Chapter 35: Kaio-Ken

Three days passed since the battle against the Saiyans ended. And during all this time, Gohan was resting in his home.

He recovered slowly and his power increased slightly as a result of the fight, right now he was over 9000 units.

It stood to reason after all, he hadn't been mortally wounded in his battle against Vegeta, so the Zenkai wasn't incredibly huge.

He meditated these days and enjoyed a little more time with his mother, he had the feeling that he wouldn't see her again for a while.

Once he finished his break, he told his father that they could start Kaiō-ken training, and the rest of the group came as well.

They went to a meadow on Mount Paoz. Goku was facing everyone and Raditz was leaning against a tree, watching with his arms crossed.

"Krillin... I confess that I feel extremely excited" Tienshinhan spoke, clenching his fists and the bald man nodded with the same emotion.

"That's normal, we're going to learn a technique with which our powers will increase" Krillin added, unable to resist the urge to start.

"Cheer up guys!" Chiaotzu yelled from the side. In his case, it would be far more dangerous for him to learn the technique. And Tien decided against it.

"Well…it's time for me to teach you the Kaiō-ken" declared Goku seriously and they all got the same to start the training.

'Well, I will finally learn this great technique! Not even the Ginyu forces should pose a threat' Gohan thought with a smile.

That was already a given, but his intention was to train enough for his base power to surpass the Ginyu forces on its own.

"The technique is based on increasing Ki beyond what the body can normally resist" Goku explained leaving his friends in doubt.

"How can we increase our Ki to that point Goku?" Krillin inquired with his hand on his chin and the Son scratched the back of his neck smiling.

'That's a very good question, in the original series there was never a precise explanation pf Kaiō-ken' thought little Son looking at his father.

"Well, you see, apart from the Ki that we use continuously, we harbor another percentage of Ki that acts as a reserve of vital energy..."

"The Kaiō-ken consists of extracting the Ki from those reserves, thereby increasing the amount of Ki that the body can contain" Goku clarified.

"Oh, I think I get it" Krillin muttered.

"The Kaiō-ken can double, triple and more the base power, depending on the amount of Ki that has been drawn from the reserves" Goku added.

"Yeah...it makes sense" Tienshinhan said nodding.

"But the more Ki you subtract, the more energy your body will have and the more difficult it will be to control it, I already told you the dangers it would bring" Goku explained.

"How can we make up for that?" asked Krillin fearing for his body, the last thing he wanted was to explode by a lot of power.

"Increasing the power as much as you see fit, the more you strengthen your body the more you can increase your Ki" replied Goku.

"Would you mind giving us a little demonstration of the Kaiō-ken?" Gohan intervened smiling and the others nodded at that.

"As you wish hehe...Kaiō-ken!" Goku yelled increasing his Ki and suddenly a crimson aura enveloped his body, "This is the basic form"

"Unbelievable, your power increased quite a bit" Tienshinhan pointed out in disbelief at how amazing the technique was, "Did you say it's the basic form?"

"Yes, I can still increase my power up to five times, that's the Kaiō-ken" Goku answered returning to normal, "What do you think?"

"Well, I want to learn it Goku!" Krillin exclaimed excitedly, "Even Vegeta will be no match for me once he masters the amazing Kaiō-ken!"

Goku laughed at his words and Tienshinhan laughed too, but Gohan was quite thoughtful.

'It won't be hard to learn, my question is how many increases my body can withstand' Gohan asked with his hand under his chin, 'Maybe about ten?'

No, at this point a Kaiō-ken times ten would be insane. His body was small so there was a limit to the power he could withstand.

And if he exceeded them, it would be very bad for him. Until he trained with the increased gravity he couldn't determine how much his body would resist.

"What about the Spirit Bomb? How is it done?" Gohan asked curiously, he always thought that attack could have interesting uses.

"Gathering the spiritual energy of living beings, and to do it one must have a pure heart or you won't be able to" Goku said raising his finger.

"You know Krillin, you won't be able to learn it" Gohan said with a smile and the others laughed, 'So gathering spiritual energy...great'

He had a theory in mind. The Spirit Bomb or Genki-dama didn't just have offensive uses, it could also be used in a very different, yet clever way...

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In the blink of an eye, two weeks passed since Goku taught the Kaiō-ken to his friends. And they moved slowly.

Except for Gohan, his Ki mastery was greater than theirs and thus he was able to learn the Kaiō-ken faster than the rest.

But he didn't just waste two weeks with the Kaiō-ken, he also spent time with Bulma and her father learning about the illustrious technology from him.

There he was able to understand how backward the technology of his previous world was. He was eager to find out everything Doctor Briefs knew.

And on the other hand, he was all set for his trip to Namek. The capsule was prepared with everything. However, he wouldn't be leaving Earth soon.

He used part of his time to find more uses for the Spirit Bomb (Genki-dama). And finally, after much thought, he found an interesting way to use it.

The Genki-dama consisted of gathering the spiritual energy or Genki of living beings to form a great attack capable of defeating anyone.

But what if instead of gathering the Genki for an attack, he gathered it to restore or increase his own Ki? Actually, it wasn't that crazy.

The Genki constituted the vitality of a living being. Therefore, concentrating the Genki of nature would increase one's vitality and vigor.

It might sound selfish, but compared to the huge amount that was required for the Genki-dama the planet would not suffer any losses...

It was a form of regeneration, as long as there were living beings around him he could always restore his vitality. Great, isn't it?

'Ugh...at this point, I'm able to gather a paltry amount of Genki' Gohan thought as he sat while the rest continued to train.

The Kaiō-ken was not a challenge for him. He was focused on mastering his new technique, it would be quite important in his stay on Namek.

"Ah…ah…this is exhausting" Krillin commented as he panted from the effort, "I wonder if Gohan has been able to master her already…"

"I'm sure he would, otherwise he wouldn't be so relaxed" answered Tienshinhan also tired and turned to the boy, 'What is he doing?'

Goku was also a little curious, so he turned his head to see what his son was doing and was shocked to see what he was doing.

'A Spirit Bomb?!' Goku yelled in his mind. He clearly felt the fluctuation of energy in nature that was circulating towards his son.

"Oh, you're helping them"

A voice sounded in his mind as he was going to ask Gohan, and he identified the owner of the voice as King Kai.

"It's you King Kai! Yes, I've taught them how to do your technique, and they're making good progress" Goku said with a huge smile and the Kaiō nodded.

"That's good, but they are not the only ones who want to progress" declared King Kai smiling, "There are two others here with me"

"Other two with you? You mean..." Goku's eyes lit up as he remembered his friends who had fallen in battle, who were precisely two of them.

"Yes, Yamcha and Piccolo are here and they are going to be trained by me" The Northern Kaiō replied as two figures appeared behind him.