Synopsis: Aboard the airship, Pilaf announces to King Piccolo that the other five Dragon Balls appear to be heading in their direction now. Piccolo laughs and thinks that whoever this other group is, they clearly don't know who they're dealing with. Flying in their own aircraft, Roshi likewise tells Tenshinhan and Chaozu that King Piccolo is heading their way. Roshi reiterates that they have no chance of winning if they fight, so their only chance is to steal the remaining two Dragon Balls from him and wish for Shenlong to rid Piccolo from Earth entirely a plan that Tenshinhan still isn't very fond of. As Yajirobe drives Goku towards Karin in a stolen car, Yajirobe warns Goku that even after they get him fixed up, he should never mess with Piccolo like that again. Goku asks Yajirobe if he knows Piccolo, and Yajirobe explains what he can remember from the old legends about him, including how he was somehow stopped by a martial artist. Goku wonders what that person could have done to stop Piccolo, but Yajirobe has no idea. Yairobe asks Goku what happens when someone gathers all seven of those 'Dragon Ball' things anyway, but when Goku tells him any wish you have can be granted by them, Yajirobe doesn't believe him and accuses him of lying. Goku however wonders what someone as strong as Piccolo could even want to wish for in the first place. As Piccolo is overjoyed at how near he is to eternal youth, Roshi has Tenshinhan land their plane in an empty wasteland and return the aircraft to it's capsule form. Roshi quickly punches a hole in the ground and tells Chaozu to bury their five Dragon Balls in it before telling them his plan. He tells Chaozu to hide in the shadows of a nearby cliff while he and Tenshinhan somehow steal Piccolo's two Dragon Balls, after which they'll toss them to Chaozu who will immediately summon the dragon and state their wish. He has them all take their posts, just as Pilaf notices that the five Dragon Balls have stopped moving. Piccolo assumes their foes must be readying for an ambush, and instructs them to take the airship to just above their location. As Pilaf's airship comes to a stop in the air above them, Roshi and Tenshinhan notice it's not landing, and wonder if they'll need to board the ship to take the Dragon Balls. Piccolo however realizes when there doesn't appear to be anyone on the ground that they must be hiding and are planning to take his Dragon Balls rather than face him directly. To prevent this, Piccolo promptly swallows both Dragon Balls, much to the horror of a watching Tenshinhan. Roshi curses, realizing that now they'll never get the Dragon Balls without first defeating Piccolo, but that sits Tenshinhan just fine. Roshi tells Tenshinhan to stay out of it and leave it to him as he can't die due to drinking the elixir of immortality, but Tenshinhan balks and demands to take part in this battle. Before he can argue further however, Roshi sprays him in the face with tranquilizer to knock him out. Roshi apologizes to Tenshinhan, explaining that he lied about the elixir of immortality, and if he dies fighting Piccolo like Goku no doubt has, then Tenshinhan will be the only one left who stands a chance at defeating him someday if he trains as hard as he can. Roshi shouts to Chaozu that the plan has changed and that he needs to remain hidden no matter what, before stepping out into the open and yelling to Piccolo to come down if he wants the Dragon Balls. Piccolo is impressed that this old man knows who he is though thinks that makes him fighting him an even more foolish proposition. Piccolo floats down to the ground, and Roshi points out where they buried the Dragon Balls to him, telling Piccolo he can have the Dragon Balls if Piccolo defeats him. Piccolo laughs and says Roshi is a funny old man, but Roshi thinks he should laugh while he can. From the sidelines, both Chaozu and a barely conscious Tenshinhan watch. Review: This chapter is the beginning of the end for the first part of the King Piccolo storyline, where everyone is scrambling in one way or another to stop the Demon King from gathering the Dragon Balls. Most of what happens here is something that we've already seen the characters discuss a good few times before now, so there's not really much to say in the way of their plans initially, but as things start to go off the rails, things get quite a bit more interesting. It would have been somewhat interesting to see Roshi, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu actually try to steal the Dragon Balls back from under Piccolo's nose while the villain's group landed to look for the Dragon Balls, but chances are that was never going to be as simple as what Roshi thought it was going to be. I mean, think about it – with what we've already seen of Piccolo, he's pragmatic but also the type to send others out to do his bidding for him. Piccolo was always likely to realize that these opponents are after the Dragon Balls more than they're after him, so in any situation he was likely going to keep the Dragon Balls on his person rather than leaving them unguarded (or even guarded by the likes of the Pilaf gang or his non-fighting attendant for that matter). So either Piccolo would have kept them on his person, or he would have remained in the airship with them next to him while everyone else went down to the ground to search for the other five balls. It's understandable that Roshi wanted to avoid conflict with this much stronger force at all costs, but in this situation, I don't think there was really ever any other choice. Also, with Tenshinhan being the way he is and how he's been acting in regards to the sneaking plan, who's to say he wouldn't have just waltzed right up and tried to fight Piccolo, even while telling Roshi it would serve as a distraction for he and Chaozu to get the Dragon Balls while he kept Piccolo busy? Sorry Kame-sennin, but this plan was basically a no-go no matter how it went down. That said, seeing Piccolo just swallow the Dragon Balls is pretty gross and amusing in-of-itself. Like...is that long tongue a demon thing, or can can a particular race itself also just do that? Wait...is this more or less the same thing as the arm-stretching we'll get later on? Hmm... Once it's clear he's going to have to fight after all, Roshi's real reasons about wanting to keep Tenshinhan from fighting become much more clear. Roshi knows that he's at his own peak, or at least that he's not going to get any stronger. He presumes Goku to be dead, so Tenshinhan is the only capable fighter left – discounting Yamcha...poor guy... - who seemingly stands any chance of growing strong enough to maybe, one day, hopefully and maybe, being strong enough to combat Piccolo effectively. It's an extremely small hope, but it's all Roshi or the world at large has, and Roshi is damn sure not letting it slip away if he can avoid it. Kame-sennin also has another reason for keeping Tenshinhan out of this fight for now, but we'll touch on that in the next chapter. Interestingly enough, Roshi's fib about his immortality comes into play here as well, and it's something that's always both intrigued and confused me personally. Up until this point, Roshi was presumed immortal both due to his extreme longevity (he's well over 300 years old by this point), as well as by an implication of him having had a pet phoenix that could grant someone immortality (the phoenix itself having died from tainted bird seed...irony!). Either way, it's basically been a given up until now that Roshi was immortal...only now, he says he's not. This raises a lot of questions about just HOW in the world he's managed to stay alive for so long if he's not, and WHY bring it up now? For the former, there's never been a completely concrete answer (though an episode of Super does have some suggestions, but that didn't come until decades after this reveal, so take from that what you will), but my assumption is basically that however he did it, he's 'immortal' in the sense that he won't die of old age. That said, he can still die as a result of outside factors, which brings us to the 'why' of this retcon, and... Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Farewell, Kame-sennin...
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About the AuthorAspiring author and big anime/manga fan, just trying to do my best in the world. For more details, go to About Me. Archives
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