Golden-haired Goku and green-skinned Piccolo clashed in a flurry of punches and kicks—hundreds, thousands of exchanges in mere moments.
A single one of these blows would have been fatal to anyone else.
Piccolo seized an opening and swung a devastating punch.
Goku dodged backward, flipping through the air in an M-shaped arc before landing at the edge of the stage.
At the same time, Piccolo cracked the arena floor with a stomp and lunged at him.
Goku simply raised a palm.
WHAM!
Piccolo's skull slammed into his hand with enough force to send Goku skidding backward, his feet carving deep trenches into the stage before he was pushed completely off it.
The audience gasped—but then realized the match wasn't over.
Goku stood suspended in midair, perfectly level with the stage, Piccolo's forehead still pressed against his palm. Behind him, mere inches away, was the spectator barrier.
Vegeta found himself staring at the back of a Super Saiyan from point-blank range. His gaze traveled upward—to the shimmering golden hair swaying in the wind.
Piccolo twisted, grabbed Goku's arm, and spun violently before roaring and hurling him skyward—
BOOM!
He erupted with energy and shot after him.
At the same time, Piccolo pressed two fingers to his forehead.
ZZZT!
A condensed, lightning-like energy gathered at his fingertips. After a brief charge, he unleashed it toward Goku, who had stabilized midair.
SHIIING—!
The spiraling energy blast tore through the atmosphere, but Goku remained unfazed. He gathered energy in his palm and, at the last possible moment, slapped the attack away!
WHAP!
The blast veered off-course, dissipating halfway into the distance.
SWOOSH!
Seizing the opening, Piccolo appeared behind Goku and drove a flying knee into his spine.
Goku cried out in pain but used the momentum to flip forward, accelerating as he circled above Piccolo—then slammed a spinning heel kick down onto his skull.
CRACK!
Blood sprayed from Piccolo's nose and mouth as he plummeted.
After falling dozens of meters, he snapped back to focus—only to find Goku had vanished.
His eyes darted around frantically before widening. He swung at empty air—
BOOM!
Goku materialized, their fists colliding with enough force to shake the sky itself.
On the ground, the audience stared up in awe, feeling the earth tremble beneath them. Some pulled out binoculars like the mustached announcer; others zoomed in with their phone cameras. They couldn't see the details, but the bursts of energy scattering across the blue sky looked like a dazzling fireworks display.
The two warriors clashed midair, exchanging thousands of blows in seconds.
Piccolo's energy began to waver, showing signs of exhaustion.
Goku's, however, only burned brighter—as if he grew stronger with every second.
"It's time to decide the winner."
On the ground, Yamiru watched from behind the "Martial Arts" archway, arms crossed.
Chi-Chi and Krillin could only gape, their brains short-circuiting at this level of combat.
Just as Yamiru predicted—
After another earth-shaking collision, Piccolo grabbed Goku by the head and hurled him downward with a roar—
WHOOSH!
Goku cratered into the stage in 0.1 seconds.
As he looked up, he saw Piccolo hovering dozens of meters above, palms pressed together overhead.
A tsunami of energy gathered between them, so dense it warped the air.
"Hey! Over here!" Goku shouted, darting upward—
But Piccolo had already locked on.
He unleashed his full power.
The attack split the heavens, draining color from the sky itself.
A blast capable of erasing a planet swallowed the golden figure whole—
BOOOOOOM!
For a moment, the world fell silent.
Then—
WHOOSH.
Piccolo landed on the ruined stage, panting heavily as he stared at the dissipating smoke above.
The blond announcer and the crowd had long since lost the ability to think, their minds utterly broken.
Raditz and the others, like Piccolo, turned their eyes skyward.
As the smoke cleared—
Tattered and bruised but otherwise unharmed, Goku hovered in place, catching his breath as he calmly met Piccolo's gaze.
"Whew. That was close," he exhaled. "If that had hit the ground, it would've been bad."
"..."
Piccolo's ragged breathing steadied.
Just as Goku readied himself to continue—
The Namekian straightened up and declared loudly, "I forfeit."
"Huh?!" Goku froze midair, stunned.
Raditz scoffed but nodded in agreement. Against Kakarot, who had honed his Super Saiyan power to such heights, forfeiting now was the wisest choice.
"You really are strong," Piccolo said calmly as Goku landed back on the stage. "And I shouldn't have been so arrogant, waiting until the last moment to unlock my potential..."
"Ah," Goku grinned, resting his fists on his hips. "If you get used to that power, you'll be even stronger!"
Piccolo smirked. "Hmph."
"Um… excuse me…" The mustached referee cautiously climbed onto the ruined stage. "So, uh… is Piccolo really conceding?"
"Yes." Piccolo's reply was curt. Then, with a thought, magic enveloped him—a fresh white cape and turban materialized on his body. His eyes glowed with an eerie light, and in the next second, the referee yelped in shock as the shattered stage beneath his feet instantly repaired itself, looking as good as new!
Goku blinked in surprise, but then remembered Piccolo's former role as the Kami and relaxed.
"Let's have a proper rematch sometime," he said cheerfully, turning to leave—only for Piccolo to gesture at him to come closer.
Goku pointed at himself, puzzled, then walked over.
At 180 cm tall, Goku was hardly short, but next to Piccolo's towering 2-meter frame, he still had to look up.
"Didn't he just lose? What's he doing now?" Bulma muttered suspiciously. "Changing his mind?"
"As if!" Tights rolled her eyes.
Piccolo's expression turned stern as he placed a hand on Goku's shoulder. A strange light emanated from his palm, spreading across Goku's entire body.
Almost simultaneously, tiny white sparks—"Zap!"—flashed over the heads of Gine, Raditz, Vegeta, Krillin, Chi-Chi, and even Goku himself. Their expressions shifted in varying degrees of shock.
Through Yamiru's piercing vision, he saw it clearly—the moment Piccolo's hand touched Goku, the barrier between realms was pried open by the Dragon Clan's innate magic. A torrent of draconic energy surged through the rift, flooding into Goku's body…
In just a few breaths, when Piccolo withdrew his hand, Goku's body and energy had been completely restored to peak condition.