"A heart as calm as the sky."
Little Goku kept repeating the phrase to himself, chewing it over. Suddenly, as if enlightened, he froze in place, his expression growing blank, his eyes turning into two tiny black dots (_).
"It means your heart should be as calm as the sky—not that you should empty your brain and stop thinking altogether," Kakarot laughed. "Hahaha, not bad. Just like me back then. Same reaction."
"A punch as fast as lightning."
Little Goku scratched his head awkwardly, then raised his hands and tried a few attack motions, attempting to reach the standard Kakarot described.
But then he realized—
"This is so hard..."
These two principles were the core teachings that Kakarot once received from Mr. Popo at Kami's Lookout, back when he had just defeated King Piccolo.
They had been the foundation of his training there.
On the surface, the sayings sounded simple—maintain a heart as tranquil as still water, and strike with blinding speed. But in reality, achieving them was no less difficult than fully embodying Master Roshi's Kame style philosophy.
Back then, Kakarot spent three full years at Kami's Lookout, and even then only managed to partially grasp them. Later, when he became obsessed with simply raising his battle power, he set aside these lessons in cultivating his state of mind.
It wasn't until Dragon Ball Super that he realized brute force alone wasn't enough—he needed to refine his state of being to grow stronger. During the Tournament of Power, Master Roshi's words awakened his long-buried memories of that training, and only then did he successfully unlock Ultra Instinct.
You could say, without exaggeration, that these principles were the prerequisites for Ultra Instinct.
One had to first attain such a state of mind.
"After some time, I'll teach you another powerful technique," Kakarot grinned mysteriously. "The Kaio-ken—a move that can multiply your battle power."
It was finally coming? The Kaio-ken—the only secret art available to normal mortals that could truly double their strength.
Once mastered, who would fear the Ōtsutsuki?
Could they withstand even a single Kamehameha?
Kakarot could blow up the entire Ōtsutsuki planet, scatter their ashes to the winds.
"Oh, right." Kakarot turned his gaze toward the lounging Nine-Tails. "You over there, big fox. You're coming too."
"Gah?"
The smug Nine-Tails, who had been sipping soda, instantly sprayed it everywhere.
"Your power's not bad. Perfect—you'll be their sparring partner."
The hell, the hell, the hell! Nine-Tails cursed in his heart, as if a thousand wild horses were stampeding through his mind.
"What's wrong? Not willing?"
With a pained grimace like he was wearing a mask of suffering, the fox's features scrunched into a face uglier than crying. "Nothing of the sort. It would be my honor."
Disagree? What would that get me? If this guy can casually beat those two brats into lumps, then what chance do I have? March up there just to get slaughtered?
And why does his gaze keep feeling like he's sizing me up as food?
He doesn't actually plan to eat fox, does he?
I don't want to get stronger...
After seeing the strength of both Narutos and Little Goku, the Nine-Tails was no longer the arrogant beast of old.
Strongest tailed beast? Please. Every other guy here outclasses me.
All I want is to lie here in this seal space and live out my days in peace.
But alas, the poor Nine-Tails was dragged into being a sparring partner.
From then on, Naruto, Little Goku, and Kurama trained under Kakarot's relentless regimen every single day inside the seal.
By day, Naruto trained with the Edo Tensei body. By night, he endured Kakarot's lessons.
His growth was explosive.
The training went on for nearly a year.
One day—
Naruto and Little Goku once again teamed up against Kakarot. After a fierce exchange of blows, the two leapt into the air together, clasped their hands in unison, and struck a familiar pose. Two blazing blue energy waves shot toward Kakarot.
"Kamehameha!"
Unmoving, Kakarot shouted—and the mighty waves vanished before they even touched him.
It was just like at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budōkai, when Tien Shinhan's Dodon Wave was erased by Tao Pai Pai's voice alone.
Such a feat was only possible when the gap in strength was overwhelming.
In the next instant, Kakarot appeared before Naruto and flicked his forehead. Naruto had no time to react before he went flying. Almost simultaneously, Kakarot appeared before Little Goku and flicked him too—sending him soaring as well.
"Now witness my Phantom Beast Cannon!"
The Nine-Tails, muscles bulging, gathered immense chakra in his maw. Mixing yin and yang in precise balance, he compressed it into a devastating Tailed Beast Bomb.
The massive sphere shot straight toward Kakarot.
This time, instead of shouting, Kakarot calmly extended one finger. The black orb that could easily flatten mountains stopped dead against his fingertip, unable to advance an inch—before dissipating completely.
A heartbeat later, he appeared before Kurama as well, and with the same forehead flick sent the giant fox flying.
Two humans and one beast—each defeated in exactly the same way. Very fair.
The entire seal space shook violently.
The Nine-Tails slammed into the wall like a lump of dough, flattening into a pancake before slowly sliding down.
He lay sprawled on the ground, tongue lolling out, eyes rolled back, looking half-dead.
After a long while, he groggily shook his head and struggled to stand—only to plop back down again. Three times he repeated the effort before finally managing to stay upright.
"I swear I just saw the Sage of Six Paths beckoning to me from across the River of Tranquility..."
His head was spinning with water, even forgetting his usual boastful first-person pronouns.
If not for the tailed beast's unique constitution, he'd be suffering a severe concussion at the very least.
So ruthless.
Naruto staggered up as well, clutching the lump on his forehead, hissing in pain.
"Looks like another failed challenge," Kakarot said with a voice full of regret, though his face betrayed not the slightest hint of it.
The "challenge" was simple: force Kakarot to use his second finger. But as they had just proven, he could crush them all with one finger alone.
"Goku?"
Noticing a missing voice, Naruto turned toward Little Goku.
There he was, standing blankly, as if listening intently to something.
"You—" Naruto began, but was cut off as Little Goku spoke:
"I feel... someone is summoning me."