User blog comment:Kaido King of the Beasts/Chapter 916: One Round in the Ring to Rule Them All/@comment-104.255.205.211-20180904141353/@comment-24850639-20180905150040

That was bad wording. Very bad wording actually, I apologize. I meant Oda has dropped hints over the course of the series that the country of Wano is going to connect to a lot of aspects of Zoro's character. In no particular order:

- Wants to be the strongest swordsman in the world. No better place to make great strides towards this goal, than in a country famed for some of the strongest swordsmen and most powerful blades in the world. I believe he first hinted at how powerful the swordsmen of Wano are in Thriller Bark when Hogback brought up Ryuma, but if not, definitely most recently with even the frickin FLEET ADMIRAL being like "hold up, wait a minute Kizaru".

- Speaking of Ryuma, he's made it clear that the Ryuma from Monsters and One Piece are the same character. There's also Zoro's uncanny resemblance to Ryuma, and his desire for battle. If these are 2 instances are just complete and utter coincidences, I'll be damned. Now this one I'll give you credit for as pure speculation based on what we don't know still: Ryuma stated that Shusui had a "long-cherished desire" for Zoro to be it's master. The sword, that it is made clear Zoro will be in trouble for having if he ever goes to Wano, WANTS HIM to be it's master. Of course we don't know why, but I'm willing to put all my chips on Oda implying that Zoro and Ryuma have a deeper connection than we might think. Which of course, ties him to the country of Wano and Ryuma's legend by default.

- Speaking of Wano, Kin'emon's sudden flash of anger when he realized Zoro had Shusui was about as on the nose I feel Oda could have been in terms of foreshadowing Zoro's possession of Shusui as a huge plot point in the country of Wano. He clearly re-emphasizes this in the opening chapter of Wano, when he becomes a nationally-wanted criminal. Shusui got him in that situation in the first place, it is a highly covted sword.

- Speaking of Ryuma again, when Zoro first meets him.....he states that he's always wanted to meet him.......not sure how much more on the nose Oda could have been there either. Zoro was clearly aware of Ryuma's legend way before their encounter, and the reason why is something we've never been told. If Oda can hold on to something as subtle as Sanji's "Yeah I'm from the North Blue, didn't I tell you guys?" from wayyyyy back in Jaya, then I feel justified in assuming that he's eventually going to reveal why he knows of Ryuma's legend. Especially for a character like Zoro, who isn't typically vocal about his past experiences until they have relevance to the story. I point to the example of how he subtly states "I may have heard those names before" when initially speaking with Vivi and her Baroque Works counterpart, and then we later find out that Zoro had a run in with those guys in the past. What better place than Wano for Zoro to reveal why he knows of Ryuma?

- Even before he put it right on the nose with Vivi calling him Mr. Bushido, Oda hasn't exactly been subtle with Zoro's code of honor being EXACTLY like that of a samurai's. That's ALWAYS been the vibe that Zoro's carried himself with, and you know it without me having to cite examples. Yet another reason why the fandom immediately made the connection to the Wano Arc being big for Zoro's development.

Feel free to classify it as "speculation" all you like, I'm just going off of the context clues Oda's put right in our face, and his established method of storytelling, which has yet to steer anyone wrong. Rarely if ever, does he make things this in-your-face, just to go a completely different direction. Usopp stated his strong desire to go to Elbaf after meeting Dory & Brogy, and if people can take that and run with it, feeling comfortable that were will be an Elbaf arc and it will be big for Usopp because of it, I'm more than justified in my assumptions with the reasons I've stated, and plenty more I didn't bother with. And that's just the explicitly stated stuff for Usopp. There's the fact that his lies have slowly been coming true, which included meeting giants. There's the fact that he's named after Aesop, most famously known for Aesop's Fables, which of course included The Boy Who Cried Wolf - essentially his like, entire backstory. FABLE = ELBAF. I DARE you to call that a coincidence.