A wash of white light, and Hit reappeared in Universe Six's gallery.
"I am sorry. I failed," he said quietly.
Champa's jaw was tight. Half the time limit had not even passed, yet his ace had already fallen. His expression softened when he saw the guilt in Hit's eyes.
"It is fine. You did everything you could. From here, we leave it to those two sisters."
Hit lowered his gaze. "The moment I burned my stored time on that full-force strike, the loss was set."
Out on the arena, Goku now stood face to face with Jiren.
The strongest of two universes. The air itself felt ready to split.
Boom.
Goku did not test the waters. He skipped base form entirely and flared straight into Super Saiyan Two, a storm of aura ripping the smoke from the tiles.
"So this is Son Goku," murmured Universe Eleven's Destroyer on the high dais. He closed his eyes and sent a thought.
Jiren, finish Goku first.
On the stage, Jiren gave the barest nod. He had not moved yet when Goku flashed in front of him.
"Hah!"
Goku drove a straight right.
It never landed. The punch hit a wall of nothing an inch from Jiren's chest and froze there. Jiren's eyes opened. A shard of black light flashed, and Goku was hurled backward.
"What?" Beerus barked, stunned.
"I heard rumors that in one universe someone surpassed a God of Destruction," Whis said, frowning for once. "It appears that someone is Jiren."
A single look had blown Goku off his feet.
"Kamehameha."
Blue gathered at Goku's palms, spearing through the haze. He braced, breath dropped low.
"Ha!"
The full blast roared out, tearing a trench across the stage toward Jiren.
Jiren did not even lift his hands. He stood tall, arms loose at his sides. When the blue tide reached him, his eyes flashed again.
Boom.
The beam shattered like glass and split around him, lancing into the arena behind. Stone exploded and fell away. Jiren did not take a step. His will alone had thrown up a shell in front of him.
"Again."
Goku's aura shifted on the fly. Blue bled to molten scarlet. Super Saiyan God. His speed spiked. He reappeared in Jiren's face and unleashed a downpour of fists.
Explosions rattled in a chain. Goku pressed without mercy.
Jiren was worse. He raised a single finger and tapped aside every strike, the way a master idly parries falling leaves. No wasted motion. Goku's flurry turned to smoke.
Absolute suppression.
They clashed again and again. Jiren took no damage. The tiles around them cratered into a bowl.
"In that case, I am done holding back."
Goku planted his feet and roared. A cyclone spun out from him. Scarlet snapped to azure once more.
Super Saiyan Blue.
In Universe Eleven's box, the Kai grimaced. "To think someone else has reached that level."
The clown Destroyer waved him off. "Do not fret. That kind of color change is still just flailing in front of Jiren."
The Kai did not relax. "I am not so sure."
All across the arena, fights faltered and died. Warriors bunched in wary pairs and trios and stared at the gods' duel. If Universe Seven's spear lost here, the tone of the entire tournament would change. Goku was the warning shot.
They met again.
Goku's punch was checked as if it were nothing. He could not inch forward no matter how hard he pushed.
"Too much fluff," Jiren said. "Too many wasted movements."
He punched once.
The sandbag fist buried itself in Goku's gut. Pain tore through him. His eyes bulged and a bitter wash surged up into his mouth. He hit and tumbled and skidded, rolling until the force finally bled out.
"Hurts hurts hurts," he hissed, crouched, one hand clamped to his abdomen, face twisted. The last time a blow dug that deep had been against Buu. Even so, Buu had never pressed him like this. Jiren felt like a sunless ocean, horizonless and soundless, with no sense of depth at all.
"This Jiren is unreal," Krillin breathed in the stands. He caught himself and added, louder, "But Goku can stack Kaioken times twenty over Blue now. It is way too early to call it."
Master Roshi, fresh from sealing two foes with the Evil Containment Wave, had made his way back to the edge and nodded. "True."
Their faith lasted a heartbeat.
"No," Beerus said, and the word cut both of them off. His face was flinty.
"What do you mean?" Krillin asked.
Beerus pinched the bridge of his nose. His teeth were clenched.
Whis sighed and answered for him. "Because what you are seeing is already Kaioken times twenty, layered on Blue."
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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