Luffy and Kuro take their fighting stances. Luffy stretches his hand and tries to seize Kuro’s big cat fangs, but Kuro twists his arms, causing Luffy to fall to the ground. Luffy quickly recovers with a kick, followed by a powerful Gomu Gomu Pistol attack. However, Kuro swiftly jumps and lands on Luffy’s stretched arm, using it as a springboard to close the distance between them and delivering a strong kick to Luffy’s face, drawing blood.
In the midst of the battle, Kuro recalls the incident from three years ago when he was tired of the Marines hunting him down. He devised a plan to erase his existence from the world, leading to a tragic incident involving a marine ship. Kuro killed every soldier on the ship but spared one, using him to create a decoy. Jango hypnotized the soldier into believing he was Kuro, while also erasing the memories of the massacre. The fake Kuro was subsequently executed, successfully erasing Kuro’s identity from the world. All of this was done in pursuit of peace and wealth, a plan he had been meticulously working on for three years.
Furious at Luffy’s interference with his carefully laid out plan, Kuro lunges at him with his sharp cat claws. However, Luffy quickly reacts, using his rubbery abilities to dig out a big boulder to defend himself. Kuro’s claws get stuck in the boulder, giving Luffy an opening to break them by twisting them roughly. With the giant boulder in hand, Luffy delivers a powerful blow, sending Kuro flying down the slope with his broken cat claws. The intense battle between Luffy and Kuro reaches a critical point, as both fighters demonstrate their strength and determination to achieve their goals.