Fused Zamasu extended his right hand, and a scarlet spiral opened beside him like a twisting portal.
Goku and Vegeta both stared at it, unsure what he had just created.
"What the hell is that?" Vegeta asked.
"No idea. Fuwa never taught me anything like this."
Zamasu plunged his fist into the spiral.
Another crimson vortex opened beside Goku.
A fist burst through it and smashed into his face before he could react, knocking him flat.
Vegeta had barely turned toward him when Zamasu's mocking voice reached his ears.
"You still have time to worry about someone else?"
A third vortex opened beside Vegeta, and a kick shot through it directly into his face. He joined Goku on the ground a moment later.
Fused Zamasu looked down on both Saiyans with contempt.
"Perhaps now you'll understand just how foolish your resistance is."
Piccolo had seen enough. Goku and Vegeta were exhausted, their fusion had failed, and Fused Zamasu was beginning to overwhelm them with techniques neither could properly read.
"At this rate, he'll kill both of them."
"Then we should help," Gohan said.
"You and Trunks stay here. Kale and I will go."
Piccolo's body swelled as orange power surged through him, transforming him into Orange Piccolo.
Future Trunks had never seen anything remotely like it.
"Piccolo… is that another transformation?"
"Ask Gohan later."
Piccolo launched toward the battlefield before Trunks could press him for an explanation.
Kale followed immediately. Yellow-green flames exploded around her as she entered Legendary Super Saiyan Two, lightning winding through the aura while she raced past Piccolo and reached Zamasu first.
The fused god was still using the scarlet portals to batter Goku and Vegeta from different angles when Kale appeared beside him.
Her hand clamped around his head.
She drove him straight into the ground.
The impact buried his face in the earth, but Kale gave him no time to recover. Her fist crashed into his chest hard enough to force blood from his mouth, then she seized him by the ankle.
What followed barely resembled a fight.
Kale swung him overhead and smashed him into the ground on one side, then the other, repeatedly slamming his body through rubble, pavement, and broken buildings. Fused Zamasu's screams grew less dignified with every impact.
A full minute later, Kale lifted him upside down by one ankle and examined him with genuine confusion.
"You said you were a god?"
Fused Zamasu hung there in furious silence.
Kale's disappointment only deepened.
"I've never met such a weak god before."
The insult hurt far more than being thrown through the city.
How could this woman possess such monstrous power?
He was Fused Zamasu—the union of two versions of himself, one immortal and the other carrying a Saiyan body strengthened through countless recoveries.
Yet he was being treated like a toy by a Legendary Super Saiyan.
No.
There had to be something wrong.
Kale's boot smashed into his face before he could find an explanation.
Fused Zamasu shot across the battlefield and plowed into the ground, coughing up blood as he finally stopped.
Gohan watched Kale dismantle him with a mixture of pride and amusement.
"That's Kale for you."
"She's incredible," Trunks said. He had seen powerful Saiyans before, but Kale's effortless brutality was something else entirely.
Mai lowered her binoculars, still trying to reconcile the quiet girl she had met earlier with the woman currently beating a self-proclaimed god senseless.
"She's that strong?"
While Kale handled Zamasu, Piccolo reached Goku and Vegeta.
He pulled Goku upright first.
"Any Senzu Beans left?"
"No. Vegito ate the last one before the fusion ended."
Vegeta's irritation returned at the reminder.
Piccolo looked Goku over.
"You can heal yourself, can't you?"
"Oh, right."
Healing light gathered around Goku, closing his wounds and easing the pain throughout his body. By the time the glow faded, he could stand normally again.
"Much better."
"Your stamina didn't recover," Piccolo pointed out. "You only repaired the injuries."
"Yeah. If healing myself restored my energy too, that would be pretty convenient."
Vegeta had been waiting beside them, wounded and increasingly annoyed that Kakarot seemed completely oblivious to his existence.
Goku finally noticed the glare.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I already told you, I don't know why the Potara fusion ended so early. Maybe our personalities really do clash too much."
"HEAL ME, YOU IDIOT!"
"Oh! You should've said that."
Vegeta looked moments away from committing murder.
Goku laughed and placed a hand toward him. Healing energy flowed through Vegeta's injuries, repairing the damage Fused Zamasu had inflicted, though the exhaustion from his earlier battles remained.
Goku scratched his head.
"We're both pretty low on energy. If Dende were here, he could restore that too."
Vegeta seized the opportunity.
"So a Supreme Kai apprentice can heal wounds but can't even restore someone's energy?"
"I can. It just uses my own energy." Goku gestured between them. "If I were at full strength, spending a little to refill yours wouldn't matter much."
"That's not healing. That's just giving me your energy."
"It works differently." Goku tried to explain. "If I give you one unit normally, you get one unit. With the healing technique, I might spend one and restore ten for you. I just can't use that effect on myself."
Piccolo understood the obvious problem.
"If you could, you'd have an endless supply of energy."
Future Trunks had been listening from nearby, and something suddenly clicked.
"Wait. Supreme Kai apprentices can heal people and restore energy?"
"Yeah," Goku replied.
Trunks looked toward Mai.
"Then that's what happened."
Mai had no idea what he meant.
"What happened?"
"When I thought you died, I must've used the healing ability without realizing it. That faint light from my hands… I was the one who kept you alive."
The revelation hit Mai harder than she expected.
Trunks quickly pushed the subject aside and approached Goku and Vegeta.
"I can restore your energy."
Goku looked at him in surprise.
"You're a Supreme Kai apprentice too?"
"The Supreme Kai from this timeline found me and trained me for a while. He said I had talent." Trunks scratched his cheek as another memory returned. "There was also a really strange dance involved."
Goku immediately understood.
"Then you definitely went through the apprenticeship. Nice, Trunks."
He considered their condition.
"You probably only have enough energy to fully restore one of us. Heal Vegeta."
Trunks had already been preparing to help his father when Vegeta stopped him.
"Trunks."
He turned toward Vegeta.
"If you can only restore one person, use it on Kakarot."
"Why?"
Vegeta looked straight at Goku.
"Kakarot, stop saving Ultra Instinct for some imaginary special occasion and use it."
"All right, all right."
Trunks did not argue. He placed his hands near Goku, and healing energy flowed between them.
Within seconds, Goku's depleted reserves surged back to their peak.
His whole posture changed as strength returned.
"That's it! You're really good at this, Trunks."
Restoring so much energy at once took nearly everything Trunks had. His knees weakened, and he had to steady himself before he collapsed.
Goku was already turning toward the battle.
"My turn again."
He vanished and reappeared near Kale and Fused Zamasu.
Kale was still pounding the immortal fusion into the ground. No matter how badly she damaged him, however, his body restored itself before the injuries could become permanent.
"I'm immortal!" Fused Zamasu shouted through the punishment. "You can keep this up until your energy is gone, but you'll never kill me! The moment you tire, I'll kill you!"
Goku appeared beside them.
"Kale, leave him to me."
Kale paused and looked at him.
"You recovered already?"
"Back to full strength."
"Okay. Then I'll let you handle him."
She returned to Gohan's side without complaint.
Gohan greeted her with a warm smile.
"You were amazing out there. Having you with us makes things a lot easier."
Color rose into Kale's cheeks.
"If Gohan-nii is happy, I'll do anything."
Piccolo returned to his normal form while keeping his attention on the battlefield.
"Looks like we're starting another round."
Vegeta watched Goku carefully, fists tightening in anticipation.
He wanted to see Ultra Instinct at full strength.
His own Ultra Ego still lagged far behind it, and observing Kakarot now might give him something useful for his own training.
Goku faced Fused Zamasu with all of his energy restored.
"This time you're fighting me at full strength."
Zamasu's expression twisted with hatred.
Goku roared.
Blue fire exploded around him.
Super Saiyan Blue.
Vegeta stared at him in disbelief.
Gohan was equally confused.
"Wasn't Dad supposed to use Ultra Instinct?"
"What are you doing, Kakarot?" Vegeta shouted. "We went through all that so you could use Ultra Instinct, and you're still using Blue?"
"Goku probably has something in mind," Piccolo said.
Fused Zamasu laughed.
"Super Saiyan Blue again? Have you learned nothing? That transformation has no future against me. I know you possess another form, so stop wasting time and use it!"
Goku ignored him.
He drew a long breath.
The blue flames around his body began to disappear.
Within seconds, the visible aura was completely gone.
Trunks could still sense the enormous power inside Goku, but nothing leaked from his body anymore.
"His aura disappeared. What did he do?"
Vegeta recognized that Kakarot had changed something about the transformation, though the realization only irritated him further.
"That bastard invented something else without telling anyone."
Piccolo studied Goku more carefully.
"He compressed the power of Super Saiyan Blue entirely inside his body. Instead of letting that energy constantly escape as an aura, he's containing every bit of it."
Gohan immediately understood the advantage.
"So he can use more of Blue's power without wasting as much energy."
Vegeta reluctantly agreed. Super Saiyan Blue delivered tremendous explosive power, but maintaining that output normally bled energy far too quickly. Kakarot had found a way to seal that loss inside himself and push the transformation much closer to its full potential.
Fused Zamasu mistook the lack of aura for hesitation.
"Are you trying to stall?"
"I thought about it," Goku said. "Ultra Instinct uses too much stamina. Against someone immortal, burning through everything before I figure out how to finish you would be a pain."
He settled into his stance.
"This should be enough."
Goku shot forward.
His first kick came fast enough to force Fused Zamasu into an immediate block. The impact drove the fused god backward despite catching it on his forearm.
Goku's fist followed.
Zamasu caught it, then launched a counterattack of his own, but Goku slipped around every punch and kick without surrendering his rhythm.
After several exchanges, Goku flipped backward through the air and opened some distance.
A crimson spiral appeared in front of Zamasu.
His fist entered it.
Another portal opened beside Goku, sending the punch toward his head.
Goku hopped aside.
Another fist emerged from a different angle.
Then another.
Goku moved between them with quick, economical steps, never allowing the portal attacks to pin him down.
The moment Zamasu committed too heavily to the technique, Goku broke through the pattern and drove a fist directly into his face.
Fused Zamasu reeled away in pain.
Goku grinned.
"Got you."
Trunks could barely contain his excitement.
"Goku is incredible."
Vegeta finally understood exactly what he was seeing.
"Kakarot sealed all of Blue's overflowing power inside his body. Normally, that transformation keeps releasing more energy than the body can efficiently hold, which is why it burns through stamina so quickly."
Piccolo nodded.
"And by keeping that power contained, he can maintain a much higher effective output."
Vegeta hated how well it worked, but denying it would have been pointless.
Goku continued driving Fused Zamasu backward.
Every exchange widened the difference between them. Zamasu's attacks grew increasingly desperate, while Goku remained in control.
A kick finally caught Fused Zamasu cleanly and sent him crashing into the ground.
Goku descended after him.
Zamasu scrambled upright and raised both hands, forming a large pink sphere of energy.
He hurled it directly at Goku.
Goku caught the attack between both palms.
Instead of struggling against it, he planted one foot and kicked the energy sphere straight upward.
The blast shot into the sky.
Fused Zamasu could only watch it disappear, unable to understand how his attack had been dismissed so casually.
Goku smiled at him.
"Saiyans are a lot harder to deal with than you thought, aren't they?"
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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