Dragon Ball: My Earthly Rebirth

 It must be said that Goku's fighting talent is indeed very high. Although he is somewhat weaker than John, his combat skills and instincts honed from a young age have allowed him to bridge the gap in strength between himself and John.

 At this moment, both fighters had bruises on their bodies and faces, marks left by their battle.

 John and Goku stood up from the ground again, with John saying, "Goku, you're really strong. Now I'm going to use my special move, but I don't know if I can beat you because I've never fought anyone with it before."

 Hearing that John had a special move, Goku's face lit up with excitement as he shouted, "Come on, John! Let me see what your special move is!"

 John took a slow breath, gradually calming his mind and adjusting his mental state to a tranquil level.

 As he lowered his arms slowly, all external distractions vanished in John's mind; it felt as if only he and Goku existed in the entire world.

 Meanwhile, to everyone else—especially Master Roshi, Goku, Yamcha, and Krillin—John seemed to disappear from their perception; although they could see him with their eyes, it felt like his presence had faded.

 No, it shouldn't be called a disappearance; more accurately, John's aura now resembled that of a stone or a clear spring—he had an aura but no fluctuations.

 Without any aura fluctuations, it became impossible to sense John's intentions for attack, effectively blinding the martial artists' perception.

 Typically in combat, a martial artist relies on two forms of sight: one is their physical eyes to see the opponent's techniques, while the other is their ability to sense the opponent's aura. This second form of sight is often more crucial—especially when an opponent attempts a sneak attack—because without aura fluctuations, one cannot detect an incoming ambush.

 Goku was puzzled as he could not sense John's aura within his own perception.

 However, this didn't stump Goku; since he couldn't sense it, he decided to just use his eyes. He launched a probing attack with a punch aimed at John.

 But Goku did not anticipate that John would simply sidestep his attack with perfect timing—just as Goku exerted his full strength.

 After dodging Goku's strike, John launched a powerful blow directly into Goku's abdomen.

 The immense force caused Goku great pain; after stumbling a few steps while clutching his stomach in agony, he ultimately collapsed onto the stage.

 Following John's cue, the host began the countdown.

 "How could it be that just moments ago they were evenly matched yet suddenly Goku can't even withstand one of John's strikes?" Krillin asked from the audience.

 Master Roshi, disguised as Jackie Chun nearby, explained: "That's because John seized the opportunity perfectly."

 "When Goku attacked just now, John's timing for evasion was impeccable. If he had been even slightly earlier, Goku could have changed tactics immediately; if he had been even slightly later in dodging, he would have fallen into a passive defense."

 "But John captured that fleeting moment when Goku had exhausted his initial strength and hadn't yet recovered. He dodged Goku's attack and swiftly countered to defeat him."

 Just then the host finished counting down and announced that John was the victor of this match.

 Master Roshi continued: "In terms of true power, the difference between them isn't that significant; John is just slightly ahead. Normally speaking, it would take hundreds of exchanges for them to determine a winner."

 "But unfortunately for you all in martial arts philosophy, this kid has moved ahead of all of you; he has begun to comprehend the realm of instinctual action."

 "Instinctual action?!" Krillin and Yamcha looked at Master Roshi in confusion, unsure of what that meant.

 Master Roshi explained: "It means executing attacks without conscious thought—completely relying on your body's muscle memory."

 "Isn't that just reflexes and instincts?" Yamcha interjected first.

 Master Roshi pondered for a moment before responding: "You can understand it like that for now; once you reach this level yourself in the future, you'll know what I mean."

 It was clear from Master Roshi's words that while instinctual action and its external manifestations might appear similar to reflexes, their internal essence was different.

 Krillin and Yamcha stopped asking questions as they struggled to grasp what Master Roshi was saying—it exceeded their understanding.

 At this point, Goku had regained consciousness and eagerly looked at John asking: "John! What technique did you just use to defeat me? Teach me!"

 John shook his head and replied: "This isn't a special move; it's a martial arts concept that you need to develop and experience on your own—I can't teach it."

 Goku's face fell with disappointment. His interest in martial arts had always been strong; upon learning there were techniques he didn't know about, he became eager to learn them. Thus when John said he couldn't teach him this technique, Goku showed deep disappointment.

 Watching his two disciples step down from the stage, Master Roshi approached John and said: "You're impressive; I didn't expect you to reach this level."

 John knew that standing before him was Master Roshi himself; thus he respectfully replied: "Senior, I haven't done enough yet. I'm still only at the very basic level of instinctual action—I've only taken a small step into it."

 Master Roshi was extremely satisfied with John's performance and nodded: "Alright then. Take some time to rest; soon we will hold our final match."

 In truth, as John mentioned earlier, his grasp of instinctual action hadn't even crossed its threshold yet.

 Before executing it properly required calming himself down first; if not for Goku's naivety during their match when John was adjusting his emotions—if Goku had attacked then—John wouldn't have won so easily.

 Furthermore, John's victory came at a cost; during those few movements earlier his body hadn't fully coordinated resulting in slight muscle strains.

 He decided that while training in the future he could utilize this technique but during actual combat unless necessary or if he had senzu beans on hand—he would avoid using it because once exhausted he'd become an easy target for others.

 It was somewhat regrettable that in the upcoming finals he might end up losing; such were John's thoughts.