Master Roshi followed everyone's gaze and looked at Jiang Yun. In an instant, his expression turned grave.
"This young man is no ordinary person!"
Master Roshi couldn't discern the man's background at all. He looked completely unremarkable, like an ordinary person, but his instincts told him not to provoke this young man. Otherwise, he would die!
Though the young man seemed to have no strength at all, the moment Master Roshi looked at him, Jiang Yun seemed to become shrouded in mystery. His unhurried steps seemed to move in harmony with heaven and earth.
This young man had reached an incredible level of martial arts. He had to be stronger than Master Roshi!
As if sensing someone watching him, Jiang Yun turned around and immediately met Master Roshi's gaze. He gave Master Roshi a friendly smile.
Master Roshi couldn't help shuddering. This young man's senses were incredibly sharp!
Hearing that the others knew him, Master Roshi asked, "Do you know this young man's background?"
His voice held seven parts curiosity and three parts astonishment.
"He once saved us, and he's incredibly strong. I even tried to ask him to take me on as his disciple, but he refused!"
Yamcha said with a sigh.
Krillin had never heard of this man, so he asked, "Just how strong is he?"
"I'd guess he's at least as strong as Master Roshi. He's probably about on par with you, Master."
Because Jiang Yun was here, Yamcha had already become Master Roshi's disciple ahead of schedule. This little butterfly of his had already begun flapping its wings, bringing unknown changes to this world. Whether those changes would be good or bad, no one could say.
At this point, Yamcha still had no idea how terrifyingly strong Jiang Yun was. He even thought Jiang Yun was about as strong as Master Roshi. After all, Yamcha didn't know the full extent of Master Roshi's strength either, so he assumed they were evenly matched.
"No! He's even stronger than I am. I can't even begin to gauge his strength!"
Master Roshi said meaningfully.
His words shocked everyone. They couldn't believe Jiang Yun had reached such a level that even Master Roshi couldn't gauge his strength.
Goku, however, wasn't particularly fazed. The stronger his opponent was, the more excited he got.
"Anyway, let's leave him aside for now and go sign up!"
Bulma spoke up to smooth things over.
The group headed toward the strength-testing machine. As they walked, Master Roshi quietly said, "Take it easy later. Don't show too much of your strength. Around two hundred should be enough."
"Why? Shouldn't we hit it as hard as we can?"
Goku asked, puzzled.
"Idiot. We need to hide our strength so we can hit our enemies hard when it matters!"
Krillin said with a grin, showing off his cleverness. In reality, Master Roshi simply didn't want to draw too much attention at that point. A martial artist should keep their strength in reserve and avoid showing off too much.
"Look, that group with Jiang Yun is up!"
Bulma noticed the Martial Alliance disciples getting ready to take the test. All the disciples from the alliance who'd come this time were young people selected earlier, including Satan and four others. They were among the most promising of the alliance's younger members.
"Satan, score: 200!"
"Lada, score: 199!"
"Jinze, score: 200!"
"Look, their scores are all close to two hundred!"
Krillin exclaimed.
"These people are no ordinary fighters. Their control is incredible—they all kept their scores around two hundred. They must have had an expert guiding them!"
Master Roshi thought to himself. The more he watched them, the more extraordinary they seemed.
Goku and the others took their turns soon after. Their scores set off a wave of gasps, and they entered the tournament grounds with ease. No one had expected such young children to score so highly—even the adults found their scores hard to match.
After entering the tournament grounds, Krillin suddenly spotted his former fellow students from Orin Temple. Remembering how they used to bully him, he began to tremble with fear.
The people from Orin Temple spotted Krillin too. After humiliating him, they sauntered away.
"Krillin, don't worry. You're already really strong. You don't have to be afraid of them at all."
Goku had sensed that the group's fighting power was weak. Krillin could beat them easily, so he tried to reassure him.
With everyone's encouragement, Krillin soon calmed down. He wasn't the same as before. Now, he was a disciple of Master Roshi, the Turtle Hermit.
The tournament began shortly afterward. Thanks to the Martial Alliance's promotion and investment, the event was much grander this time, with many more arenas built.
The tournament followed the same format as in the original story. Before long, Goku and his friends, along with the Martial Alliance's disciples, had all eliminated their opponents.
Krillin ran into a little trouble, though. He faced his former senior students. The butterfly effect had come into play: not only had Krillin met his former seniors ahead of schedule, he was even facing them in a match earlier than expected.
His senior student first taunted Krillin. Then, when Krillin was frightened, he swung a punch straight at him. Krillin instinctively leaped into the air.
His attack dodged, the senior student looked stunned, almost dazed. Krillin spun around and landed a heavy flying kick in his former senior student's stomach, sending him flying hundreds of meters away. Bulma and Oolong even turned their heads to look.
Krillin could hardly believe he had that much strength. Was this what he'd gained from training? He was overjoyed. He wasn't the same Krillin who used to get bullied.
Krillin quickly overcame his fear during the fight and even knocked his opponent out of the ring, smashing a huge hole in the wall. The victory gave Krillin a tremendous boost in confidence, and he went on to win match after match.
Holding matches in several divisions at once sped things up considerably. Still, with so many contestants, it took a full day to select the sixteen finalists.
In the waiting room, the group looked at the contestants gathered before them. Most of them were sizing one another up, since they might end up facing each other. Yet when their gazes landed on Kid Goku and the others, they all looked away. Some contestants had their eyes closed, quietly preparing for the matches ahead.
Just then, everyone noticed a man surrounded by a stench so foul that they hurriedly moved away from him. This was none other than Bacterian, the man we all know so well.
"Senior Brother Satan, if I draw that man, I'll just forfeit. I really don't have the confidence to face someone like him!"
One of the Martial Alliance disciples said. Satan was the strongest among them, so they called him Senior Brother.
"Hahaha! No matter how great the difficulty, I'll overcome it. I'm Satan!"
Watching Satan brim with confidence, the disciples all thought to themselves that their Senior Brother Satan really was something.
In truth, Satan was already panicking. He'd only been pretending to stay calm because he didn't want to lose face in front of the other disciples. But looking at Bacterian, whose stench could kill a man, he couldn't help silently praying that he wouldn't be matched against him.
Then came a clang. Everyone knew it was time for the tournament, and they all stood up, ready to begin their matches.
Before you continue