Sparring

"What?!"

Hearing himself called an idiot, Majin Buu was about to fly into a rage, but before he could do anything, his whole body suddenly stiffened, freezing in place.

Thud!

His appearance suddenly began to change. The Turtle School gi that had represented Son Gohan's power vanished, replaced by the white cape that represented Piccolo's power.

The next second, purple Demon Clan battle clothes appeared beneath the cape. Then, even all the clothing representing Piccolo's power disappeared.

Buu reverted to his original Super Buu form.

"This is bad!"

His face was full of panic, as though he had foreseen something utterly terrifying.

Not far away, Vegito silently watched the scene unfold. He did not attack Majin Buu, as if waiting for something.

At the same time, inside Buu's body.

Within this strange space formed by Majin Buu's body, An Xiu's body had been compressed to the size of a cell.

His power had also been restrained by a peculiar energy. Of course, such a degree of restriction was negligible to An Xiu; he could break it at any time.

He had deliberately allowed Buu to absorb him.

Just as An Xiu had expected, even without using a protective barrier like Vegito, Buu had no way to absorb him through sheer strength alone.

The gap between them was simply not on the same level. It was like trying to wrap an elephant with a piece of chewing gum—utterly absurd.

After successfully rescuing Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks, and Goten from inside Buu, An Xiu soon found Fat Buu as well—or rather, "Mr. Buu."

Just as he was about to tear off Fat Buu's flesh pod, Super Buu finally realized where the problem lay and arrived inside his own body at the critical moment.

"P-Please, don't pull that thing off!" Watching An Xiu about to tear off Fat Buu's flesh pod, Super Buu's face was filled with terror. "Then I won't be me anymore!"

"Oh? What if I insist?"

Smiling, An Xiu tore the flesh pod off in one swift motion.

Before Super Buu could stop it, he instantly dissolved inside his body into a puddle of sludge.

At the same time, Super Buu's body outside began undergoing a violent transformation. He wailed incessantly, while his aura became extremely violent and unstable.

Knowing the full cause and effect, An Xiu immediately stopped holding back. Grabbing the unconscious Son Gohan and the others, he suddenly erupted with energy, raising his aura to its peak and directly shattering the restriction Buu's body had placed on his power.

—BOOM!!!

The next instant, dazzling green light flashed inside Buu's body, bursting it apart. Countless pink fragments scattered through the sky.

Vegito, who witnessed everything with his own eyes, was somewhat at a loss. He had no idea what An Xiu had done, nor did he understand what had happened.

Looking at the pink chunks floating in the air, Vegito seemed to notice something and suddenly widened his eyes.

—Pfft!

After emerging from Buu's body, An Xiu, who had been only the size of a cell, instantly returned to normal. Gohan and the others, whom he held in his hands, likewise returned to their original sizes.

"Thank you so much!"

Sensing that Gohan and the others were still alive, Vegito let out a long breath.

"You're welcome."

An Xiu slowly descended and laid the unconscious group on the ground. Seeing this, Vegito waved toward Dende, who was watching from afar. "Dende, please come over and heal Gohan, Piccolo, and the others."

After dealing with the aftermath, Vegito turned his gaze toward An Xiu, then slowly shifted it to the fragments of Buu's body that were continuously gathering and healing. There seemed to be... two completely different auras there.

Vegito frowned slightly and raised a hand, gathering a blast of light, intending to eliminate Majin Buu completely.

However, An Xiu stepped in to stop him.

"Hold on."

Shaking his head, An Xiu slowly pressed down Vegito's outstretched palm.

Vegito gave up at those words. Looking at An Xiu, he became even more interested in him, even feeling somewhat impatient to fight him.

A moment later, the scattered fragments of Buu's body gradually gathered into two different Buus.

One was the Fat Buu Vegito had known before, but his aura was completely different—far purer, or rather, entirely devoid of evil energy.

The other was a form of Buu he had never seen before. He was small and hunched over, yet the evil aura around him was far more intense than before, surpassing even Super Buu's.

Naturally, his strength was inferior.

"This guy is..."

Before Vegito could ask what was going on, An Xiu made his move.

With a raised hand, he fired a blast. The massive energy sphere carried Kid Buu straight out of Earth.

It moved incredibly fast. Having only just regained his body and not yet understood the situation, Kid Buu was instantly swallowed up and annihilated by the green energy wave, vanishing into the vast universe along with the enormous energy.

Mr. Buu, who had just recovered his body nearby, stared wide-eyed in shock.

"You two... are you going to attack me too?"

Fat Buu floated in the air, pointing at An Xiu and Vegito. His eyes gradually sharpened as he became wary.

After An Xiu's explanation, Fat Buu finally let go of his hostility and turned to seek out Mr. Satan, who was watching from nearby.

With Fat Buu sent away, An Xiu and Vegito could finally get down to business.

More than finding out where An Xiu came from, what his true identity was, or what his real purpose might be... Vegito now wanted to fight him.

Since the fused personality had been born, Vegito had never imagined that such a powerful Saiyan existed in the universe—one who might even surpass him.

Seeing Vegito's excited expression, An Xiu immediately guessed his intentions—You want to spar with me? That really is just like you, Vegito...

The corners of their mouths lifted slightly. They looked at one another in silence, neither needing to say a word.

On the ground below.

After being healed by Dende, Son Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks, and Goten had regained consciousness and were staring in astonishment at the two figures confronting each other in midair.

"Who are those two?!"

Son Gohan's face was filled with shock. To his senses, the transformed Super Saiyan's ki was unbelievably immense—powerful to an inconceivable degree!

The other three were equally taken aback. In particular, Vegito's presence gave them a vaguely familiar feeling.

Only after Dende explained did they learn that the Super Saiyan in the sky, whose clothes and appearance strongly resembled Goku and Vegeta, was the fusion of the two.

As for the tailed Saiyan beside him, even Dende had no idea where he had come from.

But based on his observations, this suddenly appearing and immensely powerful Saiyan did not seem to be an enemy. After all, he had rescued Son Gohan and the others from inside Buu.

Still, Dende could not make sense of the current situation, much less explain it to Piccolo and the others.

Because from the looks of things, the two in the sky seemed to be facing off and were about to fight.

Dende had thought the two had gotten into some kind of conflict.

But Piccolo and Son Gohan, who understood Goku and Vegeta's personalities, immediately realized what was going on.

Piccolo crossed his arms and stared intently at the sky. "They're planning to spar."

Spar?!

Trunks and Goten froze when they heard those words.

In their normal states, their ability to sense ki was inferior to Piccolo's and Gohan's, so they naturally had no idea just how powerful the Saiyan confronting their fathers was.

But not knowing An Xiu's strength did not mean they did not know their fathers' strength.

Anyone worthy of a sparring match after their fathers had fused had to be extraordinarily powerful.

"That's amazing!"

Trunks stared fixedly at Vegito, his eyes full of admiration, while Goten kept cheering Vegito on beside him.

"Go, Dad!"

"Show that guy what you've got!"

Since they did not know what their fathers were called after fusing, and the two boys had never been particularly formal with them anyway, Trunks and Goten both called Vegito Dad.

"Gohan, who do you think is stronger—you or that suddenly appeared Saiyan?"

Piccolo glanced at Son Gohan.

Son Gohan's expression remained calm as he shook his head. "If he's an opponent my father and Uncle Vegeta chose to spar with even after fusing, then I think he definitely isn't weaker than me."

Piccolo was somewhat surprised, yet it also seemed only natural. He said nothing more and kept his eyes fixed on the sky, unwilling to miss the battle that was about to begin.

Above the heavens, clouds churned as a light breeze swept through the air.

Vegito, facing An Xiu, was not distracted by Trunks and Goten's shouts. He watched An Xiu calmly and made no move to attack first.

"Are you planning to fight me in your normal state?"

Seeing that An Xiu had yet to transform, Vegito suddenly spoke, with a clear trace of displeasure in his tone.

"You mean Super Saiyan?"

An Xiu's tone was calm and confident. "Sorry, I haven't mastered that transformation yet. Of course, I don't need to transform right now. This state is enough to deal with you."

"Heh."

Vegito sneered dismissively. He had seen plenty of arrogant, overconfident people, and he did not take it to heart.

Even though the other man truly was powerful, and the strength he had displayed had once left even Vegito astonished, Vegito did not believe he would be defeated by him.

The word "defeat" had never existed in Vegito's dictionary since the moment he was born.

As the universe's strongest warrior, this pride born of that status was Vegito's absolute confidence. Undefeated was both his conviction and the absolute truth of how he saw himself.

"Since you think your current state is enough to deal with me, then let me see just how strong you really are. Don't disappoint me!"

The instant he finished speaking, Vegito dashed in front of An Xiu. Power surged continuously into his right fist before he drove it fiercely into An Xiu's face.

"—Bam!"

An Xiu was sent flying by the punch, crashing like a meteor into a continental plate beneath the distant sea. The resulting tidal wave soared a thousand meters into the air!

Vegito's punch was not merely a physical attack—it also carried "magic" damage. The enormous ki gathered around his fist flooded into An Xiu's body the instant it made contact.

By An Xiu's estimate, its power was enough to instantly kill Gohan Buu.

It seemed that in the original story, Vegito hadn't merely held back against Gohan Buu—he'd held back an entire Pacific Ocean's worth.

He really thought highly of me...

Within the bedrock ten thousand meters beneath the sea, An Xiu rubbed his slightly aching cheek, somewhat moved.

He hadn't intended to dodge that punch, or even block it. Naturally, the result was exactly as expected—he was sent flying... finally sent flying.

Ever since obtaining the system, he had not enjoyed the thrill of a normal fight for a long time. An Xiu had yearned for it for quite a while, and now he had finally gotten a taste of it.

Still, you didn't hit someone in the face. Even though that punch had dealt zero damage to him, An Xiu was still a little annoyed.

He suddenly shot up from the seafloor and burst through the surface.

High above the sea, Vegito stood with his arms crossed, looking down from above at the churning waters. Seeing An Xiu leap from the sea, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he called out, "Hey, hey, what took you so long? I thought I might've hit too hard and finished you off with that punch!"

With a smile on his face, An Xiu stood atop the water and loosened his limbs, his voice calm. "That punch of yours did have some momentum, but it was only enough to warm me up."

After saying that, he slowly rose into the air until he was at the same height as Vegito.

"The warm-up is over. Now, I'm going to get serious. Let me see just how much strength you really have. Don't disappoint me, Vegito."

An Xiu arrogantly crooked a finger at Vegito, then threw his earlier words right back at him.

"Very well..."

Seeing that his opponent actually dared to provoke him like this, Vegito immediately wiped the smile off his face. Expressionless, he slowly drew the golden aura covering his body back inside himself, suppressing his energy as he entered the Full-Power Super Saiyan form.

"Now, I'm getting serious too."

The instant those words fell, both of them vanished from where they stood.

The next moment, flashes from their collisions continuously flickered across the sky. The sea below became a vacuum under the force of their battle, while the surrounding coastlines endlessly shattered and reformed. The aftershocks of their fight alone altered the terrain for thousands of miles around.

Piccolo and the others watching from afar were dumbfounded. Even Son Gohan could only catch the afterimages produced when the two collided.

No one could make sense of the situation; they could only wait and see...

"Not bad. You can actually keep up with my movements?"

An Xiu and Vegito interlocked their fingers, beginning a contest of strength.

In their earlier exchanges, An Xiu had held a firm advantage, suppressing Vegito so thoroughly that he had not even been given room to catch his breath.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

Although he was at a disadvantage, Vegito showed no sign of conceding—not in spirit, either.

"Haah—!"

He roared again and again as the golden aura he had drawn into his body suddenly surged back out. Countless bolts of lightning coiled around him, crackling loudly.

Vegito transformed into Super Saiyan 2.

He suddenly exerted force and broke free from An Xiu's grip. Then he leaned back and violently planted both feet into An Xiu's abdomen, kicking him high into the sky.

"—Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!"

Vegito fired blasts from both palms. Countless ki bullets slammed into An Xiu, and the resulting smoke and dust blotted out the sky.

The massive mushroom cloud erupting at the center was clearly visible even from outer space.

But it was not over yet. After several dozen seconds of Prince Tactics, Vegito landed back on the ground, his eyes fixed firmly on An Xiu's position.

"Kamehameha Wave!"

He bent forward to gather power, condensing a blue sphere of light between his palms at his waist before thrusting them upward.

"Haaah!"