The Legendary Tea God Lies Down, Piccolo's Final Outburst

"What?"

Yamcha heard the sound behind him as well. When he turned around, he saw a Saibaman pouncing toward him.

Its outstretched arms even looked incredibly enthusiastic.

He instinctively tried to dodge, but it was already too late.

The Saibaman had directly wrapped Yamcha in its arms.

Its body glowed with intense heat, making Yamcha sense that something was wrong.

But they were already pressed together. Even if he wanted to resist, he had no way to unleash more power in such a short time.

All he could do was watch in terror as light shone from the Saibaman's body.

At that moment, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu noticed the commotion behind them as well, but the distance was far too great for them to make it in time.

"Yamcha!!!"

Thus, only everyone's voices echoed through the air.

Yet just as the Saibaman was about to explode, a figure flashed past and appeared beside Yamcha.

It was Son Gohan.

When he saw Yamcha and the Saibaman sharing a loving embrace, he quickly snapped a photo before rushing over to rescue him.

Just before the Saibaman exploded, he grabbed its head from behind and forcibly tore it off Yamcha.

But at the instant he pulled it away, the white light on the Saibaman's body reached its peak.

A terrifying explosion swept through the surroundings in an instant.

BOOM!

Blazing flames spread rapidly, reducing the surrounding buildings to ashes. The scorching shockwave even reached beyond the city.

Clearly, the Saibaman's explosion was no small matter.

After quite some time passed, the flames and smoke gradually dispersed. Son Gohan was still standing where he had been, in the exact same state as before, as though the battle had not affected him at all.

In truth, the Saibaman's self-destruction had been completely unable to break through his ki defense.

After all, the thing only had a power level of 1,200. Even if the force of its self-destruction was amplified, it probably could not compare to one of Nappa's casual attacks.

But while he could handle it with ease, Yamcha was in terrible shape.

Although Son Gohan had torn the Saibaman away and thrown it some distance off, the blast still caught Yamcha.

The heat wave sent him flying into the distance, where he even blasted a crater into the ground.

Yamcha was currently lying in that crater.

He appeared to be lying on his side, but his posture looked strangely iconic. It was clearly the legendary Tea God Recline.

If that image were made into a T-shirt or figurine, it would probably be worth quite a bit.

When Son Gohan saw Yamcha in that pose, a chill ran through his heart. Based on how far he had thrown the Saibaman, Yamcha should not have been killed by the explosion. So what was going on with him now?

Had the Tea God fallen once again?

With a thought, he sensed Yamcha's ki and discovered that it had only weakened somewhat. He was still far from dead!

Clearly, Yamcha was only badly injured and had escaped his original fate of death.

After confirming that Yamcha was not in immediate danger and seeing Tien Shinhan finish off the remaining Saibamen, Son Gohan silently took out his phone and snapped a commemorative photo of the current Tea God.

After taking the photo, Son Gohan walked over to Yamcha, wanting to check how he was doing.

Almost at the same time, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, and the others all arrived.

Even Krillin, who had originally been farther away, came over. Clearly, everyone was worried about their companion.

Son Gohan helped Yamcha sit up and patted his back, allowing his breathing to ease slightly. Yamcha then woke up.

He took two deep, ragged breaths, his eyes filled with intense terror.

Clearly, he had yet to recover from what had just happened.

Only when Krillin and the others saw Yamcha awaken did they breathe a sigh of relief. Although they all knew the Dragon Balls could bring someone back to life, no one wanted to see their companion die like that.

Fortunately, Yamcha was only seriously injured. He merely needed time to recover afterward.

Son Gohan seemed to recall something and asked, "Uncle Krillin, I remember Uncle Piccolo saying there's something called a Senzu Bean that can instantly heal injuries. Didn't you bring any?"

Krillin shook his head. "The Senzu Beans are with Korin. Only Goku should be able to get them..."

Hearing his explanation, Son Gohan finally understood. He remembered that among this group of fighters, only his father had a good relationship with Korin and could go ask him for Senzu Beans whenever he wanted.

It was not that Korin would refuse the others, but they simply were not familiar with him.

That made it awkward for them to go directly and ask for Senzu Beans.

In fact, even by the Buu era, the only one who had gone to ask for Senzu Beans was his father. At other times, it was usually Yajirobe, the Senzu Bean deliveryman, who brought them over.

Thinking of this, Son Gohan looked at Yamcha and Krillin. "Then your arm, and Uncle Yamcha's..."

Krillin stepped forward to check on Yamcha, then said with a laugh, "Haha, we're both fine too. We're just a little injured. We've suffered worse injuries than this before!"

He appeared optimistic as he comforted Gohan, but he was also enduring the pain of his severed arm.

"It'd be better to recover from these injuries as soon as possible. How about I go ask for a Senzu Bean?"

"Gohan, we're fine for now. You really don't need to waste your strength on that. The most important thing now is defeating that guy!"

As Krillin spoke, he looked up at the sky, toward Vegeta and Piccolo's fierce battle. The fighting there was even more intense and perilous.

Tien Shinhan and the others also turned to watch the battle in the sky.

The clouds high above had already been blown away, leaving a clear blue sky for miles around. It was not naturally like that—it was the result of the two fighters' overwhelming auras.

In midair.

Vegeta still wore a mocking expression as he calmly dealt with every one of Piccolo's attacks.

"As a Namekian, you deserve praise for possessing this kind of strength!"

As Vegeta kicked Piccolo away, pride showed on his face. He continued, "If you were facing an ordinary Saiyan, you might really have won. Unfortunately, your opponent is me!"

Piccolo was sent flying far back through the air, but his expression did not change. He straightened himself, spat, and said, "Hmph. The warm-up is over."

"?"

Although Vegeta had not used his full strength, Piccolo's words still caused a flicker of surprise to pass through his eyes.

He found it hard to believe that his opponent was hiding even greater strength.

Just as doubt arose within him.

Piccolo removed his cape and hat together, then casually tossed them down into the city.

Bang!

The heavy objects fell from high above, causing a considerable disturbance below.

Haaah!

Piccolo spread his stance in midair, his muscles tensing as a powerful aura burst forth.

A blazing white aura coiled around his body and spiraled upward.

Whoosh!

The terrifying aura churned wildly, creating a massive hurricane throughout the city before spreading even more violently in every direction.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Vegeta's scouter sounded again. His expression immediately turned solemn as he casually pressed its button, only to discover that the Namekian's power level was rising wildly.

"12,500... 13,000... 13,700... 14,200... 14,900... 15,600!!!"

"N-No way!"