Teacher Cat

Zhang Wutian slept soundly until the evening of the next day. He lifted his head, gazed at the star-filled sky outside the tower, then calmly closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Another day passed, and when the sun was high in the sky, Zhang Wutian finally woke up completely, feeling an unbearable hunger in his stomach.

"Here, take this. Eating one will keep you full for ten days."

Master Korin, standing to the side, timely offered the delicacy known as a Senzu Bean. Zhang Wutian observed this cheat item of the Dragon Ball world—no less legendary than the Dragon Balls themselves—with great interest. He held it to his nose to sniff it, then blatantly tucked it into his pocket.

Under Master Korin's slightly dissatisfied gaze, Zhang Wutian pulled several Hoi-Poi Capsules from his other pocket and released them with a pop.

As clouds of smoke emerged, various pots, pans, kitchen utensils, and a large quantity of fresh fish were revealed.

"We're having a full-course fish feast today!"

Consequently, Master Korin, who had lived atop Korin Tower for years and heaven knows how long it had been since he tasted fresh fish, immediately felt his mood improve.

"The little guy knows how to cook, eh? Good, good, good. From now on, my three meals a day are in your hands."

At the end of the day, he was still a cat. Even after attaining the status of a master, he could not change the instincts rooted in his bloodline, and a creature like a cat always needs a feeder (servant).

With the promise made to Zhang Wutian and the bribery of the fish feast, Master Korin naturally did not slack off in his instruction. In the original story, the master's teaching of Little Goku was more like a game, but his guidance for Zhang Wutian appeared exceptionally serious.

Of course, this also had to do with the fact that Zhang Wutian's foundation was extremely unstable.

Little Goku's foundation had been forged by his grandfather and Master Roshi, while Zhang Wutian, a half-baked amateur, had never received guidance from any expert from the start. His combat power was gained through his ability, while his fundamentals were entirely based on imitating the movements of Little Wukong. At that time, after being left to fend for himself following the loss of her grandfather, Little Wukong's own foundation wasn't exactly solid to begin with. Thus, one could imagine how Master Korin evaluated the movements performed by Zhang Wutian, who was essentially a second-hand imitator.

During a sparring session with Master Korin, Zhang Wutian threw a punch at him.

"Wrong!!"

Before Zhang Wutian could even react, his arm, chest, back, waist, and legs were struck almost simultaneously by the staff in Master Korin's hand.

"Your attacking form is a total mess! Your breathing isn't coordinated with your movements at all, and your footwork is as shaky as if you were ice skating. You say you're self-taught? I think you haven't even found the path yet!"

"Wrong! Look at your movements—you're like a piece of junk about to fall apart. You're only outputting ten percent of your potential power. Is this some kind of 'holding back' technique?"

"Wrong!! Your punch is full of openings! I have never seen such a brilliant example of what not to do. If someone just did the exact opposite of your movements, they could probably throw the strongest punch in the world!!"

"Wrong!"

"Wrong, I said!!"

"Do it again!!"

As the God of Martial Arts, Master Korin, who usually wore a smile for everyone, was furious.

In his eyes, the very existence of Zhang Wutian was an insult to martial arts.

He possessed an impossibly high level of raw power, yet his grasp of martial arts was unbelievably weak. Such a contradictory individual shouldn't exist in this world, but Zhang Wutian had appeared right before him. Facing a guy who squandered his own talent like this, Master Korin was absolutely incensed.

Only the daily fish feast could soothe Master Korin's wounded heart.

"To think someone with your skills could obtain such formidable power—you truly are an anomaly," Master Korin said while picking his teeth.

"I know I have issues in this area, which is why I need to patch up my weaknesses," Zhang Wutian replied while cleaning up. "I've gotten at least a little stronger these past few days, haven't I?"

"You're still far off!" Master Korin hit back without mercy. "Your strength and speed have increased inexplicably, but your movements are still a disaster. Power you cannot control will only become a burden in the end."

Regarding the growth of Zhang Wutian's combat power, Master Korin assumed the boy was simply going through a growth spurt. Of course, only Zhang Wutian knew that his ability was at work again. These days, by constantly sparring with Master Korin, who was stronger than him, his power had naturally increased once more.

However, Zhang Wutian wasn't here just to gain power. His goal was to thoroughly solidify his foundation. There would be plenty of opportunities to pursue raw strength later; it would be foolish to put the cart before the horse.

In the middle of their conversation, Master Korin suddenly fell silent, staring intently into the distance.

"What's wrong, Teacher Kitty?"

"Someone has summoned Shenron. Wait, what did you call me? Teacher Kitty??"

"Because I feel that taking on a master is a serious matter that shouldn't be decided lightly. But since I am learning martial arts under you, I naturally need an honorific. So, I decided to call you Teacher Kitty."

"What kind of honorific is that? Just call me Master Korin."

"No, no, no. 'Master Korin' is a title anyone can use; how could that show the respect I have for you? And don't you think 'Teacher Kitty' has a certain flair to it?"

"I don't think so at all. If you truly respect me, use the formal 'you' to show it."

"I can't do that; using such formal language would be too distant."

"Just be a little distant! I am a master; you need to respect me."

"That's why I call you Teacher Kitty."

"Is that respect? All I feel from your title is pure, malicious mischief!!"

"Haha, how could that be? You must have misunderstood, Teacher Kitty." Zhang Wutian laughed it off, then pulled a Hoi-Poi Capsule from his pocket. With a puff of smoke, a ball of yarn appeared.

Zhang Wutian tossed the yarn ball toward Master Korin. It rolled, and rolled, and rolled, until it finally fell off the edge of the tower and plummeted down.

Master Korin squinted at Zhang Wutian. (Though, to be fair, he was always squinting.)

"You really did know about me from the start, didn't you? That's why you prepared so many countermeasures?"

"Since I was coming to seek a master, I naturally had to investigate beforehand and cater to your preferences," Zhang Wutian said as if it were nothing.

"Then was that farce just now meant to cover up the desire in your heart for the Dragon Balls?"

Without waiting for Zhang Wutian to answer, Master Korin's good-natured cat-smile cracked again. He gritted his teeth and said, "In the end, was it all just to tease me? You disrespectful brat, show some proper respect to a master!!"

In Master Korin's perception, he had initially thought Zhang Wutian was using banter to hide his greed for the Dragon Balls and Shenron, only to realize that even that greed was a ruse. In fact, Zhang Wutian just wanted to mess with Master Korin's mind-reading ability, on the grounds that... peeking into other people's thoughts was an immoral act.

However, is that really the case? Perhaps this is merely a facade, and what appears to be a facade is actually Zhang Wutian's true intent. When true and false answers are mixed together to the point where even mind-reading is rendered powerless, Master Korin declares: "Get your ass to training, and don't you dare stop until you've sustained internal injuries! Besides, even if you train yourself to ruin, there are still Senzu Beans to save your life!"

"Understood, Master Kitty." Zhang Wutian gave Master Korin a military salute, then began training with fiery intensity, throwing punches and kicks.

Shenron is appearing, which means Little Wukong is about to transform?

I'm a bit worried about that monkey girl. Thinking about her being seen by the likes of Yamcha after turning into a Great Ape... yeah, that really doesn't sit well with me. Is this... the weight of fatherly love?

Unwilling to let Master Korin probe these thoughts, Zhang Wutian tried his absolute hardest to act cute, attempting to cover them up, yet the concern in his heart only grew more intense...