Kakarot, Who is Even 50/50

Son Goku looked over once more. He truly could not fathom Gohan's current state, so he could not help but ask.

"By the way, Gohan, your strength should be above Vegeta's now, but I have a feeling there is more to you than that."

"Does the Kaio-ken really help you?"

For the original Gohan, the Kaio-ken would have been useless, because his strongest form was the Ultimate Gohan state—a base form that required no transformation, having already unlocked his full potential.

But now, having mastered Ultra Instinct, the Kaio-ken was of great help to him.

He curled his lip, a playful look on his face: "Father, the Kaio-ken boosts me significantly. If I can master it, I might actually be able to compare myself to you!"

This took Son Goku by surprise. He could sense that Gohan was not bluffing.

Moreover, Gohan said this after knowing he could transform into a Super Saiyan 3!

Could a single Kaio-ken really provide such a massive boost?

He himself was currently limited to a 20-fold Kaio-ken; anything beyond that placed too much strain on his body, and the gains in combat power were marginal.

Yet, a 20-fold Kaio-ken combined with the Super Saiyan 3 transformation—the cumulative power of that would be staggering!

But Gohan claimed he could surpass that. How?

Could a Super Saiyan 2 transformation plus the Kaio-ken really exceed him?

Son Goku's interest was piqued, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, is that so? Gohan, I look forward to seeing it. In a little while, I'll teach you the Kaio-ken!"

Gohan nodded, his gaze sweeping over to notice an alien spaceship not far away.

It was Babidi's ship, which had long since landed on Earth to locate the sealed Majin Buu and begin the process of breaking the seal.

Vegeta waited on the spot for Son Goku, Gohan, and the East Supreme Kai to arrive.

Only then did he lead them into the ship.

The East Supreme Kai remained deeply anxious; he had vaguely sensed that Majin Buu's resurrection would be impossible to stop.

Upon entering, they found the ship to be vast, with layers of space extending downward.

Each level was guarded.

The first level was home to Pui Pui, an alien who lived in 10x gravity and was somewhat similar to Frieza.

He was waiting for their arrival.

"If you want to stop Lord Babidi, you will all die before me!"

This piece of trash, whose combat power couldn't even compare to Frieza's, wore a savage grin.

Gohan was speechless. Babidi's servants, including that King of the Demon Realm, were all garbage!

These small fries were not even worth looking at.

Before he could even make a move, Vegeta stepped forward and engaged the creature in combat.

Son Goku wore a look of regret.

"Vegeta beat me to it. Damn it, I wanted to try it out!"

Gohan had no interest in dealing with such a minor monster and spoke to Son Goku.

"Father, can you teach me the Kaio-ken now?"

He was desperate to get his hands on the technique, as even after acquiring it, it would take time to develop it to 100% efficiency.

Son Goku was in no rush, saying casually: "Haha, Gohan, wait a bit. When we see the next opponent, I'll teach you slowly."

Watching Son Goku's relaxed demeanor, Gohan felt a bit speechless. Kakarot loved to underestimate his enemies.

This wasn't the first time!

The East Supreme Kai, watching the two converse while Vegeta fought nearby, could no longer hold back.

"You two, stop chatting. Vegeta might not be a match for that monster alone. Let's all fight together."

Only the East Supreme Kai was worried that Vegeta would lose!

But for Vegeta to lose? How could that be possible?

Even if Majin Buu were to emerge, Vegeta had the strength to put up a fight; these common minions were no match for him at all.

From start to finish, the battle was a total rout by Vegeta.

In less than five minutes, the fight was over.

Vegeta finished it quickly, showing no mercy as he obliterated the creature.

The East Supreme Kai's jaw dropped, while Gohan and Son Goku followed Vegeta into the second level with complete indifference.

As they entered the second level, Son Goku still looked restless.

It was clear he had been itching for a fight all along.

"Vegeta, you stole the guy on the first level. This one on the second level has to be mine."

"Gohan, wait a moment. I'm going to teach you the Kaio-ken, just watch closely!"

With that, he rubbed his hands together, cracked his knuckles, and stepped into the second level.

They encountered the second monster, an alien warrior capable of devouring various forms of energy.

This time, Son Goku intended to teach Gohan the Kaio-ken, so he led with a 2x Kaio-ken!

Without the Super Saiyan transformation, the Kaio-ken emitted a faint red glow.

It was a technique that boosted one's potential and burned through Ki to increase movement speed and combat power!

In a base state, the 2x Kaio-ken provided a twofold increase in combat power.

Of course, the effect was different when applied after a transformation!

It wouldn't provide a flat 2x increase; when used with Super Saiyan 1, it was more like a 1.5x boost. Therefore, a 20x Kaio-ken in the Super Saiyan 1 state didn't even amount to a 10x increase in combat power!

The scaling was different when applied to Super Saiyan 3 as well!

This was the Kaio-ken unique to Son Goku. Starting with the base-state Kaio-ken, Son Goku immediately locked into a struggle with the alien warrior before him.

The two were actually evenly matched.

Kakarot truly lived up to his reputation for always ending up in a 50/50 stalemate!

No matter who Kakarot fought, it was always a toss-up; he grew stronger against the strong and weaker against the weak!

He could end up fighting a minor grunt just as intensely as he would a boss.

Gohan shook his head, ignoring Kakarot, who was trading blows with the minion, and focused instead on observing the state of his Kaio-ken transformation.

Grasping the essence would take some time!

Having inherited Kakarot's bloodline, he was certainly capable of mastering the Kaio-ken.

Sure enough, watching Kakarot cycle from the 2x Kaio-ken up to the 20x Kaio-ken, Gohan finally caught onto the trick. He took a deep breath, felt the red aura shifting around Kakarot, and began to accumulate his own Ki.

Insight successful, acquired Kaio-ken, training progress 1%!

Good, he had finally mastered this divine technique. With 1% progress, he could now directly activate the 2x Kaio-ken.

He couldn't help but feel that training the Kaio-ken was slower than other abilities.

This divine technique was incredibly difficult to practice; the two skills he had learned from Kakarot were both notoriously hard to master.

After he grasped the Kaio-ken, Kakarot used the Super Saiyan 1 transformation combined with the Kaio-ken to finally defeat the giant monster before them!

Because he had underestimated the monster's strength, Kakarot was clearly exhausted this time.

Vegeta, standing to the side, couldn't help but sneer.

"Kakarot, you really are as childish as ever!"

Kakarot laughed, scratching his head, and could only brush it off: "Sorry, sorry! I didn't expect this guy to be so troublesome!"

Vegeta snorted, clearly annoyed by Kakarot's personality. He knew Kakarot was hiding his true strength.

Especially the combat power Kakarot had unleashed on the arena floor earlier, which had forced him to his knees instantly.

His own Ki had been low at the time, but the power Kakarot had erupted with was absolutely staggering!

It was far more formidable than what he had shown just now. Vegeta deeply resented Kakarot's constant holding back.

This guy was too much!

He clearly possessed strength far beyond his own, yet he refused to show it—it was enough to drive him mad.

Moreover, Gohan, Kakarot's son, was training relentlessly, and his strength was actually catching up to his own!

After the fight, Vegeta began to take Gohan seriously.

He glanced at Gohan, curled his lip, and spoke up.

"The next fight should be Gohan's turn, right? Hmph, I'd like to see what this kid looks like when he fights someone else."

Kakarot patted Gohan on the shoulder, looking encouraging.

"Gohan, do your best!"

Gohan rolled his eyes at the two of them. Majin Buu was about to be resurrected, and yet these two were still so naive.

Soon, the three continued downward, this time to the third level.

Seeing that things were going wrong, Babidi sent out his strongest subordinate, the Demon Realm King Dabura, to intercept them.

Once they reached the third level, Dabura, having finished elevating his Ki, stood before them.

It was obvious that Vegeta and Kakarot sensed the difference in their opponent's Ki, and both men frowned.

Their expressions turned grave.

"Hmph, I didn't expect Gohan's opponent to be the strongest one of the lot. This kid really has rotten luck."

For once, Vegeta felt a shred of sympathy for the boy, even though Dabura's Ki was formidable.

Yet he had the strength to finish Dabura, not to mention Gohan, who was already above him.

A single Dabura was not worth looking at!

Off to the side, Kakarot held his head with one hand, his face full of frustration: "Ah, what a miscalculation. If I had known, I wouldn't have fought that guy earlier."

"The guy in front of us is actually quite formidable. If only it were me instead; Gohan, you'd better give it your all!"

Gohan cast an amused glance at Kakarot, his expression calm as he said, "Father, do you really think this guy is formidable?"

Dabura, the King of the Demon Realm, was nothing but a piece of trash with a combat power of 5.

How could he be considered formidable?

This was garbage that Majin Buu had killed in a single instant!

Was Kakarot truly addicted to praising everyone he met?

To actually call the opponent formidable?

Listening to the three of them chat, the East Supreme Kai's face turned ugly and pale; after all, the opponent was the King of the Demon Realm.

The East Supreme Kai's expression shifted again as he tried to persuade them: "Everyone, don't be so reckless. This is the King of the Demon Realm, the king who rules over the entire demon race."

"Dabura's combat power is terrifying. How about we... how about we fight him together?"

Hearing the East Supreme Kai suggest fighting together yet again, Gohan waved his hand, losing his patience.

"Supreme Kai, this guy's combat power is complete trash; he's just a little stronger than the small fry."

"A piece of trash with a combat power over a hundred million—I can end this fight in one second!"

The East Supreme Kai's eyes widened, unable to believe what Gohan had said. End the fight in one second?

Beside him, Kakarot's eyes flashed with light, eager to see how Gohan would finish it in one second.

Vegeta stood to the side with his arms crossed, ready to watch the show, and sneered: "Kid, don't talk big. Even for me, it would take about a minute!"