The next instant, Son Goku charged at Satan and whipped a kick through the air.
Satan went flying backward.
Mr. Satan suffered the same fate as Senior Brother Krillin,
leaving another huge, human-shaped dent in the wall.
"Number 70 wins!"
Chapter 42: Qualifying for the Finals
Though Chi-Chi, Goku, and Krillin were still young,
all three had shone in the preliminaries and quickly earned the respect of the others.
"Will contestant number 23 and contestant number 29 please come up!"
After several fights, Chi-Chi's confidence had grown considerably.
"It's my turn again. I'm going up, Krillin, Goku!"
Goku encouraged her. "Yeah, good luck, Chi-Chi.
We're almost at the end, and everyone's a skilled fighter now. Be careful."
Chi-Chi nodded. "Yeah, thanks, Goku. I will!"
With that, Chi-Chi bounced her way onto the ring.
At the same time, a woman stepped into the ring from the other side.
She had delicate features and a curvy figure. A beauty mark on her face made her especially alluring.
Unfortunately, her opponent was a little girl.
Her good looks were no use at all.
Her name was Ranfan, and she should have made it into the top eight of this World Martial Arts Tournament.
Unfortunately, her opponent was Chi-Chi.
Ranfan assumed a fighting stance and looked at Chi-Chi.
"You, the bald guy, and that little kid are all wearing the same martial arts uniform.
You're from the same school, right?"
Chi-Chi copied her and assumed a fighting stance.
"Yeah, the three of us are together!"
Ranfan smiled. "You're all pretty young, but I can tell you're skilled.
Your master must be strong, too, right?"
Chi-Chi said, "Yeah, our master is really strong.
He's the God of Martial Arts, Master Roshi!"
"What?"
"The God of Martial Arts, Master Roshi!!!"
The people nearby heard the name and gasped.
"No wonder those three kids are so good."
"So they're disciples of Master Roshi, the God of Martial Arts!"
"Wow, that's incredible!"
Ranfan looked at Chi-Chi in surprise. "If you're all Master Roshi's disciples,
then it's no wonder you're so skilled!"
Chi-Chi held her stance and sized Ranfan up.
Then she said, "Master Roshi may be strong, but he's actually a lecher.
If you want to become his disciple, I'm sure he'd be happy to take you on.
But someone like you would definitely get groped by that perverted old man."
Ranfan froze, at a loss for words.
Some of the people nearby grinned, others covered their mouths, and a few whispered among themselves...
Not far behind Chi-Chi, Jackie Chun stood there with a dark expression.
"Good grief! That girl Chi-Chi has no social sense at all.
She's practically ruined my reputation!"
Just then, the referee shouted, "Begin!"
Ranfan charged at Chi-Chi, hoping to beat her before she could react.
Before Chi-Chi knew it, Ranfan had kicked her in the stomach, throwing her off balance and sending her sprawling.
Ranfan gave her no chance to catch her breath. She immediately chased after her and landed an elbow strike,
then sat on Chi-Chi's back, pinning her hard to the ground.
Chi-Chi lay face down without making a sound.
Krillin was alarmed. "This is bad! Chi-Chi let her guard down!"
Son Goku shook his head. "It's okay. Don't underestimate her."
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
Seeing Chi-Chi down, Ranfan was delighted. She immediately jumped up and turned to the referee.
"I win!"
However, the referee didn't declare her the winner.
The people behind him were all staring at Ranfan in disbelief—
no, they were staring at the space behind her.
Ranfan was startled and quickly turned around.
Chi-Chi had stood up as if nothing had happened, casually brushing the dirt off herself.
"I didn't realize I'd gotten this strong!
I didn't even feel those attacks hurt."
Chi-Chi looked at Ranfan and said, "Now it's my turn to fight back!"
As she spoke, Chi-Chi swung her little fist, ready to hit Ranfan.
Ranfan was shocked and immediately backed away. "No, no, no...
I give up!!!"
"Congratulations! Contestant number 23 wins!"
"You'll be competing in the finals of the World Martial Arts Tournament!"
"Wow, you made it to the finals! Great job, Chi-Chi!"
"Second division, contestant number 70, please come up! Contestant number 79, please come up..."
Before long, Krillin and Goku had also won their matches and advanced to the finals.
The three of them gathered together and happily celebrated.
Just then, a handsome young man walked up to them.
"Good! So you're here to compete in the World Martial Arts Tournament, too!
This time, I'll finally get my revenge!"
Krillin, Chi-Chi, and Goku all turned to look.
Son Goku was taken aback.
"Are you... Yamcha?"
Yamcha was surprised, too.
"What?"
"I don't even know your name. How do you know mine?"
Son Goku asked, "Does it matter?"
Yamcha said, "I guess not. It doesn't matter!
Last time, in the desert, you knocked out several of my teeth.
Now that I've run into you, I finally get to take my revenge.
I've trained incredibly hard this past year,
and I've made it into the finals.
I hope I run into you in the ring so I can use my Wolf Fang Fist to wipe out the humiliation!"
A faint smile appeared on Son Goku's face.
"I'm about the same!
This past year, I've had a really fun time training,
and I've even started to enjoy it from the bottom of my heart.
So if I run into you, I won't lose to you, either.
Just try not to get knocked out by someone else before then!"
The two stared at each other for a while, then Yamcha left.
Chi-Chi and Krillin looked at Goku curiously.
"Who was that?" Chi-Chi asked.
"When Bulma and I were looking for the Dragon Balls, he tried to rob us in the desert. I beat him up."
Chi-Chi nodded. "Oh, I see!
There used to be lots of bandits around my home, too. But after the fire was put out,
my dad stopped robbing people,
and the bandits in that area started to dwindle after that."
Krillin said, "Great, all three of us made it through.
Why don't we use this time to tell Master Roshi the good news?"
Hearing that, Jackie Chun hurriedly dropped his disguise and returned to the stands.
Taking them on as disciples was exhausting.
The finals would start soon. He still had to change clothes and hurry back.
Chapter 43: Reuniting with Bulma
The ring for the World Martial Arts Tournament was outdoors.
The stands were packed with cheering spectators.
The finalists for the World Martial Arts Tournament had just been announced.
Master Roshi saw that all three of them had made it into the final tournament and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Goku, Krillin, and Chi-Chi all made it to the finals. It's lucky they didn't get matched against each other along the way!"
At the mention of Goku's name, a blue-haired girl squeezed through the crowd. It was Bulma.