Synopsis: Upa looks around to make sure it's safe before walking over to the base of Karin Tower. Looking up at the sky, he says it's been three days, so he wonders if Goku was able to get to the top. Elsewhere, Taopaipai receives his new clothes rom the tailor and prepares to head off and find the Dragon Ball he missed. The tailor nervously asks for payment and says he has to make a living, and Taopaipai is astonished that he would ask for money from him. He makes him an offer instead – he'll kill anyone that he wants, which is quite the bargain given how much Taopaipai charges usually. The tailor objects and says there's nobody he wants to kill, so Taopaipai asks him if he'd like to die instead. Without giving the tailor a chance to reply, Taopaipai kills him by jabbing his finger into his forehead, leaving and telling him to keep the change. Upa, still staring up at Karin Tower, is caught by surprise when the pillar suddenly crashes into the ground next to him again and Taopaipai steps off of it. Taopaipai tells him that there should be another one of those balls here somewhere and for him to hand it over, but Upa throws his axe at Taopaipai saying he has to avenge his father. Taopaipai easily dodges the axe, kicks Upa's legs out from under him, and catches him by the throat. He demands again for the boy to tell him where the ball is, but Upa refuses. Taopaipai says he can just kill him then and use the Army's radar to locate the ball, and throws Upa hard towards the tower. Before Upa can collide with it however, a suddenly appearing Goku calls out for kinto'un and catches Upa on the cloud, saving him much to the surprise of Taopaipai. Goku tells Upa that this is why he told him to hide, but the boy is overjoyed to see him again. Taopaipai is in disbelief that Goku is alive. Upa asks Goku if he made it to the top and got to drink the water, and Goku says he's better than ever now. He leaves Upa on kinto'un and jumps down to deal with Taopaipai. Goku tells the assassin that he has to deal with him first if he wants the four-star ball, but Taopaipai just wants to know how Goku survived their last encounter. Goku tells him he was saved by the Dragon Ball in his pocket, and Taopaipai chuckles at what a lucky child he is. He tells him this is where his luck runs out however, and that if he wanted to live he should have stayed in hiding. He tells Goku to hand the ball over if he doesn't want to die, but Goku says this time won't be like last time. Taopaipai laughs and says Goku will be dead in three seconds, and rushes the boy with the intent to kill. Goku dodges his strike however and kicks the assassin into the air. He leaps after him, passing him in the air and kicks him, sending him flying into the tower. Upa is amazed, and Goku tells Taopaipai that he thinks his three seconds are up. Taopaipai is outraged, saying Goku wasn't doing anything like this three days ago. Goku says that it's because he wasn't hiding for three days, but training at the top of the tower. Taopaipai says no three days worth of training could make him this much stronger...unless...he asks Goku if the person he trained with happened to be named Karin. Goku asks if he knows him too, and Taopaipai thinks on the legends of the 'god of martial arts' said to live at the top of Karin Tower. He'd assumed it was just a legend, but if the stories were true... Taopaipai thanks Goku for the information and the exercise as he prepares to take this fight more seriously. Review: Seeing as how this was the first time in the series that things got really dire, it's only fitting that that sense of foreboding doesn't last long in the grand scheme of things. There's still some tension to be had with Taopaipai getting back to Karin with Upa first, but let's be honest – we all knew things were going to work out okay at this point, since Goku was already shown to be on his way back at the end of the previous chapter. With how much faster he can go up and down the tower now? It's basically a foregone conclusion that he's going to show up at the last second and save the day. I'm not complaining really mind you, as thematically it helps make this turn of events exciting. It's just unfortunate as a long-time fan when you can recognize something that's going to very quickly wear off it's novelty, we'll say. For now though, Toriyama's timing is on point, regardless of how completely without nerve-wracking it is. There's unfortunately not a whole lot else for me to comment on with this chapter either, though there are a few quick moments that interest me. Taopaipai mentions that he could just have the Red Ribbon Army use their radar to help him locate where the Dragon Ball is. While this is completely true, and also why Upa making a run for it with the ball wouldn't work if he'd been in possession of it, it does remind me of something that I'm not sure Toriyama remembered at this point – the Red Ribbon Army is currently in possession of not just their own bigger radar, but Bulma's – or rather, Turbo's – smaller, more accurate one. Why didn't they send Taopaipai with it before? More than that, why was it still their big radar we saw them using when they noticed Taopaipai leaving a Dragon Ball behind? After everything they went through to get that thing, they're just gonna sit on it? Man, Blue really did die for nothing. There's another interesting moment with Taopaipai figuring out that Goku must have trained with the famed Karin at the top of the tower. It's curious that he knows the name only by reputation, given Taopaipai's connection with the Turtle school as we'll learn a little ways from now. It's entirely possible he still never knew Karin actually existed – perhaps Roshi's training with Karin didn't happen until after a certain fallout we'll be learning about soon enough – but it still begs the question of just how much Taopaipai knows or realizes about who he's facing that he just doesn't mention. Does he recognize Goku's gi? Does he recognize the Kamehameha? The latter at least he does have a peculiar reaction to when he first sees it, and it's hard to tell if we're meant to read that just as surprise that a kid can channel such a large energy attack, or recognition of that particular energy attack. Given Toriyama's penchant for writing by the seat of his pants, though? I'd imagine it's the former (Taopaipai being surprised Goku can use energy at all), and the rest is stuff that just doesn't quite line up 100% correctly once additional backstory is added to the characters. Certainly won't be the last time that sort of thing happens. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: An Assassin gets his Ass handed to him.
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