The Three Legendary Saiyans.
Chapter 67: A Critical Mistake.
Jiren, Raijin and Goku.
"You Saiyans have tried the last of my patience… I shall crush you both for Universe 11" Jiren spoke harshly; his bulbous eyes glaring with a scarlet light as it appeared that the uniform of a Pride Trooper was getting more and more frayed and damaged as Jiren's Energy Levels rose.
"Then stop talking about it and do it already! Show us how powerful you really are!" Goku barked; tired of fighting Jiren while holding back his full strength for he desperately wanted to face Jiren at his mightiest, a power that even Gods of Destruction spoke highly of.
Jiren scowled as he recalled the same words from the Evil-Doer who'd slaughtered his family in his youth; then he'd failed to win and avenge his parents after using all his powers but with the fate of his Universe riding on his shoulders, the unpredictability of two Saiyans opposing him and the extremely limited time remaining left him with little options left.
Raijin and Goku wasted little movement as the both thrust their palms forward and blasting Jiren with energy blasts; both gritting their teeth as they risked attacks that had already been proven to be ineffective against this opponent, a fist-shaped energy blast of Jiren's own knocked the Saiyan's blasts aside as Jiren came charging through.
Each Saiyan taking a step back as they'd anticipated a counter; kicking off the ground as Goku executed a right handed punch while Raijin attacked with a left forward kick as Jiren rushed them both only to fire off a blast of searing hot air pressure followed by grabbing both Saiyans by their attacking limbs and tossing them both into the air then punching the air generating two more fist-shaped blasts.
"Jiren! Got a present for you" Raijin bellowed; flexing his arms as he fired off his Thunder Crash Cannon from both hands, the forking bolts of energy bypassing Jiren's own blast and rained down on Jiren himself but still took the hit from Jiren's blast.
Goku quickly tapped his fingers to his forehead and vanished before the blast could hit him only to reappear on the ground as Raijin's bolts rained down on Jiren, seizing the moment and rushing forward and attacking with a flurry of punches as Jiren was on the defensive against Raijin only to run into a volley of Jiren's Invisible Punches.
"A well-coordinated assault… any other Pride Trooper would have fallen victim to it" Jiren spoke; speaking off his team mates like they meant nothing to him.
Up in The Observation Stands; the members of Team Universe 7 glanced over to the pained expressions on the faces of Team Universe 11, all looking disappointed in their ally as Jiren did not see them as allies or teammates.
"Are you serious?! You don't consider the men and women who fought alongside you for your own Universe as friends? Or at least comrades?" Raijin asked with an offended tone; having dropped out of the explosion cloud and landing on his knees with little sign of injury short of the cuts, scrapes and burns he'd already suffered.
"I do not, friendship is merely a notion for the weak" Jiren answered with a emotionless voice; his body shimmering with heat as scarlet flames licked every inch of his body.
Raijin grit his teeth in anger as Jiren's ideology on comradery was the polar opposite of their own; noticing that Goku was giving him a nod to fight alone as Raijin then kicked off the deeply cracked floor only to launch himself directly at Jiren.
"Foolish…" Jiren spoke; disappointed with the angry assault Raijin was executing, winding back his left fist only to grab Raijin by his arm and twist Raijin around and hurl him back into the air with his Shock Tornado technique, noticing that Raijin was then smiling at him as he'd been hurled into the air as he fought back with a reverse heel drop and striking Jiren with the tip of his shoe.
"Nice one!" Goku yelled; tackling Jiren and wrapping his arms around Jiren's waist as he was staggered from Raijin's kick and attempting to slam Jiren down into the ground but Jiren regained his footing and strike with an elbow thrust to Goku's head.
Raijin grimaced as he landed back on the floor spotting that as Jiren struck Goku; his right fist gleamed with scarlet flames for his own Energy Fist technique, crouching low as Raijin briefly made eye-contact with Goku; both Saiyans kicking off the floor and rushing Jiren at once in a pincer attack only for Jiren to send his flaming fist down into the floor causing the ground beneath their feet to split and walls of flames directly in the Saiyans paths.
Screaming in agony as Jiren's wall of fire struck the two Saiyans; sending the pair crumbling to the ground in pain from the severe heat and the barrage of invisible fists hidden within the flames, Raijin grimaced as he rose back to his feet only for Jiren's boot to strike him in the jaw thus sending him crashing back into the floor whilst Goku rose back to his knees before Jiren landed a sweeping kick to the side of Goku's head and sending the Saiyans back into the floor both winded and defeated.
Jiren loomed over the two Saiyans with an expression of exasperation; he'd never been driven this far since joining The Pride Troopers where almost all his adversaries had either fled at the sight of him or submitted before a fist could be thrown but the bitter taste of defeat in his past at the hands of an Evildoer who'd killed his family remained with him.
Jiren's thoughts ended as a laser struck him in the small of his back leaving a burn against his pale flesh; turning and glaring at the surprise opponent only to find the wickedly-smiling form of Golden Frieza pointing his whole right hand at him with another Full Charge Death Beam prepared.
Frieza.
"You… you are of Universe 7?" Jiren spoke with pain in his voice as his flesh sizzled from the burn suffered by a surprise attack.
"Yes I am; though I feel nothing for this pathetic team though I do need them to win to fulfil my own goal of resurrection!" Frieza spoke with the same sinister voice that he'd spoken with when he'd first clashed with Raijin and tortured Nail to death; his murderous eyes glaring solely at Jiren while Raijin shot Frieza with a dirty look for the mere recollection of that painful memory.
"For that? You risk your Universe?" Jiren turned to give Frieza his full attention as he then noticed the halo hanging over Frieza's head as the Full Charge Death Beam fired only to narrowly miss Jiren's head and leave Frieza open to counterattack as Jiren's fist swung for Frieza's own head only for the former tyrant to dodge the attack as Jiren realised that his repeated battles with the Saiyans had drained too much energy and slowed him down.
"As these monkeys fall in defeat; I shall reap the benefits of their struggle by defeating the undefeatable Jiren and return to my former throne!" Frieza screamed as he rose both his hands up as Goku did during his Spirit Bomb only to produce a pink and gold Death Ball between his palms; grinning fiercely as Jiren was staggering from his surprised state before Frieza hurled the Death Ball with all of his might and watched as the orb of energy struck and exploded around Jiren.
"Bear witness to the might of Golden Frieza!" Frieza screamed at the top of his lungs whist floating in mid-air in his apparent victory only for the smoke to clear revealing a scarlet barrier with Jiren inside and unharmed by the Death Ball.
"What?!" Frieza yelled as Jiren seized his right ankle and threw him around until the former tyrant hung upside-down before swinging his victim down in to the ground and slamming Frieza down repeatedly into the Kachi Kachin floor until Frieza had reverted to his Final Form and hung lifeless in Jiren's grip.
Jiren scowled at the barely conscious form of Frieza as he hung upside-down from Jiren's grip; the defeated tyrant who'd been attempting to eliminate Jiren with tactics by striking when opponents were down or taking advantage of his own teammates though Jiren held no concept of comradery he felt disgusted by Frieza as he tossed the vile man off the side of the arena.
Frieza screamed at the top of his lungs as he'd been tossed with such force and ferocity that he cold not use his own energy to halt his descent nor was there anything for him to grab a hold of with hand, foot or tail, Frieza could do nothing as he fell through the murky clouds and was eliminated.
Goku.
Having been witness to Frieza's elimination but felt nothing for their untrustworthy ally; Goku rose back to his feet whilst Raijin still struggled to so much as get to his knees, "Leave this to me now my friend; you've done enough".
Raijin stared at Goku with a dumbfounded look; they'd blasted Jiren with almost everything they had and it had barely slowed him down but said nothing as Raijin sensed something different in Goku, "Ok… just be careful"
Goku gave a nod as the blue and red flames ignited once again but burnt much dimmer and less fierce than before as he took his first step towards Jiren and what may be his last battle in the Tournament.
Jiren glared at Goku alone stood against him; having eliminated one more adversary and one was down for the count leaving one solitary opponent standing, he could sense how little energy Goku had to work with as he was barely holding onto his Blue/Kaio-Ken combo and could likely fade within a few seconds.
Goku took one more step before vanishing from Jiren's sight leading Jiren to turn to face behind him only to be struck in the back with another flurry of punches; each punch striking Jiren hard in the core of his back as Jiren staggered from the series of blows but swung his arm around and sideswiped Goku in the side of his head.
Almost dropping to his knees after taking such a blow; Goku grit his teeth so tightly that his gums bled as he answered back with a powerful straight punch to Jiren's jaw only to be met with the same punch from Jiren causing the pair to fall to their knees.
Panting heavily as Goku tried to rise back to his feet only to finally notice how tired his body was; how heavy he felt as the fatigue was setting in as well as the heat from his aura flames, the flames flickering out from the frame of his arms and legs before vanishing entirely.
Goku couldn't help but gasp as his powers left his body; his blue hair returning to his normal black, his skin dirty and sweaty from the immense usage of Kaio-Ken and his limbs felt as heavier than a ten-ton weight training session.
Jiren only narrowed his eyes as Goku's body involuntarily powered down from lack of energy; a brief sigh escaping his lips as the battle had come to an end, grunting as he lowered his fists only to fire off a wall of willpower and knocked Goku backwards now that he no longer had the energy to counterattack.
With his feet skidding backwards after taking the willpower blast wave; Goku glanced behind him only to find nothing but the murky clouds as the very crater his own Spirit Bomb had cracked and crumbled down into the clouds like most of the arena had.
"Nowhere left to run…" Jiren spoke with finality in his voice; his right fist igniting with a blazing scarlet flame upon winding back to deliver the final blow.
As the fiery fist of Jiren flew towards Goku; he heard the voices off all his friends and comrades calling out to him from not only the stands but also from his own thoughts, the voices urging him to keep fighting against his foe where losing was no longer an option.
Tensing his brow for a split second before Jiren's flaming fist made contact with him; Goku vanished on the spot leaving only a semi-transparent figure of himself with a stunned and wide-eyed Jiren to stare into the blankness of the space where Goku had been stood only to feel a sudden punch to his gut that left Jiren bending over in pain as saliva dripped from his open mouth.
Before Jiren's eyes stood Goku once again; standing tall and clad in a faint silver glow that edged over his whole body and left streaks of silver in his black hair.
"You did it again…" Jiren spoke lowly; the pain of that punch had felt different to the strike he'd taken the first time Goku harnessed this power; there was more intent and strength behind his fist than ever before.
Opening his eyes to reveal a pair of gleaming silver-lit eyes staring directly at Jiren; a silver sparkling aura bursting into life that spread across the air in shimmering waves of energy and power as Ultra Instinct: Omen Stage manifested in Goku for a third time.
Jiren.
Standing tall against the silver-eyed stare-down; Jiren lowered his fists and smiled, the Goku he wished to fight had once again reared his head in the heat of battle; he knew that this would be a battle that he could enjoy to the fullest with all of his might.
Observation Stands.
"I knew he would do it…. damn you Kakarot" Vegeta spoke through a proud smile; pleased that his prediction has come to pass as he glanced over at Belmod and his Supreme Kai only to bear witness to their shocked expressions.
"This is impossible! How can a mere Mortal break his own limitations so many times?! He should not be able to use that power three times! Much less even once! JIREN! Unleash your absolute might on this upstart and claim your rightful victory!" Belmod screamed out of sheer frustration; barking orders down into the arena for Jiren to hear while his Supreme Kai slumped back into his seat with wide eyes for what he was bearing witness to in the final two minutes of The Tournament of Power.
"I never thought Goku would rise to such strength… he surpassed my expectations many years ago but this is uncanny… as for Raijin… he's reached a level that has never before existed and Vegeta thinks he too can reach Ultra Instinct… this is unreal" Shin exclaimed with disbelief; recalling his amazement at how powerful the Saiyans were in the battle against Majin Buu and now had dwarfed even that universe-ending threat before his own eyes.
"Now we shall see if Vegeta's prediction is correct, Show us your Ultra Instinct… Son Goku" Whis spoke in his cheerful voice; his eyes gleaming with satisfaction in Goku's rise to Ultra Instinct, Vegeta's creation of his new Royal Blue Form and Raijin's shattering of his own limits to reach an entirely new transformation.
Raijin.
"Good luck… friend" Raijin muttered to himself as a wide grin spread across his face; the golden glow of his own transformation beginning to fade from his body as he crawled away to recover and study his friend's use of Ultra Instinct; trusting Goku to handle Jiren and not get in his way now that Ultra Instinct had returned once again.
Next Chapter: The Silver Light.