Under everyone's watchful eyes, the muscles on Goku's exposed arms visibly "withered"—his body becoming leaner, lighter.
His pupils, eyebrows, and hair all turned a blazing crimson, as if dyed by solar fire.
And just like that, Goku's ki vanished.
A golden-red radiance erupted into the night sky, illuminating the surroundings. The dazzling light and swirling clouds reflected in the stunned eyes of Raditz and Vegeta, who swallowed hard in unison. "This... is the Super Saiyan... God..."
Master Roshi, Bardock, Gine, Krillin, and the others witnessed it firsthand—yet none could pinpoint the exact moment Goku's ki disappeared.
It happened right before their eyes. These were all seasoned martial artists, hyper-sensitive to shifts in energy.
But not a single one could trace where Goku's ki had gone.
Just like they couldn't comprehend Yamiru...
At that moment, a figure wreathed in white light soared into the air, hovering opposite Goku, who was now cloaked in solar gold and crimson.
"..." The newly ascended Super Saiyan God Goku stared at his hands, murmuring, "So this is divine power... incredible."
He looked up.
Across from him, Yamiru floated effortlessly, his black hair drifting as if weightless, bathed in similar white radiance. He grinned.
"See? I wasn't lying."
Goku frowned. "But I still can't sense your ki. And just how strong are you now...?" He clapped his fists together, grinning. "Wanna fight?"
"Pass," Yamiru said, raising a hand. "I'm not a battle-hungry Saiyan. Besides—" He plucked at his freshly cleaned shirt. "I just took a bath. No thanks."
Goku didn't push it. "Alright."
Yamiru descended, his glow fading as he landed. "The fact that you still can't sense my ki means you've only been forcibly elevated to godhood by the ritual. You haven't truly grasped the fundamentals of what makes a god a god yet."
Goku, still shimmering red, touched down beside him, deep in thought.
Bulma rushed over, grabbing Goku's face and turning it side to side. His hair—burned off during the tournament—had fully regrown during the transformation.
"Finally, you're handsome again," she declared, then ran her hands over his newly slender yet still-toned frame, biting her lip. 'Too bad it's not the safe period yet...'
---
Yamiru extinguished his divine aura with ease, leaving no trace—just an untraceable presence.
Goku, however, was hard to miss: fiery red hair, brows, and eyes, wreathed in solar embers. Cool didn't even begin to cover it. Bardock and Gine circled him, fascinated. After testing his godly power, Goku realized—he didn't know how to turn it off.
"Ultra Instinct..." Piccolo muttered from the shadows, watching from afar.
Godhood. Ultra Instinct. His mentor had taught him these paths existed.
The road was open to anyone with the skill to walk it—Yamiru had never hoarded knowledge. But Piccolo had always assumed his innate dragon clan talents, his ability to create miracles like the Dragon Balls, made him special.
Today, he learned some people were born on the path, not at its start.
It wasn't discouragement—just a sobering truth. With a final nod to Yamiru across the flickering lights, Picclo vanished into the night.
Yamiru watched the white cape disappear into the darkness.
---
"It's nothing, really. Just stumbled into a weird place..."
Now that he stood toe-to-toe with a Super Saiyan God, everyone was dying to know where he'd been for six years—and how he'd returned a deity.
Yamiru chuckled. "Time and space worked differently there..."
He felt the past was best left in the past—especially since it had no real connection to the people before him. So instead of spinning some bizarre tale about time-traveling 40,000 years, subduing the Demon King, becoming a savior, and incidentally ascending to godhood... Yamiru decided to loosely adapt the Dragon Ball lore about the Demon Realm, mixing in fragments of his own experiences.
Krillin and Chi-Chi hung on every word, sweating bullets over Yamiru's fictional battles with Demons. Master Roshi, however, wasn't buying it. 'This brat's definitely making this up.'
"As for the method I discovered to become a god..." Yamiru pivoted smoothly.
At this, not just Krillin, Chi-Chi, Yamcha, and Tenshinhan—but Master Roshi, Bardock, Goku, Gine, Raditz, and even Vegeta pricked up their ears, staring intently. Yamiru cleared his throat. Krillin handed him a drink. Yamiru frowned. Yamcha materialized a hot towel out of nowhere and presented it with reverence...
"I'm not stalling," Yamiru said dryly. "It's just... not something I can explain in a few words. That said, there is a little trick—though I'm not sure you'd call it a shortcut." He glanced at Krillin and the others, amused. "But to learn it? You'd probably need to die first. Preferably in a way that gets you into Heaven."
"Huh?!" Krillin and Yamcha gaped. This was not what they'd expected.
Chiaotzu murmured, "Heaven after death... really exists?"
"..." Chi-Chi's jaw dropped as she whirled to look at her master. Gine blinked, then laughed. "Of course there's an afterlife! Bardock and I came back from there, remember? And after I became Kami..." She smirked, recalling her visit to the Underworld. (The look on King Yemma's face when a former hell-dweller like her waltzed in as Earth's new deity? Priceless.)
"King Yemma?" Krillin, Yamcha, and Tenshinhan exchanged glances. "What's he look like?"
Gine tapped her chin. "Hmm... kind of like Chi-Chi's dad, I guess?"
The group—Chi-Chi included—immediately pictured a horned, barrel-chested man with "Yemma" written across his belly.
Yamiru grinned. "The Dragon Balls can give you all one free resurrection! But if you want Heaven access..." His gaze swept over them. Even Goku wouldn't qualify—his afterlife destination was likely neither Heaven nor Hell. "You'd better start racking up some good deeds now."
'Once they've earned enough merit, Gine can confirm their eligibility. Then they can kick the bucket, head to the Underworld, keep their bodies, train in the Genki Dama on King Kai's planet, and wish themselves back...' Yamiru mused over the logistics.
Master Roshi and the others sweatdropped. "Was this plan seriously the best he had?" Krillin groaned. "i wasn't even married yet! I don't want to die."
"HAHAHA!" The group roared with laughter at the flustered bald monk.
Bulma's laughter faded as she noticed her sister's expression.
Tights stood frozen, watching Yamiru chat and joke with the others. Her throat bobbed. Tears welled, spilling over before she could stop them. Spotting Bulma's gaze, Tights forced a smile, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. She pressed a finger to her lips: 'Shhh.'
---
The Next Day
The group prepared to gather the Dragon Balls.
"Wait, you can't transform into a Super Saiyan God on your own?" Yamiru stared at Goku in disbelief.