John looked at the Dragon Radar to check the location of the Dragon Balls and pointed to one of the bright spots, saying, "This Dragon Ball is in the Turtle Hermit's three-star ball."
"Wow, I didn't expect there to be a Dragon Ball near Korin Tower," John said in surprise as he looked at the radar. "I just came back from Korin Tower; if I had known, I would have helped you find that Dragon Ball."
"Korin Tower?" Goku asked curiously.
"Yes, Korin Tower. Goku, when you go there to look for the Dragon Balls, you must climb up Korin Tower and ask Master Karin to train you. Master Karin is an even more powerful martial artist than Master Roshi. It was because Master Roshi climbed Korin Tower and received training from Master Karin that he became the martial arts god he is now," John explained.
"That's really amazing! I have to climb Korin Tower," Goku said excitedly.
"By the way, Goku, after you receive training from Master Karin, you must ask him for 'Ultra Divine Water' to drink. Remember, it's 'Ultra Divine Water,' not 'Super Holy Water.' They are two different things."
"'Ultra Divine Water' can greatly unlock our potential. I believe that if you drink 'Ultra Divine Water,' you will become incredibly strong," John suggested.
John thought that while he might not be able to change when the villains appeared, he could significantly enhance his companions' strength.
Bulma, hearing about such a miraculous thing as Ultra Divine Water that could greatly increase strength with just one sip, wanted to get some for Yamcha and asked, "Can we get more? I want Yamcha to drink some so he doesn't have to train so hard."
John immediately shook his head and joked, "No way! If Yamcha drinks Ultra Divine Water, he would be poisoned! We would have to find Shenron to revive him." He continued, "Yamcha can't drink it; Ultra Divine Water is highly toxic. Those who cannot resist the poison won't unlock their potential and will end up dead."
"Ah! Then let Goku drink it?!" Bulma said angrily.
John quickly explained, "Because Goku and I have the same constitution; we are both Saiyans, so we can resist the toxicity of Ultra Divine Water."
"Have you drunk it yourself?" Bulma asked.
"I did," John nodded but added, "Although I didn't die, fourteen people drank Ultra Divine Water before me, and without exception, they all died from poisoning."
Hearing this from John, Bulma finally gave up and said, "Then forget it."
Since the Dragon Radar was already functional and with Korin Tower's matter at hand, Goku bid farewell to John and Bulma and prepared to go to Korin Tower immediately.
After about ten days passed again, Bulma received a call from Master Roshi at home saying that Goku had encountered the Red Ribbon Army and was preparing to attack their headquarters.
Master Roshi gathered everyone to think of ways to rescue Goku from the Red Ribbon Army.
John said, "What's there to discuss? Just rush in and take down that Red Ribbon Army!"
John's suggestion was immediately rejected by everyone present. To save Goku, blue-haired Launch transformed into blonde Launch and said, "I've dealt with the Red Ribbon Army before; their power is enormous! Tanks, planes, cannons, missiles—every advanced weapon you can think of—they have it all! They can be considered a nation within a nation."
"With just a few guns in our hands, we can't possibly fight against them."
Master Roshi then said, "Regardless of what happens, we can't ignore Goku. Let's head towards the Red Ribbon Army first; we'll deal with any difficulties when we encounter them."
So Bulma piloted a plane with everyone heading towards the Red Ribbon Army's headquarters. Except for John, everyone was very nervous and even prepared for sacrifice to save Goku.
Only John sat leisurely in the back seat of the plane whistling. He wasn't even planning on coming but was forced onto the plane by Master Roshi with the argument that wasn't Goku still your friend? Would you just watch him die?
As expected by John, not far from the Red Ribbon Army's headquarters while everyone was discussing plans for attacking it, they saw Goku flying down on his Flying Nimbus from the headquarters of the Red Ribbon Army.
Calling down Goku and asking him revealed that he had single-handedly taken out the entire Red Ribbon Army.
John said, "I told you! We didn't need to discuss any strategies; rushing in was enough!"
Everyone fell silent; they truly hadn't expected that the Red Ribbon Army would be so useless that they couldn't defeat a child.
Ignoring everyone else, John asked Goku, "Goku, did you drink Ultra Divine Water?"
Goku nodded and replied, "I did drink it; but it tasted terrible! After drinking it my whole body hurt; I almost died."
"But once I got through it my strength really improved a lot—much more than before!"
John nodded in satisfaction then stepped back and took a stance saying: "Goku! Since we've both drunk Ultra Divine Water let's have a match! Let me see how strong you've become now!"
Hearing that John wanted to fight Goku piqued everyone's interest—especially Master Roshi, Krillin, and Yamcha—they all wanted to know how much stronger John and Goku had become with only half a year left until the World Martial Arts Tournament.
Although Goku was very interested in John's suggestion he shook his head saying: "No way! I still need to collect all seven Dragon Balls to help Upa revive his father."
"Huh? You mean Bra? What happened?" John thought he had changed the plot; Bra should be fine but unexpectedly something happened after all.
Goku said: "There was an assassin named Tao Pai Pai who helped the Red Ribbon Army collect Dragon Balls. He followed me down to below Korin Tower while I was training up there. When I came down I only managed to save Upa but Bra was killed by Tao Pai Pai."
Master Roshi's forehead furrowed upon hearing Tao Pai Pai's name and asked: "Is he known as the world's number one assassin? Did you defeat him?"
Goku nodded saying: "Yes! I defeated him. In the end he threw a grenade at me which I kicked back at him causing him to blow himself up."
Upon hearing this from Goku Master Roshi felt a twitch in his eye thinking about his old comrade; things were getting tricky.