Dragon Ball Super Manga Chapter 81 features the beginning of the Granolah arc’s climactic battle – Goku Vs Gas. Granolah is currently out of commission as Gas smashes his arms and shoots his eyeballs, rendering his Cerealian specialty ineffective.

Then Elec delivers the final blow by shooting point black at his chest.

Goku and Vegeta felt helpless as they watched Granolah fall motionless into the river. They couldn’t move due to Gas’ Gravity telekinetic technique. But as soon as Vegeta gave his energy to Goku, the latter was free from the overwhelming force.

What is Goku planning in his battle against Gas in Dragon Ball Super Manga?

Goku calls out on Gas’ inability to teleport to another planet because the former has years and years of experience & states that his version of teleportation differs from Gas’. Due to his inexperience, Gas does not understand the complexities of the technique.

But Goku challenges him by saying “can you follow me wherever I go?” and vanishes. Gas looks in the direction he went off and follows him.

Now, there’s been a lot of discussion on where Goku went after he vanished. Did he leave the planet or not? If so, where? He said that Gas is stronger than him but he wonders how to beat him. So what is his plan?

One possibility is, he’s stalling for time for Granolah to recover on planet Cereal. Goku realizes that only Granolah is fit to face the strongest in the Universe and eventually puts a dent in Elec’s plans.

But I suspect his real plan is to perfect SSB + UI while fighting Gas and become strong enough to overpower him on his own.

Bardock used anger to his advantage and defeat the youngest Heeter. Goku, on the other hand, could use his strongest trait – calmness and tranquility to not only get closer to achieving Whis’ target but also follow in his father’s footsteps in protecting his loved ones.

I reckon he won’t give up that easily. Goku would be the right person to at least damage Gas considerably, Granolah would take down Elec and Vegeta would give the final blow to Frieza. This is how I imagine things would play out. So where did Goku head off to from the planet where Jaco was at?

Theory 1: Goku zipped to another location on the same planet

This is my own theory, which most fans haven’t discussed because “it’s not as exciting as the other possibilities.”

Fans speculate that Goku teleported off-world to say, Vampa, Beerus’ planet, or Frieza’s location at the end of Dragon Ball Super Chapter 81. But what If I told you he merely vanished to lure Gas out of the busy part of the street and not get innocent people involved?

You heard it, right folks! Goku may not have teleported to another planet but chose to stay there and think of how to perfect his Ultra Instinct in conjunction with SSB.

But didn’t he challenge Gas to follow him and test how good his teleportation is?

I’d say it’s more of a contest of speed. Goku plans to outmaneuver him in the speed department and hit him while Gas struggles to sense where Goku’s at.

In Chapter 80, a pre-awakened Gas tracks Granolah’s movements by saying “I won’t lose sight of you again” – this is exactly what he plans to achieve while facing any opponent. Basically, it’s the typical antagonist idea of “you can run but you can’t hide”.

The reason why I think Goku didn’t go off-world is that he’d usually place two fingers on his forehead to focus and lock on a Ki signature. But on the last page of the chapter, we don’t see Goku doing that.

He’d have discovered a nearby Ki signature beforehand, so he didn’t need to focus hard to sense his target.

There’s no panel of him sensing Ki out of this world. His focus is on dodging Gas attacks. Even ignoring that, he’d still place his fingers on the forehead.

He did that to get to Vegeta’s location while searching for a person to fuse with to defeat Buuhan and he sensed Vegeta’s Ki before he poofed.

If he needs that stance even to move within a planet, he’d definitely need it to travel to another world altogether.

But Goku doesn’t always use that stance to teleport. We’ve seen many instances where he does not. The Instant Kamehameha for example.

Yeah, but they’re all somewhere within a planet. But for inter-planetary travel, he needs to focus a lot more in order to lock on to a Ki target. And that involves comparatively more strain and concentration. That’s why he’s never done it without the pose.

He’s probably luring Gas away from the crowd and fighting on some wasteland (or to another Ki target) on the same planet.

Goku needs to lock on a strong Ki presence. He can’t teleport to a wasteland without it.

This is not the first time Goku seemingly vanished without a trace. His speed enables him to move fast without being seen by the naked eye. Goku just moved really fast to test Gas and see whether he can keep up with him.

Theory 2: Goku teleported to Planet Vampa where Broly is at

This is the most popular fan theory out there and I can see why.

Broly is set to appear in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero where he trains with Goku and Vegeta in Beerus’ world. So having Goku go to Vampa and pit him against Gas could develop his relationship with the Hulk-like Mutant.

Broly knows Goku isn’t his enemy. That smile at the end of the Broly film proves that. So Goku and Broly fighting together to overpower Gas will definitely be a moment fans would scream for.

However, I personally believe this move would kinda be like shoehorned fan service just to connect with the movie events. But I do understand where the fans are coming from.

Broly is another pure Saiyan like Goku, and given that his berserker phase is comparable to Gas’, he appears to be a good candidate to confront Gas.

However, Broly is not above Moro, the Saiyan duo, or Granolah. If they couldn’t beat Gas, how could Broly? Yes, Broly grows exponentially when fighting stronger opponents, but still, Gas’ Hakai-like power could obliterate him.

It makes more sense if Goku and Broly team-up.

Theory 3: Goku teleported to Frieza’s location

This is an intriguing idea with intriguing implications. Fans feel that Goku teleporting to Frieza’s location would have a psychological impact on Gas and the Heeters because they are subservient to the Galactic Emperor.

We might find out how powerful Frieza has become since the Broly movie.

For all we know, Frieza could have trained and achieved a new form. So Goku teaming up with Frieza to combat the Heeter would be interesting to watch. But I have my doubts about whether it’ll happen.

After finishing business on Planet Cereal, Elec’s next task for Gas is most probably confronting Frieza and his army. I don’t think it could be anything else. So it’s teased that both the Heeters will confront their business partner and not just Gas. So the big Frieza entrance will probably have to wait until they knock on his front door.

Theory 4: Goku teleported to Lord Beerus’ world

I don’t know what exactly would Goku accomplish if he teleported to Beerus’ world. I mean, both he and Whis won’t interfere, that’s almost certain. Beerus might be edgy to flex his muscles but that’s only IF he’s in the mood.

So again, Goku would have to face Gas alone.

But the only thing which interests me is Beerus and Whis evaluating Gas’ power. Like how strong he is, what techniques he has, does he really has Hakai or not. I’m expecting to see their POV on the new Universe’s strongest sooner or later.

Verdict and Final Thoughts

Dragon Ball Super Chapter 82 will continue over the climactic battle of Goku Vs Gas and it will probably end with one overpowering the other. The Saiyan is trying to have a better handle of Ultra Instinct with his other forms, especially base. So, he’ll treat this fight as part of his training.

My bets are on the 1st theory where Goku moves to another barren location on the same planet or even another Ki signature (Merus maybe?) but somewhere out of the busy streets.

The signature teleportation pose is missing and his motivation seems to suggest that Goku plans to outsmart his opponent. Relying on others for his victory may be the last thing on his mind.

Or I could be totally wrong and he is jumping from planet to planet looking for help. Or he’s trying to wear Gas down as teleportation does use a considerable amount of Ki and concentration. If that’s the case, my 2nd bet is on Broly’s world… or an entirely new world… I don’t know, the possibilities are endless.

What if he finds another Cerealian survivor? I speculated about the possibility under the Verdict section in another Chapter preview article so do take a look to see what I mean.

So where do you think Goku is heading for next? Let us know in the comments below!