Hearing Saitama's name broadcast, Rhode calmly left the waiting area and walked towards the ring. As for who his opponent was? Rhode didn't care at all; they were all just defeated foes anyway.
Hmm? However, when he arrived at the staging area and saw his opponent's identity, his face instantly darkened. Looking out, all he saw was a dark-skinned giant. The dark-skinned giant wasn't the problem; the problem was that this giant was the guy who hadn't bathed since birth, the one who, in the original timeline, used various disgusting methods to deal with Krillin. At this moment, even before he stepped onto the stage, a foul stench wafted through the air. This opponent was definitely a super biochemical weapon!
Before long, the two ascended the stage in turn.
"Match start!" As the bald Saitama, transformed by Rhode, stood in the ring, the announcer confirmed both identities, shouted for the match to begin, and then immediately ran off. Clearly, the announcer also couldn't stand the power of the barbarian's biochemical attack.
Seeing the announcer declare the match started, and after the announcer left, Rhode didn't say a word. Without waiting for that guy to rush over and disgust him, he simply threw a punch through the air.
Bang! Without any surprise, the unbathed barbarian was blasted off the ring by Rhode's air-punch, instantly falling unconscious.
"Saitama wins!" Seeing the barbarian blasted out of the ring and unconscious, the announcer stepped forward to confirm the situation, then immediately declared Rhode the winner. He even showed gratitude for Rhode's decisive action. It was indeed a stroke of luck that Rhode had dealt with the barbarian so cleanly and swiftly, meaning he wouldn't have to host any more matches involving that person.
After instantly defeating his opponent, Rhode returned to the waiting area, immediately attracting the attention of many people. Especially those few youngsters who trained in the Martial Arts Hall and possessed considerable strength, they looked at Saitama, transformed by Rhode, with curiosity and seriousness.
"Goku, is that strange guy very strong?" At this moment, seeing the solemn look in Goku's eyes as he watched Saitama, transformed by Rhode, Bulma couldn't help but ask curiously.
"From his move, he is indeed very strong!" Although answering Bulma's question, Goku's eyes remained fixed on Saitama, transformed by Rhode. The more he looked, the more solemn his expression became, because in his perception, this person was not very strong. In fact, not only was he not strong, but he was very weak, even weaker than an average martial artist. But from his earlier move through the air, he was clearly not an ordinary person. It was because at this moment, Rhode was only maintaining an external power level of five, which was merely the strength of an ordinary male adult on Earth. Among the many participating martial artists here, this was truly too weak.
"Ah?" Seeing Goku's serious demeanor, Bulma, who had originally participated just for fun, relying on her strength, suddenly felt a bad premonition: "If I face him, can I win?"
"You can't win!" Facing Bulma's concern, Goku thought carefully about Rhode's earlier air-punch technique and directly concluded. That kind of technique, sending someone flying through the air while precisely knocking them unconscious without much harm, just that level of control over power was something even he couldn't achieve right now.
"Can't you say it a bit more tactfully, you guy?" Hearing Goku's words, Bulma opened her mouth and complained, clearly annoyed.
As she spoke, Bulma began to search for her opponent. Before long, she found that her opponent was meditating in a corner, completely oblivious to the lively surroundings.
Just then, Bulma's opponent opened her eyes, meeting Bulma's gaze. It was none other than Baobao-jie, transformed by Aira.
"Goku, do you think my opponent is strong? I don't feel like she's as good as me!" Bulma smiled at Baobao-jie, transformed by Aira, then asked Goku again.
Hearing Bulma's question, Goku followed her gaze. What he saw was an unremarkable young girl, whose aura wasn't particularly strong, placing her in the lower-middle tier among the many martial artists. However, upon seeing the young girl, Goku frowned in confusion, because he instinctively felt that this person was not simple.
"I haven't seen her fight, so I don't know, but I suspect that person's strength is not weak!" Goku gave his judgment, but as he spoke, his face was filled with excitement. He had originally thought that with his current strength, he wouldn't encounter any worthy opponents in this Martial Arts Tournament. But in just this short time, he had already discovered two people with hidden depths. He was suddenly filled with anticipation for the upcoming battles.
"Could it be another person I can't win against? When did Earth get so many masters?" Hearing Goku's words, Bulma was stunned. She carefully scrutinized Baobao-jie, transformed by Aira, and then couldn't help but complain.
After all, as someone who had repelled many who came to cause trouble at the Martial Arts Hall, Bulma was quite familiar with the level of martial artists on Earth. However, now she had a power level of over ten thousand, yet she never expected that she might not be able to win against two people she casually encountered. This was simply unscientific!
As she complained, Bulma took a fruit from her bag and crunched it down in a few bites.
"Bulma, don't accidentally kill anyone later!" Seeing Bulma eating that power-boosting fruit again, and thinking about her control over her own strength, Goku couldn't help but remind her.
"Goku is right, Bulma, Master Roshi's injuries from you still haven't healed!" As Goku's words fell, beside him, the little bald Krillin couldn't help but tease him. After Goku's journey to collect the dragon balls, he and Krillin still became good friends. Not only that, but the group also formed a strong relationship with Master Roshi.
"Little bald, are you asking for a beating? You know, you can't beat me!" Facing Krillin's teasing, Bulma huffily raised her fist and threatened him. Because Krillin hadn't trained at the Martial Arts Hall, his current strength wasn't strong, and he couldn't beat Bulma at all. Moreover, even if he had trained with everyone at the Martial Arts Hall, he couldn't compare to Bulma, who boosted her strength by eating fruit, in such a short time. So, at this moment, facing Bulma, if Krillin didn't back down, he would only get a beating.
"Hehe!" Looking at Bulma's fist and hearing her blatant threat, Krillin twitched his lips, but in the end, didn't say anything tough.
"Contestants Kilaren and Krillin, please proceed to the ring for preparation. Your match is about to begin!" Just then, the voice from the broadcast saved the awkward Krillin. Then, everyone saw the monster Kilaren and Krillin both standing in the preparation area in front of the stage, waiting to go on.
However, just then, Aira, who had been meditating, suddenly opened her eyes. Looking up, she gazed through the roof towards the cosmos. Indeed, a spaceship was rapidly approaching Earth in the starry sky, and surprisingly, there was a familiar aura on board!