Usopp Dead?! When is Luffy Going to Make Landfall?!

With Arlong Park already cleared of its lesser guards, Zoro slips away after crossing paths with the fish-man officer Hatchan, who mistakes him for a harmless visitor and offers a lift toward Cocoyasi Village. Zoro leaves only moments before Arlong returns to find his base wrecked and learns that the man briefly held captive was none other than the Pirate Hunter himself. Far across the water, Luffy, Sanji, and Yosaku close in on the island with Momoo towing them along.

Usopp, fleeing furious pirates, escapes the weaker fighters but tumbles off a cliff into the clutches of the officer Chew, who hauls him back for questioning. Kuroobi voices his suspicion that Nami both lured Zoro in and freed him, then reveals a treasure map found in her house. To silence the accusations and prove her loyalty, Nami drives a blade into Usopp's gut and lets him drop into the pool, satisfying the officers enough to release her. Soon after, she spots Luffy's vessel launched skyward, where it meets Zoro before crashing into a rice paddy, and Johnny, having seen the stabbing, reports that Usopp has been killed.

The adaptation adds scenes absent from the manga, such as Arlong's crew marching back from Cocoyasi Village and Usopp dodging pursuers before Chew nabs him, whereas the manga shows him already captured. Kuroobi is depicted examining the cut ropes in Zoro's cell rather than merely puzzling over the escape. When Nami strikes Usopp, the anime lets him fall on his own while the manga has her kick him; the 4Kids cut whitened the blood. Shioyaki and Take debut, and Usopp first uses Tamago Boshi and Kemuri Boshi.