The same thing that happened to Naruto was happening to Puru as well. Through months of sparring with him, Puru's power had soared far beyond its former level. Once capped at 4,000, his battle power had now more than doubled.
The only difference was that, unlike Naruto, Puru didn't finish off his defeated opponent.
The innate kindness of the Namekians made it hard for him to take a life — even if his opponent was an invader.
Unless truly cornered, a Namekian would never strike to kill.
Naruto, however, couldn't afford such mercy. The alien that Puru had knocked down was instantly reduced to ash by his follow-up blast.
No finishing blow? Then you're just waiting for them to stab you in the back.
"Impossible! The scouter showed his power level at only 500! Cacao and Daiz both have 3,000 — how could they lose to trash like that?!"
The remaining aliens shouted in disbelief.
In the Dragon Ball universe, there were very few species capable of consciously controlling their ki and manipulating their own power levels. For most races, battle power was fixed — rarely higher than what a scouter measured, sometimes lower. Only a few could transform or evolve to boost their strength.
Turles's men had never encountered anyone capable of hiding their power at will.
"Could the scouters be broken?!"
Naruto tilted his head, still smiling. "Mm, that's right — my power level really is 500. Don't forget that number."
But as he said it, his body blurred from sight.
In an instant, he was among the other aliens. Side by side with Puru, Naruto moved like lightning — a few exchanges later, more than half of the invaders were down.
In just three months, his growth had been astonishing. Truly, this was the Dragon Ball world — where effort did make you stronger.
"L-Lord Turles! Save us!"
The only survivors — a pair of twin brothers — were terrified beyond reason. As they screamed for help, they turned and fled toward their ship.
"Hmph. Useless trash."
With a cold snort, a crimson beam cut through the air — and one of the twins was vaporized instantly.
"G-gigi—!" the surviving brother whimpered in his alien tongue, paralyzed with fear, unable to flee or fight.
From the shadows, a figure began to take shape — tall, broad-shouldered, his silhouette unmistakable.
A man who looked exactly like Son Goku at eighteen… except his skin was gray.
Turles.
The Saiyan who appeared in Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might — an evil counterpart to Goku. Though they shared identical features, Turles embodied everything Goku was not: cunning, cruel, and calculating.
A low-class Saiyan by birth, Turles had stumbled upon the seeds and fruit of the Tree of Might by chance — and his rise since then had been unstoppable. When he met Goku, he claimed that "all lower-class Saiyans look alike." In truth, among the entire Saiyan race, only Turles shared Goku's exact appearance.
Many in-universe fans even joked that his mother had a history with Bardock — that Turles was Raditz's real younger brother, and Raditz was the one switched at birth.
"I've no use for failures," Turles said flatly.
He raised a hand. Another flash of red light — and the last twin brother fell dead before he could even scream.
Turles had slaughtered his own men without hesitation.
Villains in the Dragon Ball universe seemed to love killing their subordinates for failure — Vegeta, Turles, even Frieza (well, except he killed only in bulk).
In a way, perhaps Frieza — the "real estate tycoon of the cosmos" — was the better boss.
Beep-beep-beep.
Turles's scouter scanned Naruto and Puru. He glanced at the readings and sneered. "Power level 500… and 1,000. So, you two can control your power levels, huh?"
"I've seen ones like you before — hiding their strength, then bursting it all out at once."
"But even if you can suppress it, it won't matter. You're still no match for me."
The confidence in his voice was absolute.
And with good reason — when Turles first appeared in The Tree of Might, his base power level was estimated around 25,000 to 30,000.
After eating the fruit born from Earth's life force, his strength skyrocketed to nearly 300,000 — enough to overpower Goku even under Tenfold Kaio-ken.
The Turles standing here wasn't quite that monstrous yet, but his current power was close to 20,000.
In galactic terms, that was elite — only a handful in Frieza's vast army could surpass 10,000.
"At least, for now," Naruto thought grimly.
"Or…" Naruto said suddenly, tilting his head, "maybe we can't control our power levels. Maybe we just use secret techniques that let us boost our battle power — say, tenfold for me, fivefold for him."
"Oh?" Turles's eyes lit up. "Secret techniques that multiply power levels?"
Now that caught his attention.
If such an art truly existed, even a fivefold increase could push him to near one hundred thousand. Combine that with the Oozaru transformation — a tenfold boost — and he'd be unstoppable.
"Hand over that technique," he said with a predatory grin. "Do that, and I might spare your lives."
The thought thrilled him. The Tree of Might and this secret art together… Truly, the gods favor me, Turles. Soon I'll crush the Ginyu Force, and even that tyrant Frieza will kneel.
But as he was lost in his fantasies, Naruto spread his hands. "Sorry to disappoint you — we don't have any secret art like that. But if you ever find it, maybe you can teach me."
"You were right earlier — we can just freely control our own battle power."
"..."
His dream shattered in an instant.
"You dare mock me?" Turles snarled, face twisting with fury. "Fine. Then I'll kill you in the most painful way imaginable."
"Look out!" Puru shouted, throwing himself in front of Naruto as Turles lunged forward. He crossed his arms, blocking the Saiyan's punch — only to feel a numbing shock run up both arms.
Such power…!
"Get out of my way, trash!"
Turles spat the words, driving his fist harder. Puru, already outmatched, could barely hold his ground.
"Raaah!"
With a roar, he unleashed his suppressed ki all at once. The explosion of energy blasted Turles backward.
"Power level… over 8,000?!" Turles glanced at his scouter, momentarily impressed. "Not bad, green one. Serve under me."
"You dare destroy Namek's lands and call yourself civilized? I'll never serve you."
Gathering his strength to the limit, Puru prepared to fight with everything he had.
"Then die alongside that blond brat."
Turles vanished — and so did Puru.
Their battle erupted across land, sky, and sea — too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Shockwaves and sonic booms echoed from every direction, filling the air with the crackle of combat.
"How interesting," Turles grinned between blows. "Even at ten thousand, you can't defeat me."
Indeed, mastery of ki could narrow the gap between battle powers. But Turles's strength wasn't forged through training — it was artificially inflated by the Tree of Might's fruit.
Raw power, yes. Substance, no.
He had been born a low-class Saiyan — and except for a few rare prodigies, low-class warriors remained low-class forever.
Without the Tree of Might, Turles would have died a nameless fighter with a power level barely reaching two thousand.
"Puru!"
Naruto turned as a group of green figures streaked across the sky toward them.
More Namekians — nearly a dozen of them, all combat types from neighboring villages who had sensed the disturbance.
Naruto scanned their faces, slightly disappointed. No sign of Nail, the strongest Namekian warrior who resembled Piccolo.
"Who is that?" a chubby Namekian asked, eyes fixed on Turles.
But soon their attention shifted to something far more alarming — the Tree of Might, now towering high enough to blot out the sun.
"That tree… it's destroying Namek's ecosystem! I've never seen such a twisted, unnatural plant!" one exclaimed.
Being part plant themselves, Namekians could naturally sense the emotions of flora — and what they felt from this tree made them recoil.
Chaos. Evil. Unrestrained hunger.
"Such an abomination must be destroyed at once!"
"And what," Turles said coldly, "do you insects think you're going to do to my tree?"
His scouter beeped again — the new arrivals' readings hovered around 3,000 each.
"Pathetic. A flock of 3,000-point weaklings."
"Step aside, outsider," said the leading Namekian. "If you don't wish to be hurt."
"Hurt? Me?" Turles laughed darkly.
Power surged around him, a blinding aura bursting to life.
The Namekians froze, eyes wide.
"Let me show you worms what real power looks like."
Unnoticed, Naruto pulled out the modified scouter Bulma had given him.
It displayed Turles's power level: 18,000.
A full ten thousand higher than Puru's.
"Die, trash!"
In an instant, Turles appeared before one of the Namekians, twisted his neck, and tossed the body aside like a broken doll.
Naruto darted forward, catching the fallen warrior before he hit the ground. Checking for breath, he was relieved — still alive. Quickly, he pulled a senzu bean from his pouch and slipped it into the warrior's mouth.
He'd gotten a small supply from Master Korin — and thank goodness, there were still plenty left.
"He killed Shu! Everyone, attack together!"
The other Namekians, enraged, launched themselves at Turles to avenge their fallen brother.
"Good intentions," Naruto muttered under his breath as Shu stirred back to life, "but poor judgment."
Turles blurred again, appearing before another Namekian. He grabbed the warrior's arm and pulled — hard.
Snap!
A spray of purple blood filled the air.
"Gaaaahhh!"
The wounded Namekian screamed. But the sight of that blood seemed to stir something primal in Turles. With a cruel grin, he lifted the severed arm to his mouth and bit down.
He chewed once, twice — then spat it out in disgust.
"Ugh. Disgusting."
As a Saiyan, Turles belonged to a warrior race that not only craved battle but sometimes consumed the flesh of their fallen foes to replenish energy. Even Vegeta had done it before.
It was one reason Saiyans were despised across the universe — brutal, uncivilized monkeys, as Frieza himself once called them.
The wounded Namekian, trembling, concentrated his ki into the stump of his arm — and with a surge of green fluid, a new limb sprouted forth.
"He can regenerate?" Turles said, intrigued. "Interesting…"
If they tasted better, maybe I'd raise a few.
Too bad they taste like raw cabbage.
Not just bad — atrociously bad.
Seeing Turles momentarily distracted, the Namekian suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his arms tightly around him.
"I've got him! Everyone, now — attack!"
The others immediately scattered to surround Turles from all sides. Channeling every ounce of energy they had, they unleashed a barrage of ki blasts.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Wave after wave slammed into Turles, engulfing him in explosions.
When the first volley ended, they didn't stop. They gathered more energy, firing again — an even denser, deadlier barrage.
The ground trembled violently, riddled with craters.
The air thundered with continuous detonations.
A relentless, overwhelming assault — the signature Namekian-style siege technique.