The summit of Korin Tower.
Hearing Aomori's words, Korin scratched his head sheepishly. "I don't know where you got your information, but I'm sorry, the Senzu Beans are gone. Someone else took them all; there isn't a single one left."
"Then the roots of the Senzu plant must still be here." Aomori activated his Mind's Eye, scanning the top of the tower.
However, aside from a few jars, he found nothing resembling plant roots.
"Don't bother. The Senzu plant is my treasure; why would I give its roots to someone else?" Korin said with an air of practiced calm, seemingly unconcerned that Aomori would find it.
Ignoring the cat, Aomori spoke as if to himself, "Since it's not here, it must be hidden in a special dimension."
"Ho ho, how could that be?" Korin said with a smile. His expression didn't change a bit, but his tail twitched restlessly behind him.
If it was truly in a separate dimension, it would be simple.
Aomori released Millenniummon. After a brief telepathic exchange, he walked straight toward an empty corner.
"What is that monster? Such a powerful and evil aura." Suppressed by Millenniummon's sudden and overwhelming presence, Korin didn't dare move. He could only watch in silent anxiety as Aomori approached that spot.
With an aura like this appearing, those guys training up there should sense it. I can only rely on them for help now. I hope he can't find that place so quickly. From the moment Millenniummon appeared, Korin realized Aomori meant business, he was determined to find the Senzu Beans.
To his relief, exactly as he expected, Kami immediately became aware of the situation and contacted him via telepathy.
But what Kami said left him speechless.
"What?! You want me to maintain the status quo and not provoke him?" Korin wondered if he had misheard.
"Yes. Currently, no one on Earth can stop him. For your safety, do not provoke him for the time being."
"Hiss… is this guy really that strong?" Korin sucked in a breath of cold air. He wouldn't doubt Kami's word. "It's fine, I'll try to fool him for a bit. He might not necessarily find— Cough, cough!"
His eyes bulged. With a casual swipe of his hand, Aomori tore a rift in the void, revealing the interdimensional space behind it.
"He tore through space directly without using the entrance?!" Korin was shocked. Seeing Aomori disappear inside, he no longer cared about Millenniummon's predatory gaze and scrambled in after him.
Inside the modest interdimensional space, a translucent, low-growing plant caught Aomori's eye. Its few branches were bare, without a single leaf.
"Is this the plant that produces Senzu Beans?" Aomori walked forward step by step.
"Wait, don't touch it!" Korin dashed ahead with the wind at his feet, blocking the plant. He gave a forced laugh. "It's very fragile. It risks withering if it touches a murky aura. Besides, it's useless to you; it needs to be watered with Ultra Divine Water to grow beans."
"Are you implying I should take the Ultra Divine Water as well?"
"Uh..." Korin was instantly tongue-tied, worried that Aomori would actually pack them both up and leave.
Aomori didn't stop. After binding Korin with telekinesis, he walked directly to the plant, activated his True Sight, and carefully identified the runes upon it.
After a long while, he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they had returned to normal.
"Hey, fat cat." Aomori turned and walked behind Korin, pinching the soft fur on his cheek. "From now on, all produced Senzu Beans belong to me. If I find out they've been taken by anyone else, you know the consequences."
Under the threat of Aomori's bone-chilling killing intent, Korin nodded weakly.
After roughly ruffling the cat's head, Aomori vanished.
Freed from the heavy pressure, Korin let out a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground.
"That guy is a ruthless one. With killing intent that strong, how many lives must have ended by his hand..."
Fortunately, his old life was spared.
…
"How did he know about the Senzu Beans? Why go out of his way to find them?"
In the Lookout, Kami silently watched Aomori's every move. Suddenly, Aomori's figure vanished, and that familiar aura appeared right behind him.
Startled, Kami spun around to find a distinctly unfriendly Aomori.
"I say, the old geezer who's been peeping on me since last night was you, wasn't it?"
He really can sense it... Kami took a deep breath. "I am the Guardian who manages Earth; that is why I paid close attention to your arrival. If I disturbed you, I offer my apologies."
"If apologies worked, there wouldn't be so much conflict. A mere title like 'Guardian' won't scare me. I've slaughtered more guys like you than I can count." Aomori ignored the approaching Krillin and the others, his attention mostly fixed on a dark, shadowy figure.
If anyone could make Aomori feel wary right now, it was the enigmatic Mr. Popo. In later stories, he could even hold his own against two Super Saiyans without losing ground.
Another stout figure hiding behind the crowd also drew Aomori's attention.
Yajirobe. This gluttonous little fat man had single-handedly eaten through jars of Senzu Beans until only a few remained.
I'll shake him down in a bit; there should still be a few left on him, Aomori decided.
Kami coughed. "Then, what do you want?"
"If you satisfy all my demands, I will forgive you," Aomori replied.
"What? That's too much!" Before Kami could answer, Krillin couldn't help but interject. "How could Kami-sama agree to all your demands?"
"Exactly." Tien Shinhan, the strongest among them, stepped forward. "Though you are powerful, there is always a higher mountain. You aren't the strongest there is; learn to know when to stop."
"You're saying someone is stronger than me?" Aomori flashed an excited smile. "Then that's perfect. Where is he? I'll go find him."
"Heh, he's currently training in the Underworld. If you commit suicide, you can go find him," Yamcha said with a laugh.
"The Underworld? Fine, I've noted it down."
"?" Yamcha froze, thinking Aomori hadn't caught the sarcasm.
"But business is business. Right here, I am the strongest. Therefore, you have no choice but to obey my orders," Aomori said, looking at Kami. "What do you say?"
Kami pursed his lips. After a long silence, he nodded. "I can agree, but your requests must not violate my principles."
"Hmph, you aren't in a position to set conditions. Remember: 'any' demand! Can you do it or not? Be quick about it," Aomori said arrogantly.
"Damn you!"
This attitude immediately sparked outrage among the Z Fighters. They clenched their fists and glared at Aomori.
"I've had enough! We aren't trash you can just push around!" Yamcha moved first, charging forward.
With an impulsive personality like that, no wonder you're a bit player, Aomori thought with a smile, not even bothering to move.
"Stop!"
Kami roared, halting Yamcha. One of this guy's clones was enough to thrash Piccolo; he knew with absolute certainty that even if everyone attacked together, they had no chance of winning.
Mr. Popo: "?"
"Fine. I agree," Kami said slowly.
"Kami-sama?!" The crowd was shocked.
"Say no more; I've decided. You may state your conditions, Aomori."
Piccolo was valued by Aomori for his talent, but whether the others would even catch Aomori's eye was unknown to Kami. He didn't want to risk the entire group being slaughtered.
"Very good." Aomori nodded in satisfaction. "Now, the first thing..."
He flashed behind Kami and grabbed his head.
"Hey! What are you doing?! Let go of Kami-sama!" Krillin shouted.
"Don't be nervous. I just want to see the Guardian's memories. As long as you don't resist, nothing will happen." With that, Aomori invaded Kami mind with psychokinesis.
Kami sighed, closed his eyes, and let him proceed. Seeing this, the others found it even harder to act.
A moment later, Aomori let go, a look of intense excitement on his face. "So there are so many interesting things on Earth."
Having obtained the Guardian's memories, he could move freely without fear of being exposed. Furthermore, he had learned quite a bit about the application of Ki from those memories.
"And there are even Dragon Balls that can grant any wish. A pity we have to wait a year."
"Tsk, I knew he'd have wicked designs on the Dragon Balls," Krillin muttered to himself.
"Having seen my memories, you should understand. The two Saiyans arriving in a year are not simple characters," Kami said solemnly.
"Heh, I'll certainly test myself against those two. But I can't let this year go to waste," Aomori said slowly. "Son Goku, the one you've pinned your hopes on, is going to train with King Kai, right? I'd like to meet King Kai and Son Goku as well."
"...Fine." Kami couldn't wait for Aomori to leave Earth. "However, I can only take you to the Yellow Springs. Whether you can pass King Yemma's test and enter the Snake Way depends on your own ability."
"Hmph, you don't need to worry about that."
"Do you want to leave now?"
"Of course not. I want to stay on Earth for a bit longer. When I'm ready, I'll come find you."
At the very least, he definitely had to go to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber; it could save him two years of training time.
"Alright," Kami agreed immediately.
Next, under the pretext of testing their strength, Aomori gave the Z Fighters a brutal beating. He incidentally took all the Senzu Beans from Yajirobe before making his grand exit.
"Damn it! This guy was clearly humiliating us on purpose," Yamcha said angrily, touching his swollen cheek.
"Yeah. He spoke with immense killing intent, but in reality, there wasn't a shred of killing intent in his fists." Tien Shinhan struggled to sit up and crossed his legs to meditate. Among the group, he was in the best condition.
"Hey, Yajirobe, hurry up and bring out the Senzu Beans. We're dying here," Krillin groaned, lying face-down, unable to move.
Yajirobe was frantically searching his pockets, dripping with sweat. "I've checked several times and can't find them. Strange, did I lose them somewhere during the fight?"
"Don't bother looking. He likely took them," Kami said.
"EH?!!"
Everyone looked at each other in disbelief.
…
At this moment, Aomori was flying into the distance on Pidgeot's back. Looking at the dozen or so Senzu Beans in his hand, he was in a great mood. You can never have too many full-recovery items like these.
Moreover, they had another very important use.
Aomori took out a Senzu Bean and placed it in his palm. His eyes immediately turned purple as he looked at his hand. He planned to copy the rule-runes from the Senzu Bean onto other foods. If he succeeded, he would effectively have an inexhaustible supply of Senzu Beans.
The smile on his face gradually faded as Aomori entered a state of selfless concentration.
…
In the wilderness, a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex was chasing an agile small child. Its wide, bloody jaws were always just an inch away from biting him.
"Sorry, Mr. Dinosaur." Gohan suddenly bent down, slipped between the T-Rex's legs, and with a flash of cold light from his sword, easily sliced off a section of its tail.
The T-Rex roared in pain, but by the time it recovered, Gohan was gone. In its grief, it could only turn back to cause trouble for creatures lower on the food chain.
"Uncle Piccolo, Uncle Aomori, dinner's ready!" Gohan carried the dinosaur tail, which was larger than he was, running as if he were flying. He returned to the crude cave that served as his home and placed the tail over the fire.
Piccolo turned a deaf ear, his focus entirely on the relaxed Aomori before him. Ki erupted beneath his feet, and his body shot forward like a cannonball, throwing a heavy punch.
Aomori lightly raised a palm, tapping Piccolo's arm and redirecting the attack.
Piccolo snorted. White light flashed in his eyes as he fired two energy blasts, which Aomori neutralized in the same fashion.
In nearly a hundred bouts, Aomori had already figured out all his attack patterns and deliberately used identical moves to counter them. Piccolo felt like he was fighting an enhanced version of himself.
But this time is different!
He let out a roar. A massive amount of Ki instantly gathered in his hands, but instead of firing an energy wave as before, he held the state, accumulating it without releasing.
Clenching his fists tight, he punched at Aomori.
Aomori frowned, realizing his intent, and flashed away to dodge.
"Don't think you can run!" A massive burst of Ki erupted from Piccolo's feet, his speed instantly surging as he caught up to Aomori. His fist shot out, colliding with Aomori's palm.
BOOM!
At the moment of contact, the Ki gathered in his arm exploded violently. The powerful energy fluctuation engulfed them both.
Once the dust cleared, only Piccolo remained in the air, though one of his arms had vanished.
Seeing this, Gohan cried out in worry, "Uncle Piccolo!"
"Not bad. It only took you ten days to take down my clone. And the technique you used was one you learned from me." Another Aomori appeared before Piccolo, speaking with unreserved praise.
"Hmph, now you'll have to take the stage yourself, won't you?" Piccolo said triumphantly, seemingly in pain as he regrew his missing arm. He panted heavily while looking at Aomori.
"Heh. Talk to me once you can beat ten of me." Aomori walked over to the roasted tail meat, tore off a piece, fiddled with it for a moment, and tossed it to Piccolo.
"Eat."
"?" Piccolo swallowed it. His expression immediately became one of utter shock. "My Ki... it's recovered by more than half? What kind of meat is this?"
"It's just normal meat," Gohan said, puzzled.
"Don't bother thinking about it. It's my own secret technique," Aomori replied with a smile.
After several days of tinkering, he had finally mastered the technique of replicating Senzu Beans. Although the effect wasn't as potent as the original, it was more than enough.