The revelation hit Raditz like a freight train.
Goku Black hadn't simply stolen another warrior's body—he'd traveled across the multiverse, gathering every version of Zamasu from countless timelines and merging them into a singular, terrifying entity. Because they were all the same being, their fusion didn't just add power—it multiplied it exponentially, creating something far beyond the sum of its parts.
No wonder this monster could stand toe-to-toe with him. This wasn't just some corrupted deity playing with stolen Saiyan strength. This was a being who'd transcended the limitations of singular existence itself.
"Hahahaha! You finally understand!" Goku Black's voice dripped with arrogance as his face twisted into a grotesque smile. "This is my true power—the culmination of divine perfection across infinite worlds!"
Raditz's eyes narrowed dangerously, his aura crackling with barely restrained energy. "Your power is impressive, I'll give you that. But you're still just borrowing someone else's body." He smirked, a confident gleam in his eyes. "You may have Kakarot's cells, but you don't know the first thing about actually using them like a true Saiyan!"
Without warning, Raditz thrust his hand forward, and the very earth responded to his will. A massive sandstorm erupted from the devastated landscape, a churning wall of rock and debris that blocked out the sky itself. The grinding, razor-sharp winds screamed as they carved through the air, bearing down on Goku Black with the force of a natural disaster.
"Ha!" Goku Black extended one hand almost casually, his palm meeting the storm head-on. The sheer pressure of his energy created an invisible barrier that deflected the maelstrom. But his eyes flickered—a split-second tell that gave away his next move.
In that instant, he spun around and lashed out with devastating force.
Raditz's Instant Transmission had carried him directly behind his opponent, but the surprise that flashed across his face betrayed his miscalculation. Damn it. He'd forgotten that Zamasu possessed the same technique, and Goku Black's body still retained its muscle memory. The corrupted deity had sensed his approach and reacted with frightening speed.
BOOM!
Their fists and feet collided in a thunderous explosion of kinetic force. The shockwave flattened the ground beneath them for miles in every direction, and reality itself seemed to shudder from the impact. Cracks spiderwebbed through the fabric of space around their point of contact.
"Fast enough to keep up, I see!" Raditz's voice rang out with savage excitement. "But your strength—that's a different story!"
Orange flames of godly ki erupted around Raditz's body like a solar flare. He channeled a deeper reservoir of power, his muscles bulging as raw energy coursed through every cell. The force overwhelmed Goku Black's defenses entirely, shattering through his guard.
CRACK!
The sickening sound of breaking bones echoed across the battlefield. Goku Black was sent hurtling backward, his body carving a straight line through the air before crashing into the earth with catastrophic force. The impact created a crater that plunged dozens of meters deep, dust and debris fountaining into the darkened sky.
"Impressive... truly impressive..." Goku Black lay sprawled on his back in the gray, earthen pit, staring up at the roiling storm clouds above. Despite everything, a wild grin spread across his face. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "Heh... heh heh..."
So close. Just a little more.
His current power had reached the realm of Super Saiyan Blue—divine ki flowing through mortal cells—but it still wasn't enough to bridge the gap. Raditz's Super Saiyan 4 God form existed on an entirely different plane. They'd been fighting for what felt like hours, and while Raditz bore only superficial scratches, Goku Black's body was covered in wounds, his stamina draining rapidly.
But he hadn't exhausted all his options yet. Not even close. A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes.
Meanwhile, the human survivors erupted in celebration. They'd witnessed Goku Black's defeat, seen him driven into the ground like a ragdoll. For the first time in this endless nightmare, hope surged through their hearts.
The soldiers in raucous cheering. Though their voices couldn't penetrate the hurricane-force winds generated by the godly battle, they shouted anyway, pouring their hearts into every word.
"Seems we may have... underestimated our opponent slightly," Zamasu remarked with unsettling calm as he traded blows with Trunks. He spared a glance toward the distant crater but showed no real concern for his fallen ally.
Trunks's fist crashed into that smug, immortal face with all the fury he could muster. "You're finished! Both of you will be erased from existence!"
"Hahahaha..." Zamasu took a single step backward, the blow having done nothing more than twist his head at an unnatural angle. With deliberate slowness, he reached up and straightened his neck with his hands, vertebrae popping back into place. "I am immortal, child. And did you truly believe we were fighting at full strength?"
Before Trunks could respond, Zamasu disengaged completely, shooting through the sky toward Goku Black's position.
"Mr. Raditz, watch out!"
Trunks's warning cry cut through the chaos, but Raditz had already deduced Zamasu's intention. They're going for a fusion. Intead of the earlier where Goku Black absorb the other Zamasu, this is more of a fusion with the Potara, combining both into a new being.
But Raditz had anticipated this move from the very beginning. He materialized beside the half-broken Goku Black in an instant and launched into a devastating assault, determined to end this before the fusion could occur.
Goku Black, backed into a corner like a wounded animal, fought with the desperate ferocity of the damned. His attacks became wild, unpredictable, dangerous.
"KAMEHAMEHA!"
"NOVA RADIANCE!"
Two beams of annihilating light split the heavens, tearing through the sky and carving the earth into separate landmasses. The sheer magnitude of their clashing energies scoured the landscape clean, erasing mountains and valleys alike. The resulting devastation dissipated into the void, but the planet itself had been cleaved in two.
This world could no longer sustain their battle. Even the residual shockwaves from their ki collisions were enough to tear continents apart.
The overwhelming power of Raditz's Shine Shockwave drove Goku Black backward. He coughed up blood, crimson droplets scattering in the wind. Raditz pressed his advantage without mercy, closing the distance in a heartbeat.
That's when Zamasu arrived like a starving predator, ripping one of his Potara earrings free!
"Get out of my way!" Raditz's roar shook the atmosphere itself, and a pulse of raw pressure sent Zamasu tumbling through the air. But Goku Black capitalized on the split-second opening, his fist connecting with Raditz's jaw and staggering him backward.
Through the corner of his eye, Raditz caught sight of Zamasu recovering and charging forward again, that wild, manic grin spreading across his face. The earrings were already in position. At this range, there was no way to stop them both—the Potara had already begun to glow with activation light.
Raditz sidestepped Zamasu's charge, his hand lashing out to catch Goku Black's extended arm in an iron grip. He pulled the corrupted deity close, his palm pressing against Goku Black's chest as he spoke two words that carried the weight of divine judgment:
"Hakai."
VVVVVMMMM.
Space itself trembled.
An unknowable energy materialized from the void—not ki, not magic, but something fundamentally other. The destructive force erupted without warning, without mercy.
Goku Black's eyes widened in shock, frozen for half a heartbeat as comprehension dawned. Then half his body simply ceased to exist, erased from reality as if it had never been. The Potara earring on his side disintegrated in the wave of Destruction energy, reduced to less than atoms.
The sudden transformation left everyone paralyzed with shock. Trunks and Zamasu stood frozen, unable to process what they'd just witnessed.
Flesh, bone, energy—all of it vanished into absolute nothingness without even leaving ash behind. No explosion. No remnants. Just gone.
The Power of Destruction—the ultimate technique wielded by Gods of Destruction. As a candidate for Supreme Kai, Zamasu recognized the horror of "Hakai" immediately. It was a technique that existed beyond conventional combat, a divine ability that ignored all matter and energy, all defenses and regeneration. Anything touched by Destruction energy was erased from existence on a fundamental level.
After the Universal Tournament concluded, Raditz had won a portion of Beerus's Destruction energy through their wager. Through intense study and meditation, he'd managed to comprehend fragments of the Law of Destruction itself.
Normally, the technique required significant charging time and focus. But today, in this critical moment, Raditz had forced his own potential to its absolute limit and unleashed Hakai instantly with a single hand—a feat even most Gods of Destruction would find impressive.
Goku Black's half body drifted through the air like a torn piece of cloth, half his mass simply missing but he is still alive due to absorbing the other Zamasu. Raditz's lips curved into a cold smirk as he turned his gaze toward Zamasu, his eyes glinting with icy disdain and undisguised challenge.
But when Raditz's attention shifted fully to Zamasu, he saw the immortal deity quickly attaching the other Potara earring to his remaining ear. The small, deliberate movement rang through Raditz's mind like a warning bell, jolting him from his momentary satisfaction.
They have more than one pair of earrings!
Of course—they were Zamasu from multiple timelines. Every version of Zamasu would possess their own set of Potara. And sure enough, even with half his body destroyed, Goku Black's remaining earring suddenly blazed with brilliant light.
Drawn together by the Potara's irresistible pull, the two beings shot toward each other and merged in a blinding explosion of radiance. The light swallowed everything—earth, sky, thought itself—as a terrifying presence expanded outward like a newborn galaxy. The suffocating aura permeated the entire universe, announcing the birth of something that should not exist.
Trunks could no longer sense the magnitude of that overwhelming energy. It had ascended beyond mortal comprehension, into the realm of gods themselves—a level he couldn't even begin to touch.
Only Raditz remained capable of perceiving that catastrophic power in its entirety.
He pulled a Senzu Bean from his belt and crushed it between his teeth, the magical legume instantly restoring his stamina and healing his minor wounds. The orange aura of Super Saiyan 4 God faded from his body as he powered down, conserving his strength for what was to come.