Fierce Battle

The Saibaman planted its feet, let out a shriek, and lunged at Yamcha.

Its claws were razor-sharp, a full ten centimeters long, and it was incredibly fast. With a slight push of its feet, it shot dozens of meters forward. Closing in on Yamcha, it swung its claws as its shriek became even more piercing.

Whoosh!

A sharp swishing sound rang out as its claws tore through the air. But the Saibaman suddenly froze. It had sliced through empty air. Just as it eagerly anticipated tearing its enemy apart, Yamcha vanished from before it in an instant!

At that moment, a figure suddenly flashed out behind it and kicked it squarely in the head.

The kick carried tremendous force, sending the Saibaman spinning three times through the air. Even after crashing down, it skidded across the ground for another ten meters before stopping.

"Trash!" Vegeta roared. Raising two fingers, he blew the Saibaman apart with a bang.

Even Nappa could not help breaking out in a cold sweat.

"I told you to go all out! Don't let your guard down!" Vegeta bellowed, pointing at another Saibaman. "You're next. Don't lose again."

The Saibaman he pointed at trembled with fear as it slowly stepped forward.

Yamcha smugly flashed a V sign, then high-fived Krillin as they switched places. "These monsters are no match for us."

"Is that so? Then I'll beat it faster than you did!"

"Haha, give it a try."

"Fine. I'm going in!" Krillin leaped forward and took his stance.

The Saibaman and Krillin locked eyes, and a glint flashed in both their gazes.

Whoosh!

They both vanished before everyone's eyes!

"Ah... they disappeared!" Gohan cried out in alarm.

"Focus and sense their Ki! What did I teach you? How could you not see them?" Piccolo scolded him irritably.

Gohan immediately felt ashamed. He concentrated on sensing the rapidly moving presences, then suddenly lit up. "I see them!"

The moment he spoke, the Saibaman was hurled to the ground. It lay limp and powerless, unable to rise again.

"Trash!" Vegeta struck again, finishing off the barely living Saibaman. "In that instant just now, his Battle Power rose above two thousand!" His eyes sharpened like needles as he looked toward Raditz.

He had realized that the Battle Power of those two Earthlings could change dramatically, and he suddenly began to suspect Raditz. Perhaps eighteen hundred was not Raditz's true strength. Raditz had dared challenge him—could he really possess power enough to rival his own?

Vegeta was uncertain. He sent out the next fighter, wanting to observe once more.

This time, it was Tien Shinhan's turn. The Saibamen had already lost twice, and their morale had plummeted. Seeing Tien Shinhan, this one actually felt a trace of fear.

"Go!" Vegeta urged.

The Saibaman feared Vegeta even more. It could only charge forward with its head down, unleashing all its strength in a flying claw strike. Tien Shinhan neither dodged nor moved, simply standing there.

The instant its claws struck, the Saibaman was overjoyed. But immediately afterward, it sensed that something was wrong. Its claws had missed... the Tien Shinhan before it was only an afterimage!

Taking two steps back, it discovered more than a dozen Tien Shinhans surrounding it, all afterimages created by high-speed movement! It could not tell which was real. Its vision swam as cold sweat poured down its body.

"This can't be right. His Battle Power is eleven hundred and fifty, while the Saibaman's is a full twelve hundred. How is this possible?" Nappa grew anxious. He pressed hard on his Scouter, but Tien Shinhan's Battle Power remained eleven hundred and fifty on the display.

A difference of fifty Battle Power, yet he could toy with the Saibaman like this!

"Nappa, stop trusting the Scouter's readings. They can probably alter their Battle Power at will."

Vegeta finally became certain of his judgment, and his expression turned grim.

In the arena, Tien Shinhan suddenly attacked. More than a dozen afterimages instantly merged into one, and his heavy fist slammed into the Saibaman's abdomen, launching it away as a huge section of its stomach caved in.

"Haha, we won again!"

"That was too easy." Tien Shinhan turned and raised an arm, giving his companions a thumbs-up. Behind him, the Saibaman crashed to the ground with a bang.

"So who's next? Chiaotzu or Gohan?"

As Vegeta and Nappa watched them celebrate and cheer, completely ignoring the two of them, they inexplicably felt humiliated. They had come to toy with these people in the palms of their hands, yet now the other side was casually deciding the order of battle as if playing a game. They had gone to the trouble of invading Earth—could they at least show some respect?

But the Earth's fighters remained gathered together, encouraging Gohan without caring in the slightest about the Saiyans' expressions.

The Saibamen looked at one another in confusion.

"Hurry up and send out the next one!" Vegeta could not help shouting.

Krillin's laughter was loud, and with everyone else making noise, Vegeta's words were quickly drowned out by the commotion. No one paid him any attention. Only Raditz gave him a pitying look. Vegeta's mouth twitched slightly, as though his patience had finally reached its limit.

At last, Gohan stepped forward. His small body flipped several times through the air before landing steadily.

Knowing that its opponent had appeared, the Saibaman attacked without hesitation. Even it could tell that this opponent's presence was clearly weaker than the previous ones.

After going through countless simulated battles, Gohan faced real combat for the first time and felt enormous pressure. But his Saiyan instincts ignited his fighting spirit. Facing the Saibaman, Gohan gathered his courage and calmed his heart.

Sense the Ki... sense the Ki...

He kept replaying the techniques Piccolo had taught him in his mind.

Then inspiration struck, and he caught the Saibaman's movement! It was attacking from the front!

Overjoyed, Gohan released white light brimming with energy from his hands. He fired more than a dozen Kikoho in rapid succession, each curving beautifully from a different angle as they became white rainbows.

A thunderous explosion that shook the wasteland erupted amid the blazing light as the attack struck the Saibaman directly.

In an instant, the numbers on the Scouter changed drastically. This time, Nappa noticed the jumping digits as well, and his face turned livid.

2800!

That little brat actually had such a high Battle Power!

The Saibaman charged onward through the Kikoho. Amid the billowing smoke and flying sand, its body emerged. But under the barrage of energy, it had already been reduced to a skeleton. Bursting through the dust had used up its final strength. It took only a few more steps before collapsing into pieces.

"Could he be Kakarot's child?! Saibamen, keep attacking!"

Vegeta was enraged. A faint sense of foreboding suddenly rose within him.

They could not keep playing around. They had to end this quickly.

"Nappa, finish him!"