The fourth form of *Susanoo* wielded power on par with a Tailed Beast.
Even without using ninjutsu, its raw strength surpassed the giant ape form of little Goku.
But that power came at a cost.
Blood tears streamed from Uchiha Hikari's eyes once again, and her entire body felt the heavy burden of the *Mangekyou Sharingan*.
"As expected, when *Susanoo* reaches its fourth form, the strain on my *doujutsu* skyrockets. My healing speed is starting to lag behind…" Hikari noted. "But once the pain hits a certain threshold, it seems to plateau. That must be the balance point between damage and recovery. If I push through a bit longer, it might ease up… and even if it doesn't, this level of pain is totally manageable."
Then, another issue dawned on her.
At this moment, the biggest limit on *Susanoo*'s uptime wasn't the physical toll on her body—it was her *chakra reserves*.
Activating *Susanoo* required immense *doujutsu* power, but sustaining it burned through massive amounts of chakra.
And it was a constant drain.
From the moment she activated the fourth form, Hikari could feel her chakra being siphoned off like water through a whale's baleen.
But… this drain wasn't "damage."
It was more like stamina depletion.
Hikari wasn't plagued by the low chakra reserves of someone like Uchiha Itachi or Hatake Kakashi, but she was no reincarnation of Indra with their absurd chakra pools either. Plus, she was only thirteen, still in a growth spurt. For someone her age, maintaining the fourth form of *Susanoo* was pushing it.
"If I don't use *Yachihoko* to siphon chakra from someone else, with just my own chakra reserves, I can probably keep this up for…" She calculated quickly. "About ten minutes!"
"Any longer, and my remaining chakra would drop to dangerous levels."
"ROAR!!!"
While Hikari was distracted, the giant ape beneath her let out a deafening bellow. Its massive arms wrapped around *Susanoo*'s left leg, yanking hard.
The two titans tumbled into a chaotic grapple.
But in its fourth form, *Susanoo* gave Hikari a much higher margin for error.
Sure, piloting a "mecha" this massive was new to her, and she lacked experience. Still, she leaned on *Susanoo*'s overwhelming power to regain control after a brief stumble, pinning the giant ape down again. Spotting an opening, she grabbed its tail in a vice grip.
The ape let out a whimper, its movements freezing instantly.
Seizing the moment, Hikari raised her other hand, fingers aligned like a blade. Chakra surged around her palm, forming a razor-sharp edge. With a swift motion, she brought it down.
*One slash, split in two!*
The tail severed cleanly.
Goku's massive form began to shrink, gradually returning to his normal self.
Hikari dispelled *Susanoo*, her body descending from the sky. She used the fading remnants of *Susanoo*'s frame to cushion her fall, landing smoothly. She also caught Goku midair to keep him from crashing and waking up in a daze.
When her feet hit the ground, Hikari's knees buckled slightly, and she wobbled.
It wasn't just from exhaustion.
She was… a tiny bit afraid of heights.
The fourth form of *Susanoo* stood about forty meters tall, and she'd been positioned at its head—basically standing atop a twelve-story building, peering through a glass floor, then jumping off the roof. The sensory overload was, well, *intense*.
"Hikari! Goku!"
"Are you guys okay? What the heck just happened?!"
Only after the battle ended did Bulma, Oolong, and the others creep out from their hiding spots, cautiously approaching Hikari.
The area around them was a wreck. Pilaf's castle was reduced to rubble, with the few standing structures teetering on collapse. As for Pilaf and his two lackeys, they'd somehow slipped their ropes and fled in a plane while no one was looking.
Hikari scanned the surroundings, barely sparing a thought for Pilaf before focusing on Bulma. "You hurt?"
"Yeah, a rock hit my leg while we were running. It's not a big deal, though," Bulma said, then looked at Hikari with concern. "But your eyes…"
"No worries. It looks worse than it is," Hikari replied, wiping the blood tears from her face with a faint smile.
Just as she'd predicted, once *Susanoo* was deactivated, her healing ability kicked in, working on her eyes. A short rest, and they'd be good as new.
Nearby, Yamcha and Oolong gawked at the devastation, jaws dropped.
"Miss Hikari's strength… isn't it a bit *too* much?" Yamcha muttered.
"And Goku… you guys aren't, like, aliens, are you?" Oolong added.
"…"
Hikari chuckled inwardly. *Well, they're not wrong.*
Goku *was* a Saiyan.
And she, coming from another world, was technically an "alien" in her own way.
As the dust settled, the group let out a collective sigh of relief. They found a relatively clean spot, pulled out some bread and bottled water, and started eating while discussing their next steps.
"With the wish done, we'll have to wait a year to collect the Dragon Balls again. Any plans in the meantime?" Bulma asked.
"Well…"
As Bulma and the others chatted, Hikari sat off to the side, eyeing Bulma and Yamcha with a playful smirk.
Maybe because she'd warned Bulma about Yamcha's existence—and his future playboy tendencies—their relationship hadn't progressed as smoothly this time around. They were friendly, sure, but nowhere near romantic.
Not that Bulma needed any help. She was a girl who knew exactly what she wanted in love.
"Well, if no one's got urgent plans, why don't you all come to my place? I'll treat you to a big feast. When you're ready to head out, I'll make sure you get home," Bulma offered.
Yamcha and Oolong exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.
As for Goku, he was still out cold, but once he woke up, he'd probably head off to train with Kame-Sennin.
They hung around a bit longer as dawn broke.
When Goku finally stirred, they had a quick chat and split into two groups. Hikari and the others hopped into a hovercraft bound for West City, while Goku, armed with the Dragon Radar from Bulma, zoomed off on his Nimbus Cloud back home.
Next up, Hikari stuck to her plan. She handed one vial of Goku's blood sample to Dr. Brief, asking him to analyze it when he had time.
Then, she said her goodbyes to Bulma and set off for Karin Tower.
(Chapter End)