Zoro's first black blade was explained in Elbow

This article contains spoilers from the One Piece arc.

Key foods

• Zoro aims to be the greatest swordsman and needs power.
• Zoro can blacken his swords for a great power boost.
• Sandai Kitetsu could be Zoro's first blackened blade.

Zoro is one of the most skilled swordsmen in the world each piece. Beginning his journey to find and defeat Dracul Mihawk to claim the title of world's greatest swordsman, Zoro has come a long way since then. Currently, Zoro is in Yonko's crew, which means the standards are very high for him. And considering the fact that he is the second strongest in the group after Luffy, it means that Zoro is one of the strongest characters in the world.

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

The concept of blackening the blade in one piece

• Black blades in one piece are very rare
• Zoro can access the Black Blades

Black blades are quite special each piece The world was first introduced to a black blade when Dracul Mihawk made his debut. During the Barati arc, Zoro battled Mihawk, and while the latter did not use his original blade during the battle to deliver the finishing blow, he eventually unleashed what he called the World's Greatest Blade, Euro. The Euro is completely black from top to bottom, and at the time fans didn't pay attention to this detail. However, knowing Oda, fans weren't surprised when this became a major plot point somewhere around the Thriller Bark arc. During this arc, a legendary samurai zombie named Ryoma was introduced in the story, and it was clearly mentioned that Ryoma, like Mihawk, carried a black blade.

As an honor, I will use this black blade to strike the final blow. – Mihawk

It was Shuusui's black blade, one of the 21 supreme grade swords. Shusui is said to be extremely tough, mostly due to its blackening. The blade was given to Zoro in the Thriller Bark arc and lasted until the Wano Country arc, where he returned it to the people of the land in exchange for Enma. Of course, this was a personal loss for Zoro, but not so much in terms of power, due to the fact that Zoro received a stronger blade that helped him harness the power of Haki the Conqueror and gave him access. Advanced form of hockey weapons as well. Enma ended up being a huge tool for Zoro's advancement in One Piece.

While Enma itself was an upgrade, Oda also set up a future Power-up for Zoro in the form of Black Blades. According to Kozuki Sukiyaki, black blades are quite special each piece And any blade can be turned into a black blade. This does not necessarily mean that Haki Imbuement will temporarily blacken a blade. The idea being talked about here is permanent blackening of the blade. Constant exposure to hockey weapons, and even potentially conquering hockey, may allow someone to blacken their sword. When this happens, the blade is greatly strengthened, and more than that, it also rises in rank. This was confirmed in the Wano Country arc and basically means that the blade is greatly enhanced when one attains Blackening.

Why will Zoro turn his swords black soon?

Zoro's swords need a major boost

One Piece is finally in its final saga, and that means all the Straw Hats must now be approaching their climax. Luffy has already become a Yunko, and while he's not at his peak, he's pretty close. The same can be said for the remaining struvates. They should all be close to their peaks by now, meaning Zoro needs to reach a level where he can defeat Mihawk. Zoro has already taken advantage of Haki's advanced Conqueror power as well, and there isn't much left for him to reach the level of the Admirals and eventually Yonko.

Any blade can turn into a black blade. – Mihawk

One of the great powers 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 gradually and one after the other. Zoro can soon turn one of his swords black. In the Elbauf arc, Zoro could turn his first blade black and that would be a great power for him. Blackening a Zoro Blade reveals some very exciting details to fans, like how the process improves the sword and how it even happens in the first place.

Fans are also eager to know how blackening improves a swordsman and whether it can improve the overall strength as well as the efficiency of the blade. There are many questions left unanswered at this point in time, and they will only be tackled when Zoro blackens his first sword.

Which sword does Zoro turn black first?

Zoro can blacken Sundae Kitsu first

Currently, Zoro has three extremely powerful swords in his hands. His most precious blade is the Wado Ichimonji, one of the 21 Great Swords. Enma belongs to a similar rank and is by far his strongest sword. And then there's the Sandai Kitetsu, which is the weakest of the blades that Zoro carries. Considering that all of these swords are very powerful, the blade that Zoro turns black first is probably the weakest blade. This allows for stronger powers to be saved for later. The Sandai Kitetsu could be the first blade to turn Zoro black, and if that actually happens, Zoro would have a very powerful blade at his disposal.

Currently, fans don't know how much of a rating boost a blade gets when blacked out. At the very least, fans should expect Sanda Keitsu to become one of the 21 Supreme Grade Swords. If this actually happened, then all three of Zoro's blades would be of the same rank, ensuring that he would rise in power. Maybe the blackening of the blades will also allow Zoro to use Haki better and not waste it as usual. This could be the boost Zoro needs to maximize his use of the King of Hell style and hopefully allow him to grow even stronger than he already is.

In addition, the blackening of the blade means that Zoro's overall cutting power increases dramatically and he can then deliver even more deadly blows. Hopefully, the challenges that Elbauf poses for Zoro will be enough for him to reach the top and blacken one of his powerful blades.

One Piece is available to read through Viz Media. Those interested can read this series officially and for free in Shonen Jump and Manga Plus applications. The release date for the next One Piece chapter, One Piece 1131, is set for November 11, 2024.