The world's most successful manga, a pieceIt has been running continuously for almost three decades. The story was created by Eiichiro Oda, and has since grown so large that it features a cast made up of thousands of characters, many of whom have their own unique stories to tell and powers to display. Having said that, a pieceFor the most part, the focus is on Luffy and his Straw Hat Crew. Among the Straw Hat Pirates, the swordsman, Roronoa Zoro, is a fan favorite.
Despite his popularity, however, Zoro's backstory in the manga was short and, until now, considered weak by many, but a new novel is coming out that explores his pre-piracy days, as well as the history of Wado Ichimonji. On July 3, 2026, the lore of Zoro's beloved sword, Wado Ichimonji, and his difficult life before Luffy will finally be revealed.
The new one-piece novel will officially expand Zoro's past on July 3, 2026.
a piece Debuted in Weekly Shōnen Jump issue #34 on July 22, 1997. Years later, this story of Eiichiro Oda still continues and drops almost weekly with a few breaks every now and then. The main character of a pieceLuffy, appeared in the first chapter of the story. His first friend, Zorro, appeared shortly after a piece Chapter 3, which was released on August 4, 1997 in Shuisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump issue #36. While Zoro joined the crew in Chapter 6, we only got our first glimpse of his character through a brief backstory in Chapter 5 in Weekly Shonen Jump issue #39 on August 25,979.
Zoro's backstory tells of his past in the village of Shimotsuki, where he died challenging a girl named Kuina, who made him aim to become the world's strongest swordsman through an unbreakable promise. Kuina's death was tragic, and for the most part, that's what shaped him into the man he is today. This is the gist of what we know about Zoro's past, although Oda also reveals his family tree in One Piece SBS Volume 105, and expanded a bit more on his past in One Piece Chapter 1033, which was officially released on November 21, 2021 in Shueisha's Weekly Issuns #2.
“I have to fulfill my promise to both of us. I'm going to become such a great swordsman that my name will be known even in heaven!!” – After the death of Zoro Kuina, One Piece Chapter #5
Now, 29 years later, a new Zoro novel is being released on July 3, 2026, and with it, we're going to learn more about his past. Although this story will not focus on Zoro's life when he was a child, it will still focus on the days before he joins the Straw Hat Pirates in Eastern Blue. We have 3 chapters of this novel which was released in the year 2012 a piece Magazines in 2024 and 2025, but a new chapter is now on the way.
Through the short synopsis revealed to us, we know that this new chapter is going to tell the story of how Zoro and Yosaku met two interesting characters who met in the East Blue Saga. Zoro is also about to fight a new villain worth 300,000 berries. This bounty may seem low today, but back in the Eastern Blue days, it wasn't too shabby.
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The story of Wado Ichimonji, One Piece's most iconic sword, is going to be explored in the new Zorro Backstory release.
Zoro is going to be the main attraction of the novel written by Esaka, but from the short synopsis of the new chapter, it seems that it will also reveal new information about his most prized sword, Wado Ichimonji. Wado Ichimonji is not Zoro's strongest sword, but it is the most important to his character. It was given to him by Shimotsuki Koshiro after the death of Kuina, its previous wielder. It was revealed to have been created by Shimotsuki Kozaburo in Wano. This is the sword Zoro has pursued his entire life, and its power is about to be demonstrated in this new battle. We can't wait for more of the lore revolving around the Wado Ichimonji to be revealed, as it's a sword that Zoro will never give up on, even given a strong alternative.
“The most likely reason why it sounds familiar to you must be some twist of fate. You see, that white blade, Wado Ichimonji and Enma were both made by the same person!! The blacksmith Shimotsuki Kozaburo. He broke the law and left this land 50 years ago.” — Tenguyama Hitetsu, One Piece Chapter #955
The Zorro novel is non-canon, but the manga provides interesting material despite the lack of backstory
The New Zoro novel is going to be an exciting read for fans of the character, but as said before, this novel is written by Joon Esaka, not Eiichiro Oda. a piece. In that sense, the novel is non-canon, especially since it is not overseen by Oda. The One Piece website previously claimed that it was supervised by Eiichiro Oda, but that statement was retracted on April 30, 2024, confirming Oda's lack of involvement in the creation of the story. Oda's most recent involvement with the novel comes through the most recent artwork he did for it on June 23, 2026. In this illustration, Oda shows himself briefly joking with Zoro and advertising a new novel.
Oda: “Take a peek!!”
Zoro: “Who told you to talk?”
Aside from a brief ad from the author, there's no involvement from him, so while it's a fun story, it's still non-canon in the grand scheme of things. However, with Zoro's entire backstory in the manga being half a chapter long, and only adding more information via SBS, this novel is still a nice addition to his character. However, it should not be treated as a reflection of canon material or true one-off events and details. Often, fans confuse the supplementary material with the manga and confuse these details with the actual events of Oda's story. Unless otherwise stated, most One Piece novels are non-canon. The Ace novel, officially supervised by Eiichiro Oda, is one of the very few novels that is canon to the overarching story of the One Piece world.
All chapters of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga are available to read through Manga Plus and Viz Media. Meanwhile, the new Zoro novel will be available to read in Japan on July 3, 2026. Localization may happen through Viz Media, unfortunately.
