"I believe Master Mutaito didn't sacrifice himself so the world would remember him," Naruto spoke slowly. "Isn't it possible he chose self-sacrifice for the sake of his disciples?"
Just as Master Roshi chose to sacrifice himself to seal Demon King Piccolo in the original storyline, leaving Tien behind.
Back then, Master Mutaito likely had the exact same reason for his sacrifice, leaving behind Master Roshi and Master Shen.
Passing the hope of life to the next generation, that was the Martial Arts Legacy.
Master Roshi inherited this legacy and passed it down.
"What do you know?" Master Shen flatly denied it.
Something he'd held onto for hundreds of years could not be overturned by a few words from Naruto. This was the Dragon Ball-verse. Talk No Jutsu provided no stat bonuses.
Should Master Mutaito be respected?
Yes.
Is it a crime for the world to forget him?
Yes.
It was like the Z Fighters, they saved the world time and again, yet how many people actually knew them? Remembered them? Was that fair?
No.
But did they resent it?
No.
By the later stages, the Z Fighters had all become open-minded.
Even so, Naruto understood Master Shen's feelings. His most revered master had been forgotten by the world while he remained powerless to stop it. To say there was no bitterness in his heart would be a lie.
But that was no excuse to condone his brother Mercenary Tao's indiscriminate killing of innocents.
"Master Shen, I must ask you to reflect on this."
Naruto placed an arm on Master Shen's shoulder and activated the Flying Thunder God Jutsu.
Master Shen vanished, sucked into a black vortex.
After defeating Kaguya, Naruto had taken the time to learn Minato's Flying Thunder God. Compared to Instant Transmission, which could achieve interstellar travel, the Flying Thunder God was far simpler.
However, Naruto had only just arrived in the Dragon Ball-verse and had not yet placed any permanent marks. The jutsu he used on Master Shen was a random teleportation, he had no idea where it would send him.
Regardless, Master Shen could fly, so his life was not in danger.
A black vortex materialized in the sky, spitting Master Shen out like a violent cough. For some reason, Master Shen emerged upside down, and his head slammed hard against a rock.
*Clang!*
"Ow?!" Master Shen clutched the pulsing bulge on his head, crouching on the ground in pain.
Suddenly, he felt something poking his arm.
He looked up to find a purple-haired little girl wearing round glasses, staring at him with wide, curious eyes. She wore suspenders and a red hat with wings on each side.
"Oh my, what are you?"
She pointed at the sky.
"How did you fall from there?"
"What business is it of yours?" Master Shen snapped. He muttered to himself, "That damn brat. Next time I see him, I'll make him regret this."
"Hehehe!" The girl looked at Master Shen curiously and burst out laughing. "I'm Arale. Hello!"
Whether the greeting carried some kind of magic, Master Shen found himself replying automatically, "I'm Master Shen."
"That's wrong." Master Shen realized his mistake the moment he spoke. "You annoying little kid, who asked for a greeting?"
"Hahahaha!" Arale laughed loudly. She had not only big eyes, but an enormous mouth.
"Here's a present for you!" Arale seemed to remember something. She reached behind her back and handed something to Master Shen.
"Ah, thank you." Master Shen reflexively took the object from Arale. As it hit his palm, he realized something was wrong. "Wait, who asked for your stuff?! What is this?"
It was a wooden stick with a pink object perched on top.
As Master Shen leaned in to look, the pink object sprouted eyes and a mouth. "Yo, hi, I'm Poop," it greeted him.
"What the heck?!"
Startled, Master Shen's hand trembled, and he flung the suspicious pink object away.
"Oh my oh my!"
"You little brat, you've got some nerve pulling tricks on me." Mortified and furious, Master Shen pointed a finger at Arale, his gaze filled with killing intent.
"Dodon Ray!"
A yellow beam burst from his fingertip and struck Arale, the force slamming her into the dirt.
"Hmph, ignorant brat. Now you've thrown your life away."
He scoffed and walked away without looking back. No one survived his Dodon Ray, certainly not some kid from the countryside.
Behind him, Arale acted as if nothing had happened. She dusted herself off and stood right back up.
"Even that bastard Tien has betrayed me. That blonde brat, that long-tailed brat, I'll make them pay."
"To deal with those guys, I need to find Mercenary Tao." Lost in fantasies of revenge, Master Shen failed to realize danger was closing in behind him.
"Really interesting, so cool."
Master Shen froze. He spun around as if seeing a ghost. Upon seeing the perfectly unharmed Arale, his eyes went wide, nearly bulging out from behind his sunglasses.
"You're not dead?!"
"Um, I can do that too." Arale pointed at Master Shen and burst out laughing. She took a deep breath and shouted.
"N'Cha!!!"
A terrifying Ki wave erupted from Arale's mouth, instantly swallowing Master Shen. Just as he thought he was finished, the wave dissipated. Smoke-blackened from the blast, Master Shen wheezed out a puff of soot and collapsed flat.
Something was wrong. This place was completely wrong.
How could such a terrifying little girl exist? And that talking Poop, he had to leave immediately.
Master Shen gathered every ounce of his remaining strength and activated Flight. His battered body wobbled into the air.
"Hahaha, so cool!" Arale pointed at the airborne martial artist and cackled again. To his ears, her laughter was pure torment.
Arale planted her feet and launched a picture-perfect Rocket Headbutt directly into Master Shen's stomach. He felt a week's worth of meals punch out of him. The brutal blow sent him plummeting from the sky, face-first into the dirt.
"Oh my, it fell down." Arale produced her little wooden stick and poked him again.
He tried to flee, but Arale grabbed him firmly by the leg.
"Let's play!"
Amidst Arale's roaring laughter, Master Shen was unceremoniously dragged off.
So pitiful, Master Shen.
At the Tenkaichi Budokai arena, the match between Goku and Tien had reached its conclusion. Due to sheer bad luck, Goku had fallen to Tien by the slimmest of margins.
Through their intense battle, however, the two had become unlikely friends, each recognizing the other's worth.
"Next match: Naruto versus Krillin."
Naruto and Krillin stepped onto the arena together.
'My strength is about equal to Yamcha's,' Krillin thought, sizing up his opponent. 'This guy easily defeated Yamcha, so theoretically he can defeat me just as easily.'
'I can't trade blows with him head-on, I need to create distance.'
Krillin's raw power was nearly on par with Yamcha's, but in an actual fight, Yamcha stood no chance against him. Unlike Yamcha, who favored flashy moves, Krillin was a pragmatist.
If a technique was practical and a tactic achieved the greatest effect, he used it. Whether it looked cool was entirely irrelevant.
Naruto understood Krillin's fighting style the moment they clashed. Krillin was like a slippery loach, he would brush past lightly and instantly slip away, refusing to engage Naruto head-on.
"Your mind is flexible, your tactics are varied, you have accurate self-awareness, and your timing is precise. Those are your strengths," Naruto commented effortlessly after they traded blows for a while. "With this style, you can unleash a hundred percent of your true strength."
Even in the early stages, Krillin had developed a unique style full of tricks. During the previous martial arts tournament, he had hidden panties in his clothes to bait Jackie Chun, who was actually Master Roshi in disguise. If not for the massive gap in their strength, Master Roshi would have been eliminated by that ambush.
The Saiyan Saga and the subsequent Emperor Frieza Saga were Krillin's true highlights. The Destructo Disc he developed was one of the greatest techniques of the Dragon Ball-verse. When it first appeared, it nearly killed Nappa, a fighter two dimensions above him with over a thousand combat power. Later, he even cut off the tail of Frieza's Second Form, who possessed at least a million combat power.
Had it not been for the astronomical gap in power levels during the later stages of Dragon Ball Z, he could have continued to shine.
"Of course, you have shortcomings," Naruto noted, side-stepping a swift kick.
"Being cautious isn't wrong for a martial artist. But if you're too cautious..."
"Then you're not a qualified warrior."
"Be soft where softness is needed. Be hard where hardness is required!"
"Never lose your drive."
Naruto acted like a strict coach, deflecting Krillin's attacks while precisely pointing out his flaws.
"This kid." Master Roshi watched the match from the sidelines and smiled, shaking his head as he saw through Naruto's true purpose. "Rather than fighting, it's more like he's lecturing."
"I don't know your goal or your identity, but I'll thank you on behalf of my two unworthy disciples."
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