A Drink of Water

Afterimages and Thin Air

Goku refuses to spend three years at the top of the tower and decides to get serious. Springing around the chamber, he leaves afterimages behind, and Karin immediately recognizes the Zanzoken technique. The hermit counters it just as fast, leaping into empty air while Goku smashes into the floor. Gasping, the boy realizes the thin mountain air has already drained him, and Karin points out that simply climbing the tower has made him considerably stronger than when he arrived.

A Test of Honesty

To push him further, Karin snatches up the pouch holding the Four-Star Ball and hurls it off the platform. Terrified that the Red Ribbon Army might find it, Goku dashes down the entire tower, retrieves the ball, and rockets back up. Karin notes with satisfaction that the round trip, which took an entire day during his first climb, now takes only three hours. The chase stretches into the evening, and both finally sleep. Goku wakes before dawn and considers grabbing the jar while the cat is unconscious, then decides it would be wrong and walks away. Karin smiles to himself, noting this boy is far more honest than Roshi ever was.

The Secret of the Sacred Water

The next day Goku presses the attack with fresh determination. When he scrambles close to the railing, he suddenly starts tickling the hermit in midair. Karin loses his grip, and the staff and jar tumble over the edge. Goku leaps after them and catches everything with his tail hooked around the railing. Karin nods his permission, and Goku gulps the water down. Nothing happens. The cat reveals the truth, the so-called Super Holy Water is just ordinary water. Real strength came from climbing, chasing, and training. He sends Goku back down to test his new power and silently acknowledges that the boy has now surpassed Master Roshi himself.