Papaya Island, Tenka'ichi Budōkai Temple Grounds

"T-Tao Pai Pai?!"

Muten Roshi Was astonished and shocked to hear that Tsuru-Sennin's brother had survived his encounter with Gokū and Caulifla 6 years ago, albeit in a much different state than when first encountered.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," Gokū nodded. "But he's not what worries me."

"Chi-Chi took him down effortlessly," Caulifla added. "I'm excited to fight her, but there's one problem."

"Don't tell me she's ugly," Roshi joked with a small goofy chuckle, to which Caulifla responded a swift clonk atop his bald head. "Ow! I was just joking!"

"This isn't the time for jokes!" Caulifla snapped. "Chi-Chi has a tail now, just like us!"

Everyone went silent at this revelation, and began to worry for the same reasons as Gokū and Caulifla. Bulma was first to voice her opinion on the matter.

"Why would she do that?" Bulma asked, worried about the possibility of a rampaging Oozaru Chi-Chi, but also wondering why she would seek out the monkey tails her engaged friends have. "I don't get why she'd do that."

"I have a few ideas," Caulifla sighed as she held her chin. "One is that she thinks our strength is rooted in it, which is… loosely true, and wanted the advantage. Another idea is, well…"

"She's probably still vying for me," Gokū finished, shaking his head with disappointment. "It might also just be that she still holds a grudge against Caulifla, but who knows? As for her new tail, we've been running through the options we have when the full moon comes out."

"'When?!'" Bulma echoed, now absolutely horrified that Chi-Chi will, in fact, transform into an Oozaru this evening.

"Gokū and I already have full control," Caulifla added, trying to calm her friends down. "We just have to hope Chi-Chi trained as well. If not, I'll have to wrangle her down."

"And if that fails…" Gokū added before trailing off, looking skyward. "We may have to destroy the moon as a last resort."

That idea alone left everyone stunned, barring Muten Roshi himself. Gokū took note of this and smirked. "You were gonna try that back when I transformed here last, weren't you?" Gokū inquired, while Muten Roshi simply smiled in response.

"If it wasn't for Caulifla's quick thinking, I would've," Roshi chuckled. "It seems you have every possible contingency accounted for, lad." The hermit then turned his attention towards Caulifla. "And don't worry. If you transform during your fight with Chi-Chi, I'll look away.~"

Caulifla couldn't help but laugh at this gesture, leaving the Kame-Sennin somewhat confused. "I appreciate the gesture, Muten Roshi, but we also have that covered as well," Caulifla sighed once she recovered from her laughing fit. "During our training with Kami, we requested that our gis be adjusted to account for that. So if either of us transform, our clothes will stretch to compensate."

"Assuming battle hasn't reduced our gis to shreds that is,~" Gokū joked.

"Oh shut up," Caulifla smiled as she playfully jabbed Gokū's arm. The Saiyan woman then did a quick headcount of her friends and noticed some missing figures. "Hey, where're Gebo and Checka?"

"They stayed back home," Bulma answered casually. "They don't tend to get out much. Gebo's practically a magnet to all the birds in the garden, and Checka's been looking over math for the engineering teams."

"Ah well," Gokū shrugged, slightly off-put that 2 of his friends weren't here, but was alright regardless. "Maybe they'll catch the matches on TV or the radio."

"Attention finalists!" The announcer called out over the loudspeaker. "Please make your way to the temple green room!"

"That's our cue," Gokū said as he gave a quick two-finger salute before running off. "See ya in the arena!"

Tenka'ichi Budōkai Arena

"Wwwwwelcome, ladies, gentlemen, and those otherwise specified, to the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budōkai!" The announcer declared over his wireless microphone with supreme gusto, earning a loud cheer from the audience. "This year's lineup is going to be an exciting one folks! 8 fighters will prove their mettle in this ring, but only one will reign supreme, taking home 500,000 zeni, and the esteemed title of STRONGEST UNDER THE HEAVENS!"

The announcer paused to allow the audience to cheer in excitement before the crowd began to die down. "Without further ado, let's introduce our first two contestants! Contestants Son Gokū and Tenshinhan, please step forth!"

The two fighters in question walked out onto the ring, giving a small fist bump before separating to opposite sides and performing a small bow towards each other. Once they did so, they allowed the announcer to do his thing while they did some stretches to loosen up.

"We all remember these two grand competitors from the finals of the 22nd Tenka'ichi Budōkai!" The announcer declared. "Son Gokū has proven his mettle time and time again and has come runner up each time! Will the third time be the charm for him?! Opposite to him is none other than Tenshinhan! This fighter, once affiliated with the Crane School has branched out and through his feats of strength and skill has taken home the gold last time! Will he succeed in defending his title?! Ooooh, the anticipation is killing me! Without further ado, Fighters, prepare yourselves!"

Gokū nodded and settled into a comfortable fighting stance while wrapping his tail around his waist, as was his usual approach before a fight. The Saiyan couldn't help but smirk at the prospect of fighting Tenshinhan off the bat, and the three-eyed warrior in question was no different. He settled into a stance of his own and kept a keen ear out for the taiko drums to reach a trill.

"This is gonna be an intense fight," Kuririn noted. "We saw how they fought last time, it wouldn't surprise me if it was close again now."

"If by close, you mean in an astronomical sense, then sure," Caulifla countered. "Tenshinhan's gonna need to pull out all the stops if he wants to win."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lunch questioned, a mild err of annoyance in her voice.

"Just saying it how I see it, Lunch," Caulifla shrugged as the Saiyan woman returned her attention to the ring.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the fruits of your training with God," Tenshinhan chuckled as he adjusted his stance ever so slightly, hearing the taiko drums begin to ramp up to a trill.

"Try to keep up, buddy," Gokū chuckled as he got ready to spring into action at the sound of the-

GONG!

"BEGIN!"

Spurred by the announcer's voice and the gong, Gokū and Tenshinhan sprang forth and clashed at the center of the ring faster than anyone could blink. The ex-Crane Schooler followed up with several pinpoint jabs, which Gokū saw coming and vaulted back and then jumped up. Tenshinhan was not going to allow his opponent to get away and pursued, firing a single-handed blast of ki. Gokū saw this and clasped his hands together and grinned.

"Serves up!" Gokū shouted as he smacked the sphere right back at Tenshinhan. The three-eyed warrior was annoyed that Gokū pulled that joke and batted the rebounded attack away. He soon reached the Saiyan's elevation and the two began to unleash a volley of attacks mid-air. "Was that joke a bit too much?"

"Volleyball is my schtick!" Tenshinhan shouted back, throwing several knifehand jabs at his opponent. "You don't see me doing Rock Paper Scissors with your face!"

"Well now's your chance to try!" Gokū grinned as the two of them exchanged blows in free fall. By the time they reached below 30 meters above the ring, the two fighters sprung away from one another and took to the ground once more, launching themselves forth before vanishing from sight.

"Oh! Ladies and gentlemen, Son Gokū and Tenshinhan have both vanished!" The announcer declared. "We can only hear sounds! I can only hazard a guess they're moving too fast for us to even see!"

"Holy crap!" Kuririn gasped in amazement. "Those two are evenly matched!"

"No kidding!" Lunch added. "I can barely keep up with Tien's movements!"

"I wish I could say the same," Caulifla added calmly, earning confused looks in her direction. "You guys might not see it, but I know for a fact this match isn't even."

"Eh, you're just biased 'cause it's your fiance in the ring," Lunch shrugged.

"You'll see what I mean soon enough," Caulifla responded with a small smirk, turning her attention back to the high-speed fight.

Back in the ring, Gokū and Tenshinhan reappeared before one another and locked fists in a power struggle. Tenshinhan was visibly struggling to gain an advantage, while Gokū looked as calm as could be. Eventually, Gokū smirked and relaxed his force, causing Tenshinhan to vault over the Saiyan, who capitalized on this and delivered a quick double kick to the gut, sending him flying. Tenshinhan was quick to recover and once again vanished from sight, only to reappear and charge forth at Gokū, who easily leapt out of the way. This game of cat and mouse continued for a few bouts until Tenshinhan got behind his opponent and delivered a fierce right hook at Gokū, only for him to fade away.

"What the-?!" Tenshinhan gasped as he had realized he had attacked a zanzoken, only for the real Gokū to stand over to his right, giving a fun-loving grin and a goofy giggle.

"Funny how you fell for that one again," Gokū chuckled.

"What an astounding first match, folks!" The announcer cheered over his microphone. "These two are certainly not allowing one another to breathe! These two competitors seem practically even!"

"That announcer isn't seeing the big picture," Chi-Chi muttered, perched atop one of the awnings of the arena alongside Piccolo. "Tenshinhan's already out of breath, but Gokū isn't. He has the edge in endurance."

"Even so, This Tenshinhan character has the edge in terms of speed at the moment," Piccolo added, observing the battle below.

"At the moment," Chi-Chi echoed with a nod.

"Incredible, Gokū," Tenshinhan congratulated as he relaxed his breathing. "Three years ago, I thought your strength was at its zenith. Looks like I was wrong. However, you've slacked on one tiny detail."

"And that is?" Gokū asked, noticing Tenshinhan smirk.

"Speed!"

Immediately, Tenshinhan charged forth, but vanished from sight. Gokū looked up and then vanished as well. This left the entire audience, announcer included, as well as those in the waiting wings surprised, except for Caulifla, who had her head tilted upwards.

"C-Contestant Son Gokū and Contestant Tenshinhan have vanished again!" The announcer stammered. A loud rumble from above prompted him to look up and saw an orange blur clashing with a green and red one. "Wait! They're in the air now!"

To the untrained eye, it was all a blur, but to the eyes of a few who were observing, it was clear as day. Gokū was throwing blow after blow, only to hit rapidly decaying after-images of his opponent. The Saiyan could track his opponent, but could not hit him.

"So you can track me, eh?" Tenshinhan chuckled. "Well seeing where I am won't help you if you can't hit me!"

The three-eyed warrior soon appeared above and behind Gokū, and delivered a massive sledgehammer move that Gokū could not block in time, and was sent hurtling towards the arena. He was able to land with a 3 point landing, but soon sprung forth as he saw Tenshinhan was descending to meet him at ground level. Gokū prepared an elbow to deliver a jab, but Tenshinhan left another zanzoken and all the Saiyan hit was air. Eventually, Tenshinhan reappeared and delivered a massive kick that sent Gokū flying, almost to the bounds of the arena, but he was quick to adjust his momentum. With a quick brisk of his own ki, he threw himself into a spin and managed to land back onto the ring, smiling the entire time.

"Unbelievable!" The announcer gasped in amazement. "Tenshinhan's speed increased so much that Gokū can't even counter anymore!"

"Hehehe! You were throttling your speed, weren't you?" Gokū accused with a small giggle.

"I wanted to see what you could do at first," Tenshinhan sighed as he relaxed a bit. "Sure enough, your speed has stagnated. You might be able to track my movements, but that won't mean a thing if you can't keep pace yourself. I'm afraid this match is mine."

"Well, before we jump to conclusions, can I take a quick time-out?" Gokū asked. "I need to shed some clothes a wee bit."

"Fair enough," Tenshinhan nodded, removing his shirt. "It's pretty hot out today, so I can't blame you."

"I can see Master Karin's training did wonders for ya," Gokū commented as he removed his orange gi shirt and began to remove the blue shirt from underneath.

"So it was that obvious, huh?" Tenshinhan commented aloud. "Me, Kuririn, Yamcha, and Lunch all got the same treatment."

"And this is where Tenshinhan loses,~" Caulifla commented as Gokū began to struggle to take off his deep blue shirt.

"Really? Gokū looks like he's struggling to just get a shirt off," Kuririn countered.

"Well, at least he's packing goods underneath," Lunch added as he saw Gokū's musculature emerge. "You do know how to pick 'em."

CRASH!

"What the-?!" Tenshinhan was stunned at what he had just seen. Gokū's shirt hit the arena like a bag of lead bricks and left several cracks in the tiles. "Uh, Gokū, do you mind if I look at your shirt?"

"Hm? Nah, go ahead," Gokū said as he slipped his gi shirt back on.

Tenshinhan gripped the shirt, and while expecting it to weigh as much as any other fabric, found that it weighed as much as several ingots of lead. "What the-What is this?!" Tenshinhan stammered as he struggled to pick up the shirt. "This damn thing weighs a ton! You've been fighting in this?!"

"Yep!" Gokū nodded, beginning to remove his wristbands, each falling to the arena with a dull thud, cracking even more tile. He then began removing his boots, leaving Tenshinhan even more stunned. "It was part of Kami's training. It's actually the same idea as Muten Roshi's training, what with the weighted turtle shell and all."

"Y-Your wristbands, and your boots?!" Tenshinhan stammered in disbelief, holding both articles of clothing, each weighing as much as a bag of concrete.

"Here," Kuririn said as he walked up to his friend, Caulifla following along. "Lemme help you with these."

"Thanks, buddy," Gokū thanked with a small chuckle. "Fair warning: That stuff's heavy."

"Oh come on, It can't be that-Wha-What in the-?!" Kuririn stammered, trying to lift the boot off the ground, and then weirdly enough, trying them on himself. "How did you even move wearing these lead boots?! At least there's no water around."

"Alright, I think we've had enough show-and-tell with Gokū's weighted gear," Caulifla nonchalantly stated as she picked up the weighted shirt and wristbands with little to moderate effort, stunning everyone even more. "So, anyone wanna guess how much weight he was packing?"

"Uh, 100 kilograms?" Kuririn guessed.

"200," Caulifla corrected with a smirk, enjoying the shock on everyone's faces.

"Y-You mean to tell me that you've been fighting with 200 kilograms of weight?!" Tenshinhan stammered in pure disbelief. The audience and announcer shared in this shock.

"Yep!" Gokū gleefully hopped up to his feet, bouncing up and down like a rubber ball. "Now I feel a lot lighter! Would you believe me that I started with 140 kilograms before this?"

"Seems there's no limit to how far you'll go, but at least this'll make things more interesting," Tenshinhan smirked, assuming an aggressive Crane-style stance. "Let's see how much a difference shedding some weights will make!"

Tenshinhan bolted forward with a mighty roar. Gokū simply smirked and vanished from sight. The Three-eyed Warrior then caught sight of Gokū and vaulted over to where he reappeared, the Saiyan raising a forearm to block the incoming attack.

"Not bad," Tenshinhan chuckled. "You're faster, but I'm still able to track you."

"Oh yeah?~" Gokū cheekily retorted, before raising his other arm, a red cloth gripped in his fist. "Then who's obi is this?"

"Wha-?!" Tenshinhan stammered as his pants began to slip down, revealing a pair of white boxer shorts.

The audience soon began to laugh and Tenshinhan's face began to turn red from the embarrassment. Over by the waiting wings, Kuririn and Caulifla couldn't help but snicker at the three-eyed warrior's misfortune, while Lunch was holding her nose, her face red as a brick. Piccolo was unfazed by this display, but was genuinely impressed by Gokū's speed, while Chi-Chi, simply shut her eyes and turned away, a small blush on her face, embarrassed that she had to see that.

"Alright, my mistake for underestimating you," Tenshinhan smirked. "Guess I'll have to break out this next technique sooner than anticipated."

"Right," Gokū nodded with a chuckle, holding out Tenshinhan's obi. "But I'm gonna guess you'll want this back, right?~"

"ACK!" Tenshinhan gasped, forgetting he was literally caught with his pants down and hastily grabbed his obi from the prankster before him. He then proceeded to pull his pants up and tie his obi back up. "Can we not have anymore pranks like that?!"

"Sorry," Gokū chuckled, scratching the back of his head as he is known to do. "Just a bit of fun is all. So what's this technique of yours? It's not the Kikoho, or whatever it is, right?"

"Oh no, definitely not," Tenshinhan sighed, now recomposed and decent. "The Kikoho is far too dangerous for the both of us. Besides, you'd be able to dodge it, given how fast you are. This next move doesn't have the advantage of speed, but you certainly won't be able to dodge this!"

"Okay, now I don't know if you're bluffing or being serious," Gokū said, somewhat confused. How could he not dodge this next move, despite his speed?

"Trust me, I'm not bluffing," Tenshinhan smirked, holding up his forearms in an X formation and his knuckles curled. "Sorry, Gokū, but this match is mine!"

Tenshinhan clenched his fists and slowly pulled his arms apart. As he did so, his form began to split, almost as if two Tenshinhans were superimposed over one another before completely separating and turning solid. Gokū was surprised by this technique, and this even caught Piccolo's attention. The two Tenshinhans crossed their arms again and proceeded to repeat the gesture, both duplicates splitting into two more, totalling 4 Tenshinhans.

"O-Okay, folks! That's a new one! There's now four Tenshinhans!" The announcer stammered, practically baffled by this unorthodox technique.

"Whoa!" Gokū gasped in surprise. "This isn't a zanzoken, is it?"

"Certainly not," The Tenshinhan on the far left answered.

"Each one of us is real," The next one over added.

"Now allow us…"

"To introduce you to…"

"The Shishinnoken!" All four Tenshinhans said in legion. "The fist of four bodies! You can evade 3 eyes, but how about 12?!"

Immediately, the Quadruplet clones of Tenshinhan dashed to the four corners of the ring, completely surrounding Gokū, cutting off all ground-based means of escape. With a synchronized shout, the clones each fired a beam of bright yellow ki towards their target in the center.

"Whoa crap!" Gokū yelped as he quickly jumped up, avoiding the deadly pincer move. The four blasts collided below him, but Tenshinhan was not going to let up. His four forms held their index and middle fingers along their respective temples, and a beam of orange ki fired out of each of their third eyes, hitting Gokū dead-on. When the smoke cleared, Gokū swiftly descended to the ground. He was unscathed, but the impact from that attack looked to have fazed him, as he gingerly clutched his abdomen. "Alright, that smarts!" Gokū groaned as he stood back up.

"Heh. Still think I'm bluffing?" Tenshinhan chuckled. "The way things are now, you should concede. Another attack like that might leave you worse off than you are now."

"Oooooh, that ain't happening, Tien old buddy,~" Caulifla muttered, watching the whole ordeal from the waiting wings. She saw two glaring issues, and was positive her fiance saw the same.

"Damn," Kuririn gasped in amazement. "After tanking a hit like that, he's not even winded."

"Sorry, Tien, but I'm not conceding," Gokū chuckled. "Because I'm not getting hit by that stunt again."

"Ha! Now you're the one bluffing!" Tenshinhan laughed. "How do you expect to avoid being hit again?"

"I noticed 2 very specific flaws in your strategy," Gokū answered, holding up two fingers for emphasis.

"Alright, now I'm positive you're bluffing," Tenshinhan smirked as he was unconvinced by Gokū's assessment.

"Try me," Gokū dared, smirking at each of the four Tenshinhans standing before him.

"Well, if you insist," Tenshinhan sighed, believing this victory was being handed to him on a silver platter. "One more time, but at full strength!"

"Is Gokū seriously throwing this right now?" Lunch asked aloud. "Not that I'm complaining, but just flat-out saying "uncle" is a bit more dignified than this."

"Nope," Caulifla flatly answered, pulling out 4 pairs of sunglasses, and putting one pair on her face. "You guys might need these."

Lunch and Kuririn each took a pair of sunglasses with a hint of confusion, but the masked lady simply held up a hand and shook her head. "I've already got this mask," She said with a small chuckle.

"Fair enough," Caulifla shrugged, putting away the spare pair of sunglasses.

Back in the arena, the four Tenshinhans spread out to the four corners of the arena again. Gokū stood in the center, not assuming any stance this time. Eventually, the clones fired another volley at the Saiyan in the center. Just like last time, Gokū leapt up, and out of the way of the blast zone. The Tenshinan quadruplets locked onto their target and prepared their eye beam attack once more.

"It's over, Son Gokū!" one of the Tenshinhans shouted upward. "You can't escape my 12 eyes!"

"Oh yes I can!~" Gokū cheekily retorted in a sing-song tone. Right before the clones could fire, Gokū splayed his hands out at the sides of his face. "Oh, and sorry in advance for plagiarizing the Crane School! TAIYŌKEN!"

With the power of a flash grenade mixed with a high power welding torch, Gokū created a brilliantly blinding light around his being, instantly blinding the Tenshinhans on the ground, and everyone who was not wearing sunglasses.

"AAAARGH!" The Tenshinhan's all screamed in pain as they each clutched their eyes. "MY EYES!"

"Whoa!" The announcer gasped. "Contestant Son Gokū appears to have used a Crane School Specialty against Contestant Tenshinhan Times Four!" That joke earned a few boos from the audience as the ones without sunglasses tried to recover their eyesight as well.

"Flaw Number One!" Gokū declared as he deftly landed back down and held up a finger with his arms crossed. "Your eyes are too good."

"D-Damnit!" Tenshinhan groaned, all of his eyes still clenched shut. "Of all the moves to get me…!"

Tenshinhan and his clones proceeded to throw punches wildly at Gokū, each of which he was able to dodge without even trying.

"You relied too much on your eyes to track me," Gokū explained as he avoided several blinded haymakers. "So naturally using the Taiyōken was the best way to deal with that. You just made it worse by adding 9 more eyes into the mix. And since you can't see, you can't pinpoint your attacks."

"Rgh, Schooled like this…" Tenshinhan growled with slight indignation, despite understanding what Gokū was getting at. Eventually, his eyesight began to recover, and he and his clones could start to see again. "The same should apply to you then."

"Hehehe! Sorry, but that's not the case anymore,~" Gokū giggled, gesturing a thumb towards one of the Tenshinhan clones approaching quietly from behind. "You've got a clone trying to sneak up on me with his right hand ready to chop."

"Wha-?! How did you know that?!" The Tenshinhan clone in question exclaimed as he dropped his attack.

"You wanted to see the fruits of my training with Kami, right?" Gokū cheekily answered. "Looks like your eyesight's recovered. Sorry, but I'm gonna go ahead and win this match now."

"Calling the match before it's over?" Tenshinhan smirked. "Well, I'm quick to adapt, so I won't fall for the Taiyōken twice."

"I know," Gokū nodded. "That's why I'm gonna exploit Flaw Number Two. Specifically, You done goofed by splitting into 4!"

"Oh crap!" all four Tenshinhans exclaimed in shock as Gokū began to bolt around the arena, tossing around the clones like they were nothing. Eventually, Gokū sent them all flying, and one by one, they landed outside of the arena in a heap. The clones evaporated and Tenshinhan was one individual again.

"I win,~" Gokū said flatly with a chuckle and victory sign. "Not a bad strategy splitting into 4 fighters, but you were dividing your strength instead of multiplying it. Kinda basic math right there."

"So you saw the issue?" Tenshinhan sighed as he pulled himself up to the edge of the ring. "And here I thought I could hide the fact."

"O-Okay, I take back what I said," Lunch stammered, hardly believing what she had witnessed. "I thought you were just biased."

"Ah, don't worry about it," Caulifla dismissed airily. "I've been training with Gokū, so I know the extent of his power."

"I can only imagine what extents you'll know after you get things official," Lunch muttered, trying to hold back a snicker, but all Caulifla could do was roll her eyes and sigh.

"Huh-Oh!" The announcer stuttered as he snapped back to reality after a good 30 seconds. "C-Contestant Tenshinhan has been knocked out of bounds! The returning champion has been defeated, and Contestant Son Gokū is the winner! We'll take a 20 minute recess before continuing to the second match!"

The crowd cheered as Gokū proceeded to walk off the ring, giving a small fist bump to his fiance as he entered the green room. He sat down at one of the benches, but then his attention was grabbed by a familiar, and unexpected presence. Caulifla noticed this as well and the two began to follow the trail. Kuririn and Lunch wondered why they were wandering off, but decided to guess as to why. Eventually, Gokū and Caulifla found themselves within the empty Gymnasium, extending their senses to pinpoint the presence that they felt. They soon locked onto it and Gokū smiled.

"Alright, you can come out of the corner, Kami," Gokū chuckled as he pointed to a partition in one of the far corners of the gymnasium.

Out from behind the partition stepped the God of Earth himself, his form slightly obscured as if to keep himself from being noticed. He eventually took a solid form as he stepped forth.

"Was it that obvious?" Kami asked with a simple smile.

"It wasn't until your ki slightly welled up after Gokū's match," Caulifla answered. "I can tell you're not here just to watch us compete."

"I actually figured it out sooner," Gokū added. "During the prelims, there was this particular fighter, one 'Mr. Shen' I had to deal with."

Kami's smile faded into a frown. "You are correct," he answered bluntly. "I have to consider all of my options in regards to stopping Piccolo, especially now that he has an accomplice."

"I understand your concerns, but this is our fight to handle," Gokū retorted. "You've trained us for 3 years to prepare for this after all."

Kami remained silent, his expression grim. Caulifla was able to put two and two together to understand what Kami was after.

"You want us to kill him outright, don't you?" Caulifla inquired in a serious tone, to which Kami nodded in response. "We can't do that."

"What?!" Kami exclaimed, the green god surprised at such a decision. "You understand the risks if Piccolo Daimao continues to exist! This cannot be because of the rules of this tournament, is it not?"

"That's partly it," Caulifla elaborated. "Both Gokū and I heard you talking with Mr. Popo, about how your life forces are linked. If either one of you dies, the other will die as well."

"Well," Kami sighed. "You could bring me back with the Dragon Balls, could you not?"

Gokū frowned at this idea, knowing what would happen. "No," he countered. "I've also learned from Mr. Popo that the Dragon Balls are tied to your life force as well. And even if they weren't, who's to say resurrecting you wouldn't bring back Piccolo as well?"

"Speaking of Piccolo," Caulifla butted in. "This version isn't the same as the one we had to deal with 3 years ago. I can already tell."

"How so?" Kami arched a brow, wondering what Caulifla meant.

"You'll see as the tournament proceeds," Gokū answered. "In the meantime, I'm going to ask that you not intervene."

Kami appeared to be very reluctant to make this decision. On one hand, these two were far more capable than he could have foreseen, but on the other hand, simply letting Piccolo go on such a hunch did not sit right with him. In the end, he relented and agreed.

"Very well," Kami sighed. "I shall not interfere. However, should he prove to defeat you, I will not hesitate to step in."

"Good," Caulifla nodded, her smile returning to her. "We'll be back in the waiting wings."

With that, Gokū and Caulifla walked off, leaving Kami to stew in his own thoughts. What could those two see that he could not? It was a perplexing conundrum, but decided to turn his attention to the coming matches, hoping that he would not have to intervene, per the Saiyan couple's wishes.

"Hmph."

"Something on your mind?" Chi-Chi asked Piccolo as the sudden grunt caught her attention.

"The old man is here," Piccolo answered bluntly before smirking. "It seems he's desperate to intervene, but Son Gokū and Caulifla won't let him."

"Good," Chi-Chi smirked. "I'd hate to have my fight interrupted by God."

"Likewise. Divine intervention should be relegated to those who can't fend for themselves. Not that it would matter."

"In any case, try not to rouse 'divine intervention' as you take out the little billiard ball during your match."

"You don't take kindly to gods, do you?"

"Only those that aid those two. Especially her."

"Well said."

'Ma Junior' stood up from his perch on the awning and waited for the announcer to give the word. He limbered himself by cracking his knuckles as well as his neck, waiting for the recess to end so that he may get to work.

A/N: Hookay! Another chapter in the books! Not much to say, given how vanilla this fight turned out. The only difference being that Tenshinhan is not gonna have the big gash across his man-boob, since Tao Periscope Pai got job'd last chapter. :P In any case, I hope this was a fun read. :)