The Crane Hermit's Provocation

"Wait for me!"

Wu Tian shouted, sprang up from the ground, and ran after him.

Wu Tian quickly caught up with Roger.

"You've really got guts, kid. You actually dared to challenge Master Mutaito. Honestly, even I wouldn't dare challenge Master Mutaito!"

Roger glanced at him after hearing that.

"Forget Master Mutaito—even that guy from earlier was someone you wouldn't dare challenge!"

"Who... who says I wouldn't? My back was just hurting earlier. Besides, didn't you see how they ran away after I scared them?"

"..."

Roger was speechless.

"You call that scaring them away? You clearly didn't dare fight. They just didn't want to waste their time on you!"

"Y-You..."

Wu Tian was immediately enraged.

It was one thing for Crane Hermit to look down on him, but now he was being looked down upon by some brat.

"If you're not convinced, you can fight me too!"

"Then let's fight! Do you think I'd be afraid of some brat?"

Roger smiled at Wu Tian's words.

Seeing Roger's confidence, Wu Tian immediately grew extremely nervous.

Roger might be young, but for some reason, Wu Tian felt like he could not see through him at all.

Losing would be one thing, but if his junior brothers found out about it, where would he put his face?

"Then come at me!"

At that moment, Roger took several steps back and spoke.

"You want me to attack?"

Wu Tian pointed at himself.

"Yeah. Is there a problem?"

"I'm older than you. Even if we're sparring, I should be the one letting you attack first!"

"Fine, but don't regret it!"

"Regret it? I, Wu Tian, never regret anything I do!"

The moment he finished speaking, Wu Tian felt a gust of wind brush past him. Roger, who had been standing in front of him, had already vanished.

"Could it be..."

As Wu Tian spun around, he saw Roger's right fist coming toward him.

Wu Tian instinctively raised both hands, trying to block Roger's right fist.

At that moment, a massive gale burst from Roger's right fist, directly blasting Wu Tian away.

Wu Tian's body was sent flying hundreds of meters in an instant.

"Huff... huff..."

Wu Tian panted heavily, his forehead somehow covered in cold sweat.

When he looked at Roger again, his previous playful expression was gone, replaced by fear.

Although Roger's punch had not touched him, the wind generated by it gave him an unprecedented sense of pressure.

He had no doubt that if that punch had landed on him, even if it did not kill him, he would have been seriously injured.

"So, shall we continue fighting?"

Roger asked Wu Tian with a smile.

"N-No need. I admit defeat!"

Wu Tian said, his body trembling.

Seeing this, Roger turned and walked ahead.

Wu Tian immediately chased after him.

"Um... Roger, can you tell me how exactly you trained to become so strong?"

"How did I train?"

"Yeah!"

Wu Tian nodded.

"I think it was probably weight training!"

"Weight training?"

"Mm!"

Roger nodded.

"But... I've trained with weights too, yet my strength is on a completely different level from yours!"

"Of course it is, because I'm a genius!"

Wu Tian snorted after hearing that.

"I'm a genius too. Otherwise, I couldn't have become Master Mutaito's prized disciple!"

"Fine, actually, I'm not from Earth. I'm a Saiyan!"

"A Saiyan?"

"It's too complicated to explain. Anyway, I'm not an ordinary person!"

"Then why did you challenge Master Mutaito?"

Wu Tian asked.

"Didn't you say he was strong? So I wanted to see whether I could learn anything from him!"

"Learn something?"

Roger did not answer. Instead, he continued walking ahead.

Mutaito Dojo.

After Roger and Wu Tian left, Crane Hermit immediately went before Mutaito and asked.

"Master Mutaito, why did you agree to fight him three days from now? That little brat—without you even lifting a finger, we could beat him for you!"

Mutaito's expression turned grave.

"You're no match for him!"

"I'm no match for him?"

Crane Hermit looked at Mutaito in disbelief.

"Mm!"

Mutaito nodded.

"Even I am not absolutely confident that I can defeat him!"

"H-How is that possible? Master Mutaito, you're the number one martial artist in the world!"

"There is always someone stronger, and a sky beyond the sky!"

Elsewhere.

After walking for a while, Roger arrived before a massive waterfall.

It was the very waterfall from the original Dragon Ball story, the one Son Goku saw Mutaito split apart with ki.

Looking at the waterfall before him, Roger immediately sat down and began cultivating.

This spacetime was a sealed spacetime created by Popo, so he could sense the power of time within this land.

"Cultivating?"

Seeing Roger sit down to cultivate, Wu Tian also sat down in front of the waterfall.

But his mind was still filled with what had happened at the hot spring, so he could not calm himself enough to cultivate. He could only stare blankly at the waterfall before him.

"No, this is way too boring!"

After sitting for a while, Wu Tian rose to his feet atop the waterfall's cliff.

Just as Wu Tian turned around and prepared to leave, he saw Crane Hermit approaching with his two lackeys.

"What do you want?"

Thinking Crane Hermit had come to pick a fight with him, Wu Tian asked nervously.

Crane Hermit snorted.

"Don't worry, you big dumb turtle. I didn't come for you!"

"Who are you calling a big dumb turtle?"

"You, big dumb turtle!"

"Who's the big dumb turtle talking about?"

"The big dumb turtle is talking about you!"

"Oh, so the big dumb turtle was talking about me!"

Wu Tian laughed.

"You!"

Crane Hermit gritted his teeth in anger after hearing that.

"Fine. I'll deal with him first, then come back and deal with you!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared!"

Wu Tian said, pretending to be frightened.

"You bastard!"

Seeing Wu Tian's punchable expression, Crane Hermit immediately felt the urge to beat him up.

Just then, Roger, who had been disturbed by the two of them, stood up from the ground.

"What is it? Were you looking for me?"

Roger asked Crane Hermit.

"Hmph!"

Crane Hermit snorted coldly.

"That's right, I was looking for you. You actually overestimated yourself and wanted to challenge Master Mutaito today. I'll teach you a proper lesson on Master Mutaito's behalf!"

"Is that Master Mutaito's intention?"

Roger asked.

"No. I just think someone like you doesn't deserve Master Mutaito's intervention!"

"Is that so? Then let me see what you can do!"

Crane Hermit snorted and raised his hands into a fighting stance.

"You're young, so I'll let you attack first. Don't go saying I bullied you!"

"You said it!"

"I did!"

The moment his words fell, Crane Hermit suddenly felt a tremendous force strike the back of his neck.

The next instant, he lost consciousness and collapsed unconscious.

"Boss Crane!"