Golden ki flared violently. Son Gohan, fighting at full power, did not attack immediately. His sharp eyes kept scrutinizing Vegeta, searching for flaws and the right moment to strike.
Indeed, judging purely from surface power, the gap between them was enormous.
Yet even without transforming, Vegeta was constantly enveloped in a mysterious aura, one that made Gohan hesitate to act rashly.
"Even now that I am a Super Saiyan, I still cannot see any openings. In that case, there is no choice," Gohan realized. He could not keep this standoff going.
If his momentum were completely suppressed, then even if Vegeta deliberately exposed an opening, he would still be overwhelmed.
Right now, he had to attack first and break the stalemate.
Hearing Gohan's thoughts, Vegeta said nothing.
He naturally understood the predicament Gohan was facing.
If Gohan had rushed in mindlessly from the start, then he really would have been foolish.
He has some brains. Unfortunately, he is still too weak. If he were twice as strong, Vegeta thought quietly.
In the next instant, Gohan finally broke through his mental restraints. He leapt high into the air, rapidly gathering energy in both hands and firing in rapid succession.
In an instant, hundreds of ki blasts surged toward Vegeta like a torrential storm, so dense they seemed to seal off all paths of evasion.
Against most opponents, such an attack would cause complete panic.
But to Vegeta, there was no need to dodge at all.
"Other than wasting energy, this kind of attack is completely useless."
As the words fell, Vegeta raised his hand and swept it forward. Powerful Saiyan energy surged out, forming an invisible storm that engulfed all incoming ki blasts.
Under the storm's force, the trajectories of the blasts were forcibly altered, crashing into one another.
Once the first explosion occurred, it triggered a chain reaction.
All the ki blasts detonated one after another in continuous explosions.
BOOOOM!!!
Explosive flames covered most of the sky.
The momentum spread for tens of thousands of meters, causing space itself to tremble.
Though not enough to shake the Earth, it still affected an area hundreds of kilometers wide.
Endless firelight flooded the heavens, a truly spectacular sight.
With only a casual move, Vegeta neutralized Gohan's ferocious assault.
This scene made Trunks gasp in shock, deeply engraving everything he saw into his memory.
His father had reached the level where he could fight a Super Saiyan using only his base form.
No wonder Trunks's own Super Saiyan power meant nothing in front of him.
Even Master Gohan's Super Saiyan form was not enough to make his father take things seriously, let alone Trunks himself.
In the sky, Gohan used the flames from the explosions as cover, moving at extreme speed to Vegeta's rear.
"It is not a useless attack, Uncle Vegeta!" Gohan said with a smile, unleashing a full powered spinning kick.
This strike had no restraint, but Vegeta had already anticipated it.
Gohan wanted to catch him off guard, but he had not considered that such a simple trick was painfully obvious to Vegeta.
Whoosh!
Gohan's kick swept through Vegeta's body.
There was no sensation of impact at all.
Gohan's eyes widened in terror.
"An afterimage? When did he move?" Gohan was stunned.
When had Vegeta shifted positions? He had not seen it at all.
"You really think such a little trick could fool my eyes?" Vegeta's teasing voice sounded from behind Gohan. "Gohan, you may have fought many battles, but your opponents were too limited. In the end, your combat experience is still lacking."
Hearing this, Gohan instantly sensed danger. A powerful killing intent surged from behind him. He instinctively tried to turn and defend, but it was too late.
Vegeta's upward kick struck squarely into Gohan's back, sending him flying into the sky.
Gohan shot upward, piercing through the lingering flames and reaching an altitude of ten thousand meters in the blink of an eye.
Feeling the intense pain in his back, Gohan could not help but suck in a sharp breath.
Only after fully dissipating the force did he regain control of his body, muttering bitterly,
"Uncle Vegeta really is the same as back then, never holding back."
No sooner had he spoken than something shocking happened.
From low altitude, Vegeta unleashed hundreds, no, thousands of ki blasts, shooting straight through the flames and racing toward Gohan.
The relentless barrage left Gohan completely stunned.
Ignoring the pain in his back, he hurriedly powered up and dodged the bombardment.
"What is wrong, Gohan? Just dodging around will not cut it," Vegeta said with a slight grin. "Your strength should be more than this. After recovering from your injuries, your power clearly broke through by a large margin."
Those words made Gohan's body tremble.
As if realizing something, he abandoned evasive tactics and chose direct confrontation instead.
The rain of ki blasts was smashed and deflected one by one, his limbs moving like blades slicing through vegetables.
"That is more like it. Being suppressed by the Androids for so long made you forget how a Saiyan truly fights." Seeing what he wanted to see, Vegeta smiled again.
Gohan was gradually getting used to this power. If this continued, his strength would only grow.
But this still was not enough.
Vegeta decided to give Gohan a real shock.
Drawing from his Super Saiyan energy reservoir, golden light flickered around him. A massive energy sphere rapidly formed in his palm, then shot forward, blasting straight toward Gohan.
Sensing the destructive force contained in this massive ki blast, Gohan focused completely, mobilizing all his power at top speed and catching the sphere with his bare hands.
But the overwhelming pressure was almost unbearable, forcing him steadily backward.
So heavy. Just a casual attack in base form has this much power. Is this Uncle Vegeta's true strength? It is unbelievable, Gohan grit his teeth, resisting with all he had.
The intense feeling of helplessness reminded him of his battles against Androids 17 and 18.
"Damn it. If I cannot even overcome this much, how can I talk about saving the future?"
That unwillingness ignited all the Saiyan energy within him.
"YAAAAAH!!!"
Gohan roared, releasing his power to the limit. With both hands, he pressed harder and harder against the massive energy sphere.
BOOOOM!!!
The energy ball exploded.
Scorching flames surged outward, swallowing Gohan's body and covering half the sky.
The sheer force of the explosion made the entire Earth tremble for a brief moment.
Such overwhelming power also caught the attention of certain special beings on Earth.
In the eastern ruins,
Android 17 and Android 18, who were amusing themselves by slaughtering humans, suddenly froze.
Their bodies stiffened, and their eyes turned simultaneously toward a distant region.
~~~~~~
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