Power of the Tree of Might

"Impossible..." Turles turned slowly, like a puppet whose strings had suddenly gone slack. His face contorted with disbelief and mounting rage.

"My Flash Cannon hit you directly, yet you don't have a scratch. Who the hell are you?" His forehead veins bulged as his face flushed crimson with fury.

Karnel smiled slightly. "Who am I? That's a fair question." He extended his palm toward Turles, gathering energy that coalesced into a brilliant sphere of white light. "Perhaps this will answer it for you."

With a casual flick of his wrist, Karnel launched the energy sphere. It struck Turles with devastating precision, exploding with the force of a miniature sun and sending the dark Saiyan flying backward.

Without pausing to check on his opponent, Karnel turned his attention to the Tree of Might, which had already grown to an alarming six meters in height. The parasitic organism's roots were spreading visibly beneath the soil, and its branches reached skyward like grasping fingers.

"This abomination cannot remain," Karnel muttered, sensing the planet's life force being siphoned at an accelerating rate. All around them, the once-vibrant forest was withering. Leaves yellowed and fell from branches, carpeting the ground with premature autumn.

Rising into the air, Karnel focused his energy, compressing it into a concentrated blast that he directed at the base of the Tree of Might.

The explosion was deafening. When the dust settled, a crater ten meters deep scarred the landscape where the Tree had stood. Karnel sensed the planet's energy flow stabilizing and allowed himself a momentary sigh of relief.

"UNFORGIVABLE!" Turles howled from where he knelt, half-buried in debris. His body trembled with rage as he stared at the smoldering pit that had been his precious Tree of Might. "You... you dare destroy my Tree! You will pay with your life!"

With shaking hands, Turles withdrew a fruit from a compartment in his battle armor. Unlike the smooth, appealing fruit Karnel had sampled from Kaku's stall, this one was covered in wicked thorns, pulsing with an aura of malevolence.

Without hesitation, Turles bit into the fruit, swallowing it in three desperate gulps. Immediately, his power level skyrocketed, his aura flaring visibly as his battle strength approached 500,000 units. The sudden influx of power made him disappear from sight, only to reappear behind Karnel, launching a vicious attack.

Karnel casually raised one hand, blocking Turles's strike without apparent effort. Despite the dark Saiyan's enhanced power, the gap between them remained immense.

From their hiding place among the rocks, the rabbit princes watched the battle with awestruck expressions.

"Brother, that evil space traveler truly meant to harm our planet," Noffey whispered anxiously. "Look how quickly his tree destroyed our forest! Thank goodness this warrior of justice stopped him."

"Amazing!" Noen breathed, completely ignoring his brother's concerns. "I want to become as powerful as this guardian. The villain was right about one thing, we are too weak to protect our homeworld."

"Yes, Brother Noen," Noffey agreed, eyes wide with admiration as they watched Karnel effortlessly deflect Turles's increasingly desperate attacks. "This warrior is incredibly strong. That evil cosmic man is being completely outmatched... if only we could learn such powerful techniques."

"Noffey," Noen said with sudden determination, "when he defeats the villain, let's ask him to take us as his disciples. I want to learn how to protect our planet properly."

"I want that too!" his younger brother exclaimed. Even at his tender age, Noffey harbored heroic dreams of his own.

The battle continued overhead, though it could hardly be called a contest. Turles gasped for breath, his body drenched in sweat while Karnel remained composed, not even winded by the exchange.

Since discovering the Tree of Might and tasting its fruits, Turles had developed a profound sense of superiority. The Saiyans back on Planet Vegeta had toiled endlessly to increase their battle power through harsh training, yet none of their gains could compare with the instant strength bestowed by a single fruit from the Tree of Might.

He had come to despise his former comrades for their reliance on traditional methods. Yet now, facing this mysterious Saiyan whose power seemed to defy comprehension, Turles found himself confronting an impossible reality.

Why is he so much stronger than me? This defies all logic!

Reaching into his armor once more, Turles retrieved his final fruit of the Tree of Might. He hesitated, knowing the risks.

The fruits couldn't be consumed in rapid succession, the body needed time to assimilate the tremendous power they bestowed. Turles had learned this lesson painfully after his first harvest, when greed had led him to attempt eating a second fruit immediately after the first. The agony had been indescribable, driving him to the brink of madness.

But facing this impossibly powerful opponent, Turles saw no alternative. With grim resolve, he swallowed the fruit whole.

"AAAAHHH!"

Unbearable pain coursed through every cell in his body. The fruit's power, unable to be properly processed, ravaged him from within. Turles's rational mind slipped into darkness, consumed by pure animal instinct. His only remaining thought: defeat the Saiyan before him at any cost.

His power surged tenfold, and he launched himself at Karnel with berserker fury.

"You consumed two fruits in succession and lost your mind?" Karnel frowned, still deflecting Turles's attacks with minimal effort. Facing this mindless opponent, he felt his interest in the battle waning.

"The power you gained without effort has cost you your sanity. You've become a slave to the fruit's influence." Karnel shook his head sorrowfully. "As a fellow Saiyan, I'll grant you a merciful end."

In one swift motion, Karnel struck Turles with a devastating blow that sent him crashing to the ground. Then, adopting a stance reminiscent of the Turtle School technique he had learned during his travels, Karnel cupped his hands at his side.

A brilliant blue light gathered between his palms, growing in intensity until he thrust his hands forward, releasing a massive energy wave. The beam, over two meters in diameter, engulfed Turles completely.

When the light faded, all that remained was a smoldering trench three meters wide and stretching for miles across Durastar's landscape.

"And so another Saiyan's light is extinguished from the universe," Karnel murmured. Though he held little affection for the Saiyan race's destructive tendencies, he couldn't help but feel a pang of regret for Turles's fate. A warrior consumed by his lust for power, taking the quick and easy path to strength without understanding its cost.

Am I walking a similar path in my own quest for greater power? Karnel wondered briefly, before dismissing the thought. Unlike Turles, his abilities had been earned through diligent training and enlightened guidance from masters across the cosmos.

Turning from the battlefield, Karnel sensed two small presences approaching cautiously from behind a nearby rock formation.