Just like that, Yamiru's first fight in the World Martial Arts Tournament after arriving in the Dragon Ball world didn't last long.
He had circled around his opponent, dodged a feint, then separated, continuing to circle. Using his Golden Veil and either his own intuition, he seized an opening and struck decisively.
He can't deny it—this fair competition, fighting on the same stage, where the most important thing was relying on his own reflexes and strength to defeat the opponent, it felt truly satisfying.
Yamiru had fought in South City before, where he was simply beating up the thugs from Animal Town; but when he faced off against Blue, he had almost no means to resist. Thankfully, Bulma had shown up to save him, or he might've been tied up, sent to the Red Ribbon Army's base to mine, become cannon fodder, or worse, end up as an experiment for some evil scientist.
"Maybe... I'm actually a battle genius," Yamiru thought to himself, and as he did, he deliberately checked if there was any change in his eyes. He noticed that the power of the Golden Veil hadn't faded, which meant his eyes still recognized him. Although his mind entertained a few idle thoughts, his mindset hadn't turned into arrogance or complacency. He stayed grounded.
After all, it wasn't that he was strong, but rather that his opponent was too weak.
Before stepping off the stage, Yamiru turned back and, with a small angle, gave a slight bow to his defeated opponent.
He often saw Son Goku and Son Goten bowing when they got on stage in the manga, and thought it looked really cool and dignified. Yamiru was doing it with a cosplay mindset, and when he bent down, he felt like he was truly taking his first step on the martial arts path. This was a sense of ritual, Yamiru silently told himself.
Standing straight, Yamiru easily and ungracefully jumped down from the stage.
The contestants standing near the first ring stepped aside. A small boy had knocked down a muscular grown man with a single punch, which clearly indicated impressive strength. The other participants, who had some experience, couldn't help but glance at Yamiru.
"You're pretty good," said a tall, black man wearing a loose tan robe with his chest partially exposed. His feet were bare, and as he approached, he spoke with a mixture of admiration and disdain in his smile.
Of course, Yamiru only saw the man's mouth curl into a smile, and perhaps he had over-interpreted the meaning behind it.
When someone came to compliment him, Yamiru didn't want to ignore them. He honestly replied, "Actually, I'm not that great. I'm just fighting against weaklings, and I win purely because my opponents are bad."
After saying that, Yamiru nodded and left.
In his mind, he hoped that someday after beating Vegeta, he could say to him, "Actually, I'm pretty weak. I'll never reach Frieza's level in this life, it's a little disappointing." He wondered what the Prince would think. Hmm… he hoped he'd get to that point one day.
King Chappa was a bit confused by Yamiru.
Yamiru then took a rest, waiting for his next opponent. At that moment, a young boy, leading his dad who was still rubbing his stomach, walked over and whispered, "You're amazing, Yamiru."
"It was just okay," Yamiru humbly responded, looking at the man still holding his stomach with a pained and unwilling expression. He asked, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Marda said awkwardly, clearly embarrassed. Just a moment ago, he had been looking down on Yamiru, asking him if he wanted to join his team to fight in the professional fighting league, and now he had already become Yamiru's defeated opponent. "But don't get too cocky. You only won because I was careless. If I had been more cautious, even if you hit me with the same punch, I wouldn't have lost my ability to move so quickly…"
Marda defended himself, speaking the truth. Although he had taken a punch, he was already recovering, but unfortunately, in the tournament, the results were final once the judge declared a winner. The problem was, he hadn't recovered in time before the referee made the announcement.
Yamiru nodded. "I know. I'm still pretty weak, so I need to keep practicing and keep working hard."
Marda felt a bit better and smiled. "So, you're saying you'll join…"
"Don't get the wrong idea…" Yamiru quickly interrupted him. How could this guy not recognize his own strength? He glanced at Marda's son, Mark, who gave Yamiru a helpless look. Yamiru opened his mouth but still spoke up with integrity. "What I think is, since you're so sure your son has a talent for fighting, it's better to find him another teacher."
Marda's face immediately soured. He felt that Yamiru had won by luck this time, and now he was getting cocky.
Yamiru didn't care. They weren't close anyway, so he walked to the side to wait for the next round. His second match started soon after. This time, Yamiru felt even more relaxed. His muscles were loose. The first match had felt like entering an important exam, but now, it was just a casual monthly test, and there was no tension at all.
"Please be gentle," Yamiru said, bowing with his palms together. Whether or not he would win was still uncertain, but the ceremony had to be done properly to distinguish it from street brawls.
His next opponent was a fat, grotesque creature with a wild boar's head, tusks over two feet long, and an extremely vicious expression.
If it were an ordinary Earthling, the wild boar man's massive body alone would be enough to knock the opponent out of the ring.
"Let the match begin!" The monk announced, then quickly slipped off the stage to watch the match from the edge, waiting to see who would win.
"You're unlucky to face me, little boy…" The wild boar man sneered.
With his massive body, he took up a fifth of the stage, so he didn't bother thinking about any tactics. He simply lifted his leg and charged straight at Yamiru.
However, this wild boar man wasn't just some dumb brute. He had at least some intelligence, which is why he had made it past the first round. As he charged at Yamiru, he deliberately held back some of his strength, worried that if Yamiru dodged his attack, he might be thrown off the stage by his own momentum. But if Yamiru were hit directly, the wild boar man was confident that even with a reduced amount of force, he would easily knock the kid out of the ring.
What he didn't expect was that Yamiru didn't dodge.
"When faced with a problem, face it head-on," Yamiru's eyes shone with golden light as the massive, fat beast charged toward him. He took a deep breath. "I've retreated enough already. I don't want to retreat anymore."
Bam! Yamiru's seemingly inexperienced hands slammed into the wild boar man's knee.
Hissss—
The wild boar man's strength was indeed overwhelming. Yamiru had lowered his stance, bent his waist, and shifted his center of gravity downward, leaning forward. Even so, he was still pushed back by the wild boar's immense force. The squeal of his worn-out sneakers scraping against the stage filled the air.
"My muscles hurt so much…" Yamiru muttered in frustration. His eight-pack abs felt like eight steel blocks embedded in his stomach, and his arms and legs were also sore, heavy, and sluggish.
The wild boar man was even more surprised. "This kid's strong!"
He hesitated for a moment, then decided to use all of his strength in an explosive charge, hoping to knock Yamiru out of the ring in one go while Yamiru was still unprepared.
"Originally, I planned to hold out for a bit, wait for an opening to reduce my force, and let this boar head fly out on its own…" Yamiru thought, struggling to withstand the wild boar's brute strength. "But in this situation, if I pull back even a little, I might get thrown out directly… looks like my plan was a bit naive..."
At that exact moment—
"Huh?"
Yamiru's Golden Veil twinkled. Half of his body was pressed against the wild boar man's massive thigh, and an odd premonition rose in his heart.
He sensed the boar man was about to explode with power, trying to force him out of the ring all at once.
Yamiru's eyes widened slightly.
The wild boar man decided to unleash his full force, thinking he could toss the kid out.
Yamiru quickly shouted, "Hey!" and tapped into an explosive burst of power, just like when he was fleeing from a shark, using everything he had to push the massive wild boar back a few millimeters.
The wild boar man was stunned. With his prior momentum and the shock from Yamiru's sudden push, he tried to rebound and use even greater force.
However, his explosion of power missed its target, and realizing the mistake too late, the wild boar man's heavy body couldn't stop itself. He tumbled off the stage with a loud, agonizing scream.
"Ha... ha..." Yamiru collapsed onto the stage, trembling, but managed to raise his fist.
"Damn it, why was I so happy? I didn't win the World Martial Arts Tournament championship!" Yamiru scolded himself mentally, feeling like a novice, but his smile couldn't be stopped. The feeling of winning against an strong opponent on his own is just incredible.
"If it weren't for that push, this boar wouldn't have fallen off," King Chappa commented from below the stage, glancing at the furious boar man before shifting his gaze back to the smiling boy with golden eyes. He thought to himself, "Was that an accident, or did he predict it consciously…?"