Ever since we’ve reached the rooftop, the way Oda has handled Zoro in the fight is extremely smart.
First Oda has Zoro hold back yet still damage Kaido with minimal Haki. Drawing as much blood as Luffy’s Red Rock did.
In fact there is the same if not more blood in Zoro’s panel than in these two pages of Luffy’s. The funny thing is that we are zoomed in on Luffy’s panel and zoomed out on Zoro’s. Yet the blood Zoro has drawn is still there.
Not only that but Oda shows that Zoro can potentially kill Kaido by having Big Mom and Kaido freak out over Zoro’s Hiryu: Kaen technique.
I say potentially kill for many reasons.
1. Hiryu: Kaen is a named move used to kill Ryuma’s corpse.
2. It’s a move that parallel’s Ryuma’s dragon killing attack.
3. Zoro was aiming for Kaido’s head. Any fatal attack aimed at Kaido’s head would kill him. Imagine if Oden used Togen Totsuka on Kaido’s neck, that would have severed Kaido’s wind pipe leading to death. No matter how you look at it, Hiryu Kaen would’ve killed Kaido. It’s why it put fear in both Emperors. It’s why Oda teased it.
And Chapter 1003 even adds more to Zoro’s damage output.
But you know what’s the interesting part? The way Oda stops Zoro from dealing massive damage and fatalities too early. How does he do it you may ask? LUFFY.
Zoro has to babysit Luffy. Because of this, Zoro isn’t free to attack and damage Kaido. Kaido is wide open where Zoro can deal severe damage, but Zoro doesn’t because he has to save Luffy. So far Zoro has prioritized saving Luffy over attacking Kaido.
It won’t be too long though, Oda can’t hold back Zoro vs Kaido forever.
*by stairs-kun
