"HULK!"
"ROAAAAR!"
As Hulk charged in, Smith Dole used bukūjutsu (Flight Technique) to launch himself forward as well.
BOOM!
Their fists collided once again, producing a massive shockwave at the point of impact.
"Haha! Now this is a fight!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With their clash escalating, trees toppled and the ground was torn apart. The grass was shredded as if a tornado had swept through.
"HAAH!"
Smith headbutted Hulk, sending the green giant crashing back through several more trees.
BOOM!
Dust billowed up once again. Watching from afar, Ross and the others could feel just how powerful Smith was.
"Bruce…" Betty called out in worry.
Blonsky muttered in awe, "He's like Superman…"
But the next second, Hulk burst from the cloud of debris, roaring again:
"HULK!!"
He slammed his fists together, generating a shockwave of air and force that sent Smith Dole flying.
Smith tumbled through the air like a broken kite before regaining his balance after several seconds.
"HAAAH!!"
With a shout, white aura exploded around him, and he shot back toward Hulk, breaking the sound barrier mid-flight.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
In an instant, Smith was in front of Hulk again, and this time, he launched a furious flurry of attacks using the Kamesen-ryū Budō (Turtle School Martial Arts). Each punch struck with precision and force.
Hulk was clearly overwhelmed, forced backward with each blow. His lack of combat technique was obvious—he could only endure the hits head-on.
Explosions echoed with each strike. Hulk's face twisted in fury as he took the full brunt of Smith's onslaught.
"ROAAAAR!"
With a mighty roar, Smith could feel it—Hulk was getting stronger again.
He frowned slightly. If Hulk's power continued to rise like this, he might lose control of the fight.
Should he… create a fake moon and transform into a Great Ape?
No. That was his trump card, reserved for emergencies. Revealing it against Hulk would be a waste.
Instead, Smith decided to try the Kamehameha.
With a powerful strike, he swung his hands together like a baseball bat, sending Hulk soaring through the air.
BOOM!
As Hulk flew upward, Smith lowered his hands to his waist, gathering all his energy.
"Kamehameha!"
"Haaa… meee… haaa… ME—!"
A blinding white beam burst from Smith's hands, chasing down Hulk mid-air.
In that moment, Smith's combat power surged to 490.6. (Note: The standard Kamehameha provides a max boost of 2.23x base power.)
The beam struck Hulk, not with an instant explosion, but pushing him backward like a battering ram.
Hulk raised his arms to block, but unable to fly and with nothing to brace against, he was sent hurtling further and further.
Then—
BOOM!
A colossal white explosion bloomed in the sky like a mushroom cloud.
Watching from below, Ross, Tony, Betty, and the others were momentarily blinded by the flash of light. Then the shockwave hit.
Tony snapped his faceplate shut.
"Impact incoming! Get behind me and brace!"
Ross quickly pulled Betty into his arms and shielded her with his body.
BOOOOOOM!
The massive shockwave swept over them. Tony braced with his arms, the suit barely keeping him grounded.
Blonsky hit the dirt, digging his arms into the earth for stability.
CRASH!
Windows shattered in the distant school buildings, glass raining down in sheets.
At the epicenter of the blast, Hulk had been thrown a great distance. His body now bore visible wounds for the first time—burns, torn flesh, vaporized skin—but his regeneration had already begun.
Yet he didn't return.
Instead, Hulk rose shakily… and ran.
He didn't charge back.
With a few massive leaps, he disappeared from sight.
Smith floated in the air, panting heavily. That last attack had drained nearly all his ki. If someone had a combat power scanner, they'd see he'd dropped below 100.
Still, Smith nodded to himself.
Good. No need for a Great Ape transformation.
And as for whether the Kamehameha would have killed Hulk? Smith never worried. No version of Hulk was that easy to kill.
As the shockwave faded, Betty screamed:
"BRUCE!!"
From her vantage point, she hadn't seen Hulk flee.
Smith slowly descended using bukūjutsu (Flight Technique), landing beside the others.
Ross looked at him with a glint of obsession—here was someone even more powerful than the Hulk, and still fully rational. How did he become so strong?
"Is the Hulk dead?" Ross finally asked what everyone was thinking.
With everyone's eyes on him, Smith shook his head.
"No."
"He's badly hurt—but he ran."
Betty gasped in joy.
"Thank god… Bruce is still alive…"
Ross frowned deeply.
If that didn't kill him, what could? A nuke? A hydrogen bomb?
But Hulk hid in cities, not deserts. Not even Ross had the clearance for something like that.
Tony was still processing it all.
"What is that monster? That kind of firepower, and he still lived?"
"Wait, you called him Bruce?"
"What's his full name?"
Tony turned to Betty, but she gave no answer.
…
(End of Chapter)
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