"So this is Mount Paozu. From the outside, it really does look like a bun."
Naruto sprinted at full speed toward the coordinates Goku had provided. He reached the mountains and deployed a Shadow Clone Army to conduct a carpet search. It didn't take long to find the small, temple-like house where Goku used to live.
This was a paradise far from the city, with picturesque scenery where wild cats, dogs, and dinosaurs could be found with a casual search.
"Found it."
The Shadow Clone rummaged through the woodshed and finally located a spherical object about one meter in diameter.
This was the spaceship Goku had ridden from Planet Vegeta.
It was also the reason Naruto had come here.
After storing the spherical spaceship, Naruto flew toward Piccolo's presence.
--**--**
West City.
"Finally found it." Piccolo stood before the gate of Capsule Corporation and muttered to himself. "I didn't expect the last one to be hidden so deep."
Blocking the Dragon Ball signal was not a foolproof solution. Given the wonders of the Dragon Ball world, Piccolo could find countless methods to locate the final orb, it simply took more time.
He had already slaughtered everyone in a certain desert oasis palace.
"BANG!" Piccolo waved his hand, blasting a huge hole through the sturdy wall.
"Hey, who are you people?" Dr. Briefs lived in a high-end residential area with heavy security.
"Get lost!" Piccolo waved his hand again, and the security guards vanished without a trace.
"These foolish ants, actually trying to block the Great Demon King's path," a short creature resembling a pterodactyl said disdainfully from beside Piccolo.
"Yes, yes, yes!" The Pilaf Gang hastily agreed.
"I have reached my limit," Piccolo said with murderous intent. "If I weren't afraid of damaging the orbs, I would have destroyed this place long ago."
One month was the maximum Demon King Piccolo could wait.
He was born from a Kami's evil thoughts. When the Kami was calm, Piccolo was impatient. When the Kami was kind, Piccolo was evil. When the Kami refused to kill, Piccolo was bloodthirsty, the complete opposite of the Kami.
"Who are you people?" The Briefs couple walked out through the destroyed wall.
"Have you seen any orbs like this?" Piccolo pulled out a Dragon Ball and waved it in front of them.
"No." Dr. Briefs shook his head, then commanded the household robots to repair the wall. "Next time, remember to use the front door."
"Would you like some tea?" Mrs. Briefs asked, lifting the teapot.
The two had nerves of steel, completely unaware that danger was closing in.
"Then you're useless." Piccolo stretched out a hand toward the couple. "Die!"
"Wait!" Bulma rushed from the room. "Let go of my parents, and I'll give you the Dragon Balls."
Bulma was terrified, but she forced the words out.
'I should've known not to bring the Dragon Balls home.'
"The effort wasn't wasted." Piccolo looked satisfied.
Mrs. Briefs: "Ara ara, so they're Bulma's friends."
"Finally. I've finally collected them all." Piccolo took the last Four-Star Dragon Ball from Bulma, spat out the others, and arranged them in a circle.
"Come out, Shenron!"
The clear blue sky vanished, swallowed instantly by dark clouds. The world dimmed.
At Piccolo's call, a green dragon erupted from the Dragon Balls.
He stared at the group with blood-red eyes. "Speak your wish. I can grant any one desire, but only one."
"Finally." Piccolo nearly wept with excitement. The past month of collecting the Dragon Balls had been hell. He had traveled the entire world, and another one of his sons had died in the process.
His journey had also left a trail of horror stories about himself across the globe.
Now, he could finally make his wish.
"I want-"
"Could you make me the strongest warrior in the universe?" An unfamiliar voice cut him off.
"HUH?!!!" Piccolo panicked. He spun toward the sound to find a blonde youth standing beside him.
It was Naruto.
'Goku and the others left first, and I even took a detour to Mount Paozu, yet I still beat them here,' Naruto thought.
It wasn't that Goku and the others were slow, they were simply no match for Naruto's overwhelming speed. From the Lookout to Mount Paozu, and then to West City, he had stayed one step ahead of them.
--**--**
According to the records of Dragon Ball Super, Planet Cereal had a Two-Star Shenron. With only two Dragon Balls, a warrior who could only rival Bardock, with a power level exceeding 10,000, could break through to the level of a God of Destruction-form Vegeta. That cheat was nearly as fast as Frieza reaching Super Saiyan Blue in four months.
Naruto wanted to see if Earth's Shenron could grant a similar wish.
Even if such a wish cost him his lifespan, items that extended life were common in this world. Master Roshi's Immortal Spring alone granted eternal life.
"Unfortunately, that exceeds my abilities."
Earth's Shenron could not fulfill the request.
The tension in Piccolo's chest eased. He relaxed for a heartbeat, then anger flared. He gathered his strength and slapped a blow toward Naruto.
A Destructive Wave of immense power leveled the surrounding buildings.
"Hahaha! This is what happens when you offend the Great Demon King!" Piccolo laughed triumphantly.
"Tch, stupid humans who don't know when to stop," the small dinosaur-like monster chimed in.
The Pilaf Gang huddled together, trembling off to the side.
Piccolo turned back to the dragon. "Shenron, I-"
"Shenron, can I wish for three more wishes that can all be fulfilled?" Naruto interrupted him again.
The green dragon paused. "Unfortunately, that still exceeds my abilities."
"Why are you unharmed?" Piccolo stared at Naruto, his eyes wide. Naruto stood safely in place. Piccolo had used his full strength.
"Besides kicking up some dust, what use is this move?" Naruto replied, then turned back to Shenron.
"Then I want Majin Buu's combat talent, Frieza's growth talent, and the ability of Instant Transmission. Can you grant those?"
Shenron fell into contemplation. This time, the silence lasted longer. "Unfortunately, these wishes exceed my abilities. I cannot grant them."
"Then I want the Saiyan near-death power boost, Zenkai Boost. Can you do that?"
"...Your power already exceeds my abilities, so I cannot do that," Shenron spoke.
Even Naruto felt the dragon sounded embarrassed.
All that boasting, yet he couldn't accomplish a thing.
"Then how dare you claim you can grant any wish? Why act like you are all-powerful dragon who can grant all wishes?! You've been alive for centuries, what have you achieved with your life?! " Naruto didn't forget to twist the knife.
As expected, the Original Shenron had the most limitations. There were barely any wishes it could grant. After all, the Original Shenron was just a plaything of Kami, who hadn't put much effort into it.
With constant updates and upgrades, Shenron's abilities grew. Now, Earth's Shenron couldn't compare to the Shenron of Planet Cereal and its two Dragon Balls. It couldn't even match the original Namekian Shenron, Porunga.
"The last wish. If I wished for an immortal body, would it be truly indestructible, where no one could break through my defense? Or would it just grant me extremely fast regeneration to achieve a form of immortality?"
An indestructible immortal body versus one with high-speed regeneration, those are two completely different concepts.
The former is essentially an invincibility buff, while the latter is barely a weakened version of Majin Buu.
"Rapid regeneration," Shenron said weakly.
If it was just high-speed regeneration, Naruto could achieve that himself with his grandmaster level of Yang Release.
In short, Shenron was nothing but chicken ribs to Naruto.
"Fine, how disappointing..." Naruto patted Piccolo's shoulder. "You make the wish."
Naruto walked over to Bulma's family. "It might get dangerous here soon. Do you need me to take you somewhere safe?"
Bulma nodded rapidly.
It was Piccolo, after all.
However, Dr. Briefs frowned. "I need to feed the pets at home later. It would be troublesome to go somewhere else."
As expected of Dr. Briefs. In the original storyline, when Piccolo was about to destroy West City, everyone fled frantically. He and Mrs. Briefs used this exact excuse to stay behind.
Bulma stared blankly at her father, stunned. 'This is no time to be thinking about pets!'
"Then how about this, I'll take this punk somewhere else." Naruto called out to Piccolo. "Hey, if you're not going to make a wish, let Shenron leave."
"D-damn it, " Piccolo struggled to control his trembling body. "How dare you look down on me!"
The Demon King himself, frightened by a mere human, how humiliating.
'You'll regret this human.'
"I won't regret it. I'll give you a chance for revenge once you've restored your youth."
'Damn, he can read minds.'
"I can't. Your thoughts are written all over your face."
"Shenron!" Seeing that Naruto actually intended to let him make the wish, Piccolo turned quickly. "Restore my youth immediately!"
"This wish is granted," Shenron said with an air of superiority.
Naruto suspected Shenron only knew two phrases: "This wish is granted" and "This wish exceeds my ability."
A bright white light washed over the courtyard. Piccolo restored his youth before everyone's eyes. His withered, shrunken body filled out again.
"I, Great Demon King Piccolo, have returned!"
Shenron was about to leave. Having granted Piccolo's wish to restore his youth, the dragon felt he had lost considerable face after being repeatedly rendered speechless by Naruto's requests.
"Wait," Piccolo called out. "I can't let you leave like this."
He fired a Mouth Blast directly at Shenron. The attack blew the dragon to pieces, and the original Dragon Balls turned to stone.
Watching Shenron disappear, Piccolo looked triumphant. "Now no one in this world can threaten me."
Naruto observed quietly and didn't try to stop him. The Dragon Balls needed to go through their renewal cycle anyways.
===============
Dear Readers and Fans,
For those eager to dive into next chapters earlier before others, I invite you to join us on Patreon. By becoming our Patron, you not only gain access to exclusive advanced chapters but also help us continue this endeavour and expand it further.
pat reo n.co m /8Ashes8
(no space)
You can read upto 30 Chapters in advance.