The carpenters
In another SBS, a fan noticed the similarity of a carpenter that had appeared in the Foosha (Windmill) Village (Luffy’s village) and Franky’s boss in Wano. Note that we can assume that Shimotsuki Village is also part of the Goa Kingdom due to Dragon’s visiting it after saving Sabo, which means it’s not too far from Windmill Village. The carpenter in East Blue also served as a running gag and popped up randomly throughout the show.
When the fan asked if it was the same person, Oda answered:
Yes he is!! Back then, he was fixing the broken door to the bar in Foosha Village. He was introduced as Carpenter Minatomo-san, exclaiming “Who did this?”. And now, he somehow ended up in the New World in the closed bordered country of Wano! Isn’t that weird? That’s right, they actually aren’t the same person! They have the same last name because they’re related by blood. The fact of the matter is, a ship from Wano reacehd East Blue a few decades ago.
One of the descendants of someone on that ship is a person that everybody is familiar with…
This part might be featured later in the main story so I won’t mention any more than that. It isn’t going to be a major plot line, it will just be a minor story.
The sentence in the middle hints towards the chance of someone important being on that ship as well. A few decades is enough to be around Zoro’s birth, due to the fact he’s 21 years old post time-skip. One theory is that his mother was on the ship, and that she gave birth to Zoro in East Blue, where he was officially confirmed by Oda to have been born.
Zoro and Shimotsuki Ushimaru
A direct descendant of Ryuma, Shimotsuki Ushimaru was the last daimyo of the Ringo region in Wano Country. We know he was a master swordsman as well, and we know of his loyalty. After Oden’s death, he rose up against Orochi with every other daiymo, which lead to his own presumed death. However *manga spoilers*, in the latest chapter, Kawamatsu and Hyogoro both noted that Zoro looks exactly like Ushimaru, with Kawamatsu saying that even his sword style is the same.
So, if we assumed Ushimaru was Zoro’s father, would it have been possible that he sent his wife and son away before the imminent danger? Yasuie had been guarding the port for long and would probably be able to help them sneak on a ship out. It could explain Ruina’s death as well. Assuming Orochi knew the former Daimyo had a child that could potentially come back for revenge, it doesn’t seem weird that he’d send people after him. However, Zoro wasn’t using the Shimotsuki name, but Roronoa.
The child around his age who was using the name though, was Ruina. Her dying by falling off stairs always seemed kind of suspicious, especially considering her importance for Zoro.
It would be pretty surprising if it turned out that Koushirou knew about it but didn’t want to tell Zoro to avoid putting that responsibility on him at his young age, so they just went with the stairs story.
Another interesting theory was that the new admiral, Ryokugyu (Green Bull), is actually Ushimaru due to the green bull on his back. However, it’s hard to imagine he’d neglect his loyalty unless something drastic happened to him.
In chapter 1023, another thing Kawamatsu noted was that Shimotsuki Ryuma, the God of the Blade, was also a one-eyed samurai. He also said it might be fate at work due to the fact that Zoro returned Shusui to Wano. Back on Thriller Bark, Ryuma ended up losing to Zoro, and he entrusted Shusui to him, saying it would be happy to have him as its master. But before we move on to the swords, here’s just the similarity of the two (which was first observed a really long time ago):
Fun fact: Oda actually knew that Zoro would become a one-eyed samurai in the future shortly after One Piece started! You can read more about that in a translation of his interview by @sandman
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