Commander Red Saga

The Commander Red Saga, is the fifth saga from Dragon Ball. It occurs after the General Blue Saga and precedes the Fortuneteller Baba Saga. The manga volume that it is made up of is "Taopaipai & Master Karin". It shows us the epic battles between Goku and Mercenary Tao, Goku's quest for finding the Sacred Water, and the final battle between Goku and the Red Ribbon Army. The character Upa is also introduced.

Plot
The saga begins with a scene of some Red Ribbon soldiers searching for a Dragon Ball that is currently inside a volcano in the Sacred Land of Korin. The volcano explodes and sends the Dragon Ball (the Four-Star ball) into the camp of the land's protectors. Living here is Upa and his father Bora.

The Red Ribbon Army follows the ball into the camp and demands it be handed over. Upa's father proceeds to eliminate them and the last remaining soldier (Captain Yellow) radios back to the Headquarters. Commander Red hollers at him and he comes back. In desperation, he abducts Upa as a ransom for the ball, but he does not count on Goku showing up. Goku beats him and rescues Upa. As a token of thanks, Goku is given the Four-Star ball, his Grandpa Gohan's Dragon Ball.

At the same time, General Blue is returning to the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters, while Commander Red is in the process of hiring Mercenary Tao. General Blue walks in on them and seeing him Dragon Ball-less, Red makes him fight Mercenary Tao to redeem himself (and see if it is really Mercenary Tao, not some imposter). The fight is quick, with none of Blue's attacks having any effect, even his paralyzing technique. It ends with Tao using his tongue to strike Blue's temple and kill him. Satisfied, Commander Red hires him to kill Goku and retrieve the Dragon Balls. Mercenary Tao then cuts out a piece of a column and uses it as a ride to the Land of Korin.

We then see a short segment with Colonel Violet, the only female high-ranking officer in the Red Ribbon Army. She retrieves a ball for a reward and that is about it. During this, Bulma builds a flying camera to follow Goku, when she learns that he is going straight after the Red Ribbon Army. Worried about him, Bulma makes a phone from Turtle's advice and calls Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong. Yamcha arrives by plane and takes the rest of the crew to save Goku. However, Bulma is still mad at Yamcha for what happened earlier with Hasky.

Staff Officer Black (who was not killed by the ceiling) comes back and kills Commander Red, angry over being fooled. The still-alive Goku also appears and defeats Staff Officer Black, who even after using a special robot suit could not win.Goku collects the two Dragon Balls and starts to leave when Bulma and crew show up. They are amazed at his ability and happy he is safe. The problem though is that the Dragon Radar is not picking up the last Dragon Ball. The gang then return to Kame House, where Bulma would hopefully fix it.

Major characters

 * Goku
 * Mercenary Tao
 * Staff Officer Black
 * Commander Red
 * Bora
 * Upa


 * Korin

Supporting characters

 * Captain Yellow
 * General Blue
 * Yamcha
 * Bulma
 * Krillin
 * Oolong
 * Puar
 * Launch
 * Colonel Violet
 * Sea Turtle
 * Master Roshi