Roronoa Zoro is undoubtedly one of the most well-known One Piece characters. Like Luffy, Zoro wants to be the best in his class, meaning he wants to become the best swordsman in the world, surpassing his idol and rival, Dracule Mihawk, who is considered the best swordsman in the world. People have been talking about Zoro for years, as he is one of the most popular One Piece characters in history. In this article, we will focus on a specific part of the story as you will discover where Zoro was and what happened to him during the Whole Cake Island Arc.

The Whole Cake Island Arc is the official name for the unofficially titled Big Mom Arc, which is divided into three smaller sections. After the first, the Zou Arc, the group decided to split into two, with one group consisting of Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Brook, Carrot, and Pedro, while the other consisted of Zoro, Nico Robin, Franky, and Law. While the first group went to rescue Sanji, the second went directly to Wano Country, where they would later regroup.

The rest of this article will focus on Zoro and the Whole Cake Island Arc of One Piece. We'll tell you the story of the Whole Cake Island Arc and what happened to Zoro, i.e., where he was during the events of this important story arc. This article may contain a smaller number of spoilers, so be careful while reading.

Where was Zoro during the Whole Cake Island arc?

After the Zou Arc, the group decided to split up. One group was to go rescue Sanji, while the others were ultimately decided to head straight to Wano Country, where they had to go anyway. The group that went to rescue Sanji from Big Mom consisted of Monkey D. Luffy, Nami, Tony Chopper, Brook, Carrot, and Pedro. However, the remaining members—Zoro, Nico Robin, Franky, and Trafalgar D. Water Law—went straight to Wano Country.

In Wano Country, Kin'emon explains the country's situation to the pirates and asks them to infiltrate the population without attracting attention until they are ready to act. Zoro later reaches the destroyed remains of Oden Castle, astonished by what he finds there. Zoro plays the role of the ronin "Zorojuro" in the Flower Capital, who is however accused of having killed three people and having stolen the Shusui, which disappeared twenty-three years earlier with Ryuma's corpse, and must therefore commit seppuku.

When he realizes that the true culprit of the murders is the magistrate, he stabs him with the tantō, also destroying the building behind it. He then reaches a vacant lot, where he feeds on some animals and eliminates two of Kaido's subordinates who were chasing a woman to rob her in order to drink their sake. Here, he unexpectedly encounters his captain, but the two are immediately joined by Basil Hawkins and some of his men and prepare for battle.

Hawkins asks the two pirates if they know who controls the country, and Luffy replies positively, also revealing that he wants to defeat Kaido, retracting this once Zoro reminds him that Kin'emon had asked them not to say so. Hawkins predicts that the two men's chances of survival are 19 percent for a month, then orders his men to attack them. Despite Zoro asking him to see his sword and advising him not to handle it, Luffy draws it and struggles to hold it, striking opponents as usual; when one of the enemy mounts attacks it as well, the pirate throws it at Hawkins, who stabs it.

Zoro strikes the enemy captain, who deflects the attack onto one of his subordinates, revealing the power of his fruit, and then uses tarot cards capable of changing the behavior of those around him. A frightened Komachiyo grabs Zoro and Luffy and hurries to flee as Tama's fever rises. Hawkins orders his giant straw monster to chase after them but is struck down by the swordsman. As Komachiyo continues to run, Tsurujo, the woman Zoro saved earlier, emerges from her tail and asks to take Tama home to cure her of the poisoning from the polluted river.

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Reaching Okobore Town, Tsuru shouts to the maid Kiku to prepare what is needed to treat the child. As she finishes blindfolding Zoro, Kiku introduces herself to him and Luffy. Tama feels better and, while heartily eating the meal prepared for her by the inn's owner, she answers Luffy's question by revealing that the food she created cannot truly satisfy hunger. Afterwards, Tsuru admits to understanding that the two are outsiders and shows them the mountain on which Kozuki Oden Castle stood some twenty years ago, which ruled the entire nation, with at its foot a huge farm that fed the people of Kuri, now under the control of the shogun Kurozumi Orochi.

As she recounts how Okobore was born and fed on the waste of the city inhabited by government officials, the woman is hit by an arrow, stopped in time by Zoro's sword. He was shot by one of the Gifters, who recognizes the ronin after blocking all his arrows; meanwhile, another Gifter kidnaps Tama. To chase away the enemy and retrieve the child, Kiku grabs a katana and climbs onto Komachiyo's back, joined by Luffy and Zoro, to whom he reveals that he is a samurai and shows a notebook in which he has written down various useful information about the district inhabited by officers and pirates they are entering.

Upon entering Bakura, Luffy shouts his goal to save Tama, only to be stopped by Kiku. After alerting the guards at the main gate, Luffy knocks them out, and the group continues, with Kiku explaining how the shogun's subordinates have occupied the city for twenty years. Suddenly, something flies towards them, and Luffy catches it: it's a sumo wrestler, thrown by the champion Urashima. Urashima spots Kiku and orders other fighters to bring him to him; the latter kidnaps the woman because Zoro doesn't want to hurt unarmed men. The story continues later during the Wano Country arc, but this is what happened to Zoro during the initial phase of the arc and while the others were saving Sanji.