Son Gohan took a solid punch to the gut and spat out a mouthful of bile. Before he could counter, Kale unleashed a rapid-fire left-right combo — head, chest, stomach, blow after blow landing in quick succession. Pathetic as it was for someone of his caliber, he hadn't even managed to bring out twenty percent of his power. He'd only made it to Super Saiyan 2 before Kale's relentless assault battered him into unconsciousness.
Kuronoa flicked her wrist, and her eliminated fighter was removed from the arena. The current Supreme Kai of Time's expression was distinctly sour.
Eight fighters remained on the field.
A sharp clang rang out as Future Trunks and the Time Patrol's Trunks clashed blades. Future Trunks was driven back more than ten steps. Fighting two opponents at once, Son Goku's staff had already carved a bloody, clean-through hole in his side.
He hadn't been able to beat his own counterpart — because this Trunks had mastered Super Saiyan God with effortless proficiency.
The Time Patrol's Trunks had delicate features, his hair and eyebrows a soft shade of red, the energy around him remarkably restrained. This wasn't some desperate mid-battle breakthrough or rage-fueled transformation — it was a genuine, full-blooded Super Saiyan God.
Kuronoa's side had lost one Son Gohan.
Ino's side had Future Trunks injured.
Aeos's fighters were scrambling, completely thrown off by the tactical assault. From what was visible, the coordination among their three wasn't good at all.
Future Trunks flashed two hand signals. Once his teammates understood, he pointed squarely at Aeos's group. "Move in!"
This wasn't a feint — the goal was to knock out one of Aeos's fighters for real. Black-clothed Piccolo was a prime target.
"Trying the same old trick again?" The red-haired Trunks, now transformed into Super Saiyan God, was preparing to eliminate his own counterpart — when Kale charged straight at him without a word and threw a punch right at his face.
A Legendary Super Saiyan God outclasses a Super Saiyan God in raw power, but Kale in Super Saiyan 3 alone was no match for Super Saiyan God. She didn't even try to match his technique. Instead, she simply leveraged her monstrous regeneration, trading blow for blow and wound for wound.
The Time Patrol captain pulled out every trick he had. His longsword became a blur of dazzling arcs, his footwork and positioning nothing short of exquisite. In under three seconds, he had opened several new cuts across Kale's body — at the cost of nothing more than a large tear in his own leather jacket.
"Little girl, you're not in my league," he said. "Even a Legendary Super Saiyan can't beat me."
Kale desperately wanted to transform into Legendary Super Saiyan God right then and blast this smug Trunks into the arena wall. But remembering her father's instructions, she swallowed her fury and forced herself to keep grinding him down as Super Saiyan 3.
The Son Goku with the staff was in a bit of an awkward spot. Kale had Trunks pinned down, and on the other side Future Trunks was holding back Black-clothed Bardock and Black-clothed Son Gohan, leaving Future Gohan to duel Black-clothed Piccolo alone. In the middle of the wide battlefield, Goku found himself... with nothing to do.
He gripped his staff and looked left, then right, genuinely unsure who to go punch.
A thunderous boom made him spin around.
Future Gohan still hadn't managed to finish off Black-clothed Piccolo. In terms of raw power, his Potential Unleashed clearly put him ahead — but Black-clothed Piccolo had incredible tenacity, an enormous arsenal of techniques, and on top of that, limb regeneration and a whole suite of recovery abilities. After more than thirty exchanges, Future Gohan simply couldn't put the Namekian down.
Future Gohan and Future Trunks worked together with the seamless fluency of men who had fought side by side for years — a single glance between them was enough. They swept through the battlefield in rapid crossing patterns. While Future Gohan hammered Black-clothed Piccolo, he also folded Black-clothed Son Gohan and Black-clothed Bardock into his attack range, dredging up memories of his helplessness against the Androids, of watching his loved ones, comrades, and friends die before his eyes — letting that rage fill every cell in his body.
In a shockingly short span of time, his combat power surged again — to the point where he was genuinely holding his own against all three.
The cracks in Aeos's coordination grew catastrophic.
Future Gohan launched Son Goku's Kamehameha Wave. Future Trunks fired Vegeta's Piercing Cannon. The two of them pulled off a stunning combination attack that left Black-clothed Bardock critically injured.
Former Supreme Kai of Time Aeos showed absolutely no intention of pulling her fighter out.
Just as she had said before — die in battle before giving ground.
"That's getting a bit inconvenient, senior." Kuronoa delivered the barb at her predecessor with a perfectly double-edged smile, then raised her hand again and removed the critically injured Black-clothed Bardock from the arena.
The numbers shifted again: 2 versus 2 versus 3. Ino's side now held the upper hand.
"Team up — hit that one!" Black-clothed Piccolo called out to Black-clothed Son Gohan. The plan was to join forces with the Time Patrol and eliminate Kale — the youngest and least battle-hardened fighter on Ino's side.
With Black-clothed Bardock gone, ironically, the coordination between Black-clothed Piccolo and Black-clothed Son Gohan actually improved sharply. Together they pushed Future Trunks and Future Gohan back, and Black-clothed Piccolo quietly began charging his Special Beam Cannon.
The Son Goku with the staff seized the moment and joined the encirclement.
Facing a simultaneous onslaught from four super-warriors — the Time Patrol's Trunks, Son Goku, Black-clothed Son Gohan, and Black-clothed Piccolo — Kale was overwhelmed. The situation was looking dire.
Kale let out a desperate roar, then brought both hands up to her temples and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Watch out — Solar Flare!" Everyone with experience knew this was a notoriously broken technique. Piccolo was still concentrating on his Special Beam Cannon, but the other three reflexively ducked their heads.
Kale's lips curved into a small smile. Solar Flare? Who said anything about Solar Flare?
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
When it came to top-tier combat power, the ninja villages couldn't begin to compare with the Saiyans — but the ninjas' mastery of chakra had been refined to an absolute extreme. You make do with what you have; the shinobi world was full of legendary techniques. What did Saiyans have, really? The same handful of shockwaves, recycled over and over.
Kale's journey with ninjutsu was, to put it charitably, a complicated story. The energy inside her was simply too vast. Even with Ino's meditation method, unlimited resources, and instruction from master teachers, she could only manage a small handful of jutsu.
No other reason — her control was just terrible.
The shinobi world had seen someone like that before: absurdly massive chakra reserves paired with rock-bottom control. His name was Naruto Uzumaki.
Kale had always gotten along well with Uncle Naruto, and in the end she had learned this jutsu from him — the crown jewel of broken techniques: Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Pop. Pop. Pop. White smoke billowed and cleared in rapid succession. Over a thousand Kales burst into existence simultaneously, all screaming as they charged straight at the Time Patrol's Trunks, Son Goku, and Black-clothed Son Gohan.
She didn't actually need to scream — but Uncle Naruto had told her it felt way more badass this way.
"What in the world is this move?" The Time Patrol's Trunks swept his sword left and right, blades of light slashing in every direction like bolts of lightning. He attacked and sensed his opponents' ki simultaneously — but after cutting down more than thirty Kales, he still hadn't found the real one. They all felt exactly like the genuine article. How was that even possible?
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