"That's… the aura of a god." Beerus sensed the god ki rising from GT Goku and felt his mood lift at once.
"Oh my. Impressive," Whis said, approval clear in his eyes.
Beerus turned to Shin with rare praise. "You actually brought back someone interesting."
He clapped Shin on the back.
Shin spat blood on the spot and nearly passed out.
"What was that for, Beerus-sama?" Shin shouted through gritted teeth.
"Oh. I almost killed you. My mistake." Beerus grinned.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Shin asked, pale with anger.
"Relax. Even if you die, Whis can revive you." Beerus laughed, his mood much better now that GT Goku had revealed god ki.
"Other me really is amazing," Goku said, staring at the ring in surprise.
"Hey, Broly," Buu said, watching the arena. "The other Goku trained god ki on his own."
Broly gave a small nod and said nothing else.
"Vegeta may be in for a hard fight," Vados said softly.
Ken did not answer.
She was probably right. GT Goku had always been powerful, and for this timeline's Vegeta to reach his current level was already impressive in its own right.
"From the look of it, we might lose the third match," Yamcha said thoughtfully.
"Then let Universe 7 have one," Gohan said with an easy laugh. "If we win this one too, the last two matches won't even matter, right? Then I won't get to watch the rest properly."
"That's true," Krillin said. "Three straight wins would settle the whole tournament."
"Dad, you can do it!" Trunks shouted.
Everyone looked at him at once, suddenly unsure whether they were supposed to cheer for Vegeta too.
In the arena, GT Goku had layered god ki over his Super Saiyan 4 form. It was not Super Saiyan God stacked on top of Super Saiyan 4. Rather, he had cultivated god ki on his own and used it to lift his body and power to a higher state.
"Vegeta, here I come!" GT Goku said with a smile.
Vegeta clenched his fists.
GT Goku vanished and appeared directly in front of him. His elbow struck Vegeta hard in the chest, forcing him back several steps. GT Goku followed immediately with another punch, driving Vegeta closer and closer to the edge of the ring.
"Vegeta, I'm not holding back."
GT Goku threw a heavy punch, but just as it closed in, he saw Vegeta's mouth curve into a faint smile.
A bad feeling flashed through him.
Purple power burst around Vegeta.
His hair and aura shifted, and in the next instant, his kick slammed into GT Goku's stomach.
GT Goku reacted quickly. He twisted through the air, rolled several times, and caught himself on both hands and feet instead of crashing down. When he rose and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his expression had changed.
"Kakarot, your reactions aren't bad," Vegeta said with a proud smile.
GT Goku stared at Vegeta's new form, too surprised to answer.
The fighters from the GT timeline were just as stunned. GT Vegeta's pupils narrowed, his brows drawing tight.
This version of him had another transformation?
What about Kakarot?
If this timeline's Kakarot had it too, GT Vegeta doubted he could handle him.
"Vegeta, what is that form?" GT Goku asked, curiosity quickly overcoming his shock. "I've never seen that color before."
"This is Ultra Ego." Vegeta snorted, satisfaction written all over his face. "Or, if it helps you understand, call it a God of Destruction form."
"A God of Destruction form?" GT Goku's eyes widened. "Are you a God of Destruction?"
"Not yet," Vegeta said. "But I'll become a powerful one someday."
He started to point his thumb at his own nose, then suddenly remembered what Kakarot had said before.
Do not point at your nose with your thumb. You will lose faster.
Vegeta's hand stalled awkwardly. He switched to his index finger, then immediately dropped it again.
Damn Kakarot. Now he had ruined even that for him.
"A God of Destruction form… that's incredible," GT Goku said. "I didn't expect you to become this strong. Winning this might be harder than I thought."
Beerus, meanwhile, stared with an ugly expression.
Vegeta had this kind of transformation too?
And Beerus could feel it: real destruction energy inside him. This boy truly did have the makings of a God of Destruction.
When the Goku from this timeline had fought him earlier, Beerus had thought his level was nothing special. Did that mean Goku was the weakest one here?
No. That did not feel right.
Was Goku hiding his true strength?
The thought made Beerus's face darken again.
"Come on, Kakarot," Vegeta said, his fighting spirit soaring. "I'll grind you into the floor."
He shot forward in a streak of purple light and attacked.
The two clashed again in the arena. For a time, GT Goku's raw strength let him fight Vegeta to a standstill, and the longer it went on, the more startled Vegeta became.
This Kakarot had never trained under Ken.
How had he become this strong?
Then Vegeta thought about it and slowly calmed down. The GT timeline seemed to be nearly twenty years ahead of theirs. Give him another twenty years, and he would have become a true God of Destruction long ago. Why should he be unable to handle one Kakarot?
That moment of distraction was all GT Goku needed.
"There!"
GT Goku caught the opening and punched Vegeta hard across the face. Vegeta's head snapped to the side, but he answered with a sharp slap of his own. Then he rushed in, grabbed GT Goku by the hair, yanked his head down, and kicked him in the face.
GT Goku grimaced from the pain and drove a punch into Vegeta's chest.
Blood burst from Vegeta's mouth, forcing him to release GT Goku's hair.
"Vegeta, are you a kid?" GT Goku asked, rubbing his head. "Who grabs hair in the middle of a fight?"
"In a fight, the only thing that matters is winning," Vegeta said. "I heard you bite people."
"Huh? Who did I bite?"
"How would I know? Ask your bald friend."
"Hahaha. That was a long time ago."
Vegeta had no interest in continuing the topic. He charged again, and GT Goku met him head-on.
They battled fiercely for several more minutes.
"Hakai!"
Vegeta swung his hand, launching a mass of destruction energy toward GT Goku.
GT Goku paused for a split second before gathering power into his hand and striking it with his palm.
The destruction energy warped on impact and flew off to the side. It did not travel far before scattering into countless tiny sparks and fading away.
"That was dangerous," GT Goku said, rubbing his hand in surprise. "One mistake and that could've killed me."
Vegeta fell silent.
His control over destruction energy still was not good enough. Kakarot had actually slapped it away. If Beerus had fired that same attack, Kakarot would already have been erased without a trace.
"Hmph."
Vegeta rushed in again. GT Goku did not fall back, meeting every attack with everything he had.
Their fight dragged on without a clear winner. Before anyone realized it, more than half an hour had passed, and both fighters had burned through a huge amount of power.
Another ten minutes went by.
The red glow around GT Goku suddenly vanished, and his hair returned to black.
"Uh-oh… that strange power ran out." GT Goku breathed hard, fatigue washing over him.
"Perfect!"
Vegeta's eyes lit up. He became a purple streak and rushed straight at him.
"W-wait!" GT Goku looked genuinely panicked.
Vegeta had no intention of waiting. He closed the distance in an instant.
"You lose, Kakarot!" Vegeta laughed and drove a powerful punch toward him.
GT Goku gritted his teeth and crossed his arms, bracing for the blow.
Just as Vegeta's fist was about to land, his body shook. The purple power around him collapsed.
Vegeta's eyes widened, his face shifting in disbelief.
"Hahaha! Vegeta, your God of Destruction form ran out too!" GT Goku said, shocked and relieved at the same time.
While Vegeta was still frozen, GT Goku kicked him to the ground.
GT Goku was badly drained himself. He stood there breathing hard, forcing his knees not to buckle.
"Damn it." Vegeta clenched his teeth and pushed himself up, cold sweat running down his face.
They looked at each other, then charged again and began brawling with whatever strength they had left.
The crowd watched in stunned silence. No one had expected GT Goku and Vegeta to fight this fiercely.
Even Ken felt something stir as he watched.
For Vegeta, this was probably the most satisfying battle he had ever had.
And Ken's guess was right. Vegeta had not enjoyed a fight this much in years. Especially because it was against Kakarot. They had pushed each other so far that both of their reserves were nearly empty, and Super Saiyan 4 had become little more than a shell they were stubbornly holding onto.
Now only two meters separated them.
Both men were bent forward, breathing heavily, sweat running down their battered faces.
"I really didn't expect this, Vegeta," GT Goku said between breaths. "I trained seriously in another world, but I still only fought you to a draw."
"I didn't expect you to be this strong either," Vegeta said. "You even developed god ki without anyone teaching you."
"God ki? So that state earlier was god ki." GT Goku nodded thoughtfully.
"That's right. Developing god ki without guidance from a god is impressive."
"So you became this strong because a god taught you?" GT Goku asked.
Vegeta went quiet.
That hit a little too close.
After a moment, though, he nodded with a cold face. "Yes. I became this strong under Ken's guidance."
"Ken?" GT Goku looked toward him and smiled. "He really is amazing. I heard he became an Angel through his own training."
Vegeta did not answer. That was as good as admitting it.
"But I'm not losing, Vegeta," GT Goku said, taking a deep breath and raising his stance again. "Our universe has already lost twice. This time, I'm getting us one win."
"Hmph. I'll say this now," Vegeta replied. "Your universe won't win even once."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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