Upon their arrival, the trio immediately blocked the path of Goku and his companions.
The old man leading the group—distinguished by the white crane hat he wore—stepped directly in front of Master Roshi, his face wearing an expression of utter disdain.
Master Roshi, never one to indulge such arrogance, retorted instantly; his sharp tongue was as slick as if it had been dipped in honey.
"Hmph! I was wondering who it was—so it's just the Crane Hermit. What? You're not dead yet?"
"Still the same old self, I see—both your mouth and your face are just as repulsive as ever."
With that, the two old rivals—utterly devoid of any decorum—launched into a full-blown shouting match.
The Crane Hermit's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
"In any case, the championship title is destined to go to my disciples. You lot had better take your leave now—before you make fools of yourselves and suffer the humiliation!"
Once he had exhausted himself with insults, the Crane Hermit tossed out this parting shot. Head held high, he led his two disciples past Master Roshi and his group, making his way toward the registration booth.
As he brushed past Master Roshi's group, Tien Shinhan—one of the Crane Hermit's disciples—took a moment to sense the Ki signatures of the three students: Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha.
A look of disdain immediately spread across his face.
According to his senses, the bald-headed Krillin possessed the strongest Ki of the three—though even that was, at best, merely on par with his own fellow disciple, Chiaotzu.
Yamcha's Ki was significantly weaker. As for Goku—the boy with the tail sticking out of his backside, rumored to have been the runner-up in the previous tournament—his Ki signature was, surprisingly, the weakest of the bunch.
It was painfully obvious just how low the overall caliber of the previous World Martial Arts Tournament had truly been.
"Hmph. Not a single one of them is worth fighting."
What he failed to realize, however, was that after three years spent training and gaining experience across various dimensions, Goku had attained an exceptionally high level of mastery over his Ki.
Furthermore, due to the suppressive effects of the "Gravity Magic" he constantly utilized, his internal Ki was even less prone to leaking outward and making itself felt.
Consequently, under the scrutiny of Tien Shinhan's senses, Goku's Ki appeared to be the lowest of the three.
"Who was that arrogant old geezer?"
Once the Crane Hermit and his disciples had departed, Yamcha turned to Master Roshi, asking with a hint of indignation in his voice.
Who did that guy think he was looking down on?
He thought he was just going to waltz in and claim the championship? Had he even bothered to ask *him*—Yamcha—for permission first?
"That Crane Hermit—what a nasty old geezer! Just ignore him; let's go get something to eat!"
The Turtle Hermit spat a glob of thick phlegm in the direction of the Crane Hermit, then led the group toward the nearest restaurant.
After a hearty meal—paid for using a small shard chipped off Goku's gold brick—the group headed to the hotel provided by the World Martial Arts Tournament organizers for the contestants and their companions.
"Goku, tell us: what exactly have you been through these past three years? And how on earth did you learn magic?"
The moment they arrived at the hotel, the group—bursting with curiosity—crowded around Goku.
Just as Goku was about to recount the details of his fantastical training journey over the last three years, the Old Turtle suddenly chimed in.
"That wouldn't be fair to Goku. If you learn about his experiences now and get a clear idea of his capabilities, you could use that knowledge to formulate a strategy against him ahead of time during the tournament."
"Ahem... the Old Turtle makes a valid point. The competition must be fair. Let's wait until the tournament is over; *then* we can all sit down and have a good chat about the training we've each undergone these past three years."
The Turtle Hermit immediately spoke up, adopting a look of utmost righteousness.
In truth, he had harbored a bit of a sneaky ulterior motive himself just moments earlier; he had hoped to glean some insight into Goku's true power by listening to the details of his training regimen.
After all, getting thoroughly thrashed on stage by his own student would be incredibly humiliating—even if his secret identity hadn't been exposed yet.
However, now that the Old Turtle had pointed it out so explicitly, he certainly couldn't continue pressing the matter.
"Of course! The competition absolutely has to be fair. We've had some pretty eventful training experiences of our own over these past three years, too.
Goku, let's save the exchange of stories until after the tournament is finished."
Krillin and Yamcha immediately thumped their chests in earnest assurance, doing their best to look like they wouldn't dream of taking an unfair advantage.
Inwardly, however, they felt a twinge of regret.
They shared the Turtle Hermit's line of thinking; after all, back at the registration desk, witnessing Goku training under ten times the normal gravity had truly left them shaken.
They simply couldn't fathom—or even dare to imagine—just how far Goku's power had advanced, given that he could move with such effortless freedom under a gravitational pull ten times stronger than Earth's. "It makes no difference to me."
Goku scratched his head.
He had experienced so much over the past three years—and mastered so many techniques—that he truly wasn't worried about his true strength being exposed.
"In that case, let's play cards! We'll play 'Old Maid'—Goku knows how to play that, right?"
Bulma pulled out two decks of cards and tossed them onto the table.
And so, everyone happily settled in to play a few rounds of Old Maid.
The game finally concluded amidst laughter and cheerful banter, ending with Master Roshi—much to his misfortune—drawing the dreaded "Old Maid" card.
After the entertainment wound down, everyone split off into two separate rooms to rest.
Bulma and Launch—the two girls—shared a private room, while Goku and all the other boys were grouped together in a single large room.
Master Roshi, clutching his blanket, attempted to sneak his way into Bulma and Launch's room, only to be mercilessly beaten and kicked right back out.
Later, once everyone had washed up and settled into their beds, Goku fell asleep within a mere three seconds.
However, unlike his usual routine, he did not immediately transport himself into the "White Space." Instead, he simply lay in bed—just like everyone else—and drifted into natural slumber.
This was a little trick he had learned only after mastering the manipulation of the soul during his time at Kamar-Taj.
Among the various applications of soul manipulation taught at Kamar-Taj—aside from forging a tighter bond between the soul and the physical body (thereby making the soul less vulnerable to targeted attacks)—there was another capability:
One could, to a certain extent, allow the soul to voluntarily detach itself from the body to act independently.
For instance, one could put the physical body into a state of sleep while the soul departed to continue studying. This approach allowed the body to receive adequate rest while simultaneously providing even more time for learning.
However, sorcerers capable of reaching such a level of proficiency were few and far between at Kamar-Taj; it required an exceptional degree of innate talent.
Goku had only been studying for a little over twenty days—and although he had the direct guidance of the Ancient One herself—he was still... It does not reach the point where the soul voluntarily detaches itself from the body to move about freely.
However, if one allows only a small fraction of the soul to remain slightly conscious—while the majority of the soul and the physical body enter a deep slumber there is absolutely no issue with doing so.
And as long as even a sliver of the soul remains in a conscious state, one will not be transported into the "White Space."
At the same time, this serves as a built-in alert system even while one is fast asleep.
Should a sneak attack occur, the conscious portion of the soul will detect it instantly, allowing the body to awaken swiftly and respond.
At midnight, while everyone else was fast asleep, Krillin and Yamcha quietly rose, donned their training gear, and left the hotel.
With the tournament set to begin the very next day, they decided to "sharpen their spears at the last minute"—hoping that, even if the blade didn't gleam brightly, it would at least be a little keener.
Upon reaching the ground floor, they discovered they were far from the only ones with this idea; a considerable number of people were already there, seizing every precious second to squeeze in some last-minute training.
The following day, after finishing the breakfast provided by the tournament's sponsors, Goku—along with the competitors Krillin and Yamcha—entered the tournament venue.
Bulma and the others, meanwhile, waited outside.
Prior to the main event, there would be a preliminary round—a stage of the competition that was not open to the general public.
One hundred and eighty-six contestants had gathered from all corners of the globe: traditional martial artists, masters of modern combat and pugilism, and even various naturally powerful sentient beings.
They would first have to battle it out in the preliminaries to determine the top eight finalists—the only ones who would earn the right to step onto the main tournament stage the following day.
There, before a multitude of spectators and television cameras—competing on a global stage—they would ultimately determine who among them was the greatest fighter in the world.
"The preliminary rounds are about to begin. All contestants are requested to assemble at the Combat Hall."
The familiar voice of the announcer rang out through the loudspeakers, echoing across the entire venue.
"Go, Goku!"
"Go, Yamcha!"
"Go, Krillin!"
Amidst the cheers of Bulma and the others—who were watching from atop the perimeter wall—Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha followed the flow of the crowd into the Martial Arts Arena.