"What are you doing?! We worked so hard to keep that away from the Red Ribbon!" Chi-Chi screamed, her eyes wide.
"Go on then." Korin urged, pointing his staff toward the stairs.
"Run down, find it, and climb back up. If you truly haven't gotten any stronger, it should take you... oh, another day, right?"
Goku didn't hesitate.
"I'm going! Chi-Chi, stay here!"
"No way!"
The two of them vaulted over the railing and began to descend the tower at a terrifying speed.
As they moved, something felt... different.
The air didn't feel as heavy.
Their feet found the notches in the stone with instinctive precision. The sheer verticality that had nearly killed them days ago now felt like nothing.
The descent had been quick, but the climb back up was a revelation.
Goku and Chi-Chi moved like possessed shadows, their fingers digging into the stone with newfound power.
They were practically sprinting vertically, fueled by a burning fury at the cat's "prank."
When they finally vaulted over the top railing and skidded onto the stone floor of the sanctuary, they were both gasping, their hearts hammering against their ribs.
"Here! We got it back! That wasn't funny!" Goku barked, holding up the Four-Star Ball, his face flushed.
Chi-Chi stomped her foot, her ponytail disheveled.
"Do you have any idea how far that thing fell?! We had to search the high grass for twenty minutes! You could have lost it forever!"
Korin didn't look bothered at all.
He pulled out a small pocket watch, glanced at it, and then tucked it back into his fur with a satisfied hum.
"Three hours." Korin said calmly.
Goku paused, his anger momentarily replaced by confusion.
"Huh? Three hours for what?"
"Your round trip. The first time you climbed this tower, it took you nearly an entire day. You arrived here broken, bleeding, and half-dead. This time, you ran down, searched the grounds, and climbed back up in just three hours. And look at you, you're tired, sure, but you're standing tall."
Chi-Chi blinked, her mouth falling open as she looked at her hands. She wasn't shaking. Her breathing was already beginning to steady. The climb that had once felt like an impossible death sentence now felt like a strenuous morning exercise.
"He's right..." Chi-Chi whispered, her anger evaporating into pure shock.
"Goku, we... we barely even struggled with the thin air this time. We really did get stronger."
Goku looked at the bottle dangling from the staff, his eyes burning with renewed hope.
"Then we're ready! If we're this much faster, we can drink the Sacred Water now, right?"
"Not so fast." Korin interrupted, pulling the bottle back and tucking it behind his back.
"Strength is only half the battle. You've hardened your muscles, but your movements are still as predictable as a falling rock. The rules haven't changed: no bottle, no Sacred Water. And until you drink it, you won't have the power you need to face that assassin."
Chi-Chi tightened her sash, a determined scowl returning to her face.
"Fine. We know we're faster now. Goku, let's go! No more distractions!"
"Yeah!" Goku shouted, his aura flickering with a new, refined intensity.
The two of them launched themselves at Korin again, their movements much sharper than before.
The air in the sanctuary began to whistle as they pushed their speed to new limits.
Korin danced between them, a playful grin tugging at his face as he kept the secret of the water's true nature hidden safely behind his whiskers.
Later, the moon hung low over the lookout, bathing the stone floor in long, shimmering silver shadows.
The only break in the silence was Korin's snoring.
The white cat lay curled on his cushion, his wooden staff leaning precariously against his shoulder, with the bottle of Sacred Water dangling right there—completely unguarded and well within arm's reach.
Chi-Chi's eyes snapped open. She sat up slowly, her joints no longer aching, her body feeling lighter than ever.
She looked at the cat, then at the bottle, her heart beginning to thud against her ribs. She reached out and poked Goku sharply in the side.
"Mmm... five more minutes..." Goku mumbled, swatting at the air.
"Goku! Wake up!" she hissed, pointing toward the sleeping hermit.
Goku rubbed his eyes, blinking at the sight. There was Master Korin, completely defenseless. The prize they had been bleeding and sweating for was right there, swaying slightly in the night breeze.
Chi-Chi leaned in close, her voice a tiny thread of sound.
"Goku... we could do it right now. We could just reach out, take a sip, and it would be over. We'd have the power. We could go down there, save Upa, and get revenge for Bora."
Goku looked at the bottle, then at Chi-Chi. His expression was uncharacteristically serious.
"Yeah... we could."
"But..." Goku started, his brow furrowing as he looked back at the sleeping cat.
"That would be cheating, wouldn't it? If we just take it while he's asleep, we didn't really win it."
He turned his gaze fully to Chi-Chi, his dark eyes searching hers.
"Is that really how you want to get stronger, Chi-Chi? By sneaking around in the dark?"
Chi-Chi paused. She looked at her hands—hands that were now callous and strong from the climb. If she stole this victory, she'd just be that same arrogant girl from Mount Pleasant who thought she was better than she actually was.
"Yeah..." Chi-Chi whispered, leaning back and letting out a long sigh. She felt a strange sense of relief wash over her.
"It wouldn't mean anything. We'd know. And I think he'd know, too."
Goku grinned, his classic, toothy smile returning. "Let's get some sleep. We're gonna catch him for real tomorrow!"
They both lay back down on the hard stone, closing their eyes. Across the room, one of Korin's eyes opened just a tiny crack.
A small, knowing smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth before he drifted back into a much more peaceful sleep.
For the next forty-eight hours, the sanctuary atop the tower was a whirlwind of ceaseless motion.
The sun traced its arc across the sky and vanished, yet the rhythm never faltered: the sharp clack of a wooden staff against stone, the whistle of air as small bodies blurred through the thin atmosphere, and the determined, grit-toothed grunts of two children who simply refused to break.
By the dawn of the third day, the transformation was undeniable.
Goku and Chi-Chi didn't move the way they used to.
Their footsteps had fallen silent, their breathing now perfectly synchronized with the thin mountain wind.
They moved with a fluid, lethal precision that even Korin had to acknowledge with a flick of his whiskers. They were no longer merely chasing a bottle; they were dancing with the air itself.
"Now, Chi-Chi!" Goku shouted.
He didn't just lunged; he flickered.
Goku used a high-speed dash that left a trail of dust behind him.
Almost simultaneously, Chi-Chi launched herself from a pillar.
Korin's ears flicked.
He swiped his staff to parry Goku, but Goku didn't overextend.
He pulled back at the last micro-second, allowing Chi-Chi to dive in from the blind spot he had just created.
Korin spun his staff like a propeller, creating a wall of wood, but Chi-Chi performed a mid-air twist that defied physics, her body contorting just like Korin had taught them through his own movements.
She dodged the staff by a hair's breadth.
They've done it.
Korin thought, a flash of genuine surprise crossing his face.
They aren't just following my movements anymore... they're anticipating them.
Goku used the moment of Korin's focus on Chi-Chi to leap from behind. He didn't use a afterimage to trick the eyes; he simply moved with such raw, explosive speed that he seemed to exist in two places at once.
The air pressure in the sanctuary reached a breaking point.
Trapped between Goku's explosive speed and Chi-Chi's precision, Korin made a desperate maneuver, spinning his staff with such force that the ornate bottle was knocked loose.
It didn't fall to the floor. It flew outward, soaring over the railing and into the vast, empty sky.
"The water!" Goku yelled, his heart skipping a beat.
"Watch out! You'll fall!" Korin warned, his voice sharp with caution.
But Goku didn't hesitate. He leaped straight off the edge of the tower, plummeting into the abyss as he reached desperately for the glinting bottle.
He was falling faster than the glass, his fingers clawing at the wind, but the chaotic air currents kept pushing the bottle just out of his reach.
"Goku!" Chi-Chi screamed.
She didn't just jump; she ignited.
Using the Skywalk, she kicked the air with a series of sonic booms, rocketting downward. She bypassed Goku like a pink and blue streak, her hand snapping out and snatching the bottle mid-air just as it was about to disappear into the clouds.
With a fierce grunt of effort, she grabbed the back of Goku's gi with her free hand and kicked the air again, defying gravity.
She ascended the vertical drop in a series of powerful leaps, landing firmly back on the sanctuary floor with Goku in tow.
She stood there, panting, her hair windswept and her eyes glowing with triumph. She held the bottle high.
"Well now. You actually did it. You caught the uncatchable water." Korin said, a wide, proud smile splitting his face.
Chi-Chi looked at the bottle, then at the bruised and breathless Goku beside her.
A soft, genuine smile touched her lips—the kind of smile she usually reserved for her memories of her mother. She didn't unsheathe the cork and drink it all herself. Instead, she held it out between them.
"We did this together. I wouldn't have even been able to jump if you hadn't pushed him into that corner."
She uncorked the bottle and took a long, refreshing swallow, then handed it over to him. Goku beamed, taking the bottle and gulping down the rest.
They stood there together, feeling the cool liquid hit their throats, their bond forged in the sweat and blood of the last few days.
Korin leaned on his staff, his whiskers twitching. He didn't tell them just yet that the water was ordinary, seeing the look of absolute unity and newfound power in their eyes was enough. They had earned the sacred water in the only way that truly mattered.
"Congratulations, you're finally ready."
Goku licked his lips, waiting for the surge of god-like power. Beside him, Chi-Chi flexed her hands, expecting her muscles to glow or her aura to explode into a new color.
A few seconds passed in total silence. A bird chirped somewhere in the distance.
"Uh... Master Korin?" Goku said, poking his stomach.
"I don't feel anything. Is it supposed to take a while to kick in? Maybe I drank it too fast?"
Chi-Chi shook the empty bottle, looking for a hidden drop.
"Yeah, I don't feel any multiplier effect. Is this... expired?"
Korin sat back on his cushion, his eyes closed in a serene, almost maddeningly peaceful expression.
"Oh, it's not expired. It's perfectly fresh. I topped it off myself just last week from the rain barrel."
The air in the room suddenly felt very still.
"The... rain barrel?"
"Yep, It's just ordinary water. Plain, clear, and refreshing. Excellent for hydration, but not much else."
"WHAT?!" Goku and Chi-Chi screamed in unison, their voices echoing off the clouds.
"You mean we climbed this giant pole, almost died a dozen times, chased you for three days just for... TAP WATER?!"
Chi-Chi roared, her face turning a shade of red that rivaled the Ox-King's cape. She felt like she had been played for the biggest fool in the world.
Goku looked completely heartbroken.
"But Master Korin! You said it was Sacred Water! You said it would give us the power to beat the assassin! You lied to us!"
"I never lied." Korin replied calmly, tapping his staff.
"I told you that you would find the power you needed by obtaining the water. And you did. Look at yourselves! You can move faster than the eye can see, you can breathe the thin air of the heavens."
He pointed his staff at them.
"The effort changed you. If I had just given you a magic potion, you wouldn't have the skill or the reflexes you have now. You've already become the masters you were looking for."
Chi-Chi opened her mouth to argue, her fist raised to clobber the cat, but she stopped.
She looked at Goku, then at her own hands. She realized she wasn't even panting anymore. The exhaustion that used to crush her was gone.
"So... the training was the water." Goku muttered, a slow realization dawning on him. He looked down at the clouds below.
"We really are that much stronger, aren't we?"
Chi-Chi's clenched fists slowly relaxed.
The fury that had turned her face red began to fade, replaced by a look of profound clarity. She took a deep breath, feeling the air fill her lungs without the slightest struggle, and looked down at her own body—stronger, faster, and more capable than she had ever been in her life.
She realized then that Korin hadn't just given them strength; he had given them confidence.
If the water had been magic, the power could be taken away. But this power? This belonged to her. It was earned in sweat and stubbornness.
She stepped forward and bowed deeply, a gesture of pure, traditional martial arts respect.
"I understand now, Master Korin." Chi-Chi said, her voice steady and sincere.
"Thank you. I almost let my desire for a shortcut blind me. You taught me that true strength comes from within, not from a bottle. I will carry that wisdom with me for the rest of my life."
Korin smiled, his eyes curving into happy crescents. He leaned on his staff, looking at her with genuine fondness.
"Ho ho! It warms this old cat's heart to hear such maturity." Korin purred.
"It is always a pleasure to help a warrior with such a fiery spirit... especially when it belongs to such a pretty young girl."
He paused for a beat, his gaze drifting lazily over to the boy standing next to her.
"And, ah... Goku too, I suppose."
Goku blinked, tilting his head.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
Korin chuckled, turning his back to them.
"Now go. Show that assassin what real masters look like."