Chapter 32 — Cruel Fortune
Original serialization: Weekly Shounen Jump 1998, #16
Color pages: page 1 (title page)
Siam throws Zoro’s swords down the slope, so Zoro rushes and slashes him, but only manages to cut his clothing. It turns out Siam can bend his body like a cat, and so avoided the attack.
Siam pounces on Zoro to hold him down, while Butchie jumps up and smashes down with his “Cat-apult Cat-astrophe” attack, cracking the ground. But Zoro manages to barely escape Siam’s hold before Butchie’s attack hits.
Butchie and Siam them charge Zoro with repeated slashes (”Pussywillow March”), which Zoro is barely able to block. Usopp attempts to help with a lead star, but Zoro moves in front of it to take the hit, which creates an opening for Butchie and Siam to slash Zoro’s chest! Recovering from this attack, Zoro yells at Usopp that if he interferes, they’ll go after him, too. Zoro saved Usopp and Nami by taking that hit!
Nami realizes that Zoro needs his other swords, and rushes down the slope to get them, but Jango notices her and slashes her right shoulder with his hypnotism ring/chakram, causing her to fall to the ground.
Just then, however, Kuro appears, mad as hell!
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That’s not good. The whole situation right now is just really bad. Zoro could barely fend off Butchie and Siam with only one sword, and actually took a hit… Nami is down because of Jango, so she can’t get Zoro’s swords back… Usopp is too injured to really fight… Luffy is still asleep… And now Kuro is here, who his entire crew is trembling in fear of at the moment.
But Zoro is smart, protecting Usopp and Nami like that. They definitely would have been killed had Usopp’s lead star hit either of the Meowban Brothers. And speaking of them, they are quite strong. Siam is very flexible, and Butchie is incredibly heavy/strong, cracking the ground like that. They’re definitely tough opponents.
But now that Kuro’s here, man, I just don’t know what they’re going to do. At the moment, there’s no way Zoro could win against either the Meowban Brothers or (I assume) Kuro. Jango’s strength is still in question, but those others are definitely too strong for Zoro to defeat with only one sword… and while injured. I guess the only choices now are to either get Zoro his swords back, or wake Luffy up somehow.
Up until now, Luffy and crew’s victory has always been guaranteed… But not this time.