Dragon Ball Human

Yamiru had gotten used to early morning training.

It was partly because his physical abilities had surpassed those of his past life after crossing over, leaving him with an abundance of energy that he needed to release, always eager to try new things.

It was also because, deep down, he believed that as an Earthling, he needed to work twice as hard.

His genetics couldn't compare to the Saiyans, who were like walking cheat codes. If he didn't push himself, how could he even think about competing with them? Not to mention Son Goku and Vegeta, those two lunatics. They not only had superior genes, insight, and talent compared to most people, but they were also unbelievably hardworking. Especially Vegeta—he was no longer just diligent, he enjoyed self-inflicted suffering! Since Yamiru, an Earthling, had already decided to become stronger through martial arts, he couldn't afford to waste a single second.

Besides, his body was in good shape after crossing over, and with only four to five hours of sleep, he could fully recover. So why bother sleeping in?

And, the feeling of training itself was quite satisfying.

While practicing his punches and kicks, Yamiru reflected on the old monk's guidance from last night, imagining an opponent in front of him. He considered how the opponent would attack and how he should counter it.

The old monk hadn't taught him any fixed routines because he knew that Yamiru aimed for Son Gohan at Paozu Mountain and ultimately aspired to learn the Turtle Hermit style! Therefore, he didn't pass on the martial arts of Orin Temple. After all, the old monk wasn't sure what the legendary Turtle Hermit style actually entailed. If he ended up teaching Yamiru the wrong methods and made it harder for him to learn the Turtle Hermit style or even gain Son Gohan's tutelage, wouldn't that be a tragedy?

So, instead, the old monk taught Yamiru more universally applicable martial arts principles and simple methods for strengthening bones and muscles.

The old monk had lived a long life, practiced martial arts for decades, and finally had some real, practical knowledge to share. Although Delat sneered at this, believing it couldn't compare to systematic scientific training, neither the old monk nor Yamiru cared. After all, Delat's view represented the current opinion of most Earthlings. One was willing to teach, and the other was eager to learn.

As the old monk and Delat stood outside the tent, watching Yamiru's morning training, they couldn't help but marvel at his exceptional aptitude. They could tell that the things the old monk had taught him the night before had truly been absorbed and integrated into Yamiru's movements.

What they didn't know was that Yamiru wasn't just absorbing what the old monk had taught him; he was also cross-referencing it with the battle instincts he had gained through the hellish training sessions with Jiora in the past few days. He was exploring what would be the most efficient combat techniques. After an hour of sweating, Yamiru finally stopped.

"Ha!" He cracked his neck, turned around, and smiled. "You guys are up this early too?"

Yamiru always woke up at 4:50 a.m. without fail, and after an hour of practice, it was still only around six in the morning. In his past life, he probably wouldn't even have been asleep yet at this time.

"The task isn't easy; we should start moving early!" Delat said, unfolding the map and glancing at it. Then, with one hand twirling a military knife and the other holding a compass, he shouldered his backpack and strode into the depths of the forest.

The old monk had little baggage; he only carried a begging bowl for his alms and traveled light, following closely behind.

"Wait a minute!" Yamiru saw that the two of them were walking off without even packing up their tent. He quickly rushed over, swiftly dismantled the tent, and stuffed it into his backpack. After checking his equipment, especially making sure that the half Senzu bean was secure, he was ready and walked into the forest. Recalling the guidance from Delat the night before when they had gone hunting together, Yamiru noticed the unmistakable signs of Delat and the old monk's passage through the forest, making it easy for him to follow.

After the three left, by noon, as the sun began to dip in the west, another group arrived at the site.

---

"Over here!"

The members of the Red Ribbon Army discovered the traces of the camp and the extinguished bonfire. One soldier even dug through the dirt and found the bones left behind by Yamiru and Delat after eating.

"Based on the information from that dead rabbit, two people from the group we're supposed to trade with are worth noting. One is the old monk from Orin Temple; his martial arts are decent, and I heard he even placed highly in the World Martial Arts Tournament when he was younger. The other is a special forces soldier sent by the government. The monk's no problem, but the special forces guy could be trouble..."

The leader of the Red Ribbon Army, stepping on the remnants of the bonfire, ground it out and thought for a moment before giving orders. "Let's follow them first. Once we find them... if we can't capture them alive, we'll just take them out with sniping."

"Yes, sir!" His subordinates saluted.

\---

"Turns out you've also participated in the World Martial Arts Tournament, Monk..."

The three of them walked quickly through the woods. Yamiru and the old monk walked side by side, chatting, and discovered that they had both participated in the World Martial Arts Tournament. However, recalling the monk from Orin Temple whom Krillin had fought in the comics, Yamiru wasn't too surprised. Besides, the tournament had been held at the Martial Arts Temple, and since it was a temple, it made sense that there might be some connection to Orin Temple.

The old monk was surprised that Yamiru, at such a young age, had also participated in the tournament.

"Well... it's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I didn't even make it through the preliminaries!" Yamiru felt a bit shy, thinking he might be the worst performer among the crossover participants in his debut at the tournament. "I might've made it to the top eight, but I lost to King Chappa."

"King Chappa?"

"King Chappa?"

Not only the old monk but even Delat, who was leading the way ahead, turned around in surprise.

Yamiru wasn't surprised that the old monk had heard of King Chappa, but he was curious that Delat knew about him too. Delat said, "What's so surprising? King Chappa is well known in the martial arts community and the fighting world. He even owns a fighting dojo of his own, and it's pretty popular! Of course, I've heard of him." He sighed, adding, "I didn't expect that you, kid, actually went up against King Chappa and still came out unscathed! I've heard that guy loves to beat up overconfident young people..."

"Well, he will have it coming!" Yamiru remarked, reflecting on how in the anime/manga, King Chappa had faced Son Goku twice and lost both times in the preliminaries. The old monk and Delat couldn't understand, so Yamiru continued, "Is the martial arts world and the fighting world really that different? To me, martial arts and fighting seem like the same thing!"

Delat scoffed, "They're worlds apart. The martial arts world will fade away eventually. Just look at how the prize money for the World Martial Arts Tournament has been slashed year after year. The fighting world, on the other hand, is thriving. It even has professional leagues now. Many fighting dojos in big cities are part of the league, and they come together to host events. Even the annual income of a city's fighting champion far exceeds the prize money of the World Martial Arts Tournament, which only happens once every five years! So tell me, is there really no difference between martial arts and fighting?"

The old monk shook his head repeatedly.

Yamiru, however, found the answer unsatisfactory and said, "I don't think you've really answered the question."

Delat stopped and looked at him.

Yamiru asked, "What does making money or having fame have to do with whether martial arts and fighting are different?"

Delat was speechless.

"But I think there clearly is a difference," Yamiru continued, speaking to himself. "For example," he raised a finger, "I've never heard of a fighting champion... using 'Ki,' right?"

"Ki?" Delat, naturally, looked puzzled; he had never heard the term before.

"Ki?" The old monk's expression changed to one of shock as he carefully looked at Yamiru. "You know about Ki?"

The old monk was baffled. Yamiru had no particular sect or background and had been traveling alone. How could he possibly know about Ki? Unless his physical body was already strong enough to naturally sense Ki within himself. However, the old monk had fought with Yamiru before and knew that while Yamiru was certainly stronger than most people, he hadn't reached the level where he could sense Ki on his own.

Yamiru, in turn, was puzzled by the old monk's surprise and asked, "Is it really so strange to know about Ki?"

He recalled the time outside the World Martial Arts Tournament when he had encountered Master Roshi and said, "Master Roshi's unique technique, the Kamehameha, should be a form of Ki-based martial arts, right? Isn't this something that most people know about? What's so surprising about it?"

"Kamehameha?" Delat didn't remember who Master Roshi was, but he had vaguely heard of the Kamehameha technique. He was confused. "Isn't that just an exaggerated myth? Are you saying you actually believe a laser can be shot from someone's palm?"

"You don't understand, Ki isn't that simple..." The old monk spoke cryptically, sighing. "Forget it, I won't say more, so as not to confuse you. Yamiru, if you can find Son Gohan, you can certainly learn from Master Roshi's top disciple. But if you don't manage to find him, you can come to Orin Temple to train."

So he really does know about Ki! Yamiru thought to himself. It made sense, though—after all, if someone like Krillin could learn flight so quickly, it wasn't too surprising that Ki, though mysterious, could be understood with proper instruction. And the old monk from Orin Temple was certainly capable of sensing Ki. He nodded and smiled, "If I can't become a disciple of Master Roshi, I guess it wouldn't be bad to be a little monk under you, Great Monk!"

"By the way, Great Monk, do you understand Ki yourself? I noticed back at that dead rabbit's shop, I hadn't even shown myself, but you had already noticed me." Yamiru was curious. "Did you sense me through Ki?" If the old monk could do that, then he was impressive indeed. After all, in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, Tenshinhan had been defeated by Goku because he relied too much on his eyes and didn't understand how to sense Ki.

Could it be that this old monk surpassed Tenshinhan from that tournament?