The Three Legendary Saiyans
Chapter 68: The Silver Light.
Goku.
With the now familiar silver streaks in his black hair and the silver light in his irises; Goku stood opposing Jiren with an expression of calmness despite the Time Limit being down to barely more than a single Minute, the misty clouds circling under the crumbling arena floor as if waiting to claim another warrior.
Jiren grit his teeth in frustration in allowing Goku to reach this form once again when he could have eliminated him with his Full Powers but lacked the foresight to even attempt such action, taking action with his punches but striking nothing but air as Goku effortlessly dodged the blows leaving silvery mist in his wake that even obscured a punch from Goku's right fist from sight; Jiren flinching and spitting up saliva as a sudden right-handed fist struck him in the stomach and in the exact same spot that Goku himself, Raijin and Vegeta had all struck in prior battles.
Goku only stared down at Jiren as his knees bent to keep himself standing instead of allowing himself to drop to his knees; taking in a breath as the very sound of Goku's breathing echoed for all to hear with each inhale and exhale.
Jiren bared his teeth in anger before winding back a scarlet-flamed fist into the fragile floor and causing the floor Goku stood on to splinter and fracture away from the rest of the arena, the floor fragment beginning to slowly drift downwards towards the murky clouds.
Remaining steadfast and perfectly still as the floor fragment splintered off and began to sink down all while the glittering silver energy expanded with each breath Goku took; each breath continuing to sound throughout the dimension as the energy kept expanding until rotating until resembling a star-strewn galaxy.
Jiren.
Staring down as the galaxy-like whirlpool of energy; only taking a step as the floor around his feet also began to crumble and fall away, stamping off the ground and rising to the top of The Central Pillar as the sound of breathing ceased with a sharp inhale from Goku and the whirlpool expanded greatly to reach the original size of the arena.
Raijin.
Raijin stood leaning against a wall with his tail coiled around a strong-bearing fragment to support himself; watching the whirlpool of silver energy expand with an impressed smile upon his face before barely witnessing a gleaming silver-clad figure rise from the whirlpool.
Observation Stands.
All the Gods and Warriors who sat in the stands rose to their feet as a galaxy-like whirlpool of energy spread further and further around the base of the arena's remains, not a single word spoken aloud as the whirlpool vanished leaving a silver-clad figure moving at such speeds that non-divine eyes could barely follow its trajectory.
Goku.
Jiren barely blinked before a series of blows hammered him in the ribs with such precision and strength that the wind was knocked out from his lungs; bending down to gather back his breath until spotting the silver-clad figure staring him down.
Jiren could only stand in awe as the silver-clad figure turned to face him; the cocoon of silver light cracking and vanishing leaving the figure of Goku stood in its place only his black hair shone with shining silver instead of mere streaks of silver, his irises ringed with silver as glittering light flowed from his body.
Glaring out through a pair of gleaming silver-lit eyes as a glittering silver aura burst into life around Goku's body; the air flowing out from his new empowering form tearing his tattered blue undershirt asunder until nothing remained and exposed the rippling muscles honed from years of training and battles.
Jiren felt a shiver run down his spine as he took a step back as he met the stare of someone who'd achieved a Complete Ultra Instinct Form; his backwards step being met by a visible forward step from Goku before vanishing with instantaneous movement just at the moment Jiren attempted to strike Goku with a wild knockout fist aimed for Goku's head; staring with astonishment as Goku's fist connected with Jiren's head thus sending the titan backwards but Jiren countered with another wild punch only to be blocked by Goku's forearm and countered with a blindingly fast kick to Jiren's torso.
Angry with his inability to fight back against Goku's new powers; Jiren let out a bellowing roar as scarlet flames burst into life from his very muscles, the black/red Pride Trooper uniform being burnt off his upper body until his own rippling muscles from years of training and untold battles were exposed to the eyes of those watching the battle.
Glaring angrily as the silver-lit form of Goku walked through the scarlet flames without being burnt; the silver light seemingly batting the flames away without any active use by Goku himself until Goku bent down on his knees and vanished before Jiren's eyes, Jiren throwing up both his fists as he threw a volley of punches as if using his Invisible Punch technique only now every punch was visible as a ghostly image of Goku dodged each and every speedy punch only to drive a swift arrow kick into Jiren's jawline.
Grimacing in his frustration at pushing pushed so far as to utilise the entirety of mighty powers; an energy whip extending out from his left arm only to fire off volleys of energy blasts with each crack of the energy whip, the volley of bullets passing harmlessly by Goku as he rushed past Jiren leaving Jiren to be pummelled by a series of Invisible Punches of Goku's own.
Jiren's bulbous eyes widened further as his own technique had been used against him; his chest feeling surprisingly sore as fist shaped bruises had been left in his skin, burning with anger as he saw Goku coming for him once more but crossed his arms in a block as Goku's Dragon Fist ignited from his fists and struck Jiren hard leading Jiren to slide backwards but come to a halt inches from the arena's edge.
With another bellowing roar of anger; Jiren's scarlet flames flared out so wildly and without any form of control that the Kachi Kachin floor around them burst into flames and began to turn black from the searing heat only for Goku to overlap his hands and cross his arms in a slashing motion as a wave of glittering silver energy dashed away Jiren's flames in a display of his vastly superior power.
"I don't understand! Friendship and comradery are excuses for the weak to justify their lack of strength! This strength is unreal! How are you stronger than I am?!" Jiren shouted; managing to block one of Goku's blindingly-fast punches but taking another to his right temple that caused Jiren to stagger backwards once again.
Goku stood silent for what felt like several valuable seconds before speaking in the voice of a thousand Goku's all speaking in unison, "You draw your strength from your solitude, your inability to acknowledge your very own teammates because all you've ever known is how to fight alone and unaided, but I… I have always had my friends to support me and I fight for them; I also fight for all the countless lives in Universe 7 unaware of the battle for their impending fate".
"The let us see how strong you are when your support is ceased! When your friends are dead!" Jiren barked harshly; ignoring all rules even though The Twin Zeno's and The Grand Priest were watching, raising both is hands up in a rising motion as he ignited the very air into tongues of scarlet flames that coiled through the air towards The Stands with incredible speed.
Goku vanished from Jiren's sight at the same moment he'd fired off his tongues of intense flames at The Observation Stands only to reappear and bat the flames away with a mere wave of his arms but glaring down at Jiren with an expression of extreme anger.
"You should not have done that! You've made me mad!" Goku yelled in his echoing thousand-voices speech; vanishing from sight again and not reappearing until Jiren felt a pair of fists rushing into his abdomen and torso at such speeds that his eyes couldn't even perceive Goku's Meteor Assault, followed up with a point-blank volley of energy bullets from Goku's fingertips, and a spear kick straight to Jiren's abdomen sending Jiren crashing into the ground.
Jiren stared through blurred vision after taking the brutal assault; barely able to even get his arms up before Goku's silver flashes re-entered his vision and struck him hard in his massive torso with another volley of punches and blasts, hearing the rallying voices of his own teammates that he'd already dismissed as being nothing but a distraction and weakness allowed him to throw up his guard in the form of a scarlet barrier that Goku's blasts echoed against when struck.
The barrier shattering at Jiren punched through his own technique and landed a strike against Goku, Goku winded as Jiren's punch caught him in the ribs during his wind up for a heavy wound-up punch that would have shattered the barrier; Jiren following up with a second punch to Goku's ribs and a grabbing hand that gripped Goku's silver hair only to force Goku's face down into Jiren's own knee in a vicious attack that had Goku spilling blood from both his mouth and nose before being pulled back up and aggressively headbutted.
Grimacing through Jiren's attacks; Goku's arms became a blur as he slapped away Jiren's gripping hands and struck with a hand-held whirlwind of energy from Goku's own palms, the force of the handheld whirlwind propelling Jiren backwards with his feet skidding across the ruined floor as more and more fragments sank into the clouds further reducing their fighting space.
Jiren crouched down before leaping up into the air now disregarding the No Flying Rule as he left the dust clouds caused by Goku's whirlwind attack but catching no sight of Goku until a knee strike landed in his lower back, turning around with a forward motion of the knee strike and catching Goku's following punch with an open palm; Jiren locked hands with Goku as the pair exchanged a knee strike each, both knees clashing with each other and sending a crashing echo throughout the clouds, Jiren releasing his grip of Goku as another arrow kick struck Jiren's torso as Goku snap in the air to gain momentum before landing an axe kick straight to Jiren's raised cross-guarded arms and sending the man crashing down to the floor below.
Landing with a crushing drop into the floor; the dust whipped up into an arena masking cloud only to be instantly dispelled as Goku flashed back down to the floor from mid-air, the cloud vanishing to reveal Jiren down on both hands and knees for the first time in the entirety of the Tournament of Power with Goku standing over him with the intent to defeat Jiren by the motioning of his right arm above his own head; silver light gathering in his palm for the final blow.
Jiren stared up at Goku; defeated and down on both his hands and knees, bowing his head down as a notion of his own defeat to a superior opponent until he heard not a cry of battle from Goku's mouth but a scream of pain.
Goku collapsed into a heap writhing in extreme pain as courses of black electricity coursed over his body, powerless and unable to defend himself any longer as Ultra Instinct had clearly taken an extremely high toll on his mortal body as the silver in his hair faded as quickly as he had dropped.
Hearing the cries of Belmod to execute the final blow against Goku; Jiren spied the disapproving looks from not only Toppo but his entire team for even daring to strike a foe when he'd down but for the sake of his Universe he'd have to made a dishonourable attack.
"I'm sorry… I did not wish for this to be the end of our battle" Jiren spoke so that only Goku would hear but it seemed unlikely that Goku could even comprehend Jiren's words from his pained screams of agony, with reluctance in his heart; Jiren raised his right arm only to bring it down with a single swift motion generating an air blade to slice right through the floor and splinter the tiles Goku lay paralysed by pain to fall through the floor and until the clouds and into elimination.
Jiren.
Staring down at the cloudy abyss where Goku had fallen into elimination; Jiren felt an sickening feeling towards his own action for he had not wanted to end the duel between Goku and himself in this manner, striking when Goku was down and unable to move much less defend himself but his thoughts were disrupted as a pair of fur-lined arms wrapped around his neck from behind and driving his face down into the rubble-strewn floor.
"Did you forget that I'm still here!" Raijin bellowed with an aggressive voice as he crouched down on all-fours; his golden fur shining with what little energy he had remaining but the sweat streaking down his face and muscles proved he had very little stamina left in him but the resolve to fight for his Universe still burnt strong.
Jiren glared at his final adversary witnessing the sheer audacity that one man stood opposing him after his dishonourable victory over Son Goku armed with a Complete Ultra Instinct Form, a man who had almost no chance of victory was still standing against him; a fact that drew on Jiren's frustrations at the repeated battles he'd been forced to fight against opponents he had assumed were mere flies, and the fact that he'd already defeated Raijin twice and would have to do so a third time.
"What's wrong?! Feeling disheartened? If you'd like I can just kick your ass off this crumbling floor and claim victory for myself!" Raijin smoke with a foolish yet confident smile as the floor beneath their feet continued to crumble after the battle of Goku and Jiren; the arena itself giving up and would slowly crumble until nothing was left.
Jiren's expression curled into one of hatred towards Raijin; scarlet flames burst into life as Jiren once again charged up his powers at the fullest and blanketing the arena's remains in heat and scarlet fire as with only the two of them left, the battle would be the final clash between Universes.
Observation Stands.
"Guys… I don't know if Raijin can win this one, he's fighting alone against Jiren and that floor isn't going to support either of them much longer" Krillin spoke suddenly as the floor had once again cracked and crumbled even more leaving less than a third of the original arena's size remaining.
"The odds are against him but we cannot lose hope nor allow our faith in our friend falter" Piccolo spoke boldly; his expression stern but a hint of happiness in his smile as a shadow of what had once been Nail slipped through his own Mindscape to witness Raijin's last stand.
Whis turned to meet Krillin's concerned eyes; spoking with uncertainty in his own voice, "No Krillin; the problem isn't that Raijin is fighting alone nor is it the crumbling arena now… the problem is that he has exactly twenty-eight seconds left".
Next Chapter: The Final Few Seconds.
