Soon, the one-hour intermission quietly passed.
The spectator stands were packed the entire time. Nobody left. Everyone was waiting, with every spectator loudly shouting for the matches to resume.
This year's World Martial Arts Tournament had awakened a deep, inexplicable yearning inside them.
Amid the impassioned commentary of the blonde-haired referee, the list of contestants who advanced to the Top 8 was announced!
First match: Talot vs. King Chappa!
Second match: Goku vs. Piccolo!
Third match: Krillin vs. Man-Wolf!
Fourth match: Nail vs. Tien Shinhan!
Fifth match: Ragar vs. Martial Artist Tiger!
Sixth match: Vegeta vs. Dinosaur Man!
Seventh match: Martial Artist Lager vs. Boxer Zaki!
Eighth match: Raditz vs. Salari!
...
What even Talot didn't expect was that not only was he the first to go up again, but his opponent was also the fairly famous King Chappa from early in the original work.
As the two stood in the arena, before the match had even begun, the arrogant King Chappa had already unleashed some harsh words.
He hadn't seen anything impressive from Talot in the Top 16 matches and thought Talot's advancement was just because he'd bribed his opponents.
In short, King Chappa declared that Talot had only made it to the Top 16 through dirty tricks, and that was his limit.
Now that he was facing him, Chappa said he would use his signature Eight-Arm Fist to knock Talot out of the tournament.
Talot paid no attention to the ranting of such a minor character, yawning out of boredom as he waited for the blonde-haired referee to declare the match's start.
"Match! Begin!" The blonde-haired referee, who knew Talot was no ordinary person, cast a look of disdain at King Chappa.
With that announcement, the first match of Top 8 officially began.
As soon as the match started, King Chappa charged straight at Talot, opening with his killer move, the Eight-Arm Fist, but in Talot's eyes, it was nothing more than a boring little trick.
"Get off," Talot said casually, raising his hand and swatting.
Landing a light, nonchalant slap across King Chappa's face—
King Chappa, completely powerless to resist, flew out like a kite with a broken string and landed outside the arena.
The more arrogant he'd been before, the more miserable he looked now, having lost several teeth.
Honestly, if King Chappa had been a bit more polite, Talot wouldn't have minded handling him like he did Mr. Satan.
Of course, Talot wasn't using his full strength; his control over his power was perfect to the extreme. This slap was just enough to make King Chappa question his life, but not fatal.
The blonde-haired referee had expected this scene, so he jogged off the arena to check on King Chappa. Finding he wasn't dead, he immediately announced Talot as the winner of the first match.
After all, the rules clearly stated that accidentally killing your opponent would cost you your qualification.
"So boring. I was hoping to run into Kakarot or Vegeta, but I guess I'm lucky in a way." Talot laughed it off, not caring how others saw him. He turned and left the arena, heading toward the backstage area.
Once again, the first match ended in a dramatic fashion, naturally drawing quite a bit of criticism.
Still, some people understood.
After all, the previous fights had been too intense. Battles between superhumans.
...
Second match.
Goku vs. Piccolo!
This got everyone excited again, since it would be another showdown between top-tier fighters.
There was no doubt that Piccolo's strength was no longer what it used to be.
But Goku's power was just as unfathomable and impossible to gauge.
On the arena—
Goku and Piccolo faced each other, both with extremely serious expressions.
Both were silently gathering power, ready at any moment to respond to a sudden attack.
"I didn't expect my opponent this time would be you, Piccolo." Goku clenched his fists, visibly excited.
"Goku, I've waited a long time for this fight. Master Roshi is your teacher, but this time, besides coming for Master Roshi, I also set my sights on his disciples. As a Saiyan, you're undoubtedly the strongest." Piccolo's eyes were sharp, locked directly onto Goku.
"Is that so? Looks like we're on the same wavelength. Ever since I saw you again, I've been looking forward to fighting you, and it turns out my intuition was spot on." Goku took up a fighting stance, his fighting spirit blazing.
"Hmph!" Piccolo didn't say anything else, responding only with a light snort.
He also took a fighting stance, eyes fixed on Goku, searching for an opening to strike.
The aura between these two powerhouses clashed, creating so much pressure that the blonde-haired referee felt overwhelmed, yet incredibly excited at the same time.
As the champion of the last World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku's overwhelming strength was beyond doubt.
But the contestant before him, Piccolo, was not to be underestimated either. He had easily crushed Master Roshi, the master of martial arts. That alone showed how formidable he was.
The audience was already in an uproar.
"Match! Begin!!" With that command from the blonde-haired referee, the second match of Top 8 began.
Swish~~!!!
Swish~~!!!
Two piercing sounds cut through the air in quick succession.
The instant the match started, Goku and Piccolo dashed forward simultaneously, charging at each other and launching into close-quarters combat.
Fists and kicks flew in rapid succession—attack and defense, pursuit and counterattack—their movements so fast that the naked eye could barely follow, the two of them darting around the arena like phantoms, colliding in every corner.
Other than the fighters in the backstage area, only the few gods in the audience could follow their movements clearly.
To everyone else, it was just a blurry battle, while hearing sounds of explosion from time to time.
Goku and Piccolo's intense clash kept escalating as they both tested each other out.
Even though this wasn't a fight to the death, Goku's old habit remained: he always liked to probe his opponent first, never going all out right away.
Piccolo was testing as well, but after just a few exchanges, he'd already figured out Goku's general power level in his base form.
Since you're not planning to transform into Super Saiyan on your own, don't blame me!
Piccolo made up his mind.
Whoosh!! A fierce gale erupted as white aura flames exploded around Piccolo, and he immediately unleashed 20% of his full power.
"What a powerful aura!" Sensing Piccolo's unleashed aura, Goku's eyes lit up, shocked by his strength.
Boom!!!! A deafening crash rang out.
Even though Goku crossed his arms in front of him to block in time, Piccolo's unleashed strength was so overwhelming that a single punch sent Goku flying to the edge of the arena.
Taking advantage of his momentum, Piccolo quickly sprinted up to Goku and launched a relentless assault.
His training on Namek had already honed his hand-to-hand combat skills and fighting techniques to perfection.
Compared to Goku's specially modified Turtle School fighting style, Piccolo was in no way inferior.
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