Shusui

Shusui is one of the 21 O Wazamono grade swords that was once wielded by the legendary samurai Ryuma. After his death, the katana was buried with Ryuma, until his grave was robbed by Moriah's crew.

Ryuma appeared as a Zombie on Thriller Bark, who had been given the shadow of Brook. After his defeat, Ryuma bequeathed the sword to Roronoa Zoro, and said he was satisfied with Zoro as the sword's master. The sword then replaced Zoro's Yubashiri which was destroyed at Enies Lobby.

Appearance
Shusui's blade is black with a distinct red edge and its hand-guard has flower-like edges, hence it is a "Black Sword" (黒刀). After the Thriller Bark arc, Zoro wrapped a rope in the upper part of the sheath, although this particular wasn't shown in the anime until after the timeskip.

Abilities
Shusui is designed to tremendously increase the damage potential and destructive power of the user. At one point, Zoro commented that Shusui's greatest attribute is its hardness, saying that even if a dinosaur were to step on it, the blade would not bend a millimeter. He clearly demonstrated it by blocking Oars' arm with the blade held horizontally. Furthermore, the sheer power of the blade alone was enough to redirect one of Oars' punches.

While it is capable of dealing heavy blows and is extremely hard, Shusui has a few major problems of its own. Just as Sandai Kitetsu turned out to be a "problem child", Zoro describes Shusui as having a "temper" that makes it harder to wield. Zoro also said Shusui is quite a bit heavier than Yubashiri, which was extremely light, so it could be anywhere from normal weight to a good deal heavier than normal swords.

While in the hands of Ryuma, this sword was used by him in both life and death. As a zombie who was imbued with Brook's shadow, Ryuma had acquired the Fencing Style. Coupled with his already powerful skills, the modifications made to the zombie body, and the powerful attributes of Shusui, the Fencing Style had been revamped to the point of being completely different from Brook's original version.

When transferred into the hands of Roronoa Zoro, he used this sword to replace Yubashiri, which had been rusted by the Marine Captain Shu, as part of his Santoryu. When first fighting against Oars, Zoro discovered that Shusui's weight was the reason it was considered quite powerful. This was demonstrated by the fact that it created a larger vacuum when the Hyaku Hachi Pound Ho was performed, and absorbed the vacuums from his two other swords, making its already great destructive power increase tremendously, as Zoro puts it. This weight contributes to the decreased control Zoro has over some of his attacks. As time passed, Zoro began to master Shusui's negative attributes. After two years have passed, it can be seen that Roronoa Zoro easily cut a ship in half with Shusui, hinting that Zoro has mastered this blade, although it could also be testament to Mihawk's skills as a teacher.

Trivia

 * In Chapter 599, Zoro's Shusui was shown with a different sheath strongly resembling that of Trafalgar Law's nodachi. Although Oda did not write anything about it, it could be taken as a mistake as Zoro is then seen holding Shusui with its traditional sheath with no comments about the change. This error is fixed in the anime episode that adapts this scene from the manga.

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Shūsui Shūsui Shusui