After 29 years, One Piece finally reveals Zoro's past

The most successful manga in the world, One piecehas been going on for almost three decades. Created by Eiichiro Oda, the story has since grown to feature thousands of characters, many with their own unique stories and abilities to showcase them. With that said, One piecefocuses mostly on Luffy and his Straw Hat Crew. Swordsman Roronoa Zoro is a fan favorite among the straw pirates.

However, despite his popularity, Zoro's story in the manga has been short and has been considered underwhelming by many until now, but a new novel is coming out that is set to explore his days before he became a pirate, as well as the history of Wado Ichimonji. On July 3, 2026, the lore of Zoro's beloved sword, Wado Ichimonji, and his hard life before Luffy will finally be revealed.

The new one-volume novel will officially expand on Zoro's past on July 3, 2026

Image by GameRant

One piece debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #34 on July 22, 1997. Several years later, this story by Eiichiro Oda is still going and is published almost every week with a few breaks every once in a while. The main character One pieceLuffy, appeared in the very first chapter of the story. His first companion, Zoro, appeared shortly after, in One piece Chapter 3 which was published in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #36 on August 4, 1997. While Zoro joined the crew in Chapter 6, we only got our first look at his character through a short story in Chapter 5 in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #39 on August 25, 1997.

Zoro's story tells of his past in the village of Shimotsuki, where he was set dead in a fight with a girl named Kuina, who instilled in him the goal of becoming the strongest swordsman in the world through a promise he cannot break. Kuina's death was tragic and in large part made him the man he is today. This is the gist of what we know about Zoro's past, although Oda also reveals his family tree in One Piece SBS Volume 105 and expanded a bit more on his past in One Piece Chapter 1033, which was officially released on November 21, 2021 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #52.

“I will have to keep my promise for both of us. I will become such a great swordsman that my name will be known in the heavens!!” — Zoro after Kuina's death, One Piece, Chapter #5

Image by Toei Animation

Now, 29 years later, a new Zoro novel is being released on July 3, 2026, and along with it we learn more about his past. While this story will not focus on Zoro's life from when he was a child, it will still focus on his days before he joined the Straw Hat Pirates in East Blue. We already have 3 chapters of this novel out One piece Magazines in 2024 and 2025, but a new chapter is now on the way.

Through the short summary that was revealed to us, we know that this new chapter is going to tell the story of how Zoro met Johnny and Yosaku, two interesting characters that we met in the East Blue Saga. Zoro is also about to fight a new criminal worth 300,000 berries. Today that reward may seem low, but it wasn't too shabby back in the days of East Blue.

The story of Wado Ichimonji, One Piece's most iconic sword, will be explored in the new edition of Backstory Zoro

Zoro will be the highlight of the novel written by Jun Esaka, but through a short summary of the new chapter, it seems that new information regarding his most prized sword, Wado Ichimonji, will also be revealed. Wado Ichimonji is not Zoro's strongest sword, but it is the most important to his character. It was given to him by Shimotsuki Koushirou after the death of Kuina, its previous holder. It was revealed in Wano that it was created by Shimotsuki Kozaburo. This sword has haunted Zoro all his life and its power is about to be shown in this new battle. We can't wait to see the reveal of another lore revolving around the Wado Ichimonji, as it's a sword that Zoro would never give up, even if given a stronger replacement.

“The most likely reason why it looks familiar must be some twist of fate. You see, that white blade, Wado Ichimonji and Enma were made by the same man!! The blacksmith Shimotsuki Kozaburo. He broke the laws and left this country 50 years ago.” — Tenguyama Hitetsu, One Volume Chapter #955

The Zoro novel is not Canon, but it provides interesting content with the lack of manga backstory

Image by Toei Animation

The new Zoro novel will be an exciting read for fans of the character, but as said before, this novel was written by Jun Esaka, not Eiichiro Oda, the creator One piece. In this sense, the novel is non-canon, especially since it is not even overseen by Oda. The One Piece website previously claimed that it was supervised by Eiichiro Oda, but this statement was retracted on April 30, 2024, confirming that Oda was not involved in the story's production. The most involvement Oda has shown in this novel comes from the very recent artwork he did for it on June 23, 2026. In this illustration, Oda is shown briefly bantering with Zoro while promoting the new novel.

Oda: “Look!”

Zoro: “Who told you to talk?”

Other than a brief blurb from the author, there's no involvement, so while it's a fun story, it's still not canon in the grand scheme of things. However, considering that Zoro's entire story in the manga is half a chapter long and more information is only added through SBS, this novel is still a good addition to his character. However, it should not be treated as canon material or as a reflection of the actual events and details of One Piece. Fans often confuse supplementary content with the manga, confusing these details with the actual events of Odo's story. Unless otherwise noted, most One Piece novels are non-canon. Officially supervised by Eiichiro Oda, the Ace novel is one of the few novels that is canon to the overarching story of the One Piece world.

All chapters of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga are available to read through Manga Plus and Viz Media. Meanwhile, the new Zoro novel will be available to read in Japan on July 3, 2026. Unfortunately, localization via Viz Media will likely take more than a year.