As Zabuza's hand shot toward the blade, Saeko's mind raced: Trying to catch my sword bare-handed? Does he want to keep those fingers?
With a subtle twist of her wrist, the katana flashed. Zabuza's hand was severed cleanly at the wrist. But before Saeko could feel a surge of victory, the figure before her dissolved, collapsing into a pool of water that seeped into the wooden planks of the bridge.
Water Clone? When did he— Her instincts screamed a warning. Before she could react, hands erupted from the ground beneath her feet, solidifying from water and locking around her ankles in a vise-like grip.
Without a moment's hesitation, she drove her sword down into the planks. The hands dissolved back into liquid, soaking into the wood. Another clone!
Realizing she was in a layered trap, Saeko immediately channeled her ki. With a burst of Bukūjutsu, she shot skyward.
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Zabuza's true form rose from the river beside the bridge, his hand seals already complete. The entire surface of the river seemed to lift, forming a towering, dozens-of-meters-high wall of water that roared toward Saeko with the force of a collapsing dam.
She had only gained a few meters of altitude. The colossal waterfall blotted out the sky, leaving no avenue for escape.
"You think something like this is enough to defeat me?!" Saeko shouted defiantly. Gripping her sword with both hands, she thrust it forward. A concentrated blast of yellow ki shot from the tip, boring a half-meter-wide tunnel straight through the heart of the onrushing tidal wave.
She shot forward like a bullet, following the path her ki had carved. In an instant, she pierced through the wall of water—and found Zabuza, momentarily drained from the massive chakra expenditure, standing exposed on the riverbank.
Her momentum carried her forward. The katana, still gleaming with residual energy, pierced clean through his chest.
"How… could… this… be…?" Zabuza gasped, collapsing to his knees, disbelief etched on his face. From the moment he feigned retreat, he had laid a perfect trap—using himself as bait, switching with a Water Clone at the precise moment Saeko thought she'd won. Every step had gone according to plan. Yet, his ultimate technique had failed. Empowered by her flight and unyielding will, Saeko had torn through his trump card and his heart in a single, breathtaking move. One critical miscalculation, and the Demon of the Hidden Mist met his end.
"Wow! Saeko-nee won! You're amazing!" Arisu cried, running over to hug her.
"Excellent work. Your power has improved significantly," the other women praised, their expressions proud.
Saeko turned to Son Goku for his verdict. He gave a simple, approving nod. "Not bad. It looks like our time here is done. Let's head back. This world is… lacking in adequate challenges. We can always visit again another day."
"We're leaving already? I suppose so. This place is fascinating, but far too cruel for my taste," Saeko agreed. The others murmured their assent.
Mikoto and Kushina exchanged confused glances. "What do you mean, 'this world'? 'Heading back'? We don't understand," Mikoto asked, her brow furrowed. Haku and Karin, huddled together, also looked on with wide, curious eyes.
"It's like this," Saya began, taking on the role of explainer. "We aren't from this dimension. We come from another world entirely, and Goku has the ability to travel between them…" She launched into a detailed, earnest explanation.
A short while later, once the initial shock had settled, Goku clapped his hands together. "Alright, now that everyone's up to speed, everyone into the World Ring. We're departing!"
"But… Naruto…" Kushina's voice was thick with reluctance. Mikoto, too, wore a worried expression, clearly thinking of her sons.
"Don't worry. We'll be back," Goku assured them, his voice softening with uncharacteristic gentleness. Once the women were safely stored within the ring, he focused his will. "Dimensional Shuttle System: Return to point of origin—Dragon Ball World."
A shimmering, seven-colored portal swirled into existence before him. Without a backward glance, Son Goku stepped through. The portal collapsed into nothingness, leaving the snowy bridge of the Land of Water silent once more.
---
On a desolate, unnamed planet in a distant corner of the universe, a figure sat alone in a dimly lit chamber. His fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles were white, veins bulging along his arms and neck. His breathing was ragged, each exhale a growl. A savage, barely contained aura radiated from him, making the very air tremble as if a primordial beast strained against its chains.
"Ka…ka…rot… Kaka…rot…" he snarled through gritted teeth, the name a curse. With each muttered syllable, his aura grew more violent, more unstable. Pure, unadulterated hatred burned in his eyes like green hellfire.
"KAKAROT!!"
He sprang to his feet with a roar that shook the foundations of the metallic complex. A torrent of golden light erupted from his body. His hair flashed from black to a radiant, spiky gold—he had transformed into a Super Saiyan. This was the legendary berserker, Broly.
In a control room not far away, Bojack, the space pirate who had been using Broly as his ultimate weapon, felt the sudden, overwhelming spike of ki and paled. "Not good!" He snatched a specialized remote control from a console and sprinted from the room, heading for a reinforced cabin perched on a nearby peak.
"Broly! Calm down! You must control yourself!" Bojack shouted as he burst into the cabin, frantically pressing buttons on the remote.
Broly's rampage slowed. The golden aura flickered. Seeing this, Bojack let out a shaky sigh of relief.
That relief was short-lived. Broly's head snapped up. "KAKAROT!" he screamed again, but this time his voice was layered, demonic. His power didn't just increase—it exploded. His golden hair shifted in hue, transforming into a distinctive, wild grass-green. His muscles swelled, his frame expanding. He had ascended beyond a normal Super Saiyan—he had become the Legendary Super Saiyan.
The control device on his head sparked violently and shattered under the tidal wave of his ki. The shockwave blasted the entire cabin apart, sending metal and debris flying.
"N-no! The controller—!" Bojack's face was a mask of terror as Broly, now a mountain of emerald-haired fury, turned and strode toward him through the smoke and rubble.
Desperate, Bojack forced an ugly, placating smile. "B-Broly… what are you doing? I-I'm your father, remember? You have to listen to me…"
Broly didn't speak. He simply reached out, snatched the remote from Bojack's trembling hand, and crushed it to dust in his fist.
A sneer of profound contempt twisted Broly's features. "You thought this pathetic toy could control me? Me, Broly?" In one fluid motion, he seized Bojack by the throat and lifted him effortlessly off the ground.
"D-damn you… Broly… Have you forgotten everything I did for you? It's Kakarot… it's all because of him! His sudden appearance ruined everything!" Bojack choked out, his eyes filled with venomous hatred even in his final moments.
With a final, guttural roar, Broly tightened his grip.
CRACK.
Bojack's body went limp. "Damn… to die… by my own… son's hand…" he gurgled, his final thought a bitter epitaph. "Is this… the fate of a Saiyan…?"
Broly tossed the lifeless corpse aside like garbage. He turned his burning gaze toward the star-filled void beyond the ruined planet. "Kakarot. Wherever you are hiding in this universe… I will find you. And I will crush the life from you with my own hands!"
Enveloping himself in a spherical energy barrier, Broly hurled a massive, crackling green energy sphere into the heart of the planet below. He then shot into space. A moment later, a cataclysmic explosion lit up the void, utterly obliterating the world and its dead tyrant, reducing them to nothing more than expanding cosmic dust.
---
A New Arc Begins.
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