The junior division matches ended. The contestants headed to the rest areas or dining areas in small groups.
Gohan wove through the bustling crowd and soon found Goku and the others having a meal in a relatively quiet corner of a restaurant.
"Dad, Uncle Krillin, Uncle Vegeta, here you are!" Gohan quickly walked over.
"Oh, Gohan!" Goku was happily eating a large bowl of noodles. He looked up, a few noodles still hanging from his face. "How did the junior division go? Who won?"
Gohan said, "It was Trunks. He won the championship."
"Hmph." Hearing this, Vegeta, although still maintaining his cool, arms-crossed posture, couldn't help but slightly curl the corner of his mouth.
Krillin asked teasingly, "Wasn't Satan supposed to have an exhibition match with the junior division champion? How did that go?"
Gohan glanced at Videl beside him and said vaguely, "Mr. Satan deliberately put on an act, pretending to lose to Trunks. Everyone thought it was very funny."
"Deliberately put on an act?" Krillin couldn't help but laugh. "That guy sure knows how to put on a show, hahaha!"
Videl, standing next to Gohan, frowned in dissatisfaction when she heard Krillin's assessment of her father. "What do you mean by that?"
"Uh!" Gohan was horrified. He quickly covered Krillin's mouth and smiled sheepishly at Videl. "N-nothing! Uncle Krillin didn't mean that! Don't overthink it!"
He quickly changed the subject and said to Goku, "By the way, Dad, guess who I just met?"
Goku lifted his face from the bowl, scratched the back of his head, and asked blankly, "Who did you meet? It couldn't be that Frieza came back again, could it?"
"No, not that!" Gohan was exasperated, then said seriously, "It's Uncle Setsuna! He's back from space, and he's been resurrected too!"
"What?"
"Setsuna!"
"He's back?"
The son-proud Vegeta narrowed his eyes and lowered his arms, which had been crossed.
Goku, who had been eating noodles, also stopped, his eyes bright with excitement.
Vegeta's eyes were full of fighting spirit. "Hmph! I've been training hard all these years. I hope his training hasn't fallen behind."
Goku was even more excited, rubbing his hands eagerly. "Great! I can't wait to fight him. I wonder how strong he is now!"
Krillin, meanwhile, snickered on the side. "Hehe, if Satan happens to meet Setsuna in the tournament, that'll be a show. He's not as easygoing as we are."
Hearing Krillin say this, the smile on Gohan's face froze, and he looked melancholy.
If they really ended up facing each other, given Mr. Satan's meager abilities... surely he couldn't let his 'father-in-law' get beaten to death in the ring, right?
But as for defeating Setsuna himself to protect Mr. Satan?
The moment this thought came to mind, Gohan himself felt it was absurd.
Even if he hadn't neglected his training all these years and had always trained hard, facing the unfathomable Setsuna, he had absolutely no confidence in winning.
Videl listened from the side. Although she was puzzled by words like 'space' and 'resurrection', what bothered her more was everyone's attitude towards that person.
"Is that person named Setsuna very strong?" Videl couldn't help but ask.
Krillin turned his head and smiled matter-of-factly. "Of course he's strong. He's the strongest among Earthlings!"
"The strongest among Earthlings?" Videl was still somewhat unconvinced.
In her mind, her father, Mr. Satan, was the world's strongest martial artist.
Could this suddenly appearing 'Setsuna' be even stronger than her father?
Just as everyone was talking, an announcement came over the PA system: the adult division preliminaries were about to begin. Contestants were requested to proceed to the main arena for the drawing.
"Let's go. The tournament is about to start." Goku was the first to jump up, his face full of anticipation. "Maybe we'll get to fight Setsuna soon."
The group headed to the main arena.
Although there were many participants, Goku and the others spotted Setsuna in the main arena almost immediately.
"Hey, Setsuna, you..." Krillin saw Setsuna from afar and greeted him warmly.
But when he saw the two people behind Setsuna, the smile on his face froze.
"E-eighteen?"
Setsuna walked over slowly and responded with a smile, "Everyone, long time no see. Krillin, why do you look so bad? Are you sick?"
"No, I'm fine..." Krillin stammered, "Setsuna, what's the deal with No. 17 and No. 18?"
Setsuna said calmly, "I revived them and had them help me expand territory in space."
"Oh, oh, I see." Krillin nodded repeatedly, a glimmer of hope rekindling in his heart.
But when he saw No. 18's admiring gaze towards Setsuna's back, his expression darkened.
He was bald, short, average in strength, and not wealthy.
Whereas Setsuna was tall, handsome, powerful, and an Emperor of the Universe. How could he compete with that?
Yamcha patted Krillin's shoulder, feeling very sympathetic.
The person who had stolen his romantic interest was only Vegeta, but Krillin's rival was Setsuna.
Putting himself in Krillin's shoes, such an opponent was simply despairing.
As for Goku and Vegeta, two completely straight-laced, unromantic men, they completely failed to notice Krillin's dejection.
They just kept urging everyone to hurry inside for the drawing.
The matchup results were soon announced. The first match was Krillin versus a giant, burly man.
"Shorty, I won't go easy on you just because you're weak. I'll make you realize that the World Martial Arts Tournament isn't a place for someone like..."
Krillin, already feeling dejected, naturally couldn't be bothered to listen to his nonsense. He punched him and sent him flying.
"A melancholy soul-destroying punch." Setsuna watched from the sidelines and chuckled lightly.
The second match was Piccolo versus a mysterious, handsome young man named 'Shin', dressed in strange attire, with a mysterious air and pointed ears.
The two stood in the ring. The mysterious young man stood casually, while Piccolo was completely stiff.
He tried to mobilize his ki, but his body trembled instinctively, and he couldn't even muster any fighting spirit in his heart.
"How is this possible? I'm feeling fear?" Piccolo stared fixedly at the other man. "Who is he?"
Seeing that the two weren't fighting, Yamcha asked doubtfully, "What's wrong with Piccolo? Why isn't he attacking?"
Setsuna watched with emotion. 'The power of Earth's officialdom is truly strong. Piccolo only inherited the position of God, and he's already being suppressed by the divine power of the Supreme Kai to the point where he dare not attack.'
Setsuna had naturally seen long ago that the mysterious young man was the 'counterfeit' Supreme Kai, Shin.
After hesitating for a moment, Piccolo, sweating coldly, said, "I forfeit."
The audience erupted in an uproar.
"This guy is throwing the match!"
"What's going on? How did someone like this get into the finals?"
Setsuna couldn't help but sigh. Although it was his father, Demon King Piccolo, who had forced him to 'flee to Naruto World' back then, Piccolo's current performance was practically as good as being useless.