Did Freeza train?

[Ketchup_Revenge]

I also think King Cold can transform, he probably walks around in second form to uphold dominance over everyone.
Thats just my opinion on it.

Welcome to the boards by the way.

There's a slight problem with this theory. Freeza's forms are suggested to be surpressions of his real power, so this suggests that his three weaker forms essentially have the opposite effect of transformations like Super Saiyan. Super Saiyan increases your power from your natural state, while Freeza's decrease his from his natural state (his forth form). He does this to conserve ki.

I'm not sure if King Cold actually had any other transformations, but either way, I don't think it would've made a difference against SSj Trunks. From the way King Cold was acting, he seemed to believe that Freeza was stronger than himself. He also was stupid enough to believe that Trunks's sword was the reason Freeza was killed.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

I'm sure that if Cold could transform, he would do it. Same for Chilled.

[freezamite]

Think about this though. Upon Goku arriving on the battlefield, Vegeta boasts to Freeza that Goku is the Super Saiya-jin of legend, and is strong enough to do what he could not (defeat Freeza). If Vegeta, who was easily over a million in terms of his battle power (Given Piccolo acknowledged that Vegeta was far stronger than he was, and Piccolo at the time was well over 1 million, given he was able to go toe-to-toe with Freeza's 2nd form), stood no chance against Freeza yet could tell Goku was stronger than he was, then Goku, in his base, was well over a million.

Well, this doesn't contradict what I say, because I also think that he was using Kaioh Ken x10 at that point. 300.000 + Kaioh Ken x10 it's 3.000.000 which is enough to make those characters say what they said.

Secondly, the manga doesn't say that he was using it the entire time. What Tenshinhan and Kaiou say are:

Tenshinhan: "There’s nothing to worry about. Goku will win this match…Aren't you forgetting about the Kaio-Ken? As he is now, Goku is able to endure a maximum of up to about 10 times his power, right?"
Kaio: "Unfortunately... That Ten-Fold Kaio-Ken is what Goku is using now..."


That's not saying that he was using it the entire time, just that he was already using it in this situation, now that Freeza had increased his power to 50%. Tenshinhan, not directly aware of what was going on in the fight since he was only hearing the commentary of the fight from Kaiou, thought that despite the fact that Freeza had increased his strength drastically, Goku had yet to start using the 10x Kaiou-ken, so he might still be able to win. Kaiou responded by saying that Goku was losing to Freeza's 50% power despite now using the 10x Kaiou-ken against him.

Yes, what Kaito says can be interpreted in both ways: Kaioh Ken used since the beginning of the fight, or activated in the middle of it.
But if I say that he uses Kaioh Ken since the start, it's not only because of this statement, but because of it AND the fact that Kaioh Ken x10 aura isn't drawn in the manga.
Activating Kaioh Ken x10 at the middle of the fight, without Goku saying anything about it or anyone noticing a bump in his Ki? Sorry, but this would be the first case in a fight in Dragon Ball when there is such a change in the scenario without Toriyama informing the reader about it.

The fact that there is not a single point where we can see Goku activating Kaioh Ken x10, and the fact that we know he is using it, demonstrates that Goku was powered up since the beginning.
Of course, this is not the only point I have to support what I say. Here's another example of why Goku didn't activate Kaioh Ken x10 when fighting against Freezer. Where could Goku activate the Kaioh Ken if this was the case? The only point I can think of is page 10 of chapter 312 which doesn't make any sense at all, because Freezer has already started his attack at 50% of strength. If Freezer was hitting him hard enough to beat him even when using kaioh ken x10, it means that without kaioh ken Goku would have died instantly with the first hit.
It also doesn't make sense from a narrative point of view because Freezer knows absolutely nothing about the Kaioh Ken (neither Piccolo nor Vegeta knew about that technique either). Freezer attacked him softly enough not to Kill Goku, so it is impossible that Freezer anticipated the Kaioh Ken x10 to power up enough to beat him but not to kill him even when Goku multiplied his power by 10 at the middle of the brawl.

I'm not sure if King Cold actually had any other transformations, but either way, I don't think it would've made a difference against SSj Trunks. From the way King Cold was acting, he seemed to believe that Freeza was stronger than himself. He also was stupid enough to believe that Trunks's sword was the reason Freeza was killed.

Of course King Cold can transform himself, in fact, we see it TRANSFORMED. Remember that the original form of freezer is the strongest one, and we are talking about his father here.
Could Nappa transform himself into a giant ape when looking at the moon? Of course he could, but we hadn't the chance to see it. The same goes for Cold.

I'm sure that if Cold could transform, he would do it. Same for Chilled.

Well, Chilled doesn't exists in the manga so it's as legit as a character as Cooler (which of course means that it's not a canon character).
About Cold, of course he could transform, but it hadn't any sense from his point of view. Why would he transform to fight Trunks when he was trying to fool him to steal his sword?

[Darkprince410]

You have to take into account that no one may have commented about Goku's strength increasing from when he's using the 10x Kaiou-ken to attack 50% Freeza is because Piccolo and the others already felt their power was beyond their comprehension. Piccolo himself said earlier that it felt like their strength was crushing him, so it's likely that the increase was too high for him to even be able to grasp. Besides, just a couple pages before Kaiou comments that Goku is using the 10x Kaiou-ken, we see what could easily be a Kaiou-ken aura, which is still there even after he gets kicked in the face and his attack stops. It's the first time during the fight that we see him with an aura up and retain it during an attack/getting attacked, which is far more indicative of a Kaiou-ken aura than just a flight aura.

You also have to take into account that Freeza comments several times that he's just toying with Goku and outright shows that he's not putting his all into his attacks for the reason that he wants to make Goku suffer rather than just outright kill him. We see him still take blows Freeza deals to him, even after his ki reserves are "emptied" due to the 20x Kaiou-ken. If Freeza wanted to kill Goku, he could have easily, even if Goku was using the 10x Kaiou-ken, since all the 20x Kaiou-ken managed to do was burn his hand a bit, putting Freeza's strength when Goku's using the 10x Kaiou-ken as being over twice as high, which was far higher than the gap between Freeza and Vegeta.

[freezamite]

You have to take into account that no one may have commented about Goku's strength increasing from when he's using the 10x Kaiou-ken to attack 50% Freeza is because Piccolo and the others already felt their power was beyond their comprehension. Piccolo himself said earlier that it felt like their strength was crushing him, so it's likely that the increase was too high for him to even be able to grasp. Besides, just a couple pages before Kaiou comments that Goku is using the 10x Kaiou-ken, we see what could easily be a Kaiou-ken aura, which is still there even after he gets kicked in the face and his attack stops. It's the first time during the fight that we see him with an aura up and retain it during an attack/getting attacked, which is far more indicative of a Kaiou-ken aura than just a flight aura.

Well, although I disagree with Freezer or Goku's power being beyond Piccolo's (or Gohan or Krilin) comprehension (even Yamcha or Ten-Shin can measure the power of a SSJ, being much weaker than Piccolo. Or Krilin when it does it with Pefect Cell), my point was that NOBODY tells the reader since when those power ups are used, which would be a huge mistake for an author to do and never happened during the whole manga, after or before that fight.

About the aura you are pointing as being a Kaioh Ken aura, it's not that he retains it during an attack, what happens is that Freezer attacks him while he is still full-speed flying at mid-air, (and if you look closely, Freezer also has his own aura drawn while kicking because he was also "flying", and of course, Freezer wasn't using any form of kaioh ken). Goku even doesn't have his eyes coloured in white during that attack which is another indication that it wasn't a Kaioh Ken aura (having white-colored eyes doesn't mean someone is using kaioh ken, but using kaioh-ken always results in having white-colored eyes).

You also have to take into account that Freeza comments several times that he's just toying with Goku and outright shows that he's not putting his all into his attacks for the reason that he wants to make Goku suffer rather than just outright kill him. We see him still take blows Freeza deals to him, even after his ki reserves are "emptied" due to the 20x Kaiou-ken. If Freeza wanted to kill Goku, he could have easily, even if Goku was using the 10x Kaiou-ken, since all the 20x Kaiou-ken managed to do was burn his hand a bit, putting Freeza's strength when Goku's using the 10x Kaiou-ken as being over twice as high, which was far higher than the gap between Freeza and Vegeta.

Yes, I know, but this was because even with Kaioh Ken x10, the gap between Goku and Freezer is big enough in favour of Freezer to kill goku in one hit if he doesn't attack "carefully" and without much strength.
But regarding that, you have to think about the fact that Freezer doesn't know what Kaioh Ken is. If Freezer kicked Goku hard enough to overwhelm his Kaioh Ken x10, how it is that he didn't kill Goku when he wasn't using KK and freeza was at his 50%? There are plenty of shots where we can see Freezer kicking Goku's ass without Goku having any aura, so it must mean that or Freezer multiplies/divides by 10 his strength in a punch by punch basis depending on Goku's use of KK, or that Goku is and has been using KK since de beginning, which is a more possible scenario because it doesn't contradict the manga in any single point.

Regards!

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

Of course, he was using Kaioh Ken the whole time. I mean, the moment he arrives, he must activate kaioh ken in order to survive if he didn't do that at Freeza's spaceship.

So...you believe in the "invisible" Kaio-Ken theory? I don't think Kaio-Ken works that way.

Last time Krilin sensed Goku's power he was at around 60.000. Maybe he could sense the 180.000 he used against Ginyu, but the difference against the 3 million he has when kaiohkened is absolutely huge.

Yes, but Krillin's sensed even greater powers since the Ginyu battle. If Goku's new power is enough to make Krillin question if it's even him, the power-up had to have been drastic enough to be on the same level of Freeza, Piccolo, or Vegeta.

Chapter: 307 (DBZ 113), P6.1
Kuririn: “A-are you really Goku…? Your ki feels different than it did before…”

Goku's definitely in that league with his normal power at least. Goku felt the power pouring right out of him and was actually shocked that he was even capable of having that much power.

Chapter: 306 (DBZ 112), P12.2
Context: after he fully heals
Goku: “I’ve gotten strong! My power just keeps gushing forth…! Unbelievable…! And here I thought I was already about at my limits…This is enough to scare even me…”

That's his power, not the Kaio-Ken x10. If he exits the tank at a level much weaker than almost everyone on the battlefield, it kinda makes everything stated afterwards a bit pointless. The emphasis is on Goku overcoming limits that he thought he reached during the gravity training.

But that's because Goku was holding back even when using Kaioh Ken. I mean, we as humans can't increase or decrease our ki, but we can also fight serious or not depending the situation.

He's about 10x weaker than his opposition, has to maintain that power-up throughout the entire fight just to stay alive, let alone keep up with Freeza, and he's holding-back?

Well, this is because he didn't know that Freezer had all that strength hidden. Both Goku and Freezer were warming up, and both of them knew the other one wasn't fighting at maximum strength.
When Freezer powered-up at 100%, he also warmed-up against Goku SSJ. He was at 100% of Ki, but he didn't fight at maximum strength. The same can be applied at Goku's Kaioh Ken x10 before Freezer unleashes his 50%.

The warm-up was over once they began fighting on the ground. At that point, Goku attacked Freeza with a variant of the Kaio-Ken, and the aura is immediately gone after Freeza dodges the attack; pretty much showing it was a Kaio-Ken burst attack from Goku. When Freeza mentions Goku has a lot more power in reserve, the context of that seems to indicate Goku still has a huge power-up (Kaio-Ken x10) he has yet to use--and estimate that half of his power would be enough to overcome whatever power Goku unleashes. This isn't a matter of Goku simply "pulling his punches" in Kaio-Ken x10, which wouldn't make sense if he'd need to use that level of power just to stay even with Freeza to begin with. And Goku can't suppress his power while using Kaio-Ken, either.

Chapter: 312 (DBZ 118), P13.2
Context: as Freeza beats up on Goku
Piccolo: “Th-this is bad…There’s too much of a gap between the power they were hiding…”

Goku's reserve power=Kaio-Ken x10
Freeza's reserve power=50% of his power

Both were hiding a great amount of power and Freeza had the clear upperhand. Goku isn't fighting in Kaio-Ken x10 and suppressing his power at the same time. It kinda defeats the point of the technique. That, and the fact that we're never given any indication Goku can use Kaio-Ken while simultaneously suppressing his power at the same time.

This is not Kaioh ken, but a flying aura. Kaioh Ken's aura remains around Goku the whole time he uses kaioh ken, not only when he flies against his enemy at full speed.

He was knocked out of it once he got near Freeza. The Kaio-Ken aura wouldn't be around Goku once he's knocked down.

Yes, but the alternative to thinking that Goku had mastered Kaioh Ken enough to use it in a sustained way, is to think that with a difference in power of 20x Freeza wouldn't have killed Goku in one single hit. The difference can't be that brutal because the whole manga wouldn't have any sense.

Still, that requires us to see Kaio-Ken in a different light, compared to what's been shown in the Manga up to that point. I think the theory simply complicates things a bit more than they should. Goku acquiring enough power to fight on-par with Freeza, in my opinion, makes more sense in the story. Goku was so much weaker than everyone while he was healing, so I think it's only right he powered-up as much as he did; especially at that point, where he'd be fighting against Freeza's most powerful form. Goku being at 300,000 not only has him weaker than Piccolo and Vegeta (who thought Goku was in a class of his own), but also a weakling compared to Freeza's first form.

Goku had just sensed Vegeta's power go up and quickly go down fighting Freeza, so at the very least, he'd have to be stronger than Vegeta on a base level to do what he did (casually kick Freeza and block his beams) once he arrived.

Handling and sustaining a Kaio-Ken are entirely different. Goku's gravity training toughened Goku up to the point where he could handle it without too much difficulty. Sustaining it for an entire battle would most likely do more bad than good.

Goku said when he arrived at Namek that the kaioh ken x10 was already mastered, so its obvious to think that in the day he was in Namek fighting Ginyu he also mastered the Kaioh Ken x10 a bit more.

Not exactly. Goku only used a normal Kaio-Ken to display some of his power while fighting Ginyu. At that point, Goku had yet to even use Kaio-Ken x10 in a battle. Now I think his power-up after healing would allow Goku to use it on a more effective level, but since it was such an insignificant power-up once Freeza used 50% of his power, I don't think it mattered much.

[freezamite]

Of course, he was using Kaioh Ken the whole time. I mean, the moment he arrives, he must activate kaioh ken in order to survive if he didn't do that at Freeza's spaceship.

So...you believe in the "invisible" Kaio-Ken theory? I don't think Kaio-Ken works that way.

Well, the "invisible" Kaioh-ken is there, it doesn't matter when he activates it, it's never drawn, so it's invisible with independence of it's activation.

Last time Krilin sensed Goku's power he was at around 60.000. Maybe he could sense the 180.000 he used against Ginyu, but the difference against the 3 million he has when kaiohkened is absolutely huge.

Yes, but Krillin's sensed even greater powers since the Ginyu battle. If Goku's new power is enough to make Krillin question if it's even him, the power-up had to have been drastic enough to be on the same level of Freeza, Piccolo, or Vegeta.

Chapter: 307 (DBZ 113), P6.1
Kuririn: “A-are you really Goku…? Your ki feels different than it did before…”

Goku's definitely in that league with his normal power at least. Goku felt the power pouring right out of him and was actually shocked that he was even capable of having that much power.

Of course, but Kaioh Ken translates into power being sensed by the others or even scoutters. So what Krillin says about Goku's strength at that moment doesn't prove the fact that Goku hadn't activated KK before.

Chapter: 306 (DBZ 112), P12.2
Context: after he fully heals
Goku: “I’ve gotten strong! My power just keeps gushing forth…! Unbelievable…! And here I thought I was already about at my limits…This is enough to scare even me…”

That's his power, not the Kaio-Ken x10. If he exits the tank at a level much weaker than almost everyone on the battlefield, it kinda makes everything stated afterwards a bit pointless. The emphasis is on Goku overcoming limits that he thought he reached during the gravity training.

Well, he thought his limits were at 90.000, and he actually reached 300.000
And although not being Goku's power, Kaioh Ken was something Goku knew it was there. I mean, against Ginyu, Goku always acted like he was stronger, when in fact he was far weaker than Ginyu. But he knew that once he used Kaioh Ken, he would be the best, and that is what he did.

Now if Goku powered up at 300.000 base, and then he used KK times 10, of course all what is said by him makes sense, the same way it did when he told Ginyu he was stronger even when it was faked through kaioh ken. And if we take into account that Goku knows that KK times 10 has been completely mastered, then it really makes sense.

But that's because Goku was holding back even when using Kaioh Ken. I mean, we as humans can't increase or decrease our ki, but we can also fight serious or not depending the situation.

He's about 10x weaker than his opposition, has to maintain that power-up throughout the entire fight just to stay alive, let alone keep up with Freeza, and he's holding-back?

Yes, because once powered up, he was at the same level of his opponent. It's the same as Freezer when reaches it's injured 100%, he had to go at 100% because he was in front of someone that was way stronger than him, and even at those conditions he "warmed up" because he thought he was strong enough.
This is how it works in Dragon Ball, there are four states at which one character can be depending on the situation:
Ki contained - force contained (Like Freezer at 50% hitting Goku softly enough not to kill him in one strike).
Ki contained - full force (Like Cell against Goku at Cell games)
Ki released at maximum - force contained (Freezer's warm up after 100% reached or Goku's KK x10 at that stage of the fight in my opinion)
Ki released at maximum - full force (The majority of battles have someone fighting in those conditions)

All the first three stages are a form of containing oneself in one form or another. From a pure strength point of view, it's exactly the same someone with an energy of 10 hitting at half his force, than someone with 5 of energy hitting at maximum force.

The warm-up was over once they began fighting on the ground. At that point, Goku attacked Freeza with a variant of the Kaio-Ken, and the aura is immediately gone after Freeza dodges the attack; pretty much showing it was a Kaio-Ken burst attack from Goku. When Freeza mentions Goku has a lot more power in reserve, the context of that seems to indicate Goku still has a huge power-up (Kaio-Ken x10) he has yet to use--and estimate that half of his power would be enough to overcome whatever power Goku unleashes. This isn't a matter of Goku simply "pulling his punches" in Kaio-Ken x10, which wouldn't make sense if he'd need to use that level of power just to stay even with Freeza to begin with. And Goku can't suppress his power while using Kaio-Ken, either.

Chapter: 312 (DBZ 118), P13.2
Context: as Freeza beats up on Goku
Piccolo: “Th-this is bad…There’s too much of a gap between the power they were hiding…”

Goku's reserve power=Kaio-Ken x10
Freeza's reserve power=50% of his power

Both were hiding a great amount of power and Freeza had the clear upperhand. Goku isn't fighting in Kaio-Ken x10 and suppressing his power at the same time. It kinda defeats the point of the technique. That, and the fact that we're never given any indication Goku can use Kaio-Ken while simultaneously suppressing his power at the same time.

You only have to explain me where is the Kaioh Ken activated (chapter and page) and why then and not before. If we know that Goku wasn't fighting at full strength, even when he was using Kaioh Ken, this sentence also makes lots of sense.

This is not Kaioh ken, but a flying aura. Kaioh Ken's aura remains around Goku the whole time he uses kaioh ken, not only when he flies against his enemy at full speed.

He was knocked out of it once he got near Freeza. The Kaio-Ken aura wouldn't be around Goku once he's knocked down.

Not once knocked, but even before. What about the first punch he receives from Freezer after he powers up? Do you really see an aura there? Remember that Freezer doesn't know what KK is...

Yes, but the alternative to thinking that Goku had mastered Kaioh Ken enough to use it in a sustained way, is to think that with a difference in power of 20x Freeza wouldn't have killed Goku in one single hit. The difference can't be that brutal because the whole manga wouldn't have any sense.

Still, that requires us to see Kaio-Ken in a different light, compared to what's been shown in the Manga up to that point. I think the theory simply complicates things a bit more than they should. Goku acquiring enough power to fight on-par with Freeza, in my opinion, makes more sense in the story. Goku was so much weaker than everyone while he was healing, so I think it's only right he powered-up as much as he did; especially at that point, where he'd be fighting against Freeza's most powerful form. Goku being at 300,000 not only has him weaker than Piccolo and Vegeta (who thought Goku was in a class of his own), but also a weakling compared to Freeza's first form.

As I said, the "invisible" Kaioh Ken is still invisible if we consider that Goku enables it while fighting against Freezer's 50%, there are a lot of pages that show Goku with no aura and receiving Freezer's punches (From chapter 312, page 6, pages 8, 9 or the last page of the chapter). So invisible kaioh ken is still there. Since we never see Goku activating Kaioh Ken and we know that he is using it and there is not a point in the fight where such an increment makes any sense (remember when Goku powers up from KK x10 to KKx20, he catches Freezer totally by surprise even when he "only" increases his strength by two), it's logic to assume that KK was activated since the very beginning.

Goku had just sensed Vegeta's power go up and quickly go down fighting Freeza, so at the very least, he'd have to be stronger than Vegeta on a base level to do what he did (casually kick Freeza and block his beams) once he arrived.

Handling and sustaining a Kaio-Ken are entirely different. Goku's gravity training toughened Goku up to the point where he could handle it without too much difficulty. Sustaining it for an entire battle would most likely do more bad than good.

Of course, KK always does damage to the body, but this was his only option. About Goku fighting someone he knows he can't win without KK, this has happened a lot at that point of the manga. Goku vs Ginyu for example. Goku knows that he has that technique and that he can use it, so I don't think why hasn't sense from his point of view to go fighting Freezer if he knew that with KKx10 he would be minimum at the same level than him.

Goku said when he arrived at Namek that the kaioh ken x10 was already mastered, so its obvious to think that in the day he was in Namek fighting Ginyu he also mastered the Kaioh Ken x10 a bit more.

Not exactly. Goku only used a normal Kaio-Ken to display some of his power while fighting Ginyu. At that point, Goku had yet to even use Kaio-Ken x10 in a battle. Now I think his power-up after healing would allow Goku to use it on a more effective level, but since it was such an insignificant power-up once Freeza used 50% of his power, I don't think it mattered much.

[/quote]
Goku didn't use Kkx10 against Ginyu, true, but he already said he could do it in case of necessity. So we know that he had mastered KKx10 at that point, and since then added to the zenkay, his body could power up enough to sustain the technique for a long period of time.

At least, that's how I see it! Regards!

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

Well, the "invisible" Kaioh-ken is there, it doesn't matter when he activates it, it's never drawn, so it's invisible with independence of it's activation.

There are a few pages with Goku surrounded by an aura that looks like Kaio-Ken. I once thought Goku was fighting in Kaio-Ken x10 the entire time, too, but that doesn't change the fact that it completely goes against the origin of the technique to begin with. Goku's able to casually hide from Freeza in the water, use super speed at the last min to get out of Freeza's attack (which shouldn't be possible if he's already powered-up, considering all of his abilities would be at its best), and have enough time to talk to Freeza. Kaio-Ken is a technique that could still be dangerous, regardless of how much stronger Goku's gotten.

Of course, but Kaioh Ken translates into power being sensed by the others or even scoutters. So what Krillin says about Goku's strength at that moment doesn't prove the fact that Goku hadn't activated KK before.

It wasn't just a matter of strength, tho. His power had changed so much that he wasn't able to recognize his Chi energy. When's the last time Krillin mention something similar to this? After the battle with Reacoom. It's to show how much stronger Goku's become. This isn't just said by Krillin, either--it's also mentioned by Vegeta. He's well aware of the Kaio-Ken--probably moreso than any of the others there. He's convinced that Goku's close to becoming a Super Saiyan. What relevance would any of this dialogue have if Goku was simply using Kaio-Ken x10 the entire time? None of it would've been his actual power at all.

Well, he thought his limits were at 90.000, and he actually reached 300.000
And although not being Goku's power, Kaioh Ken was something Goku knew it was there. I mean, against Ginyu, Goku always acted like he was stronger, when in fact he was far weaker than Ginyu. But he knew that once he used Kaioh Ken, he would be the best, and that is what he did.

Goku knew Ginyu was different from the others, but he had no idea Ginyu was stronger than him during the battle. Ginyu also told Goku that he could change his Battle Power like Goku, so he didn't know what to expect. When Ginyu was able to grab Goku after Jheese created the diversion, Goku realized that Ginyu was stronger--and he was preparing to use the Kaio-Ken right there.

Now if Goku powered up at 300.000 base, and then he used KK times 10, of course all what is said by him makes sense, the same way it did when he told Ginyu he was stronger even when it was faked through kaioh ken. And if we take into account that Goku knows that KK times 10 has been completely mastered, then it really makes sense.

All it would do is allow him to equal Freeza at the most. There would literally be no point to his confidence if all he could do is equal Freeza. Goku was expecting his power-up to give him an advantage over Freeza, and was quite surprised he was helpless once Freeza began using 50% of his power.

Yes, because once powered up, he was at the same level of his opponent. It's the same as Freezer when reaches it's injured 100%, he had to go at 100% because he was in front of someone that was way stronger than him, and even at those conditions he "warmed up" because he thought he was strong enough.

That still doesn't explain Goku's confidence, which Freeza noticed towards the end of their initial battle. He believed Goku was confident because he was hiding a considerable amount of power, and Goku admits that Freeza was right about that assessment. Since Freeza was accurate, it means Goku was more powerful than he was showing. Since you believe Kaio-Ken x10 brings Goku up to Freeza's level, what "power" is Goku holding-back, and why is he confident in this power? Remember, it can't be the Kaio-Ken x20, since he never planned on using it.

This is how it works in Dragon Ball, there are four states at which one character can be depending on the situation:

Ki contained - force contained (Like Freezer at 50% hitting Goku softly enough not to kill him in one strike).

Freeza was actually surprised Goku was able to take his attacks like he did. I think it's a combination of Freeza holding-back and Goku's resistance to damage.

Ki released at maximum - force contained (Freezer's warm up after 100% reached or Goku's KK x10 at that stage of the fight in my opinion)

The problem with this is that if this state was what took place during their initial battle, Goku would be using his full-power, but wouldn't be fighting seriously.

The quote I posted from Piccolo:

Piccolo: “Th-this is bad…There’s too much of a gap between the power they were hiding…”

implies Goku's Chi wasn't released at maximum, since he was able to put out much more power once Freeza powered-up. If all of Goku's power was released, there wouldn't be any power to hide during the battle; he'd just start fighting Freeza more seriously. Since Kaio says Goku is using Kaio-Ken x10 while he's getting destroyed by Freeza, it makes sense for this to be the power Piccolo was referring to. It gives reason to Goku's confidence, and makes it more understandable as to why Freeza (someone who can't even sense Chi) was able to understand that Goku had much more power in reserve. In my opinion, of course.

You only have to explain me where is the Kaioh Ken activated (chapter and page) and why then and not before. If we know that Goku wasn't fighting at full strength, even when he was using Kaioh Ken, this sentence also makes lots of sense.

He first uses a variant of it when Freeza decides to fight with no hands. As for why: because I think Goku was powerful enough to fight Freeza without Kaio-Ken. I don't believe there'd be a reason for Goku to use Kaio-Ken x10 at that point unless he wanted to finish the fight quickly.

If we go with the # 3 state, I actually think it goes against what Piccolo says. Piccolo's dialogue indicates that Goku was able to power-up, moreso than him just fighting at full-strength. He realized that both of them were hiding a large amount of power, and that Freeza's power was just way beyond Goku's power.

Not once knocked, but even before. What about the first punch he receives from Freezer after he powers up? Do you really see an aura there? Remember that Freezer doesn't know what KK is...

That attacked caught Goku by surprise, so I don't think he was using Kaio-Ken at that point. I think he started using Kaio-Ken x10 when he attacked Freeza from behind and took a kick to the face. Piccolo notices the difference between their hidden powers 2 pages after that. Also, Freeza was so far beyond Goku at that point that his Kaio-Ken wouldn't even matter.

As I said, the "invisible" Kaioh Ken is still invisible if we consider that Goku enables it while fighting against Freezer's 50%, there are a lot of pages that show Goku with no aura and receiving Freezer's punches (From chapter 312, page 6, pages 8, 9 or the last page of the chapter). So invisible kaioh ken is still there. Since we never see Goku activating Kaioh Ken and we know that he is using it and there is not a point in the fight where such an increment makes any sense (remember when Goku powers up from KK x10 to KKx20, he catches Freezer totally by surprise even when he "only" increases his strength by two), it's logic to assume that KK was activated since the very beginning.

Most of the battle (50% Freeza) consists of Goku losing badly, so I don't think there'd be much room to constantly show the aura, since he'd just be getting knocked out of it, anyway. After Kaio says what he says, the following page shows Goku being elbowed, and he uses a Kaio-Ken there just to avoid Freeza's follow-up attack. Had that just been a normal flight aura, he wouldn't have been fast enough to dodge at the last min.

Of course, KK always does damage to the body, but this was his only option. About Goku fighting someone he knows he can't win without KK, this has happened a lot at that point of the manga. Goku vs Ginyu for example. Goku knows that he has that technique and that he can use it, so I don't think why hasn't sense from his point of view to go fighting Freezer if he knew that with KKx10 he would be minimum at the same level than him.

Goku was still unaware of Ginyu's power advantage, so he was feeling him out by fighting. With Freeza, he had a good understanding of how powerful he was...Goku was sure he'd lose to 3rd form Freeza, healed or not--and if he was really only as strong as you think, he'd already understand how much weaker he is than an even more powerful version of Freeza. With Ginyu, he had about 10 levels of Kaio-Ken to sit on, which is vastly different in comparison to needing your highest level of Kaio-Ken just to keep up with the opponent. There was no advantage for Goku against Freeza like there was against Ginyu if you really believe he was only that strong.

If Goku was really calculating the combination of his new power (300,000) combined with his Kaio-Ken x10, it'd be on-par with Freeza, but since Kaio-Ken x10 would only bring him up to 3 million, there'd be no room for him to bring out even more power because of the nature of the Kaio-Ken technique. Goku would be as strong as he could be, but he could be pulling his punches. That's about it. He wouldn't be able to suppress or hide his power in any way.

Now if Goku is already as strong as Freeza without Kaio-Ken, it gives reason to the confidence he had in the reserve power he was saving for Freeza, because there's little chance Goku was expecting Freeza to have a power-up that would rival or outstrip his Kaio-Ken x10.

Goku didn't use Kkx10 against Ginyu, true, but he already said he could do it in case of necessity. So we know that he had mastered KKx10 at that point, and since then added to the zenkay, his body could power up enough to sustain the technique for a long period of time.

He could use it if need be, yes--but using something like that for the duration of the battle (even when he wasn't fighting) is a whole different monster here.That's something that's never been done, and I'm sure the last thing Goku would do is go into a battle with someone as powerful as Freeza like that.

[freezamite]

There are a few pages with Goku surrounded by an aura that looks like Kaio-Ken. I once thought Goku was fighting in Kaio-Ken x10 the entire time, too, but that doesn't change the fact that it completely goes against the origin of the technique to begin with. Goku's able to casually hide from Freeza in the water, use super speed at the last min to get out of Freeza's attack (which shouldn't be possible if he's already powered-up, considering all of his abilities would be at its best), and have enough time to talk to Freeza. Kaio-Ken is a technique that could still be dangerous, regardless of how much stronger Goku's gotten.

Those auras that surrounds Goku aren't KK auras, I can demonstrate this.
First time we see a "Kaioh Ken like" aura is when Freezer says he will fight without hands. But this aura disappears the first moment Goku stops his movement, so it's not a KK aura.
The second time we see it is when Freezer is already at 50%, but at that image Goku has his eyes coloured in black, so it's not a KK aura by any means (remember, KK always have eyes coloured in white).

On the other hand, powering up your ki doesn't prevent you from fighting at low pace. As I said before, Freezer's warming up after he powered up to 100% is a solid proof of that. In fact, every fight in DB has those kind of speed feints when every fighter is already powered up.

Goku using KKx10 could still fight at 50% of his maximum KKx10 capabilities like I could fight at 50% of mines.

It wasn't just a matter of strength, tho. His power had changed so much that he wasn't able to recognize his Chi energy. When's the last time Krillin mention something similar to this? After the battle with Reacoom. It's to show how much stronger Goku's become. This isn't just said by Krillin, either--it's also mentioned by Vegeta. He's well aware of the Kaio-Ken--probably moreso than any of the others there. He's convinced that Goku's close to becoming a Super Saiyan. What relevance would any of this dialogue have if Goku was simply using Kaio-Ken x10 the entire time? None of it would've been his actual power at all.

Then this would be a reason to think that he had KK activated more than not. If the Ki "changed" enough to not being totally recognisable, then it's completely plausible that a KK potentiating and transforming this Ki was used at that moment!

Goku knew Ginyu was different from the others, but he had no idea Ginyu was stronger than him during the battle. Ginyu also told Goku that he could change his Battle Power like Goku, so he didn't know what to expect. When Ginyu was able to grab Goku after Jheese created the diversion, Goku realized that Ginyu was stronger--and he was preparing to use the Kaio-Ken right there.

Yes, and even then, he told Ginyu to "look at his scoutter because he would unleash his full power". Goku's use of KK is part of his techniques and of course, if he can go as far as using a 20x KK, he will take that into consideration when he analyses his possibilities against an enemy.

All it would do is allow him to equal Freeza at the most. There would literally be no point to his confidence if all he could do is equal Freeza. Goku was expecting his power-up to give him an advantage over Freeza, and was quite surprised he was helpless once Freeza began using 50% of his power.

Goku already knew that he could use KKx20 in case of extreme necessity, so from KKx10 to KKx20 there is a huge range of KKs to use if needed. Furthermore, he couldn't even imagine that Freezer would still be fighting at only 25% of his strength after all the power ups he already had, so it's not strange that a Goku that knows that he can still double his ki strength, and that has lots of confidence in his fighting skills (he knew he had capabilities that Freezer lacked, like sensing Ki or the Genkidama) would go to fight with high spirits.
Freezer's huge strength was far beyond his imagination.

That still doesn't explain Goku's confidence, which Freeza noticed towards the end of their initial battle. He believed Goku was confident because he was hiding a considerable amount of power, and Goku admits that Freeza was right about that assessment. Since Freeza was accurate, it means Goku was more powerful than he was showing. Since you believe Kaio-Ken x10 brings Goku up to Freeza's level, what "power" is Goku holding-back, and why is he confident in this power? Remember, it can't be the Kaio-Ken x20, since he never planned on using it.

Yes it can. He never planned on using Kaioh Ken x20 because he surely thought that with KKx10 or even KKx15 in the worst scenario he could be able to beat Freezer. And as I said, most fights in DB are won by a much lower margin. I mean, Goku against Piccolo was already confident and they were even in terms of strength (maybe Goku was a bit better, but not by much for sure).
Goku was of course more powerful than he was showing, both in terms of Ki (he was at 50% of maximum his capabilities when factoring KK), techniques (the Genkidama was still an option) and even in terms of fighting rhythm (even if he didn't use anything superior to KKx10, he could still fight more seriously than what we saw during the first part of the fight, which was considered a warm-up by the two of them).

Freeza was actually surprised Goku was able to take his attacks like he did. I think it's a combination of Freeza holding-back and Goku's resistance to damage.

True, but it's also true that he wasn't at full force 50%. He even shows Goku what he can do at 50% to intimidate him (and Goku ends being terrorized by that).

The problem with this is that if this state was what took place during their initial battle, Goku would be using his full-power, but wouldn't be fighting seriously.
The quote I posted from Piccolo:

Piccolo: “Th-this is bad…There’s too much of a gap between the power they were hiding…”

implies Goku's Chi wasn't released at maximum, since he was able to put out much more power once Freeza powered-up.

Power can be also hidden fighting at a slow pace. I mean, when Freezer told Goku "this is only a warm-up", then Goku replied "I hope so, because if this was your maximum power, that would be a shame".
So Freezer was also hidding part of his power to Goku even after powering up to 100%, and the same could be said between Goku and Freezer at this first part of the fight.

None of them were going at full force, but one of them was hiding more power than the other one, and this also applies if we make Goku use KK since the beginning.

If all of Goku's power was released, there wouldn't be any power to hide during the battle; he'd just start fighting Freeza more seriously.

Nope, that's an assumption you make but not a fact. We have been told dozens of times about fighters going at full ki, but not at full force. In fact, most if not all of the fights before the sayan saga, when they didn't even have the ability to hide, release or even detect ki had parts where both fighters were only testing the other one.

Since Kaio says Goku is using Kaio-Ken x10 while he's getting destroyed by Freeza, it makes sense for this to be the power Piccolo was referring to. It gives reason to Goku's confidence, and makes it more understandable as to why Freeza (someone who can't even sense Chi) was able to understand that Goku had much more power in reserve. In my opinion, of course.

Problem is that you have a huge plot hole in there. Kaito saying that Goku was already using KKx10 at that point of the fight, and we as readers not seeing when it's activated, would leave the door open to a huge amount of possible interpretations and would harm the fight's coherency if we don't assume that KK was activated since the beginning. Because... since when is Goku using KK? Did he use it after Freezer powered up to 50%? But if Goku was punched at 50% before activating KK, then that would be an instant kill situation.
If a difference of only 10%+ more ki can result in a fatal injury, a difference of 900% more power is totally unimaginable even when considering that Freezer was holding back a bit.

Other people also say that Goku activates KK when Freezer promises to fight without using his hands, but then again, how could Freezer know that he had to increase his powers 10 times to match Goku's power up?

He first uses a variant of it when Freeza decides to fight with no hands. As for why: because I think Goku was powerful enough to fight Freeza without Kaio-Ken. I don't believe there'd be a reason for Goku to use Kaio-Ken x10 at that point unless he wanted to finish the fight quickly.
If we go with the # 3 state, I actually think it goes against what Piccolo says. Piccolo's dialogue indicates that Goku was able to power-up, moreso than him just fighting at full-strength. He realized that both of them were hiding a large amount of power, and that Freeza's power was just way beyond Goku's power.

Problem is that Piccolo's statement depends on too many things. I mean, in one hand he could be talking from Freezer's perspective. I mean, since Freezer can't sense ki, fighting at a slow pace even with Ki released is also hiding oneself powers.
On the other hand, we also have Goku's statement when Freezer warmed up. Why didn't he know that Freezer was warming up if he could feel his power?
What Piccolo said can be read from a lot of different perspectives, and some of them doesn't make the KKx10 since the beginning scenario out of context at all.

I think that more important than that are the plot holes that generated if we assume that KK was activated halfway on the fight.

That attacked caught Goku by surprise, so I don't think he was using Kaio-Ken at that point. I think he started using Kaio-Ken x10 when he attacked Freeza from behind and took a kick to the face. Piccolo notices the difference between their hidden powers 2 pages after that. Also, Freeza was so far beyond Goku at that point that his Kaio-Ken wouldn't even matter.

Well, of course it mattered, because a difference of 100% in strength is not the same as a difference of 1900%! It's as if I try to harm a fly without killing it using the same strength as if I want to harm a man in the same way.
Remember that Freezer didn't know the existence of KK, so in your scenario, although being true in the fact that KK shouldn't help Goku to win the fight, it's also true that KK was necessary in order to not being killed in one hit (and by accident!).

In fact, even when you say that KKx10 is being used, Freezer demonstrates that he can kill Goku in one attack if he wants. So now put yourself into Freezer's situation. You calculate that your enemy have strength equivalent to "x", and you power up enough to kill him but you don't want to do it in one hit. Do you really think that Goku suddenly powering up by 10 wouldn't catch you by surprise?
Even when Goku powered up by two (from KKx10 to KKx20), in a much more noticeable way, Freezer was caught with his guard lowered, how could a 10x increase in strength done in a more suddenly way not be able to achieve at least the same effect?

Most of the battle (50% Freeza) consists of Goku losing badly, so I don't think there'd be much room to constantly show the aura, since he'd just be getting knocked out of it, anyway. After Kaio says what he says, the following page shows Goku being elbowed, and he uses a Kaio-Ken there just to avoid Freeza's follow-up attack. Had that just been a normal flight aura, he wouldn't have been fast enough to dodge at the last min.

Then again, that was not a Kaioh Ken aura, but the aura he usually has when flying! Even Freezer have this kind of aura at that same page!

Goku was still unaware of Ginyu's power advantage, so he was feeling him out by fighting. With Freeza, he had a good understanding of how powerful he was...Goku was sure he'd lose to 3rd form Freeza, healed or not--and if he was really only as strong as you think, he'd already understand how much weaker he is than an even more powerful version of Freeza. With Ginyu, he had about 10 levels of Kaio-Ken to sit on, which is vastly different in comparison to needing your highest level of Kaio-Ken just to keep up with the opponent. There was no advantage for Goku against Freeza like there was against Ginyu if you really believe he was only that strong.

Highest level of KK was x20, the same way during its fight against Vegeta it was KKx4.

If Goku was really calculating the combination of his new power (300,000) combined with his Kaio-Ken x10, it'd be on-par with Freeza, but since Kaio-Ken x10 would only bring him up to 3 million, there'd be no room for him to bring out even more power because of the nature of the Kaio-Ken technique. Goku would be as strong as he could be, but he could be pulling his punches. That's about it. He wouldn't be able to suppress or hide his power in any way.
Now if Goku is already as strong as Freeza without Kaio-Ken, it gives reason to the confidence he had in the reserve power he was saving for Freeza, because there's little chance Goku was expecting Freeza to have a power-up that would rival or outstrip his Kaio-Ken x10.

Remember, Goku not planning to use KKx20 doesn't mean he didn't know he could use it. And him having confidence on winning the fight because of being stronger doesn't go with Goku's personality at all.

He could use it if need be, yes--but using something like that for the duration of the battle (even when he wasn't fighting) is a whole different monster here.That's something that's never been done, and I'm sure the last thing Goku would do is go into a battle with someone as powerful as Freeza like that.

Problem is that the difference implied by KKx10 makes it's use mandatory. I mean, it's not the same when you confront someone that is 30-50% stronger than you than when you are in front of a beast that is at least 20 times stronger. In the first case, you can at least expect to have some time of reaction that allow you to activate the Kaioh Ken, and since we are told that Ginyu wasn't fighting at full force, this scenario is even more comprehensible (this 30-50% difference was smaller considering that he was hidding his power).
But in front of someone that you can't see because of his speed, that you know he can kill you at any moment in one single strike... it doesn't has any sense to activate or deactivate KKx10 because the moment you deactivate it you're dead for sure without having time to react.

Regards!

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

Those auras that surrounds Goku aren't KK auras, I can demonstrate this.
First time we see a "Kaioh Ken like" aura is when Freezer says he will fight without hands. But this aura disappears the first moment Goku stops his movement, so it's not a KK aura.
The second time we see it is when Freezer is already at 50%, but at that image Goku has his eyes coloured in black, so it's not a KK aura by any means (remember, KK always have eyes coloured in white).

Actually, if you look closely, the color of his eyes are different when he uses the Kaio-Ken aura the first time. I don't think you can say it's not Kaio-Ken just because the aura disappears, either. Goku tells Ginyu he's capable of putting out much more when using it in bursts, so it wouldn't make much sense for him to not use the most effective method of the technique when he's on the ropes against Freeza.

On the other hand, powering up your ki doesn't prevent you from fighting at low pace. As I said before, Freezer's warming up after he powered up to 100% is a solid proof of that. In fact, every fight in DB has those kind of speed feints when every fighter is already powered up.

But the Chi is still able to be sensed. For this example to work, Goku would have to be fighting in Kaio-Ken x10 and suppressing his power as he was fighting, so the Full-Power Freeza example is different. Gohan sensed him and knew how powerful he was, which is why he told everyone on earth that relaxed Mecha Freeza was much stronger. None of them knew how strong Goku was until he got desperate and started using Kaio-Ken x10.

Goku using KKx10 could still fight at 50% of his maximum KKx10 capabilities like I could fight at 50% of mines.

But that's still different when it comes to suppressing power. Goku could hold-back, as in, not fight as hard as he's capable of, but suppressing his power in Kaio-Ken is never implied to be possible. The technique raises his abilities temporarily, so it wouldn't make sense for him to be able to suppress it.

Then this would be a reason to think that he had KK activated more than not. If the Ki "changed" enough to not being totally recognisable, then it's completely plausible that a KK potentiating and transforming this Ki was used at that moment!

Is Goku not gaining enough power in his Base form to be on-par with Freeza plausible to this as well? If Goku's Chi could change so much that Krillin had to ask Goku if he was actually himself after seeing him decimate Reacoom in his Base, why can the same not apply here? He wasn't using Kaio-Ken against Reacoom--and besides, throughout the series, usually when someone has an incredible power-up, their Chi is often unrecoganizable.

Yes, and even then, he told Ginyu to "look at his scoutter because he would unleash his full power". Goku's use of KK is part of his techniques and of course, if he can go as far as using a 20x KK, he will take that into consideration when he analyses his possibilities against an enemy.

Because Ginyu told him to stop hiding his power.

Goku's dialogue tells us he was never planning to use Kaio-Ken x20. It was a last resort at that moment. He wasn't even sure his body would be able to handle an increase like that. It was an all or nothing thing there. He was fully expecting the Kaio-Ken x10 to be enough.

Goku already knew that he could use KKx20 in case of extreme necessity, so from KKx10 to KKx20 there is a huge range of KKs to use if needed.[/quote]

He didn't know. Goku saying "I could try a Kaio-Ken x20, but I don't know if my body could handle it!" tells us he was, at best, hoping he could do it.

Furthermore, he couldn't even imagine that Freezer would still be fighting at only 25% of his strength after all the power ups he already had, so it's not strange that a Goku that knows that he can still double his ki strength, and that has lots of confidence in his fighting skills (he knew he had capabilities that Freezer lacked, like sensing Ki or the Genkidama) would go to fight with high spirits.
Freezer's huge strength was far beyond his imagination.

Goku knew Freeza was holding-back, but he didn't know he was holding-back that much. As confident as Goku can be, during the fight, he shows some surprise at Freeza being as tough as he is, shaking off his surprise kick with no visible damage.

True, but it's also true that he wasn't at full force 50%. He even shows Goku what he can do at 50% to intimidate him (and Goku ends being terrorized by that).

Yeah, Freeza even says he didn't want to finish Goku off so quickly because it'd be too boring or something like that.

Power can be also hidden fighting at a slow pace. I mean, when Freezer told Goku "this is only a warm-up", then Goku replied "I hope so, because if this was your maximum power, that would be a shame".
So Freezer was also hidding part of his power to Goku even after powering up to 100%, and the same could be said between Goku and Freezer at this first part of the fight.

Eh, I disagree. Freeza just didn't hit him as hard as he could. Freeza was at 100% of his capabilities at that point, so the most he could do is restrain his attacks on Goku. You can be at full-power and still control how you're attacking the opponent. That's likely what Freeza did there. I mean, it doesn't help that Freeza gets semi pissed there, so he couldn't have been holding-back that much.

None of them were going at full force, but one of them was hiding more power than the other one, and this also applies if we make Goku use KK since the beginning.

Nope, that's an assumption you make but not a fact. We have been told dozens of times about fighters going at full ki, but not at full force. In fact, most if not all of the fights before the sayan saga, when they didn't even have the ability to hide, release or even detect ki had parts where both fighters were only testing the other one.

Just about everything we're debating is an assumption and not an established fact. It's why we debate in the first place

And in many of those examples, just about every spectator was able to sense the extent of their power. Nappa powered-up and they knew how strong he was, but he still was able to restrain his attacks for the most part; same with Vegeta when he fought Goku. If you're powered-up to full, you're not suppressing any power at that point; the most you can do is restrain your attacks and fight at a level needed to prolong the fight.

I've posted Piccolo commenting on both Freeza and Goku hiding their powers, so Goku clearly didn't have his maximum Chi released or they would've sensed it during the fight. And again, it's never once implied in the story that Goku could use Kaio-Ken and somehow hide his power at the same time. It defeats the purpose of the technique. So Goku was going neither full-Chi or full-force in that part of the battle.

Problem is that you have a huge plot hole in there. Kaito saying that Goku was already using KKx10 at that point of the fight, and we as readers not seeing when it's activated, would leave the door open to a huge amount of possible interpretations and would harm the fight's coherency if we don't assume that KK was activated since the beginning. Because... since when is Goku using KK? Did he use it after Freezer powered up to 50%? But if Goku was punched at 50% before activating KK, then that would be an instant kill situation.
If a difference of only 10%+ more ki can result in a fatal injury, a difference of 900% more power is totally unimaginable even when considering that Freezer was holding back a bit.

You can say it's a huge plot hole either way. When has the Kaio-Ken ever been used without being alluded to in some way? Much less during an entire fight without showing any visible signs? That, along with the aura rarely being shown leaves us at a readers stalemate. I don't think the coherence of the fight is harmed if you're of the opinion that Goku's strength increased enough to put him on-par with Freeza after healing. I know you don't agree with that, but that's just how I see it.

The attack doesn't have to take Goku out if Freeza is kinda pulling his punches. The difference in power has never been linear like that in the series. Vegeta at a level barely reaching 18,000 can take a Kaio-Ken x4 Kame-Hame-Ha directly and still move around freely--yet Zarbon (23,000) and Dodoria are utterly helpless against Vegeta at 24,000 on namek.

Other people also say that Goku activates KK when Freezer promises to fight without using his hands, but then again, how could Freezer know that he had to increase his powers 10 times to match Goku's power up?

Problem is that Piccolo's statement depends on too many things. I mean, in one hand he could be talking from Freezer's perspective. I mean, since Freezer can't sense ki, fighting at a slow pace even with Ki released is also hiding oneself powers.
On the other hand, we also have Goku's statement when Freezer warmed up. Why didn't he know that Freezer was warming up if he could feel his power?
What Piccolo said can be read from a lot of different perspectives, and some of them doesn't make the KKx10 since the beginning scenario out of context at all.

Piccolo's most likely looking at it from a perspective of spectating a fight between two beings way more powerful than him that had yet to go all-out. Remember, he tells Gohan and Krillin that both Freeza and Goku are not fighting all-out just yet. Of course, you have Piccolo's "Their powers are beyond my comprehension" and the "The feel of the power is enough to crush me" or whatever he says. So, you kinda just have to look at it from his perspective as someone who's much weaker. He knows they're both way beyond him, which is why he's not sure on who can beat who initially.

Are you referring to Super Saiyan Goku's statement on Freeza? I answered above. To elaborate further--I believe taking a punch to the gut gives a better understanding than sensing Chi. Another good example is Super Saiyan Grade 2 Vegeta allowing Semi-Cell (after reaching full-power) to punch him in the face to demonstrate how outclassed Cell really was:

Chapter: 378 (DBZ 184), P11.2, P11.4
Context: After Cell unleashes his full power
Vegeta: “Oh, your battle power really flew up there…But so what?”
Trunks: “…This is father’s victory.”

Vegeta knew he was much stronger, but he still didn't care. Then:

Chapter: 378 (DBZ 184), P13.6
Context: after Cell punches Vegeta at full power
Vegeta: “So you’re merely at this level after all, huh?...Seems my training opened up too big of a gap between us…”

Goku gave Freeza a chance to demonstrate his power. He just wasn't all that impressed with his attack, so he figured Freeza's 100% power should be more effective than that. Freeza's combo on Goku was a "warm-up attack", yes, but surely his reaction to Goku shows he couldn't have been holding-back nearly that much.

I think that more important than that are the plot holes that generated if we assume that KK was activated halfway on the fight.

Personally, I just don't see any glaring plot holes if Goku's as strong as Freeza normally.

Well, of course it mattered, because a difference of 100% in strength is not the same as a difference of 1900%! It's as if I try to harm a fly without killing it using the same strength as if I want to harm a man in the same way.
Remember that Freezer didn't know the existence of KK, so in your scenario, although being true in the fact that KK shouldn't help Goku to win the fight, it's also true that KK was necessary in order to not being killed in one hit (and by accident!).

I don't disagree with your logic about Kaio-Ken being the only defense Goku had left to defend against Freeza's attacks. We just see it from different viewpoints, that's all.

In fact, even when you say that KKx10 is being used, Freezer demonstrates that he can kill Goku in one attack if he wants. So now put yourself into Freezer's situation. You calculate that your enemy have strength equivalent to "x", and you power up enough to kill him but you don't want to do it in one hit. Do you really think that Goku suddenly powering up by 10 wouldn't catch you by surprise?
Even when Goku powered up by two (from KKx10 to KKx20), in a much more noticeable way, Freezer was caught with his guard lowered, how could a 10x increase in strength done in a more suddenly way not be able to achieve at least the same effect?

Freeza kinda expected his attack to take Goku out, but was somewhat surprised that Goku was able to take it. What that tells me is that he probably thought he put out enough force to finish him, but was also impressed with Goku's ability to get back up.

Because the power advantage Freeza had over Goku using Kaio-Ken x10 wasn't nearly as significant once he used the Kaio-Ken x20. The fact that he was able to land a hit when he couldn't at the previous level shows how powerful the Kaio-Ken x20 made him. So the ten fold increase not being enough to garner Freeza's attention makes sense, mainly because of how powerful 50% of his power is in comparison to it. At least the Kaio-WhatKen X20 Kame-Hame-Ha is able to damage Freeza's hands a little bit.

Then again, that was not a Kaioh Ken aura, but the aura he usually has when flying! Even Freezer have this kind of aura at that same page!

They may look similar, but it doesn't mean they are. The shape of the flight aura looks very similar to the Kaio-Ken aura. And Goku is even shown with regular eyes a few times while using Kaio-Ken x20, so it's definitely not the be all end all of the Kaio-Ken traits.

Highest level of KK was x20, the same way during its fight against Vegeta it was KKx4.

The highest shown, yes--but not the highest he planned on using. If he's not sure he could even use it in the first place, it's definitely not apart of his battle plan.

Remember, Goku not planning to use KKx20 doesn't mean he didn't know he could use it. And him having confidence on winning the fight because of being stronger doesn't go with Goku's personality at all.

He wasn't sure he could even handle it at all. Goku actually says this before using it:

Chapter: 313 (DBZ 119), P8.1
Goku: "I ain't got no choice but to raise the K... Kaio-Ken up to twenty-fold... Though my bo... body might not be able to take it... B... but if he really is at 50 percent now, like he says he is, then there ain't nothing at all I can do..."

Freeza was just so much stronger that it made no sense to not try it.

It might seem like it's out of character, but Freeza pretty much calls Goku out on it:

Chapter: 312 (DBZ 118), P2.3-6
Freeza: “You’re quite confident. But I’ve noticed that though you told me you’d fight seriously, you still have a considerable amount of power remaining…”
Goku: “So the jig’s up, huh?”
Freeza: “Even taking that into consideration, in my estimation… If I put out about 50%, that is to say, half of my maximum power, I'll be able to turn you into space dust..."

It'd make sense for Goku to be confident if he was noticeably hiding his power like that. I don't think Goku's expecting Freeza to be stronger to the point where his power would look irrelevant.

Problem is that the difference implied by KKx10 makes it's use mandatory. I mean, it's not the same when you confront someone that is 30-50% stronger than you than when you are in front of a beast that is at least 20 times stronger. In the first case, you can at least expect to have some time of reaction that allow you to activate the Kaioh Ken, and since we are told that Ginyu wasn't fighting at full force, this scenario is even more comprehensible (this 30-50% difference was smaller considering that he was hidding his power).
But in front of someone that you can't see because of his speed, that you know he can kill you at any moment in one single strike... it doesn't has any sense to activate or deactivate KKx10 because the moment you deactivate it you're dead for sure without having time to react.

It's really only mandatory if you don't think Goku's power surpasses Vegeta's after healing. If you believe Goku is stronger than Vegeta by a good margin, it makes sense as to why he could keep up with Freeza without the Kaio-Ken x10 there. If you go with the huge increases, Goku still ends up being at the same disadvantage with and without the Kaio-Ken.

[freezamite]

Actually, if you look closely, the color of his eyes are different when he uses the Kaio-Ken aura the first time. I don't think you can say it's not Kaio-Ken just because the aura disappears, either.

Yes, it's true that there exists Kaioh Kens which aura disappears (but only at the very last moment, in one or two vignettes at best), and that in some vignettes Toriyama colored goku usin KK with his eyes in black.
But look at the whole scenario you have:
Firstly, Goku never says that he is activating KK at any moment of the fight, we know he is using it since some point because of Kaito, but Goku never says it.
Secondly, while it's true that we have some cases of the aura disappearing during a Kaioh Ken, usually they are due to drawing composition (the aura wouldn't feet well into the scene) or at the very end of the use of the technique (meaning it's been deactivated at that exact moment). Now what you have is not an aura that disappears in one or two manga vignettes, is an aura that ALWAYS disappears and it's only shown when Goku is flying. Of course, Goku was using KK with an invisible aura during that fight, it's impossible to tell the opposite, but the problem is that your point is that the few scenes where we see Goku with an aura demonstrate that he is using KK. But if Goku was using KK ONLY when the aura appeared, that also means that he wasn't using it when it wasn't drawn.

Until now, we have lot's of evidences pointing to one direction. What I mean is that you can hear a brutal noise on the street, then go outside and see a man covered in blood lying dead on the floor and someone with a gun still pointing at him, and say "well, it seems that a thunder has fallen near him and a rock that flew because of the explosion impacted him while the other man was looking if his handgun was dirty casually pointing at him", but that wouldn't be the most likely explanation, don't you agree?

But the biggest problem of your theory is the one I will point now:

It's really only mandatory if you don't think Goku's power surpasses Vegeta's after healing. If you believe Goku is stronger than Vegeta by a good margin, it makes sense as to why he could keep up with Freeza without the Kaio-Ken x10 there. If you go with the huge increases, Goku still ends up being at the same disadvantage with and without the Kaio-Ken.

If Goku had that much strength, you could explain why he could fight at the same level of Freezer before he powered up to 50%. Problem is after he powers up. When Freezer fights at 50% has the same power as when Goku uses KKx20.
Now if Goku wasn't powered to KKx10 before Freezer reaches his KKx20 level, the fight becomes absolutely incoherent from every perspective.
We know that Freezer can't read minds or sense ki, so he doesn't know if Goku has KK activated or if he doesn't. Because of that and the fact that we know that he was hitting strong enough to beat Goku while using KKx10, it doesn't make any sense that Goku could survive at that situation without using it.

This fact is clearly a contradiction, I mean, it's not something that you can justify without saying "Well, the manga is mistaken here". But if Goku was already using KKx10 since the beginning, it's easy to understand how Freezer knew he had to use only 50% of his strength to own him.

I will tell you even more. KK is a power up that always surprises Goku's enemies the first time they see it if activated in the middle of the fight, because it represents a huge power up in a really short period of time (there is no time spend on rising up the power). Now do you really think it's logical to think that Freezer, who was in front of someone that was already one of the strongest fighters he had ever fought against, could anticipate something as big as a Kaioh ken x10? And then be surprised by "only" a KKx20, which was a jump much more moderate than going from base to KKx10?

Regards!