It was unclear what Hathaway was saying, but she kept smiling and tapping Bulma on the head, while Bulma stuck out her tongue in embarrassment.
Goku was devouring food like a madman, speaking through mouthfuls, "Krillin, come eat with us!"
Taro beckoned to his young disciple, motioning for him to sit near Goku.
On Goku's other side sat Gohan. As Krillin passed by, he greeted them and looked curiously at Tien and Chiaotzu across the table—Tien was supposed to be his opponent tomorrow! After sitting down, Krillin leaned toward Goku and whispered, "Hey, Goku, what's Tien doing here?"
"No idea!" Goku replied, slurping noisily, completely indifferent to the setting.
"That's Master's junior martial brother. Three hundred years ago, he trained under Grandmaster Mutaito with our master... You can just call him Uncle Tsuru. Tien and Chiaotzu are both disciples of his Crane school," Gohan explained on his master's behalf to Goku and Krillin.
"Uh… Uncle Tsuru, nice to meet you!" Krillin quickly offered a polite greeting. Goku, still wolfing down food, got a light knock on the head from Gohan. Finally pausing, he puffed out his cheeks, mimicked Krillin's greeting, and then resumed his feast. Tien, sitting across from him, watched with all three eyes twitching—what kind of person is this?!
Inside the private room, the two tables of people dined in a surprisingly harmonious atmosphere.
Mainly, it was Taro and Tsuru conversing across the tables. Of the disciples present, only Gohan had enough status to occasionally chime in. This was mainly dictated by strength and mastery. Among those present, Taro held a transcendent position. Gohan, his direct disciple, naturally possessed profound strength, and after decades of training, his martial arts realm was incredibly deep.
Tsuru, however, was far weaker than Taro, and due to the restrictions of the Water of Longevity, he was even weaker than Gohan. Nevertheless, as a martial arts grandmaster with three centuries of cultivation, he had once discovered a way to enter the Dao through calligraphy after being inspired by Taro's artistic expression. After a hundred years, his understanding of martial arts had clearly surpassed Gohan's in some respects.
However, Gohan's foundation was stronger, and with decades of solid Muken training, if they were to truly fight… unless Tsuru was willing to risk his life and unleash the berserk power of the Tsuken, burning through his lifespan, he wouldn't likely match Gohan. One must understand, thanks to the mystical Water of Longevity, Tsuru had a very long lifespan, and if he went all out with Tsuken, he would be even stronger than Tien.
All of this was tacitly understood between Taro, Tsuru, and Gohan in just a few casual exchanges.
At their level, even idle conversation could yield significant insights. It was a form of shallow martial arts exchange in itself.
Tien ate quietly, but with Taro at the table, he felt on edge. Across from him, however, Goku was eating loudly, stacking dishes high. Even little bald Krillin was eating as fast as he could. After all… he was sitting next to a bottomless pit like Goku—if he didn't fight for food, he'd go hungry. Clearly, during their training under the Muten School, Krillin had already gotten used to competing with Goku for food… Tien thought absentmindedly.
"For tomorrow's match, is Tien withdrawing?" Taro's voice pulled Tien from his wandering thoughts.
Tsuru, picking at a cold dish, said irritably, "You already lost—what's the point of competing for third place? Don't disgrace me. Just drop out if you lost!"
Withdrawing?
Krillin, in the middle of scarfing down meat and rice, looked up in shock. Goku didn't react at all, too busy kicking the phoenix under the table to stop it from stealing his food.
Tien composed himself and said solemnly, "Master is right. A loss is a loss. To me, the tournament is already over. I will not compete tomorrow."
Gohan glanced at Tien, then at his own master, then lowered his head and resumed eating. He picked up a freshly served meatball and placed it into his little grandson Goku's bowl. As soon as it landed, Goku scooped it up and swallowed it whole without even chewing.
Before long, the meal was over.
Rather than leave through the door, Taro and his group opened the window of the private room. Instantly, the blue sky, white clouds, and city skyline came into view. Whether it was Gohan, Goku, Krillin, or Tien, walking through a crowd would certainly cause a commotion.
Krillin grabbed the now-grown phoenix by the neck, intending to ride it. The phoenix rolled its eyes, pretended to cooperate, but once they were out the window, it began performing midair acrobatics and daredevil stunts, making the little bald head atop it scream wildly—sometimes long, sometimes short, sometimes near, sometimes far…
Goku laughed, leapt onto the windowsill, shouted "Nimbus!" into the sky, and confidently jumped. A yellow cloud flew right under his feet and carried him into the sky with a whoosh, chasing after the phoenix and Krillin. At that moment, a flying vehicle from below also shot up after them—it was Bulma.
Tien and Chiaotzu walked to the window and looked back at their master. Tsuru was standing with Taro and Hathaway.
"You go on first… Mm, follow Gohan. I'll come find you later," Tsuru waved them off impatiently.
Taro said, "Gohan, you go too."
"I'll take my leave then, Master, Mistress, Uncle Tsuru," Gohan nodded and floated into the sky. Tien and Chiaotzu quickly bowed to the three of them and followed after Gohan.
"You still haven't taught your two disciples how to fly?" Tsuru asked, looking out the window.
"It's not important. They'll figure it out themselves," Taro replied casually.
Hathaway stood beside Taro, holding his arm, watching Tsuru. She could sense that he had stayed behind to talk.
After a moment of silence, Tsuru said, "Tien is a good seed."
"Yes, a descendant of Fan. Not bad," Taro nodded.
"He's about to surpass me. As his master, there's nothing more I can teach him…" Tsuru took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled with a sigh. "…You take him. His future shouldn't be ruined at my hands."
Taro remained silent.
"What, are you refusing?" Tsuru looked irritated. He had wrestled with himself for who knew how long to muster the humility to make this request. So when Taro didn't immediately agree, the old man's expression soured.
"That's not what I mean… Taking him on is no big deal." Taro smiled faintly, looked at Tsuru, and patted his shoulder, his gaze calm. "It's not just his future that shouldn't be ruined… yours too, my junior brother."