"Hahaha, old man, looks like you know your stuff." Tambourine burst out laughing. "I didn't expect anyone to still remember us after all these years."
"After hundreds of years, we've finally returned."
"Since you know us... then you should fully understand what this symbol represents." Tambourine shook the paper marked with the 'Demon' character.
"Surrender quietly, and I'll make your deaths comfortable."
Master Roshi's face went completely pale. "Someone opened the rice cooker?!"
"Impossible. Sealed for hundreds of years, and that monster is actually still alive."
"You old geezer, how dare you insult the Demon King." Tambourine's smug smile vanished, and his aura turned hyper-aggressive. "I'll kill you first."
The next second, Tambourine moved like a green whirlwind. *Whoosh.* He rushed toward Master Roshi, sharp claws fully extended, ready to tear the old man to pieces.
"You won't!" Krillin and Yamcha immediately leaped in to block the path.
As the first Demon Clan warrior born from Old Piccolo, Tambourine was genuinely powerful. He was a top-tier combatant even among the strongest humans.
Tambourine's combat power was at least on par with Mercenary Tao, the ruthless younger brother of Master Shen, meaning he possessed at least 150 points of combat power.
Meanwhile, Krillin and Yamcha's combat power during this period sat just below that value, estimated around 110 points.
In the original storyline, Tambourine killed Krillin silently and swiftly.
Even with Yamcha fighting alongside him this time, the result was exactly the same, Tambourine knocked both of them down in a handful of moves.
"Let me handle this!" Goku charged toward Tambourine, his fists clenched tight.
"Interesting." The two exchanged a few rapid moves, then each jumped backward to reassess.
Goku had consumed a massive amount of energy fighting Tien earlier. Although he had recovered his breath, he was nowhere near his peak.
"A martial artist like you is actually worth killing."
Tambourine laughed loudly as his dark aura surged. This time, he displayed his full 150 points of combat power.
"Five seconds. I only need five seconds to kill you."
As the words fell, Tambourine vanished, attacking Goku at super speed.
Unfortunately for the demon, Goku had long since seen through the speed Tambourine took such immense pride in.
Just as Tambourine expected the visceral pleasure of tearing Goku's body apart, his sharp claws passed cleanly through him, the attack struck empty air.
The distinct sensation of having no physical form.
Afterimage Technique!
"What?" Tambourine recoiled in deep surprise. Goku seized the immediate opening to close the distance, driving a heavy punch straight toward the demon's abdomen.
The counter-move highlighted the sheer gap in their martial arts skills.
*Gurgle.*
Just as the solid fist neared its mark, a thunderous sound echoed from Goku's empty stomach.
His limbs went entirely limp.
*Of all times.*
The flying punch lost ninety percent of its intended force.
This glaring weakness, hunger crippling his combat ability, plagued Goku throughout his entire childhood. It persisted until he finally turned eighteen.
Whether this was a common Saiyan trait, unique solely to Goku, or specific to low-class warriors, no one actually knew.
Tambourine caught the weakened punch effortlessly.
"You startled me for a second," Tambourine smirked, gripping Goku's fist tightly and hoisting him into the air. "So that's all you've got."
"Die!"
Tambourine punched Goku hard in the stomach, then tossed him aside like garbage.
In Tambourine's eyes, that single brutal blow had finished him.
In reality, given Goku's absurd Saiyan physique, a single punch was negligible, he could have taken a point-blank Ki Blast afterward and remained perfectly fine.
"Goku!" Master Roshi shouted, his aged voice a mix of fury and deep worry. All three of his disciples had been beaten decisively by this henchman of the Demon King.
Even after all these centuries, the shadow of the demon lord remained entirely terrifying.
"Damn it!" Tien dropped into the Crane School fighting stance, his three eyes locked firmly on Tambourine. If someone as strong as Goku had fallen, his own chances were incredibly slim.
The only realistic way to win was to join forces with Master Roshi.
He turned to his floating friend. "Chiaotzu, get behind me."
The other background martial artists had scattered in pure terror the moment Yamcha and the others fell.
"What are you all worried about?"
Master Roshi froze beneath the crushing weight of the Demon King's ancient reputation, and Tien genuinely believed the enemy's power far exceeded his own. Naruto finally spoke up, breaking the tension. "This guy's got decent strength. Perfect for some light sparring."
He casually turned his back on Tambourine to face Master Roshi and the others. "You all have no objections, right?"
His peripheral vision caught a brief glimpse of the fallen Chappa.
With the Dragon Balls around, death wasn't strictly permanent anyway.
"You dare ignore me? I'll kill you first!"
Before Master Roshi or Tien could even react, Naruto's blatant indifference enraged Tambourine. He screamed and charged, his claws aimed straight for Naruto's fully exposed back.
*DANG~!*
An invisible wall stood firmly between them. Tambourine's head slammed violently into the barrier, leaving him dazed and seeing stars.
The loud impact sounded painfully solid.
"It's just a trivial Ki Wall. Surely you can break through that, Tambourine?"
Naruto's calm, mocking voice drifted smoothly into Tambourine's ringing ears.
Naruto used his Ki to erect a solid wall between himself and Tambourine.
Tambourine crashed right into it. Though thin, the invisible wall withstood attacks weighing tons, a Demon Clan warrior of Tambourine's caliber could not break through it.
Naruto mentally called it the Crystal Ki Wall.
"Ha!"
Seeing that brute force would not breach the barrier, Tambourine opened his mouth wide. A dense Ki Blast erupted from within, powerful enough to easily demolish the entire room.
It was a brutal technique common among many fighters in the Dragon Ball-verse.
A Mouth Blast.
Because of its name, the Crystal Ki Wall possessed the reflective properties of a crystal. Tambourine's Mouth Blast failed to destroy the wall, instead, the attack was immediately absorbed and reflected back. Tambourine could not dodge in time and caught his own fierce blast head-on.
The sharp smell of cooked meat radiated from his body. He collapsed backward, thick black smoke billowing from his open mouth.
"Up!"
Naruto pressed his advantage smoothly. He brought his middle and index fingers together and raised them. A dense sequence of Sealing Formulas materialized instantly beneath Tambourine's feet. These tadpole-like seals acted like living things, quickly crawling from his feet up toward his hands.
Naruto had already tested that ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and sealing techniques from his home universe functioned normally in the Dragon Ball-verse. Moreover, when actively channeled with Ki, their inherent power increased significantly.
"Damn it! What did you do to me? Why can't I move?!"
Once the dark seals covered Tambourine's body entirely, he was completely restrained.
In terms of raw destructive power, ten Narutos combined could not match a single top-tier Dragon Ball character. However, his home universe still had versatile tools to offer, Genjutsu combined with mental hypnosis, or this specific sealing jutsu, remained incredibly useful.
"You're noisy. Stay here for a while."
Naruto tapped Tambourine lightly on the forehead. A faint white light flickered in his blue eyes. Space warped around them, and Tambourine was violently sucked inside.
This was not the Kamui Dimension, Kaguya's Amenominaka, nor the Flying Thunder God.
Sasuke had previously used Naruto's Yang Release Chakra to evolve his Sharingan into the Rinnegan. As the Sage Body of this new era, Naruto used Sasuke's lingering Yin Release Chakra to reverse-engineer the exact process.
He had painstakingly developed a pocket dimension of his very own.
He call it the 'Four-Dimensional Pocket'.
"He actually took care of him?"
Tien's three eyes went wide in disbelief. This seemingly normal person had defeated the monster that dealt with Goku so easily?
"He's not as strong as you think," Naruto explained casually. "He's still far from matching you or Goku at your absolute prime."
Krillin and Yamcha groaned, helping each other to their feet. Goku, still resting on the ground, struggled to sit up, clutching his empty stomach with a worn-out expression.
Goku never fought well when he was severely hungry. Even Yamcha had beaten him senseless during his very first debut.
Seeing his three young disciples were safe, Master Roshi breathed a massive sigh of relief.
"Exactly. Think about it, his Ki was strong, but far from invincible." Now that he had calmed down, Master Roshi analyzed Tambourine's energy signature and realized the opponent wasn't entirely overwhelming. At the very least, the winged warrior was no match for Master Roshi himself.
It was not entirely Master Roshi's fault for nearly losing his nerve at the mere mention of the Demon King Piccolo. The deep trauma from hundreds of years ago ran through his bones.
Even the Undefeated Myth, the invincible Master Mutaito, had tragically fallen to the Demon King.
"Master Roshi, you mentioned Demon King Piccolo earlier. So this guy is the culprit behind everything. You must know something crucial about him, right?"
"That's right." Master Roshi exhaled heavily and recounted everything he knew about Demon King Piccolo, bloody events buried for centuries. He sighed softly. "I never thought he'd break free from the rice cooker. It seems peace on Earth is a thing of the past."
"Based on what that green monster just said, Piccolo likely has two primary objectives. Master Roshi must have noticed this too, right?" Naruto asked, glancing smoothly at the old man.
"Huh? Ah!" Master Roshi answered reflexively, caught off guard.
Naruto forced a bright expression of deep admiration. "As expected of Master Roshi."
Master Roshi panicked internally. 'Wait, what did I notice? I was too busy reminiscing about how scary Piccolo was!'
"Exactly, just as Master Roshi wisely thought. The first goal of these self-proclaimed Demon Clan members is this." Naruto picked up the Four-Star Dragon Ball that Tambourine had dropped and waved it before the group.
"What is that?" Tien asked, looking at the glowing orb in Naruto's hand with clear confusion.
He hadn't been part of the original Dragon Ball adventure, so he didn't recognize it. Very few people on Earth truly knew the secret of the Dragon Balls.
"Dragon Balls?" Krillin's bruised face lit up. "I get it now. They plan to gather all seven and make a wish."
"A wish? From this little ball?" Tien's curiosity grew.
After a brief but thorough explanation from Krillin, Tien finally learned the ancient secret of Shenron.
"A miraculous dragon that can grant any wish," Tien exclaimed. "I never knew such a thing existed."
===============
Dear Readers and Fans,
For those eager to dive into next chapters earlier before others, I invite you to join us on Patreon. By becoming our Patron, you not only gain access to exclusive advanced chapters but also help us continue this endeavour and expand it further.
pat reo n.co m /8Ashes8
(no space)
You can read upto 30 Chapters in advance.