Naruto shook his head without elaborating. He produced an object and handed it to Master Roshi. "I had plans to visit you, though I didn't expect to run into you here."
"This is a famous work by a renowned master. I heard you enjoy this kind of reading material, so I'm presenting it for your evaluation." Naruto added, "It hasn't been released in this world yet."
Master Roshi's eyes lit up at the cover. He snatched it from Naruto with a excited exclamation. "Oh ho! A private collection?! I'm too embarrassed to accept!"
Naruto had given him a book, a famous erotic novel from the Naruto-verse written by Jiraiya: the renowned 'Icha Icha Paradise'.
Master Roshi glanced around the room. Seeing that Bulma and Launch weren't paying attention, he quietly began flipping through the pages. "Whose masterpiece is this? Let me appreciate it with a critical eye..."
He opened the book with enthusiasm, then slammed it shut in disappointment.
"What is this? It's not a gravure magazine after all." (Gravure Magazines are a genre of Japanese glamour photography featured heavily in pop culture and entertainment magazines)
Compared to text-dense novels, Master Roshi preferred straightforward gravure magazines with no plot whatsoever.
"It seems you don't know me well enough," Master Roshi said. He abandoned his sleazy demeanor, his tone suddenly righteous and serious. "Ignore whatever ridiculous rumors you've heard, I am a righteous martial artist."
'The righteousness you're talking about... he's just a lecher, isn't he?'
"I think I heard the words 'gravure magazine'..."
"Attention, all contestants participating in the Martial Arts Tournament: the preliminaries are about to begin. Please proceed immediately to the Martial Arts Pavilion for the preliminary test."
The broadcast rang out just as Master Roshi reached a peak of embarrassment.
"Ahem... the preliminaries are starting. Hurry into the arena, don't be late."
After several people entered the Preliminaries Entrance, Master Roshi found an excuse to slip away, flipping through 'Icha Icha Paradise' as he walked.
A few minutes later, Master Roshi wiped blood trickling from his nose.
"This book has something to it. Not bad at all. Written by a true man of culture."
Because there were so many contestants and their abilities varied so widely, the Tenkaichi Budokai was divided into preliminaries and the main tournament.
Contestants had to place in the top eight of the preliminaries to reach the main arena.
The matches the audience watched now were the quarterfinals of that main tournament.
Preliminary results were generally kept private to protect the self-esteem of certain martial artists. After all, being eliminated in the first round due to bad luck was embarrassing.
The martial arts pavilion for the preliminaries was packed. All kinds of fighters crowded the space, and beast-type humans were everywhere. Most possessed natural racial advantages over ordinary people.
Naruto spotted several Little Zombies bouncing around, along with Gorillas.
He wondered if thoseGorillas were actually beast-type humans, and what species the Little Zombies were supposed to be.
It wasn't just the species that varied, the clothing was equally bizarre. Naruto even saw several men wearing their underwear on the outside.
Of course, he wasn't referring to the one with the big S on his chest.
'None of these contestants have strong ki. Most are only at the level of ordinary genin or below.' Naruto sensed the ki around him and reached this conclusion.
If the later Naruto-verse had massive gaps in power levels where everyone operated on different wavelengths, the Dragon Ball-verse's polarization was even worse. Using Dragon Ball Z data as a baseline, an average Earthling had a combat power of 5, while a common Saibaman during the Z Era's Universe Arc had a combat power of 1200. That didn't even account for the countless beings that came after.
They could be reduced to ash in an instant.
The ordinary people in this world were truly weak, but the strong were truly powerful.
"Dear contestants, thank you all for traveling from all over the world. Due to the continuous expansion of participants in recent years, the number of registrants has reached an astonishing 183 people, and this number is still growing. However, only eight people can advance to the next round, so the competition will be extremely fierce. I hope everyone performs their best and leaves no regrets."
True to form, while the other contestants listened carefully to the rules, Kid Goku gnawed on a rice ball the size of a washbasin.
'Watching him eat makes me hungry too. Naruto, do you have anything to eat?' Kid Goku's eating had awakened the appetite of Goku inside the sealing space as well.
'Only ramen, want some?' Naruto hadn't eaten anything else lately.
'Ramen again? I'm not really in the mood, but let's start with 100 bowls. Remember to add extra noodles to all of them.'
Soon, steaming hot ramen arrived. Goku eagerly wrapped his arms around the bowls and started slurping.
"Chiaotzu, put the punk who just upset our master in my group." Tien, a disciple of Master Shen, glanced at the number he'd drawn from the box and spoke to Chiaotzu.
"I'll make him regret this."
Tien looked sharply around.
"Number 99, third group. Put him in there with me."
This was the result of Master Shen's upbringing. At this time, Tien still dreamed of becoming the world's number one assassin, like Mercenary Tao.
"Yes, Tien." Chiaotzu extended one finger and drew a circle in the air, a faint blue glow radiating from his fingertip.
Just then, Naruto reached into the number-drawing box.
Naruto handed his number to the staff member.
"Group four, number 150."
Tien froze. He turned to Chiaotzu. "Chiaotzu, did you mess that up? Third group, not fourth. After 99 comes 100, not 150."
Chiaotzu was terrible at math, even addition and subtraction within ten required counting on his fingers, so getting numbers beyond 100 wrong was entirely possible.
Chiaotzu stood there in a daze. After a long while, he looked at his own fingers. "Tien, my psychic powers stopped working."
He was certain he had used his psychic powers, but it hadn't worked.
Tien trusted Chiaotzu without question. If Chiaotzu had activated his powers and they failed, it meant someone had rendered them ineffective.
"Interesting." Tien glanced at Naruto, his expression blank. "I hope he makes it to the quarterfinals."
"Then I'll meet him myself."
When the referee called his name, Naruto stepped onto the arena.
"Contestant number 150 , Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Contestant number 151 , Panput!"
Naruto's opponent was a man with poofy hair and white bandages wrapped around both hands.
The moment he entered the arena, he launched into a series of moves, throwing rapid punches and executing footwork he believed was blindingly fast. It looked impressive and imposing to the crowd.
In the eyes of Naruto, who could use ki sensing, the man was a nobody. At best, he was twice as strong as the average martial artist.
"Panput?!"
Naruto's internal dismissal was not shared by the others. Below the arena, the martial artists whispered.
"That's the star martial artist Panput, right?"
"I heard he's already won two consecutive world-class tournaments," another added quietly.
"Why would a world-class star enter this tournament? Is it for the 500,000 Zeni prize money?" (A/N: In early Dragon Ball sagas the 1st place prize was 500k Zeni, it increased in later arcs.)
"Are you kidding? Panput makes over five million Zeni from a single endorsement deal. Why bother with a measly 500,000?"
"He usually competes in combat sports and free fighting. Why come here?"
"Probably to add another championship to his collection."
"A triple world champion. Terrifying."
"Damn it. With him here, there's no hope for the championship."
"Didn't you just get eliminated by a little baldy?"
Hearing the comments from below, Panput showed off even more enthusiastically. Naruto stood quietly on the arena floor, watching the man put on his act.
"Look over at Group Two, it's King Chappa."
"His opponent is the previous runner-up."
Eight-Arm Fist King Chappa had won the Tenkaichi Budokai championship multiple times. He was famous for winning the moment he stepped onto the arena.
"Panput and King Chappa. How are there so many super martial artists in one tournament?"
"This is more intense than I imagined."
"Look, Group Two already has a result. King Chappa was taken out by the previous runner-up."
"So fast! Looks like the Eight-Arm Fist was all hype."
While the martial artists gossiped, King Chappa, who had just been praised as a legend, was defeated in a few exchanges.
The other matches finished, yet Panput continued hopping around like a monkey.
"Unfortunately, you ran into me." Panput noticed Naruto wasn't paying him any attention. He stopped his show and looked at Naruto with pity.
Panput held up five fingers. "Five seconds. I only need five seconds to finish you."
"Begin!"
Panput charged, moving at a speed he considered extreme to close the distance. Before Panput could even react, Naruto threw a punch.
Job done.
With a dull thud, Panput collapsed. He couldn't get back up.
Panput, the two-time world champion, was defeated in one hit.
"Don't think I won't hit you just because you look like a young Satan."
"Even 'Eight-Arm Fist' King Chappa and 'Fighting Star' Panput were eliminated?"
The match had ended, but the audience still couldn't believe it.
"Not only them. Nam, a former Top 4 contestant, was taken out in one move by some three-eyed newcomer."
"Just how many hidden masters are in this tournament?"
Chappa and Panput were elite among ordinary people. Had they competed in the last tournament, they would have reached the Top 4. Chappa might have even reached the finals if Master Roshi hadn't been there.
Unfortunately, they were too late. This tournament simply wasn't for martial artists of their level.
The theme of this event was the Turtle and Crane Rivalry. Everyone else was a supporting act. Even if an outsider made the Top 8, they would be eliminated in seconds. They weren't on the same level.
The tournament following this one would be even more intense, escalating into a battle of gods.
After defeating Chappa, the preliminaries became a formality. Naruto cut through every obstacle, no contestant could withstand a single move from him.
===============
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