1 Born Again as Tora

"I'm so screwed." He thought.

It had been a week since his death in an automobile accident. A teen who had been texting while driving hit him as he crossed the street.

He awoke with a new body and a new name. A twelve year old boy named Tora. He wasn't very tall, with dark brown hair that fell slightly below his ears. He wore a red gi with yellow flames etched in the sides with the Chinese character for Tiger imprinted into it. Memories of Tora's twelve years of life slowly came into the understanding of the reincarnated man.

A strict father who was a martial arts teacher first and a parent second, two elder students who looked down on him for his weakness, and a temple on a mountain top in the middle of no where. Tora wasn't even sure how they got food here, the past Tora never thought to ask. Tora also didn't know the names of his father or his elder disciples, past Tora was too scared to ask.

It didn't take long to discover that Tora had no system, cheat , or special powers to his dismay. In fact the past Tora felt he was extremely weak compared to the elder disciples who regularly beat him in their spars.

Tora went through the rigorous trading schedule he had been expected to keep without a word trying his best to understand his new surroundings without giving the changes within himself away. While he was once again doing (forced) intense training with his father, one of the elder disciples asked if their master was unmatched beneath the heavens. "Brown-noser." Thought Tora.

"Three or so men pose a challenge." The seemingly middle aged man said. "I have two elder disciples of my own who have started their own schools of martial arts as I have opened the Tiger School."

"They're definitely stronger than him." Thought Tora. One of many things he noticed over this week and in his memories was that his father was not a humble man. If someone was his father's equal he had not doubt he'd claim to be stronger.

"If you ever run into their disciples you must defeat them in combat to prove the Tiger School the superior martial arts form!" Shouted the master.

"Of course master! What schools are they?" Asked the other disciple.

"The Crane School and the Turtle School." Hearing this Tora stopped.

"Master, the master of this Turtle School, is his name Muten Roshi?" Tora's father looked at him suspiciously. "Yes that's correct."

The master didn't ask about how he had known Master Roshi's name, instead increasing the intensity of the training while suspiciously examining Tora.

By the time he finished that day's practice Tora finally had time to think. "I'm in the world of Dragon Ball. I'm so dead, how many times does everyone on earth die in Dragon Ball? It could happen tomorrow if Super Buu used his Human Extermination blast. What year is it? I don't have the dates memorized of big events anyway that won't help. What if this is the future Trunks timeline and the androids kill everyone? What if GT is canon and the earth gets destroyed? What if Super is canon and Goku endangers the entire universe?"

He panicked for awhile before coming to one final realization. "What happens if I die? The afterlife is pretty clear in Dragon Ball but my souls not from here, who knows what will happen to me."

In his previous life Tora had been an American 25 year old man named Jacob. As a child he became a huge fan, as many other children did, of Dragon Ball Z watching Toonami whenever it was on. He played pretend with his friends and wished the world was real. Now he was stuck in a world of danger he wished for himself as a child. Jacob wasn't the biggest anime nerd, he didn't cosplay or go to events, he'd watch anime but really only the big releases everyone talked about. By the time Dragon Ball Super came out Jacob had lost interest in Dragon Ball's new direction. Tora greatly regretted that as he only had vague knowledge of the events of that show.

"First things first, I have to get out of here." Tora quickly realized staying here regardless of the year it would eventually lead to his demise. He knew that death was frequent in this world and only grew larger in scale as it went on. He could not hide from it, he needed to leave to train with the strongest fighters and more than that he needed to make a wish.

There's a time limit on the wish he had in mind, he could only make it while he was weaker than Kami. No matter how strong Tora gets he knew that the only way to compete with the growing threats of the universe was to be a Saiyan. He could use Shenron to change his race, and he needed to do it before he got stronger than Kami or the Dragon Balls won't be able to affect his body like the how Shenron couldn't turn 17 and 18 back into regular humans.

"First things first." The next morning Tora visited his Father who was practicing a technique. It was a technique his father had been spending years on making not unlike Roshi's Kamehameha or Shen's Dodon Ray.

The Tiger Strike. After a second of concentration the Tiger Hermit throw his hand out as wind pressure destroyed a rock 30 feet away. It was very impressive, the first superhuman act Tora had seen since reincarnating. However it was the Tiger Hermit's only real technique and with his knowledge of the world Tora knew it was just a form of Kiai, a move that before Z would already be used by several fighters easily. It wasn't something Tora could rely on long term, just another reason he had to leave.

"Master! Your student has a request! I wish to leave the temple and explore the world to grow stronger! Please!" Ending with a deep bow, Tora knew his father's character. He had to be direct, he had to be respectful, and he had to call him Master.

Tora's father turned to face him. Tora stayed in his bow waiting for a response, not daring to peek upwards to see what his father may be thinking. "Show me your Tiger Strike." He rose his head to see his father had turned back around facing a rock. He stepped forward and assumed his stance and took a deep breath.

"HAA!" Tora thrust his right hand forward and a shockwave shot out, partially destroying the large rock across the room. Tora stopped and waited for his fathers response.

"It passes however you must prove to have your basics down before you venture into the world with my name on your back. If you wish to leave you may only do so after defeating your elder disciples in a spar." The master then walked away to continue his own training.

Tora stopped and thought. Tora has never sparred with the two since reincarnating, and past Tora was always too intimidated to fight to his full potential. Tora had a well trained body, martial arts drilled into him, and a mastered technique. "I might be able to do this." He thought.