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[RNZO] Ch 251: The Nature and Limits of Ki
🕑 Added 2025-05-26 15:51:46 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
"Ugh, he really is just a dirty old man! And that little bald monk isn't much better! A supposed monk carrying that kind of stuff around? And he even had the nerve to offer it as a gift to his master?!"
"Shameless! Just plain shameless!"
Bulma huffed and clung tightly to Dragorr's arm, shooting a glare at him. "You better not learn from those perverts, got it?"
"Yes, yes, of course! Why would I even look at that kind of stuff when I've got a beautiful girl like you right here?" Dragorr chuckled, trying to smooth things over.
But deep down, he was thinking, "Good thing I avoided giving Roshi the gift here earlier! Otherwise, I'd never hear the end of it—even if I jumped off a mountain, I wouldn't be able to wash the suspicion off me!"
He really wasn't into those magazines or DVDs or whatever. If he really wanted that kind of thing, he could just peek into Henati Renzo's memories. Much faster, and way more detailed.
"Grandpa Roshi! What's this? Looks interesting!"
Right on cue, Goku wandered over, curious as ever. He picked up one of the magazines and opened it up. His eyes widened in surprise. "Huh? Why are these people not wearing—"
"Hey! Don't touch that!"
Before Goku could get another word out, Krillin snatched the magazine—titled 793—right out of his hands and scolded him. "Kids shouldn't be messing with that! That's grown-up stuff! Go play somewhere else!"
"You're a kid too, aren't you?" Goku blinked, confused.
Krillin narrowed his eyes at Goku, sizing him up. "This kid's here to become a disciple too? So he's my rival…"
"So, uh, Master Roshi! Will you accept me as your disciple?" Krillin immediately turned on the charm, flashing Roshi a flattering smile.
"Hmm, well…" Roshi scratched his head. Sure, he enjoyed the kind of stuff Krillin brought, but compared to what Dragorr offered earlier, it was... lacking.
So he cleared his throat and addressed both Krillin and Goku. "You both can become my students… if the two of you help me find something like this." He made a very obvious curvy gesture with his hands, mimicking the shape of a voluptuous woman, and winked.
Krillin's face lit up. "Understood, Master Roshi! We'll head out right away!"
He grabbed Goku, fired up with enthusiasm.
"Let's use the Flying Nimbus!" Goku offered cheerfully and immediately pulled Krillin toward it.
Goku effortlessly landed on the Nimbus cloud, steady as ever. Krillin, on the other hand, bounced right off and smacked into the ground face-first.
Roshi froze.
Stroking his beard, he muttered, "Hmm… So the Flying Nimbus is working just fine… Yup, that kid's definitely not pure."
"Of course it's working," muttered the sea turtle dryly.
Roshi frowned. "Then why won't it carry me? I meet all the requirements. Hmm… don't tell me… is this age discrimination?"
"Oh, come on!" the turtle 🐢 snapped. "Do you really not know why? Look at yourself! You and that little bald perv are cut from the same cloth!"
Seriously, the turtle couldn't believe it. He'd only been gone a few years, and the once-respected Master Roshi had turned into this... disaster of a man. What the hell had he been doing all this time?
"Whatever, whatever…"
Roshi knew exactly why, of course, but he'd rather die than admit he was no longer "pure enough."
He waved a hand dismissively. "Alright, Goku and Baldy—"
"My name's Krillin, Master Roshi!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure. Anyway, you two head out already. As long as you bring back someone who looks like this"—he repeated the curvy gesture—"I'll take you in as my disciples. Otherwise, don't bother coming back!"
"Wait, seriously?" Goku looked upset. "But Grandpa, didn't you already promise to make me your student?"
"I changed my mind! Got a problem with that?" Roshi shrugged shamelessly.
"So unless you bring back a babe like that, you're not getting in! End of story!"
Bulma and the sea turtle just stood there, utterly speechless at Roshi's antics.
"Alright, alright, we're going!" Krillin quickly cut Goku off before he could protest again. He leapt onto Goku's back and clung tightly. "Let's get moving!"
"Okay!" Goku said, and the Flying Nimbus took off with a whoosh.
Back on the ground, Dragorr smiled. "So, now that that's settled… you gonna teach me how to control ki? Oh, and I'd like to learn the Kamehameha too!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Roshi grunted. "First things first—we'll start with the basics of ki. You've got the physique for it, so I'll teach you the fundamentals. But don't expect it to be easy!"
"Follow me."
With that, Master Roshi led Dragorr aside and began explaining the nature of ki—what it is, how it works, and how to train it properly.
But before Roshi could even finish the basics...
Dragorr instantly grasped it.
A huge surge of ki exploded from his body like a swirling vortex of energy, blasting Master Roshi off his feet and sending him flying through the air.
The ki storm grew so intense it looked like it might blow Roshi's house apart—until Dragorr quickly reined it in, suppressing his power and calmly opening his eyes.
"So this is ki, huh? It's basically just Life energy—raw life force. Pretty powerful stuff, but surprisingly simple in structure. In the end, it's just another way of channeling physical strength."
He raised a hand, inspecting the aura that still lingered.
"And that simplicity… that's both its strength and its limitation. It's good for combat, sure. But it doesn't stimulate the body or cells to evolve or grow stronger in a biological sense."
He shook his head slightly.
"Training with ki is basically just expanding your cells' capacity to hold more energy—making them tougher and more elastic. But there's no real transformation happening on a deeper level. No evolution. That's the core reason it doesn't grant longevity or immunity to disease."
Without the ability to trigger cellular evolution, ki will never be enough to reach higher lifeforms or true immortality.
Master Roshi, who had finally made his way back, overheard this and frowned.
"Wait a second... Are you saying ki isn't good enough for you?"
He clearly wasn't thrilled with Dragorr's tone.
"You just learned it five minutes ago, and now you're talking like you're already above it?"
"C'mon, don't be like that," Dragorr replied with a sheepish grin. "I'm not looking down on ki at all."
"This kind of power and training method is definitely strong—especially if someone's cells have enough potential. You can push your battle power to ridiculous levels just by maximizing that potential."
He paused for a second.
"And because ki is so special in nature, it's actually easier to specialize in and go to extremes with. But that's also the problem."
"It puts too much weight on talent."
"You either have the potential—or you don't."
"For ordinary humans on Earth, unless they find a way to unlock greater cellular potential, they'll eventually hit a hard cap. No matter how much they train."
"Just like you, Master Roshi."
Dragorr's voice wasn't mocking—just stating facts.
That's also why, in the future, no matter how hard Krillin trains, he still ends up falling behind. Even with all the adventures and power-ups he gets by hanging around Goku and the others, his strength eventually plateaus.
Compare that to Saiyans like Goku and Vegeta… or monsters like Frieza… even Piccolo, who's not human either—Krillin's stuck in a completely different league.
Even Android 17 and 18 only surpassed him because their bodies were completely re-engineered at the genetic level.
And now, Dragorr finally understood why fusion in the original story had such explosive results—it was combining two people's genetic potential into one. No wonder it caused such a massive leap in power. It was like doubling your upper limit all at once.
"I disagree," Master Roshi said, shaking his head.
"You know I took the Immortality Elixir, right? That stuff had a major side effect—it froze my body at the exact state it was in when I took it."
"No matter how much I train now, I can't get any stronger. My cells don't change, don't grow. I'm stuck."
He didn't seem too upset about it, though.
"To be honest, if I hadn't taken it, I'd probably be long dead by now. At least this way, I get to live out my days in peace. It's not like I need to get any stronger anyway. I'm good where I'm at."
"And hey, wouldn't you rather kick back, flip through some magazines, and enjoy the view?"
Dragorr gave him a sideways glance.
"Please. Let's be real—you took that elixir because you knew you were hitting your limit. Your strength was already starting to decline from age, and your cells were breaking down. You weren't going anywhere but down, so you figured you might as well freeze things while you were still ahead."
He smirked.
"Trying to play it off like it was no big deal, huh?"
Roshi blinked. "…Damn. You saw right through me, huh? You've definitely gotten sharper."
He rubbed his bald head and let out a long sigh.
"You're not wrong, kid. That's exactly what happened."
"But that just proves my point, doesn't it? So what? You've figured out that ki has its limitations. What now? You gonna fix that? Change how cells work? Alter species-wide potential?"
Roshi chuckled dryly. "You really think that's possible?"
He wasn't a scientist, but he'd been a martial artist long enough to know how insane that sounded.
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