Water and Cheesecake

A Quiet Fighter With a Heavy Burden

With Yamcha still reeling from his loss, Goku marvels that anyone could dismantle the wolf-fist fighter so easily, while Krillin is already dreading his own turn across the ring from Jackie Chun. Walking off the stage, Yamcha offers a sporting handshake, and Jackie tells him kindly that youth is on his side and the rest will follow. Yamcha starts to point out how uncannily Chun resembles Master Roshi, but the announcer cuts him off to introduce the next pair of combatants, Nam and Ranfan.

On the platform, Jackie jokes to Nam that he had hoped to be the one sparring with the pretty Ranfan. Nam does not so much as blink. The old master finds this focus strange for a festival bout and, reading Nam's mind, sees that the desert fighter is here to win the prize money and carry clean water back to his drought-ravaged village.

Honor Against Distraction

The match opens with Ranfan winking at her opponent before springing into an aerial kick and following with a sharp strike to the back of his skull. Both blows land. Furious, Nam surges forward to retaliate, but Ranfan suddenly shrieks in mock pain, and his conditioned sense of chivalry forces him to check the strike into the lightest of taps. She collapses, wailing that he has wounded her, and while he stammers apologies she pounces again. Declaring that he will no longer treat her as a woman, Nam resets his stance.

Closing His Eyes

The declaration collapses almost instantly. Dodging his next swing, Ranfan strips off her top and pants and walks toward the stunned warrior with a practiced smile. Jackie Chun is delighted, a reaction that confirms to Yamcha once and for all that this mystery fighter is Master Roshi in disguise. Backed to the edge of the ring, Nam snaps his eyes shut, letting pure instinct guide his body as he slips Ranfan's attack and lands a clean chop to the back of her neck. She crumples unconscious. The chapter closes with Jackie Chun leaning attentively over her to, he insists, assess her injuries.