Why are Zoro fans excited for One Piece chapter 1111? Explained

One Piece chapter 1111 promises several thrilling developments in the plot that have heightened fan anticipation. The storytelling will continue from the previous installment of the manga, which revealed the fearsome transformations of the Five Elders, and showed the conclusion of the battle between Roronoa Zoro and Rob Lucci.

As expected, Zoro demonstrated his overwhelming superiority over the villain. The green-haired swordsman didn’t even use his peak power, the King of Hell Style, and yet still brutally defeated Lucci. With that being said, the best might be yet to come, which has excited fans considerably.

Although he has already contributed to the fight by beating the merciless Lucci, Zoro might play an even bigger role in One Piece chapter 1111. Set to officially release on March 25, 2024, One Piece chapter 1111 will continue the narration of the Egghead Incident with new compelling developments, and Zoro could be the protagonist in the same.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1111.

One Piece chapter 1111 sets up Zoro vs V. Nusjuro, the evil swordsman of the Five Elders

Previous events hint at big developments in One Piece chapter 1111

Teleporting themselves through summoning circles, the Gorosei arrived on Egghead to stop the broadcasting of Vegapunk’s message to the world. Zoro, who was engaged in battle with Rob Lucci, perceived the Gorosei’s fearsome Haki, and was distracted by it.

Taking advantage of Zoro’s lapse in concentration, Lucci knocked one of his swords up in the air. Unfortunately for Lucci, however, Zoro was no longer in the mood to play, as he had just heard Sanji blaming him for endangering everyone by playing around with Lucci.

Upset by those words, Zoro decided to end the fight. Lucci attacked him with an upgraded Rokushiki technique, the Hand Gun: Spots, but Zoro easily dodged the incoming strikes. At the same time, he grabbed his sword, which was still spinning in the air earlier.

Zoro then counterattacked Lucci, defeating him with a single blow. Struck by Zoro’s Three Sword Style: Huhuva Hell Leopard Hunt, a rotating, fast slash empowered with Advanced Conqueror’s Haki, Lucci immediately lost consciousness. Everything unfolded before the eyes of Jinbe, who was watching the scene in awe.

Just as Zoro was showcasing his exceptional strength, another formidable swordsman appeared on Egghead. The person concerned was none other than Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, one of the Gorosei.

Transformed into a hybrid between a human and the legendary Bakotsu, a skeletal horse enveloped in flames, Nusjuro showed a glimpse of his powers, which was enough to hint at the insane extent of his might.

Moving at blazing speed, to the point where the Marines couldn’t even see him, Nusjuro ran across Egghead to neutralize the Mark III Pacifista cyborgs. Within a few seconds, he single-handedly disabled half the countless Pacifista present on the entire island.

Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro (Image via Toei Animation)

Even though Nusjuro cut the Pacifista, he didn’t destroy them. This was because he didn’t use his sword to bisect the Pacifista, but only employed it as a medium to unleash the powers of the Bakotsu. With this special ability, Nusjuro froze the cyborgs, in order to allow the World Government to re-use them in the future.

Having defeated Lucci by a wide margin, Zoro is now free from any other employment, if not to help his comrades prepare for the escape from Egghead. As the second strongest member of the Straw Hat Pirates after Luffy himself, Zoro is set to assist his captain, who is already facing some of the Five Elders, the major obstacle to the getaway of the Straw Hats.

Things get even more interesting as Nusjuro is the perfect matchup for Zoro. Fans have been speculating about the two of them fighting since the first appearance of the Five Elders. This highly anticipated confrontation might take place in One Piece chapter 1111, as, according to an intriguing theory, this chapter should be centered around “Pirate Hunter” Zoro.

One Piece chapter 1111 seems to have a special meaning

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One Piece mangaka Eiichiro Oda loves playing with numbers, to the point where he often synchronizes elements and details of the story with precise number references. For example, Oda deliberately arranged the events of the Dressrosa Arc in order to make appear Luffy’s Gear 4 form in chapter 783.

This number was the exact reverse of 387, the number of the chapter in which Luffy’s Gear 2 transformation was first shown. These references are a constant in Oda’s story, considering how he meticulously arranged the events in order to introduce certain major characters in certain precise chapters.

Shanks and Gol D. Roger were introduced in chapter 1, Dracule Mihawk in chapter 50, Monkey D. Dragon in chapter 100, and Silvers Rayleigh in chapter 500. Admittedly, Oda’s fixation on numbers is such that it makes one wonder whether One Piece is a manga or a numerology book.

One Piece chapter 1111 should be very important for Zoro (Image via ZAKI chapter 1111/X)

After the events of the Wano Arc, given Zoro’s impressive feats and achievements, it was reasonable to expect him to be awarded an insanely high bounty. However, he received a reward of 1.111.000.000 berries, which, while stunningly high, still doesn’t do justice to his power and status.

This is little wonder, as Oda based Zoro’s bounty not on his combat prowess, but on his date of birth, which is November 11. Hence, in its numbering, One Piece chapter 1111 features both Zoro’s birthdate and bounty at once.

Knowing Oda, this rare coincidence is anything but random. Granted, it remains a fan theory, but it makes sense to expect big things from Zoro in One Piece chapter 1111. It must also be noted that Zoro’s 11/11 birthdate symbolizes that the former is a samurai.

Looking forward to One Piece chapter 1111, the foreshadowing is clear (Image via Lostman/X)

Zoro is a descendant of the Shimotsuki Family, and the name of this clan means “month of frost”, which is the traditional Japanese name for the month of November, which is Zoro’s birth month. Apart from “month of frost”, the word “Shimotsuki” can be read as “samurai”, further linking Zoro to Japanese swordsmen par excellence.

Nefertari Vivi used to call Zoro “Mr Bushido”, which is another reference by Oda to Zoro’s samurai ancestry. Indeed, it’s now known that the strongest samurai of all time, Shimotsuki Ryuma, was Zoro’s forefather. Interestingly, V. Nusjuro might also have a narrative connection with Ryuma.

Nusjuro might be Zoro's opponent in One Piece chapter 1111

Fans can't wait to see Zoro vs Nusjuro in One Piece chapter 1111 (Image via ilan/X)

The Five Elders are immortal, or, at the very least, age very differently compared to normal humans, meaning that Nusjuro could have met Ryuma centuries ago, when the latter was alive. It was stated that, back in the day, Ryuma single-handedly protected Wano from all the pirates and World Nobles who tried to seize the land and its gold.

As it’s well known, the Five Elders are the highest-ranked World Nobles. What’s even more interesting, Nusjuro holds the title of Warrior God of Finance, a designation which suggests that gold is one of the things he is most interested in.

Thus, it’s possible that Nusjuro was among the enemies that “Sword God” Ryuma fought and defeated hundreds of years before the present narration. This seems all the more likely, considering that the Five Elders and Imu-sama are known to be enemies of Joy Boy, while Ryuma was stated to be a hero of the same caliber as the latter.

Will Zoro and Nusjuro clash in One Piece chapter 1111? (Image via Romance Dawn Trio/X)

Ryuma died undefeated, but somehow suffered a scan in his left eye. It’s not too far fetched to think that Nusjuro lost to the all-powerful Ryuma, but still managed to wound him, leaving him with that scar.

At the moment, this is just guesswork, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it turned out that Ryuma was a friend and comrade of Joy Boy, just like his descendant Zoro is the right-hand man of Monkey D. Luffy, the individual known to be the second coming of Joy Boy himself.

After learning to use the Advanced Conqueror’s Haki, an ability that only the most powerful One Piece characters can develop, Zoro has become strong enough to crush fighters of the caliber of King and Lucci with relative ease. As one of the strongest, if not the strongest Gorosei, Nusjuro would be the perfect test to see just how powerful is Zoro now.

Zoro's strength might be tested for real in One Piece chapter 1111 (Image via Neel/X)

Other than powerscaling, a fight between Zoro and Nusjuro would also be amazing for the lore, as the Elder’s sword seems to be the Shodai Kitetsu, the superior version of Zoro’s signature Sandai Kitetsu. The parallels do not end here, as Zoro now goes under the name of “King of Hell”, and wields a blade called Enma, which is the name of the Buddhist ruler of the underworld.

With this sword, he can use ravaging fiery attacks, such as the Flying Dragon Blaze, a move powerful enough to threaten Kaido’s incolumity even before Zoro upgraded his skills by learning how to imbue his attacks with Conqueror’s Haki. On the other hand, Nusjuro can turn himself into a demonic flaming horse and perform freezing attacks.

Nusjuro and Zoro are equal and opposite at the same time, making their matchup absolutely exciting. Sooner or later, these two outstanding swordsmen are fated to clash. Based on Oda’s typical number-based symbolism, this amazing fight might very well take place in One Piece chapter 1111.