A single brief exchange was enough for Yamiru to realize Korin's immense strength.
As Korin had said, this strength wasn't a matter of sheer power—or in Yamiru's terms, energy—but rather an absolute dominance in martial skill.
Whenever Yamiru let his guard down, it was as if Korin didn't even exist.
How had Korin appeared behind him? From what angle had he struck? How much force had he used to knock him down? Yamiru couldn't tell.
"Hee~" Korin licked his paw.
Yamiru narrowed his eyes and lunged forward.
Korin remained still, lazily licking his paw, seemingly too slow to react.
But just as Yamiru was about to make contact, he suddenly shifted his approach, reversing direction at an even greater speed and leaping toward the Ultra Divine Water kettle atop the fountain.
"You really think I'd fall for that, you foolish kid?"
Korin's staff moved as if it had a will of its own, striking Yamiru before he could reach the kettle and sending him crashing down once more.
"Too obvious. You still need more training~"
Korin casually hooked the kettle onto the tip of his staff, leisurely swinging it back and forth while occasionally scolding Yamiru.
"..."
Without a word, Yamiru tried again.
A pounce.
A dash.
A feint.
A burst of speed.
He attacked relentlessly, attempting every possible method.
Yet he couldn't even touch the Ultra Divine Water kettle hanging from Korin's staff—let alone so much as graze a single strand of the feline's fur.
This guy wasn't a cat—he was a fish, slipping away every time Yamiru got close.
Yamiru was growing frustrated.
Before he knew it, night had fallen, marking the end of the day's fruitless effort.
At least he wasn't hungry—he had eaten a Senzu Bean, enough to sustain him for ten days.
Korin, unfazed by everything, remained as composed as ever—neither exhausted nor annoyed by Yamiru's ineptitude. He carried himself with the same calm demeanor as always.
As night deepened, he leaned on his staff and drifted off to sleep.
He had expected Yamiru to try sneaking over under the cover of darkness—just as Muten Roshi had done centuries ago. Korin had even prepared to give Yamiru the same lesson he had given back then.
But to his surprise, Yamiru was already sound asleep, clearly focused on recovering his strength—after all, eating another Senzu Bean would make his stomach burst. He wasn't some bizarre, gluttonous freak like Yajirobe, nor did he have the Saiyan appetite.
The next day, Yamiru resumed his attempts to seize the Ultra Divine Water kettle.
Still, he didn't even come close.
The third day…
The fourth day…
An entire month passed, yet his training had made almost no progress.
"Huff—"
Korin effortlessly dodged yet another of Yamiru's deceptive attacks, landing lightly at the edge of the fountain pool.
Yamiru, meanwhile, was left gasping for breath, clutching his knees in frustration. He muttered under his breath, "Damn it… Damn it! Why is this happening…?"
"You're starting to panic," Korin remarked lazily. "Your movements are even more reckless than they were a month ago. Instead of improving, you're actually regressing."
"......"
Yamiru glanced at the kettle dangling from Korin's staff.
Still breathing heavily, drenched in sweat, he sat down cross-legged, pressing his hands against his knees. He forced himself to calm down.
Calm down.
Calm down.
Calm down.
"How strange~"
Korin lightly hopped down and strolled over to Yamiru, stroking his whiskers as he spoke.
"I told you from the start, didn't I? Muten Roshi spent three whole years completing this training. Do you think your talent surpasses the Turtle Hermit's?"
"I also warned you to be prepared to stay here for years. Yet after only a month, you're already losing patience… What is it?"
"Do you look down on the Turtle Hermit, or are you questioning my judgment?"
It noticed that Yamiru's hands, which were pressed against his knees with his eyes closed, tightened slightly, proving that he was listening.
However, he was unaware of the turmoil in Yamiru's heart.
Indeed, Master Roshi had taken three years to complete this training, and Yamiru did not consider himself more talented than Master Roshi. But at the same time… in the manga, Son Goku had only taken three days to pass the test. And now, after spending an entire month here, Yamiru had made no progress at all—how could he possibly feel at ease? Any normal person with the same expectations as him would inevitably start doubting themselves.
"Hmm… looks like you've realized that you need to calm down for now and think things through carefully."
Korin noticed that Yamiru's breathing had steadied, but his brows were slightly furrowed, showing that he was deep in thought.
"For a martial artist, training doesn't always mean movement! There is an advanced form of training called meditation… Martial artists with profound mastery can cultivate even while sitting still, gaining tremendous insights," Korin patiently instructed before stepping aside to rest. How much Yamiru could absorb was up to him.
Meanwhile, now that he had suppressed his anxiety and calmed himself, Yamiru began pondering the true nature of the training at Korin Tower…
——— Scene Transition: Mini Skit ———
Penguin Village, also known as Tenjin Village.
After returning home, Dr. Norimaki enthusiastically began constructing a robot "little sister" to assist him. However, no matter how he tried, he couldn't produce a satisfactory result. This left him deeply frustrated. While sitting on the toilet, he muttered in disbelief, "Could it be… I'm an idiot?"
——— End of Skit ———
The training at Korin Tower…
The challenge of seizing the Ultra Divine Water…
Yamiru carefully reviewed Korin's teachings from the past month.
The phrase Korin had repeated the most was: "Too many unnecessary movements!" The second most common was: "Your movements are too obvious!"
Yamiru felt that he was on the verge of grasping something crucial, yet he couldn't quite piece it together, which left him frustrated.
The next day, training resumed.
"Do you think I'm blind?"
Korin effortlessly dodged Yamiru's attack and sent him flying with a casual kick.
"Even if I really were blind, you still wouldn't be able to snatch the Ultra Divine Water from me with such movements."
Yamiru tumbled across the floor, rolling and crashing against the railing before finally coming to a stop. But instead of getting up, he stared blankly through the gaps in the railing at the vast, inverted sky, mumbling, "Even if he were really blind… Even if he were really blind…"
"Too many unnecessary movements!"
"Your movements are too obvious!"
"Even if I were really blind!"
Yamiru's eyes widened as realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.
He suddenly recalled a deeply buried memory from the manga—
Had Son Goku really passed the Ultra Divine Water test in just three days?
Thinking back carefully, the reason Goku had successfully grabbed the water jug back then was because he had tickled Korin's underarm, making the feline sage drop his staff along with the water jug, which then flew out of Korin's Tower. Goku, fearless as ever, had leaped after it, caught the jug midair, and used his tail to latch onto the railing, preventing himself from falling.
Did that truly count as passing Korin's test?
Yamiru asked himself. He kept recalling the phrases Korin had repeated throughout this past month…
"Too many unnecessary movements!"
"Your movements are too obvious!"
Thinking carefully, what kind of training in the manga best corresponded to those words?
Yamiru could only think of the training at the Lookout—the lessons Mr. Popo had given to Son Goku.