其之二十九
Chapter 29

亀マークの石さがし
Searching for the Kame-Marked Stone

Story

The sun is on the verge of setting as the Turtle Hermit explains that the boys will have a test before dinner, and the serious training begins tomorrow. He picks up a stone, draws the kame ("turtle") character on it with a pen, and tells the boys to take a good look at it. The Turtle Hermit then throws it over the edge of a nearby cliff, down into a jungle below. Kuririn wonders if this is a stone throwing test, but the Turtle Hermit says that it's instead a test of stone searching. The one who finds that stone first is the winner, while the loser will go without dinner. And they have to hurry, because neither of them will get dinner if they don't find it within 30 minutes. Gokuu and Kuririn quickly dash away.

Gokuu and Kuririn stand over the edge of the cliff. Kuririn worries about how to get down there, while Gokuu nonchalantly dives off towards the jungle below, as he had often done at home. He latches onto a tree branch, but it snaps and he falls to the ground. But Gokuu quickly darts off again, yelling about dinner. Kuririn wonders if Gokuu is even human. He thinks this task is nearly impossible, but suddenly has another idea.

Kuririn picks up a stone and goes to a nearby house to ask for a pen. He draws the kame character on it, and then happily runs off. Meanwhile, Gokuu sniffs around the jungle looking for the old man's scent. Kuririn returns to Kame House, pretending to be exhausted, and shows the Turtle Hermit his stone. The Turtle Hermit looks it over, and then throws it back at Kuririn, scolding that it's not his handwriting.

The day grows even later as Kuririn begins frantically searching the jungle. A saber-toothed tiger suddenly attempts to attack him, but Kuririn just barely dodges, and quickly knocks the tiger out. He then hides behind a tree as a dinosaur walks by. Gokuu excitedly yells out that he's found it, so Kuririn rushes over to him. He asks to see the stone, to check for legitimacy. When Gokuu hands it over, Kuririn darts off with it. Gokuu angrily chases after him. They soon run across a rope bridge, where Kuririn cuts the ropes off when he reaches the other side, causing Gokuu to fall to the ground below.

Even so, Gokuu manages to gain on Kuririn anyway, so Kuririn stops and suggests they fight for it. They have a scuffle, and when the smoke clears, Kuririn has clearly lost. Kuririn says he will concede, but he instead tosses the stone off into the distance, so Gokuu dashes off to find it. However, Kuririn had thrown a fake, for he still has the real one, which he successfully returns to the Turtle Hermit. So, the Turtle Hermit, Lunch, and Kuririn all enjoy some nice fish as Gokuu miserably watches them. But this fish was actually fugu, so everyone but Gokuu falls ill, causing a three day halt in the training.

Continuity

The events of this chapter are depicted in Dragon Ball 16. This episode first aired approximately 12 months after this chapter was first published. Anime-original material includes short scenes of the Turtle Hermit unsuccessfully attempting to grope Lunch.

Cast

• SON Gokuu
• Turtle Hermit
• Kuririn
• Lunch
• Pen Woman
• Sabre-Toothed Tiger

Setting

The events of this chapter take place at the large island where Kame House is temporarily located. Locations on this island shown include Kame House itself, a jungle, a woman's house, and the fields and wilderness between all of them.

This chapter takes place during Age 749, shortly after the events of the previous chapter. A three day time skip then occurs at the very end of the chapter.

Miscellaneous

• This chapter is the first to exhibit Gokuu's enhanced smelling skills, and thus contains yet another allusion to the fact that he may not be human, this time from Kuririn. Kuririn would find out the answer first hand in Chapter 197.