Who Is Going To Be Captured?

Fukurokuju's words might very well come true. "Capture one of them, no matter who it is, the torture will reveal us all their plans..." This scenario is highly likely to happen, someone among the pirate alliance will get captured and tortured. It would explain and show us what happened to Killer and possibly we could see other members of Kidd pirates in torture chambers.

The question, like the title says - Who is going to get captured and tortured?
It could be almost anyone aside from Luffy and those who aren't present in Flower Capital currently. There are few candidates who have the highest chances to get captured and those are the ones that were shown right after Fukurokuju said those words - Zoro, Sanji, Usopp and possibly Law.

Zoro is already injured and with Kyoshiro there it's not an unthinkable scenario that he gets captured. He could possibly handle the torture the best among all candidates but still it would show it's horrors. It might have been foreshadowed even, back in Ebisu town, when people told him he should smile more, he might be fed a Smile fruit... However, he is currently saving Hiyori so it might also not be him.

Usopp getting captured is something likely and theory about his capture already exists. He would be put to a test as a brave man of the seas. We all expect him to spill the beans fast and he even agreed in discussion with Nami but the opposite might happen. He is currently saving O-Toko so it also might not be him.

Sanji is what looks to me the most likely candidate because he isnt saving anyone currently and while Usopp fled the scene with O-Toko it seems like Zoro is fleeing too with Hiyori while Sanji remains in the clash with X-Drake and gets worked up because he called him a Vinsmoke. I expect the torture to trigger whatever modifications that werent triggered when Judge did those experiments on his children.

Another likely candidate could be Law. It seems like he is in a helpless situation considering that Hawkins has life links with his crew and Bepo's location is unknown... I expected him to get captured back then together with Luffy but it's not too late and Hawkins said he would be joining the prison soon. Not sure what to expect from Law's torture...

Sanji And Zoro Are Equally Strong!

I know that right now it looks like Zoro is much stronger than Sanji, but bear with me. This theory stems from something that happened lot of time ago, precisely during the Little Garden Arc. In the beginning of the arc, Zoro and Sanji both went hunting and ended up arguing about who got the biggest prey while they were pretty much the same size. Fast forward at the end of the arc, it is revelead Dorry and Brogy started arguing for the same reason who killed the biggest Sea King and from then they fought countless duels without ever finding a winner. This is Oda’s concept of rivals. Just like Whitebeard and Roger or Roger and Garp fought countless times without nobody ever winning. Till the timeskip, this holds perfectly. They are always arguing about their bounties and they almost always battle similar strength opponents.

To explain my point let’s look at what Oda has given us.

Firstly, Sanji and Zoro instantly take a disliking with each other with a kinda love hate rivalry with one constantly trying to one up the other. This back in forth would be alot less comedic and meaningful if Zoro was on a higher tier than Sanji. It even translates to their enemies who all share similar relationships to their strawhats counterparts. Mr 1 and 2, Kaku and Jabra, etc…

Secondly, there’s the fact of their abilities. Zoro has greater physical strength, durability, and Armament Haki. But Sanji has superior speed, Observation Haki and is smarter. They each are Masters in their own respective styles of combat, hinting that if they fought a victory between the 2 would be highly circumstantial. If Zoro hits Sanji it would devastating, but if Sanji can avoid Zoro there’s really nothing he could do to end the fight. Lot of fans claim that Zoro is now stronger and the gap has increased since the New World but consider this have they been fighting opponents on the same level? The answer is NO!

Vergo could murder Monet and Doffy is obviously stronger than Pika. Most of Zoro opponents have either been severely weaker or ran from him where as Sanji had legit hard to fight opponents. Both had hints of their next power ups showcased at Wano: Sanji’s raid suit and Zoro’s black blades. So I feel like people are quick to jump on the whole Zoro is waaay stronger wagon when there is no info to support that as a fact.

Koushirou/Zoro’s Connection with Wano Has Been Confirmed!

Recently we have learned that Zoro has taught Momonosuke a unusual word to shout when training his sword skill and that word is “snatch”. Momonosuke is immediately told not to use that word because in the old Kuri Dialect there was a yell like that as well and it is not befitting of someone with Momosuke’s status. In the panel you will notice they show Zoro in a scary pose and there is sweat coming down O-Kiku’s face as she warns Momosuke not to use that word implying that she is really downplaying how big of deal it really is for him to use that word. The other thing we can take away from this is that she says “it may just be coincidence” but from a writing stand point you are just not going to say this unless it is most certainly not a coincidence, this is foreshadowing.

Kiku’s reaction to “snatch” made me think of word taboos in ancient China or Japan. People would avoid words that were associated with negative things or bad luck and some of these superstitions are still present today, for example avoiding the number 4 because it sounds like “death”.

From there I came up with a theory:

Maybe the “snatch” yell is related to an ancient samurai clan that inhabited Kuri a long time ago – definitely before Kiku’s time 20 years ago. It could have been that clan’s trademark shout or battle cry, being described as “a way to strengthen your heart when your courage falters”.
The clan later became infamous/was exterminated for whatever reason, and everything connected to it, including their distinctive yell, became taboo for the people of Wano, who started to avoid anything related to them out of fear of bad luck or repercussions. So “snatch” became a forbidden word.

What if the survivors of that clan, exiled or fleeing from Wano, ended up in the East Blue and are Koshiro’s ancestors? That would explain why Koshiro, a dōjo master in a remote village in the weakest sea, had one of the 21 Ō Wazamono swords. Zoro must have learned that yell and the meaning associated to it from the person who trained him– Koshiro. Zoro himself can’t be from Wano because Oda repeatedly stated he was born in the East Blue, but we know nothing of Koshiro’s family origins.

This would give Koshiro and Kuina a Wano ancestry, and give Zoro a further connection to Wano through them and Wadō Ichimonji. The last chapter has just revealed Yasu’s real name. Back when the Kozuki Family ruled over Wano Country, Yasu served as the daimyo of Hakumai. His real name is Shimotsuki Yasuie. Shimotsuki is also the name of the village Zoro grew up in! This confirms the connection between Koshiro and Wano. In the image below you can also notice the symbol of cross swords. The same symbol we already saw on Koshiro’s clothes!

Will Zoro Tag Team His Wano Opponent?

Several people believe that zoro will fight the shogun/king/wano's strongest samurai. Whichever one of them it is, there's a common opinion that zoro will face a yc 1 level opponent in wano. My question is: assuming that zoro faces a yonkou 1 level opponent, and assuming that this opponent is a swordsman, do you think that zoro will fight in a tag team? Used to think he would have to. Whether as an actual tag team, or through something like killer weakening his opponent then zoro jumping in after. And that all the wano fights would follow this pattern, near enough.

After luffy soloed katakuri, nah. High tiers are now ripe for the soloing. It'll take more than one round, zoro will be a bloody mess by the end of it, but he will beat his opponent solo. Zoro will take on a swordsman, which is probably the strongest samurai in wano which is more likely to be the shogun and if isn’t then probably one of the daimyo.

But nonetheless, I can’t see there being a tag team if he’s going to face a swordsman because zoro usually takes those match ups on his own to get closer to his dream and it only makes sense for him to do that on wano, a place full of swordsmen. I'd personally like to see a tag team with zoro and sanji even if it's just them going ham on reasonably powerful group of samurai/ninja :p but on topic though, if his opponent is a swordsman which it more likely than not will be, there's no way zoro tag teams him. Zoro's goal is to become the strongest swordsman in the world, so defeating a swordsman with someone's help would defeat the whole purpose of that goal.

If it's not a swordsman though, why not? But chances of it not being a swordsman is next to nil imo, especially considering wano is a country of samurai/swordsmen.
This whole tag-teaming his opponent thingy is probably coz people think his opponent would be too strong but if he's max yonkou level 1(high-top high tier), with a coa powerup and maybe a new sword I think it's doable.
    

The Shogun of Wano Orochi Vs Zoro

In the previous chapter the name of the Shogun of Wano Country is revealed to be Kurozumi Orochi. According to Japanese mythology Yamata no Orochi (“8-branched giant snake”) or Orochi is a legendary 8-headed and 8-tailed Japanese dragon. Susanoo, the Shinto god of the sea and storms, killed the Yamata no Orochi. We know Zoro uses a tornado attack which connects to storm so he will defeat/kill the Shogun.

Furthermore Oda and the author of Naruto are friends and Oda had done shoutouts to Naruto before with Raizo. Zoro will likely defeat the Shogun Orochi with the Asura technique or an upgraded version of the Asura as a result of the training and I felt that Asura technique was a bit of a reference to the Susanoo from Naruto. Also the Shogun Orochi could very well use 8 swords as a reference to how Killer Bee from Naruto used 8 swords plus there is the fact that in the Yamata no Orochi Myth after expulsion from Heaven, Susanoo encounters two “Earthly Deities” near the head of the Hi River, now called the Hii River, in Izumo Province.

They are weeping because they were forced to give the Orochi one of their daughters every year for seven years, and now they must sacrifice their eighth, Kushi-inada-hime so this will be referenced with the Shogun taking the other samurais swords so along with his main sword which will be a reference to The legendary sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, which came from the tail of Yamata no Orochi.

The Shogun will have 7 other swords he got from defeating other samurai meaning that he uses a total of 8 swords since the Yamata no Orochi had only gotten 7 of the daughters in the myth so replace the daughters with swords and the 8th daughter Kushi-inada-hime will be represented by Shisui the national treasure of Wano which Orochi would want. So, after defeating him, Zoro could get a new sword in Orochi’s main sword which will reference The Legendary Sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, which came from the tail of Yamata no Orochi and how Susanoo had obtained it from the Yamata no Orochi’s body (though Susanoo in the myths had given it to Amaterasu to settle an old grievance) they could change it so Zoro keeps the blade along with Shusui and Sandai Kitetsu breaks or he can give Kusanagi away or he can return Shusui.