Obviously overpowered, Goku teams up with his archival Piccolo to get his son back. Both attacking at the same time, Goku and Piccolo are still no match for the battle hardened Radditz. Piccolo tells Goku of a new attack he has been working on, one that should be able to defeat Radditz. However, it takes a long time to charge up, so Goku has to face Radditz alone for five minutes. Goku puts up a good fight, but gets socked around quite a bit. Piccolo fires his Makankosappo while Radditz is busy with Goku, but he misses. Gohan, enraged by the pain being done to his father, attacks Radditz and greatly weakens him. Goku manages to get Radditz in a hold, and tells Piccolo to charge his attack again. Piccolo fires the Makankosappo a second time, hitting both Radditz and Goku. They both die in a matter of minutes.

Here the story splits into three, which all come together in a climax at the end of the saga. Before dying, Radditz is told about the DragonBalls and their power to grant any wish. He signals the other two Saiyan jins, Nappa and Vegeta, to come to Earth so that they may take the DragonBalls for themselves. The journey to Earth takes one year, giving the z warriors little time to prepare. Meanwhile in heaven, Goku begins his journey to king Kai, who lives at the end of snake way. It takes him a good nine months, along the way demons and giant snakes attack Goku. When he finally reaches King Kai, Goku learns the Kao-Ken technique, enabling him to multiply his own strength at the sacrifice of his body. The third sub story involves how the other defenders of Earth prepare for the battle. Kuririn, Yamcha, and the others all receive training from Kame. During this time Piccolo teaches Gohan how to use his tremendous hidden powers so that he may assist in the battle.

A year has passed, and the Saiyan jins land in a heavily populated city. After destroying it, they head to battle Piccolo and the others. The earthlings put up a good fight, but unfortunately Goku has not returned yet from his training and is unable to assist them. Seeing how weak their opponents are, the Saiyan jins unleash six Saiba men, each as powerful as Radditz was. They are destroyed fairly easily, but unfortunately Yamcha is killed as one of the aliens self-destructs. Nappa then decides to join the fray, and he easily kills Tien and Chaozu without taking much damage. Kuririn then tells Vegeta to wait for Goku to arrive, as then they would have a fighting chance. They wait for three hours, but no Goku. The battle resumes, when finally Goku gets back to Earth. Seeing that he might be a problem, Vegeta orders Nappa to kill the others before Goku arrives. Piccolo is destroyed, and since he and Kame are linked psychically linked, Kame disappears as well. Kuririn and Gohan are the only survivors when Goku arrives. Extremely angry, Goku defeats Nappa quickly. He then battles Vegeta, who proves to be too weak for Goku. Seeing that he was overpowered, Vegeta transforms himself into an Oozaru. He badly cripples Goku before Yachirobe cuts off his tail, the source of his power. Kuririn and Gohan then fight Vegeta, and using Goku's failed Genki Dama, they manage to beat him.