Another full hour painfully passed before Yamcha, Krillin, and Chiaotzu finally arrived. Unlike Naruto and the others, who remained entirely composed, Krillin and his exhausted companions panted heavily, looking exactly as Goku had during his very first grueling climb.
"What is it with today? They just keep continuously coming," Korin said, his gaze falling steadily on Master Roshi.
Master Roshi's expression turned intensely stern. "Demon King Piccolo has appeared."
"What? That's entirely impossible!" Korin started, physically straining to widen his eyes, though they remained narrow slits. "In the short time it took to grill a fish?"
Korin spun around, his short furry legs scuttling quickly toward a sealed jar. He carefully lifted the lid to examine the dark contents.
A tense minute later, a cold bead of sweat formed clearly on Korin's forehead.
"That demon king has truly appeared..."
Korin looked grimly at Naruto and the group. "So, you've all come here to ask me to deeply train you?"
"Unfortunately, with your current strength, there is nothing more I can teach you."
Korin shook his head with deep disappointment. "That demon king is simply too naturally powerful. Though I heavily hate to admit it, I am truly no match for him either."
"However, if you are genuinely prepared to risk your lives, I do have something dangerous that could help."
"What is it?" Master Roshi asked quickly. "Ultra Divine Water." Korin slowly began explaining the fatal effects of the Ultra Divine Water.
Ultra Divine Water is a highly poisonous liquid that violently stimulates hidden potential and greatly increases combat power. In the original storyline, Goku wandered the very edge of life and death after desperately drinking it. Tortured relentlessly by the water for a day and a night, his combat power significantly rose from 180 to 280 points.
An increase of a mere hundred points might not sound deeply significant, but percentage wise it was a massive 55% increase.
Since it actively increased combat power by a multiple, wasting the Ultra Divine Water now was deeply unwise, it was far better saved for the later, more dangerous stages of Dragon Ball.
Just imagine if Goku drank it right at the Super Saiyan level. How much would his base power jump? Or if Krillin and Tien drank it much later on?
Using it right now would be incredibly wasteful.
Moreover, there was another fatal problem.
"Poisonous water. Over ten strong experts drank it and immediately died, and for others, it might have absolutely no effect at all." Master Roshi quickly singled out the deadly side effects from Korin's solemn explanation.
"Korin, are you intentionally messing with us?"
Indeed, before Goku successfully drank the water and grew stronger, Korin had always accurately treated the liquid as pure poison. After all, it had violently killed more than ten experts.
Among the entire group, only Goku could reliably endure the toxicity. Naruto was completely confident he could survive easily through Yang Release. For the others, casually drinking it would likely mean instant game over.
"Then there is absolutely no helping it," Korin said, his furry ears drooping sadly.
"There should strictly still be a way, right, Korin?" Naruto asked, pointing straight at the sky. "Isn't there someone above?"
"Oh? Someone actually knows of him." Korin paused thoughtfully. "But I'm genuinely not sure if he would ever agree to see you."
Korin could not actively guarantee a meeting. Though Kami was technically his superior, they practically never truly communicated. Their last brief interaction had been several hundred years ago.
"How do you know if you don't even try?" Naruto casually shrugged. "It's definitely better than passively watching that Demon King violently destroy the world."
Naruto and Korin stared evenly at each other. Finally, Korin reluctantly looked away.
"This is the required token."
Korin produced a small bell from his plump, furry body and carefully handed it to Naruto.
"To reach the Lookout, you also deeply need a specific item. Goku happens to be securely carrying it, so that's not a real problem."
The wide top of Korin's Temple explicitly served as the direct entrance to the Lookout.
The Power Pole resting comfortably on Goku's back was the true key. Kami had once given the red staff to Korin so he could effectively select elite martial artists to be automatically transported to the Lookout for testing. However, the deeply lazy cat sincerely felt no one could pass the strict test. Furthermore, Master Roshi had pestered him absolutely relentlessly, so he simply gave the Power Pole to Master Roshi to make him leave.
Goku smoothly inserted the Power Pole firmly into the round hole at the very top of Korin's Temple.
"Power Pole Extend!"
With a sharp *whoosh*, the red staff securely carried the six of them aggressively toward the Lookout.
--**--**
Beside a quiet, rippling stream, the wandering samurai Yajirobe happily watched a big, thick fish roasting steadily over the hot coals of a crackling campfire.
The fish measured about two meters long, with several pairs of strange fins along its sides and a massive, ugly head full of extremely sharp teeth. It was unmistakably a coelacanth, a rare species officially confirmed by scientists to be completely extinct.
'It took some real effort to easily catch this. I heard the meat is absolutely incredible. Let's see.'
Yajirobe expertly sliced off a thick piece of pale flesh with the katana at his waist and eagerly placed it in his mouth to savor.
'Mm!!! Absolutely delicious.' Yajirobe's eyes sparkled wildly. Saliva pooled heavily in his mouth as he stared deeply at the grilled fish. Only someone who had truly tasted it would fully understand the rich flavor.
'Time to dig in!'
After that single bite, Yajirobe simply couldn't hold back. He thoroughly prepared to throw himself fully at the hot meal and rapidly eat his fill.
A sudden gust of wind violently materialized, aggressively stirring up massive clouds of dirt that thoroughly dyed the pale fish flesh entirely gray.
"Ah?! My fish!" Watching his beautiful meal rapidly turn into a sand-covered tragedy, Yajirobe wailed deeply, "I only took one tiny bite!"
"Hey there, chubby kid."
A deeply arrogant voice rang out directly above him.
A massive green dinosaur swiftly descended heavily from the sky. This was Cymbal, the second dangerous child born from the Demon King Piccolo. He had aggressively come here on the Demon King's strict orders to ruthlessly collect the Dragon Balls.
"Have you seen any round balls with stars inside around here? Turns out they're directly on you. Simply hand them over and I might graciously spare your life."
Cymbal pointed arrogantly to the One-Star Dragon Ball hanging securely around Yajirobe's thick neck.
Yajirobe didn't have the patience for him. Still completely heartbroken over his ruined meal, he violently wiped away his tears and rapidly cut off another piece of flesh. He carefully brushed off the surface sand and stubbornly popped it directly into his mouth, only to violently spit it out instantly. He'd gotten a full mouthful of sharp grit. The flying sand wasn't just on the surface, it had completely penetrated the meat. While it could still barely be called food, the sweet, tender texture was completely gone.
Seeing that Yajirobe was totally ignoring him, Cymbal approached heavily with booming footsteps. "Hey, fatty, give me exactly what's around your neck."
"You completely ruined my fish. Why would I ever give it to you? Compensate me right now!"
Yajirobe gave Cymbal a highly thorough once-over. "You actually look pretty tasty. Since you completely ruined my fish, you're staying right here to be my new food."
"Damn fatty, you've got a really big mouth. Since you're actively asking for it, I won't hold back at all." Cymbal screamed loudly and aggressively charged.
He didn't deeply expect that despite his heavy weight, Yajirobe was incredibly nimble. He was also an exceptionally skilled samurai.
Yajirobe smoothly pushed the sword hilt slightly open with his thumb. A sudden flash of light.
'Iaijutsu Slash!'
Cymbal was sliced directly in two before a single scream could escape his ugly throat.
Cymbal was completely dead.
A quick moment later, Yajirobe's new honey-glazed dinosaur barbecue happily made its appearance.
'Dammit! Cymbal was killed?!'
On the massive airship, Piccolo felt a deeply sharp pang fiercely strike his chest the exact instant Cymbal rapidly fell. He gasped violently for breath. 'Someone in this peaceful world can actually slay a demon warrior? Have these damn martial artists not gone completely extinct? They're even more troublesome than they were several hundred years ago.'
'Once I finally restore my youth, I will ruthlessly slaughter every single martial artist left in this world.'
--**--**
Naruto and the others finally reached the bottom of the Lookout via the rising Power Pole. Quickly climbing the ladder smoothly brought them directly to the center. Apart from a few neatly arranged green plants, several Arabian-style buildings stood prominently in the middle.
Naruto stood calmly at the edge of the Lookout and looked closely around. He noticed that from the center, both the buildings and the vegetation were completely, perfectly symmetrical.
So Kami was an perfectionist or had OCD.
"There's someone over there!" Goku shouted loudly, pointing straight ahead.
In that exact direction, they easily spotted a plump figure dressed in an Indian-style outfit, pitch-black from head to toe, with a dazed, completely blank expression in his eyes. But if it wasn't physically seen by the eyes, his presence might as well not exist.
"Hello, are you perhaps Kami?" Master Roshi bowed highly respectfully.
The other party calmly returned the bow. "I am absolutely not Kami. I am Popo, the loyal Servant of Kami."
===============
Dear Readers and Fans,
For those eager to dive into next chapters earlier before others, I invite you to join us on Patreon. By becoming our Patron, you not only gain access to exclusive advanced chapters but also help us continue this endeavour and expand it further.
pat reo n.co m /8Ashes8
(no space)
You can read upto 30 Chapters in advance.