krieg attempted to take control of the Baratie. Mihawk had returned to finish the job with Don Krieg's Pirate Armada, but Zoro challenged him to a duel in order to achieve his dream. Mihawk easily fended off all three of Zoro's swords with the tiny cross dagger he keeps around his neck. Zoro, wanting to finish the fight, unleashed his Oni Giri, thought to be up to that point, his strongest ability, in which Mihawk easily stopped as well, stabbing directly towards his heart. Zoro, not wanting to back down because of his pride, piques Mihawk's curiosity, and stated that he will remember his name and as a testament to his willpower, he unsheathed his black sword. Zoro unleashed a secret technique, Three Thousand Worlds, against Mihawk but is utterly defeated, and both his unnamed swords are destroyed in the process. Sheathing Wado Ichimonji, and turning to face Mihawk claiming that a scar on the back of a swordsman is shameful. And with that, Mihawk grinned, and slashed Zoro down, causing a large scar going from his left shoulder all the way down to his right hip, ending the duel.

It's still too early for you to die. My name is Dracule Mihawk! Discover your true self, the true world, become stronger! However long it may take, I shall await you at the top. Surpass this sword! Surpass me! Roronoa Zoro!!!

Mihawk left after defeating Zoro as Don Krieg continued his invasion on the Baratie and had Pearl, one of his stronger crewmates, attack, and forced Sanji to reveal his fighting skills. Johnny and Yosaku left with Usopp and the wounded Zoro to go after Nami who has stolen their ship and left.

Destruction of Arlong Park
Sometime after Yosaku left to inform Luffy of Nami's destination, Usopp, Zoro, and Johnny arrived at the island but, seeing that three fishmen have spotted them, Usopp and Johnny abandon the ship leaving Zoro (who was tied up by the two to, ironically, preventing him from fighting the fishmen) to be captured by them.

Zoro is brought to Arlong Park where he found out Nami's allegiance to Arlong. After some banter, Arlong proudly stated that Nami is the type of person who would betray even her own family for the sake of riches, which visibly disturbs her. To test Arlong's statement, Zoro threw himself into the water. Nami saved Zoro but beat him to reassure that she was still part of Arlong's crew. While Arlong was away at Nami's village, Zoro broke free from the dungeon he was being held at (with some help from Nami, who cut his ropes) and slaughtered the fishmen stationed at the Park to kill some time. He then met the octopus fishman, Hatchi, who was outside the park fishing, clearly oblivious of what had just went down on the other side of the wall. Thinking Zoro was a guest, Hatchan towed him to Cocoyashi Village. When he arrives, however, he discovers that Arlong had already returned to Arlong Park.



Having run back to Arlong park, Luffy, Yosaku and the newly recruited Sanji fall from the sky only to meet up with Zoro. Johnny found them as well and tells them that he saw Nami stabbing Usopp. Not long after, they come upon a defiant Nami, who tries to convince the Straw Hats that she was only in it for the treasure. She then told them to take their ship back and get off the island. But Luffy refused, causing Nami to angrily walk away. Johnny and Yosaku also split off, not wanting to be killed by the fishmen. Zoro said that he never expected Nami to murder someone, and that she was only a small time criminal. Sanji becomes enraged at the comment and the two starts to fight, only to have Usopp's face which took the impact of both. Usopp woke up and told them of what really happened. Nami's adoptive older sister, Nojiko, found them and agreed to tell them the reason behind Nami's motives. Though Luffy then left to take a walk and Zoro fell asleep, Sanji and Usopp (as well as an eavesdropping Johnny and Yosaku) listened to the story of how Arlong took over the island and killed Nami and Nojiko's adoptive mother, Bell-mère and how Nami was working for Arlong as a cartographer and stealing from other pirates to buy back their village.



Once Nami broke down after Arlong has his accomplice, the corrupted Marine Captain Nezumi, take all the money she had been saving for her village, she asks Luffy for help. Zoro, Sanji and Usopp joined him on the march to Arlong Park where Johnny and Yosaku were stopping Cocoyasi's villagers entrance and waiting for the Straw Hats. After entering, they managed to beat almost all fishmen there. But Luffy, after sticking his feet into the ground to beat the Arlong's sea-cow Mohmoo, was thrown into the water by Arlong. Zoro, Sanji and Usopp then took on Hatchan, Kuroobi and Chew respectively. Despite his wound and fever, Zoro manages to win against Hatchan's six-sword style (borrowing Johnny’s and Yosaku’s swords), broke his swords and defeated him. Sanji defeated Kuroobi and Usopp defeated Chew outside of Arlong Park.



After Sanji assured Zoro that Luffy was alive, he and Sanji then fought against Arlong, but are both defeated and agreed that only Luffy could win. While Zoro kept Arlong distracted, and with minor interference by Hatchan, Sanji drove back into the water and freed Luffy's body. On land Arlong ripped the bandages off of Zoro’s chest, injuring him even more and shocking everybody. Luffy then rose from the water (with help from Genzo, Nojiko and Sanji) and traded place with Zoro by tossing him high into the air. He fell into the sea and falls asleep after pulling himself out of it. When Luffy destroyed Arlong Park and defeated Arlong, Zoro woke up just in time to beat Nezumi, who came to take the credit of defeating Arlong. Nami made Nezumi return all the money and help fix up the island. Humiliated, Nezumi left and reports the incident to the Marine's Main Base, ensuring that Luffy will receive a high bounty.

Back in Cocoyasi Village, Dr. Nako tended to the wounds of Zoro, Luffy, Yosaku, and Johnny. Then, to celebrate their freedom, the entire island threw a big party. When the party was finally over, Nami rejoined the crew and the Straw Hats sailed towards their next adventure.

Loguetown Arc
Having defeated Buggy, Krieg, and Arlong, the Marines issue Luffy his first bounty. Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji started to discuss Luffy's wanted poster. Meanwhile, Zoro pointed out an island he had spotted. Nami explained about the island's major city, Loguetown, the city of the beginning and the end, where the Pirate King Gold Roger was born and executed.



Arriving at Loguetown, Zoro stated that he wants to buy something, so he asked Nami for some money. While walking down the street, Zoro witnessed Tashigi, a marine swordswoman who looks exactly like Kuina, beating some pirates. Upon entering the Weapons Shop, Zoro looked for two swords. The owner of the shop, Ippon-Matsu, tried to trick Zoro into selling his beloved sword for far less than its value, but Tashigi rushed into the shop and accidentally ruined the owners business. Tashigi pointed out a cursed sword named Sandai Kitetsu to Zoro. Ippon-Matsu told to them about Kitetsu' curseline, which interested Zoro. Then Zoro decided to buy the sword and test his luck against the sword's curse (he throws the sword up, then holds out his arm), but the sword circles around Zoro's arm. After witnessing Zoro's calibre, the owner gave Yubashiri to Zoro for free, saying that he passes his dream to him.

After leaving the shop, Zoro reunited with the crew, except Luffy, who was in trouble. So, Zoro and Sanji rushed to the execution place and started to fight off Buggy's crew, hoping to save Luffy, but the latter is saved by lightning that strikes the place (since he is made of rubber, it does not damage him). Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji rushed from the execution place to reach Going Merry, but Tashigi and Smoker intercepted them. Tashigi engaged Zoro in battle, and Smoker battled Luffy and Sanji. Zoro defeated Tashigi, and Dragon saved Luffy from Smoker. Finally, they reach Going Merry and leave Loguetown. Following this, the Straw Hats made promises about their dreams and set sail to the Grand Line.

Traversing Reverse Mountain and Meeting Laboon
Heading to the Grand Line, Nami had to search for more information about it. Then, the Straw Hats made a reunion where Nami explained about the only way to reach Grand Line, via the Reverse Mountain.

The Straws Hats arrived at Reverse Mountain through the storm, though they were nearly blown off course and into the Calm Belt but eventually reached the entrance of Reverse Mountain and managed to climb its uphill rapids despite some tricky close calls. As they came down they hear a noise and noticed something was blocking their path. They identified the blockage as a huge whale which was threatening to crush the Going Merry. Luffy managed to keep the ship from crashing into it, but seeing the bow broken off enraged Luffy and he attacked the whale. The whale swallows the Going Merry and the crew, except for Luffy who managed to escape onto the whale's back. Inside, the Straw Hats suddenly found themselves in what looked like an outside setting with a house in the middle of the water where they met an old man named Crocus. Sanji tried to get information from Crocus, who took long periods of time to reply, causing Sanji and Zoro great comical frustration. Eventually Luffy reunited with the Straw Hats and it was revealed that the strange setting is in fact the whale's stomach. Crocus revealed that the whale's name is Laboon, and that he often cries trying to run into the mountain because of a promise made 50 years ago and that two mysterious people named Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday were there just to kill the whale to feed the people in their town, but they were later knocked out by Luffy.

Once they exit Laboon, the Straw Hats threw Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday on the sea. Luffy made a promise to the whale hoping to solve his past problem. The crew was making the preparation for their journey when Nami realizes that the compass does not work there, to which Crocus explained that they need a Log Pose to travel through the Grand Line and gave to them one, also Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday ask the Straw Hats to take them to their town. Since everything is ready they set sail onto the first Grand Line island.

Battle Against a Hundred Bounty Hunters


Zoro and the crew arrived at Whiskey Peak, a town of pirate-lovers who held them a feast. That night, however, Zoro overheard the townspeople talking, and told them that he knows of their organization, Baroque Works. Upon being discovered, he battled through a hundred members of the organization, and easily defeated them all.

Upon the arrival of Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, however, Zoro was beseeched by Igaram to save his princess. Zoro was hesitant to oblige, but Nami, attempting to bribe Igaram for 1,000,000,000, forced Zoro to fight off Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine to protect Vivi. When he was about to fight them, however, he encountered a drowsy Luffy. Unaware that the townspeople are all bounty hunters, he engaged in a battle with Zoro due to Zoro attacking the "townsfolk". The battle culminated in Luffy and Zoro carelessly defeating Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, before Nami broke the two up.

The Straw Hats later became targets of Crocodile, due to the Unluckies overhearing Vivi mention his name. With little choice, the Straw Hats decided to help Princess Vivi. When they left Whisky Peak, they met Miss All-Sunday, Crocodile's right-hand woman. She attempted to offer the Straw Hats an Eternal Compass that would lead to an island near Alabasta, but Luffy broke it, stating that he'd rather choose his own path than allow an enemy to decide their destination.

Little Garden Arc


Zoro and crew sat ashore on Little Garden, a prehistoric island inhabited by dinosaurs and giants. Zoro, ordered by Sanji to gather some food, has challenged him to a competition on who would be the one to bring the largest piece of meat. Little do the Straw Hats suspect that Officer Agents of Baroque Works were on their tail. Having subdued the giants, Baroque Works made their move. Mr. 3 introduced Zoro, Nami, Vivi, and Brogy to the slow torture of becoming living statues of wax. Agreeing with Brogy that the only way to die was to go all-out honorably, Zoro attempted to cut his feet off, but Luffy arrived to the scene, so Zoro left the rest to him.

Luffy attempted to rescue his friends, however, it only accelerated the deadly waxing process, prompting Zoro to strike an honorable pose should he die. To make matters worse, Miss Goldenweek interfered and revealed her own terrifying ability. Usopp freed Luffy from Miss Goldenweek's control by burning Luffy's shirt. With Carue's help, Usopp and Luffy rescued the others, who take on Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine while Luffy and Carue pursue Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek into the forest. Zoro was able to save Usopp before Mr. 5 killed him. The crew then left Little Garden while being propelled through the Island Eater and they then set sail for Alabasta.

Drum Island Arc
While out at sea Zoro began his daily training again and while looking for a doctor for Nami, the crew met the pirate Wapol, who attacked them, but only made Luffy send him flying. They arrived at last to an island only to find out that they are not welcome. The Straw Hat crew managed to gain the trust of the people that attacked them, and are taken to the village, except for Zoro and Carue, who guard the ship, with Zoro deciding to train in the icy cold waters now that his injuries from Little Garden had healed.

A shirtless Zoro later is found by Vivi and Usopp after the avalanche. After they made it back to Bighorn, Zoro helped out in dealing with the king's army in order to save Dalton, and obtain one of their warm coats in the process to warm himself back up. The villagers along with Zoro, Vivi and Usopp started their ascent to the castle through a ropeway and arrived just after Luffy defeated Wapol.

After finally been convinced to join the team, Chopper announced his intentions to Dr. Kureha, who did not take it too well. But after escaping from the castle, she had decided to give the whole Straw Hat crew a farewell gift. On the way out of the island the crew discovered Carue frozen in the water and rescued him, where Chopper translated that Carue jumped in the water to save Zoro when he saw him disappear, causing an angry Nami to hit Zoro on the head because he was at fault for this mishap.

Alabasta Arc
They entered the crew starving for food and saw a Sea Cat. They tried to capture it but Vivi stopped them because its sacred. They met Mr. 2 Bon Kurei on the ship who showed off his devil fruit power and Vivi saw a shocking sight. Upon learning his abilities, they planned to make a "X" mark on their right arm to know their true identity. When the crew landed in Nanohana, they encountered Smoker and Tashigi. A powerful pirate named Portgas D. Ace appeared, and is revealed to be Luffy's older brother. Ace fought Smoker while the Straw Hats ran for their ship. Luffy reunited with his brother, and together they took down agents of Baroque Works. Ace departed from the crew leaving Luffy with the paper of life. The crew found out that the Rebel Army had moved out of Yuba and headed to Katorea, and that the rebel leader Kohza was determined to attack. The crew traveled to the city of Rainbase to take down Crocodile and Baroque Works, but ran afoul of Smoker and Tashigi.

Zoro, Luffy, Nami,and Usopp, along with Smoker, were trapped by Crocodile. Chopper distracted Crocodile while Sanji freed the rest of the crew, but found themselves trapped yet again. After escaping from Rain Dinners by swimming underwater with Zoro carrying Smoker, Zoro admitted to Smoker that while he did save his life, he only did it because Luffy ordered him to, due to Smoker's inability to swim from his Devil Fruit Powers. The crew together with Vivi then crossed the desert to Alubarna, where the final battle would eventually take place, though Luffy remained behind to fend off Crocodile. The crew excluding Luffy proceeded to Alubarna.



As they reached the destination, they split up to distract the Baroque Works agents to engage in separate battles. While Miss Doublefinger's fight with Nami was challenging, Zoro was having an even more difficult time fighting Mr. 1: a man who can change his entire body into steel - something that Zoro cannot cut. As Zoro neared death, he heard "the breath of all things". He then proceeded to defeat Mr. 1, finally learning how to cut steel. After their battle, the other Straw Hats hurried to locate the bomb before it went off. Vivi found the bomb, and called the Straw Hats together. Vivi found the bomb inside of the clock tower, but the Mr. 7 pair of Baroque Works agents were there to protect it. Vivi defeated them, but she realized that the bomb couldn't be stopped so easily. It had a timer, and right before it blew up, Pell showed up and took it into the atmosphere, where he seemingly sacrificed himself to save Alabasta.

When the battle finally had ended, the outcome was tallied. Igaram appeared with proof of Cobra's innocence, as well as Kohza explained everything. When Luffy awakened from his battle with Crocodile, a magnificent banquet was thrown for the pirates, and the Straw Hats were then invited to enjoy the hot spring steam room inside the palace. It was later revealed that Zoro now has a bounty of 60,000,000. The day for Vivi's speech had come and so had her decision whether or not to continue on to be with the Straw Hats. Meanwhile, Bon Kurei and his crew attempted to protect the Straw Hats from Hina. When Vivi arrived at their location, the entire Straw Hat showed off their "X" marks to symbolize their friendship with Vivi. The Marines failed again to catch the Straw Hats. After escaping from the Marines, Nico Robin (Miss All Sunday) appeared from inside of the Straw Hats ship and managed to persuade the crew to let her join, although Zoro was the only one to remain suspicious of her intentions.

Rumble in Jaya
Nami's Log Pose began to point to the sky. After that a big ship fell, and the crew found a map of an island named Skypiea on a 200-year-old ship. They competed with the monkey-like Masira's salvage crew while they searched for more clues on how to get there. The Straw Hats then decided to go to Jaya island to look for information on Skypiea.



Jaya's main town is full of famous pirates that are constantly brawling with each other. Luffy and Zoro had a run-in with a pirate known as Bellamy the Hyena, who ridicules their dreams and beats them up. On Luffy's behest, Zoro did not fight back. Luffy, Zoro and Nami also met the man who is later revealed to be Blackbeard. They left Mock Town and got into a fight with Masira's brother Shoujou, another salvage monkey.

The Straw Hats met up with Montblanc Cricket on another part of Jaya; Cricket is a descendant of Montblanc Noland, an infamous "liar" who told of a gold city on Jaya, and Cricket was exiled for looking for artifacts of the gold city. He was actually the only person who knew how to get to Skypiea. Cricket explained how the Straw Hats could ride a dangerous vertical current called the Knock-Up Stream to get to Skypiea. However, they first had to catch a South Bird to point them toward the point where the stream would erupt from the ocean. While the Straw Hats were looking for a South Bird, Bellamy and his crew attacked Cricket's house, and stole the gold artifacts he'd collected over the years from his salvage work.

When the Straw Hats returned and saw what happened, Luffy decided to take a side trip back to Mock Town to return Cricket's artifacts. Bellamy got his comeuppance in the form of Luffy's fist after speaking badly of Cricket. Upon Luffy's return, the Going Merry had been refitted, by Masira and Shoujou, to be more flight capable, and the Straw Hats caught a ride on the Knock-Up Stream toward Skypiea. As they headed to the clouds above, Blackbeard had been nipping at their heels only to miss them before their ascent. The Straw Hats then arrived in an ocean above the clouds.

Adventure in Sky Island and Taking Down a God
As the Straw Hats admired the beautiful cloud ocean, they sailed on, and soon came to a Gate, where the Watcher at first demanded they pay a fee, and then told them they may go even when Nami apologetically stated they had no money. When the Crew arrived on a beach in the clouds, they encountered a Skypiean and her father, and started talking to her, particularly about the versatile Skypiean Dials. The Skypiea police, the White Berets, suddenly turned up, and told the Straw Hats that they were illegal trespassers, and had to pay ten times the entrance fee immediately. It turned out to be 70,000,000 Beli, far too high to pay. The crew was then sentenced to a form of Death Penalty. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji swiftly took out The White Berets.

As the crew prepared for their adventure in Skypiea, An enormous Shrimp attacked the Going Merry. The Skypiean man explained to Usopp, Sanji and Luffy that the others on the Going Merry would be taken to The Sacrificial Altar. The three decided to rescue their friends, despite the man warning them about God Enel living in the place they were headed. While Luffy, Sanji and Usopp looked for the others on Going Merry, Zoro killed a vicious fish shortly before it can take them to the Altar. Zoro, Nami and Robin sat off into the forest (Zoro brushed off Chopper's objections by stating he does not even believe in God). After a while, the entire crew was reunited at the Going Merry, and Zoro used his swords to help Sanji prepare food.

The next day, the Straw Hats decided to split into two teams. The second team, consisting of Zoro, Chopper, Luffy and Robin, encountered an enormous snake and were all separated after it attacks. Zoro soon encountered a Shandia warrior named Braham, who attacked him. Braham used powerful Dials, and pistols to attack, and caught Zoro off guard. He then regrouped and stated that if Braham had a 'Pistol' then he had a 'Cannon'. Zoro then defeated him by using his powerful 36 Pound Cannon.



As Zoro was enjoying his lunch he winded up being carried away by a South Bird. The bird soon dropped Zoro right in the middle of the confrontation between another Priest, Ohm, The Knight of the Sky and Wiper. Zoro is engaged by Ohm, who is revealed to be a great swordsman, using a blade with a Dial placed inside the hilt. The blade shape changed to block Zoro's attacks, and was strong enough to even stop his 36 Pound Cannon After a lengthy struggle, Zoro defeated the Priest with an incredibly powerful 108 Pound Cannon. Enel then rended the ground using his lightning, and caused Zoro to fall to the ruins where Enel, Wiper, Gan Fall, Nami and Robin were.



Upon "almost successfully predicting the five survivors", including himself, Enel offered Zoro, Robin, Gan Fall, and Wiper to join him, provided that Nami was to be eliminated. When all four openly refused his invitation by proclaiming that he himself would be eliminated, Enel proceeded to knock Gan Fall down with his powers. Enel then went on to harm Robin. Zoro furiously attacked him in retaliation, but failed in harming him at all. Enel then damaged Zoro. Zoro tried to attack Enel once more, but he was shocked into unconsciousness when Enel struck him with a wolf-like lightning attack.

Later after regaining consciousness, Zoro attempted to cut down the beanstalk near Luffy and Enel upon Nami's request. He managed to cleave some of it apart, but he was then struck into unconsciousness again by Enel. Wiper then finished the job and was able to cut down the beanstalk.

After Luffy's defeat of the tyrannical Enel, and final ringing of The Golden Bell, Zoro joined the other Skypieans in drinking and celebrating.

Davy Back Fight against the Foxy Pirates


After returning from Skypiea, the Straw Hats came across a mysterious pirate ship with no captain and navigator after they tried to escape from a giant wave. Soon they arrived at an island with some strange long animals, the so-called Long Ring Long Land island. As Luffy, Usopp, Chopper went on board, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Robin were challenged by the Foxy Pirates to a Davy Back Fight with Luffy. Luffy accepted the challenge with a gun shot. When Foxy decided to take Chopper after the first round, the "Donut Race", Chopper cried, and said that he only went out to sea because he was asked to be a member of the Straw Hat Pirates. Zoro lectured Chopper, and told him that he had to be a man and that he was responsible for becoming a pirate.

In the second game, called "Groggy Ring" he and Sanji are partnered. They were fighting over who should be the 'ball man' until Sanji took the position (at Nami's request). The referee told them that weapons were prohibited in the game, so Zoro was forced to use No Sword Style. They defeated the Groggy Monsters and won after a decisive, and allowed the Straw Hat Pirates to reclaim Chopper. The last game, "Combat", was a fight between the two captains. Luffy defeated Foxy and chose to destroy the Foxy pirate flag rather than to steal a crew member. Luffy made them a new flag, which ended up being hideous because of his poor artistic ability.

The Encounter with Admiral Aokiji


After having returned to Tonjit's hut, the Straw Hats met a Marine Admiral named Aokiji (in the anime, they met him on a different island). Aokiji told the crew that he was only there to confirm that Robin was still alive. He then used Ice saber and proceeded to slice up Robin, however Zoro was the one who stopped him. During the fight Zoro's right shoulder was frozen by Aokiji. After the crew returned to the Merry, Zoro and Sanji, immediately jumped into the ocean when Chopper said it would unfreeze them. After treatment, Zoro thought to himself that Luffy needed to get stronger to fight a stronger enemy.

A Breaking Ship, a Breaking Crew
As the Straw Hats continue their journey, they encounter a sea train on their way. They stop at a train station and ask an old woman named Kokoro where they can repair the ship and recruit a shipwright. Kokoro gives them a picture of a person named Iceburg and told that is the person for whom they are searching. They set sail and open the picture only to find it was only a drawing. When they arrived at Water 7, Zoro pulled out the sail and accidentally breaks it thinking it was not in this bad of a condition. Soon Luffy, Nami, Usopp go off board to hire a shipwright. Then, Robin and Chopper go shopping followed by later by Sanji. Zoro remained sleeping and guarded the ship. When he woke up the ship was surrounded by mysterious strangers called the Franky Family. They attacked but were easily defeated by him. When a man named Kaku, a shipwright from the Galley-La Company came in to check the ship, he mistook him for Usopp due to his long nose. Upon completing the inspection, Kaku states that the ship cannot be repaired anymore, a statement Zoro vehemently disagrees with. Soon the carpenter went home. He later joins Chopper, Sanji, Luffy to look for Usopp and their money. They found Usopp unconscious outside of the Franky House. They attack the Franky Family and destroy their base, more so for beating up Usopp than for stealing their money.

While Usopp is under medical treatment from Chopper, Luffy decided to get a new ship. When Usopp wakes up, Luffy tells him this and Usopp angrily disagrees. They start a quarrel whether they will leave the ship or not. Usopp goes outside saying that he quits being a Straw Hat Pirate, then he challenges Luffy to a duel, the winner claims the ship. Later, Zoro is seen fighting with Sanji over who is the responsible for it. They also wondering where Robin had gone. After the duel, Zoro tells Luffy that, as captain, he must never hesitate. Otherwise the crew cannot rely on him. He then states that they can never come back to the Going Merry again. When they rent a hotel room, he just sits on the rooftop. The entire Straw Hat crew are then suspects to attempted murder of Iceburg when a sudden attempt on his life was made.

When Zoro saw Luffy, Chopper, and Nami, they plan how to enter to the Galley-La to talk to Iceburg. As Luffy disappeared, they've been spotted by the Galley-La guards and start running. When Zoro became annoyed of the carpenters, he decided to use the back of his swords to defeat them. As they enter the building, they see Luffy with Paulie, there, they discover the true identity of Blueno, Kalifa, Kaku, and Lucci as CP9. They see Robin with them too. Zoro attacked Kaku saying that he is not a true shipwright but Kaku replied that he did his job correctly when examining the Going Merry. Afterwards, Zoro was quickly sent by Lucci in Leopard form flying into a chimney.

While he was stuck on a chimney he was helped by Chopper, who gave him Kitetsu and he destroyed the chimney. When he was finally freed, Zoro and Chopper ran as quickly as possible to get away from the Aqua Laguna. Zoro and Chopper, along with Nami and Luffy, were helped by Paulie from drowning. As they plan to sail in a storm to save Robin, Paulie disagreed to their plan as he will fight them to stop them. Kokoro arrives there and introduce the Rocket Man, another sea train.

Seeing how determined Luffy is to save Robin, Kokoro and Iceburg lends the Straw Hat crew the use of another sea train, Rocket Man. The Franky Family shows up, pleading with Luffy to let them join them because they'll do anything for their leader. The Rocket Man finally makes it out to sea. As the train connects with the tracks, Luffy has to rescue Chimney before she's thrown off by the wind. With Luffy and Chimney safe in the train, Paulie tells his fellow carpenters who the real culprits were. The Straw Hats, Franky Family, and Galley-La Company form an alliance. Luffy and Zoro perform a move that acts similar to a cannon and blasts a hole through the wall of the tidal wave ahead of them, opening up a channel for them to pass through. They miraculously pass through unscathed and the passengers rejoice.



In the Rocket Man, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Chopper get an outfit change; Nami shows off the weapon Usopp upgraded for her while he was still with them. Those on the Rocket Man encounter the discarded cars and Zoro slices them so they can pass. Zoro clashes with "Ship Cutter" T-Bone. The fight is short and Zoro joins the crew again in the Rocket Man. At the Rocket Man, Yokuzuna the frog jumps onto the front of the train, knocking them from the rails. After Kokoro speaks with him, he joins the group. Luffy and the others finally catch up to Sanji, Usopp, and the rest of the Franky Family as they near Enies Lobby. Paulie sits down with the group and talks about their plan. Luffy does not bother to follow the plan, and slingshots himself beyond the gates before the train stops.

Enies Lobby Arc
As they arrive at the Enies Lobby, together with the Franky Family and Galley La, they plan their move going inside, but unfortunately, Luffy jumps the gun, and heads inside on his own. They wait several minutes to open the 1st gate of Enies Lobby. Zoro has been commanded by Kokoro to make his move against the fence. But suddenly, Zoro commanded Yokuzuna to push on the fence and used it as a ramp. Together they landed on Oimo's back. They start entering the island to their main goal: saving Robin.

As they are waiting for the bridge to be activated, they all lined up at the roof convincing Robin to accept their request of saving her. When they confirmed that the bridge will not be activated anymore, Kokoro volunteered herself to help them using the Rocket Man. The Rocket Man used the half activated bridge as a ramp and together they've been held by Luffy and started to jump.



When they landed on the Tower of Justice, Fukuro showed up and declares that a key is needed to uncuff Robin. They decide to fight individually and started to search an agent. Zoro faced Kaku, who he had already fought at Galley La. Zoro commented that he has become stronger since then, and in an intense battle, uses a new skill to defeat Kaku to finally get his key, which was number 5. After that he and Sanji carried the injured Sogeking in the tunnel and almost drowned but luckily they were saved by Kokoro who is a mermaid.

While awaiting the end of Luffy's fight with Rob Lucci, he, along with the rest of the crew engage in battle with an unknown number of Marines, sent there as a result of the Buster call inadvertently triggered by Spandam. He comes across a marine Shuu, who, using his Devil Fruit ability, causing his Yubashiri to rust. Their escape ship explodes, leaving them seemingly stranded, till, along with Usopp and the rest, hears the voice of Merry telling them to jump into sea. He complies, and with the rest of his crew on the Merry Go, sails away from Enies Lobby, leaving it in ruins.

Post-Enies Lobby Arc


With the Going Merry, everyone has managed to escape Enies Lobby safely. After escaping, Iceburg arrives with the Galley-La company just in time to pick up the Straw Hat Pirates as the Merry suddenly breaks apart. Luffy then gives the Going Merry a viking funeral by burning it as the crew tearfully says goodbye (Zoro, though, maintains his dignity).



Two days later, back in Water 7, he is seen staring at the broken hilt of his sword wondering what he should do. Finally, he was then seen rushing to meet the others, to warn them of the marines arrival. However, as usual, Zoro ends up getting lost on the way there. When he arrived, he was attacked by Sergeant Helmeppo with dual kukri knives, but quickly defeated the young man.

He was seen trying to buy a sword but had no money and was thrown out. Later on, Zoro's new bounty is revealed; the bounty is set at 120,000,000. He also helped launch Franky towards the "Thousand Sunny", the Straw Hats' new ship. He was later seen, when he and Sanji inform the rest of the crew that Garp's battleship was near the island.

In a flashback, Zoro took a stand on letting Usopp back in, stating that Usopp shouldn't be allowed back with the crew if he returned still full of pride. His reasoning being that Luffy as captain must stand firm as it was Usopp that left them and lost the duel with Luffy over the fate of the Going Merry.

When Luffy and Usopp started arguing in the first place...I didn't care about whose emotions were stronger...or who was correct...but a duel between men was fought and the conclusion was set in stone. After Usopp apologizes for his stubbornness, he is happily accepted back into the crew with Zoro seen smiling at Usopp's return.

Thriller Bark Arc
After sailing for some time on the Thousand Sunny, Zoro and the rest of the crew came across a mysterious barrel floating on the ocean. Upon opening it, a flash shot up from it. After braving a storm that mysteriously came afterwards thanks to Nami and Franky, Zoro and the rest of the crew found themselves in the presence of a ghost ship.

This ship apparently belonged to a skeleton named Brook who, by chance, initially accepts Luffy's offer to join the crew. This apparent new addition to the crew made Zoro scold Nami and Sanji for not keeping Luffy from inviting the skeleton. Zoro then joined for dinner as the skeleton related his past to the others. Just as Brook was about to perform before Zoro and the rest of the crew, a ghost appeared and some clanking sounds were heard. These sounds were caused by the gates of the island that suddenly appeared, Thriller Bark, closing. These events prompted Brook to head to the island before Zoro and the rest of the Straw Hats' eyes.

After witnessing Franky's present to the Straw Hats that the cyborg decided to show them, Zoro and the rest of the Straw Hats decided to look for Nami, Usopp, and Chopper who had not returned. However before Zoro and the rest could go to the island, they were stopped by an invisible thing. The thing stole one of Zoro's swords and tried to stab Luffy with it. Luckily, Franky kicked it away before it found its mark. The thing later left Zoro and the rest baffled.

After the Thousand Sunny was caught in what was apparently an oversized spider web, Zoro and the rest disembarked onto the island. There, they met the Cerberus which did not intimidate Zoro. After Luffy tamed the beast, Zoro and the rest met two more of the island's creatures. Luffy caught the talking tree while Franky caught the unicorn. Zoro, along with Sanji, then stopped Luffy before he could allow the talking tree to join the group.

Zoro and the rest then came across some ghosts who affected some of them with their strange abilities. Zoro seeing his companions in such a pitiful state merely shook the whole matter off, only to be affected by one of the ghosts himself. After Zoro and the rest who were also affected by the ghosts recovered, they pressed forward. Zoro and the rest later met with some Zombies and defeated them with a combo technique. The group then met with an old man who looked like a Zombie. The old man asked them to defeat Gekko Moriah who had stolen his shadow.



While in Hogback's mansion, Zoro disappears not long after Sanji does. Later, a shadowed figure was shown attacking Robin, Luffy, and Franky with Zoro's Ittoryu: Sanjuroku Pondo Ho attack. However, the zombie's body was that of Jigoro, the zombie that received Zoro's shadow. It is later revealed that the zombie has inherited Zoro's shadow and thus is able to use all his techniques. Zoro was found asleep on the Thousand Sunny with Sanji and Luffy and was woken up by Usopp.

After purifying some Zombies, Zoro, Franky and Sanji are about to cross a bridge leading to Hogback's laboratory when Oars smashes it. With the construction of a new bridge done by Franky, Sanji departs to save Nami. Later on Zoro and Franky finds the defeated Brook, and saves him in the last moment from Ryuma. Seeing the samurai's sword Zoro claims he intend to fight and take it. After a short but intense battle, he defeats the legendary samurai and gained the sword Shusui, from an ashamed Ryuma.



When Moriah gained control of Oars, he ordered him to rampage Thriller Bark and defeat the Straw Hats. Zoro wanting to fight him only cut off his left tusk before being defeated by Oars' attack. Later on he alongside the other Straw Hats regain consciousness and started a series of combo attacks against Oars. Using a 108 Pound Cannon at Oars, Zoro notes how his Shusui is heavy and he is still not adept using it. After Moriah manipulates Oars' body to allow it to stretch the Straw Hats are taken down one by one. But before Zoro is taken down, Chopper formulates a theory that his right arm is his weak point. As his final movement, Zoro tried to damage the arm, but fails since zombies do not feel pain, and is taken out.

After being carried away from the fight between Nightmare Luffy and Oars, by the Thriller Bark Victim's Association, he regains consciousness, and helped Luffy use Giant Bazooka to shatter Oars' spine. As Moriah uses Shadow Asgard he stands by, watching the fight between Moriah and Luffy, and is almost burned away by the sun until, with the defeat of Moriah, his shadow is finally returned. After launching an attack on the Thriller Bark Victim's Association Bartholomew Kuma targets Zoro.



Zoro tries to fight Kuma, but Kuma just pushes his attacks away with his Nikyu Nikyu no Mi, leaving Zoro at a disadvantage. Kuma then comes with an ultimatum: give up Luffy and the rest will be allowed to survive. Zoro and the crew refuse and so Kuma calmly detonates the island with an Ursus Shock, knocking out everybody. However, when Kuma was about to take Luffy, Zoro rises again as one of the only people not knocked unconscious and even launches a successful Shishi Sonson [Lion's Song] on Kuma, revealing that he is a cyborg. Kuma then states that he is a cyborg but not like "Cyborg" Franky and furthermore tells that he is an incomplete human weapon, created by the World Government, and Dr. Vegapunk, called a Pacifista. Zoro then proceeds to ask for his head to be taken in exchange for Luffy's. Kuma agrees, but at that point Sanji wakes up and wants to give his head instead. Zoro calmly hits one of his wounds just above his right hip and knocks Sanji out. Kuma then proceeds to use his powers and draw out all of Luffy's pain and fatigue. Luffy had so much pain and fatigue that it formed a gigantic paw of energy bigger than Kuma himself. Kuma gives Zoro a small sample of it and Zoro can barely tolerate the pain. Kuma then states that currently being so close to death as he is, if Zoro were to take in Luffy's injuries he would definitely die. Zoro then says "Let me choose the location".



Zoro then takes the paw of pain and goes to a nearby forest. He takes a few breaths before he places his hands inside of the giant paw. When the Straw Hat crew awakens along with the Rolling Pirates, Sanji goes out to look for Zoro and finds him in the forest still conscious, surrounded by blood as well as being covered from head to toe in blood. When Sanji asks what happened to him, Zoro replies "Nothing... nothing at all" in a trembling voice. While all of the Straw Hats see Zoro's injuries, none of them found out about Zoro's near-death sacrifice but Sanji, who got the truth from two members of the Thriller Bark Victim's Association, the Risky Brothers; Robin, who eavesdropped on said conversation with her powers; and Brook, who saw it happen.

He is seen sleeping in the Thriller Bark Mansion, with wounds Chopper says were life threatening, while his crew (minus Chopper, who was taking care of him and Nami, who was watching over him) celebrate their victory. Two days later Zoro is awake and goes to the grave that Franky built for Brook to honor the Rumbar Pirates and asks Brook permission to lay his Yubashiri to rest near the grave, and later jokes that Brook has bad luck since this crew is varied to which Brook jokes back with him.

Once he and the rest of the crew finally left Thriller Bark, they held a toast to Brook, the newest Straw Hat.

Strong World
On board the Thousand Sunny, the Straw Hats read news of attacks on East Blue. Luffy says they will return to East Blue to protect it when Shiki's ship appears overhead. After warning him of the storm ahead, he comes down to meet them. There he reveals he has a Devil Fruit power to make any inanimate object he touches ignore gravity and float. After learning it was Nami that delivered the warning, and that they are headed to East Blue, Shiki offers to take them there and uses his power on Sunny. Together the two ships travel to the floating island seen before where Shiki suddenly kidnaps Nami. Zoro along with the others try to rescue her, but by controlling the Thousand Sunny using his power, he escapes them, as well as scattering them among the fragments of the island.



Zoro and Chopper end up on a snow mountainscape. Upron riding around on a Mammoth Dense, they find and rescue a young girl, Xiao, and are lead to her village. She mistakes Chopper for a talking Gorilla and momentarily faints. Along the way they learn the large poisonous plants, called Daft Green, around the village emit a stink so powerful that the animals stay away. However, long term exposure to the plants is poisonous to humans, and Xiao's grandmother has become ill from it.

Xiao was outside looking for the cure, which is the IQ plant, and managed to find one, but Shiki has taken all the IQ plants for his experiments. Sanji and Usopp, also at the same village, where everyone appears to have small wings on their arms, learn that Shiki also takes all the men and young women to his royal palace, leaving the village with only the very young and old with strict monitoring around the clock. When the rest of the crew shows at the village, Robin informs them of Shiki's plan. They learn there that Shiki is planning to let loose the animals on the island into East Blue in a gambit to force the surrender of the World Government. They also learn that to prove the power of the animals he is planning a demonstration using a village on the floating island.



Shiki then arrives sometime later and confronts the Straw Hats who are there. Zoro attacks with Nanajuuni Pondo Hou slashes that Shiki easily deflects. Sanji then launches Zoro into the air as he tries again to fight Shiki. Shiki responds that he is not even worth killing and with one blow sends him back down to the ground. Despite some initial success in the others fending him off, Zoro and the Straw Hats are defeated, and Nami is coerced into rejoining Shiki by him agreeing to leave them, and her home town be. Usopp, the only remaining crew member conscious tries to stop her, but Shiki knocks him out.

Xiao reappears and gives them the Dial Nami left them. Her mother, who earlier had expressed relief about the animals being sent to East Blue, apologizes for saying how happy she was for Shiki leaving for East Blue. They then play the message, and after hearing only the first bit of it, Luffy is angered to the point that he will not listen to the rest (the rest of the crew does, however).

Back at Shiki's place, Nami is found to have in fact been attempting to blow up the plants protecting his palace, but was overcome by the poison. Shiki traps her near the plants and heads off to meet the pirate captains gathering. The Straw Hats arrive at his palace and burst down the gates and make short work of the guards outside. While preparing a toast to the commencement of the operation, the Straw Hats march into the main meeting room brandishing various firearms and a new wardrobe.



After a short confrontation, where Shiki calls them simply a suicide squad, and reveals hundreds of men around them. They unload their firearms in the room, defeating most those gathered much to Shiki's dismay, then split up to defeat the rest. Luffy chases after Shiki, as Zoro clashes swords with Dr. Indigo. Indigo breaks off the attack and encounters Chopper and Usopp at his laboratory. Usopp demands him to hand over the antidote, but he refuses.



Zoro shows up and challenges Indigo for the antidote. Indigo mocks him and states that the world wouldn't care if East Blue was annihilated. This comment enrages Zoro, due to his origins and most of his crew being born and raised in that area of the world.

He knocks Indigo through the wall and the two begin to fight on a bridge. Indigo shows off his Chemical Juggling ability, attacking the swordsman with his chemical orbs but is unable to keep up and is hit by them. This serves merely to annoy Zoro stating he doesn't have time for his acrobatics. Indigo then uses the Mass Juggling ability, creating one giant ball of energy and throws it at him. Zoro survives the attack with little damage and defeats Indigo in one strike using his Asura: Ugui technique. He hands Chopper the antidote and heads back to the ship.

After Shiki is defeated by Luffy, Chopper along with the other Straw Hats escape using Thousand Sunny, using Shiki's pirate sail as a parachute. Zoro is seen much later on the ship as Nami recovers.

An Incident with the World Nobles
As the Straw Hats continue their journey, Zoro became embroiled in the battles against the Flying Fish Riders in protection of former enemy Hatchan against the slave trader Duval. Assisting Hatchan in his escape, he comes to an understanding with his former enemy while defeating those in their way. After the incident, the Straw Hats arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, where Zoro decided to go off on his own, presumably to get some liquor, as he was later seen chugging on a bottle of one. Though he claimed he knew where the Sunny was docked, a misread sign made the swordsman run off into the unknown, getting himself lost again.



Eventually, he enters a bad area where a World Noble is messing around with his slaves and the local population. Although other members of the The Eleven Supernovas were watching, Zoro attempted to challenge one for his mistreatment. But before he could get too far, Jewelry Bonney knocked him out of the gunfire, forcing him to play along to escape the Noble's wrath. After a brief argument with Bonney, Zoro proceeds to carry the civilian injured earlier by the Noble to the nearest hospital, ignoring Bonney's protests. Several of the Supernovas watching the encounter comment that Zoro is a 'beast' and radiates an 'insane killing intent'. They contemplate how powerful his captain (Luffy) must be to keep such a powerful and seemingly uncontrollable man, with such a high bounty in check.

He apparently jumps onto Luffy's flying fish (after being told by the latter to do so) in an attempt to find his way back to the ship, but is crashed into the Auctioning House along with them. After Hachi is shot, Zoro witnesses Luffy punch Saint Charloss in the face, the same Noble he himself almost attacked. Zoro remarked that Luffy should've given him the chance to slice the noble himself. He also witnessed the mechanic they were looking for, Silvers Rayleigh who uses an ability known as "Haki" to knock out most of the crowds, as well as Saint Shalulia. Zoro assisted Luffy and battle his way out the massive horde of Marines, before escaping along with Rayleigh with the help of Duval's Rosy Life Riders.

They return to Shakky's Rip Off Bar to rest. There, Rayleigh reveals he was Gold Roger's First Mate, and reveals the truth about how what led to his execution. Indeed Roger was never captured, rather he gave himself up. Four years before his death, Roger contracted an incurable illness and spent most of the years going on his final adventure to the Grand Line, eventually reaching the end, and conquering it. Roger then became known as the Pirate King, but that did not matter to him as he was still about to die. A year before his death, he secretly disbanded the Roger Pirates and the members disappeared. Roger mentioned to Rayleigh that he is not going to die. In Roger's final year, he gave himself up to the Marines, and sentence to public execution. The Marines publicly claimed that they captured Roger as a show of power, and used his public execution to set an example to all pirates, but his last words before his death started "The Great Pirate Age." While Rayleigh himself did not witness Roger's execution, his subordinates, Shanks and Buggy were present. The mention of the latter mildly irritates Zoro.

Rayleigh congratulates the Straw Hats on making it to the first half of the Grand Line but tells them he's going to need three days to coat the Thousand Sunny. In addition due to the arrival of an Admiral, he will move the ship as not to be noticed, so he gives the Straw Hats pieces of a Vivre Card to meet up once its done. Because of the Admiral threat, Zoro mentions they too should split up, to avoid getting caught and meet up at Rayleigh's location. Sanji notes that this is an ironic comment going from him.

Destruction of the Straw Hat Crew


As they say their farewells to Shakuyaku, Keimi, Pappug and Hatchan, the Straw Hats depart but are later confronted by the Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma. As he attacks, the Straw Hats retaliate, now at full strength as opposed to worn out from their prior encounter at Thriller Bark. Zoro notes that there is something different about his "atmosphere" from before. The Straw Hats continue to fight "Kuma" and Luffy, Sanji and Zoro finally deliver a successful counter-attack in the form of the Gomu Gomu no Diable Jet Mouton 600 Pound Cannon combo, knocking "Kuma" back. Zoro notes that it may not be the real Kuma as he has not reflected their attacks or teleported with his Nikyu Nikyu no Mi abilities. This poses a problem because there is one or more copies of Kuma with similar levels of strength. Zoro suddenly collapses from the phantom pain of when he had all of Luffy's pain and fatigue transferred to him but managed to get up and hit Kuma with a new Asura technique which badly damages the clone, before Luffy finishes it off.

As the Straw Hats catch their breath, they contemplate how powerful their opponent was, and how he came so early as they planned to hide for the next three days, and were worried as to how they are going to deal with more opponents like that.

Just then, a broadaxe-wielding warrior named Sentōmaru appeared with yet another Pacifista and ordered it to capture the Straw Hats. As the Straw Hats separated to avoid capture, Zoro, Brook and Usopp were suddenly confronted by Kizaru: one of the 3 Admirals and he proceeded to attack Zoro with a blast from his kicks. With Usopp and Brook unable to do anything to Kizaru due to the power of the Pika Pika no Mi, the Admiral attempted to finish Zoro off, but had his kick deflected by Silvers Rayleigh appearing to save him. Usopp and Brook again try to escape with Zoro, but as the PX-1 Pacifista starts coming after them Zoro tells them to put him down, and he will let them get away. But Usopp refuses saying Zoro is more useless than him right now. Even with Sanji's help they are all beaten down by the Pacifista.

Before they can get up to run again, or it can attack once more, the real Bartholomew Kuma shows up, and orders the Pacifista to stop. Zoro instantly recognizes this as the real one, and they briefly talk, before Kuma asks Zoro "Where would you like to go?," while removing his glove. He then swiftly touches Zoro with his hand, making him vanish.

Straw Hat Separation Adventure: Kuraigana Island


He is shown having landed in the exact same spot Perona was sent to, the ruins of Shikkearu Kingdom, Kuraigana Island, in the Grand Line. He wakes up having been bandaged ridiculously by Perona, wondering where he is. As he awakes, he asked for his swords, but Perona refuses to give him his weapons back. However, some measure of trust seems to have grown between them, as Zoro is later seen with his swords at his side and is casually walking through the ruins of the island as Perona floats overhead. He then encounters an unknown swordsman.

The swordsman, however, turns out to be a feral baboon known as a humandrill, whose tribe has learned to wield weapons from watching soldiers in a great war fought seven years earlier. The island also turns out to be the home of Mihawk, who upon returning to the castle informs Zoro of the events at Marineford. Mihawk then gives him a small boat to leave the island, though it is unfortunately destroyed by the humandrills. A while later, Mihawk goes to the ruins to watch Zoro's battle with the baboons. Mihawk comments on how Zoro is still far away from reaching the sea even though Zoro has been away from the castle for a long time. Mihawk adds that the boat is useless in its current state, but Zoro states that he will use a part of the boat to help him swim to his destination.

Mihawk explains to Zoro the vicious, imitative nature of these baboons and remarks that they will be difficult but good opponents for Zoro. He then offers Zoro a night at the castle, but Zoro refuses, saying he needs to get to the ocean. Mihawk responds by saying, "Do as you wish".

Zoro is then shown lying on his back making Perona hold a newspaper up for him to read. He explains that Luffy praying at Marineford and ringing the Ox Bell is out of character guessing that Rayleigh must be behind it. He asks her to hold still, maintaining that there is some kind of message hidden in the newspaper.



Zoro is next shown prostrating before Mihawk, requesting training from the Shichibukai. Mihawk initially dismisses this request as Zoro reacting to an inability to defeat the humandrills and escape the island. He chides Zoro and expresses regret for "over-estimating" the swordsman. When Zoro explains that he has defeated the humandrills and requires training from Mihawk to defeat him. The Shichibukai reconsiders, laughing at the absurdity of the request. Mihawk comments that in order to make the request Zoro must have found something more valuable than his ambition. He agrees to the request and orders Perona to patch up Zoro so that the training can begin.

The reason for Zoro's request is then revealed in Luffy's hidden message. Zoro is shown describing this message to Perona having translated it from the tattoo visible on Luffy's arm. The message orders all members of the Straw Hat crew to regroup at Sabaody Archipelago in two years rather than the three days that were initially discussed. Zoro decided he would use the extra time to train under the world's greatest swordsman.

The story continues two years later.