There was no way around it; in the vastness of the world, eating was the most important. Fortunately, John was not in a hurry, so he did push-ups while waiting for Master Karin to finish his breakfast.
Even the most lavish breakfast has its end, especially since Master Karin's breakfast was not that abundant.
John curiously asked Master Karin, "Do you really like eating fish?"
"Meow... Of course! Even though I'm a cat master, I'm still a cat, and cats love fish," Master Karin happily replied.
Upon hearing that Master Karin liked fish, John silently nodded. He had an idea to use fish to exchange for the Senzu Beans from Master Karin; rather than letting them go to waste with Yajirobe, he preferred to take some for himself in advance.
However, this plan for the Senzu Beans was a matter for later, as there were still less than three years until King Piccolo would emerge.
Ignoring John's thoughts, Master Karin cleaned up his utensils and approached him, saying, "Meow... Now let me test your strength. Do you have what it takes to touch the 'Ultra Divine Water'?"
The two faced each other and took their stances. John launched the first attack, but Master Karin swiftly jumped into the air and struck at John's waist with his staff.
Unexpectedly, John's initial move was a feint; Master Karin's staff swept through nothing but an afterimage.
The afterimage technique was Master Karin's specialty; it was a technique he had taught to Master Roshi, who later taught it to John and Goku.
Surprised that John had used his own invented technique right from the start, Master Karin quickly reacted. Once he sensed John's intention, he used his staff to block John's attack and leaped onto the roof before diving down to attack John.
John also jumped up from the ground and kicked at Master Karin. However, he passed right through him; Master Karin had also used the afterimage technique. After several exchanges, they landed back on the ground.
"Meow... Young man, you're quite impressive! I didn't expect your afterimage technique to be so good," Master Karin said with a hint of joy as his little whiskers twitched.
John smiled back and said, "No, no! No matter how strong I am, I'm not as good as an elder!"
Hearing this made Master Karin unhappy; what a tactless guy! He then said, "But martial arts ultimately come down to strength comparison. Technique is just a bonus but unfortunately not the deciding factor; your speed is simply too slow."
After saying that, Master Karin vanished from sight, his energy floating unpredictably in John's perception.
John continually followed Master Karin's energy and adjusted his position accordingly.
"Here!" John kicked out sideways but found nothing but empty air.
With a loud thud, Master Karin kicked John away.
Surprised by John's ability to sense energy to locate him, Master Karin remarked, "I never thought you could use energy sensing to determine someone's position; it's just that you're not very skilled at it yet. Besides that, your speed is too slow."
John did not feel discouraged; if there weren't such a gap in strength, why would he come to learn from Master Karin?
"Meow... Today's training ends here. Keep training; whenever you feel strong enough to challenge me again, come back," said Master Karin.
John nodded and looked down at Korin Tower. The most important trait of Saiyans is their relentless pursuit of breaking limits. So he jumped straight down from the top of the tower.
Of course, it wasn't really a jump; he climbed back down and then ascended again once he reached the bottom.
He continued this cycle until he was completely exhausted.
Over three days of training with the help of Senzu Beans for recovery, John managed to reduce his time climbing Korin Tower from one day to just one hour.
On his final climb up Korin Tower, he moved like a gust of wind, swiftly ascending from the bottom to the top while scattering clouds along his path with his speed.
After realizing he couldn't compress his climbing speed any further up Korin Tower, John challenged Master Karin again.
Over these days, Master Karin had been closely watching John's training progress. He truly did not expect John to use climbing Korin Tower as a way to train his speed. Moreover, John's improvement was astonishingly rapid; today might just be the first time in hundreds of years that he would lose a match.
They took their fighting stances again. John made an aggressive advance; before Master Karin could react, he rushed right in front of him.
Startled, Master Karin jumped back to evade John's attack but did not expect that John had no intention of attacking—his goal was merely to scare him off.
After Master Karin jumped back in surprise, John smiled slightly and accelerated into the air to dodge Master Karin's staff while grabbing hold of his tail.
Once back on solid ground with Master Karin dangling upside down by his tail in John's grip, he looked quite comical.
"You little rascal! Put me down at once!" shouted Master Karin loudly.
With a smile on his face, John replied, "So about that 'Ultra Divine Water'?"
"I'll give it to you," said an annoyed Master Karin.
Hearing that Master Karin agreed to give him the Ultra Divine Water made John immediately set him back on the ground.
After licking his ruffled fur caused by shock, Master Karin said to John: "You clearly are Roshi's disciple; you're just as mischievous."
John rubbed his nose awkwardly, unsure how Roshi had offended Master Karin all those years ago; he didn't dare speak up.
"Follow me," said Master Karin as he led the way toward his bedroom.
In a corner of Master Karin's room were several jars through which he observed Earth.
These jars also led to many alternate spaces where many of Master's items were stored.
Opening one jar's lid, he pulled out a coarse porcelain teapot with a large character for 'God' affixed on its body.
Could this be the Ultra Divine Water? Confused, John asked: "Master Karin, are you really just going to give me the Ultra Divine Water? Don't I need to go through some kind of adventure first?"