Son Goku's Desperate Straits

Vegeta's eyes lit up. "Did, did it work?"

Son Goku stood high in the sky like an invincible Golden War God, his gaze sharp and piercing; the aura he radiated was overwhelming.

"That's not right. It was reduced to minced meat, wasn't it? Why hasn't its aura vanished? It hasn't even weakened in the slightest!"

Just then, the minced remains of Janemba began to squirm, rapidly contracting and coalescing.

Soon, a figure condensed and appeared amidst the thick smoke.

"This?"

"Has Janemba evolved?"

Son Goku and Vegeta stared in shock at the reappearing Janemba.

But the Janemba standing before them now was completely different from the one moments ago.

If the previous Janemba had looked like an innocent child, this one was a creature of pure malice and evil.

At this moment, Janemba's body had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation.

The most obvious change was its height, which had compressed from over thirty meters down to just over two. Its body was now covered in a layer of hardened, fleshy armor.

Its complexion had also shifted from milky white to a primary red, accented with pink.

Those dark golden eyes were filled with an aura of evil, and its mouth curled into a constant sneer; one look was enough to tell it was a major villain.

Sensing the shift in Janemba's aura, Vegeta said in surprise, "This guy's ki has increased significantly..."

Son Goku frowned deeply; he knew this Janemba was no longer the one from before.

The current Janemba possessed a perfect physique, far better suited for combat.

With its aura elevated to such a degree, another bitter battle awaited him.

There was no time to lose.

"Haa~!" Son Goku let out a loud shout, his aura erupting as he decided to strike first.

He utilized Instant Transmission, appearing instantly behind Janemba, and threw a punch crackling with electrical sparks.

The fist shattered the air, nearly tearing through space itself as it slammed into Janemba.

"Heh heh~" Janemba grinned, its body instantly dissolving into colorful particles and vanishing.

Son Goku's attack failed, striking nothing but air.

Danger!

Son Goku braced himself, not daring to be the least bit careless, and flashed away to put distance between himself and Janemba.

But Janemba's body suddenly reformed right beside him, its hand clutching a purple-red energy sphere that it pressed against Son Goku's chest.

With a deafening "Boom," a massive explosion occurred.

Before Son Goku could even react, the energy sphere detonated against his chest.

The violent blast shredded his clothes to pieces, leaving his upper body covered in wounds and dripping with blood.

Yet it didn't end there; Janemba opened its mouth, and a gleaming energy sphere surged out, striking Son Goku head-on once more.

"BOOM!!!"

Following the intense explosion, Son Goku spat out several mouthfuls of blood, his body sent flying backward until he crashed into the dust, struggling for a moment before failing to rise.

"Ka, Kakarot!" Vegeta shouted from the side.

Janemba turned its head, looking at Vegeta with malicious intent.

Vegeta cursed inwardly, but his mouth remained as stubborn as ever as he taunted, "You idiot, what are you looking at your master for?"

"Heh heh!" Janemba sneered and slammed its fist into the ground.

Immediately, a giant fist erupted from the spot where Vegeta stood, sending him flying with a single blow.

"Waaah~!" Vegeta spat out blood, his hair shifting from gold back to black; his weakened body could no longer sustain the Super Saiyan transformation.

"Vegeta!" Son Goku, struggling to his feet, shouted as he gathered his hands at his waist, condensing a Kamehameha.

An intense light illuminated the world, leaving nothing but a blinding blue in the sky.

"Heh heh heh~" Janemba sneered at him, its right arm suddenly elongating by dozens of meters to seize Vegeta by the throat.

At that exact moment, Son Goku vanished using Instant Transmission.

The next instant, he appeared directly in front of Janemba, firing the Kamehameha at point-blank range.

At such close proximity, there was no way Janemba could escape unscathed.

But to his surprise, an accident occurred.

A spatial rift suddenly opened in front of Janemba's chest, swallowing Son Goku's Kamehameha in an instant.

The Kamehameha then emerged from a different location, bending at a bizarre angle to streak toward Vegeta.

Son Goku couldn't afford to hesitate; he used Instant Transmission again, grabbing Vegeta and flashing to the side.

His Kamehameha slammed directly into the ground.

Instantly, a violent explosion erupted, the ground cracked with a deafening crunch, and a full third of the Other World collapsed.

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."

Son Goku's chest heaved rhythmically, his entire body covered in wounds, gasping for breath.

Vegeta could barely even stand upright.

"Damn it, how can such a monster exist?" Vegeta raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, his face twisted in frustration.

He was too weak right now.

He couldn't even withstand a single blow from Janemba.

The disparity in their strength was immense.

Son Goku said, "Vegeta, you must escape. I will hold him off for a moment."

"Cough, cough." Vegeta spat out a mouthful of blood and looked at Son Goku with an incredulous gaze. "Escape? You want me to run? Kakarot, you underestimate me too much, you bastard."

"Vegeta, listen to me, Janemba is too powerful. You have no chance of winning if you stay here," Son Goku said.

"Kakarot, do you still have some ultimate technique you haven't used yet?"

Son Goku gave a bitter smile and said, "I don't."

In truth, Son Goku still had the Metamor Planet Fusion technique he could use, but Vegeta's current strength was simply too weak.

Furthermore, both of them were severely injured; it was impossible for them to complete the fusion.

Janemba would never give him the chance to finish that complex dance, either.

Vegeta fell silent.

Just then, Janemba picked up a small stick from the ground that had appeared from nowhere.

Immediately, the stick rapidly clicked and reassembled, transforming into a crimson longsword radiating a monstrous aura of blood.

Then, with a single swing, he slashed toward Son Goku and Vegeta.

The pink sword energy sliced through the air, tearing open cracks in the very fabric of space.

Son Goku's pupils contracted; he grabbed Vegeta, dodged to the side, and then threw him away with all his might.

"Aaaah!" Vegeta's cry faded into the distance, no one knew where he had been thrown.

"Hehehe~" Janemba unleashed wave after wave of sword energy at Son Goku.

Son Goku dodged repeatedly, but the sword energy was too dense, and combined with his waning stamina, he was eventually struck in the chest, blood gushing out instantly.

"Sss~"

A wave of intense, searing pain washed over him.

Son Goku nearly lost consciousness.

"Haa!" He flared his energy once more, but there was little left within him.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two energy blasts flew from his hands, slamming toward Janemba.

Janemba didn't even bother to dodge; he slashed out, cutting the two energy blasts clean in half.

Even so, the two energy blasts detonated around him.

But he was simply too powerful, and Son Goku was at the end of his rope; an explosion of this magnitude couldn't harm him in the slightest.

"Hehehe~" Janemba continued to laugh as he stepped out from the thick smoke.

Watching the unscathed Janemba, Son Goku's heart sank to the very bottom.

A desperate situation! An absolute dead end.

Throughout his life of combat, Son Goku had encountered many desperate situations, but every time, he had managed to find a way to survive.

But this time, Son Goku could not imagine how he could possibly turn the tables.

This Janemba was like an invincible demon god.

There was not a shred of hope to be seen; he was powerful and terrifying.

Just then, the energy within his body was finally exhausted, and he reverted from Super Saiyan 3 back to his base form with black hair.

He had only just mastered Super Saiyan 3 and was not yet proficient with it; the burden of forcing its use on his body was simply too great.