Nam stood with his hands pressed together in prayer, silently focused.
Meanwhile, as soon as Chi-Chi stepped onto the stage, she immediately began warming up.
"One, two, three, four—two, two, three, four…"
Watching her, Nam offered a soft apology. "Little girl… you may be young, but I have a reason I must win. I'm sorry."
Chi-Chi stopped her stretches and took a ready stance.
"No need to hold back. I went through the same intense training as Goku!
If you want to beat me, it's not going to be easy!"
As she spoke, she lunged straight toward Nam.
Because of her small size, she knew she had to avoid her weaknesses—and target his.
Once she closed the gap, she struck low, aiming straight for Nam's legs.
Her hands moved like lightning—swift and sharp.
But Nam easily sidestepped the attack and leapt into the air.
"Where'd he go?!"
Chi-Chi looked around in a panic, having lost sight of her opponent.
Then—she saw it: his shadow, cast against her face in the sunlight.
She looked up—just in time to see Nam diving down with a kick.
In the blink of an eye, Chi-Chi pushed off the tiles beneath her,
sliding two meters across the arena to dodge cleanly out of the way.
As soon as that strike missed, another came immediately.
Nam lashed out with a fierce kick.
But Chi-Chi's lips curled in a confident smirk.
Her arms moved in a blur, parrying Nam's leg strikes with sharp precision—no openings, no hesitation.
The moment she felt his offense slow, she counterattacked without hesitation.
With a stomp of the ground, she launched herself upward, aiming a powerful kick at Nam's gut.
Despite his tall frame and size, Nam broke into a cold sweat.
He could feel the strength in that strike.
Not daring to be careless, he crossed his arms to block.
The kick landed squarely on his forearms.
Though it seemed like a proper block, the impact still left his arms numb and forced him back two steps.
But Chi-Chi didn't stop there.
In the next breath, she tucked into a backflip, knees bent midair.
And as her legs extended, she shot forward like a cannonball, slamming into Nam once more.
The impact knocked him backward, sending him hurtling across the ring.
Chi-Chi wasn't about to let the chance slip—she rushed forward to finish it.
But Nam, being taller and having longer legs, countered mid-air.
With a sweeping kick, he sent Chi-Chi flying.
Thankfully, she reacted in time, twisting in the air to roll into a smooth landing.
Nam, on the other hand, hit one of the ring's corner pillars during his tumble.
He rebounded off it with a back-kick, launching straight toward Chi-Chi.
She had just regained her footing and couldn't react in time.
Nam's foot crashed into her stomach.
She cried out in pain as she was thrown across the arena, landing hard on the tiles.
Chi-Chi clutched her abdomen, groaning.
Nam looked at her with a mix of guilt and resolve.
"I'm sorry… I have no choice. You should surrender."
Suddenly, a pair of voices rang out from backstage.
Son Goku: "Chi-Chi! Come on! Give it everything you've got!"
Krillin shouted too: "You're doing great, Chi-Chi! Keep fighting—don't let him win!"
Hearing their encouragement, Chi-Chi gritted her teeth and stood back up.
She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and reset her stance, facing Nam head-on.
"Goku's watching me. There's no way I'm going down that easy!"
Nam froze for a second, sweat trailing down his face.
'Should've knocked her out when I had the chance…!'
Even Bulma, watching from the stands, was taken aback.
Chi-Chi's performance had already surpassed most adult fighters.
She was still a child—yet she was stronger than she ever was in Bulma's past life.
Of course, Chi-Chi had barely trained at all back then.
Bulma turned her gaze to Nam—an incredibly skilled martial artist.
In her past life, she'd never missed a single World Martial Arts Tournament, and she remembered Nam well.
He was one of the few who could go toe-to-toe with young Goku.
And now, Chi-Chi was fighting him evenly.
She's just a child!
A few more years, and she'd beat him easily.
Bulma murmured, "So this is the butterfly effect?"
"In this lifetime, Chi-Chi's walking the path of a martial artist… but how far will she go?"
Yet when Bulma thought about the future, she sighed.
No matter how close Chi-Chi stayed to Goku now, he would inevitably outpace her.
If we're just talking about Earthlings, then yes—Chi-Chi was already among the elite.
But once Raditz arrives… and the era of the wider universe begins…
Earthlings can't keep up.
Only Krillin, after surviving the Namek journey, could barely hold his own.
But after Goku died of illness… everyone besides Gohan and Trunks died in battle.
Bulma had considered countless ways to change the future.
Stopping the Saiyans from coming to Earth? Impossible.
Even defeating Androids 17 and 18 wouldn't mean much.
After all, Trunks—who wasn't even as skilled as Goku—
defeated them both just by training in the past and returning stronger.
And Earth would eventually face threats like Babidi and Majin Buu.
But what worried Bulma most—
was that in the future, someone would swap bodies with Goku.
So no, Goku getting stronger alone wasn't enough.
The best way to protect Earth—
was not just to let Goku grow stronger,
but to ensure others could reach his level too.
Even if it took several people to match him—it would still keep him in check.
Then, when the time came to confront the one who stole Goku's body,
they could suppress him long enough to use the Dragon Balls—and swap Goku back.