Summary:
Morgan and his soldiers go to kill Zoro and Koby while Luffy retrieves Zoro’s swords. Zoro thinks about how he can’t die in a place like this and remembers the promise he made to his childhood friend Kuina. However, just before Zoro and Koby are shot, Luffy gets in the way and shields the pair from all the bullets. Realizing that he has no choice if he wants to live, Zoro tells Luffy that he will join him.
Luffy is busy dragging Helmepp through the base and trying to find Zoro’s sword. After dragging Helmeppo for a while, Luffy asks Helmeppo where Zoro’s sword is and he says that Luffy Zoro’s arsenal is in his room. Luffy decides to use Helmeppo as a human shield, leaving some of the pursuing marines in a position where they can’t do anything.
Meanwhile, Koby realizes that he has been shot and is bleeding. Zoro tells Koby to run, but Koby won’t go until Zoro is untied. He tells Zoro that Helmeppo never planned to keep his word. Zoro can’t believe what he’s hearing, and Koby tells Zoro how Luffy punched Helmepp because of what they overheard. Koby asks Zoro to help Luffy. Suddenly, some marines approach Zoro and Koby and call them traitors.
Elsewhere, Luffy has found the swords in Helmepp’s room, but doesn’t know which one is Zoro’s. Luffy suddenly notices what is happening down on the ground outside the window of the naval base. Zoro and Koby are in trouble and Morgan wants them dead. Realizing that he may die, Zoro begins to reminisce about his days as a small boy and the reasons why he became who he is.
Young Zoro was on the ground in the training dojo after his defeat against Kuina. Kuina taunted him that he couldn’t win against her (for the 2000th time) even though he used two swords. Zoro’s friends stood up for him when he was called a weakling as Kuina stated that even if he could stand up to adults it was no good if he still couldn’t beat her. The others accused her of showing off because she was the dojo master’s daughter. When the sensei entered the room, the other swordsmen (except Zoro himself) accused him of giving her special training because she was able to defeat Zoro. Sensei just stated that Kuina is older.
Later that night, a frustrated Zoro challenged Kuina to fight him with a real katana. Kuina accepted Zoro’s challenge. Zoro lost by one punch and Kuina claimed her 2001 victory against him. After the duel was over, Kuina burst into tears. She told Zoro her woes about being a girl: as she got older, she would fall behind him because girls don’t gain strength like boys. Kuina said she wished she was born a boy, but Zoro got mad at her and said she had no right to complain after she beat him. Zoro went even further when he said that it was an insult to all the hard work he had done. The two then made a deal; one of them will become the greatest swordsman in the world.
Disaster struck the next day when Zoro was informed of the worst; Kuina fell down the stairs and died. Distraught, Zoro called out to her lifeless body, her face covered with a cloth, and accused her of running away. Zoro asked sensei to give Zoro her sword; he will become the world’s greatest swordsman in her name.
Back in Zoro’s presence, he faces death. When the marines fire, Luffy jumps in front of them and the bullets hit him instead. The bullets then bounce off Luffy to the disbelief of everyone watching. Luffy brings up the three swords he found in Helmepp’s room, claiming he doesn’t know which one is Zoro’s. The swordsman then explains that he uses three swords. Zoro accepts Luffy’s offer to join his crew as he would rather become a criminal than die.