章 7: Doctrine (7)
(Hyperbolic Time Chamber - 240 Hours of Training)
"Fuse now!"
Over a thousand of my clones leaped high into the air. Their bodies simultaneously morphed into fluid, malleable masses that converged at a single point in the sky.
A massive brown fleshly blob began to form as their figures amalgamated, slowly increasing in size as more clones joined the mass. Eventually all the clones had merged, violent ripples wracking through the surface of the blob as it slowly shrunk in size.
'It's a little gross'
Like it or not, this was what peak efficiency looked like in Dragon Ball, a giant brown blob containing the memories of thousands of different clones.
I tossed a Senzu Bean into my mouth as the blob formed the shape of a humanoid, ripples running through it until he finally manifested, panting and gasping as he floated down towards me.
I tossed him a Senzu Bean.
"Keep it together, deep breaths," I encouraged.
He nodded, chowing down and closing his eyes, quickly entering a state of meditation.
'I'm happy we've finally gotten smaller'
God Ki enabled a fighter to attain higher densities of Ki with less volume. Typically, sustaining God Ki massively drained stamina as being in a constant state of high willpower was exhausting but for me, this was only an issue of time.
Enough my clones had fused together that I could sustain God Ki permanently.
This breakthrough caused in a massive deflation in my base form, my size shrinking down to just below 7 feet while our muscles became far more reasonable.
Of course when I transformed though, I would balloon right back.
My clone exhaled tiredly, wolfing down handfuls of Senzu Beans, reducing the barrel from full to half.
"My comprehension is increasing, I think I've fully grasped the Doctrine of Angels"
The Doctrine of Angels was a fancy term for the school of thought that made Ultra Instinct possible. It was a philosophy that the active mind lingered on, the subconscious mind using it to preserve the body in all ways.
Because of this revision, Ultra Instinct was less of a transformation and more of a technique although it was possible to be totally transformed by a strict adherence to the technique.
"Try in use it while in Legendary, with that much experience, I think you can do it," I encouraged.
He concentrated, and his instantly flashed yellow, green electricity crackling around him. Thousands of hours fed into his Ki Control, no energy slipping. His expression then worsened as his hair turned solidly green, a lot of focus required to transform precisely.
'When did our hair get so spiky?'
My personal theory was that transformation spamming had Saiya-fied our hair, now pointy and spiky, functioning as a valve for our energy.
My Ki sense pricked as I felt the change in the properties of his Ki.
A consequence of our unique biology was that our Ki was extremely malleable and flexible, responsive to our will just like our bodies. As he entered Legendary, I discerned a surge in the volatility of his Ki, his Power Level fluctuating.
He exhaled sharply, letting out the breath he was holding in.
'He has to move through each Grade as he adjusts to his memories'
He pushed to Legendary Grade 2, his size stably increasing to about 8 feet, Ki flooding every nerve, muscle and bone in his body, supplying it with inconceivable strength. In this state his muscles regained the blocky structure it had lost, although the density of the Ki inside was realms higher.
He then pushed to Grade 3, his physical body pushed to it's current biological limit as his height peaked at 9 feet, his frame expanding. He levitated off the ground as his limbs swelled, his Ki flowing rapidly inside him yet he worked extremely hard to control it, his face screwing as he refused to let anything escape.
He then reached 4, his body shrinking back to 7 feet and his green hair elongated, reminiscent of Super Saiyan 2.
"Amazing," I said, trying to encourage him.
He inhaled sharply, screwing his eyes shut before opening them, permitting his aura to release as a bright silver glow that illuminated the immediate area, a tranquil expression finding his face.
"Legendary Instinct," he said with a small smile.
I smiled back.
The beauty of this new transformation was that the volatility of his Ki was subdued, now occupying the maximum density it would when in pure Legendary, his Power Level no longer fluctuating.
This was a prime example of the application of God Ki.
With the Ki of a mortal, such a configuration wouldn't be possible but by exploiting the increased freedom that came with God Ki, a more powerful state could be reached.
My clone retracted his aura, appearing to only be in Legendary but allowing the principles of Ultra Instinct to guide him.
"This has to be our go to transformation, I don't think you can beat this," my clone professed, a satisfied grin on his face.
"You think it beats Legendary Ego?"
"For us? Definitely," he asserted with confidence. "A mindset locked onto destruction only makes us more unstable and more volatile, there's no value in getting stronger if it means losing control," he said definitively.
"I disagree"
My head spun as I turned to face the voice who that interrupted our conversation.
It was a clone that was in Legendary, his hair solidly green like my Instinct Clone.
The difference was that a menacing purple aura radiated from his body, shards of purple lightning crackling explosively.
My reflexes shuffled me away from him, my intuition warning me not to let him close.
A split second after I moved, a clone teleported to us using Instant Transmission, panting and wheezing, observably bruised and battered with holes in his body.
"He destroyed all the other Ego Clones, we couldn't control him," he complained, his hair flashing between black and purple.
While I managed all the clones that were training Ultra Instinct, he was supposed to manage all the clones that were training Ultra Ego.
Apparently something went wrong.
My Ego Clone smirked.
"Destroyed is harsh, I let you absorb little bits of them, so they didn't really die, right?" he asked gently, cackling after.
"I agree with what you were saying, Ultra Ego makes us way too unstable," the other manager clone confessed, de-transforming. "We have decent mastery over Hakai and Destruction Armor, so we don't need to keep pursuing the Doctrine of Destroyers, we've done enough," he summarized.
My Instinct Clone folded his arms.
"De-transform," he said bluntly, speaking to my Ego Clone.
"Eh, I don't really feel like it, maybe later," he chuckled.
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.
"It's not about what you want, it's about what's beneficial for all of us, de-transform," the other manager clone requested.
My Ego clone grinned, the three of us instantly understanding what that smile meant. Without wasting a second, he charged his palm with destruction energy and rushed towards the other manager clone.
"Hak-"
Before he could destroy him my Instinct Clone moved, disassembling his hand and laying it on my other clone's shoulder, teleporting him to his side.
"Fuse now," he commanded.
The other manager clone nodded and they quickly merged, my Instinct Clone gripping his temple as he instantly processed all the memories.
My Ego clone grinned wider, turning his attention to me.
"Now this should be fun!"
DOOOOMMMMMFFFFF!
My Instinct Clone anticipated his attack, soaking his foot with dense Ki and lodging it into the stomach of my Ego Clone. His feet dragged against the ground as he resisted the impact, the purple energy around him crackling with more intensity.
"That stung," he complained, touching his stomach. "If you weren't useful, you'd be dust by now"
"This is exactly what I mean," my Instinct Clone said, standing in front of me. "Ultra Ego enables the worst parts of us," he explained. "He's submitted to the Doctrine of Destroyers to the extent where he's willing to destroy himself, if he can do that, what can't he do?"
My Ego clone chuckled, his aura dissipating as he folded his arms.
It appeared that he had resolved so firmly in his mind and heart to destroy that he could temporarily reach peace, like someone who was so angry that they laughed.
"I am the only Kaza, you guys are mere punching bags, created for my advancement, toys for me to break," he said resolutely.
"That doesn't sound like us," I said to my Instinct Clone.
Each and every clone was skeptical of the Doctrine of Destroyers. We knew that there was a potential for our entire training operation to be compromised if we handed over our psyche to the mindset of absolute destruction.
"I assume he initially put faith in us, that we'd be able to stop the monster he'd become, so he continued down that path to get as strong as he could," my Instinct Clone theorized.
"Something like that," he confessed. "I think it was worth it, Hakai and Destruction Armor are two of the strongest techniques in the whole universe, if a few weaklings get obliterated so I can develop mastery, is that such a loss?" he asked us.
"Don't teleport," my Instinct clone said, reading my mind.
"I really suggest you do, a weakling manager clone like you isn't safe around me"
"I can protect you, Instinct meshes better with our personality and I already know his tendencies, I need your perspective on this fight"
"FIGHT!!!?" my Ego clone erupted. "But you're a dodging coward that doesn't know how to take hits! And you want to fight ME!!!?"
BYUUUUUUUUUUM!
BYUUUUUUUUUUM!
My Ego Clone expanded his aura and my Instinct Clone responded immediately after, a otherworldly blend of silver and purple energy filling the atmosphere.
Truthfully my whole body was tense, fear washing over me as I sensed their Ki signatures.
It was a very humbling feeling to know that you were disposable.
Thousands of combined hours had increased my confidence in my ability to defend myself, which was why I could endure the stress but the child in me was frightened, my Ego Clone like the boogeyman.
My Instinct Clone scoffed, using Telepathy to read my thoughts.
"Have a little faith," he said, slightly offended.
"Let's get it started!" my Ego Clone declared, making the first move.
PYUUU!
I used Instant Transmission reflexively, getting out of striking range of either clone while staying close enough by to observe the fight.
We were in an empty portion of the Time Chamber, smooth white tiles and clear sky all I could see.
'This wasn't in the plan at all'
It didn't escape me that if my Ego clone won out, he might just destroy me in order to trigger my Instinct Clone.
'He wants me to have faith'
My Instinct Clone stared into my eyes with a deep glare, not even paying attention to my Ego Clone as he dodged a series of Ki-powered punches with ease.
The smart thing to do, regardless of his opinion, was to get the hell out of here or maybe create a small army and try and take him down together.
Yet the willpower of my Instinct Clone was blazing, identifying this scenario as an opportunity to showcase himself and his growth, and seeing the lack of confidence I had in him as an insult.
'I guess this is the downside of growing my willpower too much'
The blunt truth was that cowards survived.
'I'll comply for now'
It was only when that thought resonated in my mind that my Instinct Clone finally stopped staring at me, breezing past my Ego Clone.
A series of Phantom Strikes, flexible energy beam-like punches assaulted my Ego Clone, knocking his head and chest back and forth.
'How did we get here?'
I couldn't help but reflect on the grand scheme as my Ego Clone allowed his anger to overtake him, any pretense of control over his urges thrown away as he stuck his tongue out, his whole body hardening and tensing up.
A deep maniacal laughter echoed out of him as he attempted to speed-blitz my Instinct clone, nearly succeeding.
'I think we know a little too much for our own good'
In Dragon Ball, the line that separated the mortals from the gods was made of knowledge.
Knowledge of God Ki, knowledge of Ultra Ego, Knowledge of Ultra Instinct, knowledge of training techniques, knowledge of resources, knowledge of what was truly possible.
It was probably true that I knew too much.
'Welp, it's too late to go back'
I tossed another Senzu Bean in my mouth, watching the fight unfold.
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