DEATH.
The word consumed Carnage Kabuto's consciousness—massive, unavoidable, absolute.
Every cell screamed. Even the hardened carapace trembled.
Its sensory system—vastly superior to any living creature—detected nothing unusual in the physical world. But the body knew. Deep instinctive recognition overrode rational assessment:
If that punch lands, I die.
Confidence vanished, swallowed by primal terror.
Blood vessels burst in Carnage Kabuto's eyes. Wings flared. The creature launched itself backward in a continuous supersonic leap across multiple planes of the arena—retreating to the absolute farthest corner at twice the speed it had attacked.
Dr. Genus, watching from outside the arena, stood utterly dumbfounded.
"It... ran?"
The ultimate weapon. The strongest creation. The apex of decades of research.
Fled.
Carnage Kabuto pressed its entire body against the wall, panting heavily. Chest heaving. Limbs trembling.
The biological reaction was undeniable. The instinct couldn't be wrong.
"Hey." Jordan turned around, landing casually on the floor. "What are you doing way over there? Are you seriously backing off that far?"
Just now—if I'd continued that attack—I would have been KILLED!!
Who IS this guy?! Why does he radiate such overwhelming danger?!
"HOW DO YOU POSSESS SUCH HEAVEN-DEFYING POWER?!"
Sweat drenched Carnage Kabuto's entire carapace. The question burst from its throat—echoing that famous scene, that iconic moment.
Jordan glanced at Dr. Genus, who leaned forward eagerly outside the door, clearly desperate for the answer.
Everyone wanted to know the secret.
Jordan decided not to repeat the old cliché everyone could recite from memory. Time for honesty.
"My current strength?" He shrugged. "All thanks to hard work. Bit by bit. Built it up through effort."
A beat of silence.
Then—
"WHAT A JOKE!!"
Carnage Kabuto's shriek bordered on hysterical.
"How could human effort possibly create power so terrifying that every instinct tells me approaching means DEATH?!"
"WHAT A JOKE!!!"
The screaming intensified. Carnage Kabuto's body began to swell—rage triggering transformation.
The outer carapace on its back cracked. Fell away in massive chunks. The insect wings protected beneath shattered free and dropped.
The remaining armor softened—tough yet pliable like reinforced skin. It writhed and trembled with every muscle contraction, as if something demonic were tearing free from within.
The single horn atop its head bulged. Veins stretched across the surface. The forked tips merged, reshaping into a single, sharpened rhinoceros spike—radiating indestructibility.
A second, thicker horn erupted from the back of the neck. It curved slightly along the spine, positioned to impale anything that dared approach from behind.
The evolution accelerated.
Brown coloring darkened to deep purple as muscles expanded exponentially. Explosive definition emerged across every fiber—tinged with striking blue-green highlights along the ridges.
Like Evangelion Unit-01's iconic paint scheme.
Carnage Kabuto's size ballooned from 3.5 meters to nearly 10 meters tall.
The last shred of rationality evaporated. Pupils and sclera both turned crimson. The fanged maw opened, spewing scalding heat waves. Power and oppressive aura multiplied—maximized beyond anything demonstrated before.
Asura Mode.
Jordan whistled appreciatively, watching the entire transformation up close.
"No wonder Dragon Ball's stayed popular so long. They used up all the good transformation colors before anyone else could claim them."
He grinned. "So hot! Transformation really is mandatory for shonen manga!"
"THIS IS REALLY ANNOYING..."
Carnage Kabuto's transformed voice rumbled like grinding boulders.
"SO I'LL KILL YOU FIRST, THEN TALK!!"
The final form granted power dozens of times greater than base state. Terrifying physical abilities combined with monstrous size—destroying a human city would take minutes.
In this mode, Carnage Kabuto's combat power skyrocketed to Dragon-level. Comparable to Monster Association executives from the later timeline.
But the lack of rationality remained a critical weakness. How much of that power could it actually deploy effectively?
"I won't regain my senses for at least a week!" Carnage Kabuto savored the strength flooding through its enhanced musculature. "Can't suppress the fighting instinct!"
"So after I kill you—I'll go to the city and exterminate all of humanity until next Saturday!!"
It crouched, preparing to spring.
"If you're really a great hero—COME AND STOP ME!!"
Alarms blared. White alloy walls flooded crimson under emergency lighting.
Killing intent coalesced thick enough to see—metaphorical flames rising from Carnage Kabuto's transformed body.
Jordan's eyes narrowed into his characteristic dead-fish expression.
"You're scheduling your rampage until next Saturday?" His tone carried profound disbelief. "Do you have any idea how you're going to die?"
The passionate threat-exchange froze mid-flow.
Carnage Kabuto's ferocious expression locked for half a heartbeat—then instinct overrode confusion and it roared forward.
"EXTINCTION STRIKES!!"
The blue-purple figure blurred. Three massive leaps closed the distance. The beetle-monster's ferocious aura burned visibly as it unleashed a storm of devastating punches—
Jordan's figure moved at high speed, converting to afterimage.
"Muda muda muda muda muda—"
As fists comparable to giant sledgehammers kept missing their target, Jordan couldn't help letting out a mocking Dio-esque laugh.
"That kind of wild flailing? Simply not up to par!"
Carnage Kabuto howled—irrational, enraged. Attack speed doubled. Fists became phantoms, creating rapid cavitation in the air. Every punch generated violent sonic booms—
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—
Jordan apparently tired of dodging.
He simplified his response. Countless afterimages merged into one. He stood still.
One hand.
Blocking. Deflecting. Slapping aside.
Easily neutralizing the entire onslaught of giant fists.
"How..." Dr. Genus's voice barely registered as sound. "How is this possible?"
Behind him, the clones stared in collective despair.
"The gap is too vast!!"
"AAAAAAH! WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!"
The shouting grew increasingly frantic.
Jordan's frown deepened.
Why are you yelling so loudly?
His eyes shifted—ruby-red glow igniting.
Two dazzling golden beams swept upward from below.
Carnage Kabuto's attack momentum interrupted. Something sliced through its body—clean, precise, impossibly sharp.
It looked down in shock.
Its left arm—mid-swing—had been severed at the root. Clean separation.
Then green fluid seeped from the carbonized line bisecting its forehead.
The massive body slid apart.
A smooth cross-section ran from the top of its head straight down through the crotch.
Two perfect halves.
Both collapsed in opposite directions.
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