Son Goku's smile faded. He slowly walked to the middle of the group, his gaze sweeping over each face.
"You... have already lost faith?"
No one answered. Krillin lowered his head, Piccolo looked away, and all three of Tien Shinhan's eyes were tightly shut.
Son Goku furrowed his brow and spoke gravely.
"Have you all forgotten the spirit of a martial artist?"
His voice rose slightly. "Was the goal of your training... just to catch up to me?"
Everyone froze.
Son Goku turned to Piccolo and looked him straight in the eye. "Piccolo, why did you start training? Was it to defeat me, or to become stronger than you were yesterday?"
Piccolo fell silent.
Defeat Son Goku? At first, yes. But that stopped being the case long ago!
I just got used to using him as my benchmark and forgot the essence of training.
Son Goku turned to Tien Shinhan. "When you challenged me at the World Martial Arts Tournament, was it because you wanted to beat me, or because you wanted to push past your limits?"
Tien Shinhan opened his mouth, and his third eye trembled slightly.
Back then, I wanted to win.
But what truly drove me into the ring was wanting to find out where my limits lay.
Son Goku just happened to be standing beyond them.
I wasn't trying to beat Goku. I was trying to surpass myself.
But when did I start confusing those two things?
"And Krillin, Yamcha, Chiaotzu." Son Goku's voice rose again as he looked down at the three of them. "You trained under Master Roshi, Master Karin, and Mr. Popo. Was it to become the strongest under heaven, or to protect the people you care about?"
Krillin lowered his head, his eyes growing slightly warm.
I train because I like it.