Deep in the forest, the three small boys of the Usopp Pirates ran, their little legs pumping as fast as they could. They supported Kaya between them, her breathing growing more ragged with every step.
"Are we safe yet?" Tamanegi asked, his voice trembling as he risked a glance over his shoulder. "I think we lost him!"
"Don't look back! Just keep running!" Piiman urged.
They thought they had found a moment of safety, a brief respite in the dense woods.
SWOOOOSH—SHRED!
A sound like a giant zipper tore through the air. A silver, spinning ring of death flew out from the trees, a blur of motion that passed just inches in front of their faces. It didn't hit them, but it sliced cleanly through a line of five thick trees behind them as if they were made of paper. The massive trunks slid sideways and crashed to the forest floor with a deafening boom, blocking the path behind them.
Jango's voice, disembodied and menacing, echoed through the woods. "You can't run from me, little mice. I am prepared to level this entire forest to complete my mission. It just makes the hunt more… flashy."
The children screamed and ran on, the terror of the hunter close at their heels.
The echoes of that destruction, faint but clear, reached the coastline, tormenting the one person who felt most responsible.
Usopp lay on the ground, his body bruised and his arm throbbing with a dull, searing pain. He could hear the distant crashes, and his heart twisted with fear for Kaya and his crew.
Kuro watched him, a look of cold amusement on his face. He pushed his glasses up with the palm of his hand.
"Listen to that," he said, his voice a low, cruel purr. "The sounds of your friends' terror. It's almost musical, isn't it? Don't worry your pathetic head about Miss Kaya. If she just so happens to survive this ordeal, I might even be gracious enough to thank her for her invaluable part in my magnificent plan."
The casual cruelty was like a knife in Usopp's gut. Fueled by a surge of desperate adrenaline, he tried to push himself up, to run towards the forest, to do something. "KAYA!"
But a massive figure blocked his path. It was the hypnotized Buchi, his eyes glowing with mindless strength. He raised his clawed fist to strike Usopp down.
CLANG!
Zoro intervened, his swords blocking the attack. "Your fight is with me!"
The battle between the swordsman and the berserker raged on, a brutal stalemate of skill versus raw power. Usopp, seeing his chance, tried to scramble past them again.
But his body had reached its limit. The bullet wound, the beating from the pirates, the vicious kick from Kuro—it was all too much. His legs gave out from under him, and he collapsed back onto the dusty ground, too weak to even crawl.
Kuro let out a low, contemptuous laugh. "Such a heroic effort. So utterly pointless."
The few remaining conscious Black Cat Pirates, seeing Usopp's pathetic state, began to mock him. "Look at him! The great Captain Usopp can't even stand!"
Luffy, who had been watching the Zoro vs. Buchi fight with intense focus, turned his head. His eyes narrowed. He bent down, wrapped his rubbery arms around a massive, jagged boulder at the edge of the slope, and ripped it from the ground.
With a furious roar, he hurled it directly at the mocking pirates, who scattered with screams of terror as the boulder crashed where they had been standing.
His attention then turned back to Zoro's fight. Buchi had managed to toss Zoro aside with a powerful blow. That was the last straw for the swordsman.
"I've had enough of you," Zoro growled, his voice a low promise of death. His frustration at this drawn-out fight, at his own injuries, at his useless sense of direction, all boiled over into a single, focused point of rage. He charged.
He moved faster than Buchi could react, his three swords becoming one in a flash of silver light. It wasn't a fancy technique. It was a single, brutally efficient strike, delivered with all the pent-up fury of a caged tiger. The blow sent Buchi flying, crashing into the cliff wall and finally slumping to the ground, unconscious for good.
With Buchi out of the way, Zoro sheathed his swords without a second glance. He walked over to the despairing Usopp and effortlessly hoisted him onto his shoulder.
"Let's go," he said, his voice grim.
"Stop right there." Kuro's voice was sharp. He prepared to use his Nukiashi to intercept them.
But a red blur shot past him. Luffy had moved, placing himself directly between Kuro and the escaping pair. "I don't think so," Luffy said, cracking his knuckles. "They're allowed to leave."
Kuro dodged Luffy's initial punch with contemptuous ease, a phantom-like sidestep. He then lashed out with his Cat Claws, aiming for Luffy's throat. Luffy, in turn, ducked under the attack and threw another punch of his own. The main event, the battle of the captains, had finally and truly begun.
Kuro created some distance, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses, a look of genuine curiosity on his face. "I don't understand you, Straw Hat. This isn't your village. These aren't your people. You are an outsider. Why do you fight so hard for them?"
Luffy stood his ground, his feet planted firmly. He thought of Usopp's desperate plea, his willingness to die for his village. He thought of the kind girl who was now running for her life.
"Because Usopp is our friend!" he declared, his voice ringing with simple, unshakeable conviction. "And he told me… there's someone in this village he absolutely will not let die! That's all the reason I need!"
Deep in the forest, that reason was fading fast.
"This way! No, wait, that tree looks familiar… turn left!" Usopp groaned from Zoro's shoulder, trying his best to navigate.
"I did turn left, you idiot!" Zoro snarled back, running in a completely different direction. His terrible sense of direction was a curse that not even a local guide could fix.
Elsewhere in the woods, Kaya stumbled, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The frantic running had taken its toll, and her chronic illness was flaring up with a vengeance. A burning fever was clouding her vision.
"Please…" she panted, collapsing against a tree. "Just… leave me here. You have to save yourselves."
"No way, Miss Kaya!" Piiman said, trying to help her up.
"The Captain ordered us to protect you!" Ninjin added, his own fear forgotten in the face of his mission.
"We're the Usopp Pirates!" Tamanegi declared. "We never abandon someone in need!"
Their brave words were cut short by a smooth, chilling voice from the shadows behind them.
"How very noble."
Jango moonwalked out from behind a large tree, his chakram spinning lazily in his hand. He had found them.
"End of the line, little ones."