"There are no more ingredients left."
A little over an hour later, Saeko, who had lost count of how many times she had gone into the kitchen for ingredients, pursed her pink lips slightly and shrugged at Lott.
The plates on the table in front of him were piled up into several small mountains. Lott patted his stomach, licked the corner of his mouth, and muttered to himself:
"Alright then, 80% full is fine too."
Saeko secretly rolled her eyes.
She couldn't help but glance a few more times at Lott's slightly bulging abdomen.
'Was this guy's stomach a fourth-dimensional pocket?'
'How could it hold so much?'
"Sensei, Kami has lost."
Genos suddenly interjected.
Hearing this, Lott and Saeko turned their attention back to the group live stream screen.
Just moments ago, Kami, who had possessed the ordinary human, Shen, intended to seal Piccolo using the Evil Containment Wave.
But he never expected the gap in their power to be even greater than he imagined.
He was instead defeated by his own technique and sealed inside a small bottle.
Thus, the finalists were decided-
Goku! Ma Junior!
The battle that would decide Earth's fate had begun!
"Cough, the final match of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament is about to begin. Please, both contestants, take your positions."
You had to admire this referee's dedication, as he actually dared to stay.
"Then, ready… begin!"
The moment the referee raised his hand and swung it down, Piccolo took a step forward, and then his entire figure suddenly vanished.
He appeared almost instantly behind Goku.
His right hand, with its sharp nails, swept horizontally towards the back of Goku's neck.
But Goku's speed was equally impressive.
He turned and raised his arm, blocking Piccolo's chop with the side of his left elbow.
He then lifted a leg, countering with a diagonal axe kick.
The two began by testing each other with hand-to-hand combat.
…
[Rock Lee: Th-Their speeds are both so fast! Not just me, even Guy-sensei is far inferior!]
[Tenten: Lee, are you here as a joke? They can destroy planets with their moves. How can you compare?]
[Gintoki: Huh? For some reason, Gin-san feels like these two aren't that strong, even though either one could slap me to death.]
[Shinpachi: Maybe it's because we just watched the previous Saiyans' performances, which makes these two seem less impressive. And this Kakarot's personality is relatively easygoing, so he lacks intimidation.]
Shinpachi's pointed critique hit the nail on the head.
Goku and Piccolo's performance already surpassed 99.9% of the people in the group, but the puzzling thing was, why did they feel not that strong?
The main reason was the comparison with the first two videos.
Vegeta's trio and Lott, especially Lott's performance, were just too bug-like.
That made Goku and Piccolo seem less terrifying in comparison.
…
Thud!
Suddenly, the dull sound of punches and kicks echoed.
The two blurred figures fell from mid-air.
Piccolo had the slight upper hand. After landing, he slid back some distance but stabilized himself just before falling off the ring.
Goku, however, was sent flying high into the air, looking like he was about to fall out.
If that happened, according to the rules, Piccolo would win.
But how could Piccolo's pride allow him to win in such a manner?
Not to mention he couldn't possibly let Goku off so easily.
In the next instant, Piccolo placed his left hand over his right.
He opened his right palm and let out a furious roar.
"Explosive Demon Wave!!!"
The moment he roared, a pale golden energy beam shot out from Piccolo's right palm.
Goku's expression in mid-air changed drastically.
Not having mastered the Flight Technique yet, he couldn't easily adjust his posture in the air.
At the last moment before being hit, Goku had a sudden flash of inspiration.
"Kamehameha!"
Goku fired a blue-white Kamehameha from his hands.
Because he didn't charge it, the power of this Kamehameha was pathetically weak.
But that was fine, as he wasn't using it to block Piccolo's Explosive Demon Wave anyway.
He was using the recoil of the Kamehameha to help him dodge in mid-air.
[Ash: Wow! My Bayleef used that move in a contest too! Great minds really do think alike!]
[Misty: Hah! Really patting yourself on the back there, aren't you?]
Misty from the Planet Pokémon secretly rolled her eyes.
She admitted that Ash occasionally had flashes of brilliance and came up with surprising winning strategies.
But that didn't change his habit of slacking off in training and choking at critical moments.
Meanwhile, Goku had fought several matches, and he hadn't choked yet.
Lott felt that Goku indeed didn't choke, and he just liked to show off.
But it seemed like all Saiyans had this flaw, so it's like the pot calling the kettle black.
…
"You're too naive!"
Piccolo roared.
The Explosive Demon Wave forcibly changed direction, chasing after Son Goku.
"It will follow you until it blows you to pieces!"
Piccolo laughed maniacally.
Goku's face darkened as his brain raced for a tactic. Suddenly, an idea struck him.
"Ha!"
Facing the increasingly close Explosive Demon Wave, Goku suddenly separated one hand.
He fired an energy wave towards his upper right.
Piccolo, without even thinking, immediately controlled the Explosive Demon Wave to pursue.
Goku changed direction several times but couldn't escape Piccolo's pursuit.
At the final moment before impact, Goku suddenly changed direction again and struck the side of the Demon Light Scream with an energy wave from the side.
Like a billiard ball hitting the cushion, it was forced to change direction.
It now charged straight towards Piccolo himself.
"What!?"
Piccolo's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly dodged sideways.
But the moment he stepped aside, he found Goku, hands cupped at his side in a flower-bud shape, waiting for him right there!
"Ka-me-ha-me-HA!"
The fully charged Kamehameha erupted with a thunderous roar.
With no possible way to dodge, Piccolo could only raise his left arm in a desperate attempt to block.
In the spectator stands, Chi-Chi, Bulma, and the others, with the help of Krillin, Yamcha, and the rest, quickly fled in the opposite direction.
When the impact of the Kamehameha gradually subsided, everyone looked back at the center of the arena.
They saw Piccolo's left arm hanging limply as if dislocated, blood completely covering his unique emerald green skin.
"That arm is useless now. You've lost."
Son Goku wore an expression of certain victory.
The Earthlings watching the stream silently also breathed a sigh of relief.
Even though the Saiyan Son Goku was dangerous, right now, their greatest fear was Piccolo, whose identity had also been exposed.
"I've lost?"
The pain-contorted expression on Piccolo's face instantly turned into a sarcastic sneer upon hearing Goku's words.
Then, under the stunned gazes of countless viewers, he pressed his right hand against his left shoulder and, with a gut-wrenching roar, tore the arm clean off!
Countless swordsmen, martial artists, and psychics across the universe's planets were dumbfounded.
'Dude, it's just a wounded arm.'
'No need to be this hardcore, right?'
"Grahhhh!"
However, the next second, everyone saw Piccolo let out another low, guttural roar.
A new arm, mixed with a murky green fluid, forcibly grew out from the stump of his left shoulder.
[Shanks: …]
[Sesshomaru: …]
[Shu: …]
[Joseph Joestar: …]
A group of the 'one-armed crew' silently shed tears.