They fought from morning until dusk. Night was falling.
In a moment of carelessness, Piccolo left an opening. Goku seized it, hitting him with a full-power Kamehameha.
At full force, the Kamehameha's power surged past 2000 points.
At the same time, Goku took Piccolo's hastily fired Masenko, 1900 points.
Both fighters hit the ground at once.
"A real shame, Goku. In the end, I was still the stronger one." Piccolo forced himself upright. Goku had no strength left to stand.
By tournament rules, Piccolo had won this match.
The announcer asked whether the final should be held the next morning.
"The final? I forfeit." Piccolo answered without hesitation.
A fight you know you can't win is pointless. Better to delay and return when victory is within reach.
"Sensei, right now I'm no match for you. But I won't always be this weak. Just wait. Before long, I'll come to learn from you again."
Piccolo looked at Goku. "And you too, Goku. I enjoyed this fight thoroughly. I hope next time you give me just as much enjoyment. Though next time, I won't be so careless."
"Until we meet again, Earthling."
"Hold on." Just as Piccolo turned to leave, Kami stepped forward.
"Take a look. Who am I?"
The real Mr. Shen lay collapsed on the ground. From his body, a faint phantom slowly emerged and took solid form.
It was Kami.
"I was wondering who it was. So it's Kami." Piccolo looked at him without concern. A sneer even crossed his face. "What's this? Think you can kill me now that I'm weakened?"
Despite his words, Piccolo was already weighing the situation. Wu and Devilman were also injured. If Kami joined forces with the Z Fighters, victory wasn't certain.
And that was assuming Naruto stayed out of it.
"My power can't kill you. And I can't kill you. So... this is the only method I have." Kami was direct. He shook his head and pulled a small flask marked with a seal tag from his pocket.
"The Evil Containment Wave?" Piccolo saw the familiar seal tag and understood Kami's plan instantly. "You intend to seal me?"
"Yes. You're too dangerous. I have to seal you." Kami swallowed and stepped forward.
But the moment he moved, a jet-black mist spread across the arena.
When the mist cleared, a young noble in fine clothes stood on the field beside Piccolo.
"My King, I was late. Please forgive me." The young man knelt before Piccolo.
Shura, Goku's old enemy from the Demon Realm. His power was immense. Once, he'd left Goku, whose power was only 180, completely helpless. If not for exploiting Shura's weakness to light, Goku might never have driven him back with a Kamehameha. His journey could have ended there.
He is now one of the three strongest generals under Piccolo's command.
Because sunlight causes him real, physical harm, he stays hidden in the shadows during the day. He only appears now, as night falls.
"No matter. You have arrived at the perfect time." Piccolo shook his head, then looked toward Kami, his voice heavy with provocation. "Kami, it looks like my side is stronger now."
Masters of the dark arts: the rogue martial artist Lei Wu, the mighty Devilman, the Mummy, and now Shura of the Demon Realm.
Piccolo had gathered nearly every top-tier villain on Earth.
*'A just cause attracts much support, an unjust one finds little'*, Naruto had drilled this into Piccolo from a young age. That's why he recruited these subordinates. Without exception, each of them was among the most powerful on Earth.
A Great Demon King in every sense of the word.
"Naruto," Kami said, turning to him alone. Of all present, only Naruto would help.
But there was no way Naruto would agree to seal Piccolo.
He shook his head. "If this world is to move forward, it cannot rely on light alone. Darkness is just as essential."
"Kami, even if you seal Piccolo, it won't be long before another rises. Then a third. This world has never lacked for villains, any more than it has lacked for heroes. That is the law of this world, and the law of humanity."
Kami said nothing. He knew Naruto used smooth words to refuse him, but what could he do?
Naruto went on. "Besides, sealing away such a powerful opponent, wouldn't that be a terrible waste?"
"I think Goku would agree."
"Yeah, Kami. Piccolo is an incredible opponent. If I get the chance, I want to fight him again. Next time, I won't lose to him."
It was the perfect out, and Kami took it.
He stared at Piccolo for a long moment. As if convinced, he finally spoke. "Very well. After all, this world will soon belong to you young martial artists. I leave its future in your hands."
Shura and his Demons left, taking the injured Piccolo, Devilman, and the others with them. The spectators had already scattered long before. Only the Z Fighters remained at the tournament grounds.
"I'd like you to inherit my position as Kami," Kami said. He looked at Naruto, then at Goku. "But I know none of you would agree to it. So... it's time I took my leave."
"Hold on, Kami. Don't run off just yet." Naruto stopped him before he could go. "Goku still hasn't had his wedding. Something this big, shouldn't we all celebrate?"
He clapped Kami on the shoulder. "There are other things I need your help with too."
"Other things?" Kami asked, looking confused. But Naruto gave him no chance to press further.
He rounded up the other Z Fighters and used Goku's wedding as an excuse to throw a real celebration.
The Tenkaichi Budokai had been broadcast live, and the Z Fighters' fierce battles and the power they'd shown won them legions of fans among martial arts enthusiasts. Many came hoping to become apprentices. The Z Fighters had no plans to take any, so those hopefuls all left disappointed.
A month later, Goku's wedding took place on Mount Paozu, right on schedule.
The cabin where Goku and his grandfather once lived was barely twenty square meters, so they decided to build a two-story villa nearby.
Goku hadn't won the 23rd Budokai Tenkaichi, but as a semifinalist, he'd earned a solid prize. Life after the wedding would be far more comfortable for him and Chi-Chi than it might have been.
Unlike in canon, this wedding wasn't held in secret. Nearly everyone Goku knew came. Most weren't rich, and their gifts weren't extravagant.
But one of Goku's friends was Bulma, the young heiress of Capsule Corp and the richest person in the world. Her generosity operated on a different scale. The wedding gifts she brought were priceless. Even one of them, a collector's edition Hoi-Poi Capsule set, was worth more than anyone could guess.
Naruto didn't have Bulma's kind of money, but he'd done well for himself in West City. His gifts weren't far behind hers.
Goku could eat through a fortune, but as long as the family didn't play the stock market, buy futures or options, speculate in funds, or drop money on luxury goods, as long as they stuck to basics, this was enough to keep him fed for life.
Because nobody expected a married Goku to hold a job. Saiyans are famously allergic to work. Even working under Frieza only happened because the job came with what they loved most: fighting.
Vegeta, for all his reputation as a family man later on, never held down a real job either.
The wedding guests were a strange and varied crowd. A monk, that was Nam. A Frankenstein, Android 8, also called Eighter, though he didn't bring any secret little hamburgers. Tribesmen from the Bora clan. And even...
"Didn't expect you to show up," Kami muttered, studying the face that looked so much like his own from when he was young.
"Is it strange?" Piccolo led his monsters to the seats on the right side of the banquet. "As my future opponent, I'm here to scout his current condition. Perfectly logical, isn't it?"
That was a lie even Kami didn't believe.
"Fine. Just don't cause trouble," Kami said, shaking his head, unwilling to get drawn into an argument. In that moment, he knew one thing for certain: Piccolo and the purely evil Demon King Piccolo were not the same kind of being.
"Kami." After a few rounds of drinks, Naruto found him. "Have you ever heard of King Kai?"
"Where did you hear that name?" Kami asked, blinking at the question. Slightly tipsy, he added, "You want to train under him?"
King Kai's identity wasn't exactly a secret, but not many people knew about it.
"No, not me." Naruto shook his head, then looked over at the Z Fighters. "Them."
The way the Z Fighters' strength developed was strange in the extreme. The most glaring example was the four years between the end of the 23rd Budokai Tenkaichi and the Saiyans' arrival, their power barely improved at all. Practically everyone just stood still.
Going by the official power level data, whatever they looked like at the 23rd Budokai Tenkaichi was more or less the same four years later.
It was as if their strength had frozen in place the moment that tournament ended, even though those four years should have been the golden window for real growth.
The root cause, if you thought about it, was probably just one thing: the world was too peaceful. Training was like rowing a boat against the current. If you weren't moving forward, you were sliding back.
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