10- ASHURA DOJI
In combat terms, Ashura Doji is extremely powerful, as he was once feared as the most dangerous out of all villains that frequented Kuri in its era of chaos until he was defeated by Oden. In the present, Ashura claims that he has gotten stronger in the last 20 years. Even Kaido, one of the Yonko, sought to recruit him, and Kin’emon hails him as being worth the strength of 100 men.
Ashura Doji is a master swordsman and one of the most powerful samurai in Wano.
He was able to clash evenly with Jack, one of the Three Disasters of the Beast Pirates, and even gave the latter a massive wound across his chest. Despite his large build, Ashura is extremely fast, being capable of charging towards Jack in an instant. He also possesses a great amount of endurance, as he was seemingly unaffected when Jack cut him on the shoulder.
9- KINEMON
As the leader of the Nine Red Scabbards of Kozuki Oden, Kin’emon is one of the most powerful samurai of Wano, noted by Orochi himself to be an incredibly strong master in swordsmanship. His skills has great versatility, able to wield either one or dual wield both his swords with incredible power and precision.
He also proved that he is able to easily cut through steel, slicing apart the emergency shutters to Caesar’s lab at the request of Zoro.
Kin’emon specializes in a sword style he calls Kitsunebi-ryu. He is somehow capable of generating, attacking with, and cutting fire with one of his swords. His fire enhanced sword slashes are powerful enough to seriously injure a dragon, despite its scales being stronger than steel.
8- VISTA
“Flower Sword” Vista is the 5th division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. He is one of the most prominent members of his crew.
Vista has extraordinary mastery in dual wielding swordsmanship and even Mihawk acknowledges his skills. He even managed to deflect Mihawk’s flying slash attack which is powerful enough to cut through battleships. In the anime, he was also able to block bullets with his swords to protect his allies from being shot while escaping.
Another indication of his strength is that during the Battle of Marineford, despite having fought against individual Shichibukai and Admirals as well as numerous Marine officers, he sustained no significant injuries.
7- SILVERS RAYLEIGH
Silvers Rayleigh, also known as the “Dark King”, is an extremely powerful and famous retired pirate who formerly served as the first mate of the legendary Roger Pirates, known as the “Right Hand of the Pirate King”. Rayleigh is one of the major figures, along with Whitebeard, Shiki, Monkey D. Garp, Sengoku, and Kong from the times when the “Pirate King” was alive.
Rayleigh is one of the very small number of people in the world who can use all three types of Haki. He was seen utilize an advanced application of Busoshoku which enables him to emit his Haki a short distance without a medium. He is also able to use a high-grade version of this technique, where he can channel his Haki into his opponent, letting him destroy them from the inside out.
Rayleigh is a tremendously powerful and skilled swordsman, though he claims to have degraded in skill somewhat from his younger and healthier days. he can create extremely powerful compressed air slashes and can combine Busoshoku Haki with his swordsmanship, allowing him to fight equivalently with Kizaru, who himself is a highly skilled swordsman.
6- SHANKS
“Red-Haired” Shanks is the captain of the Red Hair Pirates and a member of the Yonko that rule over the New World.
As the former rival of Mihawk who is known as the world’s greatest swordsman, Shanks himself is an immensely powerful swordsman.
He could match a blow from Whitebeard with only one arm, which is a testament of his prowess in swordsmanship. Shanks is also powerful enough to easily defend against Akainu’s magma fist using only his sword and Busoshoku Haki.
Shanks has mastered to full extent all 3 types of Haki. He’s the only character so far with an Haoshoku Haki that actually damaged physical things.
Shanks is probably the strongest character on the list but as a swordsman he ranks only fourth.
5- SHIKI
Shiki the Golden Lion, also known as the “Flying Pirate”, is the admiral of the Golden Lion Pirates and the first known prisoner ever to escape from Impel Down.
During Roger’s era, he was one of the most powerful figures of the time, being on par with Sengoku, Garp, Whitebeard, and Roger. Before that era, Shiki was a member of the Rocks Pirates, a powerful crew whose members included three future Yonko.
Shiki possesses great skills in swordsmanship as he dual-wielded Oto and Kogarashi to single-handedly massacre an entire army of Marines before getting subdued by Garp and Sengoku.
After the two swords became his prosthetic legs, not only he has little difficulty in standing or walking while using them, he is also capable of attacking from a distance with them by sending slashes from his sword legs in a Rankyaku like fashion. These air-blades have a light-yellow/gold color-scheme, matching his epithet.
He also combines his sword skills with his Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, a Paramecia type Devil Fruit which allows him to make surrounding non-living matter levitate once he has come in contact with it.
4- FUJITORA
In terms of combat strength, Fujitora is considered to be one of the strongest fighters within the entire World Government structure.
Fujitora is a Marine Admiral. He ate the Zushi Zushi no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that allows him to manipulate gravity around a chosen location at will by sending gravitational forces.
While other admirals have been shown to mostly rely on their Devil Fruit abilities in battle, Fujitora wields a shikomizue (a cane sword) in tandem with his Devil Fruit ability. The connection between these two factors has yet to be explained, though it seems he channels his power through the sword.
Fujitora has an extremely high level of skill in Busoshoku Haki. He could focus a strong concentration of Busoshoku Haki into his sword, turning it obsidian black and making it strong enough to defend against the razor sharp threads of the Birdcage, which can slice cannonballs and buildings with great ease.
He’s also masterful in Kenbunshoku Haki, which he uses to compensate for his blindness in battle.
3- KOZUKI ODEN
Kozuki Oden had tremendous physical strength since infancy. By age two, he could catch rabbits with his bare hands, and at age four, he killed a bear by throwing a boulder at it. His combat and charisma combination was best seen in his restoration of peace to Kuri, where he defeated the powerful Ashura Doji(someone noted to be worth 100 men in battle) and then proceeded to round up the rest of the dangerous criminals and get them to work under him, including Ashura.
Oden was an extremely powerful master samurai, dual wielding the legendary blades Ame no Habakiri(the sword said to be able to cut “heaven” itself) and Enma(the sword said to be able to cut to the “bottom of hell”) in a style of swordsmanship known as Daito Nitoryu.
At age nine, Oden could fight an entire Yakuza gang in the Flower Capital. At age 18, he struck down a massive beast known as the Mountain God.
Oden possessed an extremely high level of skill in Busoshoku Haki, as shown when he hardens his swords to cleanly bisect the gigantic beast known as the Mountain God cleanly in half. He mastered this form of Haki to a point where he is the only samurai who could fully control Enma’s ability to drain massive amounts of Busoushoku Haki, and even permanently scar the near-invulnerable Kaido, something no one else has been able to before and after.
2- RYUMA
Ryuma was a legendary samurai from Wano Country.
He was renowed for his immense mastery in swordsmanship. His skills resembled a mix of Kenjutsu and Battojutsu. He could slice through copper, kill Cyrano, a first-rate swordsman, and an enormous dragon with little effort.
He was renowned as the strongest swordsman of his time. Due to this, as well as his strong belief in protecting others, Ryuma was also called “King,” the swordsman who carries the world’s greatest “Warrior’s Soul”.
At some point in time after his death, he came to be known as the Sword God in Wano Country and his skills continue to be regarded as legendary.
Ryuma possessed a sword called Shusui, one of the 21 Great Swords. It is distinguished by its black blade and flower-shaped guard. It was said that Shusui was not always a “black blade”, and it became one after many battles alongside its master.
Due to its association with Ryuma, Shusui is considered the national treasure of Wano Country.
1- DRACULE MIHAWK
Mihawk is the current holder of the title, “Greatest Swordsman in the World”.
Part of Mihawk’s reputation as the most powerful master swordsman in the world is also due to his tremendous superhuman physical power and fortitude which supplements his mastery of swordsmanship.
Mihawk demonstrates tremendous dexterity and supreme skill in swordsmanship, especially when using his main sword, the Black Sword Yoru.
His swordsmanship is extremely versatile, from destroying entire fleets of ships and giant icebergs with immense power using the Strong Blade swordsmanship to being able to deflect the course of bullets with masterful and graceful precision. He is also able to cut through steel with immense ease and swiftness.
The fact that Mihawk used to be a rival of one of the Yonko implies that Mihawk might be one of the strongest characters in the series. Infact he has been known to have frequently fought with Shanks when they were younger. Their battles were said to shake the whole of the Grand Line and Mihawk often sought Shanks out for duels. However, Mihawk lost interest in him after Shanks lost his left arm. Mihawk has remained unharmed thus far throughout the entire series.
