"...Ouch! What's wrong with you! You could've really hurt Chichi! Didn't anyone tell you two it's not nice to ambush people out of nowhere!" Kakarot shouted angrily at a nearby bush, springing to his feet, unhurt aside from two holes burnt into his gi, one under his armpit and one square in the middle of his back.
Based on the angle, a careful observer would be able to easily tell that the ones who'd shot those beams had both been aiming at differing targets. One for Kakarot, one for Chichi.
Kakarot had no way of knowing that for certain, but he was more than smart enough to determine that those blasts would've pierced straight through 99.99% of people. Even Grandpa Gohan would have been seriously injured.
This wasn't just an attack, it was an attempted murder.
Even then, he would've been able to forgive it if he'd been the only target. He was holding a giant boar monster back with one hand. It was clear that he was a martial artist capable of taking care of himself.
It was a common acknowledgement among high level martial artists that dirty tricks and ambush tactics were perfectly valid, because at that point, it was your fault for falling for it. But Chichi, despite being a lot stronger than almost any adult, was not at that level.
She had a small amount of training, and she had good instincts, but by Kakarot's standards, she wasn't a martial artist of any kind yet. Definitely not a high-level one.
Targeting anywhere near her with that attack was the same as targeting a normal 13-year-old girl with something far and away more dangerous than any gun.
"Not nice? Naive kid." The attackers stepped out of the bushes. The one that spoke was a tall, broad-shouldered young man with a third eye on his forehead. At his side, around a third of his height, was a boy with pale, white skin and a black cap on his head.
"You shouldn't have laid a hand on Inoshikacho, kid. Now, you're gonna get it." The little one agreed with the big one. He looked like a doll, sounded like a child, and spoke like a mafia boss.
"You're calling us kids?" Chichi wondered, "You look younger than us!"
"I'm older than I look!" The boy snapped back defensively.
"Then you're old enough to know that nobody should ever attack an innocent person! Apologize to Chichi, and Miss Lady!" Kakarot demanded.
"Stupid kid, don't you know that every rule has an exception?" The bigger guy told him smugly, "In this case, I guess you three were just at the wrong place, wrong time. You're all gonna have to die. Sorry, but we can't let it get out that the monster here works for the hunters."
As the big guy patted the side of the pig-monster that'd gone over to hide behind the two as soon as Kakarot's finger had left its snout, everything came together in Chichi's head.
"That's your pet! And you made it Miss Lady!" She realized.
"I have a name. Its-"
Tien cut the old lady off, "Even the strongest in the world need to eat once in a while, you know. Just attack a few helpless old ladies, trample a field or two, and the village pays us handsomely to remove the 'beast'. Nothing personal, but it's a good arrangement. A couple of kids aren't going to get in our way."
Kakarot frowned, "So you're just bandits preying on helpless people, then. My master told me that the Crane Hermit was close to an assassin, but I didn't realize that the entire Crane school was just a bunch of common thugs."
"Your master…!" The bigger guy's eyes narrowed.
"You take that back! Tien Shinhan is the greatest martial artist that the Crane School has ever known! You don't know anything-!"
"Chiaotzu." Tien stopped his partner with a hand, looking Kakarot up and down once more. The fact that the boy was still alive and standing tall as if nothing had happened after taking twosimultaneous Dodon Rays from behind. The fighting stance that seemed to have no visible weaknesses, and the insignia on the boy's orange gi. "You're a student of the Turtle School, aren't you?" He realized.
Kakarot shuffled his feet, adjusting his posture a bit. "Hm."
Tien's lips rose into an evil smirk. "Killing you will be fun, then. Chiaotzu, keep an eye on the other two. Don't let them leave."
"What about her, Tien?"
"-Who-?!" Everyone's gaze followed Chiaotzu's pointing simultaneously. Sure enough, floating casually in the air, was a young person in exceptionally plain clothes, with a completely blank expression on their face.
"Wait, who are you?" Chichi asked, confused.
"None of your concern. Do not worry, I have not been ordered to interfere with your battle. Please continue." The floating being explained in a monotone-ish voice, before ducking down into the treeline, out of sight.
Nobody was tricked, though. Even though even Kakarot had no idea where the person in question was, they all knew that they were still watching.
Tien clicked his tongue, recognizing the reportedly Crane School-monopolized Sky Dancing art instantly.
He didn't like this. Too many witnesses, including the one that he'd lost track of, who clearly did NOT actually belong to the Crane School. The chances of word getting around were going up. That'd make getting villages around this region to pay them much more difficult. Plus, though he did agree with his master that there wasn't any point in avoiding murder, since it was the right of the strong to trample on the weak, the main reason that Tien hadn't gone the route of becoming an assassin for hire like his idol, Mercenary Tao, was because he disliked dropping bodies.
Especially young, strong people with long lives ahead of them. Even if it was his right, it felt like the ultimate sin.
The only reason he'd even allowed Inoshikacho to target the old lady in front of them was because he'd recently learned that she was already dying. Some incurable sickness that came up with old age. She had weeks, if not days.
"...I've changed my mind. Chiaotzu, Inoshikacho. Let's go." Tien decided, "Congratulations, kid. You get to live to see another day. I don't like to kill with witnesses."
He and his group turned to leave, but Kakarot suddenly appeared in front of them. "No way. Apologize."
Tien scoffed, but inwardly, his brain was quietly refusing to process what he'd seen… or rather, the movements that he hadn't seen. Even his third eye had simply glitched past Kakarot's movements. "Don't push me, kid."
"You tried to hurt people. You apologize." Kakarot repeated, "Or I'll make you."
"...Fine. Sorry. Goodbye." Three clipped words, and the three-eyed man vanished into the trees with his companions in tow.