WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Super Chapter 76, by Akira Toriyama, Toyotarou, Caleb Cook and Brandon Bovia, available now in English through Viz Media.
Since getting a massive power boost earlier in the manga, Granolah has proven himself one of Dragon Ball Super's deadliest villains thanks to his ability to target the vital points of his enemies. With help from that technique, Granolah has taken down Goku on two separate occasions, despite Ultra Instinct giving the Saiyan god-like reflexes. However, Granolah won't be able to rely on his vital point attacks for much longer, as Goku has found a way to render them ineffective.
At the start of Dragon Ball Super Chapter 76, Granolah continues beating Vegeta. Goku intervenes to stop Granolah from landing a particularly harsh blow, which causes the Saiyan Prince to turn on his companion. They're interrupted when Granolah tries to land a sneak attack on Vegeta, but Goku sees what's happening and is able to significantly lessen the effectiveness of the last Cerealian's attack with a push.
This shocks Granolah, and Goku explains, "I've got a read on your whole targeting-our-vitals thing. It's not gonna work on me anymore." Granolah responds by teleporting behind Goku and hitting him with a knock-out blow to the back of the neck. Granolah walks away, believing he has called Goku's bluff, but the Saiyan gets up and hits his enemy with an energy blast. The two then exchange blows, and it's clear Granolah can no longer hit Goku's vitals with ease.
Granolah realizes Goku is acutally shifting his vitals. "There's the smallest pause between you locking onto our vitals and the attack that follows," Goku explains. "I can't dodge the attack completely, but at least I can shift enough to make sure you don't hit where it really hurts." Granolah then correctly identifies Goku's strategy as being entirely defensive, which means he won't necessarily be able to win against the last Cerelian. The two's subsequent combat proves this, as Granolah still bests Goku, despite the Saiyan's new move.
Currently, Granolah seems pretty much unstoppable. Neither Goku nor Vegeta are able to compete with him on a purely physical level, which puts them in great danger, and Dragon Ball Super makes clear they're unlikely to win. However, the latest chapter ends with a big twist: Burdock/Bardock, Goku's father, saved Granolah and Monaito when the Saiyans attacked. Knowing a Saiyan actually saved him from death, Granolah may just have a change of heart, and if he does, the last Cerealian could prove a valuable ally to the Z-Fighters.
Dragon Ball Super Chapter 77 releases on Oct. 20 in English through Viz Media.
