A God's Surprise, an Angel's Gaze!

In his powerful, muscular red-furred ape form, Son Goku carried terrifying energy in his every movement. Even through the crystal ball, the tremendous power radiating from Super Saiyan 4 Son Goku could be felt.

"Wh... what is this?!"

"Could this be a Super Saiyan too?!"

Kibito Kai stared dumbfounded at Son Goku in his Super Saiyan 4 form. In this form, he no longer looked human.

Just then, Son Goku seemed to notice his gaze through the crystal ball. Whether deliberately or not, he raised his head and met his eyes.

They merely exchanged a glance, yet it placed immense pressure on Kibito Kai and filled him with a fear that came from the depths of his soul.

"This certainly is a Super Saiyan. I never expected him to reach this stage..." Old Kai murmured, a hint of significant gravity appearing on his face as he thought to himself, The appearance of the Saiyans from the ultra-ancient era... I never expected to see it again in Son Goku today.

As the Supreme Kai from fifteen generations ago, his horizons were far broader than those of the current Supreme Kai.

Yet even he did not know whether to be wary or pleased to see Son Goku reach this stage.

Was the appearance of a power from the ultra-ancient era in the present age a good thing or a bad thing?

In a dimensional world of an even higher order.

A towering temple stood at the center of the dimension, its scale even greater than that of the Sacred World of the Kai.

This was the God of Destruction Realm.

It was home to the supreme god of the current universe, the God of Destruction Beerus, as well as a being who had transcended the level of life itself: an angel!

Ever since the God of Destruction Beerus had fallen asleep, the angel Whis had been the caretaker of the God of Destruction Realm.

As angels, their lifespans were endless, and they had experienced countless cycles. Time was nothing more than a number to them.

With nothing else to do, the angel Whis was eating dessert while using his staff to observe events in the universe and pass the idle hours.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz!!" Suddenly, the black magic orb atop Whis's staff received a message and flashed with a turquoise light.

"Hm?" Surprise appeared on Whis's face.

Generally speaking, signals received by the staff on its own concerned major events in the universe.

For example, the emergence of an exceptionally powerful warrior in the lower realm.

Curious, Whis opened the message his staff had received.

The black magic orb projected an image of Super Saiyan 4 Son Goku on the asteroid.

"Isn't he the Saiyan who defeated Frieza?!" After confirming the red-furred monkey's identity, Whis looked surprised.

He had not expected the Saiyan to have grown this powerful in just a few short years. With this power, he was among the strongest in the entire universe, few enough to count on one hand.

But the surprise on Whis's face was soon replaced by a significant gravity.

"This world... has been changed," Whis said gravely.

As an angel, his level of existence had already transcended even this world.

He knew the past, saw through the future, and was omnipotent.

According to the world's original course, Son Goku should have remained at Super Saiyan Third Grade for the next few years. He should not have entered this form.

One could even say that this form should not exist in this world.

Still, now that Son Goku had grown even stronger, he had raised the universe's average level by a whole tier.

In a sense, that was a good thing.

"Hm? Has he already reached such a level of power?" Surprise appeared on Whis's face.

In the projection, Son Goku was looking directly in his direction, whether deliberately or not.

Seeing this, Whis glanced toward the God of Destruction's sleeping quarters, seemingly without thinking.

This era had changed. Perhaps after Lord Beerus, the God of Destruction, awoke in the future, he would meet someone who could give him an enjoyable time.

The lower realm.

On the asteroid.

Super Saiyan 4 Son Goku stood where he was, his sharp gaze sweeping across the boundless darkness of the night sky.

After completing his transformation into Super Saiyan 4, his level of life had been elevated. His strength, speed, perception, defense-everything had improved.

He vaguely sensed that a very unusual gaze was watching him from somewhere.

"This feeling... is it King Kai or Old Kai? No... it's not them..."

"But if it isn't them, who could it be?"

Super Saiyan 4 Son Goku's expression grew grave.

He could not shake the feeling that the world he had been reborn into was not quite the same as the one he had known.

Was it just his imagination?

With countless thoughts running through his mind, Son Goku pondered for a moment before refocusing and casting all distractions aside.

He willingly ended his Super Saiyan 4 transformation.

"After completing the Super Saiyan 4 transformation, my power has increased again..." Son Goku clenched his fists, feeling the restless power of his bloodline within his body, and was very satisfied.

Now, every cell in his body seemed to have been activated, brimming with powerful energy.

His combat power in his normal state alone was nearly twice what it had been before he became a Super Saiyan 4.

His objective accomplished, it was time for him to leave.

He placed two fingers of his right hand against his forehead, rapidly expanded his perception, and locked onto an aura on Earth. With a thought, he returned to Earth.

Earth.

On Mount Paozu.

By now, Chi-Chi had built up quite a bit of anger.

Son Goku had vanished halfway through work again. Without even having to think about it, she knew he had surely gone off to train with King Kai again.

Household expenses were already enormous, and without working hard, they would not even have enough to eat. Now Son Goku kept skipping work, which made Chi-Chi even angrier.

The brothers Son Gohan and Son Goten stood off to the side, watching Chi-Chi radiate a terrifying aura. They did not dare interrupt and abandoned any thought of putting in a good word for Son Goku.

In this situation, all they could do was silently pray for Son Goku, hoping their dad could get through this ordeal.

And just then, Son Goku, having only just completed his breakthrough, returned to Earth through Instant Transmission, appearing right beside Chi-Chi.

"Chi-Chi, I'm back." Son Goku greeted her instinctively, but when she turned her head, he immediately sensed trouble. The hairs all over his body stood on end, and cold sweat ran down his face.

"You! Actually! Dare! Come! Back!" Chi-Chi shouted, each word heavy.

Hearing that, Son Goku instinctively swallowed, feeling that things had taken a very bad turn.

He had just remembered that his self in this world had quietly left Earth and gone to King Kai's Planet to train.

I'm done for. The way things look... I'm afraid I can't get out of this.

"Well... Chi-Chi... listen to me... I can explain..." Son Goku had intended to defend himself, but the light that flashed in Chi-Chi's eyes made him shut his mouth at once.

At a time like this, explaining was just another way of covering things up.