It wasn't baseless but it broke the formula that One Piece had since chapter 1 which is Luffy takes out the toughest bad guy. Zoro had never shown interest in taking out Kaido until 15 chapters before chapter 1000. We know based on Oda's own words that he hadn't planned to do anything big for chapter 1000.
But because of pressure from his editors he had to plan out something big. We all know what happened in chapter 997.
SN were most likely not supposed to be on the rooftop with Luffy. They all just converged on the same spot.
But because of pressure from his editors he had to plan out something big. We all know what happened in chapter 997.
SN were most likely not supposed to be on the rooftop with Luffy. They all just converged on the same spot.