"Power Pole!"
"Extend!"
Son Goku swung the Power Pole he had just taken out of his bundle.
The Power Pole rapidly extended as he swung it, sweeping straight toward King Piccolo.
"Hmph! You overestimate yourself!"
"Stop right there!"
King Piccolo kicked back Tien Shinhan, who was attacking him head-on, then swiftly thrust out his right hand.
His five fingers clamped down like iron pincers on the extending Power Pole, stopping it dead.
Not only that, King Piccolo began swinging the Power Pole himself.
Kid Goku, who had intended to attack him with the Power Pole, now found himself on the receiving end instead.
Against King Piccolo's immense strength, Goku could only be hoisted into the air along with the Power Pole and spun around.
To avoid getting completely dizzy, Kid Goku had no choice but to let go for the moment.
Temporarily abandoning his Power Pole attack, he switched to attacking barehanded.
Tien Shinhan seized the opportunity and launched a barehanded attack from the left.
One on either side, they alternated punches and sweeping kicks. Despite never having rehearsed together or exchanged any visual cues, their attacks were surprisingly well coordinated.
For a time, King Piccolo came under simultaneous attack from Tien Shinhan and Goku on both sides, high and low.
Although Tien Shinhan's and Goku's individual power levels were both lower than King Piccolo's, their coordinated assault really did leave him somewhat flustered and struggling to defend himself.
King Piccolo, who had not taken a single step back since landing, was actually forced to retreat four or five steps in succession.
"They've got a chance!"
Nearby, Krillin's eyes lit up.
He had only just recovered from King Piccolo's oppressive presence and was agonizing over whether to go help Tien Shinhan and Goku.
After all, he had clearly witnessed their repeated individual attacks come to nothing.
Yet, to his surprise, in the blink of an eye, the two suddenly unleashed a remarkably coordinated assault, like old friends who had fought side by side for years.
They even drove King Piccolo back step by step.
This swept away much of Krillin's fear, and some of the despair that had sprung up under King Piccolo's oppressive presence dissipated as well.
"That's it! Keep going until you beat King Piccolo!"
Krillin pumped his arms in excitement, but dared not make a sound, afraid that a sudden noise might interfere with Tien Shinhan and Goku's fierce assault.
"Impressive. To think they could put up this much of a fight against King Piccolo!"
Master Roshi raised a hand to wipe the cold sweat off his forehead, unable to keep from feeling heartened and impressed by the sight.
When King Piccolo had wreaked havoc on Earth three hundred years ago, he and Master Shen had fought him too.
As fellow disciples, the two of them had trained together for years since childhood, yet they had never fought this well.
They had even been defeated by King Piccolo in just a few blows, ultimately winning only by relying on their teacher Mutaito's Evil Containment Wave.
The coordination of Tien Shinhan and Goku's attacks, and the position they had gained in the battle, were things he had not anticipated.
But Master Roshi was not blindly optimistic like Krillin.
He knew that Tien Shinhan and Goku's coordination was not a stable state attained through long-term training, but a fleeting state in battle.
This state was extremely fragile-so fragile it could disappear at any moment.
Moreover, even if they maintained their coordination, Master Roshi, who knew how terrifying King Piccolo was, did not think they could win like this.
Things went exactly as Master Roshi had expected. King Piccolo's flustered defense was only temporary.
He had grown accustomed to the intensity of Tien Shinhan and Goku's alternating attacks, but had not expected them to unexpectedly coordinate their attacks, which had caught him somewhat off guard.
But it was only a minor surprise. After roughly two minutes of hurried defense, he had already adjusted to the rhythm of their joint assault.
"Is that all you've got? Then, unfortunately, you're still no match for me, King Piccolo!"
"Haaah-!"
King Piccolo sneered, then abruptly let out a roar.
In an instant, the arms and legs he had been using to hurriedly fend them off suddenly lengthened.
This was his special ability as a Namekian, allowing him to stretch and lengthen his limbs in battle.
Tien Shinhan had information about King Piccolo's abilities in his memories.
When King Piccolo's left leg suddenly extended and tried to coil around him, Tien Shinhan was ready and dodged it.
Goku, beside him, was caught off guard by King Piccolo's suddenly lengthening right arm and became entangled.
In an instant, the arm wrapped around Kid Goku tightened fiercely, like a python constricting its prey-tighter and tighter!
"Aaah-!"
The tightening arm crushed painfully against Kid Goku's bones, and he could not help crying out as he struggled.
"Hahaha! I'll finish one of you off first!"
King Piccolo regretted that his hidden trump card had failed to catch Tien Shinhan.
But at the sight of Kid Goku's pained expression, he still could not help showing a hint of cruel mockery.
Dodon Ray!
Yet King Piccolo had not expected Tien Shinhan to have prepared a counterattack even as he dodged his coiling left leg.
A beam flashed through the air. The condensed, compressed ki unleashed destructive power greater than Tien Shinhan's normal fighting strength, piercing straight through King Piccolo's right arm.
Seeing this, Goku seized the opportunity to open his mouth wide and take another fierce bite right beside the hole Tien Shinhan had shot through King Piccolo's right arm.
"Aaah-!"
King Piccolo inwardly cursed, wondering whether Kid Goku was a dog. In a fight between martial artists, he had actually resorted to biting!
This time, the one screaming in pain was no longer Kid Goku, but King Piccolo.
Combined with the hole Tien Shinhan had blasted through it, Kid Goku's bite severed a section of King Piccolo's right arm.
Just then, a blade flashed nearby.
The flash was bright, swift, and exceptionally sharp.
Unfortunately, it came a moment too late.
After agonizing over what to do, Yajirobe had finally sprung into action, intending to seize the opportunity to cut off King Piccolo's arm and rescue Goku.
He had not expected Kid Goku and Tien Shinhan to work together and free Goku first.
As a result, his slash struck empty air.
"Ah! Who are you now?"
Already furious over his severed arm, King Piccolo saw Yajirobe launch a sneak attack on him from hiding.
Although the sneak attack had failed, the mere intention of taking advantage of the chaos was already reason enough for him to die!
"Huh? Hehe, would you believe me if I said I was just passing by? Carry on, carry on!"
Having missed his strike and drawn King Piccolo's wrath for nothing, Yajirobe inwardly wailed that he had really lost out this time.
Had he known Tien Shinhan and Goku could free Goku themselves, he would simply have stayed hidden in the grass.
Why did I have to play the hero?
While smiling and offering King Piccolo an explanation, Yajirobe landed and immediately took to his heels, racing toward the distant bushes.
"Damn you! Once I slaughter these two, you'll be the third to die, fatty!"
Death Beam!
King Piccolo casually fired an energy beam toward the bushes where Yajirobe had disappeared, but failed to hit him.
However, with Tien Shinhan and Goku right before him, having actually cost him an arm, he decided to put the little fatty's death off until later.
"To think you could sever one of my arms. It seems I underestimated you!
But if you mistakenly think you can defeat me like this, you're far too naive!"
"Haaaaah-!"
Beads of sweat appeared on King Piccolo's aged face as he unleashed an even more powerful aura amid his furious roar.
In the blink of an eye, an arm coated in an unidentified fluid grew back from the severed stump.
Self-Regeneration!
The half an arm they had worked so hard to sever had actually grown back so quickly.
"How is that possible?"
Watching the scene before him, the excitement on Krillin's face abruptly vanished.
King Piccolo was far harder to deal with than he had imagined.
"Sigh, I knew this would happen. It looks like I'll have to use that move..."
Master Roshi sighed, then laid down his cane and began warming up his body.
Yet just as everyone was feeling uneasy about the situation before them, Tien Shinhan keenly noticed that King Piccolo's aura was unstable.
King Piccolo seemed to have grown stronger through his roaring and Self-Regeneration, but in reality, his strength was already on its last legs.
No matter how arrogant his words were, or how little regard he showed for Goku and him.
The sweat now covering his forehead, and the panting that remained obvious despite his efforts to conceal it, both indicated that his aged body had little stamina left.
Now!
"King Piccolo, look at this!"
As Tien Shinhan's shout rang out, King Piccolo instinctively glanced toward the bushes out of the corner of his eye.
The Tien Shinhan clone that had been hiding in the bushes all this time suddenly jumped out.
More importantly, a rice cooker now stood in front of him!
There was even a sealing talisman pasted to the side of the rice cooker!
The familiar sight made King Piccolo, who had only intended to check the situation with a sidelong glance, turn his head and stare straight at Tien Shinhan's clone.
In this all-too-familiar scene, the Evil Containment Wave that had sealed him away for over three hundred years suddenly appeared again, frightening King Piccolo so badly that his face turned green!