Zoro replied calmly, "You don't understand what teamwork means. Teamwork means handling your own problems. Helping each other and covering for each other? Those are lies. Everyone has to be ready to die. Fighting is no different. If he kills you, I'll make sure this blade strikes him for you."
"You bastard! Are you hoping he kills me?"
Kuro was so furious he practically had smoke coming out of his nose. Yamakaji stared too, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Now!"
Zoro's eyes flashed, and he slashed.
Yamakaji froze. By the time he came to his senses, Zoro's strike was almost upon him. He hurriedly raised his sword to block it.
Zoro's attitude had caught him off guard. Zoro had been quicker than anyone to save Chopper, yet when Kuro asked for help, he stood still, as though he wanted Yamakaji to cut Kuro down.
That was why Yamakaji had lost focus. He had barely blocked Zoro's slash when a chill gust swept in from behind him. Kuro gave a sinister laugh. "You fell for it, Vice Admiral Yamakaji!"
Slash!
Kuro thrust his right hand forward, driving his sharp Cat Claws into Yamakaji's back. He missed anything vital, but the wound was enough to put Yamakaji on the defensive.
Yamakaji spun and slashed. Kuro ducked sharply, and the blade skimmed past his hair. As Yamakaji's strike missed, Kuro began to sway like a scarecrow in the wind, faster and faster. "Shakushi!"
With a single slash, Zoro had turned Kuro's disadvantage into an opening. The slash itself had done little; it was Zoro's startling attitude that had distracted Yamakaji.
"Ah..."
Zoro left Chopper, carrying his sword point-down as he headed toward Hawk-Eye. Suddenly, a huge black snake rose from the distant crowd, like an ancient python. Its body stretched dozens of meters,