Dragon Ball Roshi

After all... it's only a little over 100 years until the "plot" begins.

And these 100-plus years, while long, aren't excessively so; the entire duration of the "plot" itself actually doesn't span more than 100 years.

But in comparison, it feels quite short: Taro has already spent a century in this world, experiencing various events, decades of martial arts pursuit, and hard work in search of power, yet his strength has only increased from 200 to just over 4 million.

When compared to the Saiyan lunatics in the original story, who see their battle power increase by tens of millions, even billions in just a few years, months, or even days, these 100-plus years don't feel long to Taro.

In other words, time might be running out.

Although Taro's current state of mind hasn't caused him to be overly "anxious" or "lose sleep" over his slow power growth. logically speaking, the sense of urgency is still there.

Time waits for no one.

He can't expect to rely on his disciples for protection when the plot era comes, can he? It might be fine if he were like Master Roshi in the original story, with a battle power so low it was almost pitiable. But Taro is different. Since there's hope to grow stronger, he won't just stop and stagnate.

Taro held his wife's hand with one hand, while the other clenched quietly.

Following the North Kai, who led them on a winding path through the King Kai's Planet, they finally arrived at a building resembling a house or mansion not far ahead. Judging by the North Kai's walking direction, this was likely their destination.

That is, the location of the Grand Kai.

"North Kai! I almost thought I had mistaken someone! Oh, I didn't expect this time... even you brought someone along for the competition?" As they reached the plaza in front of the mansion, a somewhat provocative voice came from nearby.

The North Kai's small round sunglasses seemed to shake, and without turning around, he knew exactly who the cheeky person was.

He replied, "West Kai, I really worry that one day, the martial artists of the Western Galaxy will be driven to death by that mouth of yours!"

Taro and his companions turned their gaze and saw two people walking from a small road on the other side.

The shorter of the two wore very eye-catching attire, a black, sleeveless outfit similar to the North Kai's, with a red robe underneath. Though due to his physique, the "robe" couldn't really be seen as "long."

This was the West Kai, the ruler of the West part of the galaxy. Like the North Kai, he resided on another Kai's Planet, connected to the Other World through another Snake Way. Only the souls of the deceased in the Western Galaxy could pass through the Snake Path to reach him.

Similarly, the South Kai and the East Kai of the Eastern Galaxy each had their own respective Kai's Planet and a Snake Way that connected them to the Other World.

As for the Grand Kai Planet they were currently on... it was situated above the Other World and at the farthest point in the Heavens. Thoses places existed within the afterlife but wasn't exactly part of the Other World(especially Grand Kai planet); it occupied a "semi-independent" position in a space similar to a "subspace".

And as for the Sacred World of the Kai in the original story, since it was named World rather than Planet, it was even more detached from the mortal world, earning it the title of Sacred Realm, a place where only the sacred could tread.

The reason why Super Saiyan 3 Goku could perceive the Sacred World of the Kai and even teleport there was partly due to his immense power and the fact that his son Gohan was training there at the time. The other reason was likely because by that point, Goku had reached such a level of power that mortal descriptors no longer applied to him.

But that's a discussion for another time.

Taro's gaze briefly passed over the West Kai before landing on the tall man walking beside him. The man's appearance was slightly different from that of Earthlings, with bluish skin and horn-like protrusions on his body. His build was well-proportioned, and his muscles were clearly defined, radiating explosive strength...

As Taro observed him, the tall man also looked toward him.

His gaze was as deep as an abyss, his eyes crackling like lightning as he examined the unremarkable alien standing beside the North Kai. Taro hadn't bothered to hide his aura when he arrived on the Grand Kai's Planet, since he didn't see the need to conceal his basic power.

The tall blue-skinned man could tell Taro's strength with just a brief sense.

Weak.

Really weak.

The man stopped looking at Taro. Since he was weak, there was no need to pay him any more attention. His target this time was simple. He came for revenge against the previous Martial Arts Tournament champion: Duan

Duan, the one who had snatched the championship from his grasp.

Duan had interrupted his reach for the championship.

He was here for revenge. Although the Martial Arts Tournament had started earlier than usual, everyone was on equal footing, and he didn't think Duan would have progressed much more than he had. Back then, it was just a mistake, a careless moment that cost him the victory.

So, this time, the championship was his!

"Probably around 16.6 million."

Taro quietly used his Ki Sense technique to observe the West Kai's tall companion, analyzing his strength. He thought to himself, "The King Kai mentioned that the last champion had a power level around a thousand. Could it be him? If not, he must be at least in the top three..."

Their mutual assessment of each other, dismissing one another as insignificant, only took a few fleeting glances. North Kai had just turned his body, and West Kai had just led the Western Galaxy martial artist toward them.

"Heh heh..." West Kai and North Kai had long been accustomed to their verbal sparring, so he wasn't going to let it slide. He gave a smug look toward the martial artist standing beside him, saying, "See? This is our Western Galaxy's top martial artist, the runner-up from the last tournament!" He pretended to just remember and said apologetically, "Oh, sorry, North Kai, you've never been one to visit the tournament... since none of your North Galaxy folks ever ranked!" Hahaha!!

For some reason, West Kai found it incredibly funny, even rolling on the ground with laughter...

However, North Kai didn't get angry as West Kai had expected. What was there to be angry about? The championship of this tournament was already as good as won in his eyes.

Taro, after all, had been able to go head-to-head with Frieza more than 50 years ago. Forget about this blue-skinned guy by West Kai's side. If last year's champion stood up now, could he take a punch from Frieza?

Moreover, based on his speculation, the reason why the Grand Kai had decided to start this tournament early and allow "living" martial artists to participate was probably because of Taro. When Taro challenged Frieza and used his eye techniques and Muken, it piqued the Grand Kai's interest. This tournament might be a way for the Grand Kai to observe him and offer some guidance.

The Grand Kai had "pre-determined" the champion, so who could take it from him?

Therefore, North Kai, who usually blushed with embarrassment when West Kai teased him, was genuinely not angry this time, not at all. He just found it amusing as he watched West Kai rolling on the ground laughing.

Finally, unable to watch any longer, North Kai waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, enough already. You're too old for this!"

"Hmm?!" West Kai's eyes shifted as soon as he heard North Kai's response, and his laughing fit abruptly stopped. He lay on the ground, still holding his stomach, with his face slightly deformed from the position.

One side of his face was facing North Kai as he squinted and coldly smirked, "North Kai, your reaction is a bit unusual... What's this, did some powerful martial artist from the North Galaxy give you unexpected confidence? Hey, I haven't heard of anyone like that..."

Since half of his face was pressed to the ground, West Kai's words were muffled and unclear... But still, he maintained a serious expression, lying sideways in the dirt.

"Alright, alright, I'm acting unusual, but you haven't changed, have you. Can you stand up to talk? People are watching, isn't it embarrassing?" North Kai wiped the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief, clearly uncomfortable.

Despite his words, the only person besides North Kai who seemed to notice the situation was Hathaway, who was standing next to Taro. She twitched her lips, trying not to laugh.

As for the others, Tam didn't even understand what was going on and was staring with wide eyes at the "strange man" lying on the ground, unsure of what he was doing.

Taro, however, was simply speechless. The blue-skinned guy beside West Kai had probably long since become numb to West Kai's antics.

"Oh, oh... I forgot..."

West Kai finally realized he was still lying on the ground, floating up to stand. He cleared his throat and, without any awkward transition, shot a cold, electric-like glance at Taro for the first time.

He and the Western Galaxy martial artist, last year's runner-up, both agreed that this seemingly unremarkable human... was incredibly weak. But aside from his weakness...

"Hey, he's alive?" West Kai was surprised, then looked at Hathaway beside Taro. "Oh, two living people?" As for the child in Hathaway's arms, he completely ignored it...