Roronoa Zoro/History/During and After the Timeskip

During the Timeskip
During his training, Zoro also learned from Mihawk how to imbue his swords with Busoshoku Haki. To Zoro's chagrin, Mihawk forbade him from having any alcohol until he had mastered doing so.

Straw Hat Reunion


After two years of training, Zoro (with Perona's help) returned to Sabaody Archipelago. Shakky told him that he was the first to return. He went to a fisherman, saying that he was bored and wanted to fish, and accidentally went on a coated pirate ship instead of the fisherman's boat (despite the major difference such as the fisherman's boat being a dingy and the pirates being a galleon). Later he fell asleep and the fisherman was unable to wake him up as the coated ship submerged. He was found by Sanji when the ship resurfaced with him sitting on one of the broken masts after he cut the whole ship in half with his blade (similar to Mihawk) upon waking up. Zoro then tells the unfortunate pirates to blame fate for him being on their ship. He then casually states that he had boarded the wrong ship.

Zoro then gets reacquainted with Sanji. Zoro says that he wants to go to the beach and go fishing. Sanji angrily states that it would be a pain for the crew to search for him if he ends up getting lost and forces him to return to the Thousand Sunny. Zoro then ranks Sanji by the order in which he arrived (#7), much to Sanji's frustration. The two then start their usual bickering with Zoro threatening to cut Sanji in half.



After getting a call by Franky, Sanji informs Zoro of the Straw Hats' meeting place, which is in Grove 42. They also hear a commotion coming from a nearby grove. When they go see what it is, they find Luffy there along with the Marines, the Pacifistas, and the crew of the Fake Straw Hat Crew. After quickly defeating a Pacifista, and briefly arguing about whose blow actually finished it off, Zoro and Sanji then get reacquainted with Luffy as Zoro ranks Luffy the ninth. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji then make their way back to the ship. On the way, they come across Rayleigh. When Luffy tells Rayleigh that he is going to become the pirate king, Zoro just smiles along with Sanji.

As Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji head back to the Thousand Sunny, they find Marines blocking their path. Perona aids them by fending off the Marines with her Negative Hallow. When Zoro asks Perona why she is still there, Perona gets angry at him, scolding him for talking that way to someone who was nice enough to bring him to Sabaody. Zoro, Luffy and Sanji then return to the ship with the aid of Chopper and a giant bird. With the Marines held back by their new allies, the crew submerges on their coated ship and heads for Fish-Man Island.

Undersea Voyage
As the crew marvels at the surrounding ocean, Zoro simply states that he has already seen it as he already boarded a coated pirate ship by mistake. Sanji then scolds Zoro for ruining the moment. He then prepares to catch a fish using his sword, but is comically beaten down by Usopp and Chopper. When Luffy again attempts to catch some fish, he proposes they have a competition, only to be beaten down by his crew again. The crew then starts listening what Franky has to tell them about Kuma, while they eat the bentos Luffy brought. Zoro starts to wonder what are Kuma's real intentions as he still has his doubts.

With their seacow, the Caribou Pirates soon caught up with the Straw Hats and prepare for battle. Caribou jumps onto the Thousand Sunny. Before his crew can follow, his seacow, which turns out to be Momoo, fled in fear after seeing Nami, Sanji, and Luffy, leaving Caribou behind. Zoro then questions Caribou if he is the captain of that crew and Caribou gets down on his knees, bows his head, and frantically claims that he is an unfortunate victim and not a pirate. With that settled, the Straw Hats then sail through the underwater currents. When they reach the "underwater waterfall", they encounters the Kraken. When Zoro witnesses the Kraken destroying Caribou's ship, he comments that Caribou's crew looks like jellyfishes much to Caribou's dismay. Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji then equip themselves with Flutter Kick Coating and fight the Kraken out in the sea. During the battle, Zoro cut one of the Kraken's tentacles much to Luffy's disapproval. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji soon defeats the Kraken, but because they are not wearing life-lines, they got separated from the ship as it goes down the "underwater waterfall".



Luffy successfully tamed the Kraken and named him Surume. Unfortunately, Luffy and Sanji's coating had popped, so Zoro had to share his own with them. After some searching, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji eventually found the Thousand Sunny and the rest of the Straw Hats just in time for Surume to save them from an Umibouzo. After reuniting with the ship, Zoro was then startled when the undersea volcano started to erupt. Surume quickly carried the ship away from the eruption and jumped down a trench.

The Straw Hats were in danger because of the blast from the volcano, rocks were falling down on them. Zoro wanted to leave the ship and the bubble in order to cut them, but Robin stops him with her power and warns him about the water pressure. The Straw Hats are able to escape thanks to Surume and Usopp's Pop Greens, with Zoro seen smiling at Usopp's progress in strength. After going down through the trench, the crew sees Fish-Man Island. They soon encounter a gang of sea monsters led by Hammond, who gives the Straw Hats two options: join the new Fish-Man Pirates or die. The Straw Hats prepare to run using Coup de Burst as Luffy gives Hammond a rejection.

Trouble in the Underwater Paradise
Hammond does not take kindly to Luffy's rejection and prepares to attack the Thousand Sunny. Franky activates Coup de Burst and the ship flies through the bubble surrounding Fish-Man Island. The ship then falls into a current and the crew gets separated. Some time later, Zoro was found by King Neptune and brought to the Ryugu Palace and began drinking even after King Neptune suggested waiting for the rest of his crew to get there.



After receiving word of the mysterious disappearance of some mermaids from the Mermaid Cove and of Madam Shyarly's ominous prediction, the palace guards and personnel took action against the Straw Hats. They locked up Zoro and attempt to capture Usopp, Nami, and Brook (who were invited to the palace earlier) who easily defeated most of the guards. Zoro then frees himself from his cell and reaches the palace hall just in time to intercept an attack by King Neptune. After subduing and tying up the king, the ministers, and the rest of the royal guards, the crew mates have an argument with Zoro, scolded him for overdoing things, but he insists that they had to fight in order to defend themselves. Zoro then tells everyone that they need to leave Fish-Man Island.

The three princes of the Neptune House return to the palace only to find it under the control of the Straw Hats. Since the princes are unable to enter, Fukaboshi speaks with Zoro through Den Den Mushi. Zoro demands that in exchange for the freedom of the palace, the Straw Hats would be able to leave Fish-Man Island peacefully. Fukaboshi agrees with Zoro's terms and tells him Jinbe's message. After hearing noises coming from Shirahoshi's room, Neptune begs Zoro and the other Straw Hats to check up on the princess to ensure her safety. When Zoro asks why they should take orders from hostages, Neptune angrily responds by saying if Shirahoshi is harmed while he is incapacitated, he will chase the crew to the ends of the ocean.

Brook instantly dashes off to her location while carrying the Minister of the Right. When they return, the minister informs Neptune of Shirahoshi's disappearance and Brook yells that pirates (pawns of Hody Jones) are invading the palace. Usopp panics asking what to do. Zoro gives a simple answer, "cut them".

Zoro proceeds to defeat the human pirates. The Minister of the Left states that Zoro was enjoying it much to Zoro's annoyance. However, one of the unconscious pirate's arm was laying on top of the Connection Corridor switch, pushing it down and opening the corridor that leads to the palace. Zoro, Usopp, Nami, and Brook then encounter the New Fish-Man Pirates and Vander Decken IX. Once Decken learns that Shirahoshi is no longer in the palace, he quickly goes after her, leaving Jones to take care of things in the palace.

Jones then crushes a palace wall, flooding the palace in the process. Jones launches his Archer Shark attack, injuring King Neptune and some of his soldiers. Zoro launches a counterattack by sending a sword wave at the fish-man. Jones blocks the attack by using one of his own comrades as a shield. Nami goes off to an unknown location, Usopp and Brook untie the guards, and Zoro cuts Neptune's chains. Zoro regrettably states that the negotiation with the kingdom is void since they are unable to keep the hostages unharmed. Before the room is completely submerged, Zoro tells Neptune to take his crew mates to safety. When completely underwater, Zoro prepares to face off against Hody Jones.



Even though Zoro is at a disadvantage being underwater and without a Flutter Kick Coating, the swordsman manages to deal a striking blow to Hody Jones. While Jones is knocked out, Zoro quickly surfaces and breathes for air. He then grabs onto Neptune as he prepares to make an escape route. Neptune creates a vortex and clears a path that allows the ministers and the Ryugu Palace guards to escape. However, Neptune's back gave in, putting him, Zoro, Usopp, and Brook in a dangerous situation. Neptune's whale, Hoe, arrives to save them, but before they can leave the palace, Jones, energized by Energy Steroids, stops Neptune with one hand. Zoro, Usopp, Brook, and Neptune are then captured by the New Fish-Man Pirates. They then lock up Zoro, Usopp, and Brook in a cage in a room with rising water, and plan to drown them after executing Neptune.

Brook then shows a new ability in which he can leave his body in spirit form. Zoro instructs Brook to tell Pappag to bring him his sword so they can escape. They eventually do escape and appear in the Gyoncorde Plaza with the rest of the crew, preparing to fight against the New Fish-Man Pirates.

Battle for Fish-Man Island


Zoro along with Sanji were getting ready to face off against the enemy. However, Luffy used his Haoshoku Haki and took down half of them. Zoro was quite impressed and he commented that if the captain could not do that much, they would have to search for another one. As the battle with the New Fish-Man Pirates initiate, Zoro defeats the Iron Shell Squad with a sword twister. Later, Dosun tries to attack Luffy as he approaches Hody. Zoro intercepts Dosun and knocks him down.

Later, when Hyouzou goes on a rampage and tries to attack Robin, Zoro intercepts the octopus merman before he reaches her. Zoro comments that Hyouzou will be a good warm-up for the New World. Regardless of Hyouzou's strength, Zoro manages to cut his swords. Zoro then comments that Hyouzou's power is not even enough to kill his boredom. Despite being disarmed, a still-drunken Hyouzou merely smiled and complained.

Later, Zoro seemingly lowers his guard and insults his opponent by calling him a frog. An angered Hyouzou then draws new swords, coats them with poison, and attempts a sneak attack. Zoro effortlessly cuts him down and comments that he's just a frog from the bottom of a well. After all the leaders of the New Fish-Man Pirates have been defeated, the Straw Hats look up into the sky as Luffy tries to destroy Noah. When the Sea Kings appear and stop Noah from falling, saving the ship and the island at the same time, everyone on Fish-Man Island celebrates.

The After Battle Celebration and Departure
After the battle he is seen with the rest of the crew and their friends by Thousand Sunny, commenting on Chopper's inability to move. He then watches as Chopper performs a blood transfusion between Luffy and Jinbe. Afterward, while floating in the air on the ship, Zoro is appalled at himself for fighting in public the way he did, saying heroes have to share their drinks, and he wants to keep it all for himself. He then goes with the rest of his friends to Ryugu Palace for the celebratory banquet, where he yells at the guards not to call them heroes. He is then seen happily accepting a drink from a mermaid server and later laughing with Franky and Hatchan. Zoro is later seen sleeping next to Nami, Usopp, and Sanji, who drank, ate, and lusted too much, respectively. Luffy wakes him up by asking if he sensed some kind of animal in the palace. The three of them then confront Caribou and Zoro watches with Sanji as Luffy sends him packing. When the Minister of the Right notices that one of the prison towers was cut in half, he suspects Caribou was the culprit but Pappug tries to tell him it was Zoro. Zoro tells Pappug to let him blame it on the thief. He and Luffy then make the connection that Caribou was also the one who stole the palace's treasure and are surprised when Nami gets mad at them for sending him flying. She then sends Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji to look for him.

They found Caribou, who was knocked out already. The three then collect the treasure and make their way back to the palace. Luffy asks Zoro which direction to go. Zoro points to one direction and Sanji immediately suggests they go the other way to which Zoro takes offense. They soon arrive at the Candy Factory and meet Big Mom's messengers: Pekoms and Baron Tamago. Zoro questions the Emperor's manhood and Tamago points out that Big Mom is not a "man". Zoro is seen smiling when Luffy answers the phone call from Charlotte Linlin. He is present when Luffy declares war on her.

After returning to the palace and informing the crew about the situation with Big Mom, Nami beats Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji for giving the treasure to the Emperor. Afterwards, Zoro and the crew say their farewells to the citizens of Fish-Man Island and set sail to the New World. While heading to the New World, the crew decides to catch some sea fishes to eat. Zoro stated that they should have a party to celebrate entering the New World. later, Zoro uses his involved 360 Pound Cannon to kill the giant sea monster. As the crew gets caught in the White Strom, a group of whales (all of which look like Laboon) stop them from getting lost. After Brook plays Bink's Sake, the whales bring the ship up to the surface of the New World and Zoro comments that it looks like entrance to Hell.

Adventure of Nebulandia
The Straw Hats were lured onto Kinoko Island by the Foxy Pirates, who posed as a marooned crew. Luffy agreed to a Davy Back Fight rematch, and Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji took part in the first round, where they had to eat as many mushrooms as possible. However, the mushrooms caused the three of them to become lethargic, and they were captured along with Porche and Hamburg as the Foxy Pirate Komei revealed that this was part of his plan to take down the Straw Hats. Komei then captured Zoro, Sanji, Porche, and Hamburg and took them to Nebulandia, where he imprisoned them.

Zoro and Sanji were later taken outside and chained to a rock formation along with the other captured Straw Hats in order to lure Luffy to Komei. However, Chopper and Brook came with an antidote and reinforcements, and Zoro and Sanji were freed and restored to their old selves. They then helped beat back the Marines, and the Straw Hats and Foxy Pirates returned to Kinoko Island afterwards, where they parted ways. The Straw Hat then held a banquet to celebrate their victory.

Arriving at Punk Hazard


Soon after entering the New World, the crew spots an island surrounded by a sea of flames. The Straw Hats then receive a distress call from someone who seems to be in trouble and mentions a samurai attacking and killing them, before the broadcast cuts out. Zoro asks Brook about the samurai, who answers that samurai are the swordsmen of Wano Country, who have a closed-door policy to outsiders and are not affiliated with the World Government.

Later, the crew draw straws on who to be the landing party. Zoro, Usopp, and Robin all draw the red straws and then accompany Luffy to Punk Hazard. Nami makes a safe road over the sea of flames for them out of clouds, as Zoro and the rest snack on the box lunches Sanji made them. Acting on a threat from an earlier argument, Sanji had slipped razors & poison into his meal but Zoro merely crunched away, as they had no effect on him. Zoro bugs Usopp about returning to his cowardly ways and not eating, himself unaffected by the danger present. As they set foot on land, they come to an iron gate walled up. Zoro slashes the gate down, letting them open. As they explore the island, they are affected by the heat as Zoro and the others strip down from the heat of the flames. They come to a city, finding it blazing-hot with most of the buildings melted. Looking at the structures, Robin deduces the buildings to be a former government base. As they begin to explore, they stumble upon a massive skull bigger than a giant's that had perished during this catastrophe.



Feeling a presence nearby, they are surprised to encounter a dragon, a monster that Zoro had previously believed to be a myth. The group engages the dragon in battle. Eventually, with a combined effort from Usopp and Luffy, Zoro manages to cleave off the dragon's head. The group then discovers a pair of talking dismembered legs stuck to the dragon's head, which take off in pursuit of a Shichibukai.

After the group cuts up and eats the dragon meat and takes the rest with them, they continue their expedition. As Luffy plays with the legs, pretending to be a centaur, Zoro draws the group's attention to a remarkable sight: a lake separating the flaming half of the island from a frozen, mountainous region on the other half. Usopp then sights a humanoid figure with wings.



Luffy's group then receives a call from Brook, who informs them that the Sunny has been taken to the frozen side of the island and that the other Straw Hats went missing. After Luffy and Robin defeat two centaurs, the group then decide to go to the frozen side of the island. To cross the lake, Usopp forms a boat from Pop Greens. While the group rides on the boat, the centaur that Luffy had just fought jumps after them and informs his boss that the pirates are heading his way. The four Straw Hats then see a group of centaurs waiting for them on the other side. The boss spots Zoro and thinks that he was the samurai who attacked their comrades. The centaurs then fire their bazookas at the water around the boat, capsizing it and leaving Usopp and Zoro to hold up Luffy and Robin. Zoro moves to attack the centaurs, but is instead dragged underwater by sharks. The centaurs prepare to attack the Straw Hats again, but they are stopped by Brook, giving Luffy, Zoro, Robin, and Usopp enough time to escape the lake. After emerging from the freezing water, they plan on stealing coats from the centaurs. After defeating them and stealing their coats, the group uses Brownbeard as transportation to Vegapunk's former research facility. They soon arrive at the scene where Law and Smoker just fought.

After Luffy talks to Law, the group quickly gets away from the Marines and meets up with Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Franky, and some of the children that were held prisoner in the research facility. They then take shelter in the back side of the facility. The Straw Hats then tie up Brownbeard and bring each other up to speed on the current situation. After interrogating Brownbeard, they learn about a man known as Caesar Clown. Kin'emon later leaves the group to find his torso and Sanji (in Nami's body) and Brook volunteer to go search for him while having perverted thoughts. Nami makes Zoro go with them to ensure that they will not do anything indecent.

A Weapon of Mass Destruction


Zoro's group later sees the Yeti Cool Brothers' massive footprints and decides to follow them. When they reach the edge of a cliff, they encounter the yetis. The brothers fire KYP bullets at the group, knocking them out and sending them falling of the cliff towards an icicle trap. Fortunately, Zoro destroys the trap before falling unconscious. After Sanji kicked Zoro and Brook to wake them up, they then walked and stumbled on a frozen Kin'emon by accident. After learning that Kin'emon's torso has fallen into the lake, they go to the lake to retrieve it. They then run into Brownbeards' men, but the centaurs choose to run instead of fighting. When they are close to the lake, Zoro then noticed a mountain he did not remember from the previous time he was there. Zoro, Sanji, and Brook then stare at the slime and comment that it is doing something mysterious.

As Smiley continued to shoot itself over the lake, Brook tells the group that he once read a book about the slime, and that it melts away women's clothes. Zoro notices that the fish are surfacing on the lake, realizing that they have been poisoned by the slime's toxins. As Sanji jumps into the lake to find Kin'emon's torso, Zoro and Brook try to fend off the Smilies close to their position.



Zoro watches Brook try to attack the slimes which releases poisonous gas with each hit. Zoro tells Brook that cutting is no use and should eat it instead. Once Sanji resurfaces, he yells at Zoro and Brook for not doing something about the slime, to which he simply states that attacking it did not work out. Zoro then watches as Kin'emon uses his Foxfire Style to cut the slimes as well as the fire caused by the subsequent explosion. Impressed by Kin'emon's performance, he then claims that the samurai's swordsmanship had sparked his interest.

Zoro is later seen fleeing from Smiley along with Sanji, Brook and Kin'emon. He then watches with the others as the slime begins to change its shape. Resuming its attack again, Zoro and the others begin to run again, deciding to head for the research facility to find Momonosuke. As they run from Smiley, they come across the giant piece of candy left by Caesar for Smiley, and a small dragon made by Vegapunk. They then see a screen appear with Caesar on it but choose to continue running.



After witnessing Smiley exploding, Zoro, Sanji, Kin'emon, and Brook run quickly away from the poisonous cloud. They see the small dragon flying away from the poison cloud, and Zoro proposes the idea for them to get on its back and fly away. Struggling to catch up to it, Sanji is able to rush ahead after being motivated by his perversion. He then catches the dragon, allowing the group to finally ride it. Eventually meeting up with Nami, Usopp, and Brownbeard, the two groups turn their attention to Caesar's lab where Zoro and Kin'emon are able to cut down the iron shutter, allowing them to enter.

As a result of cutting the iron shutter, the poisonous gas is then able to flow in. The G-5 Marines are able to plug the hole with boards and they blame Zoro and Kin'emon for putting everyone in danger. They prepare to arrest the Straw Hats and Brownbeard and Zoro is getting ready for a fight. Law interrupts them and then tells everyone present about a way off the island but will have two hours to escape. The groups then split into three teams with Zoro going with Kin'emon, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji while the G-5 Marines goes with Tashigi. Usopp tells Zoro of Luffy's earlier defeat at the hands of Caesar. Zoro then mentions about how his group were beaten by the Yeti Cool Brothers and comments on how they cannot let their guards down anymore. While Luffy goes after Caesar, Zoro yells at him, telling him not to be careless and reminds him that they are in the New World.



When the G-5 Marines attempt to capture the Straw Hats, they are repelled by Zoro, Kin'emon, and Brook's three way attack. Tashigi stops them from fighting any further and allows the Straw Hats to continue on their way. One of Caesar's henchmen fires a cannon at the wall of Building A, allowing the gas to enter. As the gate exiting Building A is closing, Zoro and the others then make a dash for it. They manage to escape to the passageway to Building B before the gate seals completely.

Brownbeard, Kin'emon, and Zoro's group go on ahead through Building B, leaving Tashigi and the Marines to mourn the ones who did not make it. After attacking Tashigi's group, the small dragon goes after the group riding on Brownbeard. Zoro, lying on Brownbeard's back, appears unfazed by the fire the dragon is breathing, and merely comments that it is more dangerous than the large dragon due to its agility.

After the dragon's defeat, the group then find Chopper (in Monster Point) trying to prevent the children from getting their candy. Regardless of his efforts, the children beat him down and run pass him when the Rumble Ball wears off. Zoro, Nami, Kin'emon, Robin, Usopp, and Brook quickly come to Chopper's aid and run after the children to the Biscuits Room. Once they reach there, they encounter Monet. Zoro asks who it is, and Usopp says that it is the bird woman he had seen before. As Monet stabs Robin from behind, Zoro shouts her name out and interferes from Monet attacking further stating she is a Logia user and that he will fight her and tells Robin to handle the rest of the kids as he clashes with Monet.

Monet tries to attack Nami, Robin, and Chopper when they attempt to go after the children, but Zoro quickly blocks her. Nami retaliates with a Heat Egg, damaging Monet. She then dives into the snow and stops Nami, Robin, and Chopper from leaving by creating a wall to block their path. After Robin shatters Monet, Zoro slices down the barrier, allowing Chopper, Nami, and Robin to escape the room and go after the berserk children. Monet and Zoro then continue their duel, and Monet comments that oddly enough, Zoro is not on the offensive at all and wonders whether she could defeat Zoro. Sanji, Tashigi, and the G-5 Marines later arrive at the Biscuits Room. Zoro and Sanji then comically yell at each other, despite the serious situation. Tashigi then decides to stay with Zoro and fight against Monet while Sanji and the Marines go find the children.



Tashigi and Zoro begin to argue over Zoro's dismissive treatment of Monet and his apparent reluctance to cut her, with Tashigi believing this to be another example of Zoro's sexism. Zoro gets mad at Tashigi and then he decides to sit out and let Tashigi handle Monet. After a while, Tashigi starts to lose against Monet. After Monet bites Tashigi in the shoulder, Zoro steps in and cuts Monet on the cheek with Busoshoku Haki. While Monet is shocked, Zoro shows how serious he is and slices her in half with Daishinkan. However, since he did not imbue Haki into his attack, Monet survives. Monet becomes filled with terror knowing that Zoro could have killed her if he chose to. Upon pulling herself together, she tries to attack Zoro in the back only to be struck down by Tashigi. Shortly afterwards, Tashigi berates Zoro for not dealing the finishing blow to Monet when he had the chance, and then she once again gets irritated with him when he tells her that he would have cut Monet if Tashigi did not. After Zoro congratulates her and lets her have the credit, Tashigi gets angry and asks why he talks to her as though he is above her. Zoro simply responds by saying that she is indeed below him, much to her annoyance.

After the battle, Tashigi and Zoro try to get away from the deadly gas. Zoro carries Tashigi over his back while she asks him to put her down as soon as they reach her subordinates. While being carried, she notices his rare sword Shusui, and get excited about it. Zoro tells her to stay still and quiet.

Zoro gets together with the rest of the Straw Hats, the G-5 Marines, the kidnapped children, Law, Momonosuke, Brownbeard, and Kin'emon who has been petrified by the deadly gas. As Zoro tries to help Brook solve Kin'emon's predicament, the group enters a rail cart in an attempt to escape the island. While riding through the escape passage, Zoro defends the cart by slicing the falling rubble. Once they made it outside, they find Franky in his General Franky and two of Doflamingo's subordinates, Buffalo and Baby 5.

Aftermath


After the defeat of Buffalo and Baby 5 and the capture of Caesar Clown, Zoro has a feast with everyone else. Later, while Tashigi and her men are taking the children away from Punk Hazard, the Straw Hats leave with Law, Kin'emon, and Momonosuke. While sailing to their next destination, Dressrosa, Luffy tells everyone that he and Law formed an alliance to defeat all four Four Emperors. Zoro seems eager for the challenge. With everyone gathered around, Law explains to the crew about Doflamingo's connection to the underworld and the plan to decimate Kaidou's forces.

Later that evening, Kin'emon notices that Zoro is holding Ryuma's sword and demands a duel with him, accusing him of defiling the grave of Wano's hero. Zoro denies doing such thing as he fends off Kin'emon's attack. Kin'emon eventually ceases his attack when he learns that his son is bathing together with Robin. On the next morning, everyone reads the news about Doflamingo's resignation from the Shichibukai. They see that the newspaper also explains about Luffy and Law's alliance as well as the alliance between Kid, Hawkins, and Apoo.

The Next Objective
After Law contacted Doflamingo to inform him that they will bring Caesar to Green Bit, Zoro had a meal with the rest of the crew while Kin'emon and Momonosuke told them the story about how they were shipwrecked and drifted to Dressrosa, how Momonosuke was separated from his father, and how Kanjuro was captured. The Thousand Sunny later approached Dressrosa.



After arriving at Dressrosa, the group split up into teams. Zoro went along with the team to destroy the SAD factory and save Kanjuro. The team saw everything Dressrosa is famous for and stop by at a restaurant to get something to eat after putting on disguises. At the restaurant, they found some thugs taking advantage of a blind man while taking away his money in a roulette. After Luffy called the thugs' bluff, they then witnessed the blind man used some gravity-like ability on the thugs.

After the man left without saying who he was, a commotion started with various people having their possessions mysteriously stolen. A bystander claimed that it was the work of fairies. Zoro got instantly worked up when he noticed that Shusui was missing. Zoro managed to spot the thief holding his sword and immediately gave chase alongside Sanji and Kin'emon. Kin'emon declared that when they capture the thief, he will duel Zoro for the sword.

Zoro eventually lost sight of the thief. When Sanji was distracted by a woman named Violet, Zoro ran off, leaving Sanji behind. Zoro later caught up with the thief and retrieved his sword. Right after that, Zoro saw the thief, a dwarf named Wicca. Zoro then grabbed her as she berated herself for getting caught. Since she sprained her leg, she begged Zoro to take her to the flower field so she can report to her commander. She informed Zoro that the Donquixote Family was on their way to attack the Thousand Sunny. Zoro was about to rush to the shore, but Wicca urged him to carry her to the flower fields first. As she guided him, she berated Zoro for his terrible sense of direction.

Zoro and Wicca later arrived at the Riku Royal Army Headquarters hidden beneath the flower field where Franky and the Thunder Soldier are also present. While Wicca tried to remind Zoro about the Thousand Sunny, he watched Luffy competing in a tournament at the Corrida Colosseum via a video broadcast and was grumpy that he did not get to participate along with Luffy. After learning that Usopp and Robin also have an encounter with the dwarves, Zoro suddenly remembered that he needed to get back to the Thousand Sunny.

Zoro was then seen running back to the Sunny with Wicca beside him. On the way, Wicca told him about Giolla as well as Doflamingo's three strongest subordinates. They then ran into Sanji and Kin'emon.

After learning that Nami's group back at the Thousand Sunny was in trouble, Sanji went to save them. Zoro and Kin'emon stayed behind at the Corrida Colosseum, wondering how to get in. Bartolomeo then spoke to them and offered to help them find Luffy while asking for Zoro's autograph. With Bartolomeo's guidance, Luffy came to them.

Zoro stated his frustration of not being invited to compete in the colosseum. He then informed Luffy that the colosseum was surrounded by Marines, who quickly dismissed the fact despite Kin'emon's shock. They then engage in a conference call with Sanji and Franky's group. After everyone is brought up to speed and learned the true situation on Dressrosa, they gained Luffy's approval to join the revolution. Zoro, Kin'emon, and Luffy then witness the dramatic conclusion of a battle between Doflamingo and Law which raged across Dressrosa and stopped right outside the colosseum. They are shocked to see Doflamingo standing above his opponent and then shoot Law three times at close range.

The Decisive Conflict Against the Donquixote Family


Zoro and Kin'emon then rushed Doflamingo to save Law. Zoro was intercepted by Issho, the blind gambler they had helped earlier. As Kin'emon informed everyone of what was happening, Issho used his ability to push Zoro underground, but the swordsman was able to propel himself and send a flying slash towards the Admiral, which he repelled commenting on it being merciless. After Kin'emon was kicked away by Doflamingo, the samurai informed everyone that the blind gambler is actually a Marine Admiral.

Both Doflamingo and Issho float above their opponents using their abilities, taking Law with them and head towards the palace. After the Marines started pursuing Zoro and Kin'emon, Zoro told Luffy to find the exit. They then heard that the Sunny was under attack by the Big Mom Pirates, who are after Caesar Clown. While Sanji's group continued on to Zo and Franky's group was left in charge of destroying the SMILE Factory, Luffy decided to go to the palace with Zoro and Kin'emon to rescue Law and fight Doflamingo.

After Luffy finally escaped the colosseum, the trio wore disguises to elude the Marines, provided by Kin'emon's ability. Zoro was annoyed that Luffy had been crying nonstop. Luffy then revealed to Zoro and Kin'emon that someone dear to him is still alive.

Zoro, Luffy, and Kin'emon later arrived at the lift that leads to the royal palace alongside the dwarf, Wicca. There, they encountered Viola, who offered to guide them to the palace. After getting acquainted with her and learning about her ties with the Riku Family, Zoro's group was then led to a secret passage. Once inside the passage, Zoro suggested that they use a basket used for lifting supplies and that Luffy should climb up carrying a rock and hang from the chain to act as a counterweight for the basket to move up. He and Kin'emon then sit in the basket before Luffy reached the top.

They were later seen at the palace rampart tower. Viola was about to sneak them in, but Luffy went ahead and smashed his way through the gate. Having alerted the guards, they decided to charge in. Once Zoro, Luffy, and Viola reached the Rampart Tower B-1, they were intercepted by Pica.



After Viola explained about Pica's Devil Fruit power, Pica attempted to crush Zoro's group with the palace walls. Luffy and Viola went ahead while Zoro stayed to battle Pica. While fighting the executive officer, Zoro wondered how he should attack him.

During the time the toys transformed back into their original forms, Pica left the battle and Zoro wondered where he went. He later went outside of the outer wall tower and noticed the commotion happening in the country and continued wondering where Pica was.

The Birdcage
After Doflamingo trapped Dressrosa in his "Birdcage" and Pica relocated the royal palace to the top of the Flower Hill, Doflamingo forced everyone into a survival game and put a price on the heads of a certain group of people. Zoro was included in Doflamingo's hit list, with his two stars giving him a 200 million bounty. Zoro reunited with Luffy's group and contacted Robin through Den Den Mushi. After Luffy declared that he will defeat Doflamingo and end his game, he grabbed Zoro and Law and pursued Doflamingo.

Luffy jumped down from the King's Plateau and they landed in the middle of a crowd of enemies. After a brief scuffle with Senor Pink, Machvise, and Dellinger, the Dressrosa citizens started attacking Zoro and his group. Issho soon arrived to confront them as well. While Zoro clashed swords with Issho again, Pica joined the fray while appearing as a massive stone giant.

When Luffy made Pica angry by laughing at his high-pitch voice, the elite officer threw a colossal punch. Luffy and Zoro ran from it, with Zoro chastising Luffy for laughing at his voice, but simultaneously failing to suppress his own laughter, much to Law's annoyance. The impact of the punch sends Luffy, Zoro, and Law flying to the square in front of the colosseum. They are soon joined by those who also wished to fight Doflamingo: Cavendish, the Chinjao Family, Hajrudin, Elizabello II, Dagama, Abdullah, Jeet, Orlumbus, Ideo, Suleiman, and Blue Gilly. Zoro commented that Luffy made strange friends and also commented on their big ego when each of them said that they will defeat Doflamingo themselves. After Fighting Bull joined the group, Zoro and his allies then marched towards the royal palace and began to fight against Pica.



When Pica attacked, Chinjao and Elizabello II shattered his stone arm, enabling Zoro and his allies to move forward. Pica prepared to attack with his other arm and Zoro informed Chinjao and Elizabello II that attacking Pica's stone body is useless. Pica attacked with his other arm, causing Luffy's allies to fall back. As this happened Zoro, Luffy, Law, Abdullah, Jeet, and Fighting Bull managed to jump on his arm and started climbing on it. Pica soon noticed them after regenerating his shattered arm, he prepared to attack Luffy again. Luffy then responded by shattering pica's stone head with Grizzly Magnum. After Luffy shattered Pica's stone head, Zoro discovered Pica's real body, which appeared in front of the group. Pica took out his sword and tried to attack the Fighting Bull carrying Luffy's group but Luffy carried the bull and evaded the sword. Pica tried to strike again, but Zoro intercepted him and initiated another battle with the executive.

As the battle went on, Zoro was able to fight Pica without much difficulty. Zoro and Pica later noticed Robin, Rebecca, and Bartolomeo approaching from the sky with the assistance of beetles. Pica prepared to attack the trio with the stone statue, but Zoro used 1080 Pound Cannon to strike him, halting Pica's attack and injuring him in the process. Zoro then explained to Pica that he is the man who will become the greatest swordsman in the world.

Enraged that Zoro's interference allowed Rebecca's group to pass him, Pica charged at Zoro again, declaring that he would not be allowed to leave alive.

Pica eventually send Zoro crashing into the second level of the New King's Plateau though Zoro did not sustain any serious injuries. Some of Doflamingo's grunts were about to attack Zoro, but Orlumbus arrived and repelled them. After thanking Orlumbus, Zoro ran through the second level and was quickly confronted by Pica again. The swordsman then angered Pica by making fun of his laugh. Machvise then noticed Zoro and prepared to crush him with his Destructive 1000 Ton Vise attack. Before Machvise landed, Hajrudin delivered a powerful punch to the officer and send him flying to the ceiling of the Birdcage. When the giant collapsed from his injuries, Zoro promised him that the Birdcage will be gone by the time he wakes up.

Elizabello II later offered some assistance. Zoro appreciated the offer but told him to save his King Punch for later.

Zoro then witnessed Lao G's defeat and took note of Sai's destructive power.

After Pica went to the Sunflower Field to speak to Kyros and Rebecca following Diamante's defeat, he returned to the second level to fight Zoro and attack the wounded. Zoro reminded him that he was his opponent and while fighting with him, Pica asked who it was standing on the Old King's Plateau. Zoro told him it was the rightful king of Dressrosa, enraging Pica. Pica inhabited the statue and made his way towards the Old King's Plateau. Zoro quickly went over the options he had to stop Pica and eventually made the decision to leap into the sky and cut him in half.



Zoro prevented Elizabello from using his King Punch just yet and asked him to wait for two minutes while he dealt with Pica. Running up to Orlumbus, Zoro had him use his Admiral's Killer Bowling to propel him toward Pica, who was preparing to crush Riku Doldo III. Imbuing his swords with Busoshoku Haki and preparing Three Sword Style Ogi: Daisen Sekai, Zoro proclaimed that there was nothing in this world that he could not cut before bifurcating Pica's stone form with Ichidai: Sanzen. He proceeded to cut the top half of the stone in half to determine where Pica was, only for Pica to emerge on his own and armor his entire body with Busoshoku Haki before claiming that Zoro has not won just because he has destroyed the stone body. However, Zoro notes that the end result of this battle depends on whose Haki is stronger before cutting down Pica in midair with Sanzen Sekai. After Elizabello used his King Punch to blast away the rest of Pica's stone body, Zoro noted that he was just in time.

Hanging on to a wall, Zoro examined his sword for any nicks and was satisfied to find no marks on his sword. He was then pulled up by Usopp, at which point the latter and Kin'emon praised him for his display of strength. Zoro told them to save their praise for when the Birdcage was taken down, as it was proof that Doflamingo still had not been defeated.

As Doldo, Tank, and the citizens were leaving the Old King's Plateau, Zoro heard about Law's defeat from Viola.

Zoro is then seen watching nervously as the Birdcage starts to shrink. As he left the Old King's Plateau, Zoro informed Kin'emon and Kanjuro about his intention to stop the Birdcage.

While running past Franky, Zoro informed him of his plan to buy time. Once he and the samurais reached the Birdcage, Zoro hardened his swords with Haki and attempted to push the Birdcage back despite the samurais' objection. Zoro then angrily asked them to help him instead of doing nothing.



Zoro continued pushing back the Birdcage with his swords as many others joined in. Once Gatz announced Luffy's promise to defeat Doflamingo with one punch continued pressing, Zoro hoped that Luffy could fulfill his promise, knowing that they could not keep the Birdcage back forever. When Luffy regained his strength after being worn out for ten minutes, Zoro smiled.

Once Luffy finally defeated Doflamingo, Zoro and the samurais witnessed the collapse of the Birdcage. Zoro continued smiling as everyone on Dressrosa celebrated Doflamingo's downfall.

After Doflamingo's Defeat


Zoro and his group were later seen resting and recovering in Kyros' old house. Zoro then listened to Sabo's story. Before Sabo departed, he gave Zoro a vivre card for Luffy.

Three days after Doflamingo's defeat, Zoro and the other Straw Hats continued with their recovery. They were eating a meal as they heard the rumor about Rebecca's father. Bartolomeo then entered the house and informed them that the Marines were mobilized to pursue the Straw Hats. He also explained that there is an escape route planned for them. When the Marines were about to storm Kyros' house, Zoro and the others fled.

Zoro's group then went to the eastern port. While waiting for Luffy, they saw Issho approaching. When Issho prepared to strike all of Luffy's allies with all the rubble from Dressrosa, they quickly fled to the escape ship. At that moment, Luffy arrived and attacked Issho.

As Zoro watched the battle between Luffy and Issho, Zoro wondered why Luffy was announcing each of his attacks. After Luffy was blown away and caught by Hajrudin, Zoro prepared to fight the admiral, but Bartolomeo stopped him, saying that it was not the right time or place. The Straw Hats and their allies quickly fled across a bridge leading to a gigantic ship in the distance. Issho prepared to drop the rubble on them but was obstructed by the Dressrosa citizens who were pretending to chase after the pirates.

The Straw Hats and their allies eventually reached Orlumbus' flagship, the Yonta Maria. After boarding the ship, the following pledged their allegiance to the Straw Hats: Cavendish of the Beautiful Pirates (including Suleiman), Bartolomeo of the Barto Club, Sai of the Happo Navy, Ideo of the XXX Gym Martial Arts Alliance (including Blue Gilly, Abdullah, and Jeet), Leo of the Tontatta Tribe, Hajrudin of the Giant Warrior Pirates, and Orlumbus of the Yonta Maria Grand Fleet.



When Luffy was asked to drink a sake cup to complete the agreement for an alliance, Luffy declined, much to the others' shock. While Luffy was explaining that they can do whatever they want, Zoro drank from Luffy's cup. Thanks to him, Luffy found his cup empty when Sai, Bartolomeo, Leo, Cavendish, Ideo, Orlumbus, and Hajrudin sat down and drank their sake cups. Once the Straw Hat fleet was formed, they held a feast to celebrate their victory over Doflamingo.

After the feast, each of the leading allies received Luffy's vivre card and parted ways. Bartolomeo then brought the Straw Hats, the samurais, and Law to his ship, the Going Luffy-senpai. After Zoro noticed the Straw Hats' increase in bounty from a newspaper, Bartolomeo proudly showed Luffy's group their new wanted posters. Upon seeing his, Zoro gleefully asked if there was any alcohol around so that he could celebrate.

Silver Mine Arc
As the Straw Hats and Barto Club slept for the night, Luffy and Bartolomeo were suddenly kidnapped by the Silver Pirate Alliance. The two crews woke up to confront the kidnappers, but Peseta and his men fired Adhesive Shells at the Going Luffy-senpai. Zoro sliced them up, but became covered in a sticky substance which rendered him and everyone else immobile.



The next day, the Straw Hats and Barto Club reached Silver Mine, where Luffy and Bartolomeo were being held. As Peseta was forcing Luffy, Bartolomeo, and their allies to surrender by taking hostages, Zoro freed the hostages and confronted Peseta. Peseta mocked Zoro about his predicament the previous night and fired more Adhesive Shells at him. However, Zoro sliced them up without getting any adhesive on him and sent Peseta and his men flying far away with a whirlwind created with Three Sword Style. Zoro and Kin'emon prepared to take Luffy and Bartolomeo back to the Going Luffy-senpai, but the Silver Pirate Alliance leader Bill cut the two groups off, and Luffy told Zoro to go on ahead while he dealt with Bill.

Zoro and Kin'emon returned to the Going Luffy-senpai, attacking some of the Battle Boats besieging it. Luffy and Bartolomeo later returned, and the Straw Hats and Barto Club set sail for Zou.

Heart of Gold
While at sea, the Straw Hats encountered a girl named Myskina Olga, who fruitlessly tried to threaten them. Olga revealed the existence of the great treasure Pure Gold to the Straw Hats, and they wished to go after it with her. Suddenly, they were attacked by Mad Treasure and his crew, who were also after the Pure Gold. The Straw Hats easily repelled Treasure's crew, but Treasure pulled Olga to him with a chain, starting a tug of war between him and the Straw Hats. Eventually, Zoro cut Olga free and returned her to the Sunny, but her ring fell into the ocean into the process. This caused a giant fish named Bonbori to emerge and consume the ring, and the Straw Hats sailed into Bonbori after hearing that the Pure Gold was inside it. Treasure followed the Straw Hats into Bonbori, and rammed his ship into the Sunny, nearly causing it to hit Bonbori's uvula. However, Luffy prevented a collision, but was blown far away after being shot by Treasure's subordinate Naomi Drunk. Olga went to rescue Luffy as the Sunny fell into Bonbori's throat. Zoro, Sanji, and Franky later ended up in Bonbori's second stomach along with the Sunny.



Zoro, Sanji, and Franky later reunited with Luffy when he and his companion Myskina Acier came into Bonbori's second stomach. Upon hearing that the rest of their crewmates were captured by Treasure, Zoro and Sanji accompanied Luffy and Acier to the island of Alchemi, where the Pure Gold lay. They were attacked by Treasure's crew at the coast of Alchemi, but Zoro and Sanji stayed behind to deal with them as Luffy and Acier continued on. While easily dispatching Treasure's masses, Zoro confronted Naomi Drunk, who repeatedly and unsuccessfully shot arrows at him. Zoro dodged and cut apart all the arrows as he approached Naomi, and hit her with an air slash. He then knocked Naomi out by driving a sword into her cap.

Zoro and Sanji returned to the rest of the crew right after Luffy defeated Mad Treasure, and they prepared to escape on the Sunny. The Straw Hats and Myskina family exited Bonbori as it vomited, and they watched as the Pure Gold was absorbed into Bonbori's lamp. The next day, the Straw Hats parted ways with Olga and Acier, but they were disappointed at their failure to get the Pure Gold. However, Nami revealed that she had acquired a Vivre Card leading to the entertainment city Gran Tesoro, and the Straw Hats excitedly set sail for it.

One Piece Film: Gold Episode 0
On the Thousand Sunny, the Straw Hats were having a barbecue. After the volleyball game between Nami and Chopper versus Robin and Franky, the Straw Hats discussed what they will do when they reach Gran Tesoro. Usopp then demonstrated a show for Gran Tesoro in case betting in the casino failed. Zoro spectated the sumo wrestling matches between Luffy versus Usopp and Luffy versus Franky. After a long match between Luffy and Franky, they both decided to use their signature attacks, but Nami punched the two because they could have destroyed the ship. Moments later, the Straw Hats approached the City of Dreams.

One Piece Film: Gold


The Straw Hats entered Gran Tesoro, and were showered with gold dust at the entrance. They emerged in a pool of liquid gold that had a concert venue around it, but quickly found themselves under attack by the Long Long Pirates, who intended to rob the Straw Hats to pay off their debts. Narcie rushed toward the napping Zoro, but Zoro countered his sword strike. When Narcie attacked again, Zoro ran on top of his sword and used Oni Giri on Narcie, defeating him. The Straw Hats managed to defeat the Long Long Pirates, and watched as Gild Tesoro, the proprietor of Gran Tesoro, encased the remaining enemy pirates in gold.

The Straw Hats docked, and were approached by Baccarat, who offered them a VIP experience due to their fame. Baccarat drove them through Gran Tesoro in a turtle car, and took them to a VIP hotel at the heart of Gran Tesoro. The Straw Hats donned new outfits as they prepared to enjoy their vacation, although several kids tried to sell them flowers to pay off their families' debts. They went to the casino, and were given 20,000,000 worth in tokens. The Straw Hats managed to get very lucky and drastically increase their earnings, and Baccarat took them to the VIP lounge, where they had the chance to become millionaires. They played a dice game hosted by Dice and won, when Gild Tesoro arrived and challenged the Straw Hats to a game. However, Baccarat used her Devil Fruit powers to take away Luffy's luck, causing him to lose. When the Straw Hats found out about her deception, they refused to give Tesoro their money, and Tesoro and his subordinates retaliated with force. Zoro confronted Tesoro, but as he raced toward him, Tesoro encased his legs in gold using the gold dust that had been showered on him at the entrance before blocking his sword strike with a gold tendril. Tesoro covered more of Zoro's body in gold, rendering him helpless, and held Zoro as a hostage. Tesoro allowed the Straw Hats to try and repay their debt by 12:00 the next night, but if they failed, then Zoro would be executed.

Zoro was held in a dark room afterwards in a gold structure, with most of his body encased in gold. The next night, Tesoro came to him and mocked the Straw Hats' hopes of beating him, and Zoro had no reaction.

Later, Zoro was taken to an entertainment venue where he was to be executed and where his crewmates were to be trapped. However, thanks to a plan developed by Carina, seawater sprayed from all of Gran Tesoro's fountains, freeing Zoro and his crewmates from their gold encasement. Zoro rejoined his crewmates, and Tesoro blew up the hotel, causing a deluge of gold to fall on them. However, Sanji, Robin, and Franky carried their crewmates to safety, and Tesoro confronted the Straw Hats inside a giant gold golem. As Luffy battled Tesoro, the Straw Hats were confronted by Dice, Baccarat, and Tanaka, who had been given golden armor and weapons by Tesoro.

Dice attacked Zoro with a giant golden axe, but Zoro managed to counter his strikes. Dice managed to block Zoro's attacked with Busoshoku Haki, but Zoro eventually managed to disarm Dice and send him flying back in a whirlwind. However, Tesoro summoned gold tendrils to grab Zoro's swords, and Dice curled into a ball and rolled toward Zoro with great force, sending Zoro flying and causing him to lose grip on his swords. Dice took two of Zoro's swords and attacked him with them, but Zoro managed to counter them with only his Busoshoku Haki-imbued arms. He then used Tatsu Maki to send Dice flying back, and after Dice recovered, he rolled toward Zoro again. However, Zoro reclaimed one of his swords and used Shishi Sonson, cutting through Dice's armor and defeating him.

However, after Luffy managed to get the upper hand on Tesoro, Tesoro turned his golem into liquid gold, swamping everyone in it and preventing them from moving, except for the aerial Luffy. Luffy managed to defeat Tesoro, freeing everyone on Gran Tesoro, and they all rejoiced. However, a timer suddenly appeared, and Carina stated that the ship would sink once it reached zero. The Straw Hats then returned to the Thousand Sunny, but then found out that the timer was a ruse in order for Carina to take command of Gran Tesoro. However, they had no hard feelings, and were forced to depart once the Marine fleet nearby began chasing them.

Encounter with the Mink Tribe
During a hail storm, Zoro was shocked to learn that the Barto Club does not have a navigator, lack experience in sailing, and they usually called a granny who gives them useless advice. Therefore, Zoro, the other Straw Hats, the samurais, and Law needed to protect the ship. After one week of traversing through the dangers of the New World, the ship finally arrived at Zou.

After finding the Thousand Sunny, the Barto Club bid Luffy's group farewell. Proceeding to search for Sanji's group, they climbed the giant elephant's left hind leg with a dragon that Kanjuro conjured. After the samurais explained that they were also searching for their ninja comrade, Raizo, the group saw something dropping towards them.

The thing that was falling towards them happened to be a monkey. The monkey hit Kin'emon and Kanjuro, causing them to fall off the dragon. Despite being separated from the group, the samurais assured the Straw Hats that they were alright and will catch up to them eventually. The rest of the group considered turning back for them, but after they saw the dragon struggling to climb, they decided to continue towards the top. Once they reached the top, the dragon turned back into a drawing while Zoro and Law remained unconcerned about it. They later entered a village and Luffy ran ahead of the group. While exploring the village, they saw signs of a recent attack. Zoro was then attacked by a rabbit mink named Carrot and they clashed until a dog mink, Wanda, appeared and stopped her.



Right after Wanda interrupted the fight, Zoro wondered what kind of weapon Carrot uses. Wanda and Carrot proceeded to leave in a hurry to deal with an intruder at the Whale's Forest. Before leaving, Wanda explained to Zoro's group about where to find a "corpse" of their comrade. Zoro and the others thought that Wanda was saying the other Straw Hat members died, but they did not believe that to be true and they continued exploring the island. As they explored the Mink Tribe's civilization, they found more signs of a recent battle.

During their exploration at Claw City, the group experienced an eruption rain and they fled to higher ground. Once the rain passed, they surmised that it is a daily occurrence based on how the city is built. Right after Usopp spotted Luffy with Carrot and Wanda, Law teleported the group close to their location. Wanda then led them into Right Belly Fortress, where they reunited with Nami and Chopper.

While having a feast with the Mink Tribe, Zoro was annoyed with how the minks wanted to play with him. The group was then reunited with Brook, who explained that Momonosuke was safe but refused to leave his room. He also warned the group not to mention samurai or the Wano Country. Before he could explain the reason, he was interrupted by canine minks. Nami then asked them what to do about Sanji. Since Sanji left a letter, Zoro and Luffy were not too worried, much to Nami's chagrin. Zoro then listened to Nami and Chopper's story about how they escaped the Big Mom Pirates before listening to Wanda's story about how Nami's group saved the Mink Tribe. After hearing that Prince Inuarashi awakened from his coma and wanted to meet Zou's benefactors, Zoro and his group went to meet him. On the way, Wanda began to explain to them about Jack's attack on Zou in more detail.



During her explanation, Wanda revealed that Jack was searching for a Wano ninja known as Raizo. After Wanda finished with her recollection, Brook explained to his crew the reason why they should not mention samurai or the Wano Country. They then arrived at the duke's home where they were introduced to Shishilian, who expressed his gratitude to the crew. After entering the duke's home, they heard about a weapon Jack used against the Mink Tribe.

After Wanda recalled the devastation caused by Jack and the Mink Tribe's salvation, the Straw Hats decided to visit Nekomamushi and the Guardians. They then traveled to the Whale Forest with Wanda and Carrot.

After hearing about the circumstances concerning Sanji's departure from Zou, Zoro appeared indifferent about it, much to Chopper's annoyance. Zoro then reminded his crew that as much as destroying the SAD factory on Punk Hazard angered Doflamingo, destroying the SMILE factory at Dressrosa angered Kaidou. He went on explaining that Kaidou was also targeting the samurai for some unknown reason and they should be expecting a confrontation with the Beasts Pirates sometime in the future. Zoro and Nami then argued about whether or not Sanji was at fault for leaving. After Luffy decided to find Sanji, they arrived at the Whale Forest.



Zoro listened in on the conversation between Luffy and Pekoms as Pekoms explained in detail about Sanji's predicament. Luffy then ran out to look for Chopper and found Zoro sitting on a bench. Luffy assumed that Zoro was also worried about Sanji, much to his annoyance. Nekomamushi arrived and greeted Luffy and Zoro. Zoro, his crew (except Franky, Robin, and Brook), and the Heart Pirates then partied with Nekomamushi and his subjects.

Revelations and a New Alliance
On the next morning, Zoro and his group heard a bell ringing and realized that Kin'emon and Kanjuro had arrived. They quickly rushed to find them, fearing what would happen if the Mink Tribe meets the samurais. The Straw Hats managed to intercept Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Momonosuke just as they arrived at Kurau City and tried desperately to keep them hidden. However, as Nekomamushi and Inuarashi were fighting, Kin'emon and Kanjuro revealed themselves. Contrary to what the Straw Hats expected, the Mink Tribe welcomed the samurai and revealed that Raizo is safe. The Straw Hats were stunned to learn that the minks knew about Raizo all along and went to great lengths to keep him hidden despite the abuse they suffered.



The Straw Hats were further shocked when they learned that Momonosuke was not Kin'emon's son, but rather was the heir to the daimyo of Kuri. However, Zoro and Usopp became enraged when Momonosuke hugged Nami, and she was fine with it due to deducing that his father was wealthy. Inuarashi and Nekomamushi then led the Straw Hats, Law, and the samurai to Raizo's location, a secret cave inside the whale-shaped tree.

When Robin deciphered the red poneglyph hidden inside the Whale Tree, Inuarashi then explained to the Straw Hats about the four Road Poneglyphs and they listened in anticipation as he revealed how they can lead to Laugh Tale and Nekomamushi revealed that Kaidou and Big Mom each possessed one Road Poneglyph. The Straw Hats were surprised when Nekomamushi revealed that Momonosuke's ancestors created the poneglyphs. However, the samurais explained that Momonosuke never inherited the knowledge of the poneglyphs due to the execution of Lord Oden at the hands of Kaidou and the shogun of Wano. When Zoro asked why Oden was executed, Kin'emon revealed that Oden was part of Roger's crew and had been on Laugh Tale with him as well as the Beasts Pirates' objective in obtaining the secret that Oden knew.

Zoro then realized the reason why Doflamingo and Kaidou were after the samurais. However, they explained that Oden never revealed the secret of the world to them before he died. He then watched Luffy formed an alliance with the samurais and the Mink Tribe in order to defeat Kaidou and the shogun of Wano.



Right after they left the secret room, Zoro and the others learned that Inuarashi and Nekomamuhi traveled with Oden and had been on the ships of both Whitebeard and Roger. The alliance decided to split up to accomplish different tasks and meet up again at Wano. However, before they could start their operation, they felt Zou shaking and heard Zunesha crying. As everything shook around them, they witnessed Luffy and Momonosuke's ability to hear Zunesha's voice. They then heard from Momonosuke that Jack returned to Zou and started attacking Zunesha. On Momonosuke's command, Zunesha sank Jack's fleet with one blow. With the threat of Jack ended, everyone became calm again.

While the samurai-pirate-mink alliance prepared to get on with their missions, Zoro decided to accompany Kin'emon's team. As the Sanji retrieval team departed from Zou, everyone, except for the Straw Hat members left behind, were shocked when Luffy jumped off Zunesha with his party.

One Piece: Stampede
After receiving an invitation for the Pirates Festival, the Straw Hats headed to Delta Island. After exploring and playing around a bit, they decided to take part in the main event, a Treasure Race for Gol D. Roger's treasure. After the Straw Hats started to ascend the Knock Up Stream, they then noticed that Law has boarded their ship, who reveals he's been chased due to coming close to a secret behind the Festival. The crew then decided to split up, with Robin, Brook and Sanji accompanying Law to further investigate his suspicions. The rest continued to the Treasure Island atop the Stream, where an all out brawl occurred as they raced towards the treasure, with Zoro engaging Killer briefly. However, the race ended when the island was destroyed by Douglas Bullet. After also receiving news that the island was being surrounded by a Marine fleet, Zoro was assigned to take care of the crew on the Sunny. When they made it to the coast, the Pirate Hunter soon found himself facing Issho, who he held of until Bullet started to make his move. Issho left, but not before leaving a parting gift in the form of a meteor, which Zoro managed in two, though it was only blown away thanks to Dracule Mihawk, who was present to fulfill his duties as a Warlord. Bullet then altered the island's terrain with his Gasha Gasha no Mi ability, creating walls on the edge of the island and trapping both pirates and Marines within. When Zoro noticed that Crocodile was aiming for Bullet after Luffy destroyed his colossus and ship, Zoro briefly intercepted the former Warlord. After Luffy defeated Bullet, the Straw Hat's reunited on their ship, where they set sail and attempted to penetrate the Marine's encirclement of the island, together with the other members of the Worst Generation, as well as several other pirate crew. In the end they were able to escape thanks to Sabo and Ann creating blazing path for them to go through.

Zorojuro the Ronin


Upon arriving at Wano, Kin'emon instructed the Straw Hats and Heart Pirates to blend in with the populace as they readied their plot to recruit allies for the invasion of Kaidou's lair Onigashima on the day of the Fire Festival. Zoro adopted the alias "Zorojuro" and wandered the streets of the Flower Capital as a ronin (masterless samurai). However, he was then arrested under the accusation of committing murders on the streets at night. He was brought before the magistrate Toyama Tsujigiro, who sentenced him to death by seppuku and confiscated Shusui. However, Zoro then noted the smell of blood on Tsujigiro and realized he was the murderer. Zoro then unleashed a flying slash that cut down Tsujigiro, as well as sliced through much of the structure he stood on.



Now a wanted man, Zoro escaped from the Flower Capital and lived as a vagabond, eating the animals that roamed the vast wastelands. One day, he encountered a platoon of Beasts Pirates chasing a villager named Tsuru, and took down the pirates. A nearby Luffy then called out to Zoro, and the two crewmates reunited. However, their reunion was quickly interrupted by the arrival of another Beasts Pirates platoon led by Basil Hawkins. The two groups began fighting and Zoro slashed at Hawkins, but the damage was transferred to one of the Supernova's subordinates due to his Devil Fruit power. Luffy and Zoro were then pulled away by the komainu Komachiyo in order to get treatment for Luffy's sick companion Tama. Hawkins covered himself in straw and fired large nails, some of which struck Zoro and injured him; however, Zoro kept him at bay with a sword slash. Tsuru then introduced herself to Luffy and Zoro, and said they could go to her house where she would brew a treatment for Tama.

The group went to Okobore Town, where a woman named O-Kiku bandaged Zoro's wounds. A sumo wrestler named Urashima was courting Kiku, but ran off after encountering Zoro. After treating Tama, Tsuru told Zoro and Luffy about the destruction inflicted on Wano by Kurozumi Orochi's shogunate. Zoro then intercepted an arrow fired by the Beasts Pirates Gifter Batman at Tsuru, and as he was fending off more arrows, Tama was then kidnapped by the Gifter Gazelleman. Kiku immediately took a sword and mounted Komachiyo to pursue them, and Luffy pulled himself and Zoro up on the animal as well. As they got moving, Kiku revealed that she was a samurai. The trio rode Komachiyo to Bakura Town, a place populated with pirates and government officials. They came to a sumo ring where Urashima was competing, and Kiku hid behind Zoro. However, Urashima's subordinates were able to get to her and carry her off, though Kiku responded by cutting off Urashima's topknot. Luffy entered the ring and defeated Urashima, and some Beasts Pirates then arrived to confront the trio. As Zoro, Luffy, and Kiku fended them off, the Shinuchi Holed'em then arrived with Tama as his hostage. Luffy proceeded to knock out Holed'em and rescue Tama, while Zoro seized a cart full of fresh food and had Komachiyo pull it out of the town. They were joined by Law, who berated Zoro for getting into trouble once again. They successfully made it back to Okobore Town with Tama and the food in tow, and the impoverished citizens were delighted to be able to consume fresh food and water.

Meeting Tonoyasu and Hiyori
Law told Zoro and Luffy to go with him to the ruins of Oden Castle on a nearby mountain, and they were joined by Kiku. However, as they rode Komachiyo up the mountain, Zoro inexplicably got lost and ended up wandering to a wharf, where he took a ride on a boat. While sailing, he received a newspaper with the news that Luffy had been beaten by Kaidou, which caused him to recoil in shock. Zoro ate a lot of sushi and wasabi on his ride, but a man named Tonoyasu paid for it. The two of them then went to an inn, where Zoro won a considerable amount of gambling matches and beat up yakuza thugs who tried to stop him. This caused Tonoyasu to tag along with Zoro for protection, and the two of them walked through Kibi together. Yasu took Zoro to his homeland of Ebisu Town by the Flower Capital, where the residents all smiled and laughed constantly.



The next day, Shusui was stolen by a man named Gyukimaru, and Zoro chased him all the way to Ringo. They dueled on Oihagi Bridge after Gyukimaru had already returned Shusui to Ryuma's grave, with the bandit not believing that Zoro had obtained the legendary sword rightfully. However, the duel was interrupted when a young woman named Kozuki Hiyori and a young girl named Toko came rushing in while pursued by an assassin named Kamazo, who unbeknownst to Zoro at the time was the Supernova Killer. Hiyori begged Zoro to help her, and Zoro agreed on the condition of receiving food and alcohol in return. Zoro and Kamazo then engaged in a fierce duel, but Gyukimaru would occasionally jab at Zoro with his naginata while the swordsman was distracted, forcing him to make even more effort to dodge. Eventually, an attack from Gyukimaru distracted Zoro enough to allow Kamazo to impale the side of his chest with a scythe. However, Zoro was then able to rip out the scythe and put it in his mouth in place of Shusui, and he performed a Three Sword Style attack which cut down Kamazo. He then collapsed and fell unconscious from his bleeding.



Zoro woke up in a house in the Northern Cemetery and found that Hiyori had tended to his wounds. Hiyori gave him the food and alcohol that he requested and revealed her identity and relationship to Momonosuke. Zoro then fell asleep, and was woken up the next morning by the arrival of Brook; to his shock, Hiyori had been laying on his chest. Brook revealed that Tonoyasu was going to be executed in the Flower Capital shortly, and Toko, revealing that Yasu was her father, ran off to find him. Zoro, Brook, and Hiyori chased after her, but they arrived at the city right as Tonoyasu, who was actually the former daimyo Shimotsuki Yasuie, was shot to death by Orochi and his forces. Zoro was appalled upon seeing Toko and the Ebisu Town citizens laugh in response to Yasuie's death, but Hiyori then revealed to him that they had no choice as Orochi put defective SMILEs in their food supply that forced them to smile and laugh all the time. Orochi then attempted to shoot Toko as she stood over her father's body, and both Zoro and Sanji moved to save her. Enraged at the shogun, Zoro launched two spinning flying slashes toward him, but this attack was countered by the samurai Kyoshiro. The two of them dueled as Kyoshiro prevented Zoro from going after Orochi, allowing the shogun to escape. Hiyori then came under attack by the Orochi Oniwabanshu ninja Fujin and Raijin, and Zoro went and cut down Raijin as he took Hiyori to safety.

Zoro and Hiyori escaped to the Enma Shrine outside the capital, and Zoro was forced to cut down many Oniwabanshu members pursuing them. After taking care of their threat, he decided to go to Ryuma's grave and get Shusui back, expressing his desire to avenge Yasu. Zoro and Hiyori returned to Oihagi Bridge the next day, and Zoro overwhelmed Gyukimaru in their rematch. However, their duel was interrupted by the Kozuki Family retainer Kawamatsu, who reunited with Hiyori. A group of Beasts Pirates then arrived to attack Gyukimaru, but Zoro and Kawamatsu proceeded to quickly take them out. Gyukimaru then ran off, and Zoro pursued him. Zoro chased Gyukimaru to an abandoned village, where the bandit opened up a secret entrance before disappearing. Zoro, Kawamatsu, and Hiyori discovered a room filled with weapons, which Kawamatsu and Gyukimaru (who was actually a shapeshifting fox named Onimaru) had stockpiled many years back in preparation for the impending battle.



Hiyori then requested that Zoro leave Shusui in the possession of Wano. Zoro initially objected, but she offered to give him Enma, a Meito of the same quality that once belonged to her father, as a replacement. Zoro agreed to this, and two days later he went back to Kuri with Kawamatsu to meet with the alliance and discuss the strategy for their invasion, with Hiyori remaining in Ringo until the war ended. Tenguyama Hitetsu presented Enma to Zoro, and as Zoro took the blade, a considerable amount of Busoshoku Haki was drawn out from his arm. However, Zoro managed to take control over Enma and regulate the amount of Haki it drew before it could sap him of all his strength. He then tried to cut a tree with the blade, but to his shock accidentally unleashed a cut powerful enough to slice off the entire cliff face. For the next five days, Zoro trained with Enma to improve his control over the Meito.

Raid on Onigashima
On the day of the Fire Festival, Zoro and the Straw Hats sailed out from Kuri on the Thousand Sunny and went to the alliance's promised meeting place of Tokage Port. They arrived there at the same time as the Heart Pirates and Kid Pirates, and the three crews came just in time to stop a Beasts Pirates fleet from attacking Kin'emon's group. The rest of the samurai in the alliance arrived soon afterwards, and the battle against the Beasts Pirates fleet concluded when Jinbe suddenly arrived to take out their last ship. The Straw Hats had a happy reunion with Jinbe, who officially became part of their crew. The alliance fleet drew close to Onigashima, and the Straw Hats proceeded to disembark and take out the Torii Guards at the island's entrance.

The rest of the alliance then disembarked, and although the plan was for them to sneak around to the back entrance of Kaidou's fortress, the Kid Pirates had already entered it through the front. Luffy decided to go after them and stop them, and Zoro went in afterwards to stop Luffy in turn. After hearing chaos erupt, Zoro cut a tower in the fortress to see what was going on and found Luffy. With their identities now exposed, the two pirates were forced to battle the massive hordes of Beasts Pirates in the fortress, and the Supernova and Beasts Pirates informant Scratchmen Apoo joined in their assault by using music-based attacks which dealt significant injuries to both pirates. Realizing they were in danger of taking excessive damage before even meeting Kaidou, Zoro grabbed Luffy and tried moving to a safer area. They ran into Kid and Killer in the process, and the latter told them to cover their ears to gain immunity to Apoo's attacks. Zoro became split up from the others as they advanced further into the castle, and stayed busy fending off hordes of Gifters; however, he was eventually joined by the alliance forces as they commenced their all-out assault.

Zoro ended up on the Live Stage right as Luffy was about to pull himself up to the roof where Kaidou was through a hole in the Skull Dome's ceiling, and he grabbed onto Luffy to go with him. However, the two of them were stopped in midair by the Beasts Pirates All-Star Queen, who transformed into a brachiosaurus and caught them in his mouth; to make matters more difficult, an aerial platoon led by the All-Star King flew in to further cut off air passage. Queen spat Zoro and Luffy down to the Live Floor far below, where they regrouped with the rest of their crew and geared up for another push to get Luffy and Zoro up to the roof. The Straw Hats and other alliance forces charged into battle against the Beasts Pirates, and Zoro bisected the metal club of Goki of the Numbers before the immensely large fighter could attack a horde of samurai. As the battle raged on, X Drake, who had been one of the Beasts Pirates' Tobiroppo, very suddenly attacked one of the Numbers and asked the Straw Hats to let him fight on their side. Zoro was immediately suspicious of Drake and the two clashed, with Drake assuring he was now an enemy to the Beasts Pirates but not divulging his true allegiance. However, when Apoo returned to the battlefield, the two of them decided to form a temporary truce to take him down.



Queen then shot at the fighters on the Live Floor with Excite Bullets carrying a virus he had created called Ice Oni, which turned those infected mindlessly violent before killing them within an hour. To make things into a game, he gave Apoo the antibodies for it, and Zoro immediately began chasing Apoo to seize them. Drake joined him again in assaulting Apoo; however, as the chase persisted, Zoro saw Big Mom heading up toward the Dome roof and more and more of the alliance's forces falling victim to the Ice Oni. Tired of Queen's game, Zoro proceeded to charge toward Apoo and cut him down in the blink of an eye. He seized the antibodies vial and immediately gave it to Chopper, and when Queen tried to shoot him, Zoro bisected his gatling gun with a long-range flying slash. Zoro turned his attention back to getting up to the roof, and Marco of the Whitebeard Pirates arrived to help. Drake told Zoro to leave the rest of the Beasts Pirates to him, and Zoro decided to put his trust in the turncoat as he had Marco use his phoenix transformation to fly him up to the roof. Marco managed to avoid attacks from King and Queen and throw Zoro up through the hole in the ceiling, and Zoro landed on the roof to confront Kaidou and Big Mom at the exact same time that Luffy, Law, Kid, and Killer arrived.

After Luffy punched Kaidou to the ground and hurt him with advanced Busoshoku Haki, Big Mom tried attacking the Supernovas with her sun homie Prometheus. However, Zoro was able to bisect Prometheus using Foxfire Style, which he had successfully learned from observing Kin'emon. Zoro and Killer then charged at Kaidou and struck him, but Zoro was unable to utilize enough power out of Enma to truly damage the Emperor. Kaidou then transformed into his dragon form, and Zoro had Law teleport him into the air so he could bisect the Emperor's fire breath and prevent it from striking Luffy. Zoro then unleashed a powerful flying slash from Enma toward Kaidou, but the strike missed and he proceeded to be struck by a thunderbolt from Big Mom and her thundercloud homie Zeus. Luffy's Gear Fourth then expired after he used it to pummel Kaidou, forcing Zoro to carry him out of danger from Big Mom's attacks. Kaidou generated multiple tornadoes that blew Luffy away from Zoro, and the Emperor trapped Luffy inside his mouth; however, Zoro then unleashed a whirlwind slash attack that successfully cut through Kaidou's scales and forced him to release Luffy.



Kaidou then transformed into his Zoan hybrid form, and the Supernovas formed a strategy to split up the two Emperors after failing to gain any sort of advantage. Kaidou and Big Mom proceeded to unleash a combined attack called Hakai that inflicted a devastating explosion-like force over a wide area; however, Zoro was able to resist the attack with all his might for just long enough to allow the Supernovas to escape its impact. Despite taking considerable damage, Zoro then proceeded to go after Prometheus and cut it into pieces while Law and Kid successfully trapped Zeus, which allowed the latter two to to then send Big Mom flying off Onigashima without either of her homies to save her from falling into the ocean. However, Kaidou moved to attack Zoro after knocking Luffy unconscious, and Law was forced to teleport the swordsman away to save his life even though this allowed Prometheus to go and save Big Mom. As Kid and Killer went after Big Mom, Zoro decided to put his remaining strength into a last-ditch attack against Kaidou. Activating Kiki Nine Sword Style: Ashura for the first time in ages, Zoro unleashed a powerful strike on Kaidou that successfully inflicted a large cut on the Emperor's chest. Kaidou noted in shock that Zoro had used Haoshoku Haki in the attack as well, which confused Zoro as he was unaware he possessed it. Zoro was disappointed that he had not knocked down the Emperor, but Kaidou still commended him, saying the cut would leave a scar. Kaidou then defeated Zoro and Law with Raimei Hakke, but as they collapsed to the ground, Luffy got back up and began equally clashing with Kaidou with his Haki; he told Law and Zoro that they could retreat and leave Kaidou to him.

Law teleported himself and Zoro inside the fortress, and the duo ended up in midair, but were fortunately caught by Sanji. With Zoro having sustained numerous broken bones, Law told Sanji to put him in a splint, and Sanji reluctantly did so before carrying a bandaged Zoro with him back out onto the battlefield. Zoro fell asleep, but when Sanji ran into Kawamatsu and Izou, he briefly woke and told the trio to go to the Live Floor. There, Sanji unceremoniously threw him to Chopper, to have the swordsman attended to. As the battle continued, he learned the Minks possessed an instant recovery medicine, which possessed powerful side effects after it wore off. Initially he was adamant to take it in order to rejoin the battle, but became worried due to how Miyagi was treating him.



Sanji found Chopper with Zoro and told him to flee with him if the medicine is not working, but Chopper responded that Zoro had already been administered it, and that it was just taking longer due to his condition. Sanji then resumed fighting Queen as King ordered the Beasts Pirates to find Zoro and stop him from recovering. Zoro is eventually found by the remaining loyal members of the Beasts Pirates and the samurai attempt to keep him safe, but they are stopped by King. As King attempted to attack Zoro, his punch was blocked by Marco. Queen then met up with King, and when the pair begin to attack Marco, Marco does nothing to stop them. He instead says that from this point on, the stars will be taking the stage. Just as he says this, Zoro, who has recovered, strikes King with Three Sword Style: Rengoku Oni Giri while Sanji strikes Queen with Diable: Mouton Shot. Both Zoro and Sanji then say that when they conquer this battle it will give them a glimpse of Luffy as the Pirate King.

King and Queen quickly recovered from the attack, and Queen began to attack Zoro and Sanji with beams in retaliation, which they both dodged. Zoro questioned why Sanji was acting strangely, and Sanji uncomfortably pointed out that his body has felt off since he first used his Raid Suit. Zoro warned Sanji not to hold him back, causing the two to start bickering. The pair then blocked an attack from both King and Queen for each other, although with great resentment, and split up to face the All-Stars one-on-one, with Zoro preparing to fight King. As he was attacking King, Zoro was stunned when King's sword was able to catch and pull away his own swords, sending them flying while King attempted to punch Zoro with his gloves which had spikes. However, Zoro was still able to stop King's punch with his third sword in his mouth. He quickly regained his swords back and then commented on their different view of combat, stating that King is no traditional swordsman and after King replied that one ought not limit to a single way of fighting, Zoro assured him that he will win this battle, even if it requires him to bite King's throat out. Both then resumed their fight.

Later, Zoro was caught off-guard when a dragon crashed into the Live Floor, with Luffy attached to its horns, and was later surprised alongside Sanji to hear that this dragon was actually Momonosuke, although altered. He would later be sent out of the Live Floor by King, and was caught by Franky, who happened to be nearby. He then advised Franky to leave King to him and head to the Live Floor and then prepared for King's next strike, blocking King's Tankyudon with Ul-Tora Gari.



While he was able to effectively block the strike, he was not able to block the impact, being sent flying entirely out of the castle. King even attempted to send Zoro off of the island after pushing him out of the castle, but Zoro prevented his move by using Clear Lance to push himself back onto the island. Zoro then berated King for fighting dishonorably by not attempting to kill Zoro with a blade, and King returned the sentiment due to Zoro having damaged his mask during their fight. They then resumed to cross blades with each other. Deep in the middle of his fight with King, Zoro was contacted by Sanji with a Den Den Mushi and was wondering how ended up with one. After Sanji explained he snuck it into his clothes should he get lost, he agreed on Sanji being confident in their win. He was then tasked with killing Sanji should he lose his humanity. Although confused about this request, Zoro nonetheless agreed to these terms, adding he was looking forward to it and told Sanji to not die until then before resuming his fight with King. However, Zoro was soon struggling against King's Devil Fruit Powers, narrowly blocking King's Imperial Deep Pride Stake and retaliating at him with 360 Pound Phoenix, although without any result. As Zoro was then trying to figure out a way to defeat King, wondering if the flames on King's back were natural, he launched Three Sword-Style: Black Rope Dragon Twister. This attack again had no effect on King, who blocked the attack with his wings, leaving Zoro remarking on the toughness of Ancient Zoan users, before they both continued clashing with their swords once more, with Zoro wondering if King's strength lies in his body's uniqueness or if it might be his origin. After Zoro was send into a wall by the King and still looking for a way to defeat him, he heard a shamisen playing, which then led to Enma painfully draining Haki from Zoro.



As Zoro demands Enma to stop, King moves in and stops in front of Zoro, confusing Zoro as to what King is trying to do. Zoro decides to stab King in the chest with his sword, only for King to not only be unharmed, but to explode seconds later. Zoro manages to survive using Busoshouku Haki, but is in disbelief as to how and why King is unscathed after an attack like that. He attacks King again with One Sword Style Iai: Shi Shishi Sonson, but once again King is unscathed. As Zoro prepares to block another of Kings attacks with his swords, Enma once again starts draining Haki from Zoro, causing Zoro to get grazed by King's attack, and for a chunk of the area to be destroyed with both of them falling. While falling, Zoro drops Sandai Kitetsu, but quickly goes to reclaim it, while thinking back to all his moments with the sword. King then kicks him back towards the island afterwards, expressing how crazy he thought he was for risking his life for a sword.



Zoro then gets up to see that Wado Ichimonji didn't fall and was safe, gratefully thinking back to when he first got that sword, and began to look back at everything he learned in Wano and his childhood in Shimostuki Village, immediately realizing all the connections and realizing that Enma was testing him the whole time. After realizing this, several Beast Pirates arrive and try to interfere with his and King's fight, only for them to all pass out after Zoro decides to let Enma take all the Haki it wants. Realizing that Zoro has Haoshoku Haki, King asks if he had "kingly ambitions" as well, to which Zoro answers yes to, saying that he must since he promised his captain and best friend.