Dust billowed from the crater Kuro's body had carved into the stone pathway. For a moment, everything was still.
Then, the figure stirred. Captain Kuro stood back up.
Silent. Controlled.
His glasses had cracked along one lens, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. But there was no anger in his eyes. Just disdain.
He adjusted the frames with one gloved finger.
"You strike like a beast," Kuro said flatly.
Luffy stood a few feet away, body relaxed, but fists clenched.
"You were a pirate," Luffy said, stepping forward, his voice low. "You wore the name with pride."
He jabbed a finger toward Kuro. "You don't get to run from that just because you don't like the part where people come for your head."
Kuro arched an eyebrow, brushing dust off his coat.
"Oh? And what would you have me do? Be hunted day after day by idiotic Marines? Let them chase me across the sea for the rest of my life? Waste my genius on survival?"
Luffy didn't blink.
"Yeah. That's what being a pirate is."
Kuro paused.
"What?"
Luffy took another step.
"You don't like it? Then don't be a pirate. But don't act like killing some sick girl for her money makes you smart."
Kuro slowly took off his coat and dropped it to the ground, revealing the black undershirt beneath — and a calm, calculating fury behind his glasses.
"You are naive," Kuro said. "You call yourself a pirate, but you believe in honor? In morality?"
He sneered. "Pirates are not agents of justice. We take. We lie. We use what we must. Money. People. Illusions. What matters is the goal. The ambition."
He took a few slow steps forward.
"And you, little boy with a straw hat and a dream, haven't earned the right to preach to me. You don't even have a full crew. You haven't even seen the world yet."
Kuro's eyes flashed. "You're not a pirate. You're a child playing dress-up."
Luffy grinned.
"I don't care what you think."
He stepped into his fighting stance, legs loose, fists up.
"I'm gonna be King of the Pirates. You? You're just a loser in a butler outfit."
Zoro let out a low chuckle from behind.
Kuro inhaled slowly… and reached into his coat. From a hidden pouch, he slid on his Cat Claws.The sound of the metal extending echoed like a hiss through the air.
Luffy rolled his shoulders.
"You done yappin'?"
Kuro adjusted his glasses. "Quite."
Luffy turned to Zoro without looking. "This is between us Captain to Captain. Don't interfere Zoro."
Zoro frowned. "Tch. Fine. Don't die."
Then, Luffy turned and ran.
Kuro blinked. "Running already?"
Luffy wasn't fleeing. He was baiting. And Kuro followed. The two blurred past trees and rock and tangled undergrowth, Luffy leaping across fallen logs, Kuro easily keeping up with his speed, slashing through anything in his path.
Zoro tailed from afar, keeping low, eyes sharp. They were at a distance from the village now. Far from Kaya's manor. That was the point, and when Luffy finally skidded to a stop in a clearing, the two stared each other down.
No civilians. No witnesses. Just predator and prey.
"Here," Luffy said, planting his feet. "Now it's just us."
Kuro tilted his head. "Foolish. You're outmatched. Outclassed."
Luffy cracked his knuckles.
"We'll see who's outmatched, you weirdo cat man."
Meanwhile, back in Kaya's mansion, silence had settled over the ornate halls. Then...
Creak.
From behind a cabinet in the corner, a hidden panel opened. Kaya stepped out, pale and trembling. Merry followed, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright, Lady Kaya… they're gone now."
Kaya's lips quivered. "They… he was really going to…"
She couldn't finish the sentence. She clutched Merry's coat, burying her face into his chest. The butler said nothing, only holding her.
Nami stepped out last, arms crossed, jaw tight. Kaya's voice cracked as she looked up, her eyes glistening.
"I thought he cared for me. That he was… gentle. Lonely."
Nami looked away, her fingers curling. "People like him always wear masks."
Merry's gaze dropped. "All this time… I failed to protect you."
"No," Kaya whispered. "No, Merry. You were the only one I could trust."
Nami walked to the window, looking out toward the dark line of trees in the distance.
"That idiot captain of ours… he might not know much about the world…"
She smiled, just a little.
"…but when it comes to people like Kuro… he never misses."
Kaya stared out the same window, lips parted.
"…Please," she whispered. "Please stop him."
___________________________________________________________________
The clearing was quiet again. The wind blew through the trees, kicking up leaves and dust. And Luffy, straw hat tilted low, bounced once on the balls of his feet, rolling his neck with a lazy grin on his face.
Kuro didn't speak.
He just disappeared.
SHFF!
The sound was barely audible, a whisper of movement. Then—CLANG! A flash of claws struck a stone outcrop behind Luffy, where he'd stood a breath ago.
Kuro reappeared behind him, crouched, claws gleaming, breath even.
Luffy blinked. "Heh. Fast."
He unleashed Gum-Gum Pistol — an explosive punch across the clearing. Kuro vanished. The punch dug into a tree, splintering wood with deafening crack.
A second later, Luffy felt hot pain—a claw slash across his arm.
Quick. Precise.
He rolled back and spat out a mouthful of blood. Rubber wouldn't protect from blade damage. These claws hurt. A line of red bloomed across Luffy's arm.
Another slash — this time from the side.
He caught Kuro's form flicker out of the corner of his eye, already mid-vanish.
Luffy grit his teeth.
"Damn it."
He couldn't see the attacks coming. Kuro didn't just move fast — he vanished and reappeared like a ghost with blades. Kuro was everywhere—and nowhere.
This wasn't like Morgan's brute swings, or Buggy's clown show of dismembered chaos. This guy was hunting him. And it stung. Rubber or not — claws cut.
SLASH!
Another hit — across the chest this time. Not deep, but it burned.
Luffy skidded back, breathing harder now. Then he spoke: "Dammit. Stop vanishing!"
But Kuro merely appeared and slammed his claws sideways. Luffy ducked via stretching his body low—just inches from a blade. The claws shredded bark where his head had been.
Kuro ahead of him, glasses pristine, claws dripping.
"You're slow," Kuro said simply.
Luffy spat to the side.
"And you talk too much!"
Then he launched forward. They clashed — this time Kuro didn't blink away.
Luffy's fists flew. Left — miss. Right — deflected. A kick — ducked. He stretched an arm wide and tried to loop around for a Gum-Gum Bazooka, but Kuro stepped inside the range, claws aiming for Luffy's gut.
Luffy bent backward, rubber spine arching impossibly low — the claws sliced right above him. He snapped back up and threw a headbutt. Kuro caught it on the forearm, using the impact to leap back.
They stared.
Luffy wiped blood from his brow.
"Okay," he muttered. "You're kinda fast."
Not as fast as grampa but still fast.
Kuro said nothing. He slid the claws across each other, the screech metallic and sharp. Then his voice dropped low.
"You forced my hand."
He raised both arms — and vanished. This time, he didn't reappear. Not in front. Not behind. Not to the side.
Leaves started falling. Trees cracked. The ground shook. Then came the cuts.
SHHK-SHHK-SHHK!
Dozens of slashes erupted around the battlefield, carving bark, stone, dirt, even the air. Trees toppled, bushes shredded, ground split.
This time, Kuro actually was everywhere. And nowhere.
"Pussyfoot Maneuver," Luffy muttered, eyes scanning. "Tch."
This wasn't speed. This was chaos. Random, blind destruction.
But that was also a mistake.
Luffy closed his eyes.
The noise was overwhelming. The claws weren't aimed. Slashing in all directions like a whirlwind with no anchor. He'd seen it — when Kuro tried to use this earlier, he nearly sliced his own crew apart.
A blur zipped past Luffy's side.
Slash! A thin line of blood sprang across his ribcage. Not deep, but sharp.
He gritted his teeth. Another glint—too late—a second cut, this one across his upper arm. Warm blood rolled down, soaking into his red vest.
"Damn it…" Luffy growled, squinting through the whirlwind. He stayed still, feet planted. "You're not even fighting… just flailing."
More slashes. One skimmed his leg. Another near his cheek. Cuts opened, shallow but stinging. Rubber could take bludgeoning—not ten swords flying like shrapnel.
He winced. But he didn't fall back. He stood in the middle of it all, shoulders rising and falling.
"Keep it together… Think."
His mind raced.
Kuro was fast—but this? This wasn't invincibility. This wasn't precision. It was a gamble.
"You're just... swingin' your claws 'round hopin' I step into 'em."
He paused, eyes narrowing. And that's when the idea hit him. A slow grin stretched across his bloody face.
"Alright then. Keep dancin', kitty."
He stomped the ground once. Felt the root underfoot. Good. That's where.
With a low breath, Luffy reared back. His arms stretched wide—like ropes, his fingers threading through trees on both sides, bracing.
He waited. One second. Two. He felt the wind — warm and quick on his left, cold and sharp on his right.
There!
A gust of air, leaves scattering toward his left.
BOOM—Kuro blitzed in, blinking into view for a split second, claws mid-slash
"Now!"
Luffy stretched out a leg, looping the rubber around a low root, flinging it up at the exact second Kuro dashed by.
At the same time Luffy yanked his arm with great strength. The trees he's been gripping into came crashing down at great brutal velocity but Kuro dodged.
However Luffy wasn't aiming for the tree to do anything but serve as distraction and it did so masterfuly.
Luffy's leg snapped back like a whip and caught Kuro's leg on the rebound.
SNAP!
Kuro's ankle caught. His whole body tilted. His own speed betrayed him—he stumbled, claws flailing, trying to catch his balance—but he couldn't stop.
Kuro's eyes widened. "What—?!"
WHAM!!
He slammed into the ground, hard. Dust kicked up in a wave.
"Too fast, huh?" Luffy barked with the same grin he always wore.
Before Kuro could vanish again, Luffy flung both arms forward, his rubber limbs snapping out like thick whips and wrapped around Kuro's body, one on his waist, one around his arm.
Kuro's eyes widened. Luffy had tied him up using his own limbs! This wasn't good!
"Caught you!"
Luffy yanked—Kuro slammed hard into the ground with a boom, his claws gouging a deep trench as he skidded.
"LET GO!" The butler lost his nerve as he shook and scrambled like a rat in a trap.
Kuro tried to stand, he couldn't. With Luffy on top of him, rubber body tightening, arms coiling tighter around Kuro's torso like a vice. The pressure was insane — like iron cables made of flesh.
Then he saw it. Luffy's face. Inches from his own. Eyes wide. Grin wild.
"No more tricks."
Kuro hissed, trying to claw—but he couldn't move. His arms were trapped, his claws digging only into air. Luffy's forehead bent back.
"Gum-Gum…"
Kuro's glasses hung crooked on his face. His pupils dilated. NO!
"NO—"
"HEADBUTT!!"
CRACK!!
Their skulls collided—Luffy's stretching momentum slamming full force into Kuro's face. The air popped. Trees rattled. Dust lifted off the ground.
It sounded like a cannon going off. Luffy's forehead collided with Kuro's face like a wrecking ball. The impact echoed through the forest.
The force knocked Luffy back too, sending him rolling. But Kuro?
Kuro's body flung back, dragging a line through the dirt before collapsing at the foot of a broken tree. His claws twitched once, blood pouring from his nose and mouth. Collapsed.
Then silence. Ten seconds passed.
Luffy stood slowly, breathing heavy, wiping blood off his cheek with the back of his hand.
"Hah… still standin'."
He looked down at the slashes on his arms, legs, ribs. He winced—but grinned. Then he looked at the motionless form of the once-feared Captain Kuro.
"Guess… I'm tougher than you."
The forest was quiet now. Wind stirred the leaves again. Kuro didn't get back up.