Disclaimer: I do not own anything related which includes the characters of One Piece

Rated M. You have been warned.

Chapter 4: Luffy Teaches Haki and a New Nakama

"Oi Luffy...I don't see Unagi." Zoro told his captain as he looked around.

"Oh yeah...almost forgot about him." Luffy remembered and stood up. He walked over to the front of the boat that Nami stole from the Buggy pirates. "OIIIIIIIII! UNAGIIIIIII! WE'RE HEADING TO THE NEXT ISLAND!" Luffy shouted. A few seconds later and Unagi surfaced from the water and greeted Luffy and the others.

'Hello, Luffy, Zoro and...' Unagi had to blink a couple of times and then lowered his head to get a closer look at the third person on board the ship.

"H-Hello there..." Nami waved her hand nervously, still not used to being around or believing that Unagi was on the same side as them.

'….Luffy...is she the same woman who was with you earlier?' Unagi asked.

"Yep! She's our new crew member! Her name is Nami!" He grinned widely.

"I told you I'm not a pirate!" Nami retorted.

'I see...' Unagi nodded his head in understanding and moved toward the front of the boat.

"Alright then, Nami, do you have any rope?" He asked and Nami shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. There might be some inside. Let me check!" Nami told them and headed toward inside. Luffy nodded his head and then looked over at Zoro, who was sleeping. He smiled and turned around to face forward. He just sat there, waiting patiently for Nami to return as he couldn't wait to reunite with his long nosed nakama.

'Can I ask you a question, Luffy?' Unagi suddenly asked, earning Luffy's attention.

"Sure, what is it?"

'I can't help but notice that the woman doesn't seem to trust you, are you sure you want her to be a member of your crew?' Luffy lowered his head and chuckled slightly.

"It's fine, Unagi. She may not look like it, but she is an important nakama. She helped me a lot in our adventures." Luffy told him, knowing that Unagi knows about where he came from since he told Zoro everything while Unagi was pulling their boat before.

'I see...' Unagi had his eyes downcast as he thought back to everything Luffy told Zoro about what happened in the future. He didn't intend to eavesdrop, but he felt certain that Luffy was talking loud enough so that he could hear it too. He probably did that so that he can be aware of his future. 'Another question. You told Zoro about the future, does this girl know also?'

"No...not yet..." He told him, his head lowered, hat covering his eyes. "Not until I know she can handle it..."

'Then why did you tell Zoro as soon as you met him?'

At this, Luffy smiled. "It's because I knew how he would handle it. Zoro's goal is to be the best Swordsman ever and I thought that by telling him the truth then he would want to get stronger than the guy I knew. Plus, I have a lot of faith in Zoro." Luffy chuckled.

'I see...okay then.' Unagi didn't say anymore and accepted Luffy's answers. Luffy smiled and looked back out to the sea. He could sense Zoro's eyes at him as he talked to Unagi and knew Zoro was listening. He probably didn't know Unagi's questions, but Zoro was smart enough to know what they were talking about. Luffy did mean every word though. One of the reasons why he told Zoro the truth was because he trusted Zoro. He knew that he would handle knowing the entire truth and he was right. However, he knew that despite all of that, there was a chance that Zoro might think he was crazy, but he took that chance and he was glad at the outcome.

"I found some rope!" Luffy turned around with a huge grin as he looked at Nami bringing him some rope. He also noticed Zoro was sleeping and just smiled. He grabbed the rope and Unagi lowered himself so that Luffy was able to wrap the rope around him. Once done, they set off, Luffy grinning all the way.

When they finally reached the next island. The trio landed on the shore and looked around. Unagi was nowhere to be seen, mostly due to the fact that he was told to hide so that he didn't scare anyone. Luffy didn't like doing it, but he knew that if Unagi came with them, then he might scare his nakama away before they even got to know them. It also didn't help that the nakama that lived on this island was not brave yet. Luffy couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hm? What's so funny?" Zoro asked as he saw Luffy chuckle.

"Nothing." He simply replied.

"Hmm...there seems to be a town not far from here." Nami told them as she looked at her map.

"Where there is a town, there is meat!" Luffy said.

"Is meat all you think about?" Nami furrowed her eyebrows at him.

"That's because meat is yummy and awesome." This earned a sigh from her.

"It also seems we're not alone." Zoro stated as he put a hand on one of his swords.

"Huh?" Nami asked as she looked around. "Where? I don't see anyone."

"In the bushes." He answered and soon enough, they heard a voice come from the bushes up on the cliff.

"That's as far as you go pirates!" Suddenly, a guy with a long round nose popped out of the bushes and crossed his arms as he stared down at the three. "If you don't want to die, then leave this island at once!" Luffy couldn't help but laugh. Usopp was alive. "I am the notorious Captain Usopp! I am feared throughout the sea and ruler of this island! If you don't go away now, then me and my 80 million men will kill you where you stand!"

"Nah, we're good." Luffy answered calmly. This made Usopp look at them in shock.

"W-What? Didn't you hear what I just said!?"

"Yeah, your Usopp and apparently you have 80 million men ready to kill us." Luffy answered.

"That's right and if you care about your lives then leave this place at once!"

"That's a lie and a very bad one at that." Nami narrowed her eyes at him.

"Gah! You saw through my lie!" Usopp was shocked.

"A child wouldn't believe that lie!" Nami retorted. At this Luffy pouted. He believed it the first time he heard it, but that was in the past and he now knows a whole about Usopp. It was much easier to tell when he was lying, despite being a horrible one himself.

"Damn it! I can't believe it! She must be a master of interrogation." Usopp panicked, putting his hands on his head.

"Hahahaha! You're a funny guy!" Luffy laughed.

"You're laughing at me, aren't you?" Usopp yelled, annoyed. "For your information, I'm a proud man! Which is why they call me the Proud Captain Usopp! I may not have 80 million men, but my crew is still large enough to make anyone cower in fear!" He said as multiple of sticks with faces on them popped out of the bushes around the cliff.

"You mean all three of them." At this, some of the sticks stopped moving and they were then suddenly tossed.

"Ahhhhhh! She found us!" Three kids yelled as they ran back to the village.

"Ah! Don't run away!" Usopp yelled at his only backup. "Damn it..." He suddenly took out his slingshot and aimed it at the trio. "Prepare to fight the Great Captain Usopp!" He said and shot a couple of pachinkos that the three. Luffy simply just caught them with his hand and then looked at them. Usopp was beyond surprised. Nami walked over to Luffy and looked at the pachinkos.

"A pirate that uses pachinkos? I never heard of such a thing." Nami stated.

"Now that you have drawn your slingshot, are you willing to use it?" Luffy suddenly said as his voice froze Usopp. Both Zoro and Nami wondered where Luffy was going with this. "The slingshot is not for threats, it's for actions." He lifted his head and glared up at Usopp with one eye, the other hidden under the shadows of his straw hat. Usopp gulped in fear at both the glare and voice that Luffy was speaking. He felt his knees give in and dropped to the ground.

Zoro grinned at his captain and let go of his swords. "Just to let you know, the person standing here is a real pirate."

"Just as I thought, a true pirates speech is much more intimidating." Usopp muttered. "That's so cool."

"Hahahahahaha!" Luffy suddenly laughed as they all looked at him. "Come on now, don't get so depressed all of a sudden. I was only quoting someone else."

"Huh?" Usopp asked. Luffy stopped laughing and looked at his future nakama.

"Your father's name is Yasopp, right?" At his father's name, Usopp quickly descended down the cliff, crashing into the sand, but quickly got up and crawled toward them.

"Y-You...you know my father!?" Usopp asked in shock. Even both Nami and Zoro were surprised.

"Yep!" He nodded. "He talked a lot about you. I haven't seen him in a while, but I do know that he is currently sailing with Shanks."

"What!? R-Red-Haired Shanks! That Pirate!?" Usopp jumped up in even more shock.

"Yep! Yasopp was really awesome! He could shoot things so far away like it was nothing." Usopp couldn't help but smile.

"I see...my father is sailing with someone awesome as the Red-Haired Shanks." He stated with a hint of pride.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but we were wondering but we want to ask you something." Nami said as Usopp looked at her.

"But first, let's get some MEAT!" Luffy cheered.

"That can come later!" Nami yelled at him.

"I'm in the mood for some booze." Zoro smirked.

"Not you too!"

"Well then, let's go to this pub. I'm good friends with the owner!" Usopp told them and started leading the way. Luffy and Zoro followed him as Nami sighed and muttered something about men before following them.

"What!? You're looking a ship and a crew!?" Usopp shouted as Luffy nodded his head while eating meat. "Wow! What an adventure!" He exclaimed. "However, this is a small town so you won't find any large ships here."

"Well, I expected as much." Nami frowned as she saw how small the own really was.

"Yeah, I really want to help, but no one here has or can afford a pirate ship." Usopp told them.

"Really?" Luffy asked. Usopp nodded. "I see...then I guess we'll go see that person in the mansion up on the cliff." He pointed while chomping down on the piece of meat. Usopp flinched when Luffy said that.

"W-What mansion?" He asked looking away from the group.

"You really should stop lying. All of us can plainly see a mansion from this window." Nami narrowed her eyes and pointed towards the mansion.

"Ugh..." He gulped before standing up abruptly from his seat. "Ummm...I...I gotta go!" He yelled. "Don't worry about the food, it's all on me!" He shouted as he left through the door.

"That was weird..." Nami stated. "I wonder why he lied like that."

"Who knows?" Zoro responded, although he knew the man sitting diagonally from him knew.

"Ahhhh! That was some good food." Luffy exclaimed. He then went to grab his cup of tea when suddenly...

"Usopp Pirates are here!" The trio turned their heads as the trio of Onion, Carrot and Pepper approached them, holding small wooden swords and other weapons.

"Who are you?" Nami asked.

"Huh? Where is the Captain?" Carrot asked.

"No, are we too late. Did they finish him off already?" Onion dreaded.

"Hey you pirates! What have you done to our Captain Usopp!?" They all shouted.

Luffy smirked from behind his cup. "Ahhh! That was some great meat!"

"MEAT!?"

"The Captain...he couldn't have..." Onion's dread worsened.

Nami couldn't help but smile and snicker. "If you're looking for your Captain..." Zoro began.

"What!? What did you do to him!?" They shouted.

"He just...got eaten." Zoro gave the three kids a devilish smirk as they turned to Nami.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH OGRESS!" They yelled at her.

"Why are you looking at me!?" She yelled in annoyance. Zoro just laughed. "It's not funny!"

"Shishishishishi! You three are funny!" Luffy laughed earning an annoying look from Nami. "Don't worry..." He said as his laughing died down. "...your Captain is fine." He gave them a smile and stood up from his seat. "If you want, you can come with us to see him." Luffy told them.

"Huh? Really?" The trio asked, smiling.

"Yeah."

"Wait a minute, do you even know where he is?" Nami asked Luffy.

"Of course! Why would he lie about there not being a mansion when we could see it clearly? He's obviously going there." Luffy told her as she and Zoro were now standing next to the kids.

"Oh, you mean that Mansion where Mistress Kaya lives." Onion stated as Luffy nodded.

"Mistress Kaya?" Nami asked.

"Yeah, she lives up there in that mansion. As a matter of fact, it's about that time, right?" Pepper asked his friends. They both nodded.

"Time for what?" Nami asked as the group started making there way towards the mansion.

"Our Captain goes to the mansion to visit Mistress Kaya and lie to her." Carrot told her.

"Huh? Lie to her? Why does he do something so bad like that?" Nami asked.

Luffy and Zoro were in front of them as they heard the conversation. "Say Luffy..." Zoro asked softly as he looked at his Captain.

"Hmmm?"

"Usopp is one of your crew members, right?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a hunch."

"Shishishishi. Your hunch is correct."

"So I'm right...but why?" It's not that he didn't like Usopp, but he didn't see how Usopp could have been his crew mate seeing as how Usopp acted.

"Shishishi! Because Usopp is someone who saved my life when I fought this really tough guy. Not only that, but no other sniper or marksman is as good as he is. After all, like you said, you want to be the greatest swordsman and I want to be the Pirate King, thus having the best marksman in the world is also a must given." Luffy explained. Zoro closed his eyes and turned away. He smirked, which let Luffy know that he accepted his answer.

The group arrived at the mansion and Luffy immediately started to hop over the wall. "Hold on a minute!" Nami softly yelled at him. "Don't just trespass over private property!"

"Says the thief." Zoro stated.

"I steal from pirates not innocent people." She growled at him.

"Whatever, he's already on the side, we might as well follow him." Zoro was about to go over as well, before the trio of kids told them about the secret entrance Usopp always used.

Luffy slowly walked over to where Usopp was lying to Kaya up on the tree in front of her window. He looked up and saw Kaya listening intently to Usopp's new lie. Luffy reached the base of the tree and was reunited with the others. It was the members of the Usopp Pirates that called out to their Captain.

"CAPTAIN!"

"That's right they called me..." He gasped when he recognized the voices and looked down to see the group, Luffy smiling and waving his hand up at him. "What are you guys doing here!?" He yelled.

"Huh? Who are they?" Kaya asked as she looked down at them as well.

"Oh...ummm..." He started before jumping down towards them. "They are my crew mates of course!" He lied.

"I guess you can say that." Luffy responded. "Although I'm the captain."

"That's right, he's the cap- huh?" Usopp blinked. "I'm the Captain!"

"Are you sure about that?" He lowered his head and looked at Usopp with one eye.

"Huh...ummm..."

"Hahahahaha! You're too easy!

"Are you mocking me!?" Usopp yelled.

"Not really. Just having fun. Anyway, your the Mistress of this mansion, right?" Luffy asked Kaya.

"Huh? Oh yes, I am." She answered. "Can I help you with anything?"

"No, no I'm sure they just came here to see me." Usopp told her.

"Actually, I want to ask you something." Luffy said.

"Oi!" Usopp yelled at him.

"Ummm, sure what is it?" Kaya asked.

"You see, I..."

"What is the meaning of this!?" Luffy sighed in annoyance as he turned around along with the others to see Klahadore, also known as Kuro, glaring at them through his glasses. "You do realize you're trespassing!"

"Told you." Nami muttered.

"Crap, the butler." Usopp cursed as he looked away.

"Klahadore." Kaya greeted her butler.

"State your business." He asked the group.

"Klahadore...you see these people they've..." Kaya tried to explain.

"Save your excuses for later." He responded to her. "You must all leave here immediately...or do you have some business here?"

"Yeah, but not with you." Luffy stuck his tongue out.

"Oi!" Nami sneered at him for his rudeness.

"I will disregard that remark. Since it seems you don't have any business here, then please leave." He turned his head and saw Usopp.

"Oh, if it isn't Usopp the liar." Usopp cringed slightly. "Your reputations proceeds you. You're the talk of the town."

"W-Well you can just call me Captain Usopp, thank you." Usopp replied.

"The guards...have reported seeing you repeatedly lurking around this estate. Do you have any business here?" He asked lifting his glasses back up his nose with the palm of his hand.

"Well..yes, yes I do. You see, I saw this legendary mole enter the estate and I came here to capture it!" He replied.

"Hmph, you've got a gift for deceit." He replied.

"What?"

"I've also heard stories of your father." He started as Usopp's eyes widened. "You're the son of a filthy pirate. I wouldn't put anything past you. Please leave Miss Kaya alone. If it's money you want, how much will it cost to get you to stay away from her." Usopp gritted his teeth in anger.

"Klahadore! You went too far! Apologize to Usopp!" Kaya screamed.

"Why should I apologize to a piece of trash like him? I'm only speaking the truth, Mistress Kaya." He told her. "But I do feel sorry for you. Your treasure crazed idiot father abandoned you."

"Klahadore!" Kaya screamed even louder.

"Stop badmouthing my father!" Usopp growled and glared at the butler.

"What are you getting so worked up about? Why don't use that gift of deceit and lie? Why don't you say that your father is a merchant or carpenter?" Klahadore sneered, which made Usopp extremely pissed. He was ready to punch the crap out of the butler, but someone suddenly laughed.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Everyone turned their heads to look at Luffy in both shock and confusion.

"Luffy! Why are you laughing?" Nami asked in surprise, but also had a hint anger.

"You...You think it's funny!?" Usopp now yelled at him.

"I'm not laughing at you." He said in between small laughs. "I'm just laughing at the irony of all this."

"Huh? I-Irony?" Usopp and Nami asked as Zoro and Klahadore raised a curious eyebrow.

"Oi, butler Klaha-somehing..." Luffy said.

"It's Klahadore." He corrected him, pushing his glasses up with his palm.

"Oh...are you sure?" Luffy lowered his head so that his hat hid his eyes. "I believe you were called something else a couple of years ago." This earned Luffy a slight glare from the butler. Zoro noticed it, but the others only looked back and forth between the two.

"I don't know what you are talking." He replied and turned around. "If you have no business here then please leave at once!" He raised his voice slightly.

"Well, we won't get anywhere hanging out here any longer. Let's go." Luffy told them. "Come on Usopp!" He put a hand on Usopp's shoulder. The long nosed man looked at Luffy before slowly nodding his head.

"O-Okay..." He agreed and they all left.

"Usopp..." Kaya muttered as she frowned in sadness. She turned her head to look at her butler, but he was gone. "Klahadore?"

"Damn that butler! Making fun of my dad like that." Usopp growled as he kicked some dirt.

"Captain..." The Usopp pirate muttered as they frowned at there Captain.

"Well, you did get lucky Luffy interfered when he did." Zoro stated and they all looked at him.

"Huh?"

"If he didn't you would have hit that butler and your girlfriend would have got angry with you."

"She's not my girlfriend! She's just a friend who so happens to be a girl!" Usopp argued.

"Whatever."

"Huh? By the way, where is Luffy?" Nami asked as the group searched for the rubber man.

"Ah man, did he get lost?" Zoro sighed and placed a hand on his forehead. 'Unless...'

"That idiot! How could he get lost on a straight pass? He must be some kind of idiot!" Nami said, getting annoyed.

"Just who is Luffy?" Usopp asked.

"To be honest he's a complete mystery." Nami answered. "I don't know what he is thinking most of the time."

"But he's strong." Zoro responded. "Maybe...too strong..." Zoro narrowed his eyes. He didn't mind that his Captain was strong, but it just seemed that the difference between the two of them was so great it will take Zoro years to catch up to him. After all, he did come from the future so he was basically stronger than anyone in the East Blue and maybe most of the Grand Line. Still, he didn't mind following a powerful Captain like him. He just wished he was stronger so that he could at least be able to have his Captain's back in case they met a strong opponent that even he would have trouble with.

"I see..." Usopp muttered. "Oh and one more thing, what's with his huge scar...the one on his chest." Both Nami and Zoro looked at each other and shrugged.

"No clue." Zoro responded. He wanted to know too, but didn't want to dive into his Captain's personal past...or did he get it from the future...he stopped thinking since it was starting to give him a headache.

"I wonder about that too when I first met him, but..." Nami frowned and wrapped her arms around her. "...something stopped me from asking." She actually didn't care since she thought she was never going to see him again, but she was also afraid. She didn't know why, but she was afraid to hear the reasoning behind that scar.

"I see..." Usopp replied and the group stayed silent for a while.

Luffy leaned his back against the entrance of Kaya's mansion and waited patiently with his head lowered and Straw Hat covering his eyes. After a short while, the gates started to open. When the sound of the gates closed, Klahadore stood still before turning his head towards Luffy. "You again? Do you have some business here?"

"Shishishishi! Sort of, but I also came to talk to you, Kuro." Klahadore's eyes widened for a split second before they returned to normal. He adjusted his glasses with the palm of his hand.

"Where did you hear that name?" He asked, his voice sounding calm and collected, but Luffy could hear the threatening and vicious tone in his voice.

"My Grandpa is in the marines and told me a bunch of stories about pirates. It just so happens that he brought a picture of you and told me you were executed three years ago." Luffy lied.

"A pirate such as yourself with a marine Grandfather, that is the stupidest thing I ever heard." He said.

"It's not all that stupid...unlike a former pirate trying to be a butler for someone and not thinking about anything except for that person's money." Luffy smirked and Kuro glared at him.

"You brat..." He sneered. Luffy only smirked. "What do you want? I can't allow you go free since you know who I am."

"I don't really want anything from you. However, that doesn't mean I don't need you either." Luffy stated.

"What do you mean by that"

"I need you to join my pirate crew." He stated firmly and stared at Kuro with eyes that told him that he didn't accept anything besides a yes. Kuro simply laughed.

"You want me to join your crew. You must be joking." He said in between laughs. "That is the most idiotic thing I ever heard. Someone as scrawny as you? Just who do you think you are?"

Luffy smirked. "Someone who can kick your ass." This statement angered Kuro as he stopped laughing.

"You insolent fool...how dare you even think for a second you can defeat me." He growled.

"It seems you're being to stubborn. Then how about this. I won't tell anyone about who you are and what you plan on doing. In return, you go on with your plan and if we manage to stop you, then you will join my crew." Luffy explained.

"An interesting proposition. Although I never take gambles, I will take this one because there is no way the plan that I've been planning for three years will fail." Kuro stated. "You're on, Straw Hat." He raised his arm to offer his hand to seal the deal. Luffy shook his hand and then started to walk away from the mansion. Unknowing to both of them, someone was watching them from a window in the mansion.

Luffy returned to the others to see his crew mates and the Usopp pirates minus Onion hanging out in the middle of the road. Nami was the first to see Luffy arrive. "There you are!" Zoro turned around to greet his captain.

"Oi Luffy, where did you go?" He asked.

"Oh, just somewhere." He responded with a grin. Zoro sighed figuring it had something future related. "By the way, where is Usopp?"

"He went somewhere." Pepper was the one to respond as he and Carrot were sitting on the ground, leaning back against the fence.

"Oh...hmm? Aren't you missing somebody?" Luffy asked.

"Oh yeah, Onion." Pepper said.

"I think he went to go after our Captain." Carrot added.

"I see...well then." Luffy grinned and put his hands on his waist. He then turned around. "Let's go, Zoro."

"Huh? Where?" He asked while raising his eyebrows.

"You wanted to learn how to use haki, right?" Luffy turned his head with a grin. "Let's go teach you some haki!" Zoro just stared at him for a few seconds before shrugging. He then started to follow Luffy, but the two of them stopped when they heard someone scream from afar.

"Waaaaaaahhhhhh! This is bad! Waaahh!"

"Hey, it's Onion." Pepper stated as he watched his friend run towards him like a bullet.

"This is bad! Bad news! There is a weird man walking backwards!" He shouted before stopping in front of everyone. "There is a man walking backwards coming straight here." He told them pointing his finger in the direction he came from.

"Liar." Both Carrot and Pepper stated.

"It's true! Look! He turned around and pointed.

All of them looked in the direction he pointed and saw that a man was indeed walking backwards towards them. He stopped in front of the group and then spoke to them. "Hey! Who said I was weird? I'm not weird!"

"Anyway I look at it, you are weird." Nami told him.

"Shut up! I'm just a hypnotist passing by..." He stated.

"A hypnotist?" Onion asked.

"Can you show us some tricks?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah, show us!" Carrot was evenly excited as his friends.

"What?" He lowered his hat slightly down with his hand. "Idiot! Do you even understand what hypnotism is? We've just met so there is no way I would show it to you." He then pulled out a small chakram. "Now then, look at this." He told the three as Zoro and Nami sweat dropped."

"You're showing them anyway..." Zoro side commented.

"I'll say, 'One, Two, Jango and you will fall asleep', okay?" He started to move the chakram on a string in a pendulum motion. "One...Two...Jango!" At that moment, the three and the hypnotist both fell down and went to sleep.

"WHAT KIND OF HYPNOTIST HYPNOTIZES HIMSELF!?" Zoro yelled. Luffy laughed as Nami sighed and face palmed.

"Idiots..."

"Hahahaha, well then, shall we go, Zoro?" Luffy told him. Zoro sighed and looked over at Luffy before nodded his head.

"Yeah, let's go before something even more stupid happens." Luffy grinned and the two started to walk away.

Nami looked at them and then at the four sleeping before sighing and hopping off the fence. "Wait for me!" She shouted and ran after Luffy and Zoro.

"Yosh, this seems like a good spot." Luffy grinned and turned around to face the two. "Oh Nami! You want to learn how to use haki too?" He asked.

"Not really, I mean I hardly even know what it is." She responded with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Okay then! Well, I guess it's just me and you, Zoro. You step back Nami." Luffy told her and she nodded. She walked away and stood at the sidelines as Luffy and Zoro looked at each other. The sound of the waves hitting the beach next to them could be heard. "Yosh, which one should we start first with..." Luffy pondered with his arms crossed. "I guess we can start with Kenbunshoku Haki, or you can call it Observation Haki."

"What's that one?" Zoro asked, interested.

"I think it would be best to show you first." He told him. Zoro nodded and watched as Luffy untied the yellow sash around his waist. He then promptly put it over his eyes and and tied the sash around the head. "Yosh!"

"Why are you covering your eyes?" Zoro asked the question both he and Nami had.

"You'll see." Luffy grinned. "Alright then, come attack me, Zoro!"

"Nani!?" Nami screamed. "Why are you telling him to attack you? That's crazy."

"Alright." Zoro replied calmly and took out two of his swords.

"Are you seriously going to attack him?" Nami yelled. "He can't even see!"

"Captain's orders." He replied to her. He stared at Luffy with narrowed eyes and clenched his swords. "Just to let you know, I won't be responsible if I kill you."

"Shishishishishi! I know." Luffy chuckled and stood still as he waited for Zoro to come at him. Zoro waited a few more seconds before charging at Luffy. Zoro gripped the sword in his right hand and was prepared to slash at Luffy. It was then that he heard Luffy say something that made his eyes widened. "You're going to try to slash me with the sword on your right hand in a horizontal motion." He said that just as Zoro did what he predicted and slash his sword sideways only to have Luffy jump back to avoid it.

'What the...?' Zoro's eyes widened in shock. 'He predicted my attack...no...that was merely a lucky guess.' He thought and went at Luffy again. This time however, he prepared to use both of his swords to attack the rubber man. He then tried to do a small spin attack by attacking with one of his sword and then turn around to slash again with the other one.

"Oh...a spin attack." Zoro's eyes widened again as he attacked Luffy and once again he was able to avoid the attack by predicting where Zoro's swords would come from.

'I-Impossible...' Zoro couldn't believe what he was seeing. Luffy was able to predict his moves like it was nothing and avoid them with such great ease. Luffy just stood still as Zoro looked at his back. 'Damn...alright then...let's see you try predicting and dodging this.' He unsheathed his third sword and put it in his mouth. He then got into his Onigiri position. Without saying or thinking of the attack, Zoro went for the Onigiri. Luffy stayed still until the last second when he suddenly grabbed all three swords in the one spot that hey met during the Onigiri move. Zoro's eyes widened the farthest they had during the entire session. 'Y-You've got to be kidding me...'

Nami was also surprised at what happened. She couldn't quite follow what was going on, but she knew from watching what was happening that Zoro's attacks were all predicted by Luffy.

"I guess that should be enough." He said and removed his hands from Zoro's swords and then went to untie the sash around his eyes. "So, what do you think? Pretty cool, huh?" He asked as he started to tie the sash around his waist.

"How could you predict my attacks like that?" Was the first question Zoro asked.

"That's one of the things that is so awesome about Observation Haki. This type of haki allows you to see a bit into the future through your mind's eye to see how your opponent will attack as well as how much damage it would case you if you decide to attack them. The vision is only brief though so even though you know what will happen, if your not fast enough, it can still hit you." Zoro couldn't believe what he was hearing. Such a power exists in the world and he never knew about it. "Oh yeah, I think he also told me that it also depends on the person's killing intent, that the stronger it is, the higher chance of you activating haki, unless you are skilled at it like I am."

"He?" Zoro asked.

"Oh the guy who taught me haki. We'll meet him eventually." Luffy grinned at the thought of the man who trained him for two years, Silvers Rayleigh.

"I see...so how am I supposed to learn how to do this?" Zoro asked.

"We'll do the same thing I did to learn how to use it." Luffy told him and stretched his arm up the cliff to grab a tree branch and broke it from the tree.

"What's that for?" He asked.

"Shishishi! You'll see." He then turned to Nami. "Want to give it a try too?"

"Ummm...not really..." Nami said nervously. She was interested in learning about haki after seeing what happened. After all, if she was able to predict her opponents moves before they make it then she could avoid her opponents easier and get a lot more money for her village. Also, it would be great to use as a way to run away in case she messed with the wrong type of person.

"Oh come on...it'll be fun!" He grinned and Nami reluctantly sighed and walked over to him.

"Fine, but I I better learn something from your teaching methods." Nami told him and walked over to stand next to Zoro.

"Don't worry, you will." Luffy replied. "Alright then, sit down on the sand like this." He showed them as he sat down with his legs crossed. They were a bit confused but did as he said and sat with their legs crossed. "Good! Now, close your eyes." He told them and they did. "Make sure you keep them closed okay. Don't open them at all."

"Alright..." Nami whispered. Luffy grinned as he silently stood up and softly walked over behind them. He gripped the tree branch and then raised his arm above his head behind Zoro. He waited.

"Oi Luffy, when are we going to sta-" Zoro didn't finish as he was whacked in the head by the branch, knocking Zoro away. At this, Nami couldn't help open her eyes at the sound of Zoro screaming and looked over. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Oi, you didn't dodge." Luffy pouted disappointingly.

"OF COURSE NOT YOU IDIOT! HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!?" Zoro yelled in anger.

"Heh? But you could do it before." Luffy pouted.

"That's because I didn't think you were going to wack me with a tree branch." He yelled again.

"Oh well..." He then turned to Nami. "You ready?" She punched him in the face.

"Like hell I am! I'm not going to let you hit me a tree branch!" She screamed.

"But this is how I was taught how to use Observation Haki." He pouted.

"Like I care!" Nami screamed.

Luffy was about to say something before Zoro got both his and hers attention. He sat down with his legs crossed and closed his eyes. "Alright, let's do this again."

"Huh? Are you serious?" Nami asked in surprise.

"If this is the only way he knows how to teach us then we have no choice but to go with it, no matter how stupid and insane it is." He told her with a little frustration.

"But..." Nami whispered.

"If you don't want to do it, then I suggest you move." Zoro told her. "Let's go, Luffy."

Luffy smiled. "Alright. Do you want to continue Nami? If you don't then that's fine." Nami looked at him as she pondered whether to go along with this stupid idea.

"Are you sure there is no other way to do this?"

"Well, I don't really know any other first step than avoiding things with your eyes closed." He responded honestly. "I won't hit you as hard if that helps."

"Fine. As long as I don't get this pretty face of my injured in any way." Luffy grinned and nodded. She sighed and sat down next to Zoro. Their training for Observation Haki began.

"Damn it...why doesn't anybody believe me?" Usopp muttered to himself as he rubbed the cheek that Kaya smacked.

"Oi! Captain Usopp!" He turned his head to see the trio of kids run up to him. He quickly wiped the tears that threatened to fall and greeted the three with a wide smile.

"Hey everybody!" He told them.

"Captain!" Pepper suddenly shouted. "We heard about the pirates! We've got to warn everyone!" Usopp's eyes widened as he remembered what happened when he tried warning everyone. His hand throbbed in pain as he knew what he had to do.

"Wahahahaha! What pirates?" He laughed, surprising the three. "Just like all the other times, of course it was just a lie! I was just having a my revenge on that butler! By making up stories of him being a pirate!" He laughed as the three couldn't believe what they were hearing from their captain.

"What!? It was just a lie?" Pepper shouted in surprise.

"Man! I thought something big was going to happen." Carrot added, putting his hands behind his head.

"I can't believe this." Onion added.

"Although, Captain shouldn't make up lies just because of this. That's not honorable." Carrot spoke softly, turning his back to him.

"Yeah, I feel the same way." Pepper agreed.

"Me too! No matter how that butler is, Captain, I never thought you would make up lies to hurt others." Onion added.

"Let's just go home." The three started to walk away.

"Yeah, go home and eat dinner!"

"Wonder what's for dinner."

Usopp wasn't fazed by what they said a she knew that he had to make sure those three kids didn't get involved. He sighed and started walking away. He continued walking, not paying attention to where he was going until he realized he arrived at the coast, but not the one where he overheard the meeting between Kuro and Jango. He sighed as he tried to think of someway to stop them, but most of his ideas were far fetched and not likely to happen with his manpower, but he at least had to try.

"Again!" He was removed from his thoughts when he heard someone yell and turned his head to see Zoro getting back up and sitting down with his legs crossed. He also saw Nami who was sitting next to Zoro in the same position. He also saw some leaves around the two and wondered how they got there. He then saw Luffy and found his answer. Luffy was standing behind them and raised the branch he had in his hand, looking like he was ready to strike them. This made Usopp panic, so he ran over to them to try and stop him from disciplining his crew.

"Hold on! What do you think you're doing!?" The three all looked at Usopp and blinked at him. "I don't know what they did, but who disciplines their crew by hitting them with a tree branch?"

"Oh, it's Usopp! Hi!" Luffy grinned and raised his free hand to greet him.

"Don't hi me!" Usopp yelled. "How the hell can you let this guy discipline you like this?" He asked the two on the sand.

"Discipline?" They both said and looked at each other. "What are you talking about?"

"Huh? Aren't you guys getting beat up as punishment for doing something your Captain doesn't like?" They both looked at each other before they laughed.

"Hahahahaha! That's funny, Usopp!" Luffy laughed along side them. The long nosed man could only blink in confusion. "I'm just teaching them a cool trick."

"A trick?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah, it's called haki." Luffy told him. "If you want I could teach you too." Usopp looked at him, but then sighed.

"Sorry, but I got other things on my mind." Usopp narrowed his eyes and looked down at his feet.

"What's wrong?" Nami asked seeing his concern. Usopp looked at them and sighed.

"You see, the thing is..." Usopp started telling them about the plan that Klahadore and Jango talked about earlier that day. After he was done, the trio looked at Usopp with frowns. "Because I used to lie all the time, no one believes a word I say."

"Even so, the fact that those pirates are going to attack, is the truth, right?" Nami asked.

"They're definitely going to attack in the morning, but no one believes me. They all think tomorrow will just be a peaceful day..." He then stood up and pumped his fist. "Since everyone thinks I'm a liar, I'll protect this village myself and prevent the pirates from attacking. In order to protect the village, then this will just become one of my lies!" They looked at him. He then sat back down and grabbed his forearm that was bleeding. "Although they fired guns at me...and they chased after me with broomsticks...here...in the village where I grew up! I love this village! I want to protect everyone...how can I just watch everyone get killed..." He cried as he placed his hands in front of his face. They continued to stare at him before Zoro sighed.

"You really are a good guy, you lied to your crew so that you can do this alone..." Zoro told him with a smirk.

"Shishishishi! That's pretty cool of you. Let us get into this fight!" Luffy told him as Zoro smirked.

"I guess we really have no choice, huh?" Nami smiled. "But...first things first, all their treasure is mine, got it?" She stuck her tongue out and put her thumb and index finger together. Usopp looked at them in shock.

"W-What?"

"Shishishishishi! We like you so we're going to help you out." Luffy told him.

"You guys...are willing to fight with me!?" Usopp asked in disbelief.

"Of course, after all, the enemy outnumbers you." Luffy told him.

"You also have the words, 'I'm scared' written all over you face." Zoro added. This slightly angered Usopp. He stood up and pointed his thumb at him.

"Idiots! Me? Scared? So what if they outnumber me!? They can't compete with me! I'm Captain Usopp! In my veins flows the blood of a courageous warrior!" He declared. The three then looked down at his shaking legs. Usopp also looked down. "Ah! Stop shaking!" He hit his legs. "Stop it! Stop it!" He then looked at the trio. "What are you guys looking at!? They're Captain Kuro's fleet! Of course I'm scared! I don't need your sympathy! Go away! Now!"

"We're not sympathizing for you! But rather we're commending you for having courage." Zoro told him.

"Yeah, why else would we risk our lives?" Luffy added. Nami nodded in agreement.

"You guys...I'm so touched..." Usopp cried. He then wiped his eyes and gave them a determined look. "Alright then, I know for a fact that they will attack on the other shore. There is only one way into the village from there and that is the slope. So, if we are able to guard that slope with our lives, the village won't be harmed."

"Sounds easy." Luffy replied.

"It's easier said than done. What are you guys good at, by the way?" He asked.

"Cutting!"

"Stretching!"

"Stealing!"

"Hiding!"

"You have to fight too!" Luffy laughed as Zoro and Nami shouted at Usopp.

"Fine, I know. Let's just think of a plan." Usopp told them.

"But first, let's do some more haki training!" Luffy declared.

"Huh?" Usopp blinked at him. "Wait a minute! Shouldn't we come up with a plan?"

"I'm sure you already got one planned out." Luffy said. "Besides, we have time until morning comes so let's work on your haki." Luffy looked at Nami and Zoro.

"I don't mind." Zoro replied.

"I'll only do it for a bit, I got to get my beauty sleep you know." Nami told him.

"Right, right." Luffy replied and then turned towards Usopp. "Want to learn too?"

"Err...what's haki?" Luffy laughed.

It was sometime in the night that their haki training stopped. Nami was asleep while Zoro stayed in the same cross legged position he was in earlier, but was asleep as well. Luffy and Usopp were the only ones who were awake and they were both staring up at the sky as they sat down on the the rocks. "Sugoi! The stars look so awesome." Luffy spoke.

"Yeah..." Usopp nodded slowly, but had a frown on his face.

"Don't worry." Usopp turned his head to look at the rubber man. "Everything is going to be fine." Luffy reassured him with a grin.

"Yeah...I hope so." Usopp muttered. Luffy frowned and poked him in the forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?" Usopp shouted.

"You're frowning too much."

"Well of course! I have to protect my village and I'm scared. I always wanted to be known as the bravest warrior of the sea and yet, why am I always scared." Usopp said.

"Being scared is not a bad thing." Usopp made a noise in surprise. "When you are scared you make better decisions than anyone else when you fight an opponent you know you can't beat. I don't get scared often and because of that I sometimes get into fights that either almost got me killed or lose someone precious to me." He clenched his hands. "I know how strong I am, but there are people who aren't as strong as me so I usually get them involved with these strong people and...they can't handle it..." He lowered his head so that Usopp wouldn't see his eyes.

Usopp was stunned by his words. "Did you...lose someone important to you?"

Luffy didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Yeah...too many important people."

Zoro opened his eyes at that moment and looked at Luffy with a frown. He overheard everything and couldn't help remember what Luffy told him about the fate of his crew in the future. He looked down at the sand and narrowed his eyes. He had to get stronger. He had to.

It was morning when the Straw Hats followed Usopp to the place where he assumed the pirates were going to come from. Luffy yawned. "I'm tired."

"Didn't you get any sleep?" Nami asked.

"Not really, I was up all night thinking about things." Luffy responded letting out another yawn.

"Honestly..." Nami sighed.

"Done!" They looked at Usopp as the road to the villages was now covered in oil. "Now those pirates won't be able to get up the slope. This is the most effective way to battle them. No matter what, we must guard this slope with our lives."

"Just make sure none of you fall down there yourself..." Nami told the three. "...or else you're screwed."

"Yep!" Luffy grinned as he touched the oil with his foot while sitting on the ground.

"Don't worry! I have a lot of confidence in myself!" Usopp declared loudly as the other three smirked.

The sun then started to rise from over the horizon. "The sun is up. The pirates are going to come soon..." Zoro muttered as the four of them prepared for a fight. Luffy however, knew that they were at the wrong slope, but he didn't want to say anything, mostly due to it being funny. Besides, he wanted to give Kuro a head start.

They waited and waited. No one came. "Where are they...it's already morning." Usopp asked, confused.

"You don't suppose they slept in?" Zoro wondered. Nami's ear twitched as she heard something coming from the north.

"That's weird...am I overly sensitive? I can hear 'Go!' coming from the north direction..." She said.

"The north!?" Usopp shouted in shock.

"I'm positive." Nami said as she cupped her hands behind her ears.

"Oi? What's going on?" Zoro asked Usopp.

"There's another entrance into the village in the north but..." Usopp started to stutter as he had his hands on his head.

"So you mean we're on the wrong slope?" Luffy asked simply.

"They talked about the plan here, so I thought they'd attack from this side!" Usopp told him.

"I see..." Luffy replied, not being too concerned.

"Oi, this is a big problem! We have to get over to the other shore!" Usopp yelled.

"Which way?" Luffy asked.

"If you go in that direction then you should get there in 3 minutes!" Usopp told him. "The landscape on that side is the same one as this one. All we have to do is prevent them from coming up on that slope!"

"Oh no!" They turned to Nami. She had her eyes widened in fear. "That's where we docked our ships! My treasure is going to be robbed!"

"Zoro...go on ahead." Luffy told him and he nodded.

"Right!" With that he ran off. Luffy blinked at him before a thought came to his head.

"I hope he doesn't get lost..."

"Damn! Then our oil trap is useless!" Usopp muttered as he stomped his foot.

"What are you waiting for?" Luffy asked him. "Get going."

"Huh? But what about you?"

"I'll be right behind you! Just go ahead." Luffy told him as Usopp nodded and ran off. 'Hopefully he could help Zoro in case he got lost.'

"Damn it..." Luffy turned around to see Nami slip on the oil. "Help, I'm slipping." Luffy stretched his arm and Nami grabbed it as he pulled her up.

"You alright?" He asked. Nami lifted her head and saw how close he was and backed away only to get caught again by the oil again and started to fall back. "Watch out!" Luffy quickly grabbed her, pulled her to his chest and turned his body around as he landed on his back and slid down with her all the way to the sand below. Once they stopped, he sighed and looked at her. "Are you okay?" Nami groaned and lifted her head. Her eyes widened when she realized where she was. She looked at Luffy who smiled at her. She felt her cheeks get hot and quickly got off of him. She had her back turned to him and she felt her hands on her cheeks before putting them down.

"What the hell was that?" She yelled.

"Oh, you were about to fall on your head so I instinctively went to shield you from hitting your head." He replied.

"Oh..." Nami said softly, feeling slightly guilty for yelling at him. "Sorry..." She quietly said.

"Did you say something?" Luffy asked, thinking he heard her say something.

"It's nothing!" She got up.

"Oh, okay then." He said and put his hat on his head. He then looked up the road. "Looks like we slid all the way down. Well, we better hurry." Luffy told her. She finally turned around and nodded her head. "Let's go!" He tried walking up the road, but slipped and fell face first and slid back down. He moaned. "It's a lot more slippery than I thought." He stood up.

"Well, now what?" Nami asked as she knew it would be difficult for her to get up there.

"I have an idea." Luffy said and then stretched his arm towards Nami. He wrapped his arm around her a few times and then pulled her towards him, despite the protest. She felt herself blush at the close contact between her and Luffy. She didn't know what he was planning on doing, but she felt really a very weird feeling in her chest.

"W-W-What are you doing?" She yelled.

"Hm? I'm getting us over this cliff." He replied.

"Huh?" She asked confused as he grinned at her. He then stretched his other arm to the top of the cliff and started going back. "W-Wait a minute...what are you going to-"

"Gomu Gomu no...Rocket!" Nami screamed in fear as they were both launched into the air. She continued to scream as the two went much farther than they had anticipated.

She screamed and he laughed as they started to descend. Shortly afterward, they started to hear voices. "That is my treasure! But! I can give it to you!"

"Give...give it to us!?"

"Yes, I will give you the treasure, but you must retreat!"

"What trying to bribe us?

"We are not as low as you think!"

"Idiot...of course we're going to take the treasure, but we don't have to retreat! Now then, look at this...after I say '1, 2, Jango', you will let us pass! One...Two...Jang..."

At that moment, Luffy and Nami crashed into Usopp, causing many of the Kuro pirates to have looks of surprise. "W-What the...what happened?"

"Did something just fall from the sky?"

"Captain! This isn't the time to let us pass!" One of the pirates yelled at Jango, who got himself hypnotized.

"I-Ite..." Usopp muttered as he sat up and rubbed his head. "W-What the hell was that?" He looked up and saw Luffy and Nami on the ground. He blinked at the two and then his eyes widened. "You two! How the hell did you two drop from the sky like that!?"

"Shishishishi! That was fun!" Luffy laughed, sitting up.

"Like hell it was!" Nami screamed and bonked Luffy over the head.

"Ow...that hurt Nami." Luffy pouted.

"Like I care! You could have gotten me killed!" Nami shouted.

"But I made sure to protect you." Luffy replied, causing Nami to have a small blush on her face.

"So what!? I'm still fragile!" She then turned to Usopp. "And you!?" Usopp gulped when he saw the angry look on her face. "How dare you try to give those pirates my money?" She took out her staff and hit him over the head with it.

"Ow! That hurt!" He shouted at her, holding his head.

"That's what you get for trying to give away my money!" Nami screamed.

"You actually heard that!?" Usopp shouted in shock.

"Umm...what's going on?"

"I don't know, but we can't waste time."

"He's right! Let's go past them!"

"Captain! Snap out of it!"

The trio above the road looked down to see the pirates all gearing up to start charging up the hill towards them. "Hey, where is Zoro?" Luffy suddenly asked.

Meanwhile...

"Damn it! How the hell did I get back here!?" Zoro shouted as he was now back at the same shore he left. "He tells me to go north and I go north, but all it has done is make me come back here. Is this island some type of maze? Crap, I don't have time for this! This way!" He yelled and ran off in the direction that was not north.

"I don't know. I thought he would have been here already." Usopp replied. Luffy laughed.

"That Zoro and his sense of direction..." Luffy couldn't help, but laugh.

"This is no time to laugh at that idiot!" Nami scolded Luffy. "Look, here they come!" The Kuro pirates all started to run up the hill.

"Alright then, go get them you two! I'll be right here giving you my support!" Usopp announced.

"You fight too!" Nami yelled. She sighed and then turned to Luffy. "Alright Luffy, let's go-" Her eyes widened and jaw dropped as Luffy was laying on the floor sleeping. "This isn't the time for sleeping!"

"What!?" Usopp shouted in shock also. "Crap! Just go there and fight them! I'll back you up!"

"What!? What the hell can I do against ruthless pirates like them!? I'm only a girl!" She retorted.

"You don't expect me to fight either do you! I maybe a man, but I can't fight them with me legs shaking like this!" Usopp legs shook as he shouted. "See!"

"Well look at me! I'm about to cry." Nami responded.

"You're dry as a desert!" The pirates stopped and stared at them with sweat drops rolling down the back of their heads.

"We've got no time for their foolishness! Just go right past them men!" Jango ordered his crew as they charged once again.

"YAAAARRRR!"

"Here they come!" Nami screamed.

Usopp had a look pf panic on his face. He then remembered the weapons he had in his bag and look through it. "Hey, I just remembered! I have some caltrops!"

"What!? Really!? Gimme gimme!" Nami said as Usopp handed her some caltrops.

"Out of the way or we'll kill you!" One of the pirates shouted.

"Take this!" They both shouted and threw the caltrop at the pirates.

"Yeow!" Pirates screamed in pain as they stepped on the caltrops.

"It worked!" Nami grinned.

"Alright then! Now it's time for my special secret weapon! Lead Star!" Usopp stretched his slingshot shot a pachinko out of it as it hit a pirate right in the forehead.

"That bastard..."

"You're doing a great job! Keep it up!" Nami told him. "I'll just be over here to take a breather."

"But you haven't even done anything!" Usopp yelled at her. He then continued to fire his lead stars until he heard a gasp behind. "What's wrong?"

"There are caltrops behind us too." Nami cried and pointed a finger at the caltrops.

"You idiot! You threw them behind us too!" Usopp turned around and yelled. This was a mistake as a pirate managed to get behind Usopp and then slammed a club at his head.

"You're in our way! Get lost!" The pirate said as Usopp's head started bleeding from the hit and fell forward. Nami gasped at the attack and eyes widened. The pirate smirked and started walking up the hill again. "Did you really think you could stop us?" He said. He then stopped when he felt someone grab his leg. "Huh? Didn't you have enough already?" He then started hitting him again with his club. "Let go of me."

"I won't...I won't let you get through...I'll never let you pass! My last tall tale will be a true one! This will be another boring day for my village!" Usopp screamed as Nami looked at him in awe.

"Damn you!" Her eyes widened when she saw another pirate going in for the kill with a sword. Gritting her teeth in anger, she charged at the pirate and slammed her staff on his head.

"Damn girl!" Another pirate ran up to her from behind with a sword. She quickly turned around and blocked the sword with her staff. She tried to hold him off, but he was superior in strength and pushed her towards the cliff, hitting her back against it.

"Ow..." She bit her lip from the pain as Usopp looked at her in shock.

"You..."

"Might as well kill them both." A pirate stated and pointed his sword at Usopp. Jango however clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"You idiots! Just go attack the village! Did you forget Captain Kuro's plan? We can't mess it up!" He yelled at them. "Go now or else he'll kill us all! Do you hear me, you idiots!?" The pirates looked Jango in fear at the thought of what Kuro would do to them.

"Quick! To the village!" The pirates screamed and ran up the slope again.

"Wait you bastards!" Usopp shouted as he tried to stand up. "Wait! Don't attack the village!" Usopp screamed and grabbed one of the pirates.

"You're so annoying!" The pirate gritted his teeth and kicked Usopp off of him.

The pirates were almost at the top of the slope when Usopp gave one final plead. "I beg of you! Please...please don't kill the villagers!"

Suddenly, as if his prayers were answered, the pirates were suddenly flying towards and crashed back onto the slope behind him. Usopp could only look on in shock. Even Nami was surprised. That was until she saw who was the cause of it. She sighed. "Geez, what the hell took you so long?"

"W-What's going on? C-Captain Jango...we didn't know they had someone as strong as him in this village!" The pirates yelled in fear.

"Damn all of this..." Zoro muttered as he glared at everyone who was down the slope. He had his headband on his head as well as one of his swords out, as it rested on his shoulder. He looked at the scene with curious eyes as he saw Usopp on the floor looking at him in shock as well as blood dripping down his face from his head. Nami who looked like she was taking a breather over by the side. He then turned his head. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SLEEPING FOR!?" He yelled at Luffy who was casually sleeping on the ground with a satisfying smile on his face. He gritted his teeth in anger at the man he decided to follow.

"Who the hell are you?" Jango asked.

Usopp was still in shock. "Whoa...you're really strong..."

"Of course I am." He growled, still annoyed about his sleeping captain. "By the way, I went north like you said and because of your stupid directions, I found myself back in the same shore I came from!" He blamed Usopp.

"What!? How is that my fault!? It's not my fault you have such crappy sense of direction!" Usopp yelled back.

"No I don't!" Zoro retorted back.

"Don't ignore me!" Jango shouted at Zoro. He then turned to his crew. "What are you guys doing? You can't be beat after one hit from that guy! Get up and kill him so that we can get to the village or Captain Kuro will kill us!" The pirates all groaned.

"They're getting back up...not bad." Zoro commented.

"Listen! We don't have time to waste here. Since the opponent is strong, we must be stronger..." Jango told his crew. "Come! Look at my pendulum. After I say '1, 2, Jango' you guys will become stronger! Your wounds will heal and you will be much stronger than before."

"Hmm? What's he up to?" Zoro asked.

"I dunno..." Usopp replied.

"He's trying to hypnotize them in order to make them think they're stronger. That is absurd." Nami said.

"One...Two...Jango!" He pulled his hat to shield his eyes so that he wouldn't get hypnotized as well. Suddenly, the crew started to growl and then with a new burst of energy, they roared. Their eyes were now fully white and several of them smashed rocks with their fists to show how strong they became.

"N-No way!? They were still shaky just a little while ago." Nami said with here eyes widened.

"They are crushing the wall...how did they gain so much strength!?" Zoro shouted in surprise.

"Then that means...t-they really have been hypnotized!" Nami screamed.

"If only one of them could crush that wall, then with so many of them...this is bad..." Usopp added.

"Now go! Kill those pests!" Jango ordered as the pirates roared loudly before charging up the slope.

"Shit...Nami, Usopp get up to the top of the slope, I'll take care of this. Oh and try to wake that idiot up!" Zoro told the two.

"Right!" Nami responded, helping Usopp by putting his arm around her shoulder.

"This is such a pain." Zoro muttered as he took out two of his swords and waited for the pirates.

When Nami and Usopp managed to get to the top, she put Usopp down and rushed over to Luffy. She knelt down and started shaking him. "Hey, wake up you idiot!"

"Hmmm~" Luffy moaned and turned to his side. "Five more minutes..."

"We'll be dead in five minutes!" Nami yelled. Luffy suddenly opened his eyes. This caught Nami by surprise as he quickly sat up. He looked at her and then sighed. "W-What?" She asked, confused by his reaction.

"Nothing..." Luffy told her. 'I hate that word...' Luffy thought and walked towards the slope. He passed Usopp who looked at him. Luffy looked down and saw the large number of pirates charging up the slope towards Zoro and sighed. He closed his eyes and then opened them. A burst of haki escaped from Luffy and almost every single pirate foamed at the mouth and passed out. The only ones who were still conscience stopped and looked at their fellow crew mates in shock.

"W-What the hell just happened?" Usopp asked in surprise as well as did Nami.

"So, you finally decided to wake up." Zoro spoke and turned his head. "Although, why didn't you take out all of them?"

"It would be too boring for you if I did." Luffy smirked as he walked down the slope until he stood next to Zoro.

"Well, aren't you a nice guy." Zoro smirked back as the two of them stood firmly on the slope.

"O-Oi...why are you guys sleeping!? Get up!" Jango shouted at the fallen pirates. "I said get up!" None of the unconscious pirates moved. "You're kidding me..." He muttered in disbelief.

"Oi Zoro, you can handle the rest of those pirates." Luffy told him.

"Yeah, yeah." He replied heading down the slope. Luffy then turned behind him. "You should probably take care of that wound on your head." He told Usopp.

"Hold on a minute...what the hell did you do?" Usopp asked.

"Oh that, that was my Conqueror's Haki." Luffy grinned.

"Your what? But I thought Haki was the thing you tried teaching us last night."

"Oh that was Observation Haki. There are three types of Haki, but the Conqueror's Haki can only be used by certain individuals and I'm one of them. Pretty neat huh?" Usopp could only look at him in awe and shock.

"If that's the case...WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT BEFORE GOING TO SLEEP!?" Nami yelled at him. "If you did neither one of us would have had to fight these pirates and gotten hurt!"

"But I knew you could handle them. Besides, it's not my fault Zoro got lost." He pouted.

"I DIDN'T GET LOST!" Zoro yelled, hearing the conversation from where he was.

"Anyway, why would I do that every time we fight somebody. I mean sure I'll do it when there are annoying people around, but if I do it all the time then what's the point of fighting if you can't get stronger." Luffy told her.

"I know that...but..." Nami muttered.

"Shishishishishi! Come on Nami, you're strong enough to take these guys on! Just believe in yourself." Luffy grinned and Nami slightly blushed at his compliment.

"Thanks...I guess..." Luffy nodded and then turned to Usopp.

"You too Usopp. You're strong enough to take these guys on." Usopp looked at him for a second before looking down at the ground. "Oh look, Zoro is done with the rest of them."

"Man, not even a challenge. This Captain Kuro must of had a hard time dealing with these people. No wonder he quit being a pirate." Zoro sighed and then looked at the remaining member of the Kuro Pirates standing.

"Damn you..." Jango growled in anger. He then paused as he looked like he remembered something. "Oh right...we still have those two."

"Hmm?" Zoro looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He then saw Jango smirk and clenched his sword tightly.

"Come down, Nyaban Brothers!" Jango shouted and not even a second later two figures jumped out from the Black Cat Pirates ship. The two figures landed onto the ground behind Jango who greeted them. "Hello, Nyaban Brothers."

"Captain...you called for us?" The skinny man named Sham asked.

"What's up?" The chubbier one named Buchi responded as well.

"W-What are they?" Nami asked.

"Wow...jumping from so high up...they're like cats..." Usopp said. Both Zoro and Luffy looked at the two in silence.

"Buchi, Sham...we couldn't get pass through this slope because those guys are blocking our way. Now go and destroy them." Jango ordered them to.

"W-What!? How can we...Buchi, we can't beat them..." Sham responded, waving his cat hands in front of him.

"Y-Yeah! Those guys look strong!" Buchi agreed also looking nervous.

"What's going on? Aren't they good?" Usopp asked, confused.

"They both seem scared..." Nami sweat dropped.

"Come on, Captain. We're just the ship's watchman." Sham told him.

"Yeah! We don't want to participate in these kinds of battle." Buchi added.

"Sham! Go now!" Jango ordered and Sham squealed.

"Eeeehhhh!? Why me!?" He screamed putting his hands on his head.

"Go!"

"Okay! I'm going!" Sham started walking up the slope.

"What's going on? Aren't they supposed to be strong? Why are they making those cowards fight?" Nami asked confused.

Sham then started to run. "Prepare to die! My claws are really sharp!"

"What can you do with those claws?" Zoro asked as he took his stance. "If you don't stop now, I'll attack!"

Suddenly, Sham's expression changed, catching Zoro by surprise. "Just you? You can't kill me..."

"What!?" Zoro yelled as he suddenly felt a strong force coming from the man's claws. Just as Zoro was going to block the claw with his sword. Sham suddenly stopped, confusing both him and Zoro. They then saw who it was that stopped Sham as the person had stopped Sham with his hands on Sham's wrists.

"Huh? W-Who the hell are you?" Sham asked, his eyes slightly wide in surprise.

"Sorry...but I'm your opponent." Luffy grinned and tightened his hold on Sham's wrists. He cried out in pain from the pressure. Luffy then let go as Sham jumped back and away from Luffy.

"You're going to face them?" Zoro asked, slightly surprised.

"Yep. I already know that I can beat them and I know you can too. He was going to steal your swords to put you at a disadvantage, but I stopped him from doing it." Zoro looked down at his swords and saw that they were still where he left them.

"Then..."

"Shishishishishi! I'll handle them...you can get the big cat." It took Zoro a few seconds for him to understand what he meant before smirking.

"I see..." Zoro then turned around. "I'm assuming he'll be here soon?"

"Yep. So, be ready!" Luffy grinned and in return Zoro smirked.

"Hai, Captain." He made his way up the slope and stopped next to Nami and Usopp.

"Hey, what's going on?" Nami asked. Zoro just shrugged in response. "Oi, answer me!"

"Oh yeah! Nami! Aren't you after their treasure!?" Nami looked down and realized that Luffy was right.

"Oh man, I almost forgot." Nami groaned.

"Is that all you think about?" Zoro questioned her, narrowing his eyes.

"Shut up! I at least don't get lost like an idiot." Nami taunted.

"What was that!?" Zoro yelled, gritting his teeth in anger.

"Oi, oi...is this really the time to be arguing amongst yourselves?" Usopp asked.

"You're right..." Nami replied looking serious. "...I've got to go get my treasure!"

"You're a witch." Zoro said.

"Shut up!" Nami yelled before running down the slope. She stopped next to Luffy as the two of them stared down on the Nyaban Brothers. "Crap...how am I going to get passed them."

"You can always fight the." Luffy offered.

"I'm not monster strong like you." Nami told him.

"Then let's fight them together so you can get your treasure." Luffy grinned.

"By fighting together you mean...you beating them up while I sneak past them to get to their ship...right?" Nami asked with an innocent smile that was clearly fake.

"Not really, but if that's what you want to believe then go ahead. After all, you wouldn't be you if you didn't have the desire to get money." He chuckled as Nami for some reason felt her cheeks get slightly warm at his comment.

"Shut up..." She muttered. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' She wondered before shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

"I don't know what's going on, but I won't let you pass us." Sham told the two. "Buchi! Let's get them!"

"Right!" The duo charged at the two as Nami took her stance.

"Just remember your training Nami. Don't think...just feel your Haki." Luffy told her as she took a glance at him and then took a deep breath. She closed her eyes. She stood still. She didn't know why, but for some strange reason, she was afraid of what was going to happen. Could it be because she was confident of her Haki...or was it because of the man standing next to her? She couldn't figure it out. It was then that it came to her. Without thinking, she quickly side stepped to her right. She opened her eyes and they slightly widened as she saw the claw hand of Sham going right past her face.

'No way...I actually saw it happen and I unconsciously moved...this is...Haki...' Nami thought.

"Oh..." Zoro smirked as he saw Nami dodge the attack. "Looks like she was able to use her Observation Haki."

"You did it, Nami!" Luffy cheered as he too side stepped out of the way as Buchi's claws went past him. "Now, let's get them good!" Nami grinned and then suddenly slammed her staff down on Sham's head, knocking him down to the ground. Luffy simply just kicked Buchi in the stomach and knocked him deep into the wall. He turned his head and saw an unconscious Buchi deep in the wall of the cliff. "Ooops...to much power..." Luffy scratched the back of his head.

Nami didn't respond and only looked at Sham in shock at what she was able to do. She was able to use her Haki. She couldn't believe how it felt. She actually saw what he was going to do in her head and when she opened her eyes after she moved, he actually did what she saw. It felt thrilling. "Damn you..." Sham growled as he tried getting up. Nami snapped out of her thoughts at his voice and saw him starting to get up. She then repeatedly started whacking him over the head until he didn't move. She then sighed and fell to her knees.

"I did it..."

"Shishishishi! Great job Nami! You managed to use Haki." Luffy laughed. "I guess all that training paid off."

"Yeah...being hit with a branch sure did wonders..." Nami replied sarcastically which he failed to notice.

"This is impossible...Sham...Buchi...get your asses up!" Jango yelled at the two, which didn't lead to any response from the both of them. "No...this can't be..." He then froze in fear. "Ah...I-I can explain..." Everyone looked at him weirdly before turning around. Usopp's jaw dropped in fear as he stared at the man standing on top of the slope. Zoro only stared at him, putting his hands on his swords.

"Looks like the big cat decided to join..." He smirked.

"It has been a pretty long time since dawn, I was wondering why the plan wasn't carried out." Kuro stated as he pushed his glasses up with the palm of his hand. He then gritted his teeth in anger. "WHAT THE HELL SI GOING ON HERE!?" He yelled. Usopp was surprised to see him yell like that. He sighed and readjusted his glasses before continuing. "I didn't expect this to happen." He then looked down at Luffy. "The Black Cat Pirates have really been reduced to such a sad state. Isn't that right, Jango!?"

"But...you said that we should let that kid go because he wouldn't affect our plans." Jango tried to turn the blame away from himself.

"Yes, I did say that...but so what!? He indeed still cannot affect our plans. I expected that he would come after us. I just didn't expect your uselessness. I don't want anymore excuses." He dropped his bag and opened it. Nami and Usopp's eyes widened as he took out his cat glove like weapon.

"Oh...that's a weird weapon you got there." Zoro commented on the five blades that were coming out of each finger on the glove.

"Hmph, and just whoa re you?" He looked at Zoro.

"Roronoa Zoro...I'm your opponent." Zoro smirked as he took out all three of his swords.

"My opponent?" Kuro repeated. He then looked at Luffy. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Huh?" Nami and Usopp looked at Luffy.

"If I remember correctly, weren't you going to fight me as per our agreement." Kuro stated shocking everyone besides Luffy.

"Agreement..." Usopp muttered a she looked at Luffy in disbelief.

"What agreement? What agreement is talking about?" Nami asked also surprised.

"Are you an idiot?" Luffy finally responded as Kuro felt a vein pop. "The way I remember it is that I never stated that I would be fighting you. I said 'we' which didn't really mean myself. Instead, I'm putting our agreement all on Zoro."

"Oh, so you are risking the agreement on this swordsman. Please do tell me why?" Kuro asked.

"Because Zoro could kick your ass!" Luffy smirked as this angered Kuro and made Zoro smirk.

"Thanks a lot for your confidence, Captain." Zoro replied as he took his stance and prepared to fight against the former Captain of the Black Cat Pirates.

"Foolish...foolish indeed." Kuro readjusted his glasses. "Very well then, but...if your comrade can't beat me...then I win and you have to uphold your end of the bargain."

"Sure, but Zoro won't lose!" Luffy grinned.

"Hmph, fool." Kuro then suddenly disappeared. Zoro eyes widened in surprise.

'Fast...' He looked around for Kuro, but couldn't see him. 'Crap...where is he?' He suddenly felt Kuro's presence coming behind him and turned around while raising his swords and was able to block his blades.

"Impressive..." Kuro told him before disappearing again. Zoro clenched the sword in his mouth tightly as he looked around for Kuro.

'Damn...where the hell is he...?' Zoro was getting annoyed at not seeing where Kuro was.

"Zoro!" Luffy suddenly shouted. Zoro took a glance at him and saw him grinning. He understood what he was trying to tell him and closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he saw it. Zoro quickly ducked as Kuro appeared behind him and tried to swipe his claws over Zoro's head. Kuro's eyes widened as Zor started to turn around with his sword aiming to slash at his waist. Kuro quickly jumped back to avoid the slash and slid to a stop.

"You..." He growled in anger at almost getting cut in half.

'So...this is Haki...interesting...' Zoro smirked and stood up. He went right back into his stance and prepared to go for another round with Kuro.

"This is annoying...I just had enough of this..." He adjusted his glasses and was preparing to do something when a sudden voice was heard yelling behind him.

"Stop this, Klahadore!" Everyone looked at the person behind Kuro.

"K-Kaya! What are you doing here!?" Usopp shouted in shock.

"Oh? Isn't that the Ojou-sama of the mansion?" Jango stated. "She's the target of the mission!"

"You surprised me, Ojou-sama. What are you doing here?" Kuro asked in the voice of his alter ego.

"Meri told me everything." Kaya answered.

"Oh...he didn't die? I didn't show any mercy to him..." He glared at her sadistically. Kaya's eyes widened in horror.

'No...he really...isn't the Klahadore I know...' Kaya clenched her fists. "I'm really sorry...Usopp-san...maybe you can't forgive me easily, but...I really can't believe Klahadore is a pirate."

"Never mind that!" Usopp yelled. "Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to run away!? These pirates are after your life!"

"Aren't you fighting as well!?" Kaya screamed. "We treated you so badly and yet you're here fighting, even with those wounds..."

"We're different! I'm a brave warrior of -" Kaya interrupted him before he could finish.

"Klahadore! If you want my money, I will give it all to you!" She yelled. "Please leave the village!"

"You don't seem to understand, Ojou-sama." Klahadore replied. " It's not only money that I'm after. It's 'Peace of Mind'. I spent three years here to gain the villagers trust. I feel at peace here. Only when I have obtained 'Peace' and 'Money' will my plans be complete. That's why having my crew attack the village, and making you leave a will at your death is essential." Kaya couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Kaya, run! Don't bother negotiating with him! He's no longer the butler you knew." Usopp yelled. Suddenly, Kaya pulled out a gun, surprising Usopp.

"Leave this village!" She yelled at him.

"So...you've become stronger in these years." Kuro stated. "Do you still remember? A lot has happened in the last three years since your parents passed away. We've been together for quite some time...we took boat rides together, went to town together, when you were down with a fever, I always stayed by your side and took care of you...we've shared our troubles and our joy...I've served you tirelessly. I've suffered taking care of this nosy little Ojou-sama...I suffered waiting for so long..All of that was so that I can kill you today." He ended with a deathly glare that made Kaya's tears stream down her face.

Usopp gritted his teeth in anger. "Bastard..."

"I was a Captain in the past...and I had to serve such a young, naive little girl obsequiously...deliberately to make her like me...can you understand how demeaning my days have been?"

"Aaaargh!" Usopp jumped ay Kuro who looked at him.

"Usopp-kun...Now that I think of it, I..." He then suddenly reappeared behind Usopp. "...still haven't thanked you for that punch you gave me last time...you hit me really hard." Kuro was ready to slash at Kuro when Zoro stepped in and blocked the blades from reaching Usopp. "You again..."

'I'm lucky I saw what he was about to do due to my Haki or Usopp would have been toast...' Zoro thought as he held Kuro back.

"I'm growing tired of all these foolish fools...Jango!" Kuro shouted as he pushed Zoro away.

"Y-Yes..."

"I will handle this swordsman and his friends...you take care of Ojou-sama...make her write her will, and then...kill her." Kaya's eyes widened in horror.

"Got it..." Jango replied.

"Sorry, but I really doubt he will get past those two..." Zoro told him.

"Oh...who exactly are you talking about?" Confused, Zoro looked down the slope and saw that both Luffy and Nami were gone.

"What!? Where the hell did they go!?" Zoro yelled in shock.

"They probably ran away to leave you here to die." Zoro scoffed at this. He didn't know where they were, but he knew Luffy wouldn't leave him here to die, not like he was going to.

"Hmph, like they would do something like that. Regardless, I won't let you beat me." Zoro pointed his sword at Kuro. Jango was able to reach the top of the slope and headed toward Kaya before Usopp stood in his way. Jango stopped and looked at him with pity.

"Look at yourself, you're in no shape to fight. You might as well back down and I might just let you live." Jango told him.

"Like hell!" Usopp told him. "I'll protect Kaya even if it kills me!" He shouted.

"Usopp-san..." Kaya put a hand to her mouth as she cried.

"Fool..." Jango said and took out two chakrams, one in each hand. Usopp growled at him as he took out his slingshot.

Meanwhile...

"Look at all the gold!" Nami squealed as she hugged her new bag of gold and the one that the pirates stole from there ship.

"Shishishishi! Awesome!" Luffy replied.

"None for you." She replied, glaring at him.

"I know, I know..." He told her and walked back onto the deck. He looked out to the slope and saw what was happening.

"Shouldn't you go out there and help them?" Nami asked.

"They can handle it. I believe in them." Luffy replied.

"You sure have a lot of faith in people you just met only recently." Nami said. Luffy chuckled at this.

"Yeah..." He didn't say anything after that as he continued to watch. Nami only stared at him in wonder. He really was a mysterious man.

"Get out of my way, you brat!" Jango growled in anger.

"Never!" Usopp responded.

"That's right!"

"We'll never move!"

"We'll protect Kaya because...

"WE ARE THE USOPP PIRATES!" Usopp blinked and looked behind him and was shocked to see Pepper, Onion and Carrot all behind him carrying blunt objects as weapons.

"What are you doing here!?" Usopp yelled.

"Why did you lie to us, Captain?" Pepper asked.

"Aren't we comrades?" Carrot added.

"Yeah, you should have told us you were going to fight with real pirates!" Onion told him.

"This isn't fun and games!" Usopp yelled.

"We know that! That's why we will help you protect Kaya!" They all shouted.

"You..." Kaya couldn't believe the three children.

"This is getting annoying. Fine then, if you want to die along with this long nose freak then so be it." Jango twirled his chakrams around his fingers and prepared to throw them at the four.

"Oh no." Usopp pulled back the string on his slingshot.

"Take this!" He shouted and threw both of his chakrams at them.

"Hissatsu: Kayaku Boshi! Usopp shot two exploding stars at the chakrams as they exploded upon impact. He grinned thinking he stopped them, but suddenly saw a vision in his head. He quickly turned around and jumped onto Kaya as he took her down with him. The two chakrams appeared out of the smoke and flew past the five of them. 'W-What was that...was that that Haki thing that guy was telling me about...I actually saw...if it wasn't for that then...we might have been dead...'

"Captain!" The trio shouted.

"Usopp-san..." Kaya cried as she looked at Usopp.

"Don't worry...I won't let them have you." Usopp told her as he got up and turned around to face Jango again.

"I'm impressed you dodge that...but you won't be able to do it again!" He said and took out two more chakrams. Usopp pulled on his slingshot.

"Hissatsu: Kemuri Boshi!" He shouted and shot a smoking star at the ground in front of Jango, covering him in smoke. Taking this distraction, he grabbed Kaya's hand and then ran off into the forests. "Usopp pirates! We have to protect Kaya! Come with me!" He told them and the three nodded their heads before following their Captain.

"Usopp-san..." Kaya muttered his voice as she tried her best to keep up with him.

"Damn you..." Jango coughed as he tried to get out of the smoke cloud.

"What a foolish and cowardly tactic." Kuro commented on Usopp's strategy. He sighed before looking back at Zoro. "That man is foolish to think that he could escape Jango, but in case he does fail, I plan on killing him along with her." Zoro didn't respond and just glared at him. "You are quite calm. I thought you would get angry at the thought of killing that idiot, Usopp."

"He won't die." He replied.

"Oh, and what makes you say that?"

"It's because my Captain won't let that happen."

"Oh...but as you can see, he's not here and he's not following them, so how will your Captain protect him?" Kuro asked.

"Don't know...but I just know this...he won't let one of his friends die!" Zoro then charged at Kuro and the two clashed blades with each other. Kuro used his Silent step technique to avoid Zoro's wide slash and reappeared behind him. Zoro however, saw a vision of his next attack and jumped to the side to avoid getting his head and shoulder pierced by his blades. Kuro clicked his tongue in annoyance and Silent Stepped again.

Zoro once again was able to avoid getting any part of his body hit by the blades with his Haki and both men continued their back and forth clash. Neither of them were able to get a clean hit against the other and Kuro was starting to get really annoyed by that mere fact. The two of them then stopped and Kuro glared at Zoro. "I've had enough of this...I've spent three years coming up with this plan and I will make sure it succeeds." He readjusted his glasses. "It's time I ended this." He stood straight up and then started to sway back and forth.

'Huh? Now what is he trying to do?' Zoro carefully watched him.

"Shakushi!" He then suddenly disappeared.

'Nani? Where did he go?' Zoro looked around. Suddenly, the wall to Zoro's right were suddenly slashed. 'The wall just got cut...' He then heard another slicing sound from behind him and the other wall was cut also. 'That's fast...' He then suddenly had a vision. However, not even the vision was enough for Zoro to evade his attack as he was slashed in the abdomen area. He screamed in pain as blood dripped from the cuts.

"Zoro!" Nami screamed as she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Luffy only stared.

"Damn it..." Zoro growled as more of the area was getting slashed. He saw another vision and went to intercept the attack, but he still was not fast enough as his shoulder was slashed. He held back a scream as he ignored the pain in his shoulder and stomach. 'Damn he's faster than before...not only that...but it seems he doesn't have any control...he's just slashing anything...' Zoro noticed. 'I can see when he's going to attack, but I can't dodge fast enough...' He then suddenly heard a sound. He looked around and saw nothing. 'That sound...' He then heard it again. 'That's...' Zoro smirked as he suddenly had an idea. 'I hope this works.'

"Damn it! Where are they?" Jango wondered as he threw his chakrams. The weapons cut threw the trees.

'S-Scary...' Usopp muttered as he saw what his chakrams were able to do. He turned back to Kaya and the trio. "We have to keep moving. I'll distract him so I want you guys to take Kaya farther into the forest, okay?"

"But Captain..."

"No buts. Do this for me. Protecting her is the most important job I could ever ask of you, so please." Usopp pleaded with them.

"Usopp-san..."

"Alright! We'll do it!" They told him and he thanked them as Usopp took a deep breath and ran over to the direction that Jango was.

"Hey! Hypno-freak!" Jango turned around and saw Usopp standing just a few feet in front of him. "Leave here at once or otherwise my 8000 men will take you out!"

"You can't fool me again with that stupid lie!" Jango yelled as he took out two more chakrams. Usopp gulped as he felt his legs shake. "Take this!" He was prepared to throw his chakrams, but Usopp intercepted him with his own attack.

"Hissatsu: Tamago Boshi!" Usopp shot a rotten egg in Jango's face as the pirate grabbed his face, dropping his chakrams before doing so.

"It burns!" He cried out. "And it stinks!" Usopp then charged at Jango and jumped into the air as he took out a hammer and slammed it into Jango's face, sending him flying backwards. Usopp panted as he saw Jango land on the ground. His knees suddenly felt weak and he fell down to them.

'I did it...' Usopp assumed he claimed victory over a real pirate. However, Jango started getting up. Usopp noticed this and tried to get up, but couldn't. 'Crap! I can't move!'

"You bastard! I had enough of your antics! Prepare to die!" He said and walked over to Usopp with a chakram in one of his hands.

'No...it can't end like this...at least...Kaya is far away from here by now...' Usopp decided to look at the bright side, but he was scared to show it on his face.

"Stop it!" A sudden voice interrupted Jango and Usopp's eyes widened at the familiar voice. He turned his head and saw Kaya who was breathing heavily. "I'll do it...I'll write the will...just don't hurt Usopp-san..." She told Jango.

"Hmph, you really are a smart girl, but I can't let this guy live after what he has done." He then raised his chakram again.

"No!"

"Captain!"

'Crap...' Usopp thought as he closed his eyes in fear of getting decapitated. Out of nowhere, a leg connected with the face of Jango sending the hypnotist flying into a tree and slamming him against it, knocking him out. Everyone was shocked at the sudden appearance of this mystery man. However it wasn't long before the mystery man to reveal himself as he turned around to face the five of them.

"I'm sorry for taking so long, Ojou-sama...it seems the wounds I suffered were little bit more serious than I thought."

"M-M-Merry-san..." Kaya stuttered in shock. Merry smiled at her.

"I hope you are okay and not hurt." He then turned to Usopp. "The same goes for you."

"Hold on minute...how did you...I mean..." Usopp stuttered in shock.

"I took martial arts when I was little so I'm quite capable in a fight, Usopp-san." He told him.

"I...see..." Usopp sighed in relief as it was finally over. He then stood up as he remembered about Kuro. "Oh no, I almost forgot about Kuro!"

"Don't worry."

"Huh?"

"I'm sure those new friends of yours will be able to handle him." Merry told him with a smile.

Zoro stayed calm as he closed his eyes. He stayed calm as he tried to focus on something. He was now lost in his little world as everything around him became silent. He felt himself focusing everything he had into his ears. He was looking for that one sound that would give him the victory.

Suddenly he heard it. At the same time a vision came to his head and he quickly went to intercept it. He raised his swords and suddenly pinned Kuro's cat claws in between his two swords. Kuro was shocked. "How did you...?"

"Your footsteps...are too loud." Zoro told him and he then pushed his swords up with Kuro's cat claw, leaving Kuro fully open.

"No..." He muttered in disbelief. Zoro then got into position and unleashed his attack.

"Oni...Giri!" Zoro connected as he slashed Kuro's chest. Kuro couldn't believe what had happened as he fell to the ground. Zoro removed Wado Ichimonji from his mouth and turned around to look down at Kuro. He then placed his swords back into their sheaths and collapsed down onto the ground, tired from the fight.

"Sugoi Zoro! You were awesome!" Luffy appeared in front of Zoro as he looked down at him.

"Yo, Captain." He smirked.

"Shishishishishi!"

"I'm surprised you actually won." Nami told Zoro as she sat down on the ground, hugging her bag of money.

"Shut up...where did you two go anyway?" Zoro asked.

"Oh, to get Nami's money." Luffy replied, sitting down as well.

"Are you kidding me?" Zoro was in disbelief. "Usopp could have gotten killed."

"Of course not. I wouldn't let him die!" Luffy laughed.

"If that's the case why aren't you there to help him?" Zoro asked.

"No need." He said and looked up. Zoro and Nami did so also and they grinned when they saw Usopp, Kaya and the kids alright. However, there was another person with them that they didn't recognize.

"Who's that?" Zoro asked.

"Good day, my name is Merry and I am Ojou-sama's loyal servant unlike Kuro here." Merry introduced himself.

"Oh...hi." Nami greeted him.

"Whoa...you actually beat him!" Usopp and the others looked in awe.

"Of course...did you really think I'd lose." Zoro responded.

"Well...I had my doubts...I mean if you couldn't then it would have been up to me to finish the job." Usopp rubbed the bottom of his nose in confidence.

"Shut up you liar." Zoro muttered as the group laughed.

"Well then, allow us to welcome you to stay and rest at the mansion. It looks like you really need it." Merry offered as he looked at Kaya who nodded in agreement.

"I would like that." Zoro stated.

"Yea me too! It would be nice to take a bath after all the sweating." Nami agreed.

"Then it's settled." Kaya said. "But what about..." She looked sadly at Kuro.

"I'll take care of him. You guys can go rest." Luffy said. Zoro looked at him before sighing and getting up.

"Let's go." Zoro told them as he started walking up the slope.

The others soon followed as it was only Luffy, the unconscious Kuro and Merry left on the slope. "Thanks...for saving Usopp."

"It's the least I can do for you and your father." Merry responded as he looked down at him.

"But whoever thought you were a member of the Revolutionary Army, Merry." Luffy grinned at him.

"You shouldn't be so surprised at how many people are members of the revolution. Even the most unsuspecting people can be members." He responded.

"Yeah, I guess."

"So, what are you going to do now about him?" Merry asked a she pointed towards Kuro.

"He's joining my crew. He's smart and cool headed. Not only that, but I really think he could become a strong member for my crew and the Revolutionary Army." Luffy responded.

"I see...well I hope it goes will when your crew finds out." Merry told him.

"Yeah...I hope they'll understand..." Luffy said.

"Did you tell any of them about your affiliation?"

"Only Zoro...I don't want to tell the others, not yet anyway."

"I see, well good luck."

"Thanks." He watched as Merry walked up the slope. He then turned to Kuro and smacked him across the face a couple of times until he woke up.

"I...lost..." He muttered as he looked at the sky in disbelief.

"I told you you would." Luffy told him.

"Damn this...I guess that means I have to join your crew, huh?" Kuro said. "As part of our agreement."

"Yep!" Luffy told him with a grin. "Although there are a few rules we have to go over. This is the most important one...if you hurt any of my friends after what you have done here, I won't tolerate it and kick you ass until you understand what it means to be a part of my crew. We will always look out for each other and if you act out of you own accord and hurt them, I will not hesitate to hurt you. Understood."

"It's not really that threatening with the way you look, but I understand. I maybe a pirate, but a deal is deal and I will abide it as a man. That's probably one of the reason why I hate being a gambling man." Kuro confessed.

"Good. We will soon be getting a ship so I want you to hide in there until we set sail. I'll introduce you to the crew then." Kuro stared at him before sighing.

"Fine."

"Then, I'll see you then." Luffy stood up and started walking up the slope.

Kuro adjusted his glasses. "Such a pain...but I guess a new change of scenery might not be so bad..."

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh! That was such a good meal!" Luffy sighed as he finished eating.

"Why are you hungry when you did less work than any of us?" Nami narrowed her eyes at him.

"I just am." He responded.

"Well, whatever. We already ate, we might as well start heading out." Zoro told them.

"Yeah, you're right. We shouldn't stay long and bother Kaya." Nami agreed.

"Yosh, then let's go." Luffy hopped off his chair as the door opened.

"Oh...are you leaving already?" Kaya entered the room as Luffy nodded.

"Yeah, we should really get going." Luffy told her.

"Shouldn't you need to stay in bed?" Nami asked.

"No. I've been sick like this for a year ever since I lost my parents that day...Usopp-san encouraged me. That's why I can't be so weak now. Anyway, I heard that you guys need a ship." Kaya said.

"Huh? Yeah, but how?" Nami asked.

"Merry-san told me that you're Captain asked him for a ship and he replied that he would talk to me. Please, allow me to give you a ship as a sign of my gratitude." Kaya bowed.

"Awesome! I can't wait to see it!" Luffy grinned in excitement as he was going to meet an old friend.

They made their way to the shore and when they arrived, they were all in awe at the ship. Luffy however, felt nostalgic and even emotional as he looked at the first ship he ever sailed with in the future. 'Merry...it's good to see you again...' He reached up to wipe away any tears that threatened to fall, which didn't go unnoticed by Nami, but shrugged it off.

"Hey...now that's not a bad ship." Zoro whistled.

"Caravels are amazing!" Nami squealed in excitement.

"I have been waiting for you." Merry told them. "I would like you to meet the Merry Go. A ship I designed myself. It's a caravel and it uses a stay sail. The controls are in the back. I know it's old fashioned, but I do hope you like it."

"It's awesome!" Luffy screamed in joy.

"That's good to hear." Merry chuckled.

"Thank you so much!" Luffy said that to both Merry and Kaya.

"Your very welcome!" Kaya replied. "I made sure that we got you everything you might need for you voyage."

"Shishishishi! Thanks!"

"Stop me!" A voice shouted from behind them as they looked up the slope and saw something big rolling towards them. Kaya's eyes widened as she recognized the person.

"Usopp-san!"

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaa!" He screamed as he continued to roll.

"What's he doing?" Zoro asked.

"Don't know, but let's stop him before he destroys our new ship." Luffy said and Zoro nodded. So, they stood in front of the ship and raised their feet up, stopping Usopp from going any farther. Unfortunately for Usopp, his face landed right in their feet.

"Th...Thank you..." He mumbled.

"No problem." They both replied.

After settling down, Kaya spoke. "So, you really are going out to sea, Usopp-san?"

"Yeah, I have to go before I change my mind. Please don't stop me." Usopp told her.

"I won't. I've figured that you might do this. It really makes me sad though." Usopp smiled at her.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. When I return to the village, I will make sure to tell you stories of my adventures that are more unbelievable than the lies.."

"Thank you. I look forward to it." Kaya smiled.

Usopp then turned towards Luffy and the others. "Well, safe voyage, you guys. Hope to see you again somewhere."

"Why?" Luffy asked as he leaned over the railing.

"Huh, why? Sheesh...you're such a cold hearted man...we're both going to be pirates now, so we might meet again on the high seas." He replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"What are you talking about? Hurry up and get on board." Zoro told him as he pointed a finger to the ship.

"What?" Usopp asked, confused.

"We're friends already, so come on, let's go on awesome adventures." Luffy grinned.

"Wha..." Usopp looked at them in shock. He then leaped in joy. "I...I'm the Captain, right!?"

"Baka! I'm the Captain!" Luffy yelled back, but had a smile on his face. The others could only laugh as Luffy lifted Usopp's belongings onto the ship. Usopp excitedly jumped onto the ship and looked around in awe. "Yosh! Now that everyone is here, let's set sail!"

"YEAH!" The others cheered as the ship start to sail out to sea.

"Thank you for everything! Have a safe journey everyone!" Kaya screamed as she waved goodbye.

"Thanks for the ship!" Luffy yelled back.

"Take care, Kaya!" Usopp yelled a she waved at them. Soon enough, they were out at the open sea with Usopp's home island out of sight.

Luffy laid on Merry's head as he hugged her. "Merry. It's good to see you again. I missed you so much. You probably don't know what I'm talking about, but I promise to take care of you this time and have you join us into the seas you couldn't go to. It's a promise."

"Luffy! Get down here." Nami called out to him as Luffy stood up and jumped down to the deck.

"Yo, what's up?" He asked.

"Aren't you forgetting about someone?" Nami asked as Luffy pounded his fist into his free hand.

"Oh yeah!"

"Huh? Who are you forgetting?" Usopp asked.

"Shishishishishi!" UNAGI!"

"Who's Unagi?" His question was answered when Unagi rose from the water, immediately causing Usopp to freak out. "AAAAAAAAHHHH! IT'S A SEA KING! HE'S GOING TO EAT US!"

"Shishishishi! Unagi is my friend, he won't he won't eat us." Luffy grinned.

"What? Not only did you name it you also call it your friend!?" Usopp asked in disbelief.

"Aa."

"Are you serious?!"

"Yep. Unagi come and introduce yourself to Usopp!" Luffy told Unagi as he lowered himself to meet with Usopp. Usopp backed away in fear.

'It's a pleasure meeting you, Usopp.' Unagi nodded it's head at Usopp, who nervously raised his hand.

"He says its a pleasure meeting you." Luffy told him.

"You can understand him too!" Usopp couldn't believe any of this, but it was all right in front of him.

"Yep! It's thanks to my Haki...I think...I'm not really sure, but I think that's how I'm able to understand him." Luffy told him which only made Usopp stare at him more in disbelief.

"I still can't believe any of this..."

"Well, you better because Unagi is traveling with us." Zoro told him.

"Oh man...what did I get myself into." Usopp sighed.

"Indeed, I asked myself that question as well."

"See, at least three is one reasonable person he-" Usopp blinked as they all turned around and saw Kuro sitting on the railing with his arms crossed and one foot touching the deck. Usopp eyes widened in horror. Nami's eyes widened as well. Zoro was ready to take out his swords when Luffy stood in between them.

"Now, now...don;t get all riled up." Luffy told them.

"What the hell is he doing here!?" Usopp yelled.

"Move Luffy so I could teach him why he shouldn't mess with us again." Zoro replied.

"Sorry, but fighting amongst crew mates is a no on my crew." All three of them looked at him like he became insane.

"Did you..."

"...just say..."

"..c-c-c-crew mate!?"

"Yep! Allow me to introduce to you the fifth member of our crew, Kuro!" Luffy introduced as Kuro adjusted his glasses with the palm of his hand.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?"

To Be Continued...

Author Notes: Wow, it's been a long time since I updated this story. Well, I hope you enjoyed this super long chapter! I'll try my best to update it as frequently as I can. Thanks for sticking with it until now! So until next time!