Zoro's first Black Blade on Elbaf, explained

This article contains spoilers from the Elbaf arc of One Piece.

Key takeaways

• Zoro aims to become the greatest swordsman and needs power-ups.
• Zoro can blacken his sword to increase its strength.
• Sandai Kitetsu could be Zoro's first black blade.

Zoro is one of the most skilled swordsmen in the world a piece. As Dracul embarks on a journey to find and defeat Mihawk to claim the title of world's greatest swordsman, Zoro has made great strides for himself. Right now, Zoro is on Yonko's team, which means the standards for him are very high. And, given the fact that he is the second strongest in the crew after Luffy, this indicates that Zoro is one of the strongest characters in the world.

That said, Zoro is far from his peak, and still needs a lot of power. While strength can be gained by training the body, Zoro can not only strengthen himself but also his sword. Interestingly, the concept of powering up your swords was introduced in the Wano Country arc, and fans know that Zoro has a way to become even stronger if he manages to achieve the power of blade blackening.

The concept of blade blackening in one piece

• Black blades are very rare in one piece
• Zoro can gain access to black blades

Black blades are very special a piece the world Fans were first introduced to the Black Blade when Dracula Mihawk debuted. During the Barati arc, Zoro battled Mihawk, and while not using his main blade in the fight to deliver the final blow, he eventually took out the blade he called the World's Largest, Yoru. Yoru is black from top to bottom, and at the time, fans didn't notice this detail. However, as Oda knows, fans weren't surprised when a major plot point revolved around the thriller Bark's arc. During this arc, a zombie of a legendary samurai named Ryouma was introduced into the story, and it was clearly mentioned that Ryouma also carried a black blade like Mihawk.

Out of respect, I will use this black blade to strike the final blow. – Mihak

It was the Black Blade Shusui, one of the 21 Great Grade Swords. Shusui was said to be incredibly strong, much of which was attributed to its blackness. It came into Zoro's possession in the Blade Thriller Bark arc, and reached the Wano Country arc, where he returned the role to the humans in exchange for Enma. Of course, this was a personal loss for Zoro, but not so much in terms of power, as Zoro gained a stronger blade that allowed him to tap into the power of victorious Haki, to give him access. Also an advanced form of armament hockey. Enma became a great tool for Zoro to progress into One Piece.

While Enma itself was an upgrade, Oda also set a future power-up for Zoro in the form of the Black Blade. According to Kozuki Sukiyaki, black blades are special a piece And any blade can be turned into a black blade. This does not necessarily mean that the blade is temporarily blackened by the haki embument. The idea here is the permanent blackening of the blade. Continuity with Armament Haki, and potentially even Conqueror's Haki, may allow one to blacken his sword. Once this happens, the blade becomes very strong, and more than that, it also increases in rank. This was confirmed in the Wano Country arc, and it essentially means that a blade becomes very strong when blackening is achieved.

Why would Zoro blacken his sword soon?

Zoro's sword needs a major power boost

One Piece is finally in its final saga, and that means all the Straw Hats must now be nearing their peak. Luffy is already a Yonko, and while he's not at the peak of his power, he's pretty close. The same can be said for the rest of the Strahats. All of them should be close to their peak by now, which means Zoro should also be close to being at a level where he can defeat Mihawk. Zoro has already tapped into the advanced conqueror's Haki powers, and there isn't much left for him to reach the same level as the admirals and eventually the Yonko.

Any blade can become a black blade. – Mihak

A great power-up that Zoro can get soon is getting the Black Blade. However, Zoro has three blades in one piece, not just one. This means that these power-ups can come sequentially, one after the other. Zoro can potentially turn one of his swords black quickly. In the Elbaf arc, Zoro can blacken his first blade, and it will be a huge power-up for him. Zoro's blackening of the blade will reveal many exciting details to fans, such as how the process refines the sword, and how it happens in the first place.

Fans are also curious to know how blackening improves a swordsman, and whether it can improve overall strength as well as blade efficiency. There are many questions that remain unanswered at the moment, and they will only be resolved when Zoro goes to blacken his first sword.

Which sword will blacken first?

Zoro can block Sandai Kitetsu first

Right now, Zoro is wielding three incredibly powerful swords. His most prized blade is the Wado Ichimonji, one of the 21 Great Grade Swords. Enma is of the same rank and is his strongest sword to date. And, then there's the Sandai Kitetsu, the weakest of all the blades Zoro carries. Considering that all of these swords are very powerful, it's likely that the blade that Zoro blackens first is the weakest. This will hold stronger power-ups for later. The Sandai Kitetsu could be the first blade Zoro ever blackened, and if that was indeed finished, Zoro would have a very powerful blade at his disposal.

Right now, fans don't know how much of an upgrade in level Blade Black will be. At the very least, fans should expect Sandai Kitetsu to become one of the 21 Great Grade Swords. If this really happened, all three of Zoro's blades would be of the same grade and this would ensure that he was level up in terms of strength. Perhaps, darkening the blades would allow Zoro to wield Haki better and not waste as much as he normally would. This could be the boost Zoro needs to make the most of his King of Hell style, and hopefully, it will allow him to become even stronger than he currently is.

On top of that, blackening the blade means that Zoro's cutting power will increase dramatically overall, and he will then be able to deliver even more deadly blows. Hopefully, the challenges Elbaf poses for Zoro will be enough to push him to the extreme and blacken one of his mighty blades.

A piece is available to read through Viz Media. Series fans can read the series officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1131 is set for November 11, 2024.