"Son Goku and Namu, please prepare!" The voice from the broadcast echoed in Rhode's ears, making him feel a sense of ease.
Namu? The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it at the moment, so he looked towards the ring. Upon seeing the man wearing a turban, information about him immediately surfaced in Rhode's mind. Namu was none other than the one who wanted to win the prize money from the World Martial Arts Tournament to solve the drought problem in his hometown.
Rhode remembered that his hometown was very backward, and its people lived primitive lives. In the original timeline, Master Roshi provided him with water, and later Son Goku helped completely solve the drought. However, Master Roshi wasn't participating in the World Martial Arts Tournament now, so he had no interaction with Namu, and it would likely be difficult for Son Goku to solve the drought problem again. As a result, the problem in Namu's hometown couldn't be resolved, and who knew how many people would die. With this thought, Rhode sent his clone to handle the matter. It was just a small favor, and he considered it helping others for the sake of happiness.
On the ring at this moment, Goku was trying his best to control his strength, but the gap between the two was simply too great. After just a few moves, Namu was defeated, his expression a mix of bewilderment. However, there was nothing to say when one's skill was inferior. It seemed he would have to find another way. Thinking this, Namu cupped his hands to Goku, then disappeared into the crowd.
After Goku's match, one fight followed another, with one person eliminated in each match. During this time, it's worth mentioning that Tien Shinhan unluckily encountered Bardock. Facing such a weak opponent, Bardock had no desire to fight at all. He directly struck Tien Shinhan down in an instant, eliminating him. Just as unlucky as Tien Shinhan was Yamcha; in one match, he became Raditz's opponent. The battle between them wasn't as quick as Bardock and Tien Shinhan's. They exchanged a few rounds, but it was mostly Raditz toying with him. The final outcome was no surprise: Yamcha was defeated.
Aside from Tien Shinhan and Yamcha being unlucky, Gine, Goku's mother, also didn't have good luck because she ran into Aira, who had transformed into Baobao-jie. Although they were both female Saiyans, Aira showed no mercy. Just like the opponents she had faced before, Gine was instantly defeated with one move. Chi-Chi was just as unlucky as Gine, also encountering Aira and being eliminated with one move.
In other matches, for example, Lapis, or Android 17, faced Lan Fan, who had short purple hair. Although Lan Fan was a mature and alluring older sister, it was useless to Lapis, who was still a teenager. He was directly knocked off the ring with one punch. There was another match that surprised Rhode: the little bald Krillin actually encountered Lazuli, or Android 18. Although Lazuli knew Krillin, she showed no mercy when she fought, and thus, Krillin was defeated.
As for Rhode himself, besides encountering that never-bathed barbarian at the beginning, the rest were all minor characters he had no impression of. He defeated them one punch at a time, with no difficulty whatsoever.
Thus, as time passed, the top eight contestants were successfully determined. The eight people were Saitama (transformed by Rhode), Feng Baobao (transformed by Aira), Goku, Bardock, Raditz, Lapis, Lazuli, and the last lucky one, Mercenary Tao. Yes, Mercenary Tao was very lucky. Throughout his matches, just like Rhode, he only encountered ordinary Earth martial artists, and thus, he very fortunately made it into the top eight. However, even the weakest of the top eight, Lapis and Lazuli, had a combat power exceeding one thousand. Mercenary Tao would be eliminated if he met any of them.
After a day of rest, the top eight matches officially began with a draw.
The first match: Saitama (transformed by Rhode) VS Mercenary Tao. Yes, Rhode, as the strongest, luckily drew Mercenary Tao. The result, naturally, goes without saying. Even if Mercenary Tao was the founder of the Pillar Flight technique, it was useless. Facing Saitama (transformed by Rhode), he could only regrettably lose and be eliminated with one punch.
Second match: Feng Baobao (transformed by Aira) VS Lazuli. Although Lazuli, or Android 18, had considerable combat power, that was only relative to ordinary Earth martial artists. Facing Feng Baobao (transformed by Aira), she naturally had no power to retaliate.
Third match: Bardock VS Lapis. The result was as expected: Bardock won.
However, unlike the first three matches, which ended swiftly, the fourth match, the showdown between Goku and Raditz, lasted for quite some time.
Although Goku could sense that Raditz's power wasn't strong, he didn't directly defeat him in an instant. No, to be more precise, every one of Goku's battles was a back-and-forth exchange with his opponent, and only after his opponent used all their techniques would he make his move to defeat them. Therefore, there was no exception in his battle with his older brother, Raditz. Especially since, although Raditz's power wasn't strong, he was much stronger than the opponents Goku had encountered before, allowing Goku to finally loosen up a bit and fight.
Bang! In the clash of powers, Goku and Raditz fought to a draw. However, upon seeing this result, Raditz's face showed no joy at all; instead, it was filled with displeasure, even anger. After all, there was a huge power gap between them, yet at this moment, his younger brother was fighting him to a standstill! At this moment, Raditz didn't feel that his younger brother Kakarot was respecting him, his older brother; rather, he felt more humiliated.
"Kakarot, you've gone too far!" Face to face, Raditz's aura exploded beyond its limits. With a roar, he struck at Goku.
Bang! Suddenly hearing Raditz's roar, Goku was momentarily stunned and was directly sent flying by Raditz's punch.
Damn it! However, upon seeing himself punch his younger brother Kakarot away, Raditz became even angrier. In Raditz's eyes, Kakarot was completely looking down on him, even pitying him. After all, with Goku's current power, it would only take one move to deal with Raditz, yet the fact was they had been entangled for so long, and now Raditz had even sent him flying.
If Goku knew what Raditz was thinking, he would surely feel very innocent. Because Goku really hadn't thought that much. He just felt that Raditz's power was much stronger than his previous opponents, and he intended to have a good fight. As for things like looking down or pitying, he had no such thoughts at all.
With a roar, Raditz followed closely, angrily attacking Goku.
Bang! "Big Brother, why are you angry?" Adjusting his body and raising his hand to block Raditz's attack, Goku's small face was filled with confusion.
"Bastard!" However, at this moment, hearing his younger brother's words and seeing his innocent appearance, Raditz fiercely yelled at him. Then, Raditz directly jumped off the ring and ran away without looking back, because he simply couldn't stand it anymore. Their thought processes were completely on different channels; more words would be useless.
"Huh?" Looking at his running older brother, Goku scratched his head, completely bewildered.