Going Out to Train

Jiang Yun had a new perspective on the path of cultivation.

"With my current foundation, I'm no longer able to study the next stages of martial arts. I may know a lot, and I know how powerful the enemies of the future will be, but my understanding of martial arts is still too shallow."

Jiang Yun fell into deep thought. He had reached a small bottleneck. If he got through it, the road ahead would open wide; if he didn't, a range of endless mountains and ravines awaited him!

Ever since arriving in this world, he had trained alone. Perhaps it was time to venture out and broaden his horizons. Although he knew how things would unfold in the future, he hadn't experienced them himself. Those were two different things.

It might be worth visiting the legendary Korin Tower and seeing if he could learn anything from Korin, who had centuries of wisdom and understanding of ki, to improve his path of cultivation.

And so, Jiang Yun began his journey of training in the outside world.

As he wandered across the vast Dragon Ball Continent, Jiang Yun kept his power suppressed. Along the way, he competed with a tiger for its prey, raced a deer, swam against a shark, and even tested his physical strength against an elephant.

Before Jiang Yun stood a magnificent tiger. The stripes on its body were striking, and its massive frame far exceeded that of the tigers from his previous life. The 王-shaped marking on its forehead proclaimed it the king of the forest, and its mere appearance was intimidating.

It had its sights set on a group of zebras frolicking by the water. Their black-and-white stripes stood out as they played carefree by the river, completely unaware of the danger approaching.

The tiger hadn't noticed another competitor for its meal, either: our protagonist, Jiang Yun. He was keeping his ki suppressed, afraid of frightening away the tiger that was helping him train.

That was right—he was training his control of ki. By competing with a tiger for its prey, he was honing that control. Only by immersing himself in nature and attuning himself to it could he make great progress. Training in the city was different, which was why he usually didn't train there.

Of course, the main reason was that the gravity training room hadn't been built yet. The scientists he had recruited couldn't compare to those at Capsule Corp; the gap was enormous.

Otherwise, why wouldn't he use a good training method?

The tiger was still absorbed in the excitement of its coming hunt, completely unaware of Jiang Yun's approach. That showed just how precise Jiang Yun's control of ki was. His goal was to take the tiger's catch without using ki.

One of the zebras seemed to sense something and let out a loud neigh. It was a sentry, and at its cry the herd panicked and started running.

The tiger took off after them, chasing a slower zebra. Jiang Yun shot forward too, moving faster than a cheetah. Just as the tiger was about to bite its prey, Jiang Yun struck the zebra's head with his palm, knocking it unconscious.

He snatched up the prey and ran, leaving behind the tiger's furious roar.

Next, he raced a deer. The competition taught him how to unleash his speed more swiftly.

Swimming against a shark taught him that reducing unnecessary movements could bring greater benefits. His strikes also became faster.

This was probably the technique Korin used when teaching Kid Goku: by having him try to steal the fake Ultra Divine Water, Korin gradually taught him the technique along the way. Those old masters really knew how to teach martial arts. No wonder they had lived for centuries!

After wrestling with an elephant, Jiang Yun realized that although an elephant's attacks were slow, that was only relative. Its attacks were much like the charged strikes used by the Dragon Team: concentrating power in one spot to unleash greater force.

Take Master Shen's Dodon Ray, for example. By charging up with a single finger, it achieved tremendous penetrating power. In the early days, even the Kamehameha couldn't match it. The Dodon Ray required less ki than the Kamehameha, so it naturally had the advantage early on. That wasn't to say it couldn't compete later; it was simply that no one continued developing it. Tien Shinhan and the others eventually left Master Shen, probably because Master Shen and his followers were no longer pure martial artists. In the later stages, they stopped using the Crane School's techniques.

Perhaps people in ancient times first learned to cultivate ki by fighting wild beasts. After all, Earthlings were naturally weak, and they came to sense ki by strengthening it.

Most people in the universe, on the other hand, were born with powerful ki. Their development of it was rather crude, and they even needed Scouters to measure battle power.

Jiang Yun continued his training and set off toward Korin Tower...

Half a year later, two men sat cross-legged together, eating grilled meat. One of them was, naturally, Jiang Yun.

The other was a little on the plump side, with long hair falling past his shoulders that looked as though he hadn't bothered to groom it. His face was full of yearning for the grilled meat, and he wore a sword at his waist. He looked like a wandering samurai.

He was fat, with small eyes and spiky hair. Dressed in Japanese-style clothing, he wore a vertically striped kimono and wooden clogs, with a Japanese katana at his waist. He was skilled in the Quick-Draw Technique, and his voice sounded a lot like Krillin's.

That's right—it was that fat guy, Yajirobe.

Jiang Yun knew of Yajirobe. He had been deeply impressed by this man, whose battle power at his introduction was no lower than Kid Goku's. Yajirobe had made a very impressive entrance, too.

With a masterful Iaijutsu slash, he had killed the son of King Piccolo, who had come looking for the Dragon Balls. His battle power was certainly not low.

Jiang Yun couldn't help feeling frustrated with him. In his view, Yajirobe was even more talented than Krillin, an Earthling. He barely seemed to train at all, yet his battle power was already high when he first appeared, almost on par with Kid Goku's in the early days. Later, during Vegeta's invasion, he had cut off Vegeta's tail with a sneak attack and saved everyone in the nick of time.

That showed his battle power at the time was no lower than Krillin and the others'. Otherwise, an injured Vegeta wasn't someone just anyone could sneak up on. Even that small detail revealed Yajirobe's superb mastery of the Quick-Draw Technique.

And yet, with such extraordinary talent, Yajirobe later became a Senzu Bean deliveryman—and even a major consumer of Senzu Beans. He had completely wasted his talent.

The thought made Jiang Yun seethe. What a waste!

He couldn't help wanting to recruit him.

"Mr. Yajirobe, you're so skilled in martial arts. How about joining my Martial Alliance?"

"Martial Alliance? What's that? I'm not interested in joining anyone. All I care about is eating my fill!"

Hearing Yajirobe's answer, Jiang Yun's eyes lit up. Right—he could use that to recruit him.

"Mr. Yajirobe, don't worry. The conditions at our Martial Alliance are excellent. We have all kinds of delicious food in unlimited supply, though you'll need to be strong and contribute to the alliance. We own the biggest restaurant business in West City, so we can definitely meet your needs!" Jiang Yun coaxed.

"Really? Jiang Yun, will your Martial Alliance really keep me fed? I eat a lot, you know," Yajirobe said, tempted.

Why was Yajirobe such a glutton? It was a secret of his. He had always been able to eat a lot, even eating his village out of house and home. After the samurai who taught him died, he set off wandering, constantly struggling to get enough to eat. His body could absorb food quickly, so he was always worrying about where his next meal would come from.

That was probably also why he later stayed at Korin Tower. It was also why the Senzu Beans became so scarce: he had eaten through Korin's centuries-old supply. Clearly, his constitution was unusual.

Seeing that he might be able to recruit him, Jiang Yun said, "I won't disappoint you. We have tens of thousands of people working for us. You'll have plenty to eat."

The two exchanged smiles. Each of them thought he'd gotten the better deal.