Freeza's henchmen amuse themselves by pushing the Namekians around a bit. As Gohan and Kuririn wonder what the raiding party intends to do with the Namekians, Kuririn remembers how Raditz said he and his partners sought out handsome planets, eliminated the inhabitants thereof, and sold the planets to others. The party must be in league with Vegeta, although they don't see him anywhere.

     The head Namekian notices the Dragonballs under Dodoria and Zarbon's arms. Freeza introduces himself, saying he has come to receive the village's Dragonball. He asks where the other villagers are — there should be ten in all. Not receiving an answer, he threatens to kill them, making the children cower in fear.

     In space, Goku is on his 6590th 20g-sit-up, when he comments on how tough the gravity is. However, he has to re-train his body from the beginning if he is to increase the multiple of the Kaio-ken technique he can endure.

     Freeza again presses for an answer. The head Namekian replies, but in their native language. Freeza asks that he speak in a language he can understand, and the Namekian says that the others are busy working in the fields. Freeza praises him for his cooperation, assuring him that there is no reason for anyone to get hurt. Freeza then asks where their Dragonball is. The head Namekian denies having one, or indeed even knowing what they are. At Freeza's prompting, Dodoria recalls how one of the earlier Namekians they met said that the Dragonballs were only available to those who could pass a test of worthiness. Freeza said he was uncooperative, and killed one of the Namekians to demonstrate how serious he was. The Namekian told Freeza that seven Dragonballs were created by the Grand Elder of Namek, who entrusted them to seven Elders for safekeeping. If one were to visit each of the seven elders and pass their tests of wisdom and strength, they would be given permission to use the Dragonballs to grant their wish. Freeza offered to take the tests, but the Namekian said under no circumstances would he give Freeza his ball. Freeza killed him, and found the Dragonball on his own. The next three were given over much more easily, and now he is here for the fifth. Vegeta overhears this exchange on his Scouter, learning how Freeza had collected the first four so quickly. The head Namekian, obviously this village's Elder, said the other three Elders would never surrender their Dragonballs easily. Freeza says once they were killed, they did not offer any resistance to Freeza taking the Dragonballs, and orders Zarbon to demonstrate.

     Zarbon leaps into action, killing the other two elderly Namekians without breaking a sweat. Kuririn and Gohan can only watch from the cliff overlooking the village. Gohan starts to cringe at the injustice, and Kuririn has to remind him to conceal his Ki, that they are no match for these guys.

     Freeza offers the Elder another chance to turn over his Dragonball. The Elder asks Freeza what his purpose is in gathering them. Freeza says he is after eternal life for himself. Kuririn remarks that that is the same wish Vegeta is after, making Gohan suspect that Freeza and Vegeta aren't working together after all. The Elder says he'll die before turning over his Dragonball, and Freeza threatens to kill the children clinging to the Elder's robes. Gohan cannot control his building anger, and Dodoria's Scouter registers his rising Ki. Gohan and Kuririn quickly hide again, but this time Dodoria is sure he has picked up a strong battle power reading. Looking around, he discovers three adult Namekians racing back to the village!

     The three adult Namekians arrive and see the bodies of the two older villagers. They curse Freeza and his men for disturbing Namek's peace and stealing the Dragonballs. The Elder warns them to be careful, that their opponents are stronger than they may appear, and Freeza has Dodoria check their battle power readings with his Scouter. It shows that the three of them each have a level around 1000, and the other soldiers laugh. The Elder realizes that Freeza's men must rely on the machines over their faces to locate the energy radiated by living things — that is how they located the villages so quickly on such a sparsely populated planet.

     Goku completes his 10,000th sit-up when his stomach growls. Crawling over to a window, he looks out, thinking about the news of a warrior even stronger than Vegeta. Returning to his work-out, he begins to run (stomp, actually) laps around the ship.

     One of Freeza's men mocks the three Namekian defenders over their relatively low power readings. Kuririn realizes they are only masking their real powers, and is surprised that none of Freeza's men understand that. Gohan remembers how the Saiyans were caught off-guard when they discovered this ability on Earth. As the grunts attack, the Namekians power up and manage to defeat the majority of their attackers! According to Dodoria's Scouter, each of them now has a reading topping 3,000. Both Kuririn & Gohan and the Namekian children cheer them on from their respective positions. Dodoria concludes that Namekians are one of a rare species that is able to control their battle powers.

     As the dust begins to settle, the Elder counts up the remaining Scouters — including Dodoria's, there are only three that are undamaged. Freeza orders Dodoria to join the fight, and gives permission to take out all three defenders. The Elder zaps Dodoria's Scouter with a blast from his finger, destroying it! Dodoria chastises the Elder for thinking he could defeat him with such a minor attack. The Elder leaps up into the air, drawing everyone's attention. With twin finger-blasts, he destroys the remaining two Scouters, which Zarbon realizes were the real targets of his attack! Kuririn adds it all up — They can't locate the Dragonballs with their Scouters, they can only trace readings from other life forms; that is how they have been finding the villages where the Dragonballs are located; without the Scouters, they can't locate the other two Dragonballs; the Elder knew that, which is why he destroyed the remaining Scouters! Dodoria becomes furious at this realization, and takes off after the defenseless Elder.