"Be careful not to use too much force," Son Mirai confirmed.
Son Goku hurriedly added, "That's right, Krillin. Son Mirai is right.
If you punch as hard as we do during training, you might kill them with one hit."
Krillin shuddered, his pupils contracting slightly. "K-kill them?
How could that be? Do I... do I really have that much strength?"
"Of course you do," Son Mirai said. "What did you think Master Roshi's training was for?"
Krillin froze. He remembered that something about Goku's fight just now had seemed off. Had Goku really beaten that man through sheer strength?
Son Mirai continued, "After all this training, our bodies, strength, and speed are already far beyond the limits of ordinary people.
You saw Goku's punch just now. He wasn't even trying, and that big guy went down...
Good thing he was so sturdy. If he'd been any thinner, Goku might have killed him."
Krillin recalled Goku's punch. It seemed to confirm what Son Mirai had said.
After a moment, Krillin took a deep breath and nodded firmly.
"I... I'll remember! No force—just enough to land the hit."
Soon, it was time for Krillin to face his former senior.
The two stood in the ring. The Tall Thin Monk looked at Krillin with a malicious grin.
"Well, well, Krillin. Your fellow disciple sure seems full of himself!
But luckily, fate has arranged for me to fight you. It must be destiny!"
Although Son Mirai and Goku had encouraged Krillin, he still hadn't overcome his fear. He was scared, and could only keep his head down in silence.
At that moment, the referee shouted, "Begin!"
The Thin Monk clenched his fists, and his knuckles cracked.
"Now, let your senior give you a good beating!"
"Yah!"
The Thin Monk let out a strange cry and charged at Krillin.
Krillin stared intently at the Thin Monk's movements. He had planned to grit his teeth and fight his senior head-on.
But once the Thin Monk attacked, his movements seemed as slow as a snail to Krillin. Krillin easily dodged his punch.
Then he turned to look at his senior.
The Thin Monk was still frozen in his punching stance, apparently not even realizing what had happened. His whole body was riddled with openings.
In that instant, Krillin finally believed that he really had become this strong.
He immediately remembered Son Mirai and Goku's warning.
I can't use too much force, or I'll kill someone...
The next moment, Krillin quickly closed in and lightly punched the Thin Monk in the stomach.
"Ugh!"
The Thin Monk let out a scream. His eyes bulged with pain, bloodshot,
and his mouth hung wide open as drool spilled out...
"Thud!"
The Thin Monk fell to the ground, his body still twitching.
The Fat Monk hurried over.
"Senior, a-are you all right...?"
The referee immediately shouted, "Contestant 93 wins!"
The other spectators watched in amazement.
"That little bean is incredible!"
"Yeah, he seems to be wearing the same outfit as those two amazing guys..."
"They must be from the same school..."
"Definitely. I just wonder which master they're disciples of..."
Krillin looked at his fist, then at his battered former senior, and swallowed hard.
"Good thing Son Mirai warned me. I only used a tenth of my strength. I really am this strong now..."
The rest of the preliminary matches were almost laughably easy.
The three of them swept through the competition and advanced to the finals without a hitch.
The qualifying matches inside the venue were closed to the public. Spectators only got to watch the exciting battles between the top eight.
By then, the contestants had finished the qualifying matches, but they hadn't appeared in the main arena yet.
The audience had already been waiting for a long time. Bulma had arrived, too.
Her classmate Amy had come all the way from West City as well.
The two of them didn't get along at school, but since they were out of town to watch the tournament, they ended up sitting together.
"The contestants should be coming out soon, right?"
Bulma glanced at her watch. "I think so!"
Amy's eyes sparkled with anticipation. "I hope this year's World Martial Arts Tournament has some strong and handsome guys!"
Bulma smiled smugly. "No matter what, the strongest one will be my boyfriend!"
"Bulma, there's always someone stronger out there!" Amy said. "Your boyfriend may be powerful, but this is the World Martial Arts Tournament. It's full of experts. Don't brag and end up eating your words!"
Bulma thought it over. "You have a point!
He always says there are lots of powerful people in the world, too, so he trains really hard and rarely takes a break..."
Just then, the contestants began filing out of the inner arena.
Some were drinking water, some were eating, and others were reporting back to their friends and family...
Amy was overjoyed. "They're all out! Bulma, help me look for handsome guys!"
Bulma opened her eyes wide and looked around, but she couldn't find Son Mirai anywhere yet.
However, she did spot something indecent.
An old lecher was groping a beautiful woman's butt. The lecher's back looked familiar.
Bulma only looked disgusted, but Amy was furious. "Bulma, look over there! A pervert has snuck into the stands. How disgusting!"
Just then, three contestants in orange Martial Arts Gis ran over to the lecher.
"Grandpa Roshi, we made it through!"
The tall one leading them—who else could it be but Son Mirai?
Bulma was delighted. "Great! I finally found Son Mirai!"
She hurried over to him.
When Son Mirai saw Bulma, he even gave her a rare smile.
"Bulma, how long have you been here?"
Bulma smiled. "I just got here. So, you made it through, right?"
Son Mirai nodded. "Of course. It was a given. All three of us made it through."
Amy was surprised to learn that Son Mirai was the old lecher's disciple.
Everyone in her class had seen how strong Son Mirai was.
But if that old lecher was Bulma's boyfriend's master, then he had to be even stronger!
A true master kept a low profile!
Amy looked at Krillin and Goku, and frowned at their elementary-schooler heights.
"But why are his other two disciples little beans...?"
"What a shame!"
Still, since she'd come with Bulma, she went over and greeted Son Mirai.
Son Mirai looked at her in surprise and asked, "Huh, you're... what's your name again?"
Bulma couldn't help feeling pleased when he couldn't remember Amy's name for so long.
But she still told him.
"Amy!"
Son Mirai nodded. "Right, Amy. What brings you here?"
Amy folded her arms. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm just a spectator. Can't I come?"
Son Mirai nodded. "Fair enough. It's not like I can stop you!"
With that, Son Mirai stopped looking at her and turned to Bulma.
Bulma smiled smugly. "Hehe, she's just jealous of me!
She wants to find a martial artist boyfriend, too, so she came here to look around..."
Son Mirai nodded. "I know."
When Master Roshi heard that, his eyes lit up. He leered at Amy.
"Little miss, are you looking for a martial artist boyfriend? How about me...?"
Amy pointed at Son Mirai, then looked at Master Roshi, the corner of her mouth twitching.
This old lecher was so old and still trying to pull this? Shameless!
She asked, steeling herself, "Are you their master?"
She meant to tell him to stop fooling around at his age.
But Master Roshi hurriedly corrected her. "No, actually, I'm their older brother..."
Amy fell to the ground with a thump.
Before you continue