Syrup Village Arc

The Captain Kuro arc is the third story arc in the East Blue Saga of the anime and manga One Piece. Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, and Nami arrive at Syrup Village looking for a ship, where they meet Usopp, the local village liar. After they learn of Usopp's past and the reason for his lying, they must help him to defeat Captain Kuro to save his friend, Kaya.

The Man in the Treasure Chest
The first part of this arc sees the group land on a mysterious island inhabited by strange creatures. After passing the "Test" of the forest, the Straw Hat Pirates (now comprising Luffy, Zoro, and Nami) meet Gaimon, a pirate stuck inside a treasure chest that was marooned by his crew. The four become friends and Luffy agrees to help Gaimon get down the treasure he has been guarding on top of the rock. When Luffy refuses to throw down the treasure chests, Gaimon realizes that the chests on the rock are the same as the island’s other treasure chests which are empty. Seeing Gaimon’s disappointment, Luffy offers to take him off the island. Gaimon decides to remain on the island and protect the island’s rare animals which he has become his friends. With that, The Straw Hats bid Gaimon goodbye and continue on.

The Liar and the Deceiver
Next, the Straw Hat Pirates arrive in Syrup Village where we meet Usopp. Usopp entertains notions of grandeur by commanding the Usopp Pirates (called the Veggie Pirates in the English dub). This group is composed of Usopp and three loyal village children, Tamanegi, Ninjin, and Piiman. The Usopp Pirates cause no real trouble, but do frequently annoy the villagers, most often by giving false warnings of attacking pirates.

Usopp's wealthy friend Kaya is bedridden, but is well-provided for by her two butlers Merry and Kurahadol. However, Kurahadol hides a dangerous secret: he is act ually the evil Captain Kuro, leader of the Black Cat Pirates. Though Kuro was believed to have been executed years ago, in reality, an imposter was switched to take his place. The real Kuro has since been undercover, working to acquire the villagers’ respect and Kaya's assets so he can have peaceful retirement.

The Straw Hat Pirates make a stop at Syrup Village in search of a ship. Usopp is overjoyed to have real pirates arrive, and greets them with a cleverly-conceived act designed to fool the pirates into believing he is the commander of his own huge pirate fleet. The ruse fails, and Luffy and friends proceed into Syrup Village unhindered. Soon the Straw Hats make friends with Usopp when Luffy discovers he is the son of Yasopp, one of the pirates in Shank's crew.

The Plans of the Black Cat
Kuro's long awaited time to act arrives, as he meets with his former first Mate Jango but his identity and plan was accidentally overheard by Luffy and Usopp. Jango hypnotizes Luffy to sleep who then falls off a cliff and is believed to be dead by everyone present but is unaware that Luffy had survived because of his Devil Fruit powers.

Kuro allows Usopp to flee because no one would believe him which proves to be true as the villagers choose to not believe in Usopp's warnings and when trying to warn Kaya, she thinks that Usopp is trying to kidnap her and Merry, armed with a gun chases him off. Usopp then lies to his crew in order to protect them from harm. The Straw Hat Pirates are aware of the situation however, and decide to lend aid on the side of Usopp and Kaya and prepare with setting up traps. That night Merry gives Kurahadol the glasses that Kaya bought for his three years of service, only for Kurahadol to destroy them and reveal his true intentions that he wants Kaya's estate and then attacks Merry to prevent him from warning Kaya. Kuro's ship and crew arrive at Syrup Village the next day and believe to find no resistance.

Battle against the Black Cat Pirates
Miscalculations in the Black Cat pirates landing area (because Usopp assumed the area where Kuro met Jango was the arrival point, unaware that the real landing point was on the other beach) caused for Usopp and Nami to initially fight the pirates alone, as Luffy got lost and Zoro was tricked by Nami into the oil slick trap they set up earlier when Nami realized the pirates landing point was where their rafts and her treasure are and did not want anyone to claim it.

Just before the two are killed, Zoro and Luffy arrive and fight Kuro's crew. Jango hypnotizes the crew to increase their strength but accidentally hypnotizes Luffy and Jango is forced to hypnotize Luffy to sleep again but accidentally causes the crew to be knocked out by the ship's stempost which Luffy was holding onto when he fell asleep. Meanwhile Kaya finds the wounded Merry who informs her of Kurahadols identity and realizing she was wrong about her accusations to Usopp heads out to find Kuro to talk to him. Right around that time Usopp's crew figures out that his earlier lie about a pirate attack was actually a lie and noticing Kaya walking out of the village the three follow her.

Meanwhile Jango summons the ship's guards the Meowban brothers, Buchi and Sham who fight against Zoro. Disarmed of all but one sword, Zoro must fight an uphill battle against the team-work of Buichi and Sham which is difficult without all three swords and Zoro prevents Usopp from helping him by taking a hit from his Lead Star to keep him from getting dragged into the fight. Kuro then appears disgusted by how Black Cat pirates are getting beaten by children and gives the Meowban brothers five minutes before he kills everyone.

Nami is able to kick Zoro's swords back to him, allowing him to defeat the Meowban brothers, but Buchi survives and is hypnotized by Jango which injures Zoro faster. Nami goes to wake Luffy up, and Jango tries to stop her with his Chakram, but at the last second Nami steps on Luffy's face that gets him up in time to stop the Chakram with his rubbery body. Kaya then intervenes, holds Kuro at gunpoint and tries to get him to remember the fun times they had. However, Kuro reveals that he never cared about her and only wants her money and was simply waiting for this day where he can kill her, causing Kaya to drop the gun in shock. Usopp tries to attack Kuro to defend Kaya, but Kuro injures him badly in retaliation. Kuro is then attacked by Usopp's crew who had arrived and Kuro simply brushes off their attack.

Usopp orders his crew to take Kaya and flee, the three take Kaya into the forest, while Kuro sends Jango after them. Zoro finishes off Buchi and then heads out with Usopp as his guide on his back to rescue Kaya and the boys (since Usopp can't move due to his injuries and Zoro needs him to navigate through the forest), while Luffy deals with Kuro and his lightning-fast movements and his ten deadly finger-blades. Eventually Jango catches up with his target and easily overpowers the boys. Kaya threatens to kill herself with Jango's Chakram to stop Jango from hurting Usopp's crew and allows Jango to force herself to sign the will that allow Kuro to "legally" acquire her wealth after he kills her. Zoro and Usopp catch up and proving himself less useless than he may seem, Usopp aids Zoro in defeating Jango and rescuing Kaya and the boys with his sniper skills.

Meanwhile Kuro unleashes his "Shakushi" that attacks everything in sight including his own men and reveals that part of his original plan was to kill his crew including Jango so his true identity could never be exposed. Angered by Kuro's lack of respect to his crew, and that Kuro had abandoned the ideal of what it means to be a pirate, the final victory is won by Luffy, however, who defeats him with his devastating Gum Gum Bell attack and forces the Black Cat pirates to leave the village with Kuro's body.

From Play Pirate to Real Pirate
Usopp decides that news of a real pirate attack might be too upsetting for the villagers and would affect their peace of mind since pirates don't normally come to an out of the way village. So he orders everyone to keep it a secret, which Kaya and his crew agree with. Kaya, realizing that confinement in her home and grievance towards her parents deaths had been the cause of her illness, is grateful to the Straw Hat Pirates, and gives them her ship, the Going Merry (or the Merry Go in the Viz Manga and 4Kids and edited FUNimation dubs). Usopp is grateful to them as well, and now has the confidence to disband his pirate crew and strike out on his own to be a real pirate. But his luck proves to be even better than he knows when Luffy invites him to join his crew. With a new friend and crewmember, as well as a new ship, the Straw Hat Pirates leave Syrup Village to continue their voyage to the Grand Line.

Anime Changes
Cf Manga and Anime Differences

Story Impact
In the manga mini-arc Jango's Dance Paradise, it was revealed that because he was knocked out in the woods, Jango was the only Black Cat pirate accidentally left behind and after being chased from the village by the former members of Usopp's Pirates, he wandered into a dance contest after landing on another island. While in disguise he met and became best friends with Fullbody a Marine that encountered the Straw Hats in the Baratie arc. After learning of his true identity Fullbody was able to convince the higher authorities to allow Jango to join the Marines at the price of being demoted. The Straw Hats would not encounter Jango again until the Arabasta arc, where Luffy was surprised he was now a Marine.