Zoro's first ever named sword is already of great quality. Wado Ichimonji is one of the 21 Great Grade Swords, which is only inferior to the Supreme Grade Sword. Its story dates back to his childhood. It was forged by the legendary Shimotzuki Kozaburo, who also forged Enma, and has been in the possession of Kuina and her family. Zoro first meets Kuina when he is a child hunting dojos. He believes that a swordsman's strength depends on how many swords he wields, so he uses as many bamboo swords as he can against Kuina. Needless to say, Kuina hands him his ass. Kuina's father then takes Zoro in as a disciple, and Zoro eventually becomes Kuina's friend and rival. However, Zoro's childhood isn't filled with sunshine and rainbows. He challenges Kuina in a real swordfight using a real katana, wherein Kuina uses Wado Ichimonji. Kuina defeats Zoro one final time, then she and Zoro make a vow that he will get as strong as her. They also promise that no matter the gender, one of them will be the greatest swordsman in the world.

However, Kuina dies an untimely death the next day. Zoro, lost in grief, cannot accept her death. He then requests Wado Ichimonji from his master, who gives to him. Since then, Zoro has been wielding Wano Ichimonji through his adventures. Its sharpness and durability proves itself during his fight with Mihawk. After taking Mihawk's attack without Haki to reinforce his katanas, only Wado Ichimonji remains intact.

Appearance

The sword has a pure-white hilt with a circular hand-guard. The sheath is painted white and the hardening line is suguha or straight blade.

In descriptive terms, Wado Ichimonji is a Shinogi Zukuri style katana that has a traditional yet still stunning pure-white ito wrapped around a gray samegawa covering the tsuka (hilt), leaving a traditional diamond-shaped pattern. The end has a nice, simplistic kashira of the same color as the tsuba. The tsuba, or crossguard, also conveys a harmony of simplicity: It consists of a rounded oval thick tsuba from which the blade goes through, in a nice metallic golden color. To once again convey the beautiful simplicity of this blade, the colors of the edge are divided in perfect equality. The inner bo-hi is a deep black, while the outer ha, or edge, is a shining white. The blade curves slightly towards the end, with a stunning sharp tip that cuts through foes. The sheath represents a peaceful harmony, being completely white with a modest kojiri at the end.

It is described as "magnificent" by Tashigi when it catches her eye in Loguetown.

Abilities

As one of the masterpieces of the legendary Wano swordsmith, Shimotsuki Kozaburo, classified as one of the 21 Great Grade Swords, Wado Ichimonji is among the world's most powerful swords, second to Enma. Tashigi, a sword fanatic, described it as a magnificent katana of the highest caliber, not accepting the fact that such a famous blade was in the hands of a Bounty Hunter-turned Pirate, causing her to hunt Zoro. More than anything, Wado Ichimonji holds a great deal of significance to Zoro, though he'd allow others to examine it, he refuses to ever give this blade up to anyone.

Zoro prefers to place Wado Ichimonji in his mouth when using his Three Sword Style, though prior to the timeskip, he uses it when using his One Sword Style in some battles. After the timeskip, he appears to favor Shusui when using his One Sword Style.

It is extraordinarily durable, all without being imbued with Haki, withstanding a strike from Dracule Mihawk's Yoru, a Supreme Grade Sword and the Strongest Black Blade, which shattered his two ungraded swords, cut large battleships, and a giant iceberg. Both its durability and sharpness are further shown as Zoro used it for his One Sword Style Iai: Shishi Sonson against Mr. 1, cutting through his steel body, despite being lauded as being resistant to slashing attacks thus far. In another battle, Wado Ichimonji was capable of clashing against Shusui, a renowned black blade wielded by the zombified samurai, Shimotsuki Ryuma reanimated using Brook's shadow for an extended period of time, although, he was worried his katana would break if the battle continued.

After the timeskip, from his improved strength and skills, as well as using Busoshoku Haki, Wado Ichimonji's power and defense can be amplified, to the point of being able to cut down Pica at his gigantic form several times, before he cut him down completely coated in Haki. As mentioned by Kozuki Sukiyaki, because Wado Ichimonji and Enma were forged by the same person, it allows Zoro to get used to Enma rather quick during the time spent training. It managed to wound Kaido having strengthened it using Haoshoku Haki and Busoshoku Haki, used alongside his Nine Sword Style: Ashura Bakkei: Moja no Tawamure, giving him another permanent scar.

History

Past

Sometime in the past, Wado Ichimonji was created by Shimotsuki Kozaburo. When Kozaburo left Wano, he took his handcrafted Meito sword with him. The sword was carefully stored in the warehouse of the Isshin Dojo rarely used as Koushirou does not have any need to use it for combat as his dojo used only wooden swords to train and teach his students. Once, Roronoa Zoro, a student of the Isshin Dojo and rival to Koushiro's daughter Kuina, challenged the girl to a fight with real swords. Kuina then borrowed Wado Ichimonji for this fight.

After Kuina's death, the sword was in the possession of her father, Koushirou. Zoro declared to Koushirou that he will become the strongest swordsman in the world and asked for the sword. Koushirou accepted his request and passed on Wado Ichimonji to his second-best student.

Loguetown Arc

Zoro was left with only Wado Ichimonji after two of his swords were broken in his fight with Dracule Mihawk. After arriving at Loguetown, he went into Ipponmatsu's arms shop to buy two more swords. The owner of the shop recognized Wado Ichimonji and asked Zoro to see the blade. Ipponmatsu tried to fool Zoro to sell his sword for a hefty price, but Zoro refused to sell it for any price.

Tashigi suddenly entered the shop and recognized the blade, and started to explain that the sword is one of the 21 O Wazamono grade swords and that it can only be sold for at least Beli.png10,000,000.

Later, when Tashigi found out about Zoro's true identity, she vowed to defeat him and retrieve the Wado Ichimonji from him.

Wano Country Arc

While training with his newfound Enma, Zoro was notified by Tenguyama Hitetsu of Wado Ichimonji's origins, and that it may have been the reason that Kozuki Hiyori chose to bequeath Enma to Zoro.

The Sandai Kitetsu is one of the Grade swords. Like all of its predecessor Kitetsu swords, this one is said to be a "Cursed Sword/Blade". It is one of Kozuki Sukiyaki's creations.

After losing two of his katanas in his battle with Mihawk, Zoro goes shopping for more in Loguetown. That's where he first meets Tashigi, the marine who's a sword fanatic and also the spitting image of Kuina. Despite looking exactly like Kuina, Tashigi's personality is nowhere near the same. She even tells Zoro that she doesn't approve of him using a great katana like Wado Ichimonji and vows to get it. When Zoro finds a shop selling katanas, he asks the owner for the cheap swords since Nami didn't give him much spending money. Out of the barrel, he chooses Sandai Kitetsu. Tashigi, being knowledgeable about everything sword, immediately recognizes it. It turns out that Sandai Kitetsu is a Grade Sword. Even if it's a Grade Sword, it's the named sword with lowest quality Zoro has ever used. Tashigi further explains that even though its quality is great, it's cursed just like the other Kitetsu sword. It's said that whoever wields a Kitetsu sword will die an ugly death. However, such curses doesn't bother Zoro. He decides to test whether his luck or the sword's curse is stronger. He throws the swords into the air, then stretches out his arm. Instead of his arm being cut off, Sandai Kitetsu missess it by a hair's breadth.

Sandai Kitetsu is a moderately curved katana with a white edge and a distinct blue hamon that has the appearance of flames. Its tsuba is golden and shaped like a rounded cross pattée; the hilt is wrapped reddish-brown, with a golden clasp around its middle and a golden kashira pommel.

The sheath of the sword is deep red and continues the design of the hilt, having two golden clasps in short succession around its middle, and the kojiri end cap also being golden.

Abilities

As the creation of Kozuki Sukiyaki, one of Wano's Greatest Swordsmiths, and an imitation of Kotetsu's Nidai Kitetsu, Sandai Kitetsu has both superior qualities and strength compared to other swords, despite being a Meito among the lowest grades. Like all of the swords crafted by members of the Kitetsu school, this one is said to be cursed and will bring a horrible death to all of its owners. Zoro, in fact, senses it was cursed, something that allowed him to feel when the sword was nearby; being able to sense Chopper had Sandai Kitetsu with him while half-stuck in a chimney at Water 7.

Sandai kitetsu is most regarded for its great sharpness, making it far easier for slicing things, as highlighted when Zoro decided to test his luck against its curse, with its previous owner, Ipponmatsu declared it could cut off his arm. After passing by his arm without it cutting him, it stabbed itself deep into the floor, leaving one-fourth of its blade. He could cut a Sea Train carriage in half, as well as being durable enough to block blows from Kaku's Zoan Devil Fruit enhanced Rokushiki techniques. It later withstood strikes from the far more superior Great Grade sword, Shusui, wielded by the master samurai, Shimotsuki Ryuma; though Zoro commented that his swords might break if their fight continued.

Zoro commented that the sword is a "problem child", most notable, it's rather bloodthirsty, wanting to make him cut things without his direction. Feeling this, Zoro started giving Sandai Kitetsu more attention to ensure it acts on his direction.

After the timeskip, coupled with Zoro's improved strength and skills, Sandai Kitetsu grievously wounded Hody Jones underwater, who needed to overdose on Energy Steroids to endure it. At Punk Hazard, he was able to use it, alongside Shusui and Wado Ichimonji to block an enormous dragon's bite. Once all three swords were also hardened using Busoshoku Haki, he could cut the mountain-sized Pica multiple times, then Doflamingo's top official after being cladded in Haki.

During the Raid on Onigashima, Sandai Kitetsu was durable enough to withstand Kaidou's and Big Mom's combined technique without damage, It, alongside Wado Ichimonji and Enma was able to give Kaidou a permanent scar using Ashura Bakkei: Moja no Tawamure alongside Haoshoku Haki. After being infused with Haoshoku and Busoshoku Haki, it could deal significant damage to King, a Lunarian known for being nigh-invulnerable.

History

In the past, one of Wano's best swordsmiths Kozuki Sukiyaki crafted Sandai Kitetsu in imitation of one of the 21 Great swords, Nidai Kitetsu, which also became an infamous cursed sword. It was later exported overseas and was eventually acquired by Ipponmatsu. Fearing its curse, he refused to sell it until Zoro took a liking to Sandai Kitetsu because of its cursed nature. Zoro courageously tested his luck by risking his arm, extending it against Sandai Kitetsu's falling edge, ultimately keeping the sword after his luck prevailed over the curse.

Zoro would continue to wield the sword in countless battles against powerful enemies such as Daz Bonez, Enel, Kaku, Ryuma, Oars, Bartholomew Kuma, Hody Jones, Pica, Kaido, and King.

Upon receiving Enma, Zoro was notified by Sukiyaki of Sandai Kitetsu's origin.

Enma is one of the 21 Great Grade swords, currently in the possession of Roronoa Zoro as one of his three blades.

As a replacement for Shusui, Kozuki Hiyori gives Enma to Zoro with the promise that Zoro will return Shusui to Ryuma's grave. After testing Enma's capabilities first hand, Zoro agrees to Hiyori's proposition. Being a match to Shusui, it's needless to say that Enma isn't just an ordinary sword either. It's been passed onto Hiyori by his father, Kozuki Oden, himself. It's also a Great Grade Sword like Wado Ichimonji and Shusui, though it isn't a black sword yet. However, it's said that once Enma's blade has been turned black, it may increase in rank and become a Supreme Grade Sword like Mihawk's Yoru and Whitebeard's Murakumogiri. Enma also has a peculiar ability. It sucks its wielder's Busoshoku Haki, which often results in an attack stronger than intended. Being wielded by Kozuki Oden, it manages to cut through Kaido's almost impenetrable defenses and leave a scar. In Zoro's hands, it manages to bring out a similar attack. Even Kaido recognizes Oden's presence from it.

The sword was crafted by the swordsmith, Shimotsuki Kozaburo in the Wano Country. Until 20 years ago, Enma was wielded by Kozuki Oden alongside his other sword, Ame no Habakiri. In Oden's hands, both blades became the only weapons known to ever (until the present day) injure Kaidou. After Oden's death, Enma was inherited by his daughter, Kozuki Hiyori, who would later gift the sword to Zoro in exchange for the latter allowing Shusui, a national treasure, to remain in Wano.

Appearance

Enma is seen to be a moderately curved Shobu Zukuri-style katana with a lilac and gold color scheme. Like the Ame no Habakiri, the tsuba is trefoil-shaped, and each lobe is holed in the middle and thickly ridged. The tsuka is lacquered solid lilac (rather than cloth-wrapped), as is the saya. Both are embellished with simple, golden, five-petaled flower motifs on each side. The kashira and kojiri are matching in appearance, being large with trefoil cutouts to match the tsuba; the kojiri possesses an additional accent, which seems to be a wide, knobbed ring above it. Like the Kitetsu swords, Enma also possesses an irregular flame-shaped hamon and black no-hi.

Three pieces of cord are present on the sword: one directly above the kashira (without hanging end), another on the saya a short bit below its mouth with two hanging, tufted ends (serving as the sageo), and yet another cord further below on the saya (again no hanging end). Further, a little bandaging is present on the tsuka for better grip.

In its initial depictions, in the A-ra-shi: Reborn video, its tsuka is black, and its hamon is golden.

Abilities

As a masterpiece of the legendary swordsmith Shimotsuki Kozaburo and one of the 21 Great Grade swords, Enma is among the best swords in the world, with Kozuki Hiyori deeming it a worthy replacement for even the legendary Shusui. Kozuki Sukiyaki has described Enma as able to "cut through to the bottom of hell" (paralleling Ame no Habakiri being able to "slice heaven itself"). Kozaburo himself deemed Enma to be his best masterpiece in comparison to all his other creations, including Wado Ichimonji.

41 Years prior, at age 18, Oden used Enma, alongside Ame no Habakiri to bisect the giant Mountain God, having hardened it, and then performed Togen Shirataki. In addition to this, both swords endured clashes against the Supreme Grade Swords, Murakumogiri and Ace, wielded by Edward Newgate, and Roger. As a true testament of Enma's tremendous power and sharpness, once mastered, 20 Years prior, it became one of the sole weapons to ever harm the nigh-invulnerable Kaidou, giving him a massive scar, more so in dragon form.

Enma has the distinct trait of releasing its wielder's Busoshoku Haki, otherwise known as "Ryuo" in Wano in excessive amounts, cutting more than intended. As such, it has become infamous as a sword impossible to wield and master, so much so that no one aside from Kozuki Oden could tame Enma, whereas the Nine Red Scabbards' Leader, Kin'emon feared it. After testing it out, Zoro cut off a cliffside, despite intending to cut down a tree, because Enma forced hardening, while emaciating his right arm. However, his mastery of Busoshoku Haki allowed him to retake his Haki, something Sukiyaki commended him for, noting normal swordsmen would've been drained of all their Haki, rendering them a husk.

During the Battle on Onigashima, Kaidou had sensed a "Stange Haki" emanating from Enma, producing a flame-like aura whenever Zoro started releasing its power. It worried Big Mom, who even warned Kaidou to dodge, who noted it beared Oden's presence, causing him to recognize it as his sword. Applied on his techniques, it allowed Zoro to wound Kaidou in dragon form, leave a permanent scar on him in human-dragon form, then later deal significant damage to and defeat a Lunarian.

According to Sukiyaki, if Zoro were to succeed in making Enma a permanent black blade, it may increase in "rank", suggesting that it may become a Supreme Grade sword.

History

Past

Sometime in the past, Enma was created by famous swordsmith Shimotsuki Kozaburo.

Due to its special attributes, no samurai had managed to wield Enma until it was eventually acquired by Kozuki Oden, who managed to master it as part of his Oden Two Sword Style. Oden later used Enma to wound one of the Four Emperors, Kaidou, giving him his only scar. After his death, it was somehow acquired by his father, Sukiyaki, who kept the sword safe in order to pass it on as an heirloom onto Oden's daughter, Kozuki Hiyori.

Wano Country Arc

After Hiyori begged Roronoa Zoro to leave the stolen Shusui, an O Wazamono grade sword in its rightful place as a national treasure in Wano though he earned the sword from its previous zombified owner, she offered Enma as an equal replacement. Zoro agreed to Hiyori's proposal to return Shusui for Enma, despite Kawamatsu's initial protest. Upon gaining the sword from Sukiyaki, Zoro tried it out and learned of its distinct properties, to which he accepted, and trained during the time before the raid on Onigashima to gain further mastery over Enma. During the Fire Festival, Zoro managed to gain some control over Enma's special trait, but he hasn't succeeded in mastering it. During his fight with King on Onigashima, Zoro realized that Enma was merely testing him and his suitability to wield the sword.

After witnessing Zoro's feat, the owner of the katana shop decides to give their family heirloom to Zoro for free. That family heirloom is Yubashiri, a Skillfull Grade Sword. With Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu, Zoro once again has three swords for his Santoryu style. This time, however, his swords are far superior to his previous katanas. During their raid on Enies Lobby to rescue Nico Robin, Zoro and Usopp are handcuffed together. Because of this, Zoro isn't able to use both of his hands to fight, so he tells Usopp to grab Yubashiri and hold his arm. Zoro then uses Usopp like an arm extension and calls it Hana Arashi. During the same battle, Shu, a marine captain who has eaten the Rust-Rust Fruit, gets a hold of Yubashiri and corrodes it into a pile of rust. The only thing that remains after that is a small blade and a hilt. Zoro finally puts it to rest on the Rumbar Pirates' gravesite on Thriller Bark.

Appearance

Yubashiri was a long katana with a black handle. It had a cross-shaped guard and a black lacquered sheath. The blade itself was normal in appearance and its pattern was midareba or irregular pattern. It was considered to be a very light sword. Though mostly black, the sheath and the handle both had thin yet elaborate gold designs on them.

Abilities

As one of the 50 Skillful Grade swords, Yubashiri was a very powerful sword, its greatest attribute being its extremely light weight, with Zoro remarked that it was a "nice katana" after seeing how easy it was to use. Its light weight allowed fast actions and reflexes, while maintaining its sharpness for cutting power. Yubashiri has shown extraordinary strength and sharpness, as Zoro can use it to cut a Sea Train carriage in half alongside Sandai Kitetsu when performing Rashomon. Yubashiri also has exceptional durability as it could defend against extremely powerful attacks such as Kaku's Zoan Devil enhanced Rokushiki techniques. It was only destroyed due to rusting power of Shu's Sabi Sabi no Mi.

When used by Zoro, Yubashiri was one of the three swords for his Three Sword Style style and it was typically used along with Sandai Kitetsu in his Two Sword Style techniques. When the sword was destroyed, Zoro replaced it with Shusui.

When Sogeking accidentally locked himself with Zoro's right hand with a seastone handcuff, Zoro had to improvise and combined Yubashiri with Sogeking to create the "Hana Arashi sword" (a pun on Sogeking's long nose), by having Sogeking hold the sword and then using Sogeking as the hilt. Sogeking claimed that it made him dizzy when Zoro executed his attacks. Zoro went back to using the sword normally when the two managed to get the cuffs off.

History

After Zoro proved that his willpower was stronger than the curse upon the Sandai Kitetsu sword, the shop owner in Loguetown retrieved Yubashiri from the attic of the building, and revealed it to Zoro, stating that it was a family heirloom. He bestowed it upon Zoro as a gift along with the Kitetsu, leaving Zoro with three swords once again. He first put it to use in Whisky Peak, against the Baroque Works agents stationed there, and continued to use it regularly afterwards, holding it in his right hand.

After traveling through Whisky Peak, Little Garden, Drum Kingdom, Arabasta, Jaya, Skypiea, Long Ring Long Land and Water 7, the blade finally met its end at Enies Lobby, where it was rusted away by Shu in the battle against the Marines' captains and commanders on the Bridge of Hesitation, rendering the once reliable sword into an irrecoverable stub.

Despite having lost its use, Zoro kept the remains of the Yubashiri in its sheath and on his waistband from then on until he found an appropriate resting place for it. After the ordeal on Thriller Bark, he deposited it at the burial site of the Rumbar Pirates, and replaced it with Shusui, which the samurai zombie, Ryuma imparted to Zoro after the latter defeated him.

Shusui is one of the 21 Great Grade swords and a "Black Sword/Blade" that was once wielded by the legendary samurai Shimotsuki Ryuma. It is prized as the national treasure of the Wano Country. After his death, the katana was buried with Ryuma, until his grave was robbed by Gecko Moria 23 years ago.

Lacking another sword, Zoro continues his travels with the other Straw Hats to Thriller Bark, the place where he lays Yubashiri to rest. Along the way, the Straw Hats meet a talking skeleton, whom Luffy casually asks to join his crew. They get to know Brook and learn about Thriller Bark and Gecko Moria. Brook tells them about his constant losses against the legendary samurai who has his shadow. Eventually, Zoro meets Ryuma, the legendary samurai from Wano Country. They clashed swords, and Ryuma recognizes Zoro as a worthy swordsman. He leaves his sword, Shusui, in his hands. Shusui, however, isn't just any ordinary sword. Like Wado Ichimonji, it's also a Great Grade Sword. Not only that, it's also a black sword like Mihawk's Yoru and considered as Wano Country's national treasure. When Ryuma dies, Shusui is buried alongside him. However, Gecko Moria steals his corpse and Shusui and gives him Brook's shadow, thus giving him another chance to roam around. Along with Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu, Shusui once again completes Zoro's three swords. However, it's traded for Zoro's next sword.

Ryuma appeared as a zombie on Thriller Bark, who had been given Brook's shadow. After his defeat, Ryuma bequeathed the sword to Roronoa Zoro, and said he was satisfied with Zoro as the sword's master. The sword then replaced Zoro's Yubashiri which was destroyed by Marine Captain Shu at Enies Lobby. It was then stolen by Gyukimaru and returned to Ryuma's grave. After that, Zoro agreed to leave Shusui behind to replace it for the offered Enma by Kozuki Hiyori.

Appearance

Shusui is a black blade that has as distinct white (reddish-purple in the anime) reverse wave hamon (hardening line) that is of a Kanemoto style and its tsuba (hand-guard) has flower-like edges in the shape of an octofoil. It also has no accessories on the hilt, being wrapped with black silk. Kashira, tsuba and kojiri end cap are golden, and the sheath is black, decorated with dark red circles split into even thirds.

In descriptive terms, Shusui is a Hira Zukuri katana with a black blade. Shusui has a solid hilt with a samegawa wrapped around it. The kashira is identical to the kojiri found at the end of the sheath. The crossguard is in the shape of a flower, with the sides being dark gold but the edge is normal gold. There are two half-circle holes on each side of the blade. A saw hamon pattern adorns the sides of this blade in a shining dark magenta while the hamon of the blade is colored purple, though it is equally as dark as the black bo-hi. Shusui has a traditional sheath, but a pattern of circles in their thirds can be found stretching across it.

After the Thriller Bark Arc, Zoro wrapped a sageo rope around the upper part of the sheath, although this was not shown in the anime until after the timeskip.

During the Dressrosa Arc in the manga, Shusui's hamon was changed to red, most likely to match its anime color.

Abilities

As one of the 21 Great Grade swords, Shusui is one of the finest swords in the world, being a national treasure of Wano and also the signature weapon of the legendary samurai, Shimotsuki Ryuma, which became a permanent black blade in his hands. Before acquiring Enma, Zoro believed that Shusui was an extremely important necessity for him in order to attain victory in his crew's upcoming decisive battle against Kaidou and the Beast Pirates.

Shusui is designed to increase both the damage potential and destructive power of the user to a tremendous extent, as was first demonstrated when Zoro used Shusui against Oars; after using Hyaku Hachi Pound Ho, it created a larger flying slash attack by absorbing the flying slash of the two other swords (Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu), thereby increasing its already great destructive power tremendously.

When used by zombie Ryuma and combined with the fencing style (Gentle Blade) of Brook using his shadow and modifications made to his already strong body, Shusui can create a strong blade version of his fencing style, making it far stronger and destructive than the original. Zoro noted that had his battle with Ryuma continued, Shusui would have broken both Sandai Kitetsu and even Wado Ichimonji, another Great Grade sword.

After receiving Shusui, Zoro commented that as a black blade, its durable enough that even if a dinosaur stepped on it, the blade wouldn't bend a millimeter. He demonstrated it firsthand by deflecting Oars' punch when the blade was wielded horizontally, defending against Neptune's gigantic Trident, and the frenzied assaults of an Energy Steroid overdosed Hyouzou.

Though it is capable of dealing extremely heavy blows, Shusui has some major problems. Among them is that it turned to be a "problem child" like Sandai Kitetsu having what Zoro described as a "temper", making it difficult to wield, as well as being significantly heavier than Yubashiri, which contributes to the decreased control Zoro has over some of his attacks. As time passed, Zoro began to master Shusui's negative attributes.

After training with Dracule Mihawk for two years, Shusui has become Zoro's favored blade and has overcome its negative attributes. In conjuncture with his improved strength and skill, Shusui significantly enhances the power of Zoro's One Sword Styleu techniques to a greater extent than what Wado Ichimonji was capable of before his training. As a testament of his mastery over Shusui after the timeskip, Zoro used it to cut a massive galleon ship in half before reuniting with his crew, decapitate an enormous dragon in one slash, and with Sandai Kitetsu and Wado Ichimonji, cleanly sliced apart Pica's mountain-sized golem with immensely powerful flying slash attacks.

History

Past

The sword originally belonged to Shimotsuki Ryuma, and was buried with its original master in Wano Country upon his death, where it was prized as a national treasure. It was said that Shusui was not always a "black blade", and it became one after many battles alongside its master.

23 years ago, Gecko Moria stole both the sword and Ryuma's body, and Wano Country was brought to its knees in shock.

Thriller Bark Arc

Ryuma wielded Shusui once again when he was revived as a zombie, and later bequeathed it to Zoro upon his defeat.

Punk Hazard Arc

Upon seeing it, Tashigi was awed.

Dressrosa Arc

After he saw it, Kin'emon became determined to challenge Zoro so the sword could be returned to Wano Country. While at a restaurant in Acacia, Shusui was stolen by a dwarf named Wicca. Zoro caught the dwarf and reclaimed his sword.

Wano Country Arc

Due to his possession of the sword, Zoro was accused of being behind a series of attacks and was sentenced to commit seppuku, while Toyama Tsujigiro, a corrupt magistrate, took Shusui for himself. Zoro managed to identify the magistrate as the real culprit and struck him down, regaining Shusui.

Shusui was later stolen by Gyukimaru, who returned it to Ryuma's grave.

In order to have Shusui remain in Wano Country, Kozuki Hiyori offered her own Great Grade sword, Enma, to Zoro as a replacement for Shusui, a proposal that Zoro accepted.

Kozuki Oden was the daimyo of Kuri in Wano Country and the son of the former shogun Kozuki Sukiyaki, being a member of the Kozuki Family. He was the husband of Kozuki Toki and the father of Momonosuke and Hiyori. Additionally, he was the leader of a group of legendary and powerful samurai known as the Nine Red Scabbards, with all of them serving as his retainers and most trusted allies.

For 5 years of his life, Oden set out to sea and became a pirate, serving as the 2nd division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and later becoming a member of the Roger Pirates. After finding Joy Boy's treasure on Laugh Tale, Oden journeyed home and made it his goal to open Wano's borders to the world by finally taking his father's place as Shogun. However, he met opposition from his usurper Kurozumi Orochi and the pirate Kaidou, who executed him 20 years before the present, in an event known as the Legendary Hour.

Oden's name was first mentioned during the Zou Arc. He is a major background character during the Wano Country Arc, being the protagonist of a series of events taking place in and outside Wano in the past.

Appearance

Oden was a large and very muscular man of towering height, standing in at 382 cm. He had long, wild hair of black color that was notably gathered into a large, flat, circular plane at the top, and also included a prominent widow's peak and triangular sideburns. He had relatively sharp, black eyes whose inner and outer corners were marked by black jags going down and up respectively, and above a pair of prominent, highly arched eyebrows.

He also wore red eyeliner around his eyes, making them look even sharper. He had a mid-sized, slightly hooked nose, a large, expressive mouth, and a broad chin. Even during his late teen years, Oden looked just like a full grown man. During his journey with the Roger Pirates, he received three scars, one on his leg, one on his arm, and one on his chest. During the five years before his demise, he grew a short goatee.

For clothes, Oden typically wore an orange kimono, leaving most of his legs exposed; the kimono had two yellow crescent moon designs on it. Oden also wore a large purple and white nio-dasuki tied around his shoulders that ran down his back. He would often alternate between this and a similar longer kimono, with his nio-dasuki worn as a belt and tied in the front. Oden also wore his swords, Enma and Ame no Habakiri, across his left waist tucked inside an obi belt. While partying with the Whitebeard Pirates, he wore a light colored shirt, dark colored pants, and a crown on his head.

Swordsmanship

Oden was an immensely skilled and powerful swordsman, having developed his variation of Two sword Style, which Oden himself called Oden Two Sword Style, known in the VIZ manga as Oden Two-Sword Style. He had immense prowess and ambidexterity in dual-wielding the legendary swords, Enma and Ame no Habakiri. According to Oden, Oden Two Sword Style is the greatest sword style.

Even at age 9, Oden was already such a skilled swordsman that he waged war against the entire yakuza and was able to fight against them all by himself in the Flower Capital until the age of 10, when he was arrested for almost killing someone. At age 18, he could strike down the massive boar hailed as the Mountain God with a single attack. Although the Mountain God was cut in half by Oden's attack, Oden's attack did not kill the Mountain God nor the citizens that it devoured. In SBS Volume 100, Oda explained that Oden's cut was so clean and precise that the severed parts of the Mountain God were able to be put back together. Oden defeated all of the outlaws and ronin of Kuri, including the region's most dangerous criminal, Ashura Doji (someone noted to be worth 100 men in battle), within a single night. In his fight with Edward Newgate, Oden was able to clash and trade blows with him, and, in the anime, matched the force of Whitebeard's quake punch by using Togen Shirataki. During his adventures with the Whitebeard Pirates, Oden easily sank a large pirate ship by cutting it in half. After his pirating career and voyage throughout the world, he was said to have grown many times stronger than before, returning to Wano "invincible and triumphant". In his first encounter with Kaidou, Oden managed to clash with him on equal terms by using only one sword. In his final fight with Kaidou, Oden became the first individual to wound the nigh-invulnerable pirate, whose durability was greatly enhanced by his Mythical Zoan powers, permanently scarring him and sending him crashing into the ground.

Even 20 years after his death, Kaidou acknowledges Oden as the strongest samurai and believes that there will never be another samurai who can match him. Despite Zoro managing to leave a second, smaller scar on Kaido by using his strongest attack, Kaido remained on his feet and was more concerned about Zoro being able to use Haoshoku Haki than the fact that Zoro scarred him, showing Oden's superiority in terms of strength, Haki, and swordsmanship over Zoro.