When Goku woke up, it was dusk.
The glow of the setting sun spilled over him, leaving a trace of warmth.
Shadows of trees danced around; he was leaning against a large tree.
He heard Krillin panting nearby. Goku blinked and turned his head. Not far away, by another tree, Krillin was in the same position as before—his waist tied to the trunk with a rope. In front of Krillin floated a fiery red bird in mid-air—the phoenix, now shrunken in size.
The phoenix flew in silence, wings flapping without a sound. Krillin had his eyes closed, the rope linking him to the tree, while the phoenix darted at his bald head from every angle. Its movements were graceful and elusive. Following Master Taro's orders, Krillin wasn't allowed to open his eyes—he could only rely on his spirit to sense and track the phoenix's attacks.
"You're awake."
"Yeah."
Goku nodded and turned—his master, Taro, stood there.
He scratched his head, puzzled. "Did I fail? I can't remember anything that happened…"
"You did. But Jarivs recorded the entire process. Ask him for it tonight, watch it carefully, and reflect on it. Tomorrow—or in a few days—you'll try again."
Taro didn't say much. He hadn't expected Goku to overcome the flaw in one go.
If it were that easy, Vegeta wouldn't have mocked Goku with such smug superiority.
Goku nodded earnestly. "Okay, I will!"
Taro nodded slightly. He had said "in a few days" rather than "tomorrow" because he suspected that the energy stored in a Saiyan's tail might not support transformations every single day. Energy doesn't just appear from nowhere—that much was obvious.
The Ozaru transformation wasn't like becoming a Super Saiyan—a breakthrough earned through training and accumulation. No, it was a racial trait, a brute-force surge of power that made no sense.
Daily use would likely damage the body.
Taro planned to discuss it with Hathaway and Jarivs in detail that night.
Goku stood up, grinning. "Master, I want to train over there too!"
He pointed toward Krillin, who was engaged in a mental duel with the phoenix. The little bald head was already covered in red marks from pecking. Goku had already gotten used to the "dodging mud pellet rain" training, but the phoenix, with its sentience, posed a greater challenge. It knew how to slightly conceal its ki.
Catching its flight pattern with his eyes closed—Goku wasn't confident, but that just made him want to try more. He loved a good challenge.
"Go on then…" Taro waved him off.
Watching Goku run off excitedly, Taro stood there, watching him tie himself to a tree just like Krillin and shut his eyes to dodge the phoenix. He stroked his chin, sensing that something still wasn't quite right.
Compared to the image he had in his head, something was still missing from these two.
It didn't take long for him to realize what it was.
When the training ended that day, Taro called the two of them together.
"Starting tomorrow, you'll both wear a different outfit during training," he told them.
"Huh? New clothes?" Krillin had looked completely drained just moments ago, but now he lit up.
Goku also looked visibly excited.
"That's right—outfits prepared especially for you two," Taro said with a smile.
He didn't have any turtle shells—but he had magic that could substitute just fine.
---
That night.
Kakarot opened his eyes in the dark once again. He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, and kicked Krillin—who had rolled onto him in his sleep—off the bed.
He got up, frowning and grumbling in annoyance, "So damn annoying… my whole body aches from all that training…"
Kakarot moved through the darkness with practiced ease, his body weaving and shifting as he deftly avoided the silent assaults of the phoenixes hidden in the shadows. Compared to the clumsy way he had first navigated the night, his movements were now fluid and sharp. The darkness could block his sight, but it could no longer deceive his senses.
The ki of the phoenixes was like little flames in the blackness—impossible to miss.
Stepping out of the house, Kakarot glanced up at the figure silhouetted in the night sky and muttered under his breath, "Does that old bastard never sleep? Always standing watch… tch." He didn't bother trying to descend the mountain again—he already knew that the whole mountain was enveloped in the old man's power, like a massive cage. Right now, he had no way of breaking through it.
"Just wait. One day, I'll overthrow you… damn old freak…"
Grumbling, Kakarot began to climb the mountain. Though his body had already been exhausted from the day's harsh training under Goku, he scaled the height with ease. Like a moonlit monkey, he leapt and bounded effortlessly, reaching the summit in a matter of moments.
Once at the top, his field of view opened wide.
Standing at the edge of a cliff, Kakarot gazed into the distance. The cold night wind carried with it a faint, salty scent of the sea. Ahead lay a vast darkness, ink-black and impenetrable—what lay beyond, he couldn't guess. Clicking his tongue softly, he sighed and turned around—and suddenly froze.
"It's been a while since I came up here… what the hell happened to this rock?" he muttered in confusion.
The spherical boulder he'd once leaned on and fallen asleep against had now completely crumbled. Its remains were scattered across the ground in a pile of stone shards.
"Huh… what's that?"
Something had caught his eye. He stepped toward the debris, pushed aside some of the stones, and uncovered a piece of white… something that looked like a broken tile. He pried at it with a bit of force—crack—and the white fragment snapped apart instantly.
"This looks… way too much like an eggshell…" Kakarot frowned in growing puzzlement.
What kind of creature would hatch eggs in a pile of rocks like this? Then again, he knew he wasn't exactly an expert in this sort of thing (not that he blamed himself—this was obviously the fault of that idiot Goku). Still, it seemed ridiculous. This place was so high up… what sort of animal would come here to lay eggs? Could it be some kind of bird?
Just as Kakarot puzzled over the strange find, a cold voice suddenly echoed from nearby:
"So you've finally shown yourself again."
Who was that?!
Startled, Kakarot whipped around, eyes scanning away from the cliff's edge—
---
Meanwhile, atop Earth's Sacred Temple.
Kami, dressed in his white robe marked with the god symbol and a flowing green cloak, stood at the edge of the sanctuary, overlooking the world below. He watched a certain place, and with a faint sigh, murmured:
"So you've finally come out…"