Piccolo carefully placed Son Goku behind the metal wreckage, then turned his cold gaze to GT Son Goku opposite him.
Although he knew better than anyone that there was an insurmountable gap in combat strength between the two sides, at this critical juncture, he had no other way out.
Even if it means he gets knocked off the stage and eliminated, he must ensure Son Goku stays on the field.
If his defeat and elimination could become a catalyst for Son Goku to awaken Ultra Instinct once again, that would be ideal.
Moreover, to be honest, Piccolo himself has always longed to have another good fight with Son Goku.
More than a decade ago, these Saiyan kids started surpassing him in strength one by one in a completely unreasonable way.
Now that his strength has finally increased dramatically through arduous training, he is naturally eager to have another good fight with his opponent.
Perhaps in this violent clash of fists and feet, he could still recall the heroic scene of their first life-or-death struggle.
That was a fated feud that took place at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament.
"Then I'll leave everything to you, Piccolo."
Son Goku grinned somewhat sheepishly.
The situation was dire; his mortal physical strength had already been almost completely depleted, leaving him with absolutely no confidence to confront his counterpart from another world head-on.
"Don't worry at all. While I might not be able to defeat him head-on, I'll more than buy you precious time to recover!"
Piccolo turned his head and gave Son Goku a hearty laugh, speaking with certainty.
"Come on, Sun!"
"Today, I'll show you what your skills are all about!!"
Piccolo curled his lips and raised his head to challenge GT Son Goku opposite him.
"I understand everything now, Piccolo."
"It's been years since we've really fought properly, but when we do, I absolutely won't hold back!"
GT Son Goku chuckled and looked at Piccolo, responding with great interest.
"You'd better go all out and not hold back, or I'll look down on you!"
Piccolo grinned, and before he finished speaking, his foot slammed into the ground, and in a flash, he charged straight at GT Son Goku's face with astonishing force.
At this moment, Piccolo's sudden burst of speed was astonishing.
You must understand that he was originally a rare top-tier combat genius in the world, and he has undergone three years of arduous training and honing.
With the impartial and personal guidance of Mr. Qin Feng, his true combat power has already undergone a tremendous qualitative leap.
boom!
Piccolo unleashed a powerful punch, imbued with the strength of the Mountain-Crushing Demon, hurtling towards GT Son Goku!
GT Son Goku remained calm and easily crushed Piccolo's powerful iron fist in his palm.
"Not bad, Piccolo. I didn't expect your speed and explosiveness to be so much better than I anticipated."
"Compared to Piccolo from our parallel universe, you're many times stronger!"
GT Son Goku sincerely praised and admired him.
You have to understand that in their GT Timeline, Piccolo was much more mature in terms of age and experience than in this timeline, but in terms of combat power alone...
Compared to the person in front of him, Piccolo from that time and space has an exaggerated and insurmountable gap.
"Hmph! Judging from what you're saying, your father in that timeline was truly weak and easily defeated!"
Piccolo sneered, and his other hand transformed into an iron palm, once again swiftly attacking GT Son Goku's ribs.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two exchanged blows like a violent storm, creating rings of blinding white sonic booms that exploded and spread through the air.
"Wow! I really misjudged him before. I didn't expect that green-skinned Piccolo to be so powerful!"
At this moment, Beerus, the God of Destruction, who was sitting high in the stands of Universe 7, stroked his chin and spoke with a look of surprise on his face.
From the very beginning, he had always believed that the absolute main force and true trump card of their Universe 7 were all the Saiyan like Son Goku and Vegeta.
Unexpectedly, with three Saiyan being defeated and eliminated one after another, Piccolo, who usually keeps a low profile, has displayed such a powerful and astonishing dominance in the ring.
" Uncle Piccolo has always been incredibly strong."
"Moreover, he was extremely calm and intelligent when commanding the battle and taking action himself."
Sitting to the side, Son Gohan smiled and spoke up to explain.
Everyone knows perfectly well that Uncle Piccolo was his first mentor on his martial arts journey. Most of his superb counter-attack skills and combat experience were taught to him by Piccolo.
If Piccolo hadn't subjected Gohan to that kind of devilish, rigorous training, he would never have been able to Gohan into a qualified warrior capable of standing on his own!
Whoosh!
Bang!
No sooner had Son Gohan finished praising Piccolo than a green blur streaked across the arena before crashing heavily into the stands in a very disheveled manner.
It was none other than Piccolo, who had just been ousted from power!
Beerus: "Uh..."
Son Gohan: "Uh..."
Piccolo: "Uh..."
The three people in the stands looked at each other, and the atmosphere became extremely awkward in that instant.
To everyone's surprise, just after praising Piccolo, he was cleanly and decisively thrown out of the arena and eliminated!
"I'm so... so sorry everyone!"
Piccolo touched his bald head and said awkwardly.
Although his actual combat power has increased dramatically in the past few years, there is still an insurmountable gap in strength between him and a monster like GT Son Goku.
Being able to risk everything to help Son Goku, who controls the timeline, buy a precious few minutes of time is already considered as doing his utmost.
"Sun, this mess is all yours to clean up now!"
Piccolo turned around, casting a serious gaze at Son Goku on the ring, and encouraged him in a deep voice.
"Now, it's your turn to obediently step down!"
GT Son Goku withdrew his heavy punch, turned his head to stare at the main timeline Son Goku, and spoke again with a hint of helplessness.
He knew better than anyone else that there was absolutely no chance of any more miraculous miracles happening this time!
Although he felt extremely awkward about eliminating another version of himself, he had to get rid of the Son Goku in front of him at this critical moment.
Only by decisively defeating the formidable enemy before him can he single-mindedly challenge the lofty and unapproachable Mr. Qin Feng!
"Call..."
"Bring it on!"
In the main timeline Son Goku took a deep breath and exhaled the remaining turbid air from his body. In an instant, his deep eyes became calm, clear, and transparent.
He forced himself to calm his turbulent emotions, allowing every cell in his body to enter a state of perfect clarity.
If he cannot unlock the secrets of the Ultimate Instinct at this Ultra Instinct juncture, then the only outcome awaiting him today is utter defeat!
"Alright, now get off the stage obediently!"
GT Son Goku roared, stomped on the ground and transformed into a bolt of lightning, rushing straight towards Son Goku in the main timeline.
Without any fancy probing, he delivered a heavy, powerful punch straight to the opponent's chest!
Just when everyone thought that Son Goku, completely exhausted, would be eliminated in a sorry state by this attack.
A truly astonishing scene unfolded!
GT Son Goku's powerful iron fist pierced through the afterimage torso of the main timeline Son Goku without any hindrance!
The punch missed its mark entirely, without even the slightest resistance felt!
"What?! This kid actually dodged it with such a tricky movement technique?!"
"What on earth is going on?!"
GT Son Goku's eyes were filled with disbelief and shock, and he exclaimed in surprise.
You should know that Son Goku's mortal body had already been drained to its limit, and he had already exerted all his strength just to stand up straight!
But now he not only easily dodged this sure-fire killing blow, but he was so fast that even his afterimage didn't disappear!
Startled, GT Son Goku abruptly turned around and looked, only to see that the main timeline Son Goku had undergone an astonishing transformation.
Rings of dazzling silver-white steam were gushing out from all the acupoints on his body, along with an indescribable wave of scorching heat that swept across the entire ruins!
"That bastard... he actually went into that state again at this critical moment?!"
GT Son Goku stared intently at Son Goku, his eyebrows twitching and jumping wildly.
Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, a miracle actually happened again, and this kid once again stepped into the profound realm of the Ultra Instinct.
Moreover, with his keen intuition, GT Son Goku could clearly sense that the aura displayed by the opponent this time was subtly and fundamentally more powerful than the last time!
"So... I've really regained control of it?"
In the main timeline, Son Goku looked down at his palms, which were shimmering with silver light, and a hint of undisguised joy flashed in his eyes.
Just now, in that life-or-death moment, he was merely taking a desperate gamble, trying to surrender his body to instinct; this was his last hope and trump card.
Unexpectedly, by sheer chance, I found myself stepping into this sacred realm once again!
Moreover, this time, upon entering the Ultra Instinct again, he could truly feel that his understanding of this state of mind was far more profound than before.
Witnessing Son Goku unleash Ultra Instinct once again, all the gods and contestants in the stands wore expressions of disbelief.
"That bastard Kakarot, how could he have entered the realm of Ultra Instinct again?!"
"Damn it! This is absolutely infuriating!"
In the distance, the Deep Blue Vegeta slammed his fist into the void, his teeth grinding together.