Warning! Spoilers for One Piece chapter 1038 ahead!
The Straw Hat Pirates have faced many hardships during their journey in One Piece, but not even in their fiercest battles has one of them gotten so close to death as Zoro does in the latest chapter of the hit manga series.
The Wano Arc is one of the longest in the history of One Piece, and it revolves around the conflict between Luffy’s crew, their samurai allies, and two of the strongest pirates in the world: the Emperors Kaido and Big Mom. The battle for Onigashima is the final conflict in the arc, and it sees the pirate-samurai alliance storm Kaido’s castle to take his head and break his stranglehold over the country of Wano. The Four Emperors (Yonkou), however, stand at the top of the pirates in the New World, the most dangerous part of the Grand Line. With such powerful enemies, it is only natural that Luffy and his friends have to put their lives on the line if they hope to succeed, but one of the strongest members of the Straw Hat crew might have to pay the consequences.
Zoro is the swordsman of the Thousand Sunny, and the very first companion that Luffy recruited during his journey. His strength in battle has always been second only to his captain, as Zoro has devoted his whole life to becoming the greatest swordsman in the world. Every time that the Straw Hats face an enemy group, Zoro usually has the job of taking out the second strongest opponent, while Luffy deals with the boss, and he has never failed, even after facing dangerous foes such as Mr. 1, Kaku, Pica, and Ryuma. During the battle for Onigashima, however, Zoro comes face to face with the second-in-command of the Beasts Pirates and Kaido’s most trusted lieutenant, King the Wildfire. King is without a doubt the strongest opponent Zoro has ever crossed blades with. Besides his mastery of Busoshoku Haki and the powers granted by the Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Pteranodon, King is also the last known member of the legendary race of the Lunarians, possessing superhuman strength, resistance, and the ability to control flames. To defeat him, Zoro has to push himself beyond his limits, but perhaps he goes too far.
Before facing King, Zoro also fights against Kaido and Big Mom, together with Luffy and three other pirates of the Worst Generation: Trafalgar Law, Eustass Kid, and Killer. During that clash, Zoro withstands a combined attack from the two Emperors, Ocean Sovereignty, which breaks every bone in his body. He is able to recuperate and battle King thanks to a special “super recovery” medicine used by the Minks people, which however has powerful side-effects that are revealed only in chapter 1038. Chopper the Straw Hat medic says that all the damage that Zoro has suffered will come back many times worse once the recovery effect wears off, and considering that he broke all his bones before taking the medicine, his life is at risk. To confirm Chopper’s fears, Zoro is shown immediately after, unable to move after his fight with King, facing an ominous figure that is none other than Death itself. Appearing in the traditional guise of a robed skeleton with a scythe, Death is poised to strike down Zoro, who is completely powerless.
There could be many explanations for the scene shown in chapter 1038. Zoro could be delirious, hallucinating during a near-death experience. Perhaps his crewmate Brook, who is also a skeleton, is standing in front of him and the exhausted Zoro is mistaking him for Death. However, One Piece‘s creator Eiichiro Oda is an inexhaustible well of ideas: he could be introducing a whole new character here,who may or may not be Death. Something this bizarre would surely not be beyond the mangaka’s wild imagination, but fans of One Piece will have to wait until the next chapter to find out if Death is really coming for Zoro.
