Highlights

Zoro's dream to become the World's Strongest Swordsman hinges on mastering incredible abilities and strength throughout his journey.
Zoro's recent power-ups, including Conqueror's Haki Infusion, have pushed him to a new level of strength in battle against tough opponents.
Zoro must improve his control over his powers, such as Conqueror's Haki, and further enhance his abilities to blacken his swords for ultimate strength.

Roronoa Zoro, the swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates, is one of the most incredible characters that Oda has written into his story. Being the number two of the pirate crew, it is no surprise for the fans to know that Zoro is absolutely essential for the story to move forward. Zoro is important for Luffy to become the Pirate King, and at the same time, there are other aspects of this character that elevate the story as well. One of the most important aspects of Zoro's character is his dream to become the World's Strongest Swordsman, which depends entirely on strength alone.

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As such, Zoro craves strength, and attaining it has always been a big character arc for him throughout his journey. Clearly, Zoro has come very far, and fans have seen quite a lot of that in the final saga of the story as well. However, there are still things that Zoro must attain if he is truly to become the strongest swordsman in the entire world. Zoro might be incredibly powerful, however, he is not at the top yet, which means there are many abilities that he must yet attain.

Zoro's Power-up In Wano

Zoro's incredible journey has seen him go from strength to strength over the years, and one absolutely cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that he has become a magnificent fighter over the years. In fact, Zoro's current level of strength is mesmerizing, and such that the vast majority of the fighters in the One Piece world already don't stand a chance against him. However, that certainly is not to say that Zoro is already at the top. For instance, in the Wano Country arc, Zoro attained incredible powers, however, he was still not in the same league as the Emperors of the Sea whom he fought against on the rooftop of Onigashima.

Still, Zoro did what he could do in this arc, and in his fight against King, even though he was largely dominated for the vast majority of it, he gained tremendous powers. Zoro was given access to the legendary blade of Enma during this arc, and in the Onigashima section of the story, it was his job to bring out the best of the blade. Although he did struggle with Enma quite a bit initially, Zoro eventually managed to gain control over it, and when he truly allowed it to suck as much Haki as it wanted, he unlocked the power of Conqueror's Haki Infusion. This ability was absolutely incredible and it pushed Zoro to the next level.

Having unlocked Conqueror's Haki Infusion, and the ability to use Ryuo, Zoro could fight against even the toughest of opponents in battle. His fight against King wrapped up pretty quickly once he gained access to these abilities, which just goes to show that Zoro is on a completely different level of strength at the moment.

While Conqueror's Haki and Advanced Armament Haki certainly did help Zoro greatly in terms of strengthening, Zoro was the first one to acknowledge the fact that his control over these powers was not great. In fact, Zoro cannot even utilize Enma for too long, and if he does so, then he runs the risk of actually dying in battle. That is precisely why he was aiming to end the fight against King as soon as possible, and, at the same time, why Zoro collapsed after the fight was done. As such, there are many aspects of strength that Zoro must improve before moving forward in One Piece, and fans are incredibly excited to see what the straw hat swordsman does next.

Zoro's Next Power-Up – Mastering Conqueror's Haki

Clearly, Zoro has to advance greatly if he intends to defeat someone as strong as Mihawk. He's not on that level just yet, and it will certainly take him some time to reach that pedestal. Right now, Zoro himself recognized what he needed to do next, and clearly, the focus for him should be to know how to control his Haki better. Zoro can utilize incredible abilities when he is channeling his King of Hell form, however, the duration for which he can use the power of this incredible mode is not all that great.

As such, the focus of Zoro should be to be able to maximize using the King of Hell mode and, to that end, regulate his Haki better. Once he's able to do that, be it by increasing his stamina or by training his body and mind in other ways, Zoro will be able to reach the next level.

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Curiously, his fight against Lucci does well to serve that benefit. Fighting against someone with incredibly high endurance and stamina is surely going to aid Zoro greatly in combat, and that is precisely what he needs at the moment. Regardless of whether Zoro versus Lucci ends or if it is interrupted, this is great practice for him, and once he fights several of such enemies, he is then going to be able to attain a new level of strength, which is exactly what he should be after at this point in time.

The Blackening Of Enma, Wado, And Sandai Kitetsu

Once Zoro manages to master these aspects of power, the next step for him is going to constitute the ultimate power for a swordsman in One Piece, and that is going to be the blackening of his swords. The concept of blackening was properly introduced in Wano, when Sukiyaki mentioned that any sword can be blackened permanently. Once a blade blackens, it can then rise in rank, and that means all of Zoro's blades will go up in terms of rank and power as well. Right now, Zoro does not possess any black blade, and it will certainly take him some time to attain this incredible feat. It is highly likely that once Zoro completely masters the ability to infuse his swords with Conqueror's Haki without running the risk of dying, he will blacken his swords.

In the final saga of One Piece, Zoro's ultimate power-up is going to be the blackening of all three of his blades. Once that happens, two of Zoro's swords will be the Supreme Grade, and one would be of the Great Grade Sword. It is also possible that Zoro will have all three Supreme Grade Swords, depending on how the concept of blackening itself works. Regardless, however, what fans can be absolutely certain about, is that Zoro will have three black blades by the end of One Piece, and this will push him to the level where he can fight and defeat Mihawk. By that point in time, Zoro will be just as strong as any other Emperor of the Sea. That said, the path to that is not easy at all, and it will certainly take Zoro some time to get to that level. For now, Zoro has to focus on what is in front of him and try to strengthen himself in that way.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1109, is set to be March 3, 2024.