The chapter whereby the truth behind all of Bartholomew Kuma's actions are revealed. As expected this chapter reveals a lot so there are quite a lot of follow up notes. These notes better explain the points in the chapter and even have information that aren't in the chapter, like references to episodes etc. Please read them to better understand this chapter. Enjoy and review.
The Truth About Kuma
Sanji jumped away from Drake who jumped in the air and attempted to use his feet to slash at him. But just as quickly as Sanji was able to escape the sharps claws on Drake's feet, he was knocked away by the dinosaur man's powerful tail. Swinging his tail, Sanji was knocked away in a building.
"Sanji!" cried out Chopper.
Chopper seeing his nakama get beaten grew enraged at the revolutionary commander.
"You bastard," cursed Chopper who transformed into walking point and charged at Drake.
Due to the fact that he was in the form of a full reindeer, he was much faster. He charged at Drake at full speed who himself noticed Chopper coming towards took a defensive stance. Right before he was about to tackle Drake he transformed into heavy point.
"Heavy point," cried out Chopper who changed into a gorilla like form.
"Heavy Gong," said Chopper who delivered a powerful punch to the dinosaur revolutionary commander.
The punch was furthered boosted by the momentum that Chopper gained when running towards Drake in walking point. However Chopper's attack had no effect on Drake who blocked it with ease.
"Useless," commented Drake who then punched Chopper back several feet.
Meanwhile while Drake was facing some of the Straw Hats, Doflamingo was doing the same. Right now he was dodging all of Zoro's and Sanji's attacks, Sanji himself having recovered from Drake's attack and went for Doflamingo. Despite the two being extremely fast, Doflamingo was dodging all of the monster duo's attacks.
"Ittoryu : Yakkodori," said Zoro who launched a crescent shaped compressed air projectile towards Doflamingo.
Doflamingo was currently dodging Sanji's kicks when he sensed something coming towards him. Turning to see what it was, he saw Zoro's attack coming towards him. Sanji smirked upon seeing that Doflamingo couldn't dodge at this distance. However he lost his smirk when he saw that Doflamingo merely sidestepped thus narrowly dodging Zoro's attack. Had he been even a centimeter closer, he would have been severely wounded.
"Hahahaha that was too close. You almost had me there," laughed Doflamingo.
Zoro and Sanji looked at Doflamingo unmoving that his attempted distraction didn't work.
"You two certainly make a good team. Your combination and execution was perfect. Even the timing was excellent," complimented Doflamingo.
"But it's going to take a lot more than that to defeat me," said Doflamingo.
Zoro and Sanji were not fazed by Doflamingo's power though.
"I could see why a bunch of rookie pirates such as yourselves were able to accomplish so much and achieve infamy so quickly," said Doflamingo.
"Crocodile, CP9, Moriah, I could see why such big names lost to you. You two are not only strong but your teamwork is excellent," said Doflamingo.
"The same could be said about your crewmates though there not as strong as you two are," said Doflamingo looking at the rest of the crew who were struggling against Drake.
"But don't confuse my praise with power. You all may have beaten that weakling Gecko Moriah but I'm on a whole different level," said Doflamingo.
"Wait a minute, Moriah was a weakling" said a surprised Sanji.
The rest of the crew who were fending off Drake heard this.
"What did he just say? He called the Shichbukai that nearly killed us all a weakling. That's not good," said Ussop.
Franky, Robin, Nami, Brook and Chopper had concerned faces. If Doflamingo could call someone like Moriah a weakling then he was definitely someone strong.
"I'm pretty sure you're wondering why I called Moriah a weakling. Well I could tell you but I have a feeling Nico Robin over there knows," said Doflamingo looking at Robin.
"Well how about it Devil Child? Give your nakama a little history lesson on the Shichbukai Gecko Moriah," said Doflamingo to Robin.
Robin looked from Doflamingo to Drake. She was currently deciding whether she should because it would mean that she would have to let her guard down against the commander. Seeing that Drake stopped attacking meant that he was giving her a chance to speak and tell them what she knew about Moriah.
"Gecko Moriah was a pirate for many years and already a pirate during Roger's era though not a big name at the time. Years ago, Moriah who was already a well established pirate fought against Kaido, future member of the four emperors who was a rookie pirate at the time in the New World. The two fought a great battle but in the end, Kaido emerged victorious and successfully slew Moriah's crew," said Robin.
The crew all remembered the time they fought Gecko Moriah who was a Shichbukai at the time. Specifically they remembered how Moriah talked about losing his crew. Now it made sense how he lost it, he lost his crew to the now deceased Kaido. They also remembered Moriah's words.
Flashback
"The New World is a place where you will lose everything. Go to the New World Straw Hat, go and see what a true nightmare is like," said a defeated Moriah.
End Flashback
Now it made sense why he said that. In the New World he lost his crew, he lost his crew to Kaido who at the time was not a member of the four emperors.
"After his defeat and the loss of his crew, Moriah then became a member of the Shichbukai and began building up a zombie army to become pirate king. The world government helped cover it up and Oz was the strongest of the army. Though I suppose that it was also to take revenge on Kaido for slaughtering his crew," deduced Robin.
The crew all understood why he wanted to build a zombie army. It was to avenge his fallen nakama. They would definitely want to do the same thing if one of their nakama were killed so they could empathize with him. However that didn't give him the right to rob people of their freedom and doom them for a life in the shadows.
"That's right. Moriah was such a pathetic weakling that he couldn't do it himself. He needed to use others to do it for him to compensate for his weakness. So unlike Dragon-sama who despite having so many powerful subordinates is more than powerful enough to do things himself," said Doflamingo.
"I should know how weak Moriah is. I fought and killed him myself," said Doflamingo.
"Wait you killed Moriah. How? When?" asked Nami.
Doflamingo decided to answer Nami's question.
"After the War of the Best, the world government was having second thoughts about Moriah's position as a member of the Shichbukai. First there was his loss to Monkey D Luffy. It didn't matter that Luffy was the son of the revolutionary Dragon and grandson of the marine hero Garp, he was still a rookie pirate and it was disgraceful that he lost. As a member of the Shichbukai, he has to uphold its power and for him to lose to a child regardless of his lineage was disgraceful. If people found out that a Shichbukai was defeated, it would reduce the influence they possess. It's even worse that he was defeated by a rookie pirate who took down another Shichbukai previously," explained Doflamingo.
"So they killed him because he failed to defeat Luffy-san," said Brook.
"Not exactly though it's part of the reason. There was also the war of the best. During the war his performance was terrible for a Shichbukai. As a member of the Shichukai he is suppose to be a powerful pirate. However during the war he was anything but powerful. It didn't matter that he was previously injured from his battle with Luffy. He was still suppose to be strong. He didn't provide as much aid as he should have during the war," further explained Doflamingo.
"There was also the fact that the war was broadcasted to the entire world. That meant that the world got to see how weak Moriah was. And him looking weak makes the Shichbukai as a whole look weak. At least when Moriah was defeated by your ex captain there weren't too many witnesses. But during the War of the Best, the navy, the Whitebeard pirates along with their allies, the world government and even the entire world got to see how weak Moriah was. With so many witnesses, especially influential ones seeing Moriah's poor performance, it reflected badly on the Shichbukai position and its power. It makes people think that the Shichbukai are not very strong. So it was decided that Moriah would be stripped of his position as a Shichbukai and he would be killed. The world government would simply say that he died during the war. And I was ordered to kill him." said Doflamingo.
"So they had him killed to maintain the power of the Shichbukai," said Sanji.
"That's right but I however killed him for different reasons," said Doflamingo.
"Different reasons? What other different reason? What are you talking about?" asked Nami.
"You see after I was ordered by the Gorosei to kill Doflamingo, I informed Dragon and he said to spare Moriah. He wanted to recruit Moriah into the army," said Doflamingo.
"Dragon wanted to recruit Moriah?" said Brook surprised.
The other Straw Hats were surprised at this as well. Doflamingo just went on about how weak Moriah was so why would Dragon want to recruit him?
"Moriah may have done badly at the war but he was still a Shichbukai and a powerful pirate. So he would have made a good asset to the revolutionary army," explained Doflamingo.
"So I confronted him with several Pacifistas. During the battle I let him escape in order to later recruit him as per Dragon's orders. Of course since I was originally ordered to kill him by the Gorosei I naturally had to injure him to make them think I was actually following their orders rather than Dragon-sama's" said Doflamingo.
"Later I met up with Moriah to recruit him into the army. I told him that Dragon-sama wanted him to join and that the only reason he escaped was because I let him so that I could recruit him later. However he refused Dragon-sama's offer. Apparently he was too ambitious, still aiming to become Pirate King, though he no longer wanted to kill Kaido since he was dead. Since he didn't accept, there was no reason for me to leave him alive," said Doflamingo.
"So I killed him," said Doflamingo with a psychotic look.
The Straw Hats all reacted differently to Doflamingo's admission. The weaker ones like Nami, Ussop and Chopper all gasped at what Doflamingo said. It was not only the fact that Doflamingo killed the Shichbukai who nearly killed them all but it was the way he said it. It actually seemed like he enjoyed it. They knew that he liked toying with his enemies evident by when they all encountered him but he actually seemed more sinister than any of their past enemies. Franky had some sweat in his face out of fear and worry of the blond haired commander. Robin looked unfazed by Doflamingo. The same goes for Zoro and Sanji.
"That's enough talking, Dragon-sama's orders were to kill all the Straw Hats," said Drake who lunged towards Sanji.
Sanji jumped out of the way ready to engage Drake.
"Coller Shoot," said Sanji who kicked Drake in the neck.
Drake in turned coughed but recovered quickly and grapped Sanji in his large dinosaur arms and slammed him on the ground. Following this he lifted his hands up and brought it down hard on the downed Sanji cracking the ground beneath it. Sanji coughed out hard from the attack.
"Nitoryu: Nanajuni Pound Ho," shouted Zoro who sent two compressed air projectiles towards Drake.
Drake seeing the attack jumped away to avoid them.
"Cho Kemuri Boshi," shouted Ussop as he fired a smoke pellet at Drake that exploded creating a thick blanket of smoke.
Drake was temporarily blinded by the smoke but he could still sense the enemies with observation haki. Unfortunately he felt something ensnare him. The something he felt was a large venus flytrap that was so tall that it held him above the smoke.
"A venus flytrap. Where the hell did it come from?" questioned Drake who was still inside the mouth of the giant plant.
"Heh now I got you. Let's see you survive this," said Franky who pointed his arm towards the captive Drake.
"Franky Radical Beam!" shouted Franky who sent a massive light beam towards Drake.
Drake seeing the attack got a surprised look and suddenly powered out of the plant out of desperation to escape the attack.
"Man he's strong to be able to escape my Midori Boshi : Devil," commented Ussop.
Drake out of anger suddenly went into his full dinosaur form and charged towards Franky with his jaws open fully intent or ripping the cyborg apart. Even his metal body wouldn't be enough to handle that.
"Collier Shoot," said Sanji who sent an upward kick to the full dinosaur's head stunning him back.
However Sanji suddenly kicked his legs underneath forcing him to fall. However he quickly got back up unfazed by the attack. So far he hadn't sustained any real damage but the Straw Hat's teamwork was very good.
His admiring of the Straw Hats teamwork was cut short by the sight of a thundercloud above his head.
"A thundercloud?" questioned Drake.
Nami grinned at the sight of the completed thundercloud. While the crew was handling him, they were also subtlely luring him to stand directly beneath her cloud. It was another quality the crew possessed. Their teamwork was so good due to everything they accomplished over their time together that they could easily follow up with each other's attacks and quickly pick up on each other's strategies.
"Thunderbolt tempo" said Nami.
As soon as she said that a large lightening bolt hit Drake causing him to go to his knees. He was on his knees for a few moments but got up later. Nami's attack while worked didn't seem to do much damage to him.
"That's quite an attack. I never thought I'd be hit by an actual lightning bolt," said Drake
"What the, he took that attack head on and doesn't look even fazed," said Nami in surprise.
"But this is it for you," said Drake who went back into his human - dinosaur hybrid form.
"Epaule," said Sanji who brought his leg down hard on Drake's shoulder forcing him down in the ground and saving Nami in the process.
However Drake caught Sanji's leg and slammed him hard on the ground.
"Sanji-kun," cried out Nami.
Drake was done as he began slamming Sanji repeatedly on the ground. Eventually Sanji was unmoving from the beating and Drake held out his limb form. He then held out his claws ready to strike him. However he was stopped when several arms bloomed on his own holding his own arm in place and preventing him from striking Sanji.
"Once Fleur," said Robin.
While Drake was held down he saw Zoro come after him. He was about to cut Drake's arm off when Drake powered out and pulled his arm right out of the way. Spinning around he used his tail to knock Zoro away. Zoro however landed on his feet and skidded back several feet.
"Drake they seem to be getting the best of you. Maybe you need my help," said Doflamingo.
"Shut your mouth. I'm fine. I have it under the control. I don't need your help," replied Drake.
"You should. After all this is the crew that traitor Kuma chose to save," said Doflamingo.
All the Straw Hats hearing what Doflamingo just said stopped what they were doing.
"Traitor," thought all the Straw Hats.
"That's right. I remember now. Kuma believes them to be the chosen ones. The ones who could defeat Dragon-sama," said Drake.
"Chosen ones. Defeat Dragon. What the hell is going on?" thought each of the Straw Hats.
"Oye Doflamingo what the hell are you talking about?" said Zoro angrily.
"Oops, it looks like I said a little too much," said Doflamingo sarcastically.
Each of the Straw Hats knew that Doflamingo did not believe that he said too much and he was just being sarcastic. Though weather it was to mock them, the so called traitor Kuma or both was unknown.
"Doflamingo what is the story behind Kuma? Why did you call him a traitor?" questioned Robin.
"We don't have to answer anything to you Nico Robin," retorted Drake.
"Hold on Drake. I'll answer them. I think they deserve that much, after all ..." said Doflamingo.
"I think they should see how feeble Kuma's hopes were and how misplaced they were," said Doflamingo darkly.
"Bartholomew Kuma originally hated the world government which was why he joined the revolutionary army in the first place. Because of this he was welcomed with open arms," started Doflamingo.
The Straw Hats and Pellinopee and Maxie understood this. Anyone who hated the world government was welcomed into the army. The army even wanted Robin to join mainly because of her past.
"He was a very formidable fighter as I'm sure all of you could attest to and during his time in the army rose to the rank of commander," continued Doflamingo.
All the Straw Hats definitely could attest to Kuma's power and his rise to power having experienced it first hand. With his powers he pretty much dominated the crew on each of the two separate occasions that they met. It was true that they were all severely wounded and exhausted both times but it still didn't make him any less dangerous. Zoro in particular remembered his time with the Shichbukai on Thriller Bark since he was the one who fought Kuma the majority of the time and couldn't do anything against him. He then was brought to the closest to death in his entire life during his time with the Shichbukai. Despite his injuries back then being fully healed, he still felt his body throb from remembering it.
"Thanks to his loyal service to the revolutionary army he was trusted greatly by Dragon-sama. He was trusted to the point that Dragon-sama decided to tell things to Kuma that he kept secret from the rest of the army. He told him about his true ambitions and plans for the world and many things that the rest of the army were completely unaware of because he trusted Kuma. Kuma however betrayed that trust," said Doflamingo.
"Kuma after being told everything about Dragon-sama left the army. He then decided to betray Dragon-sama and devoted his entire life to stopping him," continued Doflamingo.
"In order to do that he needed to help the world government. Yes the same organization that he despises, he chose to help in order to take down Dragon-sama who he had served loyally for many years and who trusted him more than much of the army," said Doflamingo.
"So he decided to join the Shichbukai. Of course in order to become a Shichbukai you must be recognized by the world government as a powerful pirate. So he spent the next several years increasing his reputation as a pirate eventually picking up the name Tyrant Kuma. Eventually he became famous enough to be accepted into the ranks of the Shichbukai," continued Doflamingo.
The Straw Hats all continued to listen carefully to Doflamingo as he told them the history of Bartholomew Kuma, the Shichbukai who saved them.
"Unfortunately even though he was a Shichbukai, he knew that there was not much that he could do against the full might of the revolutionary army. In fact, not even the entire world government could defeat the military might of the revolutionary army who possessed several incredibly powerful warriors. I'm sure you must realize how powerful some of the fighters in revolutionary army are to have successfully invaded and conquered Mariejois," said Doflamingo.
The Straw Hats all could understand that. During Reverie security was tight since so many high ranking officials were present. As a result, many vice admirals, the admirals along with the Gorosei whom were former admirals themselves were there. Yet they were all killed. That meant that the warriors in the revolutionary army were extremely powerful.
"However the world government's top scientist Dr. Vegapunk was working on the Pacifista project at the time. The Pacifista project would have significantly increased the military power of the world government. Kuma thought that it might even make the world government strong enough to defeat Dragon and the revolutionary army. However the Pacifista project required someone to be sacrificed and converted into a living weapon. Kuma volunteered himself hoping that with the Pacifista project, the world government might be able to defeat Dragon and the army," said Kuma.
The Straw Hat crew were all shocked at this development. Kuma sacrificed himself and made himself a guinea pig to the world government so that they might have a chance to defeat Dragon and the revolution army.
"I can't believe. Kuma actually agreed to have himself experimented on to stop Dragon," said Brook.
"That man, to be turned into a heartless human weapon with no memories, thoughts or feelings to stop that man. That guy is truly a great man," said Franky admiring Kuma's resolve.
Zoro thought back to the two battles he had with Kuma. The Shichbukai seemed almost emotionless. However now he knew the truth. Kuma may have seemed emotionless and expressionless but now he knew that he must have had more emotion than anyone else. Kuma was devoted to a greater cause, something he truly believed in. He was willing to sacrifice everything to stop Dragon who they now knew was the embodiment of evil. Zoro could empathize with him, after all he did the same thing for his crew on Thriller Bark. But Zoro was only willing to die for the crew. Kuma however went as far as to cast aside his humanity, become nothing more than an emotionless weapon with no thoughts, feelings, memories or dreams. Zoro was a man who admired others with strong resolve. And looking at Kuma now, there was no one else with more resolve than him. In Zoro's eyes, Kuma was a truly great man worthy of his utmost respect.
Robin too had her thoughts on Kuma. During her time with the revolutionary army, she was told many positive things about the Shichbukai. She heard that he was a great commander who was both strong and loyal. Everyone she met spoke highly of him. Those same people however mourned Kuma's decision. When asked about what happened to Kuma, she was given a completely different explanation from the commanders.
"So Doflamingo, I'm guessing that what you just told us is the truth," said Robin.
Doflamingo turned to Robin as did the rest of the Straw Hats.
"I remember being told something different from Dragon but after what I learnt ever since coming to this island, I would say that yours is the truth," said Doflamingo.
"Robin what did Dragon tell you?" asked Nami.
"He told me that he actually asked Kuma to join the Shichbukai. He told me that he needed an insider so that the army could better gain information about them. So he asked Kuma to join the Shichbukai since as a member of the Shichbukai,, he would be entrusted with important information. The army would be providing a false sense of security to them since they would think that they would have seven members of the Shichbukai when in actuality they would have only six. It would allow them to undermine the power of the Shichbukai," explained Robin.
"But what about him becoming a Pacifista?" asked Nami.
"He said that it was regrettably his idea as well though he did say it was a bad decision. As a Pacifista, Kuma would have no choice but to listen to the world government. That meant that he would be entrusted with even more important information which the army could use. He said that it worked until Kuma become a complete human weapon which meant that he would no longer provide any information to them," continued Robin.
Robin then glared at Doflamingo.
"Dragon claimed that it was one of his biggest mistakes, since he lost one of his most loyal and trusted nakama. However looking back I can tell that Dragon didn't regret anything," said Robin who couldn't help but sneer.
There were many times which Robin thought about Kuma and his decision during her time with the army. That someone was willing to give everything up for Dragon. She couldn't help but marvel and how strong Kuma's loyalty and resolve was to do all that for Dragon and the army. His loyalty to Dragon and the revolutionary army was similar to her loyalty to Luffy and the Straw Hats. Furthermore just as how Kuma cast everything even his humanity aside for Dragon and the army, she too was willing to surrender herself to the hands of the world government to save Luffy and her nakama.
However looking back after Doflamingo explained the truth behind Kuma's actions, she couldn't help but look at it in a different light. Kuma must have known about Dragon's true nature and how dangerous he was. He then devoted his life to stopping him. He gave up his humanity becoming nothing but a heartless human weapon to stop someone who they now knew was pure evil. He went so far to stop that man. She now admired and respected Kuma more than before. He was truly a great man willing to die and give up everything to stop someone who would bring nothing but darkness to the world.
The Straw Hats couldn't help but hate Dragon for how he lied to Robin about his nakama, no his subordinate. Kuma was not his nakama and they could understand why. Kuma knew that Dragon was evil and Kuma tried to do the right thing by turning against him. They would have definitely done the same thing if they were in his position. They're respect for the man and all that he done grew even more. Kuma died for the right reasons and they all respected him for that.
"Kuma was a traitor. Dragon-sama doesn't have to show regret to someone like him," sneered Doflamingo.
"Kuma was a great man who tried to stop your leader from attaining world domination. He died to do the right thing," retored Nami back.
"No he was a traitor. In more ways than one," stated Doflamingo.
"More ways than one. What are you talking about?" asked Zoro.
"As bad as his betrayal was he attempted to do something even worse," said Doflamingo.
All the Straw Hats listened intently all wanting to know what Kuma did that they thought was worse than betraying the army. Ussop decided to voice the question.
"What did he do?" asked Ussop.
Doflamingo paused before answering.
"He attempted to turn Dragon's son against him," said Doflamingo.
"Turn Luffy against Dragon. How? Why?" asked Sanji.
"Kuma joined the world government as a Shichbukai with hopes that he could help them take down Lord Dragon. He found the opportunity to do so by volunteering himself for the Pacifista Project. But he knew that even that may not have been enough. He needed something more," said Doflamingo.
"So what did he need?" asked Zoro.
"He needed your ex-captain, Monkey D Luffy. Kuma knew that his power, the power of the Pacifista and the full strength of the world governments forces would not be enough to take down the revolutionary army much less Dragon-sama himself. However he believed that Dragon-sama's son had the potential to take down Dragon-sama himself," said Doflamingo.
"Kuma thought that Luffy could beat Dragon," said a surprised Brook.
"It's not so hard when you think about it. Luffy doesn't give up. If anyone can take down Dragon, it would be him," stated Zoro as a matter of fact.
The Straw Hats had to agree with Zoro on that one. Luffy had the greatest heart and will of anyone they ever knew. If he sets his sights on something, he would not give up until he got it. So if he targeted Dragon, then he will definitely beat him, just like he had beaten everyone who threatened his friends in the past.
"Oh you misunderstand Roronoro Zoro. Kuma believes that Luffy could defeat Dragon because he is Dragon's son," said Doflamingo.
All the Straw Hats along with Pellinopee and Maxie looked at him questionably.
"Lord Dragon is by far the strongest being in the world. His power exceeds that of even the great Pirate King Gol D Roger. There is no one who could defeat him. No one except for one. And that person is his own flesh and blood," said Doflamingo.
"Monkey D Luffy has the blood of the most powerful being flowing through his veins. He has inherited the power of the strongest being in the world. If anyone can take him down, it would be him. Kuma knew this which was why he saved you all at Sabody Archipelago," said Doflamingo.
One thought crossed the minds of each of the Straw Hats.
"So that's why he saved us two years ago," thought each of the Straw Hats.
"Of course Kuma knew that Lord Dragon's son cannot defeat him and the army on his own. He would need strong and loyal nakama. So he decided to test all of you back at Thriller Bark," said Doflamingo.
"What the hell! Are you saying that he nearly killed us all just because he wanted to test us?" shouted Franky angrily.
"That is correct. Kuma needed to be sure that you were undoubtedly the nakama who could help Luffy take down his father. So at Thriller Bark, he tested your resolve to see how strong your bonds were. And you all passed with flying colors, especially you Roranora Zoro," said Doflamingo particularly at Zoro.
The Straw Hats were a bit confused by why Doflamingo was talking specifically about Zoro. They thought that it was mainly because of how Zoro fought the Shichbukai for the longest but Zoro, Sanji and Brook knew better. It was because of his resolve, that he was willing to die for Luffy.
Flashback.
Zoro stood infront of a large bubble that Kuma created that contained all of Luffy's pain and fatigue from his battle with Moriah. Zoro already got a small sample of it and practically screamed bloody murder from the pain. Due to his condition after the battle with Oz, that little bit was enough to make him scream him pain. And now he had to endure all of it. His legs were shaking from fatigue, his body was wracked with injuries and he was in pain. If he took all of this, he would certainly die. Nonetheless he was committed to doing this. If it would save Luffy and his nakama, then he'll gladly pay the ultimate price.
Stealing himself, he plunged himself into the bubble of pain where he knew that incredible pain and ultimately death awaited him.
Later some time after Kuma left, he was standing in a pool of his own blood, on the verge of death, the closest he's ever been.
"A-absolutely … nothing" stuttered the badly injured and dieing swordsman to Sanji.
Flashback end.
Zoro, Sanji and Brook remembered that time well. Despite the fact that it was two years ago he still couldn't help but feel pain remembering those events. Still Zoro was proud that he was going to die for his captain, Sanji and Brook however were not so eager. For them, they nearly lost one of their nakama. They did not want that to ever happen again. They did not want anyone of their crew to sacrifice themselves for the others. They are nakama. They all fought for each other. Despite understanding a lot of Kuma's actions now they still couldn't help but hate him for nearly killing everyone, especially Zoro.
"After Kuma saw the incredible resolve that you all possessed, he knew for a fact that you all along with your ex captain would be the ones to take down Dragon-sama. So during the events of Sabody Archipelago, he saved you all knowing that you all were the only ones who could do it. If you all died, there would be no one left who could truly oppose Dragon-sama," said Doflamingo.
"Since he was on the verge of becoming a full Pacifista that was the last time that he could save you. He even went to have Dr. Vegapunk program him to guard your ship until one of you returned in an effort to help you all become strong enough to oppose Dragon. He won't help any of you again." Said Doflamingo.
"But Kuma told Rayliegh that he was a part of the revolutionary army and that he wanted to save us because of his connection with them," argued Chopper.
"That was because he knew that the truth would have been too much for any of you and even for a legendary pirate like Rayliegh. So he instead chose to tell you that instead," said Doflamingo.
The Straw Hats all took on what Doflamingo just said. They were all curious as to why Kuma saved them that time two years ago. Now it made sense. All his actions made sense, from why he agreed to become a Pacifista to why he saved them all. They now understood all his actions. Bartholomew Kuma was indeed one of their greatest allies who gave them those two precious years to become stronger. He further went to great lengths and personal self sacrifice to stop the most dangerous man in the world. In their eyes, he was a hero.
"However despite everything that he did, his plan failed completely," stated Doflamingo.
All the Straw Hats stopped their musing to pay attention to Doflamingo.
"Despite everything that he did to try and stop Lord Dragon and help Luffy become strong enough to take him down, it all was for nothing. In the end, Monkey D Luffy ended up joining the army as one of the elites," said Doflamingo.
Then his trademark psychotic grin appeared.
"Bartholomew Kuma died for nothing," said Doflamingo with glee.
All the Straw Hats glared at the Shichbukai and revolutionary commander with their most hateful glare. How dare this bastard mock Kuma who sacrificed everything in an attempt to stop Dragon, who sacrificed everything for their ex captain. But in the end they knew the terrible truth. Doflamingo was right. Luffy joined his father and everything that Kuma did was all for naught. It made them feel terrible for the man. Furthermore Nami and Sanji who were the ones who made him leave the crew in the first place felt it was their fault that Kuma's death and all his sacrifices were in vain. They already felt bad that they shouted at him and made him leave, but now after learning the truth about Kuma and everything they did, it made them realize that the magnitude of their actions.
"Now that I told you the truth about Kuma, it's time to end this," said Doflamingo.
All the Straw Hats along with Maxie were once again in defensive stances ready to continue their battle with the two commanders.
"Drake," called out Doflamingo.
"Yes," replied Drake back.
"Let's finish them," said Doflamingo.
"Yes," replied Drake.
And there it is. The truth about all of Kuma's actions have been revealed in full. As usual, notes explaining the chapter. Things that weren't said in the chapter are present in the notes so please read them. Also review review review.
A bit is revealed about the battle between Kaido and Moriah. Many people were wondering how it was possible for Moriah to fight Kaido evenly when he could not even beat Luffy even with a power boost of 1000 shadows. Well the answer is given. Kaido was just a rookie pirate, not a member of the four emperors. There is no chance in hell that Moriah could defeat an emperor. But Kaido at the time was not an emperor, just a hot shot rookie and not as strong as he is now. Moriah could have taken him on back them. Furthermore Moriah was younger than he was currently in the series and thus much stronger. Over the course of the years he didn't get stronger, he simply amassed a large zombie army, Moriah himself didn't train or anything. A young Moriah could battle a rookie Kaido, however current Moriah vs emperor Kaido, Moriah would lose badly. To account for why he believed that he could defeat Kaido with the power of Oz, he was thinking that Kaido was at the same level as back when they fought, which is clearly not true. Kaido is now an emperor and thus much stronger than when the two fought all those years ago. He would have lost badly if the two were to fight again.
Why does Doflamingo call Moriah a weakling? Well Moriah did lose to Doflamingo. However Moriah needed to use others in order to make himself stronger. He needed the power of others to compensate for his own lack of power. He took other people's power by stealing their shadows. Rather than fight battles himself, he used his zombies and Oz to fight for him or mostly use his zombies strength, not his own. Weather it was by making his zombies fight for him, or steal the power of others by taking their shadows, he barely used his own power. Such a person would be considered a weakling since the rely on other people's strength rather than their own.
Moriah is dead. Doflamingo killed him. There wasn't much of a role that Moriah could have played in this fic. The main antagonists are the revolutionary army and Moriah doesn't seem like revolutionary material. So Moriah wouldn't be appearing in this fic beyond flashbacks or references.
Why did the world government ask Doflamingo to kill Moriah. Well there were two reasons.
The first is because of Moriah's loss to Luffy. The Shichbukai are supposed to be seven of the most powerful and feared pirates. They are suppose to be invincible. Yet Moriah was defeated. He was not defeated by an emperor, or a legendary pirate. No he was defeated by a child, never mind that the child is the son of the revolutionary leader and grandson of a marine hero, a child is still a child. By losing to a rookie, he brought disgrace to the position of Shichbukai. People would think that any rookie pirate can take down a Shichbukai. Moriah's defeat makes the Shichbukai and by extension the entire world government look weak. Furthermore his defeat by Luffy, the same rookie who took out another Shichbukai makes said rookie look much stronger. However the world government were willing to overlook his loss to Luffy since his defeat was not really publicized so people don't really know that Moriah was defeated by Luffy in the first place.
The second and biggest reason was Moriah's performance at the War of the Best. The War of the Best was broadcasted to the entire world. So the whole world got to see how weak Moriah was. When Moriah was beaten by Luffy, it was not publicized so no one really knew that a Shichbukai was beaten by a rookie. But at the War of the Best, everyone saw him and his poor performance. Him looking weak makes the Shichbukai as a whole look weak. The Shichbukai are supposed to be extremely strong. However Moriah was clearly not strong. What's worse, everyone saw how weak he was. The Whitebeard pirates, the Allied pirates, the Navy and even the world saw how weak he was. Since he was weak, the world would think that all the Shichbukai were just as weak. The world government cannot accept this. So they ordered Doflamingo to kill him and say that he died in the war.
When Doflaming confronted Moriah with the Pacifistas, it was believed that Moriah escaped. But the truth was that Doflamingo let Moriah escape. This was because he had orders from Dragon to recruit Moriah. After the world government asked Doflamingo to kill Moriah, Doflamingo contacted Dragon and told him of their orders. Dragon then ordered Doflamingo to spare Moriah and recruit him later. So Doflamingo let Moriah escape so that he could recruit him later.
Why does Dragon want to recruit Moriah who was weak? Remember that even though Moriah was weak, he was still a powerful pirate and an asset to the army. He obviously cannot defeat any of the stronger fighters, but he could defeat a lot of weak guys.
Doflamingo had to make the Gorosei think that he was actually following their orders rather than Dragon's. He was a Shichbukai so he had to follow their orders. If he just let Moriah escape, then the world government would know that he deliberately disobeyed them and revoke his position. So he injured Moriah to make the Gorosei think that he was actually trying to follow their orders. As a result, they simply think that Doflamingo failed to carry out his orders and kill Moriah rather than deliberately disobey them by letting him escape.
After he let Moriah escape, he confronted him and told him that the only reason he escaped was because he let him escape. Doflamingo explained that he let Moriah escape because Dragon wanted to recruit him. However Moriah refused to accept Dragon's invitation. Remember Moriah wants to become the Pirate King and someone who wants to become the Pirate King would never work for someone else. So Moriah refused Dragon's offer. Since Moriah refused there was no reason for him to live so Doflamingo killed him.
Remember Moriah asked Doflamingo if Sengoku ordered his death and Doflamingo claimed that he received his orders from someone higher up, meaning either commander in chief Kong or the Gorosei. But think about this, who is actually higher up that Dragon? Who could possibly be higher up than the revolutionary leader, the strongest being in the world. Who could be higher up than the one even the feared Knights of D answer to? The higher up Doflamingo was referring to was Dragon. No one is higher than Dragon.
Kuma's actions are explained fully. All of Kuma's action was to defeat Dragon.
If you all recall during the war, Doflamingo spoke as if he knew Kuma. He was telling Ivankov about how Kuma is dead and such. Now you can see that he knew all about Kuma.
Originally Kuma hated the world government and joined the revolutionary army after which he rose to the rank of commander. Due to his loyal service he was greatly trusted by Dragon, much more than a lot of commanders. Because he trusted Kuma so much, he told him things that he would never tell other members of the army, things that he kept secret. He told him about his true ambitions, the highly secretive Knights of D and many other things including the fact that he had a son.
Just because a revolutionary is a commander doesn't mean that Dragon trusts them. Ivankov is a commander and he never knew anything about the army, not even the fact that Dragon had a son. Law also wasn't trusted by Dragon which is why he ordered Law to be killed, though Law is one of the few surviving commanders. Pretty much all the commanders that are still apart of the army are extremely trusted by Dragon and know about the Knights and his true nature. Kuma too was trusted by Dragon with these dark secrets.
After Kuma heard about Dragon's true nature, he left the army. He realized how dark, sinister and evil Dragon was and devoted his entire life to stopping him.
The reason that Kuma joined the world government was because he wanted to find a way to stop Dragon. Despite him hating the world government, he knew that Dragon was so dangerous that he was willing to put aside his hatred and work with them in order to stop him. He knew that Dragon had so much power, him being the strongest being in the world, the fearsome power of the Knights, he knew that there was no way he could stop Dragon by himself. He needed the aid of the world government. So he decided to become a Shichbukai. That is why he became the feared Tyrant Kuma. He hoped that if he became a feared enough pirate, the world government would make him a Shichbukai during which he would help them take down Dragon. So he spent the next several years increasing his reputation as a pirate eventually becoming the Tyrant Kuma after which he was accepted as a member of the Shichbukai.
The reason why Kuma volunteered to become a Pacifista is to defeat Dragon. Kuma knew that even if he joined the world government, it would still be no where near enough to take down Dragon. The commanders, the Knights and Dragon himself could still totally destroy the world government. Kuma spent years with the Shichbukai hoping that something, anything could come up that could help defeat Dragon. Then that something came up, the Pacifista project. Kuma believed that the Pacifista Project might be enough to defeat Dragon and the revolutionary army. So he volunteered himself for the project hoping that it would help defeat Dragon and the army.
Dragon told Robin pretty much the same lie he told Luffy about Kuma. He said that he asked Kuma to join the Shichbukai because the army needed an insider to gain information and Kuma as a Shichbukai would be entrusted with important information. Him joined would also weaken the Shichbukai since they would think that they have seven members when they actually only have six, it would undermine the power of the Shichbukai. He also told Robin that Kuma joining was regrettably his idea because as a Pacifista, he would have no choice but to listen to the world government and as a result be entrusted with even more sensitive information. However when Kuma became a heartless weapon, he could no longer give them any information. Dragon told Robin that he regretted the decision since he lost of his precious comrades.
The reason why Kuma saved Luffy and the Straw Hats is revealed. It was because Kuma believed that Luffy was the only one who could stop Dragon. Kuma knew that even the Pacifista project and the full power of the world government would not be enough to stop Dragon and the army. The only one who could stop Dragon would be his son, the one with Dragon's blood flowing through his veins, the one who inherited his power, his own son Luffy. Luffy being Dragon's son and having his father's great power is the only one who could take down Dragon. Kuma knew this which is why he saved Luffy and his crew.
Kuma's actions at Thriller Bark is revealed. Even though Kuma was ordered to kill Luffy and the Straw Hats, he chose not to. He did not because he wanted to test them. Kuma knew that Luffy alone would not be enough to defeat his father. He needed strong and loyal nakama to help him. So Kuma decided to test the loyalty and strength of Luffy's nakama by pretending to try and kill them. Dragon and the revolutionary army is unlike any other force in the world so Kuma couldn't hold back, he had to really test the resolve of the Straw Hats to make sure that they could help Luffy defeat his father. He had to do it to the point that he used a bomb that could have really killed them all. If the Straw Hats were willing to give Luffy up in exchange for their lives, then they would never be able to help Luffy defeat Dragon. If Zoro couldn't handle his captain's pain, then there was no way he could handle the fury of Dragon or the Knights. However the Straw Hats, Zoro in particular showed that they were completely loyal to Luffy even willing to die for him. They had the strength and resolve to help him defeat Dragon. They all passed the test with flying colors especially Zoro.
The resolve that the Straw Hats showed on Thriller Bark is now going to be needed more than ever because now they'll need that resolve to not only defeat Dragon and his Knights, but Luffy as well.
The reason that Kuma told Rayliegh that he was a member of the revolutionary army was because the real truth would have been too much for the Straw Hats. If he told Rayleigh, Rayleigh who himself knows about how dangerous Dragon is since Gol D Roger fought him before might have told Luffy and the Straw Hats the truth. The Straw Hats might then go after Dragon unprepared and gotten themselves killed. Also Luffy is not someone who could lie since he accidently babbled out that Roger is Ace's father and Dragon is his own, he might have babbled out the truth to other people and that would spread complications. So Kuma just kept it simple and told Rayleigh that he was a member of the army and wait for Luffy to discover the truth himself. After all he might not accept the truth from Kuma or anyone, but he would accept it if he found out on his own.
In the end Kuma died for nothing. Despite everything Kuma did to stop Dragon, despite saving Luffy's life hoping that one day, Luffy would be strong enough to take down Dragon, his plan failed completely. Luffy in the end joined his father and his dark goals. Everything Kuma sacrificed for Luffy and the others was for nothing since Luffy joined his father.
Well that's a wrap. The chapter is over. Review everyone