Deceived by Ethan's casual words of encouragement, Yamcha trained extremely hard for the next stretch of time and successfully endured the harsh training in a three-times gravity environment.
Even though the time spent training in the gravity chamber was not long, the results were far greater than training for a year in a normal environment. Ethan estimated that even if Yamcha's current strength had not reached Goku's level after training at the Lookout, the gap should not be very large.
"If this keeps up, will Yamcha change his fate of not even being able to serve as a background character in the later stages?"
After several months of intense training, Ethan was the first to end the special gravity chamber training.
For the few of them at present, gravity training could only be used as a form of special training and could not yet become part of their regular training routine.
"Phew, I finally got through it."
As Yamcha walked out of the gravity chamber, he let out a long breath. At least he had not embarrassed himself and had managed to persevere through this special training. Now, he was looking forward even more to the upcoming World Martial Arts Tournament.
"Hehehe, I'll definitely surprise Krillin and Goku when the time comes."
"They'll definitely be surprised."
After undergoing this "advanced" training method, they were already at least one "version" ahead of the original protagonists like Goku. Not to mention the current Goku and Krillin, even if they ran into King Piccolo, they could still defeat him easily.
Because of what he had done, the plot would most likely undergo huge changes, but he did not know how much of an impact it would have on the story that followed.
Ethan was very open-minded about changing the plot.
When he did not have the ability, he would hold back. When he had the ability, changing it was fine. Once he could control his own destiny, the plot or anything else no longer mattered much to him.
After packing their things and getting ready, including Bulma, they flew by plane to the site of the World Martial Arts Tournament.
At this time, the World Martial Arts Tournament was not as grand as it would become in the future. The venue was on a small island, the competition area was not very large, and the spectator area was simply the open ground around the ring. If you arrived late and could not squeeze into the front row, you would not be able to see anything at all.
Of course, once Goku and the others appeared in the World Martial Arts Tournament, even ordinary people standing by the ring would not be able to see much.
The champion's prize money was not very high either, barely enough for Goku to eat one full meal.
For most people, this tournament was a stage where they could become famous in a single battle. As for Goku and the others, it was a place to spar and test the results of their training over the past few years.
"Master Roshi and the others should already be here, right?"
Master Roshi lived together with Launch and Krillin. Ethan knew that this time, Master Roshi would still participate under the identity of Jackie Chun.
"They should be waiting for us at the registration area, right?"
Carrying their luggage to the registration area, they did indeed spot Master Roshi and the others. Because he had trained with Krillin on Korin Tower for a while, Ethan was already quite familiar with Krillin, but he was still relatively unfamiliar with Master Roshi and Launch.
"Are Ethan and Yoruichi participating this time too?"
"I entered last time, but unfortunately, I was eliminated in the preliminary round."
"Ah!"
Krillin had not been familiar with Ethan before, so he really had not noticed that Yoruichi had actually participated in the previous tournament.
"How could that be? With your strength, you shouldn't have failed to even get through the preliminaries, right?"
"She got matched against Jackie Chun in the preliminaries last time."
"..."
That was Yoruichi's most frustrating moment. With her strength, as long as she did not run into Goku and the others, making it into the main tournament would not have been a problem. Yet she had ended up facing the strongest one.
While chatting, the group also finished registering.
Although the World Martial Arts Tournament had a very grand name, the registration process was extremely simple. You only needed to tell the person in charge your name. There was no need to show any identification.
But thinking about it, no matter how you registered, you would eventually have to step onto the ring. Regardless of your identity, whether you could advance after stepping onto the ring ultimately depended on your strength. As long as you were strong enough, the organizers would not care who you were. Even if you were not human at all, it would not be a problem.
The purpose of the preliminary round was to eliminate the weaklings who lacked strength, select the eight strongest contestants, and then present them to the audience.
"Hasn't Goku arrived yet?"
"Here he is!"
In the original plot, Goku drank a bowl of Master Roshi's motivational soup and was tricked into traveling the world using only his own strength. As a result, he swam here from the other side of the world and nearly missed registration.
This time, he was still using that method as training. The only difference was that the current Goku was a little stronger, and he had learned the Flying Technique ahead of time. Even without the Flying Nimbus, his travel speed was faster than in the original plot, so he arrived earlier.
"Goku!"
Looking at him still wearing simple clothes made from beast hide, Ethan seriously suspected that all the money he had given Goku had been swindled away.
After asking in detail, he found that although Goku seemed a bit naive, he was not that foolish. It was understandable that he had not known anything at first, but after learning how money worked, he would not be easily fooled by just anyone.
"It's just that I'm usually active out in the wild, and sometimes even if I have money, I don't get the chance to spend it. I rely more on my own hands."
Seeing Goku open his satchel, which contained not only the capsules Ethan had given him but also many other things, Ethan knew that Goku was gradually beginning to understand how to live in "normal society."
"But I still found a chance to specially make a martial arts uniform, and I plan to wear it during the tournament."
Like Krillin, Goku would wear the Turtle School martial arts uniform. Yamcha was different from the original plot. He had not become one of Master Roshi's disciples, so he was still wearing his own gi and would still have the character "樂" on his clothes.
As for Ethan, he was simply wearing a weighted T-shirt, long pants, and boots. The bracers on his wrists were also weighted, and the weights on his calves were hidden under his pants.
For convenience, he had come wearing this outfit directly so he would not need to change clothes later.
"Aren't you taking off your weights?"
"There's no need for that yet, right?"
Yamcha thought about it and did not put the weights back on. His performance in the last tournament had not been very good, and this time he wanted to achieve a good ranking.
"I hope you don't take them off when you fight me."
"I can't guarantee that!"
As the two spoke in low voices, someone with a strange hairstyle suddenly walked over and mocked Master Roshi, drawing the attention of both Ethan and Yamcha.
"Who is this guy?"
Yamcha quickly got his answer. Master Roshi directly revealed that the other party was Master Shen and immediately started bickering with him.
"The preliminary round is about to begin. Let's go in and get ready!"
Yoruichi was more focused on the competition. After hearing the announcement over the broadcast, she reminded everyone that it was time to go in.
"Good luck. Everyone, make it through the preliminaries!"
Ethan looked around. Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, plus Master Roshi disguised as Jackie Chun, and then himself and Yoruichi, made a total of six people.
There were only eight spots in the main tournament, and Master Shen's two disciples, Tien and Chiaotzu, would also be participating. Without any cheating, the odds of all of them appearing in the main tournament were simply too low.
"Who do you think is going to be the unlucky one?"
After several years of hard training, Yoruichi was very confident in her current strength. Even if she faced Ethan or Yamcha, she felt she was not without a chance of winning.
To the other contestants, these people were like landmines. Whoever ran into them would be unlucky.
"How would I know?"
Chiaotzu had psychic powers and could tamper with the drawing, but it seemed he had not done so in this preliminary round. Perhaps Tien had enough confidence in his own strength. As long as the two fellow disciples did not run into each other in the preliminaries, it would be fine.
So Ethan and Yoruichi could potentially run into anyone. Of course, they had not expected the most ridiculous outcome possible to happen. They ended up drawing each other.
"..."
"Uh..."
Yoruichi was speechless. Even Goku and the others, who had just finished drawing lots and were relieved that they had not been placed together, were speechless. Yamcha, considering Ethan and Yoruichi's strength, could only sigh at how unlucky they were. He did not know how else to describe the situation.
What left everyone even more speechless was that neither of them would need to fight until the final round of the preliminaries. They would face each other after defeating just one opponent.
"Tsk, what kind of luck is this?"
"Yeah, why are you so unlucky?"
"Why don't you say your luck is bad?"
"Compared to me, you probably want to compete in the main tournament more... Strange, have you awakened some weird talent, never being able to make it into the main tournament?"
No matter what, Ethan and Yoruichi meeting in the preliminary round was already set. Their first-round opponents were both ordinary people, and each of them dealt with their opponent easily with a casual move.
When the second round began, Goku and the others all gathered there to watch Ethan and Yoruichi's match.
"If one of you gets eliminated, will I have a chance in the main tournament?"
Yamcha teased the two of them while preparing to enjoy the exciting fight.
He noticed that not only was Ethan still wearing his weighted gear, Yoruichi was too, and she did not seem to have any intention of removing it.
"Come on. I'm really looking forward to fighting you in a match like this."
After stepping onto the ring, Yoruichi tossed her jacket outside the arena, leaving only a black skintight outfit on her, and fixed her gaze on Ethan across from her.
"Let's make this clear, you're not allowed to forfeit. If you do, just wait until we get back."
"..."
Ethan shook his head helplessly. He really had considered whether he should simply forfeit and let Yoruichi advance. In any case, he was not all that interested in this tournament, and missing out would not be a big deal.
However, Yoruichi did not like that kind of victory. Since that was the case, there was no point dwelling on it anymore. There was nothing to say, they would just fight.
"Since that's the case, let's have a proper fight."
The difference in strength between Ethan and Yoruichi was not very large now, which meant both of them had a chance to win.
(To be continued.)