Before the words had even left his mouth,
Bardock suddenly opened his eyes.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Ha!"
With a roar that released all his pent-up energy,
the next moment, his hair and eyebrows abruptly turned yellow, and all his hair except his bangs stood straight up. His pupils turned light green, his build grew somewhat more muscular, and golden auras enveloped his entire body, surging upward from below with a constant crackling sound.
Crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle~
Clap, clap, clap!
Saigo clapped and congratulated him. "Bardock, congratulations on successfully becoming a Super Saiyan! You must remember how you feel right now: angry, excited, wanting to destroy things! Keep practicing on your own, and you'll be able to transform into a Super Saiyan at will!"
Bardock's face was icy after transforming into a Super Saiyan. Combined with the savage cross-shaped scar on his face, he looked like someone no one would want to mess with.
Feeling the cells throughout his body come alive, Bardock could clearly sense them constantly generating waves of tremendous energy that surged out through his body.
"This power is extraordinary!" Bardock clenched and unclenched his fists in disbelief, a flicker of astonishment crossing his stern face. "I feel like I could easily defeat a hundred versions of my former self!"
Saigo explained, "Captain Bardock, have you forgotten? When we Saiyans transform into Super Saiyans, our battle power increases fiftyfold! That means you now have over two hundred million battle power in your Super Saiyan Form! Forget a hundred versions of your former self—even a thousand wouldn't be a match for you now!"
"King Saigo, could you give your subordinate some pointers on controlling the Super Saiyan Form?"
Seeing Bardock eager for a fight, Saigo felt his own fighting spirit stir. It was probably his Saiyan battle instinct at work.
"Sure!"
"Let's go outside!"
"Preferably up in the air, so we don't damage Planet Saiyan!"
"I'm very grateful that you're willing to instruct me! Please, go ahead!"
Then Saigo and Super Saiyan Bardock flew out of the Royal Palace, one after the other, heading straight into the sky.
They flew so fast that the guards stationed outside the palace didn't even notice them!
Directly above the Royal Palace.
The stratosphere.
Base Form Saigo and Super Saiyan Bardock faced each other from a distance.
"Aren't you going to transform into a Super Saiyan?" Bardock asked in surprise when he saw that Saigo hadn't transformed.
"Let's begin! Don't hold back. Let's see if you can make me turn into a Super Saiyan." Saigo beckoned with a smile.
Whoosh!
In his Super Saiyan Form, Bardock suddenly felt a surge of anger at being looked down on.
He clenched his fists and, without a word, charged straight at Saigo.
Whoosh—
In the blink of an eye, he was at Saigo's left side. He attacked with all his strength, aiming straight for Saigo's left cheek.
Thud!
Saigo calmly blocked Bardock's attack—or, more precisely, he didn't move at all. He simply took the powerful punch directly to the face.
When Bardock hit Saigo, he had been feeling quite pleased with himself, the corner of his mouth lifting. He hadn't expected Saigo to remain completely still, without even a sign of injury!
"What?"
Bardock cried out in surprise. The smile instantly fell from his lips, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets as he drifted backward, away from Saigo.
"Your aim was good!" Saigo turned his head toward him, smiling in approval.
Then he added, "But you didn't hit hard enough!"
He crooked a finger at Bardock, taunting him. "Come on! Again. Hit me harder!"
At that moment, Saigo seemed possessed by an evil god.
His provocation was unmistakable!
"Ah!"
"King Saigo, you're looking down on me too much!"
"Take this!"
Newly transformed into a Super Saiyan, Bardock couldn't possibly tolerate such taunts. He roared and attacked once more.
Thud! Thud! Thud...
Thunderous impacts rang out in the sky one after another. Within seconds, the formerly cloudy sky had cleared.
At the same time, many people on Planet Saiyan shot into the sky, wanting to get a closer look at the battle between Saigo and Bardock.
From their ki, they could tell that the two fighting high above were Saigo and Bardock.
What they couldn't understand was why Bardock's ki had suddenly surged so dramatically.
So they all wanted to get closer and find out what was going on.
When they saw the forms of the two combatants, they were completely dumbfounded. They couldn't believe their eyes.
They saw that it was Bardock who had become a Super Saiyan—not King Saigo!
Even more outrageous, King Saigo was able to hold his own against Super Saiyan Bardock in his base form alone, and even seemed to have the upper hand.
"My god! Why does Captain Bardock look like a Super Saiyan? Did he really become one?"
"Unbelievable! I remember Captain Bardock only had 460,000 battle power during yesterday's test. How did he suddenly become a Super Saiyan today?"
"Have you forgotten? A tremendous burst of energy erupted earlier. Now that I think about it, that ki was a lot like Captain Bardock's! Maybe it was him!"
"Now that you mention it, I remember! I thought King Saigo was testing out a new move! I never imagined it was Captain Bardock!"
"Hmph! That's what you get for being so weak. Your ki-sensing skills need work. I knew it was Captain Bardock from the start. I just didn't know how he'd transformed into a Super Saiyan!"
"Huh? Are you looking down on us?
"Oh, are you trying to undermine unity among our people?
"I'm reporting you for undermining national unity!
"Hmph!"
"Wait, don't!
"Bro, I don't even remember what I just said.
"Anyway, brother, big bro!
"Just pretend I was a fart and let me go! Please! I don't want to recite the Nine Honors and Nine Shames of the New Era Saiyans and the Five Internal and External Prohibitions Code for New Era Saiyans again. I've recited them so many times I could puke!
"Bro! Please let me off~"
"Fine! Since you've sincerely admitted your mistake, I'll let you off this time! We Saiyans should be united and friendly!"
"Right, right! We should be united and friendly! Bro, you're my real big brother! Thanks for letting me off!"
"Enough, you two. Stop arguing and watch the fight. This is a rare chance to observe and learn. How much you pick up is up to you!
"Hey, what a beautiful uppercut from King Saigo!
"Yikes!
"That one looked painful!"
The Saiyan warriors, whether they had taken to the sky or stayed on the ground, were stunned by the fierce battle high above, which far surpassed anything they had imagined.
Was this the power of a Super Saiyan?
Was this the power of King Saigo?
He could suppress Bardock's Super Saiyan Form in his base form alone!
He was simply incredible!
If King Saigo transformed into a Super Saiyan, wouldn't he be unimaginably powerful?!
They didn't even dare to think about it.
Vegeta III, hovering in the air, suddenly thought of something. He turned to Tarble beside him and asked,
"Tarble, you know why Captain Bardock suddenly became a Super Saiyan, don't you?"
"Can you tell me?"
The once-arrogant King Vegeta was now pleading with his youngest son.
Vegeta III knew that when he'd decided to send Tarble to the Wild Planet, it had created a rift between them.
He felt deeply guilty about it and had always wanted to repair their relationship.
Before you continue