An aircraft headed its way towards the battlefield. Inside the airship was Bulma, Krillin, and Roshi. Bulma was the one operating the plane, while Roshi and Krillin looked through the window of the airship. Krillin noticed that Piccolo and Sasuke were the only ones standing, while Goku, Naruto, and Gohan were down. "The only ones standing are Piccolo and Sasuke!"

Meanwhile in Outerspace – on an unknown Planet

"Raditz almost died," A large, bald Saiyan said, sitting on a rock. He had a blue scouter attached to his left eye. This was none other than Nappa.

Nappa is a tall muscular man. He had a mustache that was split into two sections. Apparently, he had recently shaved, and wore Saiyan battle armor.

"He is pathetic, seriously." Vegeta said and took a bite of some cooked alien limbs. Apparently, the two of them were near a fireplace where they had cooked their food. There were a bunch of corpses of alien tribes and people around them. A few more were near the fireplace, with torn limbs. "Being almost killed by people whose power level was below 1,000," he was sitting on a corpse and eating his alien food. "I also cannot believe he actually hesitated against that brat known as Naruto when he tried to talk him into stopping what Saiyans are normally dominant at."

Nappa asked, "What should we do? Shall we put this planet on hold and go?"

Vegeta chewed his food for a moment before saying, "They said something interesting. Dragon Balls, was it?"

Nappa nodded. "Yeah. Sounds like they can grant any wish."

Vegeta stood up. "Alright, then let's go," dropping the limb he was eating earlier down onto the ground. "From what I can tell from my scouter, Raditz is still alive. But with his injuries, I don't think he will survive for long, so I might as well turn my communication with Raditz off for now," he then pressed a button on his scouter, cutting his communication line with Raditz."

Nappa was surprised. "Sounds like Raditz might die soon. Sure, he escaped with his remaining power, but by the sound of it, it looks like he doesn't have much time left. So we're not bringing Raditz back with the Dragon Balls?"

Vegeta smirked at Nappa. "Don't make me laugh. We don't need anyone useless like him."

He then walked forward while folding his arms, his back facing Nappa. "We could wish for Immortality. We could never get old, and live forever," he then glanced behind his shoulder at his Saiyan partner and said, "How does that sound?"

Nappa stood up from the rock he was sitting on and walked towards Vegeta, as the Saiyan prince continued, "If we do that, we will be able to enjoy the thrill of battle forever."

Nappa clenched his fist near his right chest and smirked. "I see how it is! Sounds great!" before laughing with bad intentions.

Back with Piccolo and the others – Planet Earth – the Battlefield

"And that's what happened…" Piccolo finished. He had just informed Roshi, Bulma, and Krillin about what had just happened, from the start of the battle, till the end, including the mention of Goku's demise, and also how Naruto used a lot of power and gave Goku enough time to grab his the evil Saiyan's tail.

"I-I see…" Roshi looked down at Goku's fallen body.

Krillin held Goku's hand and urged, "Goku! You gotta stay alive! Just hang in there!"

"Gohan is fine, he is just unconscious," Bulma informed, placing her hand beneath Gohan's back head, and lifting him up slightly. "And the same goes for Naruto."

Sasuke sighed with relief. "It's a good thing things have come to an end, but there's still another threat that will arrive in one year's time… One thing I don't understand is how Naruto was able to put up a decent fight against Raditz? Last time I fought him, his power wasn't even close to Raditz… How did he get so powerful again?" as stared down at the unconscious Naruto who was on the ground near Bulma,

"Thank goodness…" a voice said.

Everyone turned their attention towards Goku, as Goku held Krillin's hand firmly. "Goku, you're conscious!" Krillin said.

"Goku!" Roshi said.

"I don't have to hear Chi-Chi yelling at me as I go," Goku chuckled weakly.

"Goku…" Bulma got teary eyed.

Goku chuckled once again. "Krillin…" catching his best friend's attention. "Dying is really horrible, isn't it?"

"What is it with you, Goku? This isn't like you! Get a hold of yourself!" Krillin said emotionally.

Goku smiled while still lying down on the ground, looking at the bald dwarf. "I think it's too late this time…"

"Don't worry… We will be able to bring you back with the Dragon Balls soon," Krillin assured.

Goku chuckled weakly. "I'm counting on you…"

It was at that moment that Goku lost his life, his eyes slowly closing before dying, shocking everyone including Sasuke.

"GOKU!" Krillin screamed from the top of his lungs, mourning for his best friend's death.

Sasuke trembled in fear. "This is madness! Two more Saiyans will arrive on this planet in one year's time, and they are even stronger?! I have no chance of even fighting against him, even if I had trained under Orochimaru!"

Meanwhile, at Goku's home in Mount Paozu

In the dining room, Chi-Chi was sitting on a chair near a dining table, knitting some clothes for her son on her lap. She looked up a bit and thought to herself, "I guess right now Goku and his friends are having fun at Kame House. I wonder if Gohan's fitting in well," she then smiled. "It'll be fine, anyway," she went back to her knitting. "He is a well-behaved boy, after all."

Chi-Chi paused her knitting and sighed, looking through the window to her left. "I wish I had gone too."

That was when the sound of an aircraft was heard that came along with a voice of a man. "Gohan!"

Chi-Chi beamed up and rushed towards the door, opening it. She saw an aircraft outside and happily went out from the main door. "Father!"

The Ox King got off his aircraft with a bunch of gifts in his hand. Chi-Chi's father was quite large, and had a lot of facial hair. He wore normal clothing along with glasses. His facial hair was pretty detailed.

The Ox King laughed. "Hey, Chi-Chi, where's Gohan?"

Without even waiting for Chi-Chi to at least open her mouth, he decided to walk towards the door, with his daughter stepping aside. "Hey, Gohan! I got you lots of presents!" he tried to fit inside the main door frame, but to no avail because of his large size.

Chi-Chi laughed. "Oh, daddy."

BACK WITH GOKU AND THE OTHERS

"GOKU! GOKU!" Krillin cried, nudging his best friend in the hopes of waking him up. However, deep down he knew his friend was already dead. "Goku! Please, Goku!"

While Krillin was in the middle of his mourning, Roshi also urged, "Please, Goku."

Tears streamed down from Bulma's eyes, as she held Gohan in her arms. "Goku…" she then shook her head while sobbing. "I don't want you to die!"

"He's already dead, forget about it" Sasuke said, placing his hands in his pockets. "We can just revive Goku with these Dragon Balls, right?"

Krillin sniffed and resisted some of his tears. "Yeah… But… It's still shocking…"

"I know how that feels…" Sasuke's gaze dropped to the ground. Piccolo noticed a sad and angry look on the Uchiha's face.

Sasuke clenched his fist in anger. "I also grieved when I saw my clan get killed in front of my own eyes, because of Itachi Uchiha…"

"Itachi Uchiha?" Piccolo raised his non-existent eyebrow.

Sasuke's anger further accelerated, which was evident on his face. "He was someone… who killed my entire clan… ever since that day, I have always been wanting to take my revenge on him."

"I see…" Piccolo nodded in understanding.

Suddenly, Sasuke noticed something. He saw Goku's body about to completely fade away. "Wait, what?!"

Everyone turned their attention back at Goku's corpse and noticed that it was fading away as well, before nothing was left but the ground the Saiyan was on.

"He vanished!" Roshi was shocked.

Piccolo smirked. "I see… This must be Kami's doing."

Roshi and Krillin looked at Piccolo, surprised.

"Only he would be capable of something like this," Piccolo turned around and placed his right hand to the right in a V Shape, putting it down after finishing his sentence while walked forward. "He probably has some sort of plan."

"I wonder what is he planning," Krillin wondered, walking towards Gohan's fallen hat that had the four star dragon ball on it.

"But if it's Kami, then we can take it easy," Roshi added in.

"We have to find the other six dragon balls and bring Goku back to life," Krillin stated, picking up Gohan's hat while staring at the dragon ball attached on top of it.

"Kami? What are you talking about?" Sasuke demanded.

Piccolo picked up his weighted clothing and turned around. "Kami is the guardian of this planet. He watches over the Planet. He probably used his powers to do something with Goku's body."

"Like revive him back to life?"

Piccolo scoffed. "Nah. That's the Dragon Ball's job. Although, me, Kami, and the Dragon Balls are linked."

Sasuke continued to listen intently, as Piccolo went on, "If I die, Kami dies, and if we die, the Dragon Balls won't work."

Sasuke sighed. "I see how it is… Then I guess we'll have to quickly find those Dragon Balls… How long will it take to find them?"

Piccolo scoffed. "If you're thinking I'm going to die against the two other Saiyans, then you're mistaken. I'll be training harder than ever," he then turned his attention towards Krillin. "I expect you to be training as well, if we ever want to have a chance of beating these two Saiyans."

Bulma groaned while still holding Gohan in her arm, bridal style. "Honestly, where could Yamcha and the others be at a time like this?"

Krillin glanced behind his shoulder at Bulma and squinted his eyes lightly at her. "Weren't you the one who decided not to call him to Kame House…?"

"How did Goku's older brother find us so easily in the first place?" Bulma wondered.

"Ignoring what I said, I see. Well, the current circumstance is serious, so I'll let this pass," Krillin mumbled quiet enough for Bulma to not hear.

Piccolo was almost done wearing his weighted clothing. All was left was to put on his weighted turban like headwear. "It was a strange device he wore on his face. It seems that it can tell the enemy's power level, strength, and location."

Sasuke noticed a glimmer in the corner of his eye, and saw Raditz scouter on the ground, its glass shining from the sunlight a bit. "You mean… that?" he pointed at the alien technology piece.

Bulma watched the scouter laying on the ground while taking a few steps forward and picked it up. "He must have dropped this when he escaped, huh?" she then wore it for a bit, testing the buttons on the device before fishing something out of her pocket. It was a screwdriver with a rectangular red box as it's body, and she used it to unscrew the scouter, and open it's top to see the contents inside it.

Inside the scouter, was a bunch of wires and conductors, all the kind of stuff you'd see inside the hardware of any electronic device. Except, this was seemed to be a bit more unique. Tapping the scouter's inner section with her screwdriver, she said quietly, "So this part goes like this..."

Meanwhile, Krillin was trying to look at the opened scouter, but couldn't due to his short height. This made Sasuke wonder why Krillin couldn't just use his flight powers to hover himself up and see it for himself.

"This is an amazing piece of equipment. It's a bit broken, but I'll make do somehow." Bulma concluded with a surprised look on her face while staring at the scouter.

Krillin was surprised. "You're amazing, Bulma."

Bulma looked at Krillin and Sasuke and smiled. "If I take this with me, research it and make some modifications, I might be able to find Yamcha, as well as Tien and his friends."

Roshi walked towards Bulma and Krillin and stared at Gohan who was in the bald midget's arm for a moment before looking back up and saying, "At any case, let's get back to Kame House."

Bulma looked at Roshi with a serious look on her face. "Yeah. At this time, we can't do anything here."

Krillin displayed a serious look on his face and stated, "Then I'll go search for the Dragon Balls right after that.

"I'll go with you, too." Sasuke walked near Krillin and the others as well.

Roshi nodded at Sasuke. "Alright," he then faced Piccolo and asked, "Piccolo, what are you planning to do?" however, his expression then turned into shock when he saw something scary.

Piccolo was gritting his teeth. He began to growl and groan with pain, freaking out Krillin and causing the bald midget to take a few steps back in fear. Sasuke took a step back and widened his eyes in shock. "Piccolo? What's happening?"

Piccolo roared, and a new arm protruded from the area where he had lost his arm originally, splattering green fluids on the ground. It was almost as if the green man had regenerated his arm!

Sasuke was shocked. "W-What the?!"

Krillin shrieked a bit, as Piccolo panted heavily while holding his left shoulder. He then flexed his bicep, making sure his new arm was usable.

"You can regenerate?" Sasuke was dumbfounded.

"Like a lizard's tail!" Krillin was surprised and shocked at the same time.

Piccolo adjusted his left arm a bit. "You guys should search for the Dragon Balls. Kami isn't powerful enough to revive the dead. But I'll be taking Naruto and Goku's son with me."

"W-Wait, what? What are you planning to do with Naruto and Gohan?" Sasuke demanded.

"I'm going to train both Naruto and Gohan, so that they become powerful warriors. After all, both have some sort of hidden power that they need to awaken. When those two Saiyans arrive in one year's time, we will need their power to use against them. For that purpose, I will train them."

"Naruto's hidden power... Like that red Chakra when I fought him in the valley of the end? Did Naruto use the same power against Raditz...? He must have." Sasuke thought to himself.

Krillin looked at Piccolo nervously. "That's quite a thing to say..."

Bulma looked at Piccolo apprehensively. "Is it really the best idea to do that?" she then chuckled nervously.

"Shouldn't we ask Goku or the boy's mother, Chi-Chi, first? And what about Naruto?" Roshi questioned.

Piccolo gritted his teeth in irritation. "There's no time for that. If you're going to object, I'll take him even if I have to kill you all!"

Sasuke and the others were shocked, as Piccolo scoffed with a smirk on his face, and raised his newly regenerated arm slightly up with his index finger pointing upwards. Once he did that, both the unconscious Naruto and Gohan levitated into the air, with the latter's dragon ball cap slipping and falling onto the ground in the process. It was not long before he used his telekinesis to bring Naruto and Gohan in each of his arm respectively. "In one year's time, I will go to your house with these two for battle. If Goku comes back to life, tell him to look forward to it." he then began ascending into the air, before turning around and flew away with Naruto and Gohan.

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it!" Bulma was shocked.

Krillin stared at the sky with an uneasy look on his face. "He's going to die! And if he doesn't, he'll become a bad guy!"

"I doubt it." Sasuke said, with his hands in his pocket. Everyone turned their attention towards the Uchiha, and he continued, "The situation is too dire for him to be doing anything. I think it's best if he takes Naruto and Gohan with him for training."

Roshi thought for a moment before nodding. "I guess you do have a point, Sasuke. And, I usually don't take students, but because of the current situation, I have decided to train you and teach you the art of Ki. By learning Ki, you will become much stronger than before."

Sasuke stared at Roshi with a determined look on his face. "I'm ready for training. Teach me everything you know."

With Raditz – in the sky

"D-Damn it all...!" Raditz hacked up some blood as he struggled to use his remaining Ki to fly as far away as possible. He knew his end was near, even though he managed to escape. After all, he had still suffered the force of the Special Beam Cannon. While he did escape slightly, it was only enough to keep him alive for only a little longer.

His speed of flight began to slow down, before Raditz came to a complete stop. He held his stomach with one hand, and blood spewed from his mouth. "D-Damn it... I don't think I'll survive... and I lost my scouter too while escaping..."

His world began to get dizzy. And before he knew it, he lost consciousness, his body plummeting down to the ground below him.

However, below him, was a village. He ended up falling in the outskirts of the village. Like a cannon ball, he crashed onto the ground, creating multiple large cracks beneath him. A small cloud of dust formed from where Raditz had fallen. While the Evil Saiyan laid unconscious on the ground, a young boy from the village, who was busy try to chop a tree with his silver hatchet, looked to his right, and witnessed Raditz falling from the sky and onto the ground.

Shocked, the kid dropped his hatchet and rushed towards the Saiyan. He knelt down and nudged the long haired man multiple times. "Wake up! Oh god! Are you okay?!"

He then glanced behind his shoulder and shouted, "Grandpa! Someone's hurt!"

With Goku – The Afterlife – King Yemma's Office

"So you see, he has come with his body to ask if he could be trained," Kami finished. He had just finished explaining to King Yemma about what had happened earlier, with Raditz and the two new Saiyans that will be arriving in a year's time.

Earth's Check-In Station or King Yemma's office is a gateway between the physical plane of existence and the Other World. It serves as both King Yemma's palace and his office, where he passes judgement over Earth's dead souls, sending the good ones to Heaven and the bad ones to Hell.

Kami placed his hand in a straight, rigid manner on Goku's shoulder while keeping his eyes on the giant ogre sitting on a giant chair near a giant desk. "I beg of you, Great King Yemma, to allow this man to travel to King Kai's place."

The giant ogre, who was apparently King Yemma, contemplated for a moment while fiddling with a giant pencil in his hand, and stared at a giant book on the table, before saying, "Goku... Your achievements are quite impressive. So even though he could go to Heaven, he wants to instead purposely face the danger of the snake road to meet King Kai?"

"Yes, that's right." Kami confirmed, taking his hand off Goku's shoulder.

Goku, who had a halo above his head, asked Kami, "Does everyone come here when they die?"

"That's right."

"Even aliens?"

"Yes. This is the place where everyone will be judged whether they will go to heaven or hell."

Goku turned his attention towards Yemma and said, "Hey! Did some guy called Raditz come here before me?"

Kami panicked a bit and looked at Goku. "Hey! Be a bit more formal!"

Yemma diverted his attention from the book he was reading for a moment and looked at Goku. "No." before returning his gaze at the book and began flipping the pages on the book. "Your brother, right? The fact that he hasn't arrived here means that he is still alive.." he then smirked. "Even if he did come here, I would have easily subdued him.," as he pointed his pencil at himself proudly.

Goku was surprised. "Wow! You're pretty strong to be able to defeat someone like him easily!"

Yemma took the compliment and smiled proudly, and Goku turned towards Kami excitedly. "Maybe I can get the old geezer to train me!"

Kami placed his finger near his lip and shushed Goku. "Don't talk to the great King Yemma like that!"

"But..."

Kami got close to Goku and placed his hand walled near the side of the mouth, and whispered, "Be quiet! King Kai is even stronger!"

"Hmmm... I heard that, God of Earth!" Yemma smirked and clenched his fist near the side of his face.

"He heard!" Kami freaked out and took a step back.

"Maybe I'll send you to hell when you die."

"P-Please forgive me! For you to have heard that, you must really have a hell of a good set of ears." he then placed his hand behind his back and laughed nervously at his own pun.

King Yemma was silent for a moment, before leaning forward and saying, "That was a terrible joke."

Kami's face turned tomato red. "Yeah... it was..."

Yemma stood upright and said, "Very well. If he wants to go to King Kai's place that badly, then he may go."

Kami sighed with relief and bowed. "Thank you so much, King Yemma."

"I'll call a guide, so please go that way and wait."

Goku smiled happily and nodded and began running towards the exit. However, King Yemma shifted his body a bit to the right side of the chair and leaned his hand on the backrest of the furniture. He stared at Goku and warned, "Hiowever, if you fall off snake way, don't come crying to me."

Kami appeared from the corner of the bottom of the desk and stared at Goku. "Well, then. Good luck. It will be a tough year.

Goku smiled. "Yeah. I don't really get any of this, but at any rate, I'll go and meet this King Kai guy."

Kami nodded.

Goku waved. "Thank you! And tell Mr Popo I said hi!" and with that, he turned around and ran towards the exit. After exiting, he turned left, and was about to be out of sight, when he decided to give a wave one last time before disappearing from view.

Kami turned around and thought to himself with a troubled look on his face, "My Earth is being targeted by some terrible foes. This might be the first time it has truly been in danger."

He then began talking to himself. "Even if we asked Shenron to kill them, the Saiyans' extraordinary strength would probably defeat his. And even if Goku trains under King Kai, how much progress will he make? Naruto and Gohan are our hope as well, but how will Piccolo raise and train them? There's so little time left..."

King Yemma had enough of Kami's monologuing, and slammed his desk, jarring it in the process. "Shut up!"

Kami freaked out and turned around with fear.

"You're being a nuisance! Go home already!"

"S-Sorry! I'm very sorry!" Kami walked sideways and rubbed his back head anxiously. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!"

With Goku

"Sorry to keep you waiting," A blue-skinned, slim ogre man said while driving a red, small car with Goku in the back seat. The Saiyan was peering through the window with his hands on the glass like a little kid.

"I'll be taking you to the head of the snake. The snake road is quite an ordeal. Is your body in a suitable condition?" The driver rambled on.

Goku glanced at the driver with a blank look on his face. "I died, so I'm not feeling all that great. By the way, what kind of person is King Kai?"

The driver smiled. "King Kai is in charge of all the gods in the universe."

Goku smiled happily. "Wow! He must be super strong, and an amazing guy too!"

The car was driving through a rather narrow purple pathway. Any wrong turn, and the vehicle could end up falling off the path. However, the driver seemed to be a professional, and easily navigated his way through the narrow roads.

With Sasuke and the others – Earth

Krillin sighed, looking down on the dragon ball attached to Gohan's cap on his lap. All of them, including Sasuke, were sitting in the back seat of Bulma's airplane, except for Roshi and Bulma who were in the front seat, with the young woman of course being the pilot.

"So who's going to tell Chi-Chi?" Sasuke wondered.

Roshi glanced behind his shoulder. "You're right, Sasuke. Krillin, why don't you break the news to Chi-Chi?"

"M-Me?!" Krillin got scared.

Bulma looked behind her shoulder at Krillin. "Chi-Chi is an overprotective mother, so she'd probably kill you."

Krillin gulped nervously, and Sasuke sighed with exasperation. "Fine, I'll go with you, Krillin, and help you break the news," the Uchiha offered.

Back with Goku

The small car came to a stop, and the driver pushed the roof upwards and got off the car. "Alright, we have reached."

The Saiyan had his head resting on his palm with his elbow on his thigh. Goku slowly woke up from his sleep and saw the head of a snake statue. Marching behind the head, was a road curving here and there. It almost seemed like as if there was no end to the road! "So this is snake way?!"

"That's right."

Goku got off the car and asked, "What do I do now?"

The guide turned around and outstretched his arm with his wrist bending downwards. "Please simply continue along this snake way. Then you will arrive at King Kai's place.

Goku hopped on the head of the snake, and put his right foot forward, bending his knee, and capped his hand a little over his forehead. He stared at the yonder and commented, "is that so?"

The guide took a few steps forward and looked straight ahead at the snake way. "That's right. This snake way is approximately one million kilometres."

"One million kilometres?!" Goku said incredulously and faced the guide. "Has anyone ever made it?!"

The driver faced Goku with three fingers pointing upwards. "In the past one hundred million years, only King Yemma, and two other people have made it to King Kai's place."

Goku stared back at the distance. "If someone else has done it, then I should be able to manage as well."

"Ah, I forgot to mention. Please be careful not to fall into the clouds beneath snakeway. Hell is situated below the clouds. So if you fall there, you'll never return."

"I see... Damn it... I wish I had gotten packed lunch or something!"

"It's alright, sir. You're already dead, so I don't think you can die again."

"I see!"

"Well, then. I'll be off then."

The driver turned around and was about to leave when Goku remembered something and said, "Oh yeah. There's something I wanted you to do for me."

The guide turned again. "Yes?"

Goku crouched on the head of snake way and asked, "Do you know fortune teller baba?"

"Yes, she comes here from time to time."

"Thank goodness! If she comes here anytime soon, make sure she tells Master Roshi not to bring me back to life for another year."

The ogre man took out a pen and book from his pocket and began noting down what Goku had instructed him to do. "Understood. So it's... one year... and inform Master Roshi, yes?"

Goku smiled and faced the endless road of snakeway. "Alright, it's time to get going!" he then gazed at the man. "So basically, I'm good if I don't fall off snake way, right?"

"Yes, absolutely," the ogre man finished jotting down notes and put his book and pen back in his pocket.

Goku smiled. "Flying technique!" by using his Ki, he flew straight ahead over the curved roads with ease. It was not long before Goku was already out of sight.

To be continued...

A/N: Next chapter will release sometime in 2024