57: 16 Fighters.

"That guy named Sensui gives me a bad feeling," Goku said, pointing to the fighter named Sensui, who kept a simple, unflappable smile on his face, as if the crowd or his opponent did not affect him in the least. 

"He's a dangerous guy," Bulma replied, sensing the strangeness in Sensui. If this man were anything like the character she remembered, he would undoubtedly show some of his true nature in the next fight. 

"His soul is strange," muttered Chi-Chi, her eyes shining with a whitish glow, she had used a special spell that allowed her to see the strangeness in Sensui's soul. 

She didn't know how to describe it, but she saw something like seven colored stripes in Sensui's soul, each with a different kind of 'temperament', as if they had their personality. 

Chi-Chi's explanation of her findings made Bulma focus more on Sensui, who was slowly walking towards her opponent, named Bane. This silence, this calm, as if nothing else in the world mattered but him, scared Bulma a little. 

She just hoped that this guy's life in this universe was different than his counterpart, because even though she felt much stronger than him, she didn't want to face him. After all, Sensui was a pretty dangerous guy.

...

"Aren't you afraid of me approaching you like this?" asked Bane, and although his body was full of muscles, his gaze was cautious, his eyes shining with intelligence, for he was someone who used brains more than brawn to fight. 

"I am not afraid of anything or anyone," Sensui said, shaking his head, and as he walked, a golden aura full of holiness emanated from him, as if he alone were the purest thing in this world. 

This aura seemed to isolate him from the rest of the world, as if anything outside of him could not bear to taint his essence. This display of power caused Bane to do the same, causing a layer of greenish ki to emanate from his body. 

"You are powerful," Sensui said, stopping ten feet away from Bane and examining his body with morbid curiosity. 

"I climbed Karin's Tower," Bane replied, causing something in Sensui's expression to change for the first time, showing a bit of awe. 

"That is a great achievement," the man said, regaining his composure, at least on the surface. 

But both Bane and the fighters who had witnessed the match noticed that Sensui's muscles had tensed, his eyes were now looking intently at his opponent, and his body had hunched a few degrees, as if he was ready to fight at any moment.

"Me too, I must say I was surprised that Master Karin was a cat, although I always thought he was called Korin, I guess different parts of the world have different ways of calling him," this time, Sensui's words sounded different, without the subtle disdain that was hidden in them, this time, it was obvious that he felt some respect for Bane. 

"True, I also knew him as Korin, until he told me that it wasn't his name that mattered, but what he taught." Bane took a fighting stance, ending the conversation. 

"It seems that the two fighters have met an interesting challenge in the world of martial arts! Please, Muten Roshi, tell us a little more about the legendary Tower of Karin," the moderator said, causing Roshi to cough a little before he spoke. 

"For hundreds of years, there has been a rumor that an Immortal lives at the top of the Karin Tower. To meet him, you must not use any external means or technique; you must climb this great tower with your own hands and feet. 

The tower is so high that it surpasses the clouds, and it is even common for the weather to change and for lightning to strike you, haha, I still remember the first time I climbed it. 

Hunger, cold, sleep, and fatigue will be your enemies to defeat, but if you climb it... You will be worthy to meet the Immortal," Muten Roshi's words made some fighters who had not climbed the tower feel interested. 

Even Lapis and Lazuli were interested, who wouldn't want to be taught by someone who held the title of 'Immortal'? Thus, many people watched the battle between Sensui and Bane with great attention. 

Bane's moves were based more on boxing and grappling styles, and he constantly displayed all of his power, even contributing to the cracking of the new arena. 

On the other hand, Sensui's style was based entirely on kicks, his movements fluid, fast, and precise. It was as if the man was performing a one-man show. 

Their fight was quite intense, and neither of them came out unscathed. If Sensui kicked Bane, Bane could return with a strong punch or a hard throw to the ground. If one of them used Ki, the other would respond in kind.

They gave it their all! But gradually, it became apparent that Sensui's golden aura was more than just something to show off or a common enhancer, especially when that layer of energy gradually solidified into a battle armor that increased Sensui's strength. 

With this augmentation, Sensui was able to quickly knock Bane out of the arena, demonstrating his superior strength to Bane, but once he had won, he climbed down from the arena to help Bane to his feet. 

"That was a good fight, I rarely have a match like that," Sensui said as he easily lifted Bane to his feet and, looking at the wounds on his opponent's body, gently touched his body. 

Sensui's golden energy flowed into Bane's body and helped him recover from the wounds, which included several broken bones, torn muscles, and even a black eye. 

"I guess thanks," Bane shook his body, realizing that even though he wasn't completely healed, everything was fine and he just needed to rest for a while before he would be back to 100%. 

"You're welcome, I look forward to fighting you another day," Sensui said, regaining the smile he had started the fight with, and before he went to his seat, he looked into the distance, directly into Bulma's blue eyes.

They didn't need to communicate, but both could see the desire to fight in each other, so they hoped to see each other very soon in the arena tonight. As he returned to his seat, he looked with interest at the arena, where a young man had just arrived. 

He was a boy wearing a half-cap that accentuated his thick black hair at the back of his neck. He wore what seemed to be a rather tailored black school uniform, but Sensui sensed something else about the man. 

It was as if he could crush anything with his fists. When he saw his name on the screen, he learned his name, Jotaro Kujo, and engraved it in his mind, wanting to fight this guy in the future as well. 

...

"Looks like Earth has some interesting things going on again. A Young Saiyan seems pretty calm and not so wild, that's good. A girl who looks like a dimensional creature, a human with some divine Ki, maybe from birth.

Hmm? Looks like a demon has appeared in past battles, how interesting to see one of those guys here! Also, that guy who just appeared can materialize his soul, Hoho! I can feel the breath of time on him... looks like I'm going to have to wander around this planet. 

Will another physical monster like Ayla appear? I miss her so much!" said Whis, who watched the fights, never thinking that Earth would still show its special side after all this time. 

So Whis stayed to watch the rest of the fights; for example, although young Jotaro didn't seem to be able to use the latent power in him, he was able to strike with incredible speed using his materialized soul. 

Not only that, Whis watched with interest a young Triclop fight quite well, a monk who seemed to be all-encompassing when fighting, a man who somewhat foolishly called himself Luci-Fer, using only his physical and Ki knowledge, but especially his overflowing luck that made his opponent miss all his hits or suffer silly accidents like choking on his saliva. 

He saw two twins who barely won but showed great growth in their fights, an old man who could darken his fists and hit hard while laughing like mad, and a king who demonstrated his unbeatable presence.

And finally, a man who looked more demonic than the demons themselves, with a horrible grin on his face, as well as the angry 'expression' shown by the muscles in his back.

For Whis, who usually had no interest in these cosmic battles with huge ki explosions or planets being destroyed with a single finger, he was genuinely excited to see these mortals fighting. 

All because of how diverse and creative they were, the latter being the most important, creativity! To Whis, the Earthlings were quite creative in their techniques and knowledge, despite not having tens of thousands of power points, they could do far more wonderful things with their meager energy. 

In comparison, when Whis looked at the fights of other life forms in the universe that used Ki, he saw the same old energy attacks, just with the same names, with hardly any special effects. 

If anything, he saw some people using ki swords, but nothing special about how they worked. He did find a guy from Freezer's forces who was able to stop time, but he used that ability in the stupidest way possible, which made the Angel lose interest. 

"No, it looks like I'll have to see these 16 fighters in person," Whis said before looking over to where Beerus was sleeping and realizing that his master would not wake up for several years, an excited expression appeared on the Angel's face. 

"Good! Let's fly to Earth before the battles for the top 8 places begin," Whis said before his figure was enveloped in a multicolored aura and flew directly to the planet Earth at a speed that exceeded the speed of light.

...

"We made it to the Top 16! The fights of the first half of the night were quite intense and interesting, right? In case you forgot, here is an updated list of the participants!" the announcer pointed to the biggest screen in the stadium, which showed the names and pictures of the 16 fighters.

They are Goku, Yamcha, Bulma, Brief, Krillin, Chi-Chi, Ten Shinhan, Toguro, Nam, King Chapa, Lapis, Lazuli, Monkey D. Garp, Shinobu Sensui, Jotaro Kujo, Yujiro Hanma, and Luci-Fer. These names were then rearranged to show who would be fighting whom. 

Son Goku vs. Nam. Yamcha vs. Ten Shinhan. Bulma Brief vs. Shinobu Sensui. King Chapa vs. Luci-Fer. Lapis vs. Krillin. Lazuli vs. Chi-Chi. Toguro vs. Yujiro Hanma. Jotaro Kujo vs. Monkey D. Garp.

"We'll give you 30 minutes to rest, in the meantime, why don't we enjoy a little performance by our guest star Ai Hoshino, who will delight us with her beautiful voice," the host announced, and soon a young girl with purple hair, stars in her eyes, and a big smile, ready to sing, came on stage. 

Meanwhile, a being arrived on Earth, alerting King Kai, who was enjoying the show. But when he realized that it was only one of them, the quieter part of the duo, he calmed down. 

"But... What could have attracted the attention of the Angel of this Universe to Earth? Could it be the tournament?" muttered King Kai somewhat nervously, and his words were heard by Kami-Sama, who turned pale despite his green skin. 

"Master! Are you talking about the angel that always accompanies the so-called God of Destruction? Could it be that they want to destroy the Earth? Bulma and the others must be warned!" cried Kami-Sama with fear in his voice. 

"Don't be afraid, he didn't come with Beerus, the current God of Destruction, but if there is any caution to be taken, I will request communication with this being to know its intentions," said King Kai, and soon his antennae began to move, trying to communicate with the Angel Whis. 

It wasn't even the final of the tournament, but things were getting interesting