For the humans of the Dragon Ball world, few things are more precious than peace.
It has been five full years since the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. During these five years, most of the world has known peace—save for a dark clan led by a vampire named Ashura.
However, these people only moved under the cover of night, and only within a fixed territory. Their threat to the outside world was minimal.
And so, nothing major had happened for five whole years.
In the middle of a wide-open farm, an old farmer was hard at work clearing weeds. Then he began mixing feed for the massive, featherless chickens that roamed nearby.
The scene was calm and peaceful.
Suddenly, a streak of light tore across the sky, followed by a deafening crash. Something had fallen not far from the farm.
"What on earth? A UFO? Or a meteorite?" The farmer nearly jumped out of his skin at the noise.
Since it landed close to his land, he climbed into his truck and rumbled toward the crash site.
It didn't take long before he arrived. The ground had been blasted into a large crater, and inside it lay a spherical object, half-buried in the soil.
The farmer grabbed his shotgun and stood at the rim of the crater, staring down at the mysterious sphere.
"Doesn't look like a meteorite…"
Just as confusion crept over him, the object suddenly moved. A crack opened on its surface, and from within stepped out a tall, muscular man. He wore a familiar Saiyan battle suit—the same type Bulma had once studied from what Naruto gave her—and a scouter over his left eye.
The man leaped effortlessly from the crater and looked down at the farmer pointing the shotgun at him.
"There are still living beings on this planet?" he said, his brow furrowing. Then he muttered to himself, "Seems Kakarot hasn't done his job properly."
"Or… was he killed?"
If it was the former, then as his older brother, he would make sure to teach Kakarot a lesson.
If it was the latter… then it was time to prepare an escape plan.
"H-hey! What the hell are you?" the farmer shouted, aiming straight at the stranger's forehead. "Don't come any closer, or I'll shoot!"
"Pathetic lifeform," Raditz spat. The thing he hated most was anyone daring to point a weapon at his head.
Still, to be safe, he activated his scouter.
The reading instantly calmed him down.
"Hmph. Power level: five. Trash."
Bang!
Startled out of his wits, the farmer pulled the trigger.
Raditz caught the bullet easily between his fingers.
In the wider universe, standard weapons were energy-based. Bullets like these—primitive, slow, and weak—had long since been abandoned.
With two fingers, Raditz flicked the bullet back with greater speed than it had come.
Thud.
The farmer collapsed, killed by his own bullet.
"Weak species," Raditz muttered coldly. "There's no way Kakarot was killed by such creatures."
"Looks like he's been slacking off."
Beep, beep, beep!
The scouter on Raditz's eye suddenly began to flash.
"Powerful energy signature detected… approximately 9,000 kilometers from here."
"Battle power: six hundred. Could that be Kakarot?"
Seeing the number, Raditz chuckled, relief washing over him.
At least it wasn't someone stronger than himself.
"Six hundred, huh? With the Great Ape transformation, that'd be around six thousand. Not bad—it's weaker than me, but decent enough."
With that, Raditz took off into the sky, flying toward the detected energy.
For reference, Raditz's own battle power was 1,500—weak among Saiyan warriors by galactic standards.
However, in his Great Ape form, it soared to 15,000. Back in the Saiyans' prime, that wasn't much—but with so few of them left now, it was more than enough to survive comfortably as long as he stayed out of trouble.
Far to the west, at the entrance to the Dark Demon Realm—Shura City.
This was the darkest region on Earth, eternally shrouded in a thick black fog. Even at high noon, sunlight could not pierce through. It was paradise for the Dark Demons, beings far stronger than humans but cursed with a deadly fear of sunlight.
"Lord Ashura," a pink-skinned demon with wings knelt respectfully before a noble-looking man in ornate clothes, holding something in both hands. "Here is the Dragon Ball you requested."
It was an orange orb, glimmering faintly, with seven stars inside.
The Seven-Star Dragon Ball.
"Excellent. The final one," Ashura said with satisfaction, taking the orb. He then spat out six more Dragon Balls from his mouth and placed all seven together. As they shimmered with a faint golden glow, excitement flickered in his eyes.
"At last… my wish can finally be realized."
When all seven Dragon Balls are gathered, Shenron—the Eternal Dragon—can be summoned to grant any one wish.
"My lord, will you use your wish to locate King Piccolo?" asked a horned demon at his side. "To bring our true king back?"
This noble demon was none other than Ashura himself, one of Piccolo Daimaō's three great generals from five years ago.
Back then, he hadn't followed Piccolo into the rift to another dimension—he had chosen to remain on Earth.
Before the horned demon could finish his words, a flash of energy pierced through his chest.
Within moments, his charred body disintegrated into dust and scattered into the air.
"Hmph." Ashura sneered. "Over these years, my power has grown immensely. I am no longer who I was back then. As long as I can overcome my fear of sunlight, no one will be my equal."
"Piccolo? He's nothing but a relic of the past."
Indeed, Ashura's strength had increased dramatically over the years. He no longer viewed Piccolo as a superior. Five years ago, Piccolo had united the villains of Earth—but he'd vanished into another dimension since then. His old followers had long since splintered off, each carving out their own territory.
Among villains, betrayal was simply the natural order.
They worship only strength—and those who wield it.
"Remember this," Ashura declared, his voice echoing across the hall, "I, Ashura, am the true Demon King."
The gathered demons fell silent, trembling in fear.
That horned demon Ashura had just destroyed was as strong as any of them—yet he'd been erased with a single gesture. If Ashura turned on them, their fates would be the same.
Just then, a new voice suddenly cut through the silence.
"Huh? You're not Kakarot."
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