Piccolo's body was shrouded in smoke. Gohan did not step forward to inspect him and instead fired several Ki Blasts in rapid succession.
Rumble!
Rumble!
Explosions rang out, and the smoke and dust completely obscured Gohan's vision. Flashes of light flickered within the haze. When the dust dispersed, several wounds had appeared on Piccolo's body, which was also covered in grime. His cape had been blasted to shreds by Gohan's Energy Spheres.
Piccolo lowered his arms and wiped the faint blood from the corner of his mouth. "Not bad, kid! You can fire Energy Spheres now. That means we can move on to the next stage of training."
"Watch this." As he spoke, Piccolo pointed a finger at Gohan. Light flickered at his fingertip, and Gohan quickly darted aside. A black hole appeared where Gohan had been standing—this was Piccolo's energy beam.
If Gohan had failed to dodge that attack, he would probably have been injured by now.
"You're pretty quick on your feet, kid. Let's see how many times you can dodge."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Piccolo pointed several times in succession, firing energy beams rapidly at Gohan. Gohan did not dare take Piccolo's energy attacks head-on and could only rely on his agility to evade them. He dodged swiftly, flipping through the air several times before landing atop a rock.
By then, Gohan had put some distance between himself and Piccolo. Just as Piccolo was about to fire another energy beam, Gohan abruptly left his position and charged toward him. Gohan was incredibly fast, arriving before Piccolo in the blink of an eye. Piccolo had only just aimed his finger at him when Gohan's uppercut slammed directly into Piccolo's chin.
The unexpected attack caught Piccolo completely off guard. He had not expected the kid to have learned how