Chapter Summaries

Son Goku pursued Demon King Piccolo after rescuing Mai, who fell in love with him. Piccolo took a little girl hostage and heard Goku offer to spare his descendant after killing him, leaving Piccolo’s response unresolved.

• Piccolo hurled Mai away to distract Son Goku, but Goku rescued her and resumed the chase.
• Mai watched Goku leave and fantasized about becoming his maid after falling in love with him.
• Piccolo fled across the sea, spending his lifespan to increase his speed as Goku continued closing in.
• Piccolo spotted a little girl collecting crabs on an island, grabbed her, and threatened to crush her head if Goku followed.
• Goku told Piccolo he would kill him but spare a descendant so Piccolo’s race could survive, and Piccolo burst into laughter.

Son Goku saved Lazuli from Piccolo’s attack and healed her with a Senzu Bean before resuming his pursuit. Piccolo created a child to carry on the Demon Clan, then self-destructed against Son Goku, who survived unharmed; Kami learned Mr. Popo had arranged events to keep him alive.

• Piccolo wounded Lazuli and threatened her to make Son Goku choose between pursuing him and rescuing her.
• Son Goku caught Lazuli, healed her with a Senzu Bean, and left to chase Piccolo after she said her father and brother were nearby.
• Lazuli met her brother, who noticed the blood on her shirt, but she assured him she was fine.
• Piccolo created an egg containing a child meant to avenge him, then charged Son Goku and self-destructed.
• Son Goku emerged from the explosion unharmed, while Kami asked Mr. Popo if he had arranged what happened with Piccolo.
• Mr. Popo admitted that he had made a deal to keep Kami alive, and Kami smiled kindly.

After defeating Demon King Piccolo, Goku and his friends celebrated, settled into brief lives outside training, and began studying under Mr. Popo at Kami's Lookout. Three years later, Kami announced that King Kai had agreed to take students, and the group would travel to the Other World after the next World Martial Arts Tournament.

• At Kame House, Bulma told the television station that Demon King Piccolo had been defeated, while keeping Son Goku's identity secret.
• Bulma took Son Goku and Chi-Chi to West City for a few days of rest, while Krillin and Snow bought a house and car.
• Bulma made Gravity Bracelets for Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, and Yamcha, and Mr. Popo took the group to Kami's Lookout.
• Mr. Popo trained each fighter in a different virtual world and taught them to sense opponents, read their movements, and react without conscious thought.
• After three years of training, Kami told the group that King Kai had agreed to teach students and that Fortuneteller Baba would take them to the Other World after the tournament.

Bulma arrived at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament and reunited with Son Goku and Chi-Chi, while onlookers speculated about their relationship. She sent the couple to register and waited for them to return for the uniforms she had prepared.

• Bulma landed at the tournament in a luxurious helicopter, drawing a crowd's attention.
• Son Goku and Chi-Chi greeted Bulma, and Chi-Chi complimented her appearance and makeup.
• Bulma offered to teach Chi-Chi how to do makeup and scolded Goku for suggesting she collect the Dragon Balls to stay young.
• Bulma told Goku and Chi-Chi to register and said she had prepared martial arts uniforms for them.
• The onlookers wondered about Bulma's relationship with the couple as she watched them leave.

Bulma reunited with Goku and Chi-Chi, and Goku finally showed Bulma how much he had missed her. At the World Martial Arts Tournament, the preliminary rounds began as Yamcha worried that Goku and the others had grown too far beyond them.

• Bulma gave Goku and Chi-Chi martial arts uniforms and learned that Kami had removed Goku's tail before his trip to King Kai's Planet.
• Bulma noticed Goku and Chi-Chi wore matching teddy-bear underwear, then watched Chi-Chi hurry off to greet Krillin and Snow.
• Goku hugged Bulma, told her he had missed her, and made her laugh with his story about Krillin wanting to grow five centimeters taller.
• Bulma leaned toward Goku to kiss him.
• The announcer called the tournament contestants to the martial arts hall, and Tien Shinhan asked Master Roshi why he was not competing.
• Yamcha told Tien Shinhan that he felt their gap from Goku and the others kept growing despite their training in the Heavenly Realm.

Piccolo Jr. arrived at the martial arts school and confronted Son Goku with a promise of a long-awaited fight. Goku warned Krillin and Chi-Chi that powerful warriors beyond Earth made continued training essential, and the friends agreed to grow stronger to protect the planet.

• Tien and Yamcha noticed a cloaked stranger passing them, unaware that he was Demon King Piccolo.
• Piccolo entered the school, spotted Son Goku, and used telepathy to announce that he had waited three years for this day.
• Goku identified the stranger as Piccolo Jr., while Krillin remarked that Piccolo's energy seemed weak compared with their own.
• Krillin asked whether they were close to becoming invincible, and Goku warned him that much stronger fighters existed throughout the universe.
• Goku and Chi-Chi explained to Krillin that Earth was remote and vulnerable to a future invasion, and Krillin vowed to become a guardian of Earth.

The Twenty-Third World Martial Arts Tournament began, and Chi-Chi stunned the crowd by defeating Tien Shinhan in one blow. Son Goku then faced the masked Yajirobe, whose identity Bulma recognized, and the match began with Goku dodging his attacks.

• Chiaotzu rigged the preliminary draw, and the quarterfinal matchups placed Tien Shinhan against Chi-Chi, Son Goku against the Black-Clad Masked Man, Krillin against Piccolo, and Yamcha against Chiaotzu.
• Tien Shinhan asked Chi-Chi to fight seriously, but she vanished from his attack and knocked him unconscious with a single chop.
• The referee confirmed Tien Shinhan was alive, and Chi-Chi advanced to the semifinals while Tien Shinhan accepted Master Roshi's encouragement to keep training.
• Bulma recognized the Black-Clad Masked Man as Yajirobe and urged Son Goku to give him a good beating.
• Yajirobe charged at Son Goku with a barrage of punches, and Son Goku dodged them while stepping backward.

Son Goku defeated Yajirobe while carefully controlling his strength, leaving Piccolo unable to judge his true power. Piccolo then faced Krillin and was overwhelmed by his speed and kicks before revealing himself as Demon King Piccolo.

• Son Goku counterattacked Yajirobe, tested his control over his strength, and won after Yajirobe exhausted himself and admitted defeat.
• Piccolo watched Son Goku's match and wondered whether he had been holding back, unable to assess his power.
• Piccolo and Krillin began the third match, and Piccolo mocked Krillin while challenging him to attack.
• Krillin moved too quickly for Piccolo to follow, sent him flying, and kicked him back and forth through the air.
• Piccolo angrily tore off his head wrap and cape, revealed his antennae, and identified himself as Demon King Piccolo.

Krillin defeated Piccolo easily in the tournament, leaving Piccolo shaken and questioning his strength. Bulma gave Piccolo footage of the other fighters’ training to help him grow stronger, and Piccolo flew off vowing to rule the world again.

• Krillin defeated Piccolo with a punch and a kick, and the spectators celebrated his victory.
• Bulma and Goku reacted to the crowd comparing Krillin to Satan and speculating that he had killed Demon King Piccolo.
• Yamcha and Chiaotzu fought a fierce, evenly matched fourth-round bout using a variety of techniques.
• After waking, Piccolo brooded over his defeat and his failure to reach the tournament finals.
• Bulma gave Piccolo footage of Krillin, Chi-Chi, and Son Goku training, telling him he would need to surpass them to conquer the world.
• Piccolo flew away vowing to defeat them, while Kami questioned whether he would threaten Earth and suggested sealing him away.

A month after the tournament, Goku and the others set out along Snake Way for King Kai's Planet, but the slower members made the journey take several days. The group stopped to grill their dwindling food, leaving them to rely on Senzu Beans to continue.

• Bulma reflected that Goku would be away on King Kai's Planet and planned to build a large Gravity Training Room for his return.
• Goku deliberately lost to Chi-Chi, who later lost to Krillin in the final, making Krillin the tournament champion again.
• Krillin and Snow attended several commercial events after the media sought out Krillin, then the group prepared to search for the Dragon Balls so he could grow five centimeters.
• Goku, Tien, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, and the others set off along Snake Way together, using ten-times gravity and slowing their progress to match the group.
• The travelers ran out of food during the long journey and stopped to grill what Krillin had packed, planning to use Senzu Beans when they could no longer run.

The six companions arrived at King Kai's Planet, where its hundredfold gravity pinned most of them down. They discovered King Kai had no food, so Son Goku left to fetch supplies while King Kai told the others they had to make him laugh before he would train them.

• After three days of travel, the companions reached King Kai's Planet, and its gravity increased to a hundred times normal, crushing Krillin, Chi-Chi, and Son Goku to the ground.
• Tien Shinhan stood first, and Chi-Chi turned off her and Son Goku's Gravity Bracelets so they could get up.
• Chi-Chi asked King Kai about dinner, but he explained that he had no food or cooking supplies and said the group had to tell him a joke to become his students.
• Son Goku left for Earth to bring back food, warning the others to ration their Senzu Beans until he returned.
• Chiaotzu raised his hand and began telling King Kai a joke about a white rabbit challenging a tortoise to a race.

Son Goku returned to Earth for food and learned that Bulma was away gathering materials for a Gravity Chamber. At Mount Paozu, he found Launch looking for a job and urged her to become a housewife, but she explained that her sneezes had ruined her past blind dates.

• Son Goku visited Capsule Corporation, where Mrs. Brief told him Bulma had left to find materials for a Gravity Chamber.
• Son Goku bought food at the market and flew to Mount Paozu to stay the night.
• Launch advised Son Goku to buy fish and fruit as well as meat, and he agreed to visit the morning market.
• Son Goku noticed Launch's job offers from delivery companies and asked why she was looking for work.
• Son Goku suggested Launch marry a good man and become a housewife, but Launch said her sneezes had frightened off the men she dated.

Son Goku gave Launch his treasure and offered her a home before returning to King Kai's Planet, where he and the others began training under increased gravity. The group caught Bubbles quickly, but King Kai made them continue until they reached their physical limits.

• Son Goku offered Launch his treasure and said she could treat his home as hers if she no longer wanted to work.
• Launch took the treasure, then, after sneezing and transforming, tried to seduce Son Goku while he bathed.
• Son Goku returned to King Kai's Planet, where everyone passed King Kai's joke test and caught Bubbles soon after beginning their training.
• Chi-Chi explained that Bulma's bracelets had already helped the group adapt to ten times Earth's gravity.
• King Kai ordered everyone to raise their bracelets' gravity and keep chasing Bubbles until they reached their limits.
• Goku set his bracelet to three times normal gravity, and the others began training at levels they could barely handle.

After two years of training under King Kai, Goku and the others learned the Kaio-ken, though Chiaotzu gave up on it, and they prepared to return to Earth. The chapter leaves Bulma relaxing at her private seaside estate, where the newly built Gravity Chamber has never been used.

• King Kai taught the group the Kaio-ken and Spirit Bomb after they strengthened their bodies through gravity training.
• Goku, Tien Shinhan, Krillin, Chi-Chi, and Yamcha learned the Kaio-ken at different paces, while Chiaotzu eventually gave up.
• Goku used a weighted suit to train at up to two hundred times gravity, and the others reached one hundred times gravity except Chiaotzu.
• King Kai declared the group’s training complete, and everyone said goodbye before heading home.
• Bulma spent the afternoon at her private seaside estate beside the unused Gravity Chamber she had built for the group.

At Son Bulla’s second birthday party, Goku and Bulma celebrated with their friends and explained why they had removed their daughter’s tail. Chi-Chi admitted to Snow that she had postponed having a child with Goku so she could keep training.

• Bulma welcomed Krillin, Snow, and their shy daughter Hoho, who eagerly accepted a doll and called Bulma Auntie.
• Bulma described Son Bulla as outgoing and strong, while Snow warned her to raise the mischievous girl carefully.
• Goku told the guests that Kami had restored the moon and that he had asked Kami to remove Bulla’s tail to prevent her from becoming a Great Ape.
• The friends joked about Goku being an alien after Chi-Chi explained that he had been sent to Earth as a baby.
• Snow asked Chi-Chi why she and Goku had not had a child, and Chi-Chi said pregnancy would keep her from training for years.

Chi-Chi told Snow she valued training alongside Goku and planned to have a child once Bra could sleep on her own. Meanwhile, Raditz arrived on Earth, killed a farmer, and confronted Piccolo, who denied knowing Kakarot as Raditz questioned whether he had killed him.

• Chi-Chi told Snow that she preferred spending time with Goku to training and planned to have a child after Bra stopped sharing a bed with Bulma.
• Snow took Hoho to the beach to catch crabs.
• Raditz landed in the northern grasslands, killed a farmer, and used his Scouter to locate a powerful energy reading.
• Raditz mistook Piccolo for a possible lead to Kakarot, then survived Piccolo's energy blast unharmed.
• Piccolo raised his battle power by controlling his energy, and Raditz asked whether he had killed Kakarot.
• Piccolo said he had never heard of Kakarot, leaving Raditz puzzled because he could sense no other powerful energy on Earth.

Raditz found Son Goku at Bulma's Vacation Manor and learned that his younger brother had built a family and home on Earth. After Krillin knocked Raditz down, Raditz reconsidered his approach and offered to spare Earth's people.

• Raditz noticed Piccolo's tail and flew toward a stronger power reading, where he found Son Goku at Bulla's birthday celebration.
• Son Goku told Raditz he had no memory of a mission to wipe out humanity and declared that Earth was his home.
• Krillin challenged Raditz and struck him hard enough to make Raditz realize Earth's fighters could control and raise their battle power.
• Raditz decided to make peace with Son Goku and said he would spare Earth's people.

Raditz tried to recruit Son Goku to join the Frieza Force, but Bulma suggested the Saiyans unite to overthrow Frieza. After hearing about the proposal, Vegeta decided he was tired of serving Frieza and wanted the Saiyans to rule the universe.

• Raditz invited Son Goku to join the Vegeta Elite Squad and conquer planets, but Son Goku refused because he did not want to work for others.
• Bulma questioned why the Saiyans served another ruler and proposed that Raditz bring Vegeta so they could take down Frieza together.
• Vegeta and Nappa discussed Raditz’s defeat on Earth and the powerful fighters there, then Vegeta considered recruiting them.
• Nappa warned Vegeta that Frieza and his forces were too powerful to challenge, but Vegeta declared that the Saiyans should not live beneath anyone and that he had endured enough in the Frieza Army.

Bulma explained that she was modifying Raditz’s Scouter to sever its connection to Frieza’s network. The chapter ended with her beginning to explain the device to Chi-Chi by comparing it to a phone.

• Chi-Chi brought Bulma coffee and asked why she was still working late.
• Bulma told Chi-Chi that Raditz’s Scouter was intact but connected to Frieza’s army’s central terminal.
• Bulma began explaining the Scouter’s connection to Chi-Chi using a phone analogy.

Bulma explained that Raditz’s Scouter had sent everything it heard on Earth to Frieza Army headquarters, exposing the planet and their talk of rebellion. She warned Chi-Chi that Frieza vastly outclassed them but argued they should prepare to fight, leaving Chi-Chi anxious about Earth’s danger and the prospect of testing their strength.

• Bulma told Chi-Chi that the Scouter had uploaded Raditz’s observations and conversations on Earth to Frieza Army headquarters.
• Chi-Chi learned that the combined battle powers of Goku, Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and herself would likely be less than a tenth of Frieza’s.
• Bulma said her research suggested Goku could undergo a huge leap in strength and become a Super Saiyan through hard training.
• Chi-Chi urged Bulma to avoid rebellion and wondered whether Frieza might dismiss their threats as jokes.
• Bulma told Chi-Chi that Earth was already exposed and urged her to face the coming danger, adding that the Dragon Balls could revive them if they lost.