Chapter 45: Mushin No Shin
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The two warriors battling in the beginning of time rapidly shot through the dark atmosphere above, punch after punch failing to land in an open strike. Vegetto's narrowed eyes deftly kept pace with Zamasu's immense speed, the merged Kaioshin rapidly throwing blow after blow out in sloppy strikes but at speed too fast to simply counter. Vegetto winced, his defense giving way slightly, but managed to sling his elbow forward in a small window of opportunity, striking Zamasu on the cheek. Zamasu fell off balance slightly, attempting to lunge forward again to regain his lost ground, but missed with a punch as Vegetto flipped over his head. With a small roar, Vegetto swung his leg down, punting Zamasu towards the ground.
Zamasu barely grunted, showing no visible signs of pain despite collapsing onto all fours on the ground. He swayed to the side, narrowly dodging Vegetto's boot that struck into the ground. Vegetto's eyes widened, instinctively expecting Zamasu to flow into another strike, but blinked slightly in the confusion at the sight of the merged Kaioshin choosing to push himself upright instead of immediately counterattacking. Vegetto's arms flew up in time to block the first punch Zamasu threw, sliding across the ground. Vegetto swayed and floated backwards across the ground, managing to dodge each of Zamasu's incoming strikes. His right arm shot out, slamming into Zamasu's stomach. However, Zamasu barely even budged under the damage done, ignoring the successful hit and swinging his own fist towards Vegetto's head. Vegetto ducked in time for the fist to swipe out only a few strands of his blue hair, lunging up from a crouch to uppercut Zamasu's chin.
The merged Kaioshin swayed back from the blow slightly, grunting in annoyance as he attempted to swing his own right fist towards Vegetto as he sauntered back. Vegetto yelped, the blow managing to clip his own cheek and promptly stumbling back with a small scratch on his skin, blood slightly dripping from the wound. He soon recorrected himself, panting lightly while Zamasu stood upright with a scowl, glaring down the fused warrior.
"Tsk...damn pest."
Vegetto smirked, pulling his right arm back. At the tips of each finger, five little spheres of blue energy formed, firing forward suddenly as Vegetto threw his arm forward.
"Banshee Blast!"
Zamasu narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the five spheres rapidly close the gap towards him. His power spiked, preparing to tank the hits, but he perked his eyebrows at the sight of all five suddenly veering off into opposite directions. He glanced around, watching the spheres come to a halt in random spots along the ground and sky, floating still. The light in the area darkening rapidly prompted Zamasu to turn his head back towards Vegetto, who held his arms behind his back.
"Ka...me..."
Zamasu shot forward in an instant, closing the gap to Vegetto in an instant and swung his right arm forward. The blow missed completely, sailing through air and connecting to the floor much to Zamasu's shock. His eyes widened, whirling back up to his feet and turning his head to the sound of the dual voice above his head. Vegetto floated upside down, next to one of the small energy spheres as the bright blue energy began to grow larger behind his back.
"Ha...me..."
Zamasu snarled, bolting up into the sky and throwing another fist forward towards Vegetto. He missed again, sailing through the air where Vegetto floated a millisecond ago and past the small energy sphere. He shook his head in confusion, but soon spun to his left at the sound of the dual voice roaring violently in the sky.
"HA!"
The massive beam of blue energy shot forward from Vegetto's outstretched hands, who now floated a few hundred meters away next to another one of the five energy spheres he left behind. His eyes instantly narrowed, promptly cutting off the energy wave and forming ten more little spheres of energy at the ends of his fingertips without seeing how Zamasu would handle his blast. He slung both arms forward, the little spheres all forming random spot all along the immediate area.
Vegetto gasped in time, the wind around his body blasting back as Zamasu shot forward, having dodged the massive wave of energy and instantly closing the gap to him. Vegetto grunted as he swayed to the side to narrowly dodge the first strike, instinctively throwing his left fist forward and striking Zamasu's ribs without much effect as he rose his free hand to his forehead, two fingers lightly pressing onto it. Zamasu swung again with his opposite arm, hitting only the air as Vegetto disappeared from sight once again.
Reappearing on the opposite side of the small little dome of dots formed from his last set of blasts, Vegetto quickly formed ten more little spheres at the ends of his fingertips, hurling them up to the sky and to his left. His eyes turned back to Zamasu, tensing slightly as he formed another large sphere of blue energy in his palm.
"Big Bang-"
Zamasu crashed into the floor once again, missing Vegetto who soon reappeared high in the sky next to a small sphere of blue energy.
"Attack!"
The massive sphere shot down, connecting with Zamasu's back and erupting into a massive explosion of smoke and fire.
===========================
Time Vault, Present Day
Whis kept an emotionless expression, looming over the screen as the image of the battle played out before him. Trunks blinked, watching on with wide eyes.
"Woah...look at that."
Whis nodded.
"He's using those spheres as signatures to teleport to using Instant Transmission. To compensate for the speed difference."
Trunks nodded.
"This is it then, this is his big plan. If he can keep this up...Zamasu's body will continue to wear down enough to the point where Vegetto can finally finish him off."
Whis turned his eyes slightly towards the Elder Kai, who peered down at the screen with a small frown.
"Zamasu isn't stupid. He has to have figured it out by now...there's something wrong here."
Trunks blinked, staring down at the screen.
"Something wrong? How?"
Whis' flat voice came out next, prompting both the Elder Kai and Trunks to turn their heads towards him.
"He's hiding something."
=============================
The smoke left in the wake of Vegetto's last attack suddenly dispelled away under immense wind and pressure, Zamasu's slumped form standing in the small crater left behind. His hateful glare turned upward, the skin along his body regenerating while he stared down a smirking Vegetto, who floated high above with his arms crossed.
"What's wrong, Zamas? Can't keep up?"
Zamasu straightened himself up, remaining silent in response. His eyes glanced around, finally taking note of the multitude of ki blasts, prompting Vegetto to narrow his eyes with a frown.
Damn...he figured it way too soon. Need to get back under his skin and keep him angry...
Vegetto's concerned stare quickly morphed back into a confident smirk, uncrossing his arms.
"Looks like you finally figured out what I'm doing. Took you long enough...here I thought you were just going to roll over and keep taking the hits."
Zamasu grunted, his arms tensing.
"Clever little trick. But it all ends here."
With a small smirk forming, Zamasu pulled his right arm back. Swiping to the side from right to left, Zamasu swung his arm out as each of the small little spheres in the sky erupted into a huge assortment of bright yellow and orange light. He lowered his arm slowly, but instantly stumbled to the side from a sudden knee to his ribs. Vegetto quickly dashed after him, pulling his fists back before throwing them forward in a rapid onslaught with yellow energy surging around his finger tips. Zamasu quickly caught himself and turned in time to face the barrage head on, throwing his arms up and parrying each strike. The Kaioshin's eyes followed the movements of Vegetto's hands, attempting to avoid the yellow energy, and smirking slightly at the sight of each finger losing its glow after a strike.
"Nice try. But you're too slow to hit me with that desperate little energy strike."
Vegetto's arms continued to shoot forward, the fingers now completely devoid of any trace of light aside from the blue aura.
"I wasn't trying to hit you with them."
Zamasu blinked, breaking the barrage and knocking Vegetto back a step with a light kick. His eyes widened, staring up at the sky to see the massive trail of yellow spheres now covering the sky once more, surrounding him completely. His face slowly contorted into annoyance and rage as he turned his head back down to Vegetto, who chuckled lightly with a confident smirk, having cupped his hands behind his back. The bright blue energy forming in Vegetto's palms sucked the light from the sky, the fused warrior's smirk rising.
"You can try to wipe them out and take the blast head on, or try to stop me and catch this attack from behind again. It's your call."
Zamasu stood with his arms at his side, growling heavily in aggitation. He glanced back up to the sky, but quickly turned around at the sound of the energy ominously whirring loudly from the growing power in Vegetto's palms, the fused warrior's confident tone ringing out strongly over the growing winds.
"Take as much time as you want! I'm more than happy to keep building up the power behind this attack while you think about your options!"
Zamasu kept a strong glare, but softened slightly in his expression. Vegetto's smirk instantly vanished, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Zamasu breaking out into a smirk of his own.
"Well done, mortal. You've come up with a good plan in this desperation to protect your loved ones. Enough to push me to the end of my immediate stores of energy...and put me in an unwinnable situation. I knew that if anyone was going to prove a threat to my plans for domination...it wouldn't be the gods, nor your failed protegee. It would be you, my old nemesis, and you surely did not disappoint."
Vegetto's eyes narrowed, staring down Zamasu while the merged Kaioshin clapped his hands together mockingly.
"But...I prepared for this day, just in case my immortality somehow did not secure my victory. I knew that I had to be versatile, and as you put it, 'have more options' if I wanted to make sure nothing could stop me. So I did my research...I studied you and your family as you know. And discovered a fruitful endeavor used by you and your friends over the years that would benefit me in a far greater manner."
Zamasu squatted down low, grinning and barring his teeth as an ominous glow of red slowly overtook his body.
"A technique I've been saving for years...a technique that I had planned to unveil if your kind ever got the better of me if I somehow, were to find myself in a situation like this..."
Vegetto blinked heavily, his own body sliding back under the sheer output in energy as a massive red aura suddenly spiralled up from underneath Zamasu's white boots, the merged Kaioshin's voice thundering out.
"KAIOKEN!"
Vegetto gasped, quickly throwing his arms forward to launch the massive wave of blue energy towards the growing red power. Zamasu's smirk only widened, standing completely straight as the wave struck him head on, splitting around his form while he casually bolted forward through the massive torrent of energy. Vegetto's eyes widened, watching Zamasu travel through the energy itself and instantly closing the small gap to him. Popping out of the energy wave, Zamasu roared as he connected a heavy fist to Vegetto's cheek, sending the fused warrior flipping backwards along the ground. Vegetto winced heavily in pain, crashing through the dirt and rock for only a second before vaulting high into the air to gain some ground, only to crash back down towards the surface from the force of Zamasu's boot slamming into his back. He yelped, quickly being punted up towards the left before he could reach the ground, flipping around and seeing Zamasu already arriving in the middle of his trajectory in the blink of an eye. Vegetto quickly threw up two fingers to his forehead, teleporting to the opposite direction of where Zamasu floated next to one of the few yellow spheres left. However, Vegetto cried out in pain again as Zamasu's fist shot into his ribs, crashing back to the surface. Vegetto slid across the ground on both feet, clutching his side while he slowly rose up to his feet, panting heavily. A small trail of blood dripped down from the right corner of his mouth, his narrowed blue eyes watching Zamasu gracefully land on the ground only a few steps away. The merged Kaioshin chuckled, raising an eyebrow with a mocking tone.
"What's wrong, Vegetto? Can't keep up?"
Vegetto continued to pant, glaring down Zamasu who held his arms out with a deep breath of air.
"This is the divine grace of my power. The technique your kind has clung to for a desperate power increase, makes my body whole. The Kaioken has a specific drawback, gracing your body with it's power at the price of tearing it apart over time."
His smirk widened.
"But for me, the power rises steadily, and the more it damages my body, the stronger it becomes. My cells regenerate stronger than ever, allowing me to raise the power to even greater heights in this continuous evolution that has no limit or end."
He dropped his arms to his sides.
"This...mortal...is true divinity."
Vegetto lifted his arm up, rubbing the blood away with his wrist. He soon straightened himself out completely, clenching his fists with a determined stare.
"Tsk...I should've known it wouldn't be this easy..."
His own smirk returned, clenching his fists together and flaring his blue aura violently before Zamasu.
"Alright Zamas...no more holding back. Let's end this."
With a thunderous roar, Vegetto's blue hair rapidly shot down over his back down to his waist, powering up instantly to his Super Saiyan Blue 3 form and rapidly blasting across the ground with his fists raised. Zamasu only smirked back, floating back on the defensive as Vegetto launched forward into another onslaught of punches and kicks.
=========================
Trunks' expression lifted slightly at the sight of the battle, smiling half way.
"Look...he's not even scared of Zamasu's trump card. He just might be able to pull this off."
Whis kept a small frown, his voice flat when he spoke.
"Look closer, Trunks."
Trunks blinked once in confusion, glancing back down at the screen for a moment. His eyes followed the near even exchange of blows, Vegetto's cocky and confident expression strong on his face while Zamasu's rage continued to boil in his expression. Trunks frowned, turning back to Whis.
"What? He looks like he's in complete control."
Whis shut his eyes.
"On the surface, perhaps."
His eyes opened slowly, narrowing at the screen shortly after.
"But he is absolutely terrified of the power difference. Just as he deceived Buu from figuring out his plan to save his absorbed family, he is trying to deceive Zamasu into believing that he is stronger than he appears through arrogance."
Trunks frowned, turning back to the screen as Whis continued.
"He has survived because of his immense effort and perfect counters of a novice fighter who barely has the teachings of the Kaioshins mastered. All it takes is one clean, strong hit from Zamasu...and it's over."
The Supreme Kai raised an eyebrow.
"So why isn't he running?! Zamasu just showed he can outlast him with the Kaioken: his power is just going to rise to the point where even Vegetto can't do any damage to him!"
Whis kept his eyes narrowed, sighing lightly.
"He's following Genn's example...of struggling against a fighter well beyond his power to control."
His eyes shifted towards the Supreme Kai of Time and the Elder Kai.
"He's attempting to obtain Ultra Instinct."
Trunks turned his head up, raising an eyebrow.
"Ultra Instinct? What's that?"
Whis turned his head slightly, his eyes meeting Trunks.
"The state of the gods, rooted in mastery of combat. The art of the body moving on its own, uninhibited by emotion or hesistating thoughts."
His frown deepened at the sight of Vegetto throwing Zamasu across the ground with both arms, shortly straightening himself and panting heavily on the screen.
"Unlike Genn, Vegetto is approaching it all wrong; all of his attacks, all of his plans, are rooted in his mind's attempt to defeat Zamasu."
Trunks kept his eyebrow raised.
"So? What's wrong with that?"
Whis kept his eyes on the screen.
"Oh...forgive me. I forgot you have not been properly instructed on the truth of your body and mind."
Trunks' confused expression as Whis turned with a small smile, raising his finger up to the ceiling.
"You probably assume that when you get tired, it's simply your muscles inability to continue fighting, correct?"
Trunks nodded curtly.
"Yeah...that's how it works."
Whis shook his head.
"You are wrong. It will take many years and complete change in discipline to understand, but the truth is that your body does not tire as easily as you believe. Its strength is far beyond what you or any other device or sense can possibly measure."
His smile rose.
"But it does feel that desire to stop...not because it is tired...but because it begins to doubt the capability of your own conscious mind. With every failed attempt to defeat your opponent...your body grows restless, ready to take control and finish the job."
Trunks glanced around for a moment, his expression uneasy in an attempt to take in the information.
"Ok...then why doesn't it?"
Whis kept his smile.
"Because your mind won't let it. Think about it: when was the last time you let your body control your actions, hmm?"
Trunks kept a small frown, his eyes turning at the sight of Vegetto's blue aura exploding outward on screen. The two fighters were locked in a rapid exchange of blows, Vegetto gaining the upper hand and knocking Zamasu away with a strong right punch.
"In extreme circumstances and under immense pressure, your mind shuts off because it is too slow to keep up and your body rises to the challenge to overcome the burden. Yet as soon as that pressure alleviates enough, the mind takes control again, and you suddenly begin to have thoughts and emotions race into your thinking while your power lessens."
Whis turned his eyes back to Trunks.
"Control is a privilege your mind jealously guards, and with each failed attempt, your body begins to rebel against it. It begins to resist fighting for a leadership that cannot grant victory through strategy or complexity. That is why you feel heavy: not because your body can't rise to the occasion, but because it doesn't want to anymore."
The taller angel turned back to the screen, watching Vegetto and Zamasu now locked with their hands clasped together, trying to overcome one another through sheer strength. Vegetto's arms trembled heavily, his body caving slightly under Zamasu's strength as steam begain to rise off his arms.
"Vegetto's mind is perhaps the most talented for combat that I have ever seen, but even it succumbs to the inefficiency of thinking while moving. The heat...the power...it's ready to come out. But if he cannot let the body take control...then his mind will take him down just as it has done with so many others."
Zamasu barely grunted, showing no visible signs of pain despite collapsing onto all fours on the ground. He swayed to the side, narrowly dodging Vegetto's boot that struck into the ground. Vegetto's eyes widened, instinctively expecting Zamasu to flow into another strike, but blinked slightly in the confusion at the sight of the merged Kaioshin choosing to push himself upright instead of immediately counterattacking. Vegetto's arms flew up in time to block the first punch Zamasu threw, sliding across the ground. Vegetto swayed and floated backwards across the ground, managing to dodge each of Zamasu's incoming strikes. His right arm shot out, slamming into Zamasu's stomach. However, Zamasu barely even budged under the damage done, ignoring the successful hit and swinging his own fist towards Vegetto's head. Vegetto ducked in time for the fist to swipe out only a few strands of his blue hair, lunging up from a crouch to uppercut Zamasu's chin.
The merged Kaioshin swayed back from the blow slightly, grunting in annoyance as he attempted to swing his own right fist towards Vegetto as he sauntered back. Vegetto yelped, the blow managing to clip his own cheek and promptly stumbling back with a small scratch on his skin, blood slightly dripping from the wound. He soon recorrected himself, panting lightly while Zamasu stood upright with a scowl, glaring down the fused warrior.
"Tsk...damn pest."
Vegetto smirked, pulling his right arm back. At the tips of each finger, five little spheres of blue energy formed, firing forward suddenly as Vegetto threw his arm forward.
"Banshee Blast!"
Zamasu narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the five spheres rapidly close the gap towards him. His power spiked, preparing to tank the hits, but he perked his eyebrows at the sight of all five suddenly veering off into opposite directions. He glanced around, watching the spheres come to a halt in random spots along the ground and sky, floating still. The light in the area darkening rapidly prompted Zamasu to turn his head back towards Vegetto, who held his arms behind his back.
"Ka...me..."
Zamasu shot forward in an instant, closing the gap to Vegetto in an instant and swung his right arm forward. The blow missed completely, sailing through air and connecting to the floor much to Zamasu's shock. His eyes widened, whirling back up to his feet and turning his head to the sound of the dual voice above his head. Vegetto floated upside down, next to one of the small energy spheres as the bright blue energy began to grow larger behind his back.
"Ha...me..."
Zamasu snarled, bolting up into the sky and throwing another fist forward towards Vegetto. He missed again, sailing through the air where Vegetto floated a millisecond ago and past the small energy sphere. He shook his head in confusion, but soon spun to his left at the sound of the dual voice roaring violently in the sky.
"HA!"
The massive beam of blue energy shot forward from Vegetto's outstretched hands, who now floated a few hundred meters away next to another one of the five energy spheres he left behind. His eyes instantly narrowed, promptly cutting off the energy wave and forming ten more little spheres of energy at the ends of his fingertips without seeing how Zamasu would handle his blast. He slung both arms forward, the little spheres all forming random spot all along the immediate area.
Vegetto gasped in time, the wind around his body blasting back as Zamasu shot forward, having dodged the massive wave of energy and instantly closing the gap to him. Vegetto grunted as he swayed to the side to narrowly dodge the first strike, instinctively throwing his left fist forward and striking Zamasu's ribs without much effect as he rose his free hand to his forehead, two fingers lightly pressing onto it. Zamasu swung again with his opposite arm, hitting only the air as Vegetto disappeared from sight once again.
Reappearing on the opposite side of the small little dome of dots formed from his last set of blasts, Vegetto quickly formed ten more little spheres at the ends of his fingertips, hurling them up to the sky and to his left. His eyes turned back to Zamasu, tensing slightly as he formed another large sphere of blue energy in his palm.
"Big Bang-"
Zamasu crashed into the floor once again, missing Vegetto who soon reappeared high in the sky next to a small sphere of blue energy.
"Attack!"
The massive sphere shot down, connecting with Zamasu's back and erupting into a massive explosion of smoke and fire.
===========================
Time Vault, Present Day
Whis kept an emotionless expression, looming over the screen as the image of the battle played out before him. Trunks blinked, watching on with wide eyes.
"Woah...look at that."
Whis nodded.
"He's using those spheres as signatures to teleport to using Instant Transmission. To compensate for the speed difference."
Trunks nodded.
"This is it then, this is his big plan. If he can keep this up...Zamasu's body will continue to wear down enough to the point where Vegetto can finally finish him off."
Whis turned his eyes slightly towards the Elder Kai, who peered down at the screen with a small frown.
"Zamasu isn't stupid. He has to have figured it out by now...there's something wrong here."
Trunks blinked, staring down at the screen.
"Something wrong? How?"
Whis' flat voice came out next, prompting both the Elder Kai and Trunks to turn their heads towards him.
"He's hiding something."
=============================
The smoke left in the wake of Vegetto's last attack suddenly dispelled away under immense wind and pressure, Zamasu's slumped form standing in the small crater left behind. His hateful glare turned upward, the skin along his body regenerating while he stared down a smirking Vegetto, who floated high above with his arms crossed.
"What's wrong, Zamas? Can't keep up?"
Zamasu straightened himself up, remaining silent in response. His eyes glanced around, finally taking note of the multitude of ki blasts, prompting Vegetto to narrow his eyes with a frown.
Damn...he figured it way too soon. Need to get back under his skin and keep him angry...
Vegetto's concerned stare quickly morphed back into a confident smirk, uncrossing his arms.
"Looks like you finally figured out what I'm doing. Took you long enough...here I thought you were just going to roll over and keep taking the hits."
Zamasu grunted, his arms tensing.
"Clever little trick. But it all ends here."
With a small smirk forming, Zamasu pulled his right arm back. Swiping to the side from right to left, Zamasu swung his arm out as each of the small little spheres in the sky erupted into a huge assortment of bright yellow and orange light. He lowered his arm slowly, but instantly stumbled to the side from a sudden knee to his ribs. Vegetto quickly dashed after him, pulling his fists back before throwing them forward in a rapid onslaught with yellow energy surging around his finger tips. Zamasu quickly caught himself and turned in time to face the barrage head on, throwing his arms up and parrying each strike. The Kaioshin's eyes followed the movements of Vegetto's hands, attempting to avoid the yellow energy, and smirking slightly at the sight of each finger losing its glow after a strike.
"Nice try. But you're too slow to hit me with that desperate little energy strike."
Vegetto's arms continued to shoot forward, the fingers now completely devoid of any trace of light aside from the blue aura.
"I wasn't trying to hit you with them."
Zamasu blinked, breaking the barrage and knocking Vegetto back a step with a light kick. His eyes widened, staring up at the sky to see the massive trail of yellow spheres now covering the sky once more, surrounding him completely. His face slowly contorted into annoyance and rage as he turned his head back down to Vegetto, who chuckled lightly with a confident smirk, having cupped his hands behind his back. The bright blue energy forming in Vegetto's palms sucked the light from the sky, the fused warrior's smirk rising.
"You can try to wipe them out and take the blast head on, or try to stop me and catch this attack from behind again. It's your call."
Zamasu stood with his arms at his side, growling heavily in aggitation. He glanced back up to the sky, but quickly turned around at the sound of the energy ominously whirring loudly from the growing power in Vegetto's palms, the fused warrior's confident tone ringing out strongly over the growing winds.
"Take as much time as you want! I'm more than happy to keep building up the power behind this attack while you think about your options!"
Zamasu kept a strong glare, but softened slightly in his expression. Vegetto's smirk instantly vanished, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Zamasu breaking out into a smirk of his own.
"Well done, mortal. You've come up with a good plan in this desperation to protect your loved ones. Enough to push me to the end of my immediate stores of energy...and put me in an unwinnable situation. I knew that if anyone was going to prove a threat to my plans for domination...it wouldn't be the gods, nor your failed protegee. It would be you, my old nemesis, and you surely did not disappoint."
Vegetto's eyes narrowed, staring down Zamasu while the merged Kaioshin clapped his hands together mockingly.
"But...I prepared for this day, just in case my immortality somehow did not secure my victory. I knew that I had to be versatile, and as you put it, 'have more options' if I wanted to make sure nothing could stop me. So I did my research...I studied you and your family as you know. And discovered a fruitful endeavor used by you and your friends over the years that would benefit me in a far greater manner."
Zamasu squatted down low, grinning and barring his teeth as an ominous glow of red slowly overtook his body.
"A technique I've been saving for years...a technique that I had planned to unveil if your kind ever got the better of me if I somehow, were to find myself in a situation like this..."
Vegetto blinked heavily, his own body sliding back under the sheer output in energy as a massive red aura suddenly spiralled up from underneath Zamasu's white boots, the merged Kaioshin's voice thundering out.
"KAIOKEN!"
Vegetto gasped, quickly throwing his arms forward to launch the massive wave of blue energy towards the growing red power. Zamasu's smirk only widened, standing completely straight as the wave struck him head on, splitting around his form while he casually bolted forward through the massive torrent of energy. Vegetto's eyes widened, watching Zamasu travel through the energy itself and instantly closing the small gap to him. Popping out of the energy wave, Zamasu roared as he connected a heavy fist to Vegetto's cheek, sending the fused warrior flipping backwards along the ground. Vegetto winced heavily in pain, crashing through the dirt and rock for only a second before vaulting high into the air to gain some ground, only to crash back down towards the surface from the force of Zamasu's boot slamming into his back. He yelped, quickly being punted up towards the left before he could reach the ground, flipping around and seeing Zamasu already arriving in the middle of his trajectory in the blink of an eye. Vegetto quickly threw up two fingers to his forehead, teleporting to the opposite direction of where Zamasu floated next to one of the few yellow spheres left. However, Vegetto cried out in pain again as Zamasu's fist shot into his ribs, crashing back to the surface. Vegetto slid across the ground on both feet, clutching his side while he slowly rose up to his feet, panting heavily. A small trail of blood dripped down from the right corner of his mouth, his narrowed blue eyes watching Zamasu gracefully land on the ground only a few steps away. The merged Kaioshin chuckled, raising an eyebrow with a mocking tone.
"What's wrong, Vegetto? Can't keep up?"
Vegetto continued to pant, glaring down Zamasu who held his arms out with a deep breath of air.
"This is the divine grace of my power. The technique your kind has clung to for a desperate power increase, makes my body whole. The Kaioken has a specific drawback, gracing your body with it's power at the price of tearing it apart over time."
His smirk widened.
"But for me, the power rises steadily, and the more it damages my body, the stronger it becomes. My cells regenerate stronger than ever, allowing me to raise the power to even greater heights in this continuous evolution that has no limit or end."
He dropped his arms to his sides.
"This...mortal...is true divinity."
Vegetto lifted his arm up, rubbing the blood away with his wrist. He soon straightened himself out completely, clenching his fists with a determined stare.
"Tsk...I should've known it wouldn't be this easy..."
His own smirk returned, clenching his fists together and flaring his blue aura violently before Zamasu.
"Alright Zamas...no more holding back. Let's end this."
With a thunderous roar, Vegetto's blue hair rapidly shot down over his back down to his waist, powering up instantly to his Super Saiyan Blue 3 form and rapidly blasting across the ground with his fists raised. Zamasu only smirked back, floating back on the defensive as Vegetto launched forward into another onslaught of punches and kicks.
=========================
Trunks' expression lifted slightly at the sight of the battle, smiling half way.
"Look...he's not even scared of Zamasu's trump card. He just might be able to pull this off."
Whis kept a small frown, his voice flat when he spoke.
"Look closer, Trunks."
Trunks blinked once in confusion, glancing back down at the screen for a moment. His eyes followed the near even exchange of blows, Vegetto's cocky and confident expression strong on his face while Zamasu's rage continued to boil in his expression. Trunks frowned, turning back to Whis.
"What? He looks like he's in complete control."
Whis shut his eyes.
"On the surface, perhaps."
His eyes opened slowly, narrowing at the screen shortly after.
"But he is absolutely terrified of the power difference. Just as he deceived Buu from figuring out his plan to save his absorbed family, he is trying to deceive Zamasu into believing that he is stronger than he appears through arrogance."
Trunks frowned, turning back to the screen as Whis continued.
"He has survived because of his immense effort and perfect counters of a novice fighter who barely has the teachings of the Kaioshins mastered. All it takes is one clean, strong hit from Zamasu...and it's over."
The Supreme Kai raised an eyebrow.
"So why isn't he running?! Zamasu just showed he can outlast him with the Kaioken: his power is just going to rise to the point where even Vegetto can't do any damage to him!"
Whis kept his eyes narrowed, sighing lightly.
"He's following Genn's example...of struggling against a fighter well beyond his power to control."
His eyes shifted towards the Supreme Kai of Time and the Elder Kai.
"He's attempting to obtain Ultra Instinct."
Trunks turned his head up, raising an eyebrow.
"Ultra Instinct? What's that?"
Whis turned his head slightly, his eyes meeting Trunks.
"The state of the gods, rooted in mastery of combat. The art of the body moving on its own, uninhibited by emotion or hesistating thoughts."
His frown deepened at the sight of Vegetto throwing Zamasu across the ground with both arms, shortly straightening himself and panting heavily on the screen.
"Unlike Genn, Vegetto is approaching it all wrong; all of his attacks, all of his plans, are rooted in his mind's attempt to defeat Zamasu."
Trunks kept his eyebrow raised.
"So? What's wrong with that?"
Whis kept his eyes on the screen.
"Oh...forgive me. I forgot you have not been properly instructed on the truth of your body and mind."
Trunks' confused expression as Whis turned with a small smile, raising his finger up to the ceiling.
"You probably assume that when you get tired, it's simply your muscles inability to continue fighting, correct?"
Trunks nodded curtly.
"Yeah...that's how it works."
Whis shook his head.
"You are wrong. It will take many years and complete change in discipline to understand, but the truth is that your body does not tire as easily as you believe. Its strength is far beyond what you or any other device or sense can possibly measure."
His smile rose.
"But it does feel that desire to stop...not because it is tired...but because it begins to doubt the capability of your own conscious mind. With every failed attempt to defeat your opponent...your body grows restless, ready to take control and finish the job."
Trunks glanced around for a moment, his expression uneasy in an attempt to take in the information.
"Ok...then why doesn't it?"
Whis kept his smile.
"Because your mind won't let it. Think about it: when was the last time you let your body control your actions, hmm?"
Trunks kept a small frown, his eyes turning at the sight of Vegetto's blue aura exploding outward on screen. The two fighters were locked in a rapid exchange of blows, Vegetto gaining the upper hand and knocking Zamasu away with a strong right punch.
"In extreme circumstances and under immense pressure, your mind shuts off because it is too slow to keep up and your body rises to the challenge to overcome the burden. Yet as soon as that pressure alleviates enough, the mind takes control again, and you suddenly begin to have thoughts and emotions race into your thinking while your power lessens."
Whis turned his eyes back to Trunks.
"Control is a privilege your mind jealously guards, and with each failed attempt, your body begins to rebel against it. It begins to resist fighting for a leadership that cannot grant victory through strategy or complexity. That is why you feel heavy: not because your body can't rise to the occasion, but because it doesn't want to anymore."
The taller angel turned back to the screen, watching Vegetto and Zamasu now locked with their hands clasped together, trying to overcome one another through sheer strength. Vegetto's arms trembled heavily, his body caving slightly under Zamasu's strength as steam begain to rise off his arms.
"Vegetto's mind is perhaps the most talented for combat that I have ever seen, but even it succumbs to the inefficiency of thinking while moving. The heat...the power...it's ready to come out. But if he cannot let the body take control...then his mind will take him down just as it has done with so many others."