"Wow, that was easier than I thought it would be." Yamcha thought to himself, absentmindedly petting the cat he had just caught.
"And his fur is way softer than I thought too."
Shortly after receiving his Senzu prize Korin had set the challenge of catching him. Of course, with Yamcha's current speed and the observational abilities of the byakugan, short work was made of the challenge. In only an hour Yamcha had learned the little feline's patterns and successfully captured him.
"Ow, what the hell?
He was brought out of his thoughts by a sharp sting on his hand. Dropping Korin, he noticed a thin line of blood running from the back of his thumb.
"I said catch me, not to treat me like a house cat!"
Korin yelled, smoothing his fur down in a manner not at all reminiscent of a house cat.
"Haha.. my bad." Yamcha apologized, "Puar likes when I scratch behind his ears."
"Whatever," the disgruntled sage huffed, "Just don't forget our deal."
"Yeah yeah, you'll have your free meals. Can I make a suggestion though?"
Yamcha sobered a bit at the end, catching the sage's attention.
"I've had a vision recently…" again giving an abridged version of his soul fusion, he got to his original point.
"Don't let Yajirobe drain your stock of senzu. I have what you gave me, but with what I have in mind there is no guarantee I won't run out. I'm going to do my best to see us all prepared for the upcoming battles, but having a backup in case of emergencies could save lives."
Korin was silent for a full minute, absorbing the information he was given.
"Damn kid. That's a lot to take in. I'll do what I can, but you've got most of what I have stockpiled already."
"Wait, this is all of them?!" Yamcha was shocked. He knew Korin was roughly 800 years old, so he had assumed there would be a substantial horde of the healing items.
"Of course that's all of them! Kid, including you and Goku I've only had about 10 people max even make it up here. What, you think I'm called a hermit for fun?"
"I guess that makes sense," Yamcha thought, "Still, I wonder if there is a way to speed up the process."
Before he could ask Korin butt in again.
"Do you even know how to grow these? It's some serious magic, it's not a coincidence the only place they can grow is on the border of the divine realm. It's hard work, you know!"
The bandits' mouth snapped shut. Korin sighed and took on a softer tone,"Look, kid, I'll make as many as I can, and I'll keep that free loader out of them,"
An offended "HEY!" came from somewhere deeper in the tower,
"But," Korin continued, "I'd advise keeping those as safe as you can."
Yamcha nodded. He had underestimated the difficulty of making the senzu beans. It makes sense that the cat sennin wouldn't constantly focus on producing them. As he said, only a scarce few make it up here so he likely seldom needs them.
"Now," Korin once again interrupted.
"You're free to continue to Kami's lookout. Take this and go on, the power pole is in place , just don't forget my fish!"
With that, Korrin tossed a small vile of purple liquid to Yamcha. The ultra divine water. To keep it safe he put it in his last empty capsule.
With a deep bow, Yamcha thanked his newest, albeit most brief, sensei.
After a brief call to Bulma to arrange deliveries to the base of Korin's tower, he made his way to the power pole.
"Lucky this was a condition to helping Goku,"
He thought, "otherwise she'd be pissed at me making promises on her behalf."
As he began climbing he called out to Yajirobe "Yo! Deliveries will arrive at the base of the tower, you'll have to pick them up."
The cheers of the two foodies followed him as he ascended.
The winds of the high altitude battered against him as he climbed. He used his ki to form a blanketed layer around him for protection as he began making a list of goals in his head.
"I need Kami's knowledge of the more esoteric side of ki. If I can make the seals I know work with ki it would be a game changer."
While his inherited knowledge on the subject was vast, he had little to no practical experience to go off of. He planned for most of his time to be spent on control and experimentation.
His ki was still somewhat erratic, when he meditated he could still feel his soul settling, and while his ki control was leagues ahead of both the old Yamcha's and Neji's, he could feel that it wasn't as smooth as it should be.
He was confident though, even this climb was giving him valuable experience and starting to round some of the rougher edges of his control.
Hours passed as he once again found himself drenched in sweat. Between the physical exertion of climbing and the application of his ki, he was feeling the drain.
Just as he was approaching his breaking point, he saw the bottom of the lookout began to take shape above him.
"Thank the Kai," he whispered hoarsely, "I'm not certain how much longer I could hold out."
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He could almost sense the amusement in the air as he once again flopped bonelessly to the floor. He was slightly confused, "I should be stronger than Goku was when he first made the climb. If I'm this tired, how did he make it?"
"It's a test." An eerily calm voice sounded out beside him. Startled, his body tries to jump, again flopping like a dying fish in his exhausted state. He looks upward to a serenely still pair of eyes.
"Hi" comes the equally eerie response from the Djinn-like being.
"Mr.Popo, I presume?" Asked Yamcha.
"Indeed," the now-named Popo replied. "Welcome to the lookout. You are seeking Kami if I'm not mistaken."
At Yamcha's confirmation he turned and began walking towards the building at the center.
"Very well. Follow me."
As he followed behind, Yamcha began to remember various theories and memes about Popo. Everything ranging from a spirit that guides would be guardians to an omniscient and omnipotent deity of lovecraftian proportions.
Giving into his curiosity, Yamcha activates the Byakugan expecting the usual lattice of ki lines and life energy.
For an instant, everything looks normal—Popo's outline is calm, balanced, every thread of ki arranged with impossible precision.
Then the pattern refuses to stop unfolding.
Instead of the usual ki flow, Yamcha sees concentric mandalas spiraling inward through Popo's form, each one reflecting a slightly different universe.
Every rotation carries its own flow of time; he can feel years compressing into heartbeats.
The deeper he looks, the more his Byakugan begins to echo the pattern back at him, like two mirrors multiplying to infinity.
A vibration fills the air—neither sound nor ki. It's the concept of sound trying to form.
His heartbeat syncs to it, and he realizes the rhythm is the pulse that drives the rotation of galaxies.
Popo hasn't moved, but the world around Yamcha bends as if the very idea of perspective is being corrected.
For a fraction of a second, Yamcha perceives a deeper truth, this is not a person but the calm between every motion, the pause that allows existence to reset.
His mind tries to assign shape and meaning to it, fails, and starts to fold inward.The Byakugan flashes pure white; all color drains from the world.The last thing he registers is Popo's eyes—vast, serene, containing all possible futures.
Then the Stillness presses down, and the Byakugan closes on its own, shutting him out before his thoughts can dissolve completely. He falls forward with one last word passing through his lips as consciousness shatters like glass into quiet, dreamless dark.
"What?"
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(A/N: Don't worry, I'm not going full TFS Popo. Just borrowing the idea that his existence is a bit out of the ordinary. )