One Piece, Volume 4

Chapter 27
At the mansion, Kaya and a servant discuss the glasses they brought Klahadore as an anniversary present from the next town.

In the village, Usopp is having trouble convincing the other villagers that the pirates really are coming and ends up fleeing in fear.

At the cliff, Luffy is awake, Nami, Zoro and the other Usopp Pirates are learning of the plan. Zoro questions why he was sleeping where he was, Luffy recalls being on the cliff before then. The Usopp Pirates realize they have to get away before the pirates coming tomorrow while they still have the chance to and run off. Luffy is more concerned with buying food from the butcher's shop before he is killed.

At the mansion Usopp arrives to save Miss Kaya. He tries to explain Klahadore is a pirate. Kaya does not believe Usopp and does not know what to make out of the story. As Kaya's other servant enters the room, Usopp is suddenly pounced upon by the two bodyguards out the front of the mansion, he struggles to break free. He knocks them out with his hand slingshot, Kaya beckons for him to stop. She believes Usopp is not the person she once knew. As the villagers come by the mansion, Usopp grabs Kaya, only to be slapped in the face and forced to let go. Kaya says Usopp is the worst person she knows and Usopp is forced to run when her servant gets a gun out and shots at him despite Kaya's plea. Usopp is hit by a shot in the arm, but manages to escape with his life. When Usopp is gone, Kaya faints onto his chest.

As he leaves the village, Luffy and the others catch up with him. He hides his wound from them and tries to say it was a lie to get back at the butler. The Usopp pirates believe him. The three kids wonder off home.

Later that night Usopp explains to Luffy, Nami and Zoro that because he always lies, the villagers did not believe him. Since the villagers think Usopp is lying, Usopp decides he will make the lie become just that, tomorrow he will wait for the pirates and face them off so the villagers will think it was indeed a lie. The others announce they will help him fight the pirates so he does not have to face them alone.

Chapter 28
Usopp, Nami, Zoro, and Luffy all agree to protect the village against Kuro and the Black Cat Pirates. Usopp is scared and his knees shake despite claiming he is not. Usopp begins to make a plan, he asks Zoro, Luffy and Nami what they can do and they reply Slicing, Stretching and stealing respectively, Usopp adds his skill is "hide".

Inside the mansion Klahadore and Kaya's other servant discuss Usopp's actions of the day while Kaya sleeps soundly in her bed. Klahadore finds the glasses that were supposed to be a present for him in the morning on their 3rd anniversary, they were specially made for him so he did not have to keep pushing his back up. As the other servant continues to talk, Klahadore suddenly begins to talk strangely. He looks to the crescent moon and states it makes him wild. Before his eyes, Klahadore smashes the glasses and looks devilishly at the other servant stating his present will be the mansion. Klahadore states that he no longer has to pretend as there is only a few hours left. He pulls out his cat claws from a bag he is carrying and turns them on the servant.

On board the ship of the Black Cat Pirates, Jango is awaken from his sleep to be told in a few hours they will have to go to work on the plan. Jango leaves his quarters walking backwards out of his cabin. Back at the coastline, Usopp and the others have now laid oil down the slope towards the village.

As morning breaks everyone readies for action. Both on the coast and the pirate ship. At the mansion, Klahadore enters the room where Kaya is sleeping. Jango and the crew arrive at the coastline leading to the village. At where Usopp and the others are there are no pirates, suddenly Usopp remembers there is more than one port along the coast line and they are at the wrong one. As panic breaks out, Usopp states the layout is the same and the coast is only three minutes away from this one. Nami realizes their boats are parked at that one. As Luffy rushes off, Nami tries to follow but her foot slides as she steps on the oil, as she slides she grabs hold of Zoro and uses him to get off the oil. Leaving him behind she rushes off to save her treasure. Zoro swears he will kill her, while everyone else rushes to the correct coast.

Usopp arrives there quickly and shoots some of the pirates down. Zoro is still trapped on the slope and Luffy is back at the village after going the wrong way.

Chapter 29
Usopp realizes he is in trouble, as he is the only one standing to face off against the Black Cat Pirates. Jango mistakes Usopp's lie about having a large number of pirates as the truth, much to the disbelief of the crew.

The Black Cat pirates find a ship with treasure on it next to theirs. Usopp comments on how it's his treasure and tries to bribe them into leaving for it, but Jango and the others just state they'll take it anyway and that they will not leave. As Jango pulls out his ring to hypnotize Usopp, Nami shows up and bashes him on the head for trying to give them her treasure meanwhile Jango has put himself to asleep (again). With no sign of Luffy, Nami tells Usopp to go fight the pirate while she supports him. As the Black Cats begin to advance forward, Usopp and Nami throw some caltrops at the pirates that Usopp brought along.

Back at the other slope, Zoro lays on his back, tired from trying to get past the oil he slipped down. Finally he resorts to using his swords to climb up with. However he faces his next problem - he does not know which direction is north. Meanwhile Luffy is rushing around with no clue as to which direction is north either.

Back at the slope, the caltrops are working and Usopp pulls out his slingshot to fire at the pirates. After taking out a few, Nami comments on how she thinks she will have a rest now, only to find some of the caltrops are behind them, which Usopp blames on her. As she turns around, she sights Usopp getting hit as the crew finally makes it up the slope.

The crew pass by him, Usopp grabs the leg of the man who hit him, claiming he will make sure the next day is as peaceful as the last for the village. As a pirate goes to kill Usopp, Nami finally steps in and knocks him away, but in turn is knocked away also. Jango orders the crew to just ignore the pair as they must get to the village before Kuro's plan goes wrong and Kuro kills them all. Usopp makes another attempt to stop the pirates; suddenly they are knocked away as Zoro and Luffy finally arrive.

Chapter 30
On the mansion doors steps, Kuro sits and he says the word "late". He pictures the other servant laying on the floor, injured and the room cut up from his attack. He comments on if Jango and the others are late he would kill them, setting off to find out where they may have gone.

On the slope, Jango stands behind his fallen crew. While Jango is looking on in awe and commenting to his crew about being defeated by a bunch of kids, Zoro, Luffy, Nami, and Usopp argue. Jango hypnotizes the crew into thinking that they are stronger than before, with one demonstrating this new found strength by shattering the nearby cliff wall. Sending them after Luffy and the others however, it is revealed that Jango also hypnotized Luffy at the same time to Zoro's complete disbelief.

Thrown into a hypnotized induced rage, Luffy successfully knocks back the Black Cat Pirates with his Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun. Proceeding to storm past the invading pirates, Luffy grabs the figurehead of their ship and tears it off, turning to face the pirates. Realizing Luffy's intent to whack the entire crew with it, Jango quickly hypnotizes Luffy into falling asleep, causing the latter to drop the bow and crush himself and several pirates with it, the figurehead barely missing Jango himself. With Luffy having defeated the crew, Nami, Zoro, and Usopp begin to celebrate only for Jango to remind his crew that they will face Kuro's wrath if they fail.

While Zoro ensures the others know Luffy is not dead, two new voices suddenly call from on board the ship as somebody notices the stern missing; and Jango identifies them as the Nyaban Brothers.

Back at the village, Kuro heads towards the north coast only for Tamanegi to sight him; wondering why the butler would be walking around that early.

Chapter 31
At the mansion, Kaya has a nightmare where Usopp attempts to kill her for insulting his pirate blood. She goes looking around the mansion for Klahadore, only to find her servant Merry laying on the floor.

Merry manages to regain consciousness; however, he is too weak to get up. He tells Kaya about Klahadore attacking and trying to kill him and how Usopp really was correct; Klahadore really is a pirate. Kaya cries because the only one who knew the truth was chased away from the village while trying to protect it. More startling is the news from Merry that everyone else in the mansion is on vacation, Merry calms Kaya down since nothing has happened yet. Klahadore is after treasure, Merry tells Kaya to just give him what he is after to protect her life so the village can stay safe.

The Usopp Pirates gather outside the village, commenting how they think their captain lied about lying about the pirates coming. Just then, they spot Miss Kaya heading out of town.

Back at the coast, Zoro stands ready to fight whatever is coming up from the Black Cat Pirates next. The Nyaban Brothers, Buchi and Sham, appear. The pair appear afraid to attack Zoro. Sham runs towards Zoro in a cowardly fashion. However, at the last second Sham suddenly becomes confident and reveals he was faking his cowardice. The next thing, Zoro sees Sham standing there with two of his swords attached to his back.

Chapter 32
Zoro demands Sham hand over his swords, but Sham refuses. Sham tosses Zoro's swords aside so he can fight Zoro, which annoys Zoro deeply. Zoro cuts Sham, believing Sham is finished, Zoro heads for his swords only to find Sham has survived on the account of the fact all Zoro managed to cut was his shirt because Sham is really skinny. Buchi enters the fight as Sham holds Zoro against the ground. Zoro manages to toss Sham aside and barely dodge the attack; the ground breaks where Buchi impacts it.

Zoro realizes that he has to fight with one sword against the pair and there is nothing he can do, and he also notes if Buchi hits him with that technique, he will break every bone in his body. The pair strike at Zoro in a fury of cat scratches, and Zoro can only defend against the pair for now. Usopp fires his slingshot in an attempt to aid Zoro, but Zoro takes the damage, leaving himself to be hit by Buchi. Nami angrily tells Usopp off for his failed attempt, but Usopp tells Zoro took the hit on purpose. Zoro yells on them that if they hit the pair, the Nyaban brothers will go after them instead.

Nami attempts to get Zoro's swords for him, however as she approaches so does Jango and he slashes her side with his ring. Suddenly, Jango gets a bad feeling come over him and the Nyaban brothers both become incredibly frightened. On top of the slope stands Kuro. Kuro demands to know why dawn has passed and his plan is not in motion.

Chapter 33
Kuro demands to know how the Black Cat Pirates were beaten by a bunch of children. Jango states it was Kuro himself that said Usopp would not be a problem, but Kuro just states that the Black Cats are weaker than he thought they were.

Buchi and Sham cannot believe what they are hearing. They try to argue that while Kuro has been leading a peaceful existence in the village, they have been fighting hard against other pirates and plundering other villages and that in three years they have gotten a lot stronger. They attempt to kill Kuro before he kills them, but to their horror Kuro dodges the attack. He appears behind them but when they turn to strike, he once again appears behind them again with his special weapons, the Cat Claws, pointing at the pairs' throats. Jango comments how, with those weapons, Kuro can move silently and that Kuro's habit of lifting up his glasses still makes his hair stand on end. Kuro tells the Nyaban Brothers they have 5 minutes to kill them or he will kill everyone.

With renewed hope, the pair rush at Zoro. Nami kicks Zoro his swords, much to Zoro's annoyance. With all three swords in his hands, Zoro easily defeats the pair with a single move. Zoro points his sword at Kuro and states he is next. However, attention is drawn to Buchi, who still has survived Zoro's attack. Buchi demands that Jango hypnotize him so he can continue fighting.

While Zoro tackles the hypnotized Buchi, Nami makes an attempt to wake Luffy up. Jango spots this and throws his ring at her.

Chapter 34
Trying to wake up Luffy, Nami just steps on his face as Jango's weapon comes flying through the air towards her. Luffy wakes up, angry Nami stepped on his face, and the ring goes into the back of his head. Kuro is angry because he thought Luffy was already dead. Luffy stops the ring from cutting deep into his skull by stomping his feet hard against the ground. To the horror of the Black Cat Pirates, Luffy takes the ring out of his head and acts as if it was nothing, just saying that it hurt and he wants to know who threw it. The Black Cat Pirates then realize there is no way they can beat him in the 5 minutes Kuro gave them.

Luffy yells at Nami, thinking it was her who threw the ring. But then he sees her bleeding shoulder. Nami tells him to get the fight over and done with, that it is a battle they cannot afford to loose. Luffy's attention turns to Kuro. Kuro tells his former crew that they now have 3 minutes left to kill Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Usopp. The crew state they know they cannot keep to such a short deadline even with Jango and Buchi at their aid.

As Buchi is ordered to go after Zoro while Jango takes on Luffy, attention is drawn behind Kuro. Kaya has arrived to speak to Klahadore. Usopp is horrified she came here. Kuro is surprised to see her here, Kaya explains Merry told her the truth. As Kuro speaks, Kaya begins to realize this is indeed not the Klahadore she knew. She apologizes to Usopp for not believing him. Usopp is angry she did not run away, but Kaya asks him why he is fighting for the village when the other villagers ran him out of town.

She then offers Kuro all her fortune if he leaves the village. Kuro steps in and explains it is not treasure alone he seeks, but also a peaceful life. For the last past three years he has built up a reputation with the villagers, he has created a peaceful life and the incident involving his former crew and her will are all part of the scheme. Usopp tells Kaya to run now that she has spoken to him, but instead she pulls out a gun on him, Kaya demands him to leave.

Kuro comments that she has become "stronger" over the last three years. He then recollects the events of the last three years with her, the things they did together but then as a change of tone he calls the events "stupid things" and tells her straight he has done everything for her today, the day she dies. Kaya drops the gun as Kuro goes on about enduring the boring days in the past three years. Usopp is angry that Kuro is betraying Kaya's feelings. Usopp attempts to attack Kuro, but Kuro dodges the attack. As Kuro goes to strike Usopp as revenge for hitting him earlier, Luffy intervenes. Luffy punches him and swears Kuro will have a bad day since he hates being punched.

Chapter 35
The Black Cat Pirates are amazed Luffy hit Kuro from down at the bottom of the slope. Although Kuro just lays there, his former crew are aware this silence means Kuro is angry now.

Before anything else can happen, the rest of the Usopp Pirates come running towards Kuro and hit him with various objects (a shovel, a baseball bat, and a frying pan). Ninjin, Tamanegi, and Piiman are all angry that their captain, Usopp, came to fight without them. Usopp begs them to run away, but they only do so when Kuro suddenly appears behind them. Kuro walks past the boys and straight up to Usopp and kicks him hard. Then ignoring Usopp, Kuro asks Luffy if he got his powers from a Devil Fruit. Luffy explains he ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi which made him like rubber. Jango is amazed the rumors are true and that they do indeed exist.

Kuro calls to Jango, telling him to just deal with Kaya and the Usopp pirates while he deals with Luffy. Zoro makes an attempt to block Jango's path to Kaya, but Buchi attacks. Buchi leaps into the air, but Zoro knows Buchi's trademark attack is about to hit him and while it does not hit him, the attack is more powerful than ever. Kuro comments on how Buchi does not know his own strength. Buchi manages to pin Zoro against the walls of the slope, however Zoro refuses to lose to someone he already defeated once before and pushes Buchi away from him.

Jango walks past Zoro, who is still being blocked by Buchi and Usopp can only stare on as his body refuses to move. Usopp gives his Usopp Pirates the most important task of all: protect Kaya and get her to a safe place. They escort Kaya into the forest, with Jango close behind them determined not to let them get away. As Jango goes to throw his ring again, Usopp hits him with his slingshot. Jango turns his attention to Usopp, but he is reminded he has a task to do by Kuro.