Shenron vanished, and the pillar of light split back into seven rays, carrying the seven Dragon Balls as they flew to various parts of the world. Son Goku, with quick eyes and hands, jumped up on the spot and caught the Four-Star Ball, which had already turned into stone.
One year later, the divine power within the Dragon Balls would recover, and the stones would turn back into Dragon Balls. He didn't covet this Dragon Ball for its power, but because the Four-Star Ball was a memento left to him by his grandfather and held significant sentimental value.
Just as Ino was preparing to bid farewell and leave, Krillin suddenly squeezed out of the crowd, looking a bit embarrassed. "Miss Yamanaka, um... that Raditz said he has two more companions, and he mentioned that one of them is stronger than you. Could you burst out your full ki and let us see what level you're at now? It could also serve as a reference for our future battles."
Son Goku nodded vigorously beside him, like a chick pecking at grain. He had wanted to ask this for a long time, but his wife had been stopping him, which had really stifled him.
Using me as a reference point to compare with Vegeta?
Ino had captured Raditz alive, preventing Son Goku's death, which counted as repaying the favor of using the Dragon Balls in advance. She had no intention of coming to Earth to fight to the death against Vegeta; no matter how you looked at it, this matter had nothing to do with her.
She hesitated slightly. "Just a demonstration?"
"Yes."
Ino nodded. "Alright then, you all stand back a bit."
At this time, south of Mount Paozu, across a sea.
Bulma, who could be considered Earth's chief scientist, was wearing Raditz's battle power detector and looking north.
Ino hadn't used lethal force on Raditz, so the Chibaku Tensei had left some gaps around his head area. The detector was slightly damaged, but the main part had survived.
Bulma nervously watched the rapidly climbing numbers inside the detector, her hands recording the data on a computer.
"Base state 3100... first stage increased to 3900. This should be the change in that deity's eyes. Heavens, the rising speed is too fast! 5000... 6000... 7500! 8000!"
At Mount Paozu, Ino quickly deactivated the enhancements of her several states and returned to her base form.
When she was in the shinobi world, her sequence of enhancement was Sage Mode, Rinnegan, and finally Six Paths Mode. After training on King Kai's Planet, the sequence became Rinnegan, Six Paths Mode, and then Sage Mode.
The Rinnegan and Six Paths Mode belonged to her own power and were safe to use. Sage Mode was different; this method of harmonizing with nature had a stronger enhancement effect the more abundant the energy in the location was.
After encountering Raditz, a new item appeared on Ino's panel: the battle power value.
Her base battle power was basically around 3000, fluctuating slightly with her state and mood, but not by much. Activating the Rinnegan brought it to 4000, Six Paths Mode to 6000, and Sage Mode to 8000. Actually, it could continue to grow, but she couldn't control that much natural energy. It was very easy to have part of her mind assimilated by the extremely abundant natural energy. The balance between man and nature was not just empty words to her, but a matter of life and death.
Ino returned to normal. Unlike the shock of Krillin and the others, Son Goku looked excited.
"How did you train to reach this level? Can you teach me?"
Ino calmly sized him up. Do you have any money?
"I can't; I am still on the path of training myself. Goku, your talent is stronger than mine. If you want to go further, go find your Kami; he surely has arrangements for you."
The current Son Goku was still a living person. Going to the underworld in this state and then crossing Snake Way would be somewhat troublesome as the procedure was incorrect. However, Kami could certainly solve this problem. At worst, he would just have to swallow his pride, flatter King Yama vigorously, and tell a couple of bad jokes.
For Son Goku's sake, he surely wouldn't mind this loss of face.
Ino bid farewell to the warriors of Earth. "Everyone, I need to go back immediately. I thank you on behalf of my planet. Thank you."
Son Goku waved his hand nonchalantly. "No need to thank us. Your family is welcome to visit again."
Ino nodded, opened the Crossing Moon Bridge, and took her wife and child away from Earth, returning to Konoha Village.
"Can she return directly to their planet like that? That's really convenient!" Son Goku stroked his chin, looking very fascinated.
He looked in the direction of Kami's Lookout. Ino hadn't mentioned King Kai, but she mentioned Kami. He couldn't wait to go train.
Son Goku proposed leaving home for a year to train. Chichi agreed very readily this time: Go, go, just leave Gohan with me.
She took out a ledger and a phone book, occasionally glancing at the golden Buddha and gold bars in the room, thinking about how many cram schools she should enroll Son Gohan in.
The rest of the Z Fighters returned to their respective homes to handle family matters, then went to Kami's Lookout to train together.
Raditz said that some Prince was stronger than Ino. They now had a target to chase, and every one of them was in high spirits.
...
Deep in the universe.
After more than ten days of high-compression transmission, the information from Raditz's battle power detector finally traveled back.
Vegeta and Nappa had wiped out all intelligent life on the planet beneath their feet. The low-intensity battle had ended before Vegeta, the Saiyan Prince, could even get fully excited, leaving him a bit annoyed.
Raditz retreating without fighting, and even being forcibly dragged back while running away—that disgraceful display made him even angrier.
"Idiot! Fool! Imbecile!"
He unleashed a frenzy of energy on the planet's surface. The land, unable to bear the burden, emitted muffled "rumbling" sounds.
The burly bald man, Nappa, waited for a while until Vegeta calmed down before walking over carefully.
Back then, Planet Vegeta exploded due to an "accident." Nappa and Raditz happened to be out on a mission with Vegeta, which was how they escaped disaster.
The three had been a team for many years, but there was no friendship to speak of between them. Prince Vegeta frequently beat and scolded the two. Nappa, considered an elite warrior from a prestigious family, endured Vegeta's bullying while doubling the release of his anger onto Raditz. Raditz going to Earth to find Son Goku might well have been driven by the idea of developing a "downline" to serve as a punching bag.
"It's truly incredible that a warrior with a battle power exceeding 8000 would appear on Earth." Nappa's base battle power had only just broken through 4000, and he was already an elite warrior of Planet Vegeta.
He was emphasizing the strength of the Earthlings, his words perhaps containing an intent to excuse Raditz. There were only a few Saiyans left; losing one meant one less. Bullying him usually was one thing, but having him executed directly was another.
Vegeta's face was full of malevolence. "It's just a battle power of 8000. Some aliens undergo mutations in extreme situations, becoming much stronger than their kin. It's not strange. Let's move out, to Earth."
Nappa hesitated for a moment. "Are we going to save Raditz?"
Vegeta turned back, saying nothing, just staring at him coldly.
"...I understand. Including Raditz, we kill all Earthlings, leaving no one alive!"
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