Tbh, the only middle ground I see is ZKK fans seeing Zoro not exactly "killing" Kaido. Cutting him before being defeated by Luffy? Sure, because that sounds exactly like what Oda would do (because Luffy has always gotten the last hit on villains in an arc.)
Honestly I'm torn by the idea. I'd love for there to be some narrative connection where Zoro does do it, however:
- Oda has yet to kill any main villain, and those thar are presumed dead have never died on screen.
- Luffy always gets the final blow. He's the main character, Zoro isn't.
- Luffy is the one aiming to surpass a Yonko this arc, Zoro's goal is to fundamentally injure Kaido ala Tengu and Hiyori's description of Enma. As much as this might be Zoro's "fight" (until it isn't because who fucking knows what happens in 10 chapters), it's 100% more Luffy's because that's just what it is and always has been.
Nothing actually indicates Zoro will cut off Kaido's head or actually kill him. That's a notion based on really nothing but fan bias and desire to connect to things that may or may not support it.
Im curious what happens to this forum if it doesn't happen. Like 70% of this site supports ZKK now. I find that...really overconfident when evidence suggests it probably won't happen because of the things I mention above.
Flame me all you want, what I'm saying is true and I hope people don't call this manga "shitty" for doing nothing outside of fans blowing up their own expectations.