Dragon Ball Roshi

What would a martial artist do when encountering bandits or raiders who invade peaceful towns and harm innocent civilians?

No need to think about it.

As dusk fell, two shadows "whooshed" through the air, sweeping across the ground like drifting leaves, heading toward the nearby small town.

The town chief of Pomegranate Town knelt on the ground, trembling uncontrollably in fear as he looked up at the figure sitting on horseback before him…

"What are you staring at, old man?!" The bandit leader, with a long scar on his face, glared fiercely at the town chief kneeling in front of him.

His glare nearly scared the soul out of the small town chief.

The old, weak, women, and children kneeling behind the chief fell completely silent, not daring to take a single breath. The young men of the town had all joined the army when King Piccolo wreaked havoc on the world... they were probably all dead by now.

The bandit leader drew his long knife, dragging the blade across his pants intentionally, and coldly snorted.

"You folks are just unlucky to run into us today! Hurry up! Hand over all your money and supplies! And…"

"Actually, it's us who are unlucky to end up here…" One of the bandits behind the leader, sitting on a horse, muttered quietly.

The bandit leader immediately turned around and shot a glare at the fat bandit in the group.

"Shut your mouth! You idiot!"

The idiot bandit wasn't pleased, saying:

"Well, it's true! If we hadn't run into that dangerous assassin, we wouldn't have taken a detour to this poor little town. That…" He wanted to continue, but when he saw the increasingly unfriendly look from the leader and noticed his comrades on horseback giving him frantic warning glances, he quickly shut his mouth.

The bandit leader, feeling frustrated, continued his threatening speech, his face twisted with malice as he said:

"And… looking at your village, there aren't many strong men, but plenty of girls and women! Twenty girls, they'll be ours!"

The townspeople kneeling on the ground were thrown into a panic.

"No! Sir!" The old town chief suddenly became desperate, but before he could say another word, a cold, sharp steel knife was pressed to his throat.

The bandit leader sneered.

"Say one more word… and I'll use this knife."

"N-No, this…" The old town chief's lips trembled.

The bandit leader's eyes flashed with a cold glint as he bared his teeth in a vicious grin. He removed the knife from the chief's throat and then… swung it down with force!

Whoosh!

A gust of wind blew past the bandit leader, and then he realized that his knife wouldn't drop… A person, who appeared out of nowhere, stood in front of his steel knife, gripping the blade with both hands and firmly pressing it down between his palms.

"Damn, is this guy also a martial artist!?" The bandit leader looked at the young man, Taro, looked to be in his 20, with a cold gaze, but he instantly felt his hands go weak.

It was truly frustrating. Their plan for today was to rob a wealthier town on the other side of the forest. But they accidentally ran into a super master in the woods…

As for why he immediately knew the person was a super master and turned to run… well, if you meet someone with the big character "杀" (kill) on their clothes, and they're standing still while your gang has already lost seven men, would you run? Wouldn't you think he's a master?

And now, he just wanted to kill someone, and there's a master here to stop him?

"I'll give you ten seconds to leave this town." Mu Taro, in his past life in the ninja world, while not entirely heartless, had killed many people. The killing intent and murderous energy accumulated in his mind…

It was terrifying. This person was terrifying. The bandit leader knew he was finished.

The horses beneath the bandits sensed the cold aura emanating from Wu Tian and began to grow uneasy, nervously shifting their hooves.

Taro pressed the steel knife with both palms, and suddenly, with a twist of his waist, the force surged through his arms and fingers. His palms twisted the blade as if they were crumpling paper.

Crack! The steel knife was actually snapped in half by his bare hands!

The bandit leader's eyes widened, and then he saw Taro's palms turn into a blur. Crack, crack, crack, crack! In rapid succession, five sharp sounds rang out, and the remaining half of the steel knife was shattered into pieces, falling to the ground.

Only the hilt was left.

:Still not leaving?" Taro raised his hand in annoyance.

"Run!" One of the foolish bandits, the fat guy, yelled and turned his horse around to retreat, but when he looked back, he saw someone walking toward them from the direction of the town entrance.

The person had the same attire as the one who had just broken the steel blade, carrying a bundle on their back and holding a ball-like package in hand.

Tsuru's face was full of "Don't mess with me," as he walked calmly into the town, allowing the bandits to ride past him without a word.

Taro smiled and said:

"I thought you would've killed them all right there."

Tsuru grunted and glanced at the town people who had gotten up, now watching them with fear. He said bluntly:

"Wait a moment, I'll go to the forest and take care of those guys. Consider it the price for our meal and lodging expenses, how about it?"

The old town chief looked back at the fearful eyes of the people behind him, swallowed nervously, and said cautiously

"What do you gentlemen want...?"

"No need to worry, old man. We're disciples of the Great Master of Mutaito Mountain from the east." Taro smiled.

"Disciples of the Great Master Mutaito..." The town chief's eyes lit up.

"Hmph, moving on." Tsuru tossed the bundle and bag to Taro, then turned and strode toward the black forest.

"They're a lot of people..." Someone in the crowd said worriedly.

Taro, holding the rice cooker package in one hand and Tsuru's bag in the other, with his own bag still on his back, smiled and said:

"Just a group of rabble, not a real threat."

When Master Mutaito taught them martial arts on the mountain, he often sent his disciples down the mountain to punish evil and promote good, so, killing bandits... it wasn't unfamiliar. But, out of all the disciples, only he and Tsuru were capable of taking on a group of bandits alone.

※※※※※※

Tsuru remembered the direction the bandits had fled in, and after applying force with his feet, he quickly found the trail of hoofprints in the woods.

But soon, it wasn't just hoofprints.

There was blood.

Tsuru stopped, the smell of blood filled his nose. He frowned and hid behind a large tree, peeking around, then moved forward again, hiding behind another tree.

Soon, he found the bodies.

They were the bandits from earlier.

Their throats were crushed... their left chests pierced... there were blood holes in their temples...

Tsuru frowned, realizing these bandits had encountered a powerful expert. An expert who killed with a single strike, without needing a second attack, and who was ruthless... highly efficient in killing.

Bang.

The bandit leader collapsed to the ground, his consciousness fading. Before he lost all awareness, he seemed to hear the super killer say.

"Since you ran, why did you come back?"

"We didn't know, old man, that you had changed direction!" He yelled in his mind, but darkness consumed his consciousness. Suddenly, he remembered, before the demon king appeared, he used to work diligently in the fields back in his hometown... he wanted to eat the pancakes his mother made...

Tao Sura stood in place, raising an eyebrow, seemingly talking to himself:

"Oh? There's a survivor…" He turned, revealing the large "kill" symbol on his left chest, and saw a young man with a blank expression staring at him.

"You're so young, yet have such strength. Really..." Tao Sura shook his head, sighing. "It makes me want to kill you even more."