Saruyama Alliance

The Saruyama Alliance (猿山連合, Saruyama Rengō) is an alliance that was formed between three Pirate captains from the anime and manga One Piece, between Montblanc Cricket and Cricket's surrogate sons "Salvage King" Masira and his brother Shōjō.

Cricket arrived on the island of Jaya several years ago before present storyline. The alliance formed sometime after Cricket's own crew abandoned him for trying to prove whether or not his ancestor Montblanc Norland was a liar and began the search for the lost city of gold that had supposedly sunk into the ocean. Shortly afterwards, Masira and Shōjō appeared, they were fans of his book on Norland wanting to help him find the city and the alliance was formed.

Masira and his crew are experts at recovering sunken ships from the bottom of the ocean while Shōjō and his crew are experts at using sonar to locate things hidden under the waves. They claim the island of Jaya as their base and the waters around it their terroritory and attack anyone who tries to interfer with their goal to find the lost city of gold.

In the end, the city of gold they were looking for was actually floating in the sky the entire time, as proven when Luffy rings the golden bell. With Cricket's ancestor Norland proven right, even if it's only known by them, they decide to look for another dream to pursue.

Part in the Story
The Straw Hats first encounter Masira when they try to salvage a ship that fell from the sky, and they later meet Shojo while travelling to Cricket's house, coming into conflict both times. However, after saving Cricket's life from a disease, they become friends. The Saruyama Alliance helps the Straw Hats begin their journey to Sky Island. However, while the Straw Hats were in Jaya's forest looking for a "South Bird", the Bellamy Pirates attacked, stealing their gold artifacts that acted as their only proof that the city existed. Angered, Luffy defeated Bellamy and returned the gold to Cricket, before they set off for the sky.

At the end of the Skypiea Arc, Luffy rings the golden bell of Shandia, signaling, among many other things, that the city of gold exists. With one dream resolved, the Saruyama Alliance decides to move on to another.

Pirate Flag
The Alliance has two flags: one for Masira and one for Shōjō.

Masira's flag is a baboon head with two bananas in place of crossbones.

Shōjō's flag is an orangutan head with crossbones behind it.

Alliance Strength
The three captains themselves are weak by the Grand Line standards but their bond as a group is strong. They suffer heavy beatings from Bellamy the Hyena and his crew but still manage to work on the Going Merry for the Straw Hat crew afterwards. There is also renewed spirit amongst them after Luffy returns with the gold Bellamy stole during his attack.

Other Information
Masira's ship has a giant monkey statue with cymbals at the front. This statue can be lowered into the water to grab a net containing a sunken ship. Masira and his crew then blow large amounts of air through the monkey to lift the ship to the surface.

Shōjō's crew can locate objects underwater through echolocation. First, Shōjō screams into a microphone, which projects sounds underwater, and divers surrounding the ship confirm any echos. The divers are so skilled that they can identify objects simply from these sounds.