Pursuit of strength

(A short Chap)

"Ugh....."

Gohan grunted as he opened his eyes and slowly lifted himself up. He looked around his environment and quickly realized that he was once again in his room.  He gently placed his hand around his neck as memories quickly flooded into his head. He yanked the blanket that was covering him and quickly inspected his body to check his wounds but found that there were none. It seemed that while he was out of commission, somebody gave him a senzu bean.

There was only one question in his mind.

How long precisely was he knocked out?

He lifted himself out of bed and walked towards his window and looked outside to see the sun slowly rising up in the distance. It seemed that he woke up at a convenient time as it was morning. As he gazed at the beautiful morning sky. He couldn't help but slowly clench his right hand in anger as he recalled prior events. 

"I thought that I was growing at a good pace. But it seems that I was wrong" The boy commented as venom leaked through his mouth. He was mad at his uncle but the majority of that anger wasn't directed at him, but at himself. 

The fact that he was almost beaten to a pulp and nearly killed by someone so weak in the grand scheme of things infuriated him. Even more so that he needed an anger boost to close the gap in order to achieve "victory". If you could call it even that.  He couldn't rely on anger boosts in future fights. If he wanted to overcome the challenges that were heading his way, he needed that hand power in hand. 

Feeling that anger was overcoming him, he pushed himself away from the window and walked out of his room. He went outside to begin his daily training pulse he needed something to vent his anger. And what better way than training? Besides, he couldn't get stronger by staying in his room all day.

He needed to push himself even further! 

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As he got closer to outside, he could hear the sounds of multiple people training amongst themselves. As he proceeded to get closer and made to final turn to the outside, the first thing he saw was a group of men fighting amongst themselves. With an old green man observing them.

As Kami overseed the human's daily training, he could hear the sounds of footsteps coming right behind. A smile appeared on his face as he turned to see Gohan who had finally awoken after all this time "Ah, Gohan. Good morning. You're finally awake I see"

Gohan smiled back as he walked up to his mentor " Good morning Kami"

"Are you feeling better? That battle with Raditz left you in a pretty dire state"

Gohan shook his head "I feel better than ever actually. I presume that you were the one that gave me the senzu bean right?" 

Kami just chuckled "No actually, It was Piccolo. In fact, he was the one that carried you back to your room once you went unconscious. I know that he rarely shows emotions but I think he's starting to take a liking to you" 

"Really?" A slight look of surprise appeared on Gohan's face as absorbed the information he just heard. Besides a few smirks here and there, Piccolo rarely opens up about his feelings. So hearing this was a surprise.

He scanned around the lookout but he couldn't find the slug man anywhere "Speaking of Piccolo, where is he? I don't see him anywhere" 

"I'm right behind you" 

Gohan jolted as he felt words being whispered in his ears as he jumped and turned around to see Piccolo standing right behind him "What the hell!? don't do that!" 

Piccolo just ignored the boy's reaction and turned his attention to his counterpart "Kami, don't give the boy any ideas. The only reason why we're here to begin with is because we share a common cause. If it wasn't for those Saiyans, we wouldn't be having this conversation"

"Whatever you say, Piccolo" Kami commented as he smirked and looked back at the Z fighters. Monitoring their training and progress. 

ignoring Kami's smirk, Piccoclo shifted back his attention to Gohan "You spent valuable time sleeping away in that room of yours. So you better get ready to dust off those rusty bones of yours. We're about to make up for some lost time" 

Gohan scratched the back of his head as he asked Piccolo a question that he'd been meaning to find out "I been meaning to ask that, how long has it been since my fight with Raditz? Surely it couldn't been that long"

Piccolo crossed his arms before replying "You have been out of the game for three days"

"Three days!?" Gohan shouted as he looked at his mentor with shock. He couldn't believe that three days passed by in a matter of seconds. One moment he was fighting with Raditz and the next here he was three days later. 

"You were extremely exhausted after your fight with Raditz. It was so bad that you couldn't even fly. You were lucky that I was there to catch you though. Because that crash landing wouldn't have been pretty"

Gohan couldn't help but sigh as he looked at Piccolo with a smile "Well I guess I got lucky then. Thank you for taking care of me, Mr. Piccolo. It was even you that gave me the senzu bean when I needed it the most"

Piccolo didn't say anything for a second before responding "You can thank me by putting more effort into your training from now on. It pissed me off to see my student getting beaten up like that" 

Gohan chuckled "Trust me, I'll train harder to make sure that doesn't happen ever again. It really wasn't a nice experience"

Seeing that Gohan was finally all right, it was time for the others to know as he slammed his walking stick down to the ground "I have some good news! Gohan's finally awake!"

Suddenly hearing Gohan's name, the human Z-fighters stopped whatever they were doing and looked in Kami's direction to see Gohan standing right there looking at them. "Gohan!" Krillin yelled in excitement as he rushed towards the boy. With the other fighters following right behind him.

"Hey guys" Gohan smiled as he walked up to the Z-fighters. Closing the distance between them. 

Suddenly, he felt himself being grabbed by the shoulders as he watched Krillin run up to him and grab him. Quickly inspecting him all over "You're feeling alright? You're not hurting anywhere?"

Gohan couldn't help but chuckle as he grabbed Krillin's hands and moved them away "Stop it Krillin. You're sounding like my mom. Besides, I'm alright. I was given a senzu bean so I'm alright"

Suddenly, he felt something walking up to him as he looked to his left to see Tien standing there "Hey Mr. Shinhan"

Tien smiled "You can just call me Tien kid"

"Besides, I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there with Raditz.  You stood up for us against your own blood. You didn't have to do what you did but you sided with us. So thank you"

Gohan just awkwardly scratched the of his head before responding 'I just did what I thought was right. This planet is my home and you guys are friends so I just couldn't sit back and do nothing"

Tien just nodded his head "I see. But still, thank you. I just wish there was something we could have done to help you. Even though I'm grateful for what you did, I'm not a fan of somebody else fighting my battles"

A smile replaced that awkwardness "It's alright. Even though my uncle is annoying, he's still strong. So there's no shame in retreating from a fight you can't win. Besides, seeing that bastard of an uncle getting that mad was a prize all on its own. So I have no regrets"

Gohan remained silent before speaking "But there is a way that you could help me"

"You could teach how to do that four-arm technique that I heard about. I heard about it when my dad was retelling his adventures when he was younger"

He then shifted his attention to Yamcha, Krillin, and Chiaotzu who was all the way in the back "In fact, I'd appreciate it if you all taught me some techniques that you know. If one of us gets stronger, then we all get stronger after all"

They all stayed silent for a second before they nodded in unison as they looked at Gohan "Alright. We'll teach you everything within our capabilities. It's the least that we can do the help you out" 

"I don't know what I can teach you, but I'll help in any way I can"

"I don't know much but I can teach you how to utilize telekinesis" 

"I'll teach you my infamous wolf fang fist!"

Gohan couldn't help but smile in response "Thank you. All of you"

Before they could say anything else, they all turned around to see both Kami and Piccolo walking up to them "I'm glad to see that you're all in high spirits. But it's time for you all to resume your training. The enemies we will be facing are beyond your wildest dreams. So the more you stand around, the less time you have to train" 

Tien nodded his head as he looked back at the other humans "Kami's right. Now that we found out Gohan is alright we should return to our training guys"

Agreeing with Tein's words, Krillin, Chiaotzu, and Yamcha nodded their heads and returned to continue with their training.

"I'll teach you how to utilize the four-witches technique at a later date. But for now, I believe you give your attention to Piccolo back there" Tien commented as he talked to Gohan before walking away, finally returning to his training.

Gohan just watched the three-eye walk away before returning turning around and looking at his green mentor. Who was patiently waiting for him "Are you done? It's time we begin your training"

Gohan smirked hearing this "I'm ready whenever you are"

"Good" Hearing this, Piccolo walked away a bit before taking off his weighted clothing and getting into his combat stance. All the while releasing his aura "Just because you've been out of it for a bit, it doesn't mean I'll go easy on you. So prepare yourself"

Gohan continued to smirk as he got into his combat stance "I wouldn't have it any other way"

As Gohan prepared to begin his training, he released his aura. But the moment he did this, his aura suddenly exploded! Sending out a shockwave that nearly sent everybody flying out of the lookout! 

"What the hell!" Piccolo yelled out as he and everybody else picked themselves from the ground and looked back at Gohan. Who was staring at his hands with pure shock on his face.

"His aura is way stronger than it was a few days ago! It's even greater than mine!"

Meanwhile, Gohan just stared as he was engrossed in his own world "This power...It's similar to the power that I displayed when I was fighting Radtiz. No.."

"It's even greater than that!" 

Gohan's shock turned into amazement as he relished his newfound strength. There was only one question that remained in his mind. How did get this strong out of nowhere? But he already knew the question of that

"So this is a Zenaki!? No wonder Saiyans are capable of getting so strong! This crap is amazing!" Gohan said as he yelled in his mind. Who knew that one near-death experience would bump him up so many levels?

"Do you mind explaining what just happened? How did you suddenly get so strong?" Suddenly, he heard a voice coming right in front of him as he looked up to see Piccolo standing before him. He quickly looked off to the side to see Kami and the rest of the Human Z-fighters. Looking at him with amazement yet confused look.

Seeing that all eyes were on him, Gohan quickly took a deep breath and looked back to Piccolo. It was time to put on his acting shoes "I think....I received something called a Zenkai"

"A Zenkai?" Piccolo commented as a confused look appeared on his face alongside everybody else.

Gohan nodded his head before continuing "As I was fighting with Raditz, I remembered him saying something about how I was still able to overpower him after he received a Zenaki. I think that what allowed him to get so strong the last time we saw him"

"And you think that's what happened to you right?" Kami commented as he finished off Gohan's sentence. Gohan looked at Kami and simply nodded in response"

Piccolo stayed silent before speaking up "That would explain how you and Raditz were able to grow in strength in a short amount of time. An ability unique to Saiyans that allows them to grow instantly in strength. How terrifying  "

Yamcha, who was mostly silent, spoke up "But that doesn't explain how Gohan was able to receive one suddenly out of nowhere. How did Radtiz, and now Gohan, manage to get one?'

Everybody stayed silent. Trying to rack their brain as they tried to think up an answer to their problem. They stayed like this until Piccolo spoke up "There is one similarity between the both of them" 

Everybody stopped and shifted their attention to Piccolo. Who himself, shifted his eyes to Gohan "Prior to their Zenkai, Both of them were close to death's door and the moment they recovered their strength, they came back stronger than they were before"

Kami's eyes widened as he started to follow what Piccolo's saying "Piccolo, Are you trying to say that when a Saiyan receives a life-threatening injury and if  they manage to recover, they receive a massive power boost?"

"Exactly"

"That's cheating! Saiyans are unfair!" Yamcha blurted out as absorbed the revelation that he just heard. 

"Just one more reason why Goku managed to get so strong" Kirllin commented as he looked at Gohan. Ever since they were young, Goku was one step ahead of him.  He was always naturally gifted but figuring out that he had an advantage due to his Saiyan biology, really explains a lot.

And his son a even more of a monster than his father. 

Krillin looked over at Tien to see his reaction, but all he saw was a man filled with determination written all over his face as he walked back and resumed his training. With a tenacity never seen before. 

So what if they had the advantage in terms of biology? In the end, preservice and dedication will help in your training. Not Biology. Goku was his rival and there was no way he was going to lag behind just because he was born with something special. He was going to get stronger and stronger until the day he finally gets his rematch with Goku and wins. 

Seeing that Tien was putting more effort into his training, Krillin couldn't help but smile "I guess he's really pumped up"

Both Krillin and Yamcha one quick glance at each other before following Tien's lead and resuming their training. Feeling more motivated than before. It doesn't matter if Goku and Gohan have a slight advantage. They were going to keep up with them and get even stronger. 

Gohan silently gave out a sigh of relief before forming a smile as he watched the humans get back to their training. They seemed more motivated than before. Hopefully, they push themselves to become stronger than their mainline counterparts. 

"Hey, kid! pay attention!" Suddenly, a voice screamed into Gohan's ear as he looked back to Piccolo who was in his combat stance.

"Just because you found that you have an innate advantage doesn't mean you get slack off now. In fact, I'm going to be even more haser from here on out. So get ready and don't hold back on me" Piccolo shouted as he got ready to fight. It didn't care that his student was currently stronger than him. He was his master and he couldn't show any hesitation. 

Gohan smirked as he finally resumed his combat. He wasn't going to disrespect his teacher "I wouldn't dream of it, Mr. Piccolo"

And with that, both student and master rushed at each other as they began their training. Giving everything they had into it. While Kami just stood back and simply observed everybody's training.