Akainu swung the blade down, executing a long-range slash aimed directly at Goku. There were no flashy visual effects or deafening explosions. Yet, every cell in Goku's body screamed of impending death. This was a causality-level strike that could not be dodged.
Goku crossed his arms over his chest, funneling every single ounce of Ki he had into his defense. The crimson Kaio-ken aura compressed to its absolute limit, crystallizing into a tangible energy shield.
The invisible slash arrived. The moment it made contact, the energy shield cracked. The fifteen-million-degree heat instantly destabilized the structure of Goku's Ki. The slash cleaved straight through the shield, biting deep into the musculature of Goku's arms. Before blood could even spill, the extreme heat vaporized it.
The lingering force of the attack ripped across Goku's chest, leaving a ghastly, bone-deep wound with entirely carbonized edges. The kinetic impact launched him backward like a cannonball. He crashed violently through a dozen mountain peaks before finally being buried under a massive landslide of jagged rocks.
Akainu lowered Zanka no Tachi, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. Utilizing his Bankai consecutively had placed an extreme toll on his stamina and spiritual pressure. Factoring in his prior battle with Doflamingo, the Admiral was running on fumes. However, he was absolutely certain that the native was dead. No one could take Tenchi Kaijin head-on and survive.
Down in the crater, Doflamingo let out a hideous, rasping laugh. "Beautifully done!" he wheezed. "The monster is finally dead! Akainu! Hand over the radar! We can split the Dragon Balls!"
Akainu ignored the pirate entirely, turning his attention to the disc-shaped Dragon Radar resting on the ground. Just as he bent down to retrieve it, an unimaginably vast surge of Ki erupted from the distant rubble. The pressure was several magnitudes greater than before.
Akainu whipped around in shock. The pile of boulders exploded outward in a storm of red energy as Goku slowly levitated from the ruins. The top half of his gi had been entirely obliterated, revealing his heavily muscled physique. The horrific wound across his chest looked devastating, yet it wasn't bleeding.
Goku's eyes were locked onto Akainu with laser focus. He wasn't dead. Pushed to the brink of mortality, his Saiyan near-death power boost had been fully triggered. Despite not having a Senzu Bean, the limit-breaking battle had forcefully spiked his battle power once again. His current Ki eclipsed the absolute limits of his Kaio-ken Times Fifteen.
"You're really strong," Goku said, his voice eerily calm. "That last attack almost killed me. But now, I feel like my body is overflowing with power. I can keep going."
Akainu's face twisted into an ugly grimace. This was absolute madness. How could anyone suffer an injury that severe and come out stronger? Not even Kaido, the most notoriously resilient creature in the seas, possessed such an absurd healing factor.
"Just what the hell are you?" Akainu ground out, his teeth clenched in rage.
"I'm a Saiyan raised on Earth," Goku answered. "I'm Son Goku."
In the blink of an eye, Goku vanished. His speed was so staggering that even Akainu's Observation Haki briefly lost track of him. The Admiral barely had time to raise Zanka no Tachi in a desperate block before Goku's fist slammed into the flat of the blade.
This time, Goku wasn't forced back by the heat. By condensing an even thicker layer of Ki around his fist, he completely negated the thermal output of the sword. The sheer force of the impact sent Akainu skidding backward, leaving deep trenches in the scorched earth.
Goku pressed the assault relentlessly, unleashing a torrential storm of close-quarters combat. Fists, elbows, knees—every part of his body became a lethal weapon. Akainu was forced onto the defensive, completely overwhelmed. Under the relentless barrage, the absolute defense of his Zanjitsu Gokui began to flicker and wane.
A gap opened. Goku immediately capitalized, sweeping Akainu's legs to break his balance. Capitalizing on the opening, he drove a vicious uppercut right into the Admiral's jaw.
Akainu was launched high into the air, vomiting a spray of blood as a distinct crack echoed from his fractured mandible. Contorting his body mid-air to regain control, Akainu gripped his sword with both hands and pointed the blade downward.
"Zanka no Tachi, South: Kakajumanokushi Daisojin."
He drove the sword directly into the earth. The entire crust of Planet Namek convulsed violently. Countless fissures ripped across the terrain as an eerie, dark-red glow pulsed from the depths. One by one, charred, blackened skeletons dragged themselves out of the earth. These were the damned souls slain by Zanka no Tachi, now burning with the same fifteen-million-degree heat, resurrected to fight for the Admiral.
Tens of thousands of blazing skeletal warriors quickly surrounded Goku. Observing from his crater, Doflamingo felt a chill run down his spine. The Admiral was acting more vile and evil than most pirates he knew; a technique like this was a total affront to humanity.
The skeletal army opened their jaws in silent, agonizing roars, raising their charred weapons as they charged Goku.
Goku glanced around at the encroaching horde, completely unfazed. He dropped his stance, drawing his hands back to his waist as the familiar blue energy began to gather.
"KAIO-KEN TIMES TWENTY!" Goku roared.
He held absolutely nothing back, unleashing every drop of Ki in his body. The world-shaking red aura instantly painted the sky crimson. The ambient gravity of the planet warped under the pressure, causing massive boulders to rip free from the ground and levitate into the air.
"Ka..."
"Me..."
"Ha..."
"Me..."
"HA!"
Goku thrust his palms forward, firing off a Super Kamehameha over a hundred meters wide. The colossal beam of blue destruction swept across the battlefield, instantly annihilating the skeletal horde upon contact. They weren't just destroyed—they were erased completely, leaving not even a speck of ash behind.
The energy beam didn't slow down, barreling straight toward Akainu.
Akainu ripped his sword from the ground, preparing to risk everything on a final Tenchi Kaijin clash. He drained the very last reserves of his Mag-Mag Fruit powers and the spiritual pressure granted by the Bleach system. This strike would decide the victor.
Goku pushed more power into the beam, his muscles screaming and bleeding under the unimaginable strain of the Kaio-ken Times Twenty. He didn't care. His only thought was securing the win.
The two world-ending forces were just milliseconds away from impact.
. . .
At that exact, hair-raising moment, an aura of indescribable magnitude erupted from the distance.
There was no warning. It simply washed over the planet, instantly crushing every other energy signature on the surface into insignificance. The very air across Namek ceased to flow. The cloud cover in the atmosphere was instantly shattered by the sheer oppressive weight. The violent seismic tremors came to an abrupt halt, as if the planet's crust had been physically pinned down.
The Kamehameha vanished from Goku's hands. The blazing red aura of his Kaio-ken Times Twenty violently collapsed, receding back into his body.
Goku's eyes went wide with shock. He whipped his head toward the source of the anomaly, the battle-hungry excitement completely drained from his face, replaced by a profound, chilling dread.
"What... what is this Ki?" Goku muttered to himself. "It's too massive. It feels like it has no boundaries. And it's so evil... it's making my bones ache."
Akainu froze as well. The vibrating hum of Zanka no Tachi abruptly died out. The moment his Observation Haki brushed against that distant presence, a blinding spike of agony pierced his brain. It was a primal, biological warning screaming at him to stay away.
A cold sweat broke out across Akainu's brow. He prided himself on his unwavering adherence to Absolute Justice. He had never backed down from a fight, not even when facing the Yonko. But right now, staring into the distance, he felt true despair.
Whoever possessed this aura could effortlessly wipe this planet from existence.
At the bottom of his crater, Doflamingo was completely flattened against the dirt. It wasn't that he was too injured to stand; every single cell in his body was paralyzed with terror. The suffocating pressure made it impossible to breathe. He felt as though his heart could stop beating at any second.
Monsters, Doflamingo cursed frantically in his mind. Nothing but absolute monsters!