"What do you mean by that? Are you saying I falsely accused you?! You evil outsider! If you hadn't come here, our Planet Namek wouldn't have fallen into this crisis." Nail was deeply offended by what Vegeta had said.
At this point, Nail had already decided that Vegeta was a villain through and through. Anything Vegeta said was just an excuse, a lie.
Vegeta didn't care what Nail thought of him. He calmly continued, "I may not be a good person, but I won't take the blame for something I didn't do! It was Frieza and his men who invaded Planet Namek. Frieza's men killed your people, not me. What does that have to do with me? Besides, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We should be on the same side."
"What did you say?" Nail frowned and asked again in disbelief. "Impossible! You're lying!"
Nail unleashed his full aura, and the resulting gale seemed capable of crushing everything in its path.
Yet even under such an overwhelming show of power, Vegeta wasn't the least bit afraid.
"Don't think I explained myself to avoid a fight! If you want to fight, then let's fight!" His expression changed. Vegeta clenched his fists, crouched slightly, and unleashed his own aura.
He'd started preparing back on the way here. Good thing he'd had the foresight to do so.
There was no avoiding this fight!
The Grand Elder inside didn't intervene, which meant Vegeta would have to show his true strength if he wanted to meet him.
As for trying to win favor with clever words or begging for peace, Vegeta wouldn't stoop to that.
As his power surged, Vegeta's battle power rose rapidly. The Scouter over his eye flashed continuously as the reading climbed from 20,000 to 45,000!
Was that all his strength?
No!
Vegeta was still holding back. He figured this much power was enough.
Nail was clearly shocked by Vegeta's strength, but as the strongest Namekian warrior, he wasn't about to be intimidated.
He wouldn't have backed down even against Vegeta as he was now. In the original story, he hadn't backed down even when facing Frieza's 530,000 battle power. That showed just how strong his resolve and courage were.
"Hmph! Your aura reeks of bloodshed. Even if you really didn't hurt my people, you must have some sinister purpose!" Nail grunted, taking a fighting stance and charging straight at Vegeta.
Vegeta rolled his eyes, raised a hand to block Nail's punch, then used the force of the impact to deliberately retreat into the air.
If their fight accidentally affected the Grand Elder, that would be bad.
In the original story, the Grand Elder's early death was partly caused by Frieza frightening him.
"I already told you I'm no good person, so you don't need to judge me! If you want to fight, then get on with it. Why waste time talking? Trying to show off your sense of justice?"
After taunting him, Vegeta raised a hand and formed an energy blast, firing it at Nail as he charged straight toward him.
Nail deflected the blast with the back of his hand, sending it crashing into a distant island.
The explosion sent wave after wave surging outward. Neither Nail nor Vegeta was affected, and the battle began in earnest.
They traded blows, neither giving an inch.
For Vegeta, Nail was indeed a decent opponent. This was the first time Vegeta had fought at this level.
The only battle in Vegeta's original body's experience that came close was his fight against Kakarot.
Nail was impressive, but unfortunately, his fighting ability fell far short of his power.
Nail, meanwhile, was under tremendous pressure. He considered himself powerful and had constantly honed his fighting skills, yet Vegeta countered him at every turn. No matter how he attacked, Vegeta found a way to neutralize his moves.
At first, it was hard to tell who had the advantage.
But as the fight went on, the gap in their abilities gradually became clear.
Put simply, Nail's combat experience was nowhere near Vegeta's.
Vegeta had spent years fighting and honing his skills. Though most of his experience came from crushing weaker opponents, he had at least been in battle constantly.
Nail was powerful, but he relied on the strength bestowed by the Grand Elder. He'd been born with great battle power and had spent his whole life on Planet Namek.
He might have fought his people, but those encounters had been little more than sparring matches.
Having spotted an opening, Vegeta stopped holding back.
Grinning, he swung a punch past Nail's guard and slammed it into his chest.
The blow sent Nail flying backward. Without hesitation, Vegeta launched a fierce assault.
"You're done. Now it's my turn!" Vegeta shouted. In an instant, his fists and feet became a blur as he attacked Nail from head to toe.
His relentless attacks were so fast and powerful that Nail couldn't defend himself. He had no way to fight back.
If his battle power hadn't been 42,000, Vegeta would have beaten him half to death by now.
Vegeta had indeed held back. He finally stopped after slamming Nail into an island with a heavy punch.
Hovering in the air, Vegeta looked down at the billowing clouds of dust.
"I know you won't go down that easily. If that's all you've got, then I really overestimated you," Vegeta called out.
His voice carried down, and in an instant, it stirred up a storm.
Nail's aura burst forth, scattering the dust. He shot back into the sky and stopped in front of Vegeta once more.
After their exchanges, Nail's attitude had changed considerably.
"Why did you hold back? You could have killed me just now," Nail demanded.
"You should be grateful I had no intention of killing you," Vegeta replied arrogantly.
"What are you after?!" Nail frowned. He was just about to move when a sharp pain shot through his arm, stopping him in his tracks. He clutched it with his other hand.
The damage from the earlier blow had left his entire arm numb.
Although Namekians' bodies were built differently from those of ordinary beings, severe injuries caused them even greater pain.
Unless they regenerated a severed limb!
That was a technique Namekians commonly used.
Sure enough, Nail did the same. He yanked off his arm and regrew a new one.
Vegeta wasn't surprised, but he had lost any desire to play around with Nail.
"You're strong, but you're still far weaker than I am. If we keep fighting, you'll only humiliate yourself."
"Hmph! You think I've shown you everything I've got?!" Nail shouted.
The atmosphere grew oppressive once more. Just as Nail was about to attack again, a voice rang out, stopping him in his tracks.