"Luffy, we have to win this fight!"
As soon as Nami saw Luffy wake up, she immediately said those words.
Luffy was slightly surprised. "You...?"
Nami raised her fist, her eyes sparkling. "It's for the treasure!"
Luffy brushed off his surprise and tightened his straw hat.
"Yeah, as long as everyone's happy in the end."
Just then, Luffy noticed Kaito Sakamoto at the top of the opposite slope.
"Ah! Kaito! Finally, I found you! Are you okay?"
Kaito shook his head. "I'm fine, Captain, but could you give that hypnotist a punch for me?"
Kuro was a bit surprised. With Kaito's bizarre range of abilities, he wasn't the captain?
Zango, who had just taken a slash from Zoro and wasn't even fazed, was enhancing his hypnotic abilities on the spotted cat.
He was suddenly shaken as he turned around. Why was this punch coming at me?
Before he could react, Luffy's fist landed perfectly on his face, sending Zango flying toward the ground near Kuro.
Kaito glanced at Kuro. "Looks like it's still up to us to settle things, huh, Mr. Refrigerator?"
Kuro, expressionless, disappeared in a flash and swiped at Kaito with his cat-like claws.
Kaito raised a long staff to block, but his senses were already clouded, and he couldn't summon more than half his strength. He was quickly sent tumbling down the slope by Kuro's force.
Zoro caught him immediately. "No way... your strength..."
Zoro was about to question Kaito's abilities but paused, feeling his unusually high body temperature—Kaito felt like a human hot water bottle.
Luffy was already flying over.
"You've got a fever!"
"Nothing to worry about. I'll rest for a bit. You guys handle the rest," Kaito smiled.
"Of course. You rest up, Kaito. I'll take care of that nasty butler," Luffy grinned.
"I believe in you."
...
"Ugh, it hurts."
Zango regained his senses, his right cheek burning with pain.
Opening his eyes, he saw Kuro looking down at him, his gaze locked onto him. Zango immediately jumped to his feet, startled.
"Kuro... Captain…"
"Shut up!!"
"You're going to the mansion in the village now. Find Koya, hypnotize her to write a will, and then kill her to prove you're useful!"
Kuro adjusted his glasses and ordered coldly.
"Yes! Yes! I'll go immediately!"
Zango rushed toward the village, but was suddenly struck from behind. Blood pouring from his head, Usopp clung to his leg, struggling.
"No... stop!!"
"Don't hurt Koya!!"
Fearing Kuro might strike him down, Zango kicked Usopp aside.
"Get lost!"
Kuro's form flashed again, ready to finish him off.
"You really are useless, Usopp."
"You still owe me a punch!"
At the same time, the enraged spotted cat lunged at Zoro and Kaito.
"Go help Usopp."
"I'll handle this fat cat."
Kaito spoke calmly.
Without responding, Zoro rushed forward.
The spotted cat was swiftly kicked by Kaito's whiplike leg, sending it crashing into the right-side cliff wall with a thunderous impact. The cliff cracked under the blow.
Luffy also threw a punch toward Kuro, who was aiming to attack Usopp, but after Luffy's earlier display of knocking Zango away with one punch, Kuro dodged it.
However, Usopp was already rescued by Zoro, who carried him off to chase after Zango.
Their greatest enemy wasn't Zango, but rather, Zoro's sense of direction.
...
On the slope, Luffy, missing his first punch, followed up with another. He flew past Kaito and attacked Kuro, engaging him in combat.
Meanwhile, Kaito remained still. The spotted cat was sent flying again by Kaito's leg. Its anger surged.
"Flying Cat Kick!!"
Despite its large frame, the spotted cat leapt gracefully into the air, its foot coming down toward Kaito with incredible force. Before, when it wasn't in a frenzy, it could shatter the ground with a single stomp. Now, in its enraged state, it was even more dangerous.
Kaito remained unperturbed, calmly locking eyes with the cat. With a swift motion, he spun his arm, and his staff appeared in his hands. As the cat descended, he swung the staff horizontally into its abdomen, and with a powerful follow-through, he drove it into the ground.
The sound of the impact reverberated through the area, dust billowing outward.
The tremendous force embedded the spotted cat into the earth, causing cracks to form along the slope.
Kaito had used about 60% of the stick-fighting technique he had replicated from his home country. He felt that his strongest skill in close combat was his staff technique, so now was a good time to practice and improve it.
The technique he had copied could only be used once, but his own version was unlimited.
The spotted cat couldn't get back up, and Kaito turned to look. The crew of the Black Cat Pirates was taken aback, seeing that Kaito had knocked the rampaging spotted cat out with just one move. Who were these "killing gods" that suddenly appeared?
But Kaito wasn't interested in them; his gaze was fixed on Nami, who was busily working on the ship.
He turned back to watch the fight between Luffy and Kuro, smiling. "Looks like I'm done here."
Walking over to the edge of the cliff, Kaito sat down, leaning against the wall, and began to relax, taking a well-earned break.