On the tournament stage...
Inside the plateau arena...
Gohan and Piccolo wore serious expressions.
Together, they had already eliminated several lesser-known fighters from the other universes.
At their current level, it had been effortless.
That included Universe 2's trio, Ribrianne, Sanka, and Rozie.
"Universe 2 - Ribrianne has been eliminated!"
"Universe 2 - Sanka has been eliminated!"
"Universe 2 - Rozie has been eliminated!"
The announcements echoed through the arena one after another.
Gohan and Piccolo exchanged smiles.
For them, those opponents hadn't posed any challenge at all.
Then, a new series of announcements rang out.
"Universe 10 - Jiren has been eliminated."
"Universe 10 - Toppo has been eliminated."
"Universe 10 - Son Goku and Vegeta have been eliminated."
"Universe 10 - Broly has been eliminated."
The words struck both of them like a bolt of lightning.
"Did you hear that, Gohan?" Piccolo asked.
Gohan froze. "I did, Piccolo. What's going on? Universe 10... and Dad, Uncle Vegeta, even Broly...?"
His mind raced.
Almost immediately, his thoughts landed on Universe 10's Supreme Kai, Zamasu.
The answer came to him at once.
"Piccolo... could this be Zamasu's doing?"
As Universe 7's strategist, Piccolo had reached the exact same conclusion.
"I think so. I actually sensed divine energy from Universe 10's fighters from the very beginning."
His expression remained calm despite the seriousness of the situation.
"It looks like Universe 10 chose this tournament's key fighters as targets for body swapping."
He narrowed his eyes. "Zamasu really is a complete bastard."
---
Meanwhile...
At the summit of a towering mountain in another part of the plateau, a massive figure sat in silent meditation, as though he had become one with the landscape.
Then his eyes suddenly opened.
A tremendous aura spread across the mountain.
It was the real Jiren,
Jiren of Universe 11.
He slowly lifted his head and looked toward the sky, confusion evident in his eyes.
He couldn't understand why his name had appeared in the elimination announcements.
After a moment, he stood up.
Without hesitation, he leaped from the mountaintop.
Thud.
His enormous body landed softly on the ground, so lightly that it barely stirred a speck of dust.
Just then, a voice called out from behind him.
"Jiren... are you finally making your move?"
The speaker was a tall, one-eyed warrior.
Compared to Jiren, however, his aura was on an entirely different level.
He looked at Jiren expectantly, eager to see what would happen next.
This was Kahseral, the general of Universe 11's Pride Troopers.
Jiren gave a slight nod. "General... why was my name included in the elimination announcement? And... wasn't Toppo supposed to have stayed out of this tournament?"
Kahseral blinked in surprise, clearly caught off guard by Jiren's reaction.
After a brief pause, he shook his head. "I don't know, Jiren. But the announcement specifically said that ''Universe 10's'' Jiren and Toppo had been eliminated."
"I honestly can't make sense of it. Could Universe 10 really have people with the same names as you two?"
He adjusted the lens covering his eye before pointing into the distance. "But judging from what I overheard... the fighters from Universe 7 seem to know something."
He was referring to Gohan and Piccolo, whose conversation he had just caught wind of.
Jiren followed Kahseral's gaze.
The instant Jiren looked their way, Gohan immediately sensed it.
"Piccolo... did you feel that?" His tone turned serious.
Piccolo nodded, instantly becoming alert.
He had already noticed Kahseral.
The one-eyed fighter wasn't particularly threatening.
The real danger... was the massive man standing beside him, whose calm aura concealed unimaginable power.
Whoosh!
A sharp gust of wind tore through the air.
A figure shot across the battlefield like a bolt of lightning, leaving a trail of afterimages behind.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared before Gohan and Piccolo.
He stood there silently, tall and unmoving, like an unshakable mountain.
"Do either of you know what's going on?" Jiren spoke in a calm, deep voice that naturally carried authority.
Gohan and Piccolo finally got a good look at him.
The tight uniform.
The unmistakable Pride Troopers emblem.
They immediately remembered him, the warrior from Universe 11 who had exchanged a fiery stare with Goku before the tournament had even begun.
Jiren.
Neither Gohan nor Piccolo answered.
To their surprise, the normally stoic Jiren continued speaking.
"I don't mean any harm. I simply want to know what happened."
"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Either way, they've already been eliminated, so it has nothing to do with me anymore. It isn't important."
He glanced around the empty plateau. "It looks like only the four of us are left here. Sooner or later... we'll have to fight."
Jiren's long string of words left Kahseral completely dumbfounded.
He stared at Jiren in disbelief and muttered under his breath, "...Is this really Jiren?"
The Jiren he remembered barely spoke at all.
He was always silent and kept to himself. Getting him to say even a single sentence used to be nearly impossible.
Kahseral had already been shocked when Jiren started talking to him earlier.
Now... he had spoken more than ever before.
Gohan studied Jiren for a moment before replying. "You're right. We were always going to fight eventually. So there's no reason for me to tell you anything."
His tone was unusually forceful.
Jiren's manner of questioning hadn't exactly been friendly, and Gohan had no intention of answering someone who approached him like that.
The meaning behind his words was obvious: 'Why should I tell you?'
The two locked eyes.
Invisible sparks seemed to fly between their gazes.
(End Of This Chapter)
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