Summary:
As Zoro remembers his past regarding an old man he once knew, clues from his memory help him realize the secret necessary to truly master Enma.
Zoro retrieves two of his swords and continues to attack the king. The two engage in an intense exchange of blows. King will launch his Barizodon attack. Zoro senses Enma nearby and immediately rushes to retrieve her. When Zoro grabs Enma, it immediately drains his Haki and destroys his arm. King attacks him relentlessly and barely manages to block Lunar Cuts. Zoro falls and Enma continues to vacuum him up.
Zoro recalls learning about the battle cry “Sunacchi” and how Momonosuke was forbidden to utter such a cry. He explained to the young daimyo that he had learned it long ago from an old man in his village. He remembers an old man who was always at the seashore. He also recalls Hitetsu explaining that his two swords, Wado Ichimonji and Enma, were both forged by the legendary swordsman Shimotsuki Kozuburo.
Zoro remembers the events in the village in East Blue thirteen years ago. Young Zoro trained with Kuina, his childhood friend, at the Isshin Dojo. Kuina easily disarmed him and knocked him to the ground. Determined to defeat his opponent, Zoro went to the coast to train. There he saw an old man looking towards the sea. Sensing that Zoro was a bit down, the old man taught him the battle cry of “Sunacchi”, which he said was a word for happiness that lifted one’s soul. Zoro told him that there was no point to such a strange word, but he asked the old man if he was a samurai since everyone in the dojo said so. Instead of answering, the old man told Zoro to think nothing of the gossip. He then told the young boy that Marines would soon attack their village, but he refused to tell him why and told him to go home. However, instead of going home, Zoro began training while the old man looked on.
After Zoro explained why he was training hard, the old man offered to give Zoro two of his swords that he forged himself. He explained that they were blunt so Zoro could use them for practice. The old man explained that swords were made to kill. Each sword had a personality and it was the swordsman’s job to tame them. He went on to say that the “cursed sword” was a beautiful sword and was called that simply because the weak feared it. The old man remembered the sword he had forged when he was younger. He considered it the greatest piece he had created in his life. Just by holding the blade it caused the wielder to freeze, hence he called it the “Great King of Hell”. Remembering all of this, Zoro realizes that the sword in question – the Great King of Hell – was none other than Enma.
Outside, Momonosuke accidentally grabs Kaidou’s Flame Clouds. He realizes that since he is also a dragon, he can control and manipulate the clouds. He continues to try to divert Onigashima’s path.
Meanwhile, Zoro is piecing together clues to the history of his village. It was no coincidence that the village was called Shimotsuki. Hitetsu mentioned that Shimotsuki Kozaburo left Wano over fifty years ago. With all this information and his memories, Zoro deduces that the old man and Kozaburo are one and the same. He remembers Kozaburo explaining that it is a sword that chooses its wielder. With that, Zoro understood that Enma had chosen him and was simply testing him.
He recalls one night when he was younger and challenged Kuina to their duel in 2001, all of which were won by the latter. Zoro cried in frustration, but Kuina told him that she was the one who should be frustrated. Her father told her that as a girl she could never surpass a man as a swordsman. She envied Zoro that he was a boy because she too wanted to become the greatest in the world. Hearing Kuina say those words made Zoro angry as he tried to get over her saying it was an insult to all the hard training he had been doing. With this, the two made a pact to become the world’s greatest swordsman. The following day, Kuina died after falling down the stairs. Distraught, Zoro begged Kuina’s father to give him Kuina’s sword and also promised to make it so strong that his name reached her in heaven.
Back in the present, Zoro realizes that Enma wasn’t draining him out of anger and admits that he just missed him so he was unable to resist the sword unlike Oden who used it with ease even though the sword took so much of his Haki. Zoro tries to figure out how to control the flow of his Haki and keep it from draining and ultimately causing his death. Rather than fight the effects of the sword, he decides to let Enma take his Haki and “conquer” him, releasing his Haoshoku Haki and rendering the nearby Beast Pirates unconscious. The king notices this and asks if he was trying to be king. Zoro replies that he just remembered his promise to Luffy and Kuina.