Bora drew himself up to his full, imposing height.
He rested a massive, calloused hand on Upa's shoulder, grounding the boy as the dust from the skirmish drifted back to the earth.
He looked down at the two children with quiet disbelief.
They had taken a full-scale military invasion and dismantled it with the casual ease of a playground brawl.
"I owe you my gratitude." Bora rumbled, his voice deep and solemn.
"You saved my son, and for that, you have the protection of the Sacred Land."
He paused, his gaze hardening as he looked at Chi-Chi.
"However... you are a strange one, little warrior. Your words were cold. To speak of a child's life as a distraction... you are far too cunning and treacherous for one so young."
"For your information, I passed the test of the Flying Nimbus! If I hadn't made him think I didn't care, he never would have let his guard down!"
She crossed her arms and gave a haughty "hump," looking away.
"I'm a disciplined artist, not a villain!"
Goku laughed, scratching the back of his head.
"She's right, Bora! Chi-Chi's actually really nice once you get past the shouting. And the Nimbus doesn't lie!"
Bora watched them for a moment, then let out a rare, low chuckle that shook his chest.
"Perhaps you are right. The heart is a complex thing."
He reached into a hidden pouch at his belt and pulled out a glowing orange sphere with four red stars trapped inside.
He held it out, the crystalline surface shimmering in the twilight.
"I found this lying in the dirt near the base of the Tower." Bora said, looking at the object with curiosity.
"I had no idea what it was, but it felt important."
Goku's eyes went wide, and he rushed forward, his face lit up with pure joy.
"Grandpa! You found it! That's it, that's the one!"
Bora pulled the ball back slightly, not out of greed, but out of caution. He looked at the boy, then at Chi-Chi.
"If this is just a glass ball, why is it so important to you? Why travel across the world for something you found in the mud?"
Goku reached out, his fingers brushing the smooth surface of the Four-Star Ball as Bora handed it over.
He held it like it was made of thin glass, a soft, nostalgic smile on his face.
"My Grandpa Gohan gave me this one." Goku explained, his voice uncharacteristically quiet.
"There are seven of them in total. If you gather them all, a giant dragon appears and grants you any wish you want."
"Any wish? That is a power far too great for any man to possess."
"Yeah, that's what I thought too. I don't really have a wish myself. But those guys in the Red Ribbon want to use the dragon to do something really bad. I can't let them have Grandpa's ball for that. I'm gonna find them all just to keep them safe."
Goku looked past Bora, his gaze traveling up the impossible height of the stone pillar that pierced the very clouds.
"Whoa..." Goku breathed, stepping closer to the base.
"Hey, Bora! What is this thing anyway? It goes up forever! Does anyone live at the top?"
Bora turned, looking up at the structure with profound reverence.
"That is the Korin Tower. Legends say that at the very peak lives a great hermit, a master of martial arts who possesses the Sacred Water—a drink that can multiply a warrior's strength many times over."
Chi-Chi's ears perked up.
"Sacred Water? A strength multiplier?" She walked up beside Goku, squinting as she tried to see the top.
"Is that true? Or is it just a fairy tale to keep people from climbing it?"
"Many have tried to climb it over the centuries. None from the world below have ever reached the top. It is said that only those with an iron will and a pure spirit can survive the journey."
Goku's eyes began to sparkle.
"A great master, huh? And a way to get even stronger? Hey, Chi-Chi! Do you think we could climb it?"
The peaceful atmosphere of the Sacred Land was suddenly sliced by a high-pitched, whistling sound.
It wasn't the roar of an engine or the rush of the wind—it was something sharper, like a projectile tearing through the fabric of the air itself.
"Something's coming!" Goku shouted, his body tensing as he looked toward the horizon.
A dark streak appeared in the sky, growing larger at an impossible speed.
As it got closer, Chi-Chi's eyes widened. It wasn't a missile or a plane. It was a thick, pink stone pillar, flying through the air as if launched by a god.
And standing casually on top of it, with his arms folded and a long braid fluttering behind him, was a man.
"Is he... riding a pillar?"
The pillar slammed into the ground just yards away from the group, sending a massive shockwave of dust and dirt into the air.
The man hopped down, his feet finding the earth with supernatural control.
He landed with a weightlessness that didn't even bend the blades of grass beneath his polished black shoes. He was clad in a pink Changshan, the back emblazoned with a brutal promise in bold embroidery: 'KILL YOU!'
He looked around with cold, narrow eyes, his long mustache twitching as he spotted Goku and Chi-Chi.
"How disappointing. The Red Ribbon Army hired me to finish a job their elite soldiers couldn't handle. It seems I arrived just in time to see why they were so desperate."
Bora stepped forward, his spear raised.
"Who are you? State your business or leave!"
The man didn't even look at Bora.
"My name is Tao Pai Pai. The world's most famous assassin. And at the moment, I hold a contract on the boy with the tail… and the girl."
A cold spike of dread drove itself into Chi-Chi's nerves.
The presence radiating from him was suffocating, leagues beyond the arrogance of General Blue or the clumsy aggression of his soldiers.
This wasn't just power. It was the distilled, silent weight of pure murder.
"You're an assassin?" Chi-Chi asked, stepping up beside Goku.
"You've got a lot of nerve coming here alone."
Tao Pai Pai finally looked at her, a thin, cruel smile touching his lips.
"Alone? My dear, when you are the world's greatest assassin, 'alone' is just another way of saying 'overwhelming odds for the victim.' Now, be a good girl and hand over the Dragon Balls. I may be kind enough to kill you quickly. It would be a shame to ruin such a pretty face with a slow death."
"Not gonna happen!" Goku shouted.
Bora planted himself firmly in front of Goku and Chi-Chi, his spear held high.
"These children are under the protection of the Sacred Land! If you want them, you must go through me!"
"Stand aside, giant." Tao said, his voice as sharp as a razor.
"I have no contract for your head. Don't make me do extra work for free."
Bora released a thunderous war cry, his massive frame exploding into motion.
He drove the heavy spear forward, putting the full torque of his waist behind a thrust capable of pulverizing granite.
Tao Pai Pai remained a statue.
He didn't blink. He didn't retreat.
Just as the cold iron threatened to pierce his heart, his hand flickered—a ghost of motion. He arrested the spear's killing momentum instantly, trapping the shaft in a casual pincer grip between two fingers.
The impact stopped dead. Bora's eyes went wide—he was pushing with all his might, but the spear wouldn't budge an inch.
"If you insist on being a hero, then die like one."
With a terrifying display of raw strength, Tao Pai Pai didn't just pull the spear; he heaved it upward. Bora, still clutching the weapon, was hoisted into the air like a ragdoll.
Tao then spun the spear around and, with a casual flick of his wrist, launched it upward with the velocity of a railgun.
"Nimbus! Go!"
Goku whistled, and the yellow cloud shot into the sky at top speed. He reached out, trying to intercept the spear before it could strike, but it was too fast. The spear whistled past, piercing Bora through the chest mid-air.
Bora's massive frame went instantly slack, every cord of muscle severed from his will. Gravity claimed him.
He plummeted, crashing into the center of the clearing with a heavy, unyielding impact that shook the dust.
He didn't twitch. The light had been extinguished from the Great Guardian's eyes long before he ever touched the grass.
"Father...?" Upa ran to his side, his small hands shaking as he touched Bora's cold shoulder.
"Father, wake up! Please!"
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the Sacred Land.
Chi-Chi stood frozen, her eyes darting from the grieving boy to the man in the pink suit who was calmly adjusting his sleeves as if he had just swatted a fly.
"Now then." Tao Pai Pai said, looking at Goku and Chi-Chi with a bored expression.
"Who wants to be next? I'd prefer the boy; he seems to have the most interesting items."
Goku's head was bowed, his hair casting a dark shadow over his eyes. His aura began to flicker, the air around him vibrating with a low, dangerous hum.
Chi-Chi stepped up beside him, her hands trembling—not from fear, but from a rage so intense it made her teeth ache.
"You..." Chi-Chi whispered, her voice low and serrated.
"You monster."