Circumstances

King Kai's Planet...

"9998. 9999. 10000!!"

Son Goku was training with unwavering determination... completely ignoring Bubbles and a certain insect watching over him nearby.

"Goku, you really are hardworking. You're already out training so early."

King Kai suddenly walked out of the house, pushed up his little sunglasses, and looked at Son Goku contentedly.

"Of course, King Kai. The Earth is facing a crisis, after all. I have to work hard."

Son Goku suddenly sat down on the ground and took a few breaths. He accepted the towel Bubbles brought over, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then spoke.

"Mm... It's good to keep up your training, but you should relax once in a while, too. Be careful not to overdo it. Training nonstop could backfire."

King Kai carefully studied Son Goku, then spoke.

Thinking back over the past few months, King Kai found it all rather unbelievable. When Son Goku had been on the verge of death back on Earth, Krillin should have had a Senzu Bean that would have saved him. But, at the crucial moment, someone had stopped it from happening. The reason was that Son Goku could become stronger during his year in the afterlife.

The person who had appeared before Piccolo and the others back then was Old Kami.

After hearing the explanation, Son Goku had agreed. Whenever he thought about the immensely powerful Betkas had been the year before, he felt eager to test himself. This time, because of Raditz, he mistakenly believed Betkas would attack again. So he agreed, and Piccolo and the others naturally had no objections. They simply promised to revive Son Goku a year later.

When Son Goku first arrived in the afterlife, he hadn't leisurely made his way along Snake Way like in the original story. He flew whenever he had the chance, and ran whenever his energy was nearly depleted. He had only stopped to rest briefly once along the way, which meant he reached King Kai's Planet much earlier than in the original story.

Even now, he kept training tirelessly, day after day. King Kai was very pleased to see it, though he still reminded Son Goku not to overtrain and damage his body.

"Don't worry, King Kai. I know my limits."

Son Goku smiled, handed the towel to Bubbles, and spoke. Then he stood up and took a few deep breaths.

"What an incredible guy. He's gotten this much stronger in just the past few months. But he may still struggle against those Saiyans."

King Kai carefully considered the surviving Saiyans who had been wreaking havoc across the North Galaxy in recent years, comparing their strength with Son Goku's. He realized there was still a gap between them—especially since one of the Saiyans was many times stronger than Son Goku. Even Kaioken might not be enough to make up the difference.

That worried him. Then he suddenly thought of something he'd overlooked and came to a realization. He muttered, "First, I'll find out which Saiyans are heading from the North Galaxy toward Earth."

King Kai then stood on the other side of the planet and looked into the distance. The two antenna-like appendages on his head seemed to be sensing something.

"One... two... Both of their energy signatures are very strong, but that guy isn't among them. In that case, Goku has a good chance of winning if he uses Kaioken."

After standing there for several minutes, King Kai sensed two spaceships heading toward Earth. He finally let out a sigh of relief and muttered to himself.

Then he turned around and looked happily at Son Goku, who was still training with determination. Without realizing it, he felt confident.

...Earth...

"It seems the year that guy mentioned is almost up..."

Piccolo sat cross-legged in the air in a remote wilderness, his cape fluttering in the wind. He opened his eyes with a solemn expression, looked ahead, and began to think carefully.

Piccolo's training had been extremely rigorous over the past few months. And since he no longer needed to look after Son Gohan, he had made great progress. The only one whose situation had changed was Son Gohan, who was having a very hard time. Piccolo had taken him by force and made him train, so he'd thrown a fit for a long time. But as time passed, he'd finally started taking his training seriously.

The reason Piccolo had brought Son Gohan along to train was that Son Goku had reminded him to. Son Goku knew all about Son Gohan's potential, especially since the boy had unconsciously unleashed mysterious bursts of power several times as a child. If he became a warrior, he would be incredibly strong. So before he died, Son Goku had told Piccolo to bring Son Gohan along when he trained. After hearing that, Piccolo grew curious. Son Goku was his rival, after all. If even he said his son had extraordinary potential, then the boy could become a valuable fighter. So Piccolo went to snatch him up, like some kind of "city enforcer."

Chi-Chi hadn't been able to stop Piccolo at the time. If Krillin and the others hadn't explained things to her afterward, the whole situation might have become even more troublesome.

"That brat's still alive, I see..."

Piccolo frowned slightly as he sensed Son Gohan's faint energy signature, then closed his eyes again.

"Don't run away!!! Let me cut off another piece of meat..."

Son Gohan was on a flat stretch of land, happily chasing after the dinosaur whose tail meat he had cut off before, shouting at it.

"Roar!!!"

The dinosaur seemed to remember something terrible and ran even faster, leaving Son Gohan unable to catch up. It was an example of the potential living creatures could unleash when in danger...

"What a headache... What am I going to do for dinner today? Catch fish again? Or eat some fruit from the forest?"

Son Gohan watched the dinosaur run off into the distance and couldn't help feeling troubled. He hadn't eaten any pure meat for a while. Now that he'd spotted a dinosaur—and a "cooked one," at that—he'd wanted to cut off another piece for dinner. But he hadn't expected it to make a desperate dash and get away...