Episode 12

'''The Kuroneko Pirate Crew. Battle on the Slope!' is the twelfth episode of the One Piece'' anime.

Short Summary
Usopp decides to keep his story of pirates attacking Syrup Village a lie by making sure none of the Black Cat Pirates reach it. Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Usopp then try to keep the pirates at bay.

In-Depth Summary
The episode starts with a recap of the previous episode and opens with Kuro returning to Kaya's mansion. He watches the sea at night, patiently waiting for his crew to arrive tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, on the slope, Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Usopp discusses about a plan to stop the Black Cat Pirates on the slope before they reach Syrup Village. Luffy, Zoro and Nami reveals their strong points. Usopp reveals also his "strong" point, in which the crew doesn't like at all.

At Kaya's mansion, Kuro returns home and learn from Merry that Kaya is sleeping well. Merry tells Kuro that he doesn't believe Usopp's claim that Kuro is a pirate, which made him laughs. Of course, Kuro is sinisterly happy to the fact that no one knows who he is really yet. Then, Kuro discovers the glasses that Kaya had bought to him as a gift. Merry said it's a present to Kuro for the 3 years he has been in the mansion. Then, Kuro saw a crescent moon and tells Merry about how crescent moons make him feel alive, which make Merry confuse. After that, Kuro crushes Kaya's gift with his left foot. This action shocks Merry. He reveal also to Merry that he intends to get Kaya's inheritance and destroy Syrup Village, which shocks Merry further. He reveals his Cat Claws gloves and attack Merry, leaving him for dead. Kuro goes upstairs, go to Kaya's room and is about to kill the young heiress. Then, he decides to let her live a little longer, until the village is completely destroyed tomorrow.

On the Bezan Black, hidden in the huge rocks on the beach of Gecko Island, one of the the crewmates tells Jango that it's almost daybreak. Jango leave his captain chamber and tells the crew that only the sun can wake him up. The crew apologizes to Jango. The crew is now confuse on wheter Jango is in a bad mood or not. Then, Jango orders the crew to start the attack.

Meanwhile, on the slope, Usopp and the Straw Hat Pirates put some oil on the slope, making sure that the Black Cat Pirates won't make it to Syrup Village. Usopp also hope to use his sniping abilities to drive the pirates away of the island while they're busy trying to stand up on the greasy floor. Luffy is impressed by Usopp's ingenuity, which makes the liar proud. It's almost daybreak. The Straw Hat Pirates are waiting patiently for the Black Cat Pirates to arrive.

The Bezan Black arrives at a shore of Gecko Island and discovers the two boats in which our heroes used to arrive at the island. Which means that Usopp and the Straw Hat Pirates are waiting at the wrong slope. Thanks to Nami's perfect hearing, they discovers too late their mistake and try to reach the north slope on time. Only Nami and Usopp are on their way, while Luffy, having no sense of direction, is getting lost on Gecko Island and Zoro is trying to get pass the oiling floor in which Nami has "accidentally" put him there. Usopp is the first to arrive at the north slope and defeat some of the Black Cat Pirates using his sniping abilities. He's surprised to be the first on the north slope.

Meanwhile, Zoro struggles with the greasy floor in which he keeps falling down and Luffy is still lost. Back on the north slope, Usopp uses his lie about having an army of 100 000 000 men to force the Black Cat Pirates to leave the island. Only Jango believes, for a moment, Usopp's lie and the rest of the crew isn't impressed. Some of the Black Cat Pirates found the bag of treasure in one of the heroes' ship. Usopp use this opportunity to tell that the bag of treasure is his and they can keep it if they leave the island. Jango tells Usopp despite his efforts, they're still going to attack the village.

Then, Jango decide to hypnotize Usopp with his pendulum. Nami arrives just in time on the north slope to stop Usopp from being hypnotized and stopping the Black Cat Pirates to steal "her" treasure, which make her very angry. Of course, Jango has been hypnotized by his own pendulum. Nami is determine to stop the pirates from stealing her treasure and argue with Usopp about letting the pirates steal her treasure. After that, they argue about who's gonna stop the Black Cat Pirates. Annoyed by their bickering, the pirates continues their way to Syrup Village. Usopp and Nami uses some caltrops to stop the pirates on their tracks.

Back on the other slope, Zoro, exhausted by his constant efforts to try to walk through the oiling floor, decides to use his swords to walk through the greasy floor and it worked. Meanwhile, Luffy is still lost.

Back on the north slope, the Black Cat Pirates are filled with pain with caltrops stuck on their feet. Usopp uses one of his Slingshot's pearls to knock down one of the pirates. However, Nami and Usopp can't get away because some caltrops block their way. One of the pirates knocks Usopp down with a big hammer. Despite being hurt, Usopp still try to stop the pirates from reaching Syrup Village. Then, Nami joins and fight some Black Cat Pirates goons, but eventually lost. Jango orders the crew to kill them and to continue to follow Kuro's plan. The pirates agreed to continue. While they are going straight to Syrup, one of the Black Cat Pirates kick Usopp far away despite his plea of not attacking the village. Aftr that, he has a vision of his friends, the Usopp Pirates and Kaya.

Suddenly, the Black Cat Pirates are pushed back into the north slope. It's Luffy and Zoro who push them back and they arrive just in time. They're a little upset that the Black Cat Pirates aren't as strong as they thought they would be. Zoro is angry at Nami for putting him in the greasy floor and Luffy is angry at Usopp for not tell him which way is north. Back at Syrup Village, Kuro is getting upset and irritated that the Black Cat Pirates didn't come sooner to the village as he expected. He intend to kill his crew if they ever disappointed him. He then leave the mansion with his weapon in a bag and goes to the north slope. Unknown to him, he's been watched by Onion. Onion wonders why he's going to the north slope.

Characters Appearances
In Order Of Appearance


 * Usopp
 * Kaya
 * Merry
 * Nami
 * Luffy
 * Zoro
 * Kuro
 * Merry
 * Jango
 * Ninjin
 * Piman
 * Tamanegi