Chapter 37

The clash begins with Kuro's speed and agility keeping Luffy off balance. After trading blows, Kuro plants himself on Luffy's arm, lunges in, and lands a kick to the face that sends him reeling. The Black Cat Pirates cheer their captain, but Kuro coldly snaps that they have no business calling him by that title anymore.

Three years earlier, aboard his ship, Kuro summoned Jango and announced he was quitting piracy, offering Jango the captaincy. Told that a Marine vessel had appeared yet again, the third time that week, Kuro acknowledged Jango's point that defeating them would only spread his fame, which was exactly why he meant to stop being Kuro. When Jango laughed that the Marines would hunt him forever, Kuro declared he would kill himself.

Kuro ordered a small boat lowered and rowed alone to the Marine ship. The crew, certain he was dead, readied the cannons, only to find he had slaughtered every Marine aboard himself. He stepped on a surviving officer's jaw to break it, and was amazed when the man still talked back, marking him as the perfect candidate to claim he had taken the great Captain Kuro alive. A crewman was disguised as Kuro and hypnotized by Jango into believing he was the captain, while the Marine was made to think he had captured him. The two sailed off, and Kuro smiled, knowing the world would soon believe him dead. Back in the present, Kuro attacks again; Luffy jams a rock into one of the Cat Claws, snaps the blades, and tells Kuro he never should have been a pirate if he feared the fame, then declares his own goal of becoming Pirate King.

Kuro's hidden past is laid bare, along with a glimpse of Morgan's history, revealing that Kuro broke his jaw and that he lost an arm. The cover continues "Buggy's Crew Adventure Chronicles," with Buggy hunting a defenseless chick after landing. The chapter belongs to the Syrup Village Arc.