The Saibaman stood motionless for a moment, then let out a shrill scream and rushed toward Yamcha.
Its claws were razor sharp, nearly four inches long, and it moved with incredible speed. With just one step, it had already leapt tens of meters forward. As it closed in on Yamcha, it slashed with its lethal claws, its ear-piercing shriek becoming even more intense.
SWOOSH! There was a rapid cutting sound as the sharp claws tore through the air. The Saibaman was suddenly confused—it had sliced through empty space, expecting to tear its enemy apart, but Yamcha had vanished in an instant! In that moment, a figure suddenly appeared behind it. Yamcha delivered a flying kick directly to its head.
The kick contained enormous power, causing the Saibaman to spin three times in mid-air before crashing to the ground and sliding more than ten meters before finally stopping.
"Trash!" Vegeta was furious. He extended two fingers and with a simple "BANG," blasted the Saibaman into pieces.
Nappa wiped his brow, unable to hide his nervousness.
"I told you to attack with full strength! Don't be careless!" Vegeta shouted, pointing to another Saibaman. "You! You're next. Don't lose again."
The Saibaman Vegeta singled out trembled as it stepped forward, clearly terrified.
Yamcha proudly made a "V" sign and high-fived Krillin. "These monsters aren't even close to being a match for us."
"Really? Then I'll defeat mine even faster than you did!"
"Haha, let's see you try!"
"Alright, I'm up!" Krillin jumped forward and assumed his fighting stance.
The Saibaman and Krillin locked eyes, and there was a simultaneous flash of determination in both their gazes.
WHOOSH! The two vanished from sight in unison!
"Ah... they disappeared." Gohan was shocked.
"Focus and sense their ki carefully! Have you forgotten everything I taught you? You should be able to see them!" Piccolo scolded, clearly dissatisfied.
Gohan immediately felt ashamed. He concentrated on sensing the rapidly moving energy signatures, and suddenly exclaimed with joy: "I see them!"
Just as he spoke, the Saibaman was thrown violently to the ground, landing in a limp heap, unable to stand again.
"Useless!" Vegeta fired another energy blast, eliminating the defeated Saibaman. "This fighter's power level suddenly rose to over 1,500 for a moment!" Vegeta glared at Raditz with piercing eyes.
He had noticed that the power levels of the two Earthlings could change drastically in an instant, which made him suspicious of Raditz. If 1,800 wasn't Raditz's true power level, and if he dared to challenge Vegeta, did Raditz actually possess strength comparable to his own? Vegeta grew increasingly puzzled as he assigned the next Saibaman to fight, eager to observe more.
This time it was Tien's turn. The Saibamen had already lost two consecutive battles, and their morale had plummeted. Seeing Tien, the next one actually showed signs of fear.
"Go!" Vegeta commanded.
The Saibaman feared Vegeta even more than its opponent, so it could only charge forward with its head down, unleashing all its power as it flew with claws extended. Tien didn't dodge or evade—he simply stood his ground.
When the sharp claws should have made contact, the Saibaman felt a moment of triumph, but then realized something was wrong. Its claws had passed through thin air... the Tien before it was merely an afterimage! Taking two steps back in confusion, it found itself surrounded by more than a dozen Tiens, all afterimages created by his high-speed movement! The creature couldn't tell which was the real body, feeling disoriented as cold sweat broke out across its green skin.
"This doesn't make sense—his power level is only 1,150, but the Saibaman is at 1,200. How is this possible?" Nappa anxiously pressed buttons on his scouter, but Tien's power level remained fixed at 1,150 on the display.
Despite being 50 points lower in power level, Tien was completely outclassing the Saibaman!
"Nappa, don't trust the readings on the scouters. They must be able to change their power levels at will," Vegeta said, his face hardening as his suspicions were confirmed.
In the battlefield, Tien suddenly launched his attack. The dozen afterimages instantly converged into one as he delivered a powerful punch to the Saibaman's abdomen, launching it into the air with a large portion of its midsection caved in.
"Haha, another victory for us!"
"That was too easy." Tien turned around and raised his arm, giving his companions a thumbs up. Behind him, the Saibaman crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
"So who's next? Chiaotzu or Gohan?"
...
Vegeta and Nappa watched as the Earth's defenders celebrated and cheered, completely ignoring the two Saiyan invaders. They felt inexplicably humiliated. They were supposed to be the ones putting on a show of power, but now the Earthlings were casually deciding their order of appearance as if this were some kind of game. After traveling all this way to invade Earth, couldn't they be shown some respect?
But the Earth's warriors continued to gather together, encouraging Gohan, paying no attention to the Saiyans' expressions.
The remaining Saibamen looked at each other in blank confusion.
"Hurry up and send in the next one!" Vegeta shouted impatiently.
Krillin laughed loudly, and with everyone else talking, Vegeta's words were quickly drowned out by the noise as they continued to ignore him. Only Raditz cast him a pitying look, causing the corner of Vegeta's mouth to twitch slightly—his patience had clearly reached its limit.
Finally, Gohan stepped forward. His small body rolled through the air a few times before landing firmly in position.
The Saibaman, seeing its opponent had arrived, attacked without hesitation. It could tell that this challenger appeared less powerful than the previous fighters.
Gohan, who had experienced many simulated battles during his training, felt the intense pressure of actual combat for the first time. His Saiyan instincts ignited his fighting spirit. Facing the Saibaman, Gohan gathered his courage and steadied his nerves.
Feel the energy... sense its movements...
He repeated the techniques Piccolo had taught him in his mind.
Suddenly, with a flash of insight, he anticipated the Saibaman's attack! It was coming straight at him from the front! Gohan's face lit up as white energy bloomed from his hands. He launched more than a dozen ki blasts in rapid succession, drawing beautiful arcs from different angles that converged into a brilliant white rainbow.
Where the energy made contact, a thunderous noise echoed across the wasteland as it struck the Saibaman.
In that moment, the reading on Nappa's scouter changed dramatically. This time he clearly noticed the jumping numbers, and his face turned ashen.
2,800!
A small boy with a tail had such high combat power!
The Saibaman tried to push through the energy blasts and continue its charge. As the smoke billowed around it, its body became visible through the flying dust. However, under the bombardment of ki, it had been reduced to little more than a skeleton. It used its last ounce of strength to stumble out of the smoke and dust, managing only a few steps before collapsing into pieces.
"Could he be Kakarot's child?! Saibamen, keep going!"
Vegeta was furious, suddenly struck by a sense of foreboding.
He couldn't let this continue—he needed to take control of the situation.
"Nappa, get rid of him!"
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