Arlong Park Forums

See….posts like this is what makes me believe people here find no faults with this series. It's good, dont get me wrong.... but it's not a masterpiece.

It surely is a masterpiece, even if you can't appreciate it for what it is.

But for you to continue to argue that "everyone here cannot find fault in the series" is just ridiculous. Just look at how much people complain about everything every week. You're not alone, random complaining poster.

RobZilla

I'm not.

I just wanna see if you're a One Piece fan….or an Oda worshiper.

Just hard for me to compute how anyone could not find this Usopp development a problem, so it makes me question if they find ANY faults with the series. I honestly just wanna know.

Doesn't have a major problem with Usopp development -> Doesn't have any problems with One Piece.

What a ridiculous logical jump lol.

vagabond87

@DollarScholar:

Yeah i get your point about not overthinking this too much. a Young mihawk wanting to test himself against the legendary Kyros sounds like a plausible theory to me, the only problem is that from what i have gathered so far sharp weapons were completley banned from the colusseum during the Riku era. So i cant really see Mihawk entering the ring with a real sword and cutting Kyros Leg off. So far, a Disguised Doflamingo using his devil fruit sounds like the most realistic theory.

Maybe Kyros didnt lost leg at all and we just assumed it seeing how Doflamingo cut off leg of Oars during War. Thats possible and Oda-like.
It might be that he was turned into "One Legged Soldier" type of Toy. Young Mihawk was said to have duels with Shanks before Shanks lost an arm and those duels were said to shake grand line so its possible that he was type searching challenge yet I think that Mihawk might have been too young for "prime Kyros" as he would been around 20 years old back then BUT I assuming this more based on opinions than on facts so I might be very wrong lol

Resorting to flaming now. Hmm, ok.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

See....posts like this is what makes me believe people here find no faults with this series. It's good, dont get me wrong.... but it's not a masterpiece
.

Chill. Its great manga but some people have right to feel better about chapter having different angle on it than you. You have right be to unhappy or unsatisfied witch chapter but when somebody explains why he/she liked it and you dont agree and get angry or something like it its kind of your problem not theirs.

Mex

@Psycrow:

Although Luffy's battle will definitely steal the show, I'm looking forward to seeing Zoro vs Pica. Though Zoro vs Pikachu would be more entertaining :ninja:
Anyway, if I were Pica I'd start by just replacing the floor under Zoro with a big hole. Or turning the palace into a big maze. That'd be funnier.

Place stairs under zoro and he's DEAD! If not dead, much weaker!

Portgas-D-Ace 3

@_Hayato:

LOL I think I can, people who uses the author excuse so much to judge a story when he clearly knows what he's doing PLUS the fact that you sound butthurt mentioning that this is One Piece when you're just clearly too ignorant about the character in the first place is no short of [insert any word you find insulting].

Let's look at the times Usopp fought (if I forget any, forgive me) and you can remember yourself which ones he ran in.

Arlong Park was for Nami, Little Garden it was for Zoro, Nami and Vivi, Alabasta it was for Vivi and Luffy… Skypeia it was for half the crew then Luffy, Sanji and Nami, Water 7 it was for Merry... and Robin (he put on the mask cause he was too ashamed to face them so as badass as Sogeking was, people need to remember that he was created from that shame), Enies Lobby it was for Robin then Luffy/crew, Thriller Bark.. he was the only one who can, Sabaody Archipelago he tried to save Zoro from Kizaru.. do you see where I'm going with this?

Now let's look at Post-Timeskip. Fishman Island it was for the crew then for Fishman Island, Punk Hazard for Nami(in Sanji's body) and the kids.. then for the plan to capture Caesar, Dressrosa.. huh wonder what's different? Franky wanted to help the dwarves (he had his own reasons for not coming but hey.. Usopp doesn't know that) he lied to the dwarves, he was pumped up BECAUSE he wasn't alone, then he saw the consequences what his lies led to, he came back sure.. THEN he stripped himself of all the lies he's made up, he didn't call himself Captain Usopp, there was no "brave warrior of the sea" "I have 8000 followers" he’s not using an alter ego to fight for him, he’s not using any fake hammers or saying he’s anything he’s not for intimidation or strength/confidence boost purposes. There was no Usoland.. he announced himself AS the SNIPER of the Strawhat Pirates and he's willing to die just for the faith the Tontattas that truly believed HE. WAS. A. LEGENDARY. HERO.

If you still don't see that I feel bad for you.

If you want to remove the text formatting, try Ctrl+Shift+V to paste your text.

Rosebullet Teacher

Usopp Sniper of The Straw Hat crew, rogue of the Dressrosa underground port incident, one of the few men who knows Sogekings real face! Many legends will be born from this cos all the toys he's gonna save are only gonna whisper the "Yeah but he lied and ran away" part. They will tell of how he cut a fearsome enemy officer into pieces but the cowardice will be glossed over cos hes a hero.At the least I see Kanjuro responding to his new honourable behaviour or any one of the coliseum competitors after he knocks out Sugar

Mex

@Rosebullet:

Usopp Sniper of The Straw Hat crew, rogue of the Dressrosa underground port incident, one of the few men who knows Sogekings real face! Many legends will be born from this cos all the toys he's gonna save are only gonna whisper the "Yeah but he lied and ran away" part. They will tell of how he cut a fearsome enemy officer into pieces but the cowardice will be glossed over cos hes a hero.At the least I see Kanjuro responding to his new honourable behaviour or any one of the coliseum competitors after he knocks out Sugar

I agree, I thought about Kanjuro since last chapter, but now after those honourable words he will show up for sure!

RobZilla

I'll be very interested to see Kanjuro's design since he's been kept in shadow for a good while now.

Then again, I'm not looking forward to the instant new nakama shouts that accompany a character debut, especially one that's been hinted at for as long as he has.

knceng

@Rosebullet:

Usopp Sniper of The Straw Hat crew, rogue of the Dressrosa underground port incident, one of the few men who knows Sogekings real face! Many legends will be born from this cos all the toys he's gonna save are only gonna whisper the "Yeah but he lied and ran away" part. They will tell of how he cut a fearsome enemy officer into pieces but the cowardice will be glossed over cos hes a hero.At the least I see Kanjuro responding to his new honourable behaviour or any one of the coliseum competitors after he knocks out Sugar

And don't forget that there're audiences from all over New World a.k.a Dofla's victim (the toys), if things turn out good for Usopp, there will an increasing demand for his wanted poster….

c0nflikt

This chapter was great to me all the build up was for a reason, solo just made like his most honest proclamation and has no choice but to go balls to the walls and surprise I bet he rigged up something for logins while they conveniently had one hostage. If the chapter ended with treble getting cut up I woulda been fine, but after that everything was just bonus content. Im pretty sure now that dressrosa will be the beginning of the strange bigger following that they need going forward. And I bet Bart will be at the head of the fan club.

Razh

Wonder what "pigya" will sound like in anime.

MetaMario

@RobZilla:

I'll be very interested to see Kanjuro's design since he's been kept in shadow for a good while now..

Didn't Oda change his shadow drasticially for the volume 73 release? Makes you wonder.

shanksa

@Razh:

Wonder what "pigya" will sound like in anime.

just imagine a cute little voice says pigya :D

Portgas-D-Ace 3

@Razh:

Wonder what "pigya" will sound like in anime.

I imagined it as the sound made by a squeeze toy.

jack1000

I wonder why there is so much hate for this chapter. It was a good read and I have nothing to complain about, not every chapter can be filled with epic moments like during the Marineford war. Oh well, even the highest liked videos on Youtube inevitably have a few dislikes. But then, I started noticing people comparing Oda to Kubo :ninja:. Seriously, if a person is scared of clowns as a child and still is after becoming an adult (timeskip of 10-20 years), do you complain about a lack of character development? It is the same with Usopp. 2 years of training may have added a few tricks to his bag but that doesn't mean his cowardice magically disappears. If he appeared to have grown braver after his previous fights, it was just in the heat of the moment. You can't change yourself (for the better) permanently in a few minutes.

YoiYoi

@jack1000:

But then, I started noticing people comparing Oda to Kubo :ninja:.

Wait, what? WHAAAT?!
Insanity!

DynamiteShikoku

usopp is a coward and he will always be till the end of the series. im sure everyone aware of that, however, last chapter he went beyond coward and become pathetic. this chapter is a good start towards his redemption but he really need to do something major to totally redeem himself. i guess he'll accidentally KOed sugar during his fight with trebol (trebol is reckless and stupid + usopp will jump/run around a lot = good combination for a stray bullet).

@MetaMario:

Didn't Oda change his shadow drasticially for the volume 73 release? Makes you wonder.

it can be both. maybe when we first see him he'll wear the wooden basket helmet thingy and then he remove it and he'll have the same hairstyle as the previous, unedited shadow.

Ali D

The discussion here went insane!

imho this is a fantastic chapter! usopp starts to be the brave warrior he always wanted to be! he doesn't need sogeking nor any other lies to help those dwarfes. he helps them by risking his life, his life as usopp - sniper of the mugiwaras!

I think this and the fact that usopp started the fight against a logia (trebol, as it seems) and very very powerful df-fruit (sugar) is so much bravery, I am still astonished two days after reading the chapter!

Buggy's Nose

Really enjoyed the Usopp section of this chapter. Deciding to take on Trebol and Sugar for the sake of the dwarfs is easily the bravest thing he's ever done. Felt the Kyros flashback would have benefitted from an extra couple of pages but I'm looking forward to the next issue.

shanksa

All the lies of Ussop that he said before are becoming reality.
This chapter is the sign for that

Panda Bear

Just hard for me to compute how anyone could not find this Usopp development a problem, so it makes me question if they find ANY faults with the series. I honestly just wanna know.

It's just hard for me to compute how anyone could find this Usopp development as much of a problem as you do, so it makes me question if there's anything you don't find fault with in the series. I honestly just

think that's a really, incredibly, stupid line of thought to go down. I'm sorry, I don't generally intend to be antagonistic, but resorting to straw-man ad hominems like that simply because someone takes a view point radically different to your own is ridiculous. It is, at absolute best, dismissive of the other person's stance, and achieves absolutely nothing in the way of discourse. Step back and take a look at what you were trying to accomplish with this: some of the very people you were talking with had literally already given defenses of why they thought the situation was handled well, and rather than taking that as an opportunity to engage them, you decide you'd rather attempt to derail the conversation entirely by turning it into a discussion for general faults in the series (which, for the record, there are of course plenty of; and which, as has already been pointed out, has its own thread dedicated to it).

Mortein

I have one idea how Usopp could redeem himself.

Trebol fires his sticky stuff at Usopp, slams him into the wall and immobilizes him. As he is standing stuck on wall, covered in the sticky stuff, Sugar approaches to touch him and turn him into a toy, and once she gets just few inches from Usopp he ignites sticky stuff, creating huge explosion which KO's both of them. All toys are turned back into humans, and now Robin and Cabbage and others can fight against Trebol.

I'd like to see this happen.

brennen.exe

@.access:

Although Chinjao forgeting about his retirement 'cause he forgot about Sai points the other way and hints Oda is actually being randomic about how Sugar power affects memory.

I know this is super late, but this comes up a lot (like last week) and I kept forgetting to correct it. Chinjao didn't forget about his retirement, he simply led the Hapou Navy because they didn't have a leader.

Riku: “So, even though you’re retired… you led a ship here?”
Chinjao: “Hiya haya indeed I did!! […] If only I had had some grandchildren”

peeko

@Chemie:

Logia…...... Sticky Sticky Logia, I would like to punch Oda in his face, it was a dencent Paramecia, like Mr. 3 or Magellan, he was able to produce a natural substance sticky glue, within the row of poison and wax perfect, but no, he as to be split in half by the stupid shuriken, now it is my most hated canon fruit followed by Sugar, Kuma and Brook/Perona, in general just an average chapter, of the three remaining flashbacks Law, Doflamingo and Kyros he has to start with the less interesting one and of course next week a break :getlost:

awwww too bad mister oda didn't do what you wanted him to do, so now your pissed huh?! That's cute

Riquelme

Ussop says "who never done something they end up regretting cast the first stone". To me Ussop is the only Straw Hat in the crew who is human through and through and that is the reason I along with others can relate to is struggles, hell maybe if i was in the same situation i would run away. Imaging a man trow a boat like nothing, shot a fly between the eye, the dwarves with all there speed and power can't even match a little girl who turns anyone she touches into toys, shiit i am out lol.

I have this feeling that Robin will find a way to free the other toys from the toy house who will eventually help in what is going down in the factory, this may mark the beginning of Ussop 8000 followers

SantoryuUser7

That Sugar panel didn't seem to mean anything to me as I was reading, I thought it was just a random panel to show her watching what's going on.

I'm trying to figure out Oda's thought process with the whole Usopp situation. Maybe he thought Usopp running away was fine because it had nothing to do with the SH main objective? Helping the dwarves was just a side mission and didn't necessarily put the SHs at risk. Which would make sense considering he said himself that pirates aren't heroes, and I don't think Usopp was aware that the dwarves were naive to that extreme (as in, that they were so focused on him being a hero). He also was (as I posted yesterday) expecting Franky any minute, so he wasn't expecting them to just fend for themselves forever. He came back to basically tell the dwarves to shut up, he didn't expect them to keep calling for him after he left. Trebol only stomped on them after they kept praising Usoland. He realized how utterly stupid they were and came back and decided that he will be the hero they need him to be, but if he's gonna do it, it'll be as Usopp. And on a side note also realized that it's much better to put your life on the line (which he has already "figured out" many times before so that's not anything new…) I know I was pleased with the chapter and in fact, it made me happy. I can't say I like that even after the CREW TOGETHER decided they would help, he had wanted to run away, but I'm glad the redemption happened the way it did. If he does anything remotely similar in future arcs though, he would probably become my least favourite SH though by a large margin (I think he and maybe Nami are tied at the bottom already, but I don't dislike them even remotely). And idk how that would affect my general liking towards him, as I have never disliked (and still don't) any of the SHs. I've enjoyed his character a lot since W7, and I'm hoping I always will.

I want to add, looking at the artwork in the spread and the magazine cover with Luffy made me realize how far Oda has come with his drawings (as I was also re-reading the first few volumes in the last 2 weeks). I love how it's progressed!

kouch_lee

Are people seriously taking for granted that one single panel means Sugar will betray Dofla??

I'm not gonna say it's impossible, nothing is. . .but do you guys seriously think Sugar has a single problem doing what she does? Or being with Dofla?

Honestly, that one panel could mean nothing at all. There were some Robin panels earlier during the arc that I thought meant lots of things and, considering how things are developing, I'm quite sure they meant nothing at all in the end. . .

RazgrizX

It seems like you are completely misunderstanding what Usopp said in the chapter, please read it again. He's not fighting for the dwarves. He's fighting for himself and his reputation. He just said that he couldn't sleep at night if he let this happen to the dwarves. He's not a hero, he's a pirate.

"From here on out, I'm gonna be your Legendary Hero!! - Usopp, pirate and non-hero.

As you put it, it is his most powerful weapon, and who has it hurt this time?

Uh, no one. He lied to save himself from the rightfully paranoid Dwarves who are planning to overthrow the current king. They were planning Operation SOP even if the Strawhats weren't there and given how stupid they are, it would have failed even more miserably without Robin there. Only thing that hurt anyone was Usopp not lifting a damn finger this whole time up until this chapter which has nothing to do with lies

Mr.point

Did ussop hear trebol ?
I thik he ran away . So , he can't hear him..!

MetaMario

@jack1000:

Seriously, if a person is scared of clowns as a child and still is after becoming an adult (timeskip of 10-20 years), do you complain about a lack of character development? It is the same with Usopp. 2 years of training may have added a few tricks to his bag but that doesn't mean his cowardice magically disappears. If he appeared to have grown braver after his previous fights, it was just in the heat of the moment. You can't change yourself (for the better) permanently in a few minutes.

Like brennen said last chapter, it's not so much that Usopp is/was being a big coward, but that he's being a selfish coward. I personally have no problems with him being afraid on its own, but Oda kinda exaggerated it and didn't exactly give him the best of intentions.

benjamminbrown

snip

Raz, I don't know how you haven't noticed this, but there are a lot of reasons why the dwarves are pulling Operation SOP off today.
1. Doflamingo "stepped down", which Toy Soldier already knew was a fake out.
2. It's the anniversary of when Norland saved them in the past.
3. The descendant(s) of their legendary hero showed up right on time to help out.

What isn't there to get about how Usopp's lie is not only hurting the dwarves (they are dying, just waiting to be saved by him, which he PROMISED to do), but also hurting himself (he literally just said that he couldn't sleep at night if he let himself carry the lie any farther). That's why he STOPPED lying, is now telling them who he really is, and is standing up to defend them.

Please read carefully what Usopp is saying this chapter. "I am not a legendary hero!!!" "My name isn't even 'Usoland'!!!" "My name is Usopp!!! I'm a pirate!!!"

And he finishes up with the line you've provided, of course, because this is his dream! Yeah, he's going to become it from here on out, that's what he's been doing the entire story. Trying to become a legendary brave warrior of the sea…

What's not to get about my point, Raz?

DemonX

So some people here really have no problem with how Usopp was handled? Really?

And I don't mean the chapter itself, that was cool, yadda yadda, but looking at the manga as a whole. You really think Oda handled this well? After everything what happened at this point (especially with Chuu at AP)?

I can only hope Oda somehow explains this with some memory distortion mumbo jumbo. Because otherwise, it's just bad writing. Not that I'll stop reading the manga, but it's something I expected Oda not to do/to handle it better. And especially Usopp fans should be aware of this.

benjamminbrown

@MetaMario:

Like brennen said last chapter, it's not so much that Usopp is/was being a big coward, but that he's being a selfish coward. I personally have no problems with him being afraid on its own, but Oda kinda exaggerated it and didn't exactly give him the best of intentions.

I sort of addressed this in one of my earlier posts. Usopp has always been selfish… What were you expecting? He only just met these people. All of the other people he has worked so hard to defend in the past have meant much more to him, personally. I could be wrong here, but this is the first time, IMO, that he's extended himself this much for basically complete strangers.

Kureha

Hi guys!
I dont know anyone talk about this before i see some interesting dicussion in another forum,

!

could it be ? :ninja:

benjamminbrown

@Kureha:

Hi guys!
I dont know anyone talk about this before i see some interesting dicussion in another forum,

! http://s18.postimg.org/41omw4uut/one_piece_4838797.jpg

could it be ? :ninja:

Extremely doubtful. Most of the toys so far have had little in common with their original form.

Hack became a toy dog. Cavendish, a clown. It seems the type of toy is pretty much picked at random.

Panda Bear

@MetaMario:

Like brennen said last chapter, it's not so much that Usopp is/was being a big coward, but that he's being a selfish coward.

Legitimate question here: is that not completely redundant? Cowardice, by its very nature, is a selfish motivator.

brennen.exe

Ahhhh snap, panda!

BernieCrane

@Panda:

Legitimate question here: is that not completely redundant? Cowardice, by its very nature, is a selfish motivator.

I think the selfish connotations come from our daily usage of the word to mock. The word by itself only marks the lack of courage, which isn't inherently bad.

benjamminbrown

@BernieCrane:

I think the selfish connotations come from our daily usage of the word to mock. The word by itself only marks the lack of courage, which isn't inherently bad.

So… are you arguing that Usopp isn't selfish? Because I don't see how you can draw that conclusion after reading the whole manga.

I think the whole SH crew is full of some of the most selfish characters that I have ever read about. It just so happens that their personal goals and ideals put them into positions where they believably want to perform heroic deeds, as I see it.

RazgrizX

Raz, I don't know how you haven't noticed this, but there are a lot of reasons why the dwarves are pulling Operation SOP off today.
1. Doflamingo "stepped down", which Toy Soldier already knew was a fake out.
2. It's the anniversary of when Norland saved them in the past.
3. The descendant(s) of their legendary hero showed up right on time to help out.

So you're saying that if 3 never happened, they wouldn't have gone with operation SOP? Well, I disagree.

What isn't there to get about how Usopp's lie is not only hurting the dwarves (they are dying, just waiting to be saved by him, which he PROMISED to do), but also hurting himself (he literally just said that he couldn't sleep at night if he let himself carry the lie any farther). That's why he STOPPED lying, is now telling them who he really is, and is standing up to defend them.

Why are you attibuting this to lying when it's his cowardice that's stopping him from helping the dwarves? He's didn't to ANYTHING to help the dwarves at all and it has nothing to do with him not really being Noland's descendant.

Please read carefully what Usopp is saying this chapter. "I am not a legendary hero!!!" "My name isn't even 'Usoland'!!!" "My name is Usopp!!! I'm a pirate!!!"

And he finishes up with the line you've provided, of course, because this is his dream! Yeah, he's going to become it from here on out, that's what he's been doing the entire story. Trying to become a legendary brave warrior of the sea…

What's not to get about my point, Raz?

What's not to get is that you and people defending this are making some bizarre argument that Usopp is fighting for himself and no one else using that "I'm not a hero" line out of context to support it and saying that this is a big character development for Usopp. Not only does this makes no sense, it would have been TERRIBLE. Usopp becoming some cold-hearted badass or whatever who only cares about his and his crew's glory.

And then you follow up with this:

I sort of addressed this in one of my earlier posts. Usopp has always been selfish… What were you expecting? He only just met these people. All of the other people he has worked so hard to defend in the past have meant much more to him, personally. I could be wrong here, but this is the first time, IMO, that he's extended himself this much for basically complete strangers.

"OH look guys Usopp is totally standing up for himself he's doing for it his own glory that's why he's being the kindest he's been ever!"

And by the way, you're wrong. Usopp saved Genzo from Arlong before even talking to him and then he saved some random bystanders from Chuu at Arlong Park.

.access timeco.

@brennen.exe:

I know this is super late, but this comes up a lot (like last week) and I kept forgetting to correct it. Chinjao didn't forget about his retirement, he simply led the Hapou Navy because they didn't have a leader.

Riku: “So, even though you’re retired… you led a ship here?”
Chinjao: “Hiya haya indeed I did!! […] If only I had had some grandchildren”

Good to know. This solves the consistency problem, since Chinjao basically just forgot it was someone else leading the ship.

BernieCrane

So… are you arguing that Usopp isn't selfish? Because I don't see how you can draw that conclusion after reading the whole manga.

I think the whole SH crew is full of some of the most selfish characters that I have ever read about. It just so happens that their personal goals and ideals put them into positions where they believably want to perform heroic deeds, as I see it.

I'm arguing that being a coward doesn't necessarily mean being selfish. I never mentioned that Usopp wasn't selfish. I'm well aware of the fact that it's the selfishness aspect of Usopp's actions that everyone hates, not the fact that he's afraid.

Panda Bear

@brennen.exe:

Ahhhh snap, panda!

No, seriously though, I've seen a number of posts along the lines of Meta's; implying that, even within the context of Usopp's cowardice in general, this occasion is particular noteworthy because here he's being selfish, in addition to a coward. I just don't see it. I mean, I see how he's being selfish perfectly well, of course – one would have to be blind not to -- but I don't at all see how that sets this apart from absolutely any other occasion his cowardice has come into play. I legitimately cannot think of a single time in the manga when his cowardice has become a point that has not had him acting in a way that would be best characterized as 'selfish'. Am I simply forgetting some sort of glaring example?

@BernieCrane:

I think the selfish connotations come from our daily usage of the word to mock. The word by itself only marks the lack of courage, which isn't inherently bad.

Cowardice, ultimately, is allowing one's own fears to motivate – dictate, even -- one's actions, regardless of consequence for self or others. I have trouble thinking of that as anything other than selfish, at its core. If you want to get into assumed moral judgments, I would say that is selfishness which is not inherently bad; but cowardly actions very much are selfish.

benjamminbrown

So you're saying that if 3 never happened, they wouldn't have gone with operation SOP? Well, I disagree.

I'm saying that, had they gone through with SOP even if they hadn't met Usopp, then Usopp would have no desire to save them. The only reason he wants to save them now is because he has put his own reputation on the line. He feels like a turd for the lies he's been telling, and that's why he's only now coming clean.

Why are you attibuting this to lying when it's his cowardice that's stopping him from helping the dwarves? He's didn't to ANYTHING to help the dwarves at all and it has nothing to do with him not really being Noland's descendant.

Um, he has been doing something for the dwarves this whole time. He's promised them support, given them the courage to fight, and then completely abandoned them (almost). This has EVERYTHING to do with his lying, as well as his cowardice. I am so confused about why you all can't see this.

What's not to get is that you and people defending this are making some bizarre argument that Usopp is fighting for himself and no one else using that "I'm not a hero" line to support it and saying that this is a big character development for Usopp. Not only does this makes no sense, it would have been TERRIBLE. Usopp becoming some cold-hearted badass or whatever who only cares about his and his crew's glory.

If you read my posts carefully, you'll see that I've been saying that he IS fighting for the Tontatta. Of course he is. But, and here's the crux of the argument, it's not FOR THE TONTATTA'S SAKE. It's for his own. He couldn't live with himself if he had just run away this chapter.

… and you're saying that this makes him cold-hearted??? It makes him human, shows that he actually has believable feelings, deep down, and that he despises his own actions just as much as we have despised them these past few chapters.