"Stop it, Usopp!"
From the window above, Kaya let out a terrified cry. "Please—no more violence!"
To Usopp, Kaya's voice was more effective than any physical restraint.
His body stiffened violently, the fist he had raised freezing in midair.
The hand gripping Kuro's collar slowly loosened as well.
Seizing the opening, Kuro slapped Usopp's hand away and calmly straightened his wrinkled suit, his tone icy.
"Leave this place. You are no longer permitted to approach this estate."
Ronan watched Usopp, trembling with humiliation and rage, and let out a heavy sigh.
He despised Yasopp's abandonment just as much—but Usopp didn't deserve to be twisted and trampled like this.
Glancing at Luffy and Zoro beside him, Ronan could tell their anger was already at the breaking point as well.
He decided he'd seen enough.
Ronan knew exactly who Kuro was—nothing more than a washed-up pirate who'd lost his ambition and tried to steal his way into a quiet life as a butler. A hypocrite with no right to judge Usopp.
Every righteous word Kuro had spoken was nothing but a smokescreen for his greed over Kaya's inheritance.
Ronan stepped forward, his gaze calm as it settled on Kuro.
"Hey, Kuro. Aren't you a pirate too? Showing up here as a butler—what, did you decide to wash your hands clean?"
The moment Ronan finished speaking, Kuro's pupils shrank sharply. The composure on his face shattered, replaced by tension and panic.
He pushed his glasses up, glaring at Ronan. "What nonsense are you talking about? I'm not a pirate."
Luffy and the others turned to Ronan in confusion.
Luffy asked, "Ronan, do you know this guy?"
"If I remember correctly," Ronan said evenly, each word landing with weight,
"three years ago there was a pirate named Kuro, with a bounty of sixteen million beli—who looks exactly like you."
"Even though the Marines declared him dead, it turns out he faked it and hid here as a butler."
"The captain of the Black Cat Pirates—Kuro."
Nami gasped sharply as the memory surfaced.
"Oh! I remember now! Back then in East Blue, he really was a notorious pirate! Come to think of it… you do look exactly like him!"
At the window, Kaya's face drained of color. She shook her head in disbelief, her voice trembling.
"That can't be… there must be some kind of mistake!"
But with confirmation from both Ronan and Nami, the doubt on Luffy's and Zoro's faces vanished.
In its place was a heavy, battle-ready focus as they locked their eyes on Kuro.
Kuro knew his disguise could no longer hold.
He took a deep breath. All traces of civility fell away, replaced by a dark, vicious glare.
"So… after three years, someone still remembers my face."
His voice dropped, thick with resentment and fury at his ruined plan.
"I was so close. Just a little longer and everything would've worked."
"Why… why did you have to force me to kill you all?!"
As his words fell, the restrained aura around him exploded. Killing intent surged as the meek butler vanished, replaced by the sinister pirate captain once more.
To Kuro, the young men before him weren't worth fearing. He was convinced none of them could truly threaten him.
Usopp, meanwhile, stared in shock, muttering to himself.
"Kuro… a pirate with a sixteen-million-beli bounty…"
Kuro took a step forward, his eyes fixed solely on Kaya, pale and trembling by the window.
"So much has happened over these three years."
His tone twisted into warped self-pity.
"After your parents passed and you were bedridden, we spent so much time together, didn't we? I still remember those days of 'sharing hardship.'"
Then his voice curdled with venom.
"I stayed by your bedside, listened as you smiled at my words, poured all my effort into you…"
"I endured it. Endured everything. All so I could kill you and legally inherit your fortune!"
He sneered.
"Captain Kuro—having to smile at a sniveling little girl, pretending to care, flattering you every day. Do you have any idea how humiliating that was?"
Each word cut deeper than the last.
"Do you understand how it felt—for someone once called Captain Kuro?"
He lifted his head, smiling with chilling cruelty.
"And Kaya… do you know something else?"
"I killed your parents."
That final sentence shattered what remained of Kaya's composure.
A choked sob escaped her lips before her body went limp, collapsing unconscious at the window.
Seeing Kaya fall, Usopp's fury finally exploded.
With a roar, he charged forward and swung a rage-filled punch at Kuro.
Kuro sneered, unmoving.
Amid Nami's scream, he casually lifted a foot and kicked Usopp away with ruthless precision.
Usopp flew several meters, slamming into the ground in a cloud of dust.
Kuro's eyes were cold, killing intent spilling freely.
"You brat—do you really think you can take me on?"
"You ruined my plan. Since I can't claim everything peacefully anymore, then you'll all die here!"
He raised a hand and lightly wiped the cheek Usopp had struck, his voice chillingly calm.
"That punch earlier… it hurt."
Just as Kuro moved to strike Usopp again, Luffy acted.
As a rubber-man, his arm snapped backward, stretching with a sharp, short cry—
"Gum—"
A heavy, explosive punch smashed Kuro straight into the ground!
Kuro sprang back to his feet, eyes filled with surprise and wariness.
"A Devil Fruit user…"
At the same time, Zoro drew Wado Ichimonji.
The blade flashed coldly in the sunlight, and a razor-sharp presence locked onto Kuro like ice.
Ronan tightened his grip on the half-broken wooden staff, eyes fixed on Kuro's every movement.
Even with only a stick in hand, his presence was solid and coiled—like a tiger waiting to pounce.
Kuro's eyes flickered as he adjusted his glasses.
He could feel it now. These young men might be inexperienced, but none of them would be easy to deal with.
Without his proper weapons, he chose not to force a head-on clash. Instead, he stomped the ground and vanished toward the mansion at high speed.
Luffy and Zoro both froze.
"Huh? Did he run?" Luffy asked.
Ronan replied grimly, "He went to get his weapons. Three years of planning ruined—there's no way he'll swallow that quietly."
As soon as Ronan finished speaking, Kuro returned.
Both hands were now fitted with long, razor-sharp cat-claw gloves, gleaming viciously in the sunlight.
He stared at Luffy, his voice low and lethal.
"That punch earlier… it really hurt."
"I didn't expect to run into a Devil Fruit user here."
Luffy didn't retreat, meeting his gaze head-on.
"I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit. I'm a rubber man!"
All ten blades on Kuro's claws flashed as his killing intent surged.
"Since the plan has failed, I'll slaughter all of you—and then force Kaya to write her will!"