"Guldo! You're relying too much on your telekinesis again! It's your specialty, but you've got more moves up your sleeve!" Ginyu's voice boomed across the battlefield as he cupped his hands around his mouth. "If you want to improve, you've got to step out of your comfort zone!"
Guldo, still busy fending off his enemies, shot a quick glance at Ginyu.
"Got it, Captain!" Guldo yelled back, his voice strained as he struggled to manage multiple tasks at once. Sweat mixed with the grime of battle as he struggled to keep Gohan restrained with his telekinesis while dodging the spinning energy disc that threatened to slice through him.
Guldo's telekinetic hold on Gohan was tenuous at best, as the young Saiyan's efforts to break free intensified. At the same time, Krillin's relentless offensive kept Guldo on the edge, forcing him to avoid various dangerous attacks. Guldo's heart pounded as he fought to keep both opponents at bay.
Ginyu's gaze followed Guldo's every move.
"You need to diversify your strategy! Show me you can do more than just use telekinesis! Push yourself beyond your limits!"
Guldo gritted his teeth, his desire to impress his captain driving him onward despite the mounting pressure.
With a shout, Guldo unleashed his telekinesis with tremendous force, slamming Gohan into the ground. The young Saiyan's body created a deep crater in the earth as Guldo pressed down with all his might. Guldo's face was set in intense concentration as he maintained his telekinetic grip firmly, ensuring Gohan stayed pinned.
With Gohan temporarily out of the picture, Guldo immediately engaged Krillin in a flurry of strikes. Despite Guldo's efforts, his physical prowess and combat skills were absolutely no match for Krillin's expertise. Guldo's defensive maneuvers became increasingly frantic as he tried to keep up, but Krillin's punches and kicks still landed with strategic precision. Each of Krillin's strikes skillfully exploited Guldo's weaknesses and drove him back.
Spotting an opening, Krillin pulled back his fist, gearing up for a decisive blow. Guldo's instincts kicked in, and, in a move that had become all too familiar, he vanished from sight. Krillin's punch connected with nothing but air. Moments later, a powerful energy blast blindsided Krillin from behind, sending him crashing to the ground and skidding across the dirt.
Meanwhile, Gohan took the opportunity to evaluate the situation, having felt the telekinetic pressure ease slightly. He chose to stay down for a moment to gather his thoughts and devise a strategy.
The battle with Guldo, though intense, didn't involve the same overwhelming odds as the fights with Mr. Nappa and Vegeta had. Guldo's power, while formidable, was not of the same crushing magnitude. Instead, Guldo's strength lay in the unique nature of his abilities, making the fight tricky but not necessarily insurmountable.
Guldo's unpredictability kept Gohan on his toes, but it was a manageable challenge.
Victory would hinge on strategy and intellect rather than brute force, which was the type of battle Gohan was more suited for, if he were to be honest. He had always been more inclined towards strategic thinking and problem-solving instead of charging in with sheer violence. In fact, he preferred minimal violence.
In the days leading up to this fight, Gohan had been grappling with conflicting advice from his two mentors. Mr. Piccolo had instilled in him the importance of precision, control, and strategic use of his abilities. On the other hand, Mr. Nappa's style was direct and forceful, focusing on raw power and continuous aggression applied effectively.
The contradictory instructions between these two vastly different styles left Gohan feeling confused as he tried to reconcile their differing philosophies. Both methods had their merits, of course, but Gohan found that neither was perfectly suited to his own combat style.
This contrast helped Gohan realize the importance of forging his own path. Had he been exposed to only one mentor's style, he might never have recognized the need for a more individualized approach.
This recent epiphany marked a pivotal turning point for him. It was a realization that should have come sooner, but he finally understood that he couldn't simply emulate Mr. Piccolo or Mr. Nappa. He wasn't a Namekian with their unique constitution, nor a pure Saiyan with their raw power. As a Human-Saiyan hybrid—perhaps the first of his kind—he realized that his true potential couldn't be achieved by forcing himself into any specific mold. Instead, he needed to integrate the lessons he'd learned and develop a fighting style that was uniquely his own.
After reflecting on his experiences and the lessons he'd been taught, Gohan found two pieces of advice that resonated particularly well with him.
From Mr. Piccolo, he remembered the lesson: "Identify and capitalize on weaknesses." Mr. Piccolo's strategy had always been about precision and exploiting an enemy's vulnerabilities, such as his attempt to grab Mr. Nappa's tail to paralyze him.
From Mr. Nappa, the memorable lesson was: "Fight smart, not hard." This lesson was about choosing the right type of attack for the situation because, oftentimes, the most powerful attack isn't always the most effective one. For example, "removing" Mr. Nappa's mustache proved more impactful than a frenzied barrage of punches and kicks.
Drawing from these insights, Gohan adopted a new combat approach. He would begin by closely observing his enemies, dissecting their movements and tactics to identify patterns and weaknesses. Armed with this understanding, he would maximize efficiency and minimize violence by targeting their greatest vulnerabilities with the most effective attacks.
In an ideal battle, Gohan would only need to attack once.
However, he knew he was still far from achieving that level of skill.
Gohan's eyes were locked on the fight as Krillin launched himself back into the fray with renewed determination. He scrutinized every move with intense focus, mentally dissecting the battle as though it were a complex puzzle.
Gohan's mind raced through the data he had gathered so far.
He realized it was extremely difficult to catch the alien off guard. Whenever Krillin or he appeared ready to land a decisive blow, Guldo would suddenly vanish and reappear elsewhere. This led Gohan to suspect that Guldo possessed some form of teleportation. However, teleportation alone didn't fully explain how Guldo seemed to go from being unaware of incoming attacks to suddenly attacking with perfect accuracy the moment he reappeared.
Gohan remembered something Mr. Nappa had hinted at in passing—an unknown ability related to time, which might explain Guldo's uncanny skill at avoiding attacks. If Guldo had some form of "bullet time," it could give him a brief window to perceive and react to threats with superhuman speed, effectively allowing him to dodge or counter attacks that would otherwise be unavoidable.
To fully understand Guldo's abilities, Gohan knew he needed more detailed observations. He had to analyze not only Guldo's teleportation but also how and when he used it. He needed to deduce the mechanics behind this ability and hopefully its activation condition.
Gohan's eyes narrowed as he watched Guldo vanish yet again, reappearing right behind Krillin. This was the third time in this recent exchange that Guldo had done this under pressure. Habit.
Gohan shifted his focus to Guldo's telekinetic abilities. He noticed that when threatened, Guldo instinctively relied on his telekinesis. Habit.
Although Guldo's telekinesis was undeniably powerful, Gohan observed that it seemed to require direct eye contact, or at least for the target to be within Guldo's field of vision. Weakness.
Speaking of vision, Gohan also took note of Guldo's multiple eyes. They clearly expanded his field of view and provided him with a broader perspective of the battlefield. However, after observing Guldo's reactions to sneak attacks, Gohan concluded that his vision wasn't at a full 360 degrees. He estimated that Guldo's field of vision covered maybe 250 to 300 degrees, leaving a blind spot. Weakness.
Gohan's analysis didn't stop there. He noted that Guldo was not particularly skilled in physical combat. His movements in close quarters were clumsy and slow, and he didn't possess the finesse of an experienced martial artist. Moreover, Guldo's ki attacks also required time to charge. Weakness.
Furthermore, Gohan observed that Guldo relied heavily on his scouter to detect energy levels. Weakness.
That's good enough for now.
Gohan decided to bide his time and wait for the perfect moment when Guldo would be most vulnerable. He saw that Guldo had just ensnared Krillin in his telekinetic grip with his entire focus on maintaining this hold.
Perfect.
Gohan employed a technique Mr. Piccolo had helped him create, originally developed to one-up Mr. Nappa during their "teaching match." He focused his ki into his hand, shaping it into an energy blade, not unlike an oversized scalpel.
This Ki blade was designed for precision, capable of cutting through even the toughest of defenses like cheese—at least, that was what it was capable of in the hands of a master. In Gohan's unskilled hands, well, it could cut…kind of?
With his ki blade ready, Gohan vanished from his position and reappeared instantly behind Guldo. This was a calculated move to exploit the blind spot Gohan had identified earlier—an area outside of Guldo's field of vision.
Gohan readied his energy blade, aiming for Guldo's vulnerable neck with lethal intent. But in that split second before he launched his attack, the gravity of what he was about to do—killing a person—hit him hard. He hesitated for a fraction of a second.
At that crucial moment, Ginyu's voice rang out urgently: "GULDO!" The shout was a desperate warning, a last-ditch effort to alert Guldo to the imminent danger.
The urgency in Ginyu's voice pushed Gohan to act. He attacked, his ki blade already in motion before Ginyu had even finished calling out Guldo's name.
Guldo's head instinctively snapped toward his captain's urgent shout, and in that split second, one of his eyes independently focused directly on Gohan. The young warrior's Ki blade was mere inches away from Guldo's neck.
Time seemed to freeze as they made eye contact.
Gohan immediately abandoned his attack and darted to the right with all the speed he could muster. Just as he moved, a blazing energy blast shot through the spot where he had been standing only a heartbeat earlier. Guldo had already vanished from sight and reappeared behind Gohan, falling back onto his familiar habit of attacking from the rear—just as Gohan knew he would.
As Gohan narrowly avoided the "surprise" attack, his mind was already processing what he had just observed. Instant. That was the word that kept echoing in his head. Guldo's movements weren't merely fast; they were instantaneous. Even more surprising was the Ki attack—there had been no charge time and no warning. The blast was readied and launched the moment Guldo reappeared, despite knowing that Guldo's attacks required some charge time.
Bullet time? Gohan had previously considered the possibility, but now he wasn't so sure. Guldo had moved, acted, and reacted in a way that defied logic. It was as if Guldo had briefly stepped outside the normal flow of…
…time.
Oh.
Ohh.
Pardon his language, but that's just freaking absurd!
As Gohan turned towards Guldo, he immediately felt a familiar pressure—a force that pinned him in place. Guldo's telekinesis had him trapped again, and the alien's glee was apparent, heightened by the adrenaline rush of narrowly avoiding a potentially fatal strike from Gohan's ki blade.
Gohan decided to test a theory by taking advantage of his current situation. Without moving or straining against the telekinetic grip, he concentrated his energy and began to reshape the sword construct in his hand. It transformed smoothly into a ki blast. Even though he could not move a finger, he managed to release the blast toward Guldo's general vicinity.
The ki blast sped forward but veered off course, missing Guldo by a considerable margin and dissipating harmlessly in the distance.
"Ha! You can't aim if you can't move!" Guldo shouted triumphantly, still high on adrenaline from his close shave with death.
Guldo continued to taunt him, but Gohan kept calm and observed. Fact: Guldo's telekinesis could not restrict the movement of Ki. Weakness.
With that last data point, Gohan realized he had found a way to counter Guldo's telekinesis. From this point onward, the short alien would no longer be able to hold him or Krillin in place for long.
"You're out of time!" Guldo roared his signature catchphrase, readying a powerful finishing move.
But Gohan was unconcerned. After all, he wasn't fighting alone.
"КАМЕНАМЕНА!"
A brilliant azure beam descended perfectly vertically from the sky above.
Gohan kept his eyes fixed on the beam. Somewhere along the way, thanks to Ajax's influence, maintaining a telepathic connection during team battles had become the de facto norm. Naturally, Gohan had already updated Krillin on his observations and strategies concerning Guldo.
Guldo's reflexes were exceptional as always. He reacted immediately, one eye looking upward independently before blinking out of existence and reappearing elsewhere to evade the approaching energy wave.
The Kamehameha blast continued along its trajectory, crashing into the ground and sending up a massive plume of dust and debris. Gohan was enveloped by the dust cloud, which greatly reduced visibility and interrupted Guldo's line of sight. As the telekinetic pressure on him began to wane, Gohan took advantage of the cover provided by the dust and quickly disappeared from his position, slipping away into the obscurity of the debris.
Down below, Ginyu's eyes twitched with irritation and concern at the tactic. He had seen many battle tactics in his time, but the strategy being used by Gohan and Krillin was unusually effective. Not only was their coordination phenomenal, but their ability to anticipate Guldo's movements was becoming increasingly precise. Ginyu's instincts told him that Guldo was on the verge of being cornered.
Frustrated, Ginyu shouted, "Guldo, you're still too predictable! They've only been fighting you for a short time, and they're already reading you like a book!"
However, he chose not to interfere. The duo was providing Guldo with an unexpectedly tough challenge, and it was important for Guldo to overcome this on his own.
Just as Ginyu was about to offer more advice, his scouter vibrated against his face. His eyes darted to the device, and his expression grew serious as he scanned the new data. The scouter displayed a message that made his heart slightly race: a ship had been shot down from orbit, and the power level registered was an astonishing 90,000.
A power level of 90,000 was far beyond the typical galactic standards. It was a number usually associated with the most formidable figures of an exceptionally powerful civilization. That individual also tends to come with titles like "once-in-a-thousand-year genius" or "strongest in history."
The point was that such power levels are extremely rare and do not appear by chance.
Ginyu was deeply alarmed. Despite the ongoing explosions and shouts from the battle behind him, he remained fixated on the scouter, reading and rereading the message in concern.
Of course, Ginyu's worry was not for himself, but for his team. Normally, he would have been confident in his squad's ability to handle such a power level. However, their current situation was far from ideal.
His team was scattered and engaged in various skirmishes across the planet. If they had been together in some fashion, Ginyu would have felt much more secure. But with his squad completely divided, he faced a serious dilemma. Individually, only he and Jeice were equipped to deal with such a formidable opponent. The rest of his team—Burter, Recoome, and Guldo—would struggle against this level of power on their lonesome.
Ginyu urgently weighed his options. He needed to support his team if this new, powerful enemy decided to join the battle, but with his squad dispersed, it was nearly impossible to determine where his assistance would be needed. The enemy could target any of his scattered team members, and Ginyu couldn't afford to just make a guess. Ironically, this left him unable to prioritize whom to assist.
Not to mention, he wasn't certain if the enemy's power level was genuine, if the enemy was still alive, or if they would even target one of his team members.
So, in the end, he chose to let Guldo finish his fight. Jeice was capable of handling an opponent with a power level of 90,000, Burter was quick enough to escape if needed, and Recoome's defense could hold out until he could arrive to provide backup. In comparison, Guldo was the most vulnerable.
"SOLAR FLARE!"
Ginyu winced as a blinding light flooded the battlefield. Though he wasn't facing the flash directly, the sheer brightness still made his eyes water and his vision blur. He struggled to make out the battle.
His gaze quickly focused on Guldo, who was in imminent danger of eating a devastating attack. The sight made Ginyu's stomach lurch. Guldo's usual telekinesis was rendered nearly ineffective by the glaring light.
"Guld—ohh! Watch out—holy shit!" Ginyu's voice rose in panic. His breath caught, and he instinctively placed a hand over his heart, feeling it pound heavily against his ribcage.
He definitely needed to stay here! He swears Guldo was going to give him a fucking heart attack!