In One Piece’s vast and intriguing world, the enigmatic and amazing Ryou technique has captivated fans with its immense power.
While it is widely known that Luffy possesses the ability to harness Ryou, an important question lingers: Can Zoro, the formidable swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates, also master this ancient art?
In this blog post, we will answer the question: can zoro use ryou? Let’s join us in embarking on an enthralling exploration, delving into Zoro’s potential to wield Ryou and unlocking the secrets that lie within his immense strength and dedication to his craft.
Let’s analyze his connection to Haki and the hints dropped by the creator, ultimately discovering whether the legendary swordsman can truly harness the Ryou.
The power of Ryou
We learned many amazing things in the land of Wano, from great revelations about One Piece to the nature of Luffy’s powers. Alongside all of the revelations and growth, we also learned that each Strawhat, especially the monster trio, become far stronger than ever before, with each of them getting amazing power-ups.
In Luffy’s case, this included him learning the amazing power of Ryou. A special kind of internalized advanced form of Haki that can make someone’s attacks hundreds of times more powerful and give them the ability to do unprecedented damage.
Luffy learned the use of Ryou from Hyogoro, an old man who was a Kozuki sympathizer and a master of the art of Ryou. This was during his time at the Udon prison, and he used this against Kaido.
Because we saw Zoro become so incredibly powerful and do things that are supposed to be impossible, what if he, too, can use Ryou?
Why do fans think Zoro can use Ryou?
During his fight with King, and before that, when he fought Kaido and actually managed to wound him, fans believed that Zoro was using conqueror coating on his swords. And since using conquerors’ haki to coat one attacks is considered an advanced form of Haki, fans concluded that Zoro used some form of Ryou.
That is an understandable deduction, as Zoro did manage to permanently harm Kaido with his conqueror-coated attack.
Furthermore, we do know that Zoro does have conquerors haki and that Ryou is just a technique, which means that he has the potential to learn and use it.
Zoro’s use of Haki and its evolution
As early as Alabasta, there have been signs of the fact that Zoro can not only use haki, but he is exceptionally gifted at it. He was able to cut through steel as he defeated Daz Bones, also known as Mr. 1.
Cutting steel is an ability that requires the use of Haki coating, but since Haki was not introduced at that point, we didn’t see it. That does not mean it wasn’t at play.
This incident and many others like it mean that Zoro could use Haki even before he learned its use from Mihawk. Just like Luffy could even use conquerors before he even knew what it was.
This means that to subconsciously use Haki, or any form of Haki that one is gifted in, one does not need to know about it. So, we have seen Zoro learn Haki without training; maybe that’s what happened here; maybe he learned Ryou from seeing it being used around him.
To learn more about Zoro’s Haki abilities, check : Does Zoro have conqueror’s Haki ?
Zoro’s time with Mihawk
Another interesting concept is that we still know painfully little about Zoro’s time with Mihawk. Through Luffy’s flashbacks, we constantly learn about how his abilities evolved with Rayleigh, but we have never had that for Zoro.
It is logical to assume that Mihawk, the strongest swordsman in the world, can use Ryou. Perhaps he told Zoro about it, or maybe Zoro saw him use it.
This would mean that Zoro already has an idea of how Ryou works and can use that to his advantage.
Zoro’s constant training
We also know that Zoro is the only Strawhat who constantly trains and continues to grow more powerful. It is possible he managed to subconsciously use Ryou against King and Kaido in the form of conqueror coating because he pushed his body to the physical limit.
We do know that he was in incredible pain, even conquering death in the process and becoming « King of Hell. »
By all rights and logic, Zoro did use advanced forms of Haki during the events of Onigashima.
But can we definitively say that he can use Ryou, knowing that what he did was a product of his surrounding and he was pushed to his limits?
The Black swords
Zoro also managed to coat his swords in conquerors’ haki, making them black. The panicle of that technique is to make a permanently black sword, as Ryuma and Mihawk have done.
One needs to assume that black coating with advanced Haki is also a form of Ryou since it works on the same principles of controlling the flow of Haki.
Conclusion
We know that each time Zoro used any advanced conqueror or armament coating attack, he did it under extreme circumstances. This means that he cannot do that without the added stress.
People often reach the height of their potential in situations of great need. Thus by using conquerors’ coating and other attacks that required advanced haki, even if it was unknowingly or subconsciously, Zoro proved that he could, indeed, use Ryou as it is a technique that can be learned. But he is nowhere near understanding it or mastering it.
Its use, however, comes naturally to him. So our answer is, Yes, Zoro can use Ryou, but he needs to learn about it and master its use.
