Korin Tower.
Standing at the edge of the tower, Korin looked at Su Ming, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, and couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
A prodigy. A freak of nature. He didn't even know how to describe him.
Though Su Ming clearly lacked real combat experience, his reflexes were sharp, his movements agile, and most impressive of all he had a natural instinct for timing in battle, like a seasoned warrior.
It was strange. Very strange.
"Again."
Su Ming popped a senzu bean into his mouth. A mysterious energy surged from his abdomen, instantly wiping away the hunger. All the energy and stamina he'd burned up moments before came rushing back.
Fully recovered, he launched into another attempt to steal the bottle from Korin.
One day later.
"Got it."
Su Ming stood behind Korin with a grin, holding the bottle that had always rested on the cat's staff.
Korin turned around, wide-eyed in disbelief.
"Incredible. You actually pulled it off in just one day. Back then, it took Master Roshi a full three years to manage it. He later became the legendary God of Martial Arts. Su Ming, your future has no limits."
"You can drink the legendary Ultra Divine Water now it's the reward for your effort."
Su Ming tilted the bottle and gave it a swirl. "This is just plain water, isn't it?"
A smile tugged at the corners of Korin's lips. "You're a sharp one."
"Before I go… can I have some senzu beans?"
Now that his training was complete, Su Ming had set his sights on the beans.
But Korin shook his head. "These are my rations. Senzu beans grow slowly, I can only spare you a few."
Rather than look disappointed, Su Ming lit up with excitement.
Rations?
That made things simple. What cat didn't love fish?
"I can trade you fish for them. Compared to these bland beans, wouldn't you rather have something tastier, like fresh fish?"
Fish!
Korin's eyes lit up instantly. Heaven knew how many years it had been since he'd had any. He still remembered the taste even after all this time.
But stuck atop Korin Tower, he couldn't leave. Aside from Master Roshi centuries ago, no one had ever come up here again.
Forget fish he hadn't even seen other food in years.
"Yes, yes! If you can handle my food supply, I'll give you all the senzu beans I have!"
Korin was practically drooling. Even his whiskers were quivering.
With no danger up here and no need for healing, senzu beans were basically useless to him.
In his mind, Su Ming didn't need them either his power was already enough to deal with most threats in the world.
To Korin, senzu beans were little more than a tasteless burden. If he could trade them for delicious fish, he was more than happy to do so.
Su Ming grinned with satisfaction.
"Great. I'll go prepare some fish."
Excited, he launched into the air with the Flight technique. Just as he was about to disappear into the horizon, Korin called out hesitantly.
"Try to get a variety… if possible."
His voice was cautious humble even. He clearly didn't want to push his luck and risk Su Ming backing out of the deal.
Su Ming couldn't help but smile at the sight of this careful, anxious cat.
One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Su Ming flew to the nearest city and didn't waste any time. He swept through the largest fresh market and bought up every fish he could find, storing them in capsules.
He filled five capsules total. Even if Korin ate three fish a day, he'd have enough to last a year.
Back at Korin Tower.
Korin eagerly opened the capsules and was hit with the rich, familiar scent of fish. He closed his eyes and savored the aroma.
Then, without hesitation, he handed over two large jars of senzu beans.
"These are all I've stockpiled over the years. I'm keeping one jar for myself the rest are yours."
Su Ming looked at the two full jars. Just from a glance, there were easily over a thousand beans.
He truly had no idea how Yajirobe managed to go through that many later in the series.
What a waste.
Su Ming carefully stored the beans in a capsule and kept it close to his body.
Now he no longer had to worry about running out of senzu beans in a fight.
In the Dragon Ball world, plenty of villains had near-immortality regenerating limbs, recovering from a single drop of blood, and seemingly endless energy.
Even if their power matched his own, they could wear him down by sheer endurance.
But now?
He could outlast anyone.
A mental image popped into Su Ming's head.
Cell and Goku fighting to a stalemate, both bloody and battered. Then Cell healed instantly and sneered, "You're strong, Goku but you're just a human. No matter how many times you hurt me, I can always return to full strength."
And Goku?
He didn't respond. He just kept downing senzu beans.
"Alright then. Let's go again."
Just the thought made Su Ming grin.
With his stockpile of senzu beans secured, Su Ming didn't leave right away. He turned to Korin again and asked earnestly, "I'd like your help with one more bit of training."
"No can do. Your strength already surpasses mine. Any more and you'll be wasting your time it's up to you now."
But Su Ming took out a black cloth and said, "I want to train a special technique. I'll cover my eyes and block my ability to sense ki. I want you to attack me, and I'll dodge purely by instinct."
Back at home, his training room had dozens of bullet-firing machines. But they posed no real threat at most, they left faint marks on his skin.
That level of intensity wasn't nearly enough to awaken Observation Haki.
But Korin had solid power. He was the perfect sparring partner and with his help, Su Ming might actually unlock the ability.
Korin raised a furry eyebrow.
What kind of technique was this?
He'd heard of blinding oneself to enhance ki sensing, but not the other way around blocking ki to sharpen instinct.
Still, life on the tower was dull. Even if he wasn't fighting seriously, helping Su Ming train gave him something to do. And Su Ming had brought him fish lots of it.
How could he say no?
He agreed on the spot.
Su Ming knew that unlocking Observation Haki wouldn't be easy. Even with Roger's memories in his head, it still required effort and focus. At most, he had a head start over others.
He tied the black cloth over his eyes.
The world went dark. Though he could still sense Korin's ki if he tried, he forced himself to suppress that instinct.
Now, he was truly blind relying only on the feeling of wind brushing across his face.
Whoosh.
His ears twitched.
He shifted slightly—
A split second later, a gust of wind brushed past his cheek.