"What... what's happening?" King Kai's face went pale as sweat dripped from his chin onto the grass below, his mouth trembling uncontrollably.
How could anyone have known? They'd all witnessed Raditz obliterate Janemba—victory had seemed assured!
"Grand Kai, I sense the situation has taken a terrible turn."
"Raditz's stamina is depleted, but that monster has fully recovered!"
The Realm Kings were consumed with anxiety. Despite the vast power gap between themselves and Raditz, they could clearly assess both fighters' conditions. The regenerated Janemba stood stable as a mountain, while Raditz supported himself with one hand against the ground, his long hair hanging down. His entire state could be summarized in one word: exhausted.
"What did Goku say?"
"He's already grasped the situation and should arrive to assist shortly. With their help, that monster will definitely be completely eliminated," the Grand Kai declared gravely.
He stroked his gray beard, struggling to contain his nervousness. Even as he spoke these words, he wasn't certain he truly believed the Saiyans could triumph. Aside from Majin Buu, such a terrifying monster had never appeared in the universe—and the Grand Kai faintly sensed that Janemba might be even stronger than the legendary demon.
On the underworld battlefield, Janemba materialized another sword, his black eyes fixed on Raditz as he approached slowly. He'd suffered tremendous pain and been defeated moments before—rage burned within him.
Indeed, Raditz had won, suppressing Janemba through superior strength.
But Janemba was a concentration of pure evil energy. His existence was an anomaly. Self-disassembly and reconstruction through spatial manipulation came naturally to him. Because of this, Raditz could beat him repeatedly but never truly destroy him.
"He's more troublesome than I anticipated. Even surpassing my limits proves useless. This creature doesn't need to be 'killed' in any conventional sense," Raditz gasped heavily, producing a senzu bean and swallowing it.
Immediately, his physical strength returned as renewed power flooded his entire body. He rose to his feet once more.
Janemba's footsteps noticeably faltered, his cold, murderous gaze pausing before he grinned with manic expression. Against the gloomy backdrop, he charged forward again, the sword in his hand carving brilliant arcs as if slicing reality itself.
Raditz sneered, his eyes flashing as his body erupted with golden radiance. Super Saiyan 3 activated once more!
CLANG!
Multiple sword lights dissipated instantly as Janemba was sent flying backward.
Even if the creature proved difficult to eliminate, Raditz still held the advantage in raw power—head-to-head collisions would always yield the same result. But to destroy him completely required purifying the evil energy itself! Only Gogeta's power could achieve that.
At that moment, two tremendous auras suddenly materialized in midair—Goku and Vegeta. Both maintained Super Saiyan 2 forms, golden light blazing as powerful energy masses illuminated the gloomy environment.
Their permitted descent into the underworld instantly added brilliance to the desolate realm.
Raditz looked up with both surprise and joy in his eyes. "Why are you here? I was planning to find you!"
"The Grand Kai said the underworld crisis was beyond normal resolution. Even you, bro, couldn't defeat that monster. Hey—is that him?" Goku suddenly noticed Janemba rising once again.
"His name is Janemba. He's a concentration of evil spirits with abnormal abilities. Though I can defeat him, I cannot destroy him."
"Hmph, is that so?" Vegeta cast his eyes coldly toward their opponent, exchanging glances with the creature.
Janemba merely glanced at the new arrivals before returning his focus to Raditz—clearly, he didn't consider Vegeta worth serious attention.
"Tch, bastard," Vegeta muttered, clenching his fists.
"Don't rush in, Vegeta. This opponent's power is tremendous," Goku warned solemnly, measuring Janemba's strength with growing concern. "Even stronger than my Super Saiyan 3 form. Only my brother can handle this monster!"
"Of course I realize that! But if we're not going to fight, what's the point of coming here?!"
"Fusion!" Raditz declared dramatically.
Both Goku and Vegeta froze in shock.
At that instant, Janemba flashed like crimson lightning, approaching with overwhelming pressure! Goku instinctively fired several ki blasts while retreating, but a wormhole suddenly materialized before Janemba, absorbing the energy directly.
Then spatial rifts appeared around Vegeta as the reflected ki blasts immediately shot forth.
"Look out!" Raditz shouted, rushing toward Janemba.
But sound traveled slower than energy. Vegeta never expected such bizarre abilities—he was struck directly by Goku's own redirected attacks and sent flying.
"Damn it, Kakarot! Watch what you're doing!"
"I didn't know he could do that!"
One looked furious, the other bewildered, and they began arguing. Raditz kicked Janemba away and continued: "Listen to me—ordinary energy alone cannot defeat him. As you just witnessed, he possesses spatial manipulation and regenerative abilities. But through fusion, you can access purification techniques to cleanse the evil energy. That's the fundamental path to victory."
As Raditz spoke, he engaged Janemba in combat. Their overflowing energy fluctuations triggered cascading destruction, explosions spreading across tens of thousands of kilometers into endless distance.
Watching Raditz battle, both Goku and Vegeta couldn't help feeling overwhelmed. The relentless gales and continuous shockwaves made every pore tense under the oppressive force. Such power—even Super Saiyan 3 wasn't this frightening.
"With energy collisions at this level, it seems we truly cannot participate without fusion. Vegeta, let's do this," Goku said, having learned the fusion technique and grown comfortable with it.
"I refuse to perform those ridiculous poses!" Vegeta's face reddened slightly as he ground his teeth.
"But didn't you say you wanted a good fight?"
"Kakarot, I never said I wanted to fuse with you! Just thinking about it makes me angry!"
Vegeta despised both the embarrassing fusion dance and the fact that Goku surpassed him. Combining these two irritating elements? Impossible! He could hardly believe Raditz had suggested it.
Goku scratched his head. "If we don't fuse, we can't defeat Janemba or seal the passages between the living world and afterlife. That could endanger the entire universe."
His tone had grown notably gentler.
"Bulma and Trunks would be in danger too," Goku added quietly.
Vegeta clenched his jaw, his brows knitting together as if engaged in tremendous internal struggle. The current Vegeta was vastly different from before—he'd developed deep emotional connections to life, to Bulma, and to Trunks. The fusion would only last thirty minutes at most. He could endure that brief period.
Finally, Vegeta convinced himself, his expression relaxing. "Fine, Kakarot. But just this once."
"Perfect!" Goku's joy blazed like golden flames illuminating the space brilliantly. Vegeta snorted coldly as similar energy crackled around him, their power levels synchronizing instantly.
Years of rivalry had cultivated their understanding of each other. Standing like mirror images, they moved in perfect harmony. Despite lacking practice, their synchronization rate reached one hundred percent.
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