Super Saiyan Ape

He was a little ugly, sure, but the tenfold increase in battle power was real.

Still, looking at the two tails dangling between his legs made Son Gohan's scalp prickle.

Fortunately, there was hardly anyone on Mount Paozu in the middle of the night.

Otherwise, he would have died of embarrassment.

"Roar, roar!"

Son Gohan imitated King Kong, roaring twice and pounding his chest with both hands like a lunatic.

It was officially goofball time.

But after just a few thumps, Son Gohan's expression turned serious.

He hadn't turned into a black-furred Great Ape tonight just for fun. He had another purpose.

The enormous black-furred Great Ape looked up at the moon and clenched both fists.

Then he threw back his head and roared.

"Aaaaaah!"

Surging waves of energy rippled outward from the black Great Ape, rushing in every direction.

The clouds overhead began to churn.

In an instant, fierce winds swept back, and the surrounding forest rustled.

Then the entire Earth began to tremble faintly.

Son Gohan's Ki climbed wildly. His black fur took on a metallic sheen and began turning golden.

Meanwhile,

At Capsule Corporation in West City.

Trunks jolted awake, his face filling with horror.

Ki-an incredibly powerful Ki was washing over him.

"Is this Gohan's Ki? What on earth happened? This Ki is terrifying!"

He leaped out of bed, got dressed, and rushed out the door.

Deep in the vast mountains near South City.

Android 16, who had been planting trees through the night, turned toward Mount Paozu near East City.

"Son Gohan... such tremendous battle power."

He fell silent for a moment, then lowered his head and continued planting trees.

It was as though nothing else had anything to do with him.

In a higher plane of the Dragon Ball world.

The Sacred Land of the Gods, the Supreme Kai Planet!

Supreme Kai Shin suddenly raised his head, his pupils contracting sharply as shock spread across his face.

Kibito noticed the Supreme Kai's strange reaction and asked, "Lord Supreme Kai, what's wrong?"

A bead of sweat rolled down the Supreme Kai's forehead. "Ki. An incredibly powerful Ki just erupted."

"What? Ki?"

Kibito's eyes widened too. Now that the Supreme Kai had mentioned it, he could feel an absurdly powerful Ki reaching the Sacred Land from the Mortal Realm.

Disbelief covered his face as he stammered in shock, "H-how is that possible? Someone's Ki actually reached the Sacred Land? Who could this person be?"

Then the Supreme Kai and Kibito exchanged looks, the same terrible possibility occurring to both of them.

"Could it be..."

"Could it be Majin Buu?"

"That direction... isn't that where Majin Buu is sealed?"

"Heavens, has Majin Buu awakened?"

"No, no." The Supreme Kai shook his head and continued, "This isn't Majin Buu's Ki. I remember his Ki being different."

"And this Ki is actually considerably stronger than Majin Buu's. Who in the world is this?"

A whole parade of expressions passed across the Supreme Kai's face.

Then he said to Kibito, "Kibito, come on. Let's go to the Mortal Realm and take a look."

"Yes, Lord Supreme Kai," Kibito answered. He placed a hand on the Supreme Kai's shoulder, and with a whoosh, they both vanished.

On Mount Paozu.

Son Gohan had transformed into a Golden Great Ape, golden fur covering his entire body.

A golden aura surged around him, his overwhelmingly powerful Ki spreading throughout the Four Galaxies.

A Super Saiyan Great Ape!

This was the form achieved by transforming into a Super Saiyan on top of the Great Ape Transformation.

Battle power × 10 × 50!

A five-hundredfold increase!!!

Feeling the immense power inside him, Son Gohan grew excited.

He remembered it perfectly.

Super Saiyan 3 only increased one's power to four hundred times their base level.

Yet this form had already reached a five-hundredfold increase.

That was a whole hundred times more.

He might have turned into a hideously ugly Great Ape, but the power was truly tremendous.

Son Gohan murmured, "I wonder if I can transform even further. If I can go Super Saiyan 2, that would make it a thousandfold increase. Whew, that's terrifying!"

Son Gohan sucked in a sharp breath, doing his own small part for the cause of global warming.

No sooner thought than done.

He stirred up his Ki, preparing to push into Super Saiyan 2.

"Aaaaaah!"

"Bzzzt!"

His thick golden tail twitched, and Son Gohan's fur stood on end as though he'd been electrocuted.

His whole body tingled, but his power showed no noticeable increase.

What was going on?

Just then,

A figure descended from the sky. Trunks had arrived.

Trunks stared dumbfounded at Son Gohan, who had turned into a Golden Great Ape.

"G-Gohan?" he stammered. "How did you end up like this?"

This was his first time seeing Son Gohan in Great Ape form.

If not for the familiar Ki coming from Son Gohan, Trunks wouldn't have dared recognize him.

Wasn't this change a little too drastic?

Before Son Gohan could answer, realization dawned on Trunks. "Right, the moon! It's the moon, isn't it?"

As he spoke, he tilted his head up toward the sky.

"Uh..."

Son Gohan swallowed the explanation he had been about to give.

At the same time.

Two figures flashed into existence nearby.

The Supreme Kai and Kibito had arrived too.

Although neither of them gave off any fluctuations in Ki, Son Gohan's senses were incredibly sharp now.

The moment they appeared, Son Gohan detected their arrival.

Then he looked their way.

Suddenly faced with a pair of blood-red eyes as large as lanterns, the Supreme Kai and Kibito recoiled a full step in fright.

Perhaps feeling that this undermined their divine dignity, they forced themselves to stop after that one step.

Kibito stepped in front of the Supreme Kai protectively and asked with a frown, "Lord Supreme Kai, what race is this?"

The Supreme Kai racked his brain for a few seconds before saying solemnly, "If I'm not mistaken, this is a Saiyan, one of that warrior race."

Just then.

A thunderous roar interrupted their conversation.

"Aaaaaah!"

Trunks's body twisted and changed wildly, and he too became an enormous black-furred Great Ape.

Now before the Supreme Kai stood one Golden Great Ape and one black-furred Great Ape.

Both Great Apes were immensely intimidating.

Kibito rested a hand on the Supreme Kai, looking ready to teleport away at any moment.

In perfect unspoken agreement, they both swallowed and stared silently at Son Gohan and Trunks.

Son Gohan also watched Trunks warily now that he had transformed into a Great Ape.

He still didn't know whether Trunks could retain his reason after the Great Ape Transformation.

If Trunks really went berserk, Son Gohan had already picked out where to strike to knock him unconscious.

Just then, the black-furred Great Ape Trunks turned toward Son Gohan.

"Gohan, I... I seem to have turned into a monster too," he said in a deep, rumbling voice. "Only my color's a little different from yours."

Hearing Trunks speak, Son Gohan breathed a sigh of relief.

Good, good. No need for a cheap shot.

Son Gohan laughed. "Hahaha! Congratulations, Trunks. You can still keep your reason after turning into a Great Ape. That's the blood of the Saiyan Royal Family for you. Hmm, you're pretty well-endowed too."

As he spoke, his eyes flicked toward Trunks's lower body.

"Aah!" Trunks cried, hastily covering his crotch. "You're one to talk, Gohan! Yours is twice as big as mine!"

"Hahahaha!" Son Gohan roared with laughter.

"Let's get out of here. There are two perverts over there peeping at us. They're making my hair stand on end."

"Gohan, we're both already covered in hair."

Son Gohan: "..."