One year after the World Martial Arts Tournament ended.
Goku no longer knew how high his power level had reached, but one thing was certain: he was over a hundred times stronger than he had been a year ago.
"Goku, are you leaving?"
Bulma watched Goku pack his things, reluctant to see him go.
"Yeah! To get stronger."
Goku finished packing, slung his things over his back, and went out onto the balcony.
"Can't you get stronger using the gravity chamber at my place?" Bulma followed him onto the balcony.
"No. I can get stronger here, but my martial arts realm improves very slowly."
"Then where are you going?" Bulma tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and turned to ask Goku.
"There, beyond the horizon!"
Goku looked up into the distance, where the clouds on the horizon had turned crimson in the setting sun.
Reddish-gold sunlight streamed through the clouds onto the balcony, giving Bulma's and Goku's hair a reddish tint. For some reason, as Bulma gazed at the beautiful sunset on the horizon, she felt an emotion she couldn't quite describe.
"Beyond the horizon?"
"Mm!"
"How long will you be gone?"
"A year? Two years? Maybe longer."
"Then will you come back to see me?"
"I will!" Goku turned to look at Bulma.
"Bulma, can you give me the Dragon Radar?" Goku didn't want to waste the chance to use the Dragon Balls once a year. How could he not make good use of them?
For instance, during the past year, Goku had taken the Dragon Radar and gathered the Dragon Balls on his own, then wished for Saiyans to be able to survive in space.
"No!"
"Huh?"
"You want to use the Dragon Radar to find the Dragon Balls once a year, right?"
"Yes."
"Fine, then come find me every year and take me with you to look for the Dragon Balls." Bulma smiled at Goku.
"Huh? I can find the Dragon Balls really fast. You can just give it to me. Sorry for the trouble." Goku, being utterly straightforward, didn't understand.
"Nope~ Goku, this is how I make sure you don't forget me as a friend."
"So be good and come find me every year."
"Okay, okay!"
Now that Bulma had said that, what else could Goku do?
"Well, goodbye, Bulma!"
Goku lifted off the ground, waved, and slowly flew up into the sky.
"Goodbye, Goku!"
Bulma leaned against the balcony railing and watched Goku fly farther and farther away. Suddenly, she shouted:
"Goku, don't forget our promise! Once a year! If you forget, I won't let you off!"
"Okay!"
Goku was already out of sight, but his voice still rang across the sky.
After leaving West City, Goku suddenly picked up speed. First, he was going to wipe out the Red Ribbon Army.
Goku was seeking out the Red Ribbon Army himself to wipe them out. After all, they were no good.
Something like the Red Ribbon Army was better wiped out sooner rather than later. If he waited too long, who knew what kind of trouble they might stir up?
He would be doing his part for peace on Earth, too.
Wiping them out was easy enough; it just took a little time.
Goku first went to the Red Ribbon Army's main base. After getting a map of all their branch bases, he fired energy blasts down at them one by one from high in the sky.
What was a dimensionality reduction strike? This was one.
The Red Ribbon Army's main base and all its branch bases turned into fireworks and vanished from the world.
As expected, something unexpected happened. Dr. Gero's base wasn't on the map Goku found, so Cell and the androids were unavoidable.
At his current rate of progress, Cell wouldn't be a problem when he appeared, but the thought that Cell had his cells still bothered him.
After wiping out the Red Ribbon Army, Goku flew straight to Korin Tower and arrived at its base.
At a glance, the white pillar stretched up into the sky, seemingly without end.
Goku flew up along the white pillar.
"Hello, Master!" Landing on Korin Tower, Goku greeted Master Korin, who was grilling a fish.
"Have you come for the Sacred Water?" Master Korin asked Son Goku after swallowing the grilled fish in one bite.
"No, I'm here to train."
Hearing Goku's answer, Master Korin nodded.
"Hmm, good. The Sacred Water was a sham to begin with. But you're already so strong. Do you still need to train?"
"Of course. My power is strong, but my martial arts realm is still very low. I came here to raise it."
"Oh, right, these are my gifts to thank you." With that, Goku took several large baskets of fish out of a Hoi-Poi Capsule.
Master Korin's eyes lit up the moment he saw the fish.
"Good, good, good. You can just call me Master Korin from now on. Now, suppress your Ki to the same level as mine and attack me," Master Korin said to Goku after hurriedly putting the fish away.
"Okay!"
After suppressing it to the same level as Master Korin's, Goku threw a punch, but Master Korin easily dodged it.
Goku quickly spun around with a sweeping kick, only for Master Korin to brace a hand against Goku's leg and flip over it.
"All right, that's enough. I know now." Master Korin motioned for Goku to stop.
"Your martial arts realm isn't low, but some of your movements are still unnecessary. Take that sweeping kick just now. You didn't need to turn so far."
Master Korin said this after Goku stopped.
"You'll have to slowly correct all those bad habits yourself. As for the rest, there isn't much I can teach you, but there's someone who can: Kami."
"Kami?" Goku pretended to be surprised.
"That's right! He lives at the Lookout above Korin Tower. The Power Pole on your back connects Korin Tower to the Lookout, but since you know the Flight Technique, you won't need it." Master Korin had noticed the Power Pole on Goku's back long ago.
"Okay, thank you, Master Korin. I heard you have some kind of magical beans here. Can I trade you something for them?"
Goku really coveted the Senzu Beans. In the later parts of the original story, he had practically wished he could split a single bean into four portions.
"You mean Senzu Beans? I have six jars. What are you offering in exchange?"
Master Korin glanced at the fish beside him, giving Son Goku a hint.
Goku immediately caught on. In fact, even without Master Korin's hint, he had a whole pile of fish stashed in his Hoi-Poi Capsule.
What did it mean to foresee things like a god? He leaned back.
He pressed the Hoi-Poi Capsule and tossed it onto the ground. A huge pile suddenly appeared, at least several thousand fish.
"Take them all, take them all, you can take them all! The Senzu Beans are over there."
Master Korin dove straight into the pile of fish and pointed in the direction of the Senzu Beans. He paid Goku no further attention, immersed in a sea of happiness.
Goku walked over to the jars of Senzu Beans. Looking at the six full jars, containing at least ten thousand beans, he couldn't help marveling. There really were a lot of Senzu Beans now, before Yajirobe, that tank-build Yasuo, had gotten his hands on them. He could eat his fill later on.
Goku took only five jars and put them into a Hoi-Poi Capsule, leaving one behind. He couldn't very well take them all, could he?
Just because Master Korin said he could take them all, did that mean he had to? This was knowing how to deal with people, and Goku had that down pat.
"Well, goodbye, Master Korin. I'll bring you more fish the next time we meet."
Goku waved and flew up toward the Lookout, but Master Korin paid him no attention, wholly absorbed in the pile of fish. When he heard "fish," though, he raised his head and looked around.
"Fish? What fish?"