Dragon Ball Human

Yamiru recalled the scene in the manga where Son Gohan was teaching Videl the flight technique.

It was the moment when Videl finally managed to control the energy inside her body and successfully made herself float. Son Gohan, happy for her, encouraged her in the next scene, but Videl just looked at the sky, speechless. "Wow! I did it! Look, brother!" Son Goten was flying around like a playful puppy, excited with his newly learned flying technique. Son Gohan just stood there, silent.

Yamiru couldn't help but feel like he was in Videl's shoes at that moment.

"I haven't even fully grasped it yet, and Son Goku, you learned it just by watching?!" Yamiru felt speechless. He really wanted to know what kind of idiots lived on Planet Vegeta, who could label Son Goku as "trash".

"Master, does this mean Goku has already learned the Kamehameha?" he asked.

"Well... I can't say for sure," Son Gohan replied, looking equally confused. He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "It seems... that way..."

Son Goku, unaware of the shock from his master and Yamiru, was puzzled why he couldn't shoot out the same beam of light as Son Gohan had. All he produced was a flash and some green smoke.

Yamiru sighed. "Master, I think... your hesitation about teaching Goku might have been the right choice after all..."

Son Gohan mumbled, "Hmm..."

Yamiru said, slightly dejected, "Goku, that guy... might learn all your techniques in the blink of an eye."

Son Goku had only studied under Master Roshi for half a year before graduating, while Krillin, who was his peer, had obediently returned to the Turtle Hermit's house to continue his studies.

At the Korin Tower, it took Son Goku only a few days to complete the training that Master Roshi had taken three years to finish.

On Earth's Sacred Temple, Son Goku might be the only mortal martial artist, apart from the fully evolved Piccolo, to have climbed the temple to learn.

In half a year, Son Goku ran through the Snake Way, a path that only King Yama had conquered. He was the first to reach the Super Saiyan's full power level and the first to break through without any strong enemy pressure and reach the incredible third stage of Super Saiyan.

There were so many examples of Son Goku's exceptional talent.

He was never the underdog; it seemed like he had always been a genius.

Yamiru suddenly found it hard to believe that he ever thought he could match up to such a monster. He had once naively thought he could use Goku as a source of pressure to grow, but that was clearly just the typical arrogance and ignorance of a traveler... He silently felt ashamed.

Son Goku noticed the two of them staring at him and blinked, feeling a little strange.

"..." Son Gohan and Yamiru exchanged a glance before going back to building the house.

That night, the three of them squeezed onto the small bed.

In the dimly lit room, Son Gohan peacefully slept, and Son Goku was soundly asleep too. Only Yamiru, at the foot of the bed, kept practicing the Kamehameha hand movements over and over in the air.

The next day, training continued.

Running out of the mountain.

Delivering milk.

Hauling bricks on the construction site.

Summing up the day's work back at the mountain.

Yamiru's days were full and fulfilling.

At the same time, he didn't stop pondering the answer to the question he had asked Son Gohan earlier.

Son Gohan had told him to think for himself, which clearly meant that the answer was something he needed to find on his own, something that would benefit his own development the most.

Yamiru felt that if he couldn't even figure this out, it would be disgraceful.

He hadn't given up on comparing himself with Son Goku yet.

And indeed, after realizing his own shallowness and insignificance, Yamiru felt both embarrassed and at peace. He truly began to see Son Goku as a real person, a living, breathing goal he could strive to reach. Now, his small goal was the Kamehameha — or rather, energy!

Not the type of energy you can see with special vision, but the kind of energy that is felt in the body, like the one used for flight!

The energy used in Kamehameha!

The kind of energy you can actually feel inside your body. He didn't know what the energy in the Dragon Ball world felt like inside, but he was filled with enthusiasm and anticipation.

A week later, there was no progress.

After working himself to exhaustion every day, Yamiru didn't even notice if his strength had improved through the training.

But fortunately, when he wasn't training, Son Gohan followed Master Roshi's style, encouraging him to rest and relax as much as possible.

"You're too tense. Yamiru, relax a little." In the new log cabin, on the freshly made wooden bed, Son Gohan was giving Yamiru a massage, loosening his stiff muscles. He sighed slightly and said, "You're not being chased by anyone, why are you so tense? When it's time to relax, just relax."

Yamiru felt quite comfortable as his stiff muscles were kneaded and relaxed.

"Master, I don't want to, it's just that when I stop, I inexplicably feel ashamed." Yamiru thought to himself, "This uneasy feeling... it's like when I haven't finished my homework and am wandering around aimlessly, subconsciously thinking I'm wasting time and wasting my life."

"Ah, why don't you take a nap?" Son Gohan sighed and began massaging Yamiru's head, working around his temples.

Yamiru felt that Master's voice seemed to have a gentle magic. His kind face began to blur. Yamiru had hardly activated his Golden Veil this week, and now, under Son Gohan's not very advanced hypnotic technique, he quickly began to feel drowsy.

That afternoon, Yamiru did not go to the construction site to carry bricks.

Instead, he went to the fields to work.

After getting enough rest, Son Gohan took him into town. Unlike the previous week, where they worked at various construction sites, welcomed by enthusiastic contractors, today they found a farm owner and had Yamiru replace farming machinery, plowing the field by hand. After working all afternoon, Yamiru felt like his hands were going to be ruined!

Turtle School methods are tough.

Anyone who says the Turtle School is leisurely and carefree, Yamiru would bite them back! When it gets tough, it's like hell.

For the next week, Yamiru's daily training became running, delivering milk, farming, and reflecting.

running, delivering milk, farming, and reflecting.

Week after week, suddenly, another week had passed.

Son Gohan gave a small review every day and a big review every week, answering Yamiru's questions.

Of course, the questions had become fewer and fewer, because many of Yamiru's non-standard habits were corrected daily during the past two weeks. Plus, he was diligent and serious, never repeating the same mistakes, and there was gradually nothing left to ask. After all, the real problems still had to be solved by himself. The rest of the training was just repetitive work - rather than asking, it was better to practice more or sleep more.

"Enough rest, enough training." Son Gohan repeatedly told Yamiru.

Yamiru knew this seemed to be the principle of Turtle School. The Turtle Hermit had also said something similar to Goku and Krillin. He even remembered the scene where Turtle Hermit made the statement about "Work hard, Study well and eat and sleep plenty..." It seemed to be the scene where the three of them were lying on hammocks. Yamiru had a vivid impression.

In the third week on the mountain, Yamiru's morning routine remained the same — running and delivering milk.

But in the afternoon, his training returned to the construction site, hauling bricks.

In the fourth week, the afternoon training turned back to hand-plowing the fields..

Unlike Goku and Krillin's rapid progress in the comics, after a month of the same hand-plowing training, Yamiru hadn't improved nearly as quickly as they had.

Maybe it was because the time span hadn't been as long as theirs, so the progress hadn't shown yet.

"Or maybe... it's really that I haven't figured out the trick yet, so my progress feels like a snail's crawl?"

Yamiru sat on the cliffside, gazing at the darkening night.

Clearly, Yamiru was not satisfied with the results of his month of training.

If he hadn't been comparing himself intentionally, he might not have noticed that he was actually improving. It was because of this concern that he could clearly see that he was progressing, but it was too little, too slow. He was starting to doubt that if this continued, in twelve years, he might not even reach the level of Goku when he first entered the Martial Arts Tournament...

That would be too miserable.

Yamiru couldn't imagine it and didn't want to accept such a ridiculous outcome.

Frustration with the present situation, frustration with himself, led Yamiru to quietly leave after training one day, run to the quiet cliffside, blow in the wind, empty his mind, and think deeply by himself.

However...

Reality was not like a novel.

After a low point, dawn would inevitably come.

Yamiru sat alone on the cliff overnight, and he didn't know when he had fallen asleep. The cold wind had blown all night, and the next morning, his head was ringing!

"Ugh..." With his head pounding, Yamiru staggered back home.

If his body hadn't gotten stronger, he probably would have caught a cold. The last time he had a cold, it nearly cost him his life, so Yamiru still had great respect for the idea of catching a cold.

Shivering, Yamiru rubbed his arms as he returned to the log cabin.

Son Gohan was already waiting for him, gently asking, "Back?"

Yamiru nodded.

Son Gohan asked again, "Have you figured it out?"

Yamiru dejectedly shook his head.

Son Gohan's basket still contained Goku. Yamiru didn't know how long it would be before this kid could get out and join them in running and training. At that time, probably Goku would surpass him at a speed he couldn't even comprehend, leaving this slow transmigrator far behind.

"Let's go." Son Gohan's voice was still calm as he already started running ahead.

"Hey!" Yamiru responded and hurriedly followed.

Shouting slogans, with the unique running rhythm of Turtle School, Yamiru had mostly adapted. He also noticed that running the same distance, when following Son Gohan's Turtle School pace, his body felt a little lighter. His previous way of running had wasted too much energy during the process.

After delivering the milk and having lunch in town with the money Yamiru had earned working at Son Gohan's place.

"Today, no nap," Son Gohan told Yamiru after finishing lunch. "In the afternoon, we'll go to the construction site. After dinner, we'll go help at the farm."

Yamiru was stunned. "What?"

Who can stand this?

Goku ate half his fill and was placed into Son Gohan's basket, carried away.

Yamiru hurriedly followed.

After all the running around that day, Yamiru was exhausted to the point of collapse!

No rest time, hauling bricks at the construction site, and then unexpectedly, there was overtime in the evening, when he still had to go to the fields and plow by hand! Yamiru thought it was a miracle that he managed to survive and return to the island.

He wanted to ask Son Gohan why, but Son Gohan seemed not to have any intention of explaining. He just went home and rested.

Yamiru sensed something unusual. He went over to tap the quietly resting Goku's head three times and muttered, "Goku, Goku, what do you think your grandpa means by this? Playing a riddle? It's so hard..." Still, this sparked his competitive spirit. Yamiru decided not to beg for mercy or give up.

So, for the next five days, Yamiru continued with this extreme training regimen.

No rest!

Training day and night!

After five or six days, Yamiru endured each day in torment, his muscles feeling as though they were being torn apart.

At first, he still had the energy to think about martial arts, but soon, he had no extra energy to spare. He collapsed into bed, exhausted beyond measure.

These days, Yamiru had become a shadow of his former self.

Then, on the seventh day, he finally collapsed.

That morning, Yamiru didn't get up, but he wasn't dead, just completely exhausted, his whole body aching, unable to even drag himself out of bed.

Son Gohan had apparently expected this, as he didn't come to wake him up that morning.

Yamiru lay there in the bed all day long.

Staring at the ceiling of the cabin, his body in pain, his nerves were being torn apart, and even the rare free time didn't allow him to focus on any thought.

It was torture!

It was truly torture!

Yamiru mentally bled.

Three meals a day were served to him by Son Gohan.

A few times, Yamiru wanted to ask his master, what was going on? Wasn't it like this at the start? If you don't like me, just say it, I'll disappear... Of course, these were just some playful thoughts in Yamiru's mind. Son Gohan's unusual arrangement was clearly an attempt to force Yamiru to understand something he needed to learn.

"Master, I've always had a question. What's the difference between a martial artist's training and the training methods in those urban gyms? I've heard that the top fighters in tournaments have much stronger muscles and bones than ordinary people... But I've only heard rumors about martial artists using Ki, I've never heard of any strong fighters using Ki. Now, everyone seems to think that Ki is a scam."

That was the question Yamiru had asked.

"Well, this question... I think you should train for a while first, slowly feel the difference in training

The next day, Yamiru was finally able to move a little — though, to be honest, he felt more like a disabled person! Damn it.

He followed his master, Son Gohan, outside.

In Gohan's backpack was Goku, and there was no need for Yamiru to run. The two simply walked at a leisurely pace along the route they had followed every morning for training.

By the time they reached the small town, it was already lunchtime.

Delivering the milk was out of the question, as it had already been delivered. At this point, Yamiru's body was in no condition to carry milk crates — he'd likely break his back trying.

In the afternoon, Son Gohan, Yamiru, and Goku spent the entire day walking around the town.

When they returned to the cabin, Yamiru sat by himself, deep in thought, while Son Gohan quietly entertained little Goku.

After four full days of recovery, Yamiru had finally regained his strength.

He had rested for four days and spent the time thinking.

In pain, one begins to think deeply.

With the physical pain came introspection.

That morning, Son Gohan asked, "Are you ready?"

Yamiru tested his body, took a deep breath, and nodded lightly.

Gohan smiled and asked, "So, what have you concluded?"

Yamiru's eyes were clear, his face calm. After a brief pause, he replied, "I'll know for sure after today, master."

Son Gohan's smile grew brighter as he nodded approvingly, "Good, after today's training, I'll ask you again."

The three of them set off, resuming their training routine.

Yamiru continued following Son Gohan, now able to jog alongside him. His body had greatly improved.

"This is torture," Yamiru thought. "The past few days and the previous five or six days, were like hell. This isn't training; it's self-inflicted torture."

He jogged, feeling the weariness in every muscle.

When he looked up, he saw Goku, sitting in Gohan's backpack, looking at him curiously.

---

"No more? You're not going back into the 'Time Chamber'?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Why not? You could go back in for another whole day!"

"Even doing nothing in there is tough on the body! I think it's better to rest properly."

"Hmph... even Kakarot can't handle that chamber's harsh environment anymore?"

"Maybe... but forcing the body to keep training isn't helpful. That's not true cultivation."

---

Later, Yamiru once again carried the milk crates with Son Gohan, delivering them around the town.

After lunch, the three of them took a well-deserved break.

Yamiru finally had the long-awaited midday rest.

In the outdoors, between a few trees, two rope hammocks were set up.

Son Gohan took one, holding Goku, and Yamiru took the other.

"Take a break," Gohan said, chuckling as he patted the sleepy Goku in his arms.

Yamiru took a deep breath and smiled contentedly.

"Work Hard, Study Well and Eat and Sleep Plenty."

He silently repeated the words.

The true essence of Turtle School martial arts seemed to be embedded in every part of the training, so simple and close at hand — he just hadn't realized it before.

In the afternoon, Yamiru, full of energy, became like a human bulldozer, digging furiously in the fields with his bare hands!

"Thud, thud, thud, thud..."

Son Gohan, holding Goku, stood by the field watching. When he heard Yamiru working quickly, he even started chanting odd battle cries.

"Heh..." The old man felt a sense of fulfillment. His disciple had truly understood the essence of martial arts and cultivation. Gohan smiled with satisfaction, wiping away a tear from his eye. "I'm getting old, I just can't bring myself to be too harsh anymore..." A few days ago, he had deliberately pushed Yamiru to the limit, forcing him to train excessively, but secretly, it had been hard for him to watch.

At sunset, on the cliffs of Paozu Mountain, the evening sky was beautiful.

Suddenly, the voice of a young man rang out: "Ka... Me... Ha... Me...!"

The energy gathered, and with Four Word, a brilliant light erupted from Yamiru's hands.

The light was intense, radiant.

Yamiru felt the heat rise within him, as he molded the energy into a white Kamehameha ball between his palms. His heart raced with excitement.

"Work hard, Study well and Eat and Sleep plenty." Yamiru whispered his insights. "The biggest difference between martial artists and those combat sports athletes or gym-goers is the ability to adjust oneself. Martial arts is the study of perfectly controlling the body and mind. It is in line with the laws of nature, not about brutal exploitation. Martial artists must always keep themselves in peak condition. Enjoy life, enjoy training. Master, am I right?"

He looked over at Son Gohan, who nodded in approval.

"—Ha!!"

Yamiru shouted, his palms pushing the energy forward. A straight beam of light shot upwards, piercing the sky.

"Oh~!" Goku clapped his hands in the backpack, cheering.