Universal Cross-Training

The setting sun once again fell across the boulders of Mount Paozu. More than half the pine needles had yellowed, and fallen maple leaves carpeted the yard like scattered gold. Quite some time had passed since the handover of the Primordial Corridor's seal, and order throughout the multiverse had gradually stabilized after the transition between old and new guardians. Zeno no longer brought up erasing universes. Beerus and Champa's new hobby was exposing each other's flaws at food awards. Chi-Chi's cooking classes had reached their fourth term. After finishing his healing technique textbook, Dende had begun writing a general version of Planet Namek's sealing arts. And after countless charred experiments, Nappa's barbecue skills had finally earned New Vegeta City's food safety certification. After peace had lasted so long, Ji Ming occasionally thought that there would be nothing wrong with living like this for the rest of his life.

Of course, Zeno did not think so.

One afternoon, an emergency notice from the Grand Priest reached Universe 7 through Whis's communicator. As always, it was concise: Zeno had seen that postwar reconstruction across the universes was nearly complete and wanted to organize an inter-universal joint exercise. It was not for elimination, nor because of any threat. He simply wanted to see how strong everyone had become. When Ji Ming received the news, he was in the Gravity Chamber sparring with Vegeta, practicing the precise evasion applications of Ultra Instinct. Their wristbands rang at the same time. Vegeta glanced at the screen, shut off the Gravity Chamber, and said in an unusually calm tone, "At least this time, we won't be gambling our universe."

The exercise was set to take place at the newly built joint training grounds in the World of Void. An angel from Universe 12 had overseen the design, reportedly using some spatial expansion technology extracted from the ruins of the Primordial Corridor. It was far larger than the Tournament of Power arena and could accommodate several battlefields at once. On the day the fleet departed, Mount Paozu returned to its usual pre-expedition bustle. Chi-Chi got up before dawn to prepare boxed meals, and this time she made more than ever before. It was not only Universe 7's warriors who were coming—the Saiyan delegation from Universe 6 had arrived a day early, and old acquaintances from other universes would be arriving one after another.

Ji Ming leaned back in the captain's seat and leafed through the exercise regulations. The rules were simple: the joint exercise would use a double round-robin format. Each team would take turns facing combinations from the other universes, accumulating points for victories, while the highest-ranking teams would receive prizes specially made by Zeno. Battles would be time-limited, with no elimination line, and wins, draws, and losses would all be decided by an angel referee panel. Zeno had personally added one final sentence to the regulations: No moves that could make a universe explode.

By the time the fleet arrived, delegations from every universe had gradually entered the grounds. Caulifla from Universe 6 was still barefoot, bouncing around the arena as she warmed up, while Kale stood nearby holding a clipboard and quietly making adjustments to her conditioning. Jiren of Universe 11 sat cross-legged in a corner of the rest area with his eyes closed, while Toppo discussed a nonlinear decay model for destruction energy with the captain of Universe 3's cyborg team. The divine leader from Universe 1, who had never fought from beginning to end, had made the rare decision to attend in person. He stood silently in the spectator area at the edge of the grounds, like a stone statue polished by time.

The moment Ji Ming entered the grounds, Caulifla was the first to rush over. Thumping her chest, she said she had recently mastered a new ultimate move and would definitely defeat that eternally stone-faced Vegeta this time. Vegeta stood behind Ji Ming, and the glow of Silver Blue flickered around him without a sound as he asked Caulifla whether she had forgotten about the last time she had been blasted out of the arena in a single move. Caulifla stiffened her neck and said that had been a tactical probe. Piccolo and Nail stood calmly behind the crowd. Dende provided remote sealing array support from Kami's Lookout, while A Mu had already deployed a complete sensory lock along the flank. At last, Ji Ming's gaze met Jiren's. Jiren opened his eyes and gave him a slight nod. Ji Ming nodded back. This was their first formal meeting since the Tournament of Power final. The exhaustion of that all-out battle was still etched into both of them, but now that they stood on the same arena again, neither bore the fate of a universe on his shoulders. In its place was a calmer, rarer recognition of equals.

When the first-round draw was announced, Universe 7 was matched against Universe 11. Every longtime spectator present sat up at once—the Tournament of Power final was being replayed, except this time there was no fear of erasure, only a pure contest.

Universe 11's Pride Troopers adopted a newly arranged coordinated formation. Jiren and Toppo formed its twin cores, while three high-speed roaming fighters held the rear. The entire line shifted seamlessly between destruction energy and rapid assaults. But Universe 7 was no longer the Universe 7 of years ago. Ji Ming and Son Goku deployed dual Ultra Instincts along the vanguard, their silver-white and crimson-silver auras intertwining as they dissolved the Pride Troopers' first wave of attacks without a trace. Vegeta's precise Zero Style strikes kept up pressure from the flank, every step locking onto the points where Toppo's destruction energy had yet to fully contract. Piccolo and Nail transformed their Planet Namek sealing array into an area-suppression formation, limiting the rear guard's speed advantage to a controllable range. Universe 11 scored first, but Universe 7 quickly tied it. The lead changed hands for several rounds, until, in the final seconds of the countdown, Jiren and Ji Ming faced each other once more at the center of the arena.

Their clash lacked the desperate, all-or-nothing brutality of the Tournament of Power. What replaced it was a mutual confirmation of how far each had come. Jiren's heavy punches still carried the suppressive force they had possessed in the tournament final, but Ji Ming's Ultra Instinct could now precisely predict the fluctuations in the wave frequency of every blow. Ji Ming repeatedly tore through the gaps in Jiren's destructive output between blocks and counterattacks, while Jiren neutralized each one with the coordinated footwork he had refined after that battle. Seconds before the end, Jiren withdrew his power first and lightly struck Ji Ming's shoulder guard with a straight punch that carried little force. Ji Ming took half a step back, and both of their fists stopped half an inch from the other's chest.

At the referee's table, Whis and Vados exchanged nods. Zeno clapped his hands and declared the match a draw. Jiren withdrew his fist and walked back to the rest area alone, leaving behind a quiet silhouette completely different from the one he had worn during the Tournament of Power.

The second round was a combined match between Universe 7 and Universe 6. It was a complex cross-universe battle—each side selected two fighters from each of the two universes to form a four-person team, then fought simultaneously across two battlefields. This format tested not individual limits, but the tacit understanding and trust between warriors from different universes. Ji Ming and Caulifla were assigned to the same group, while Vegeta was paired with Kale. The four had almost no time to practice together before the match, relying entirely on their understanding of one another's fighting habits to put together a formation on the spot.

Caulifla's crimson Super Saiyan God form had become even sharper over the years, and when she charged into the enemy formation, she was like an out-of-control red bolt of lightning. Ji Ming handled support and battlefield control, precisely closing every opening that could be exploited to counter Caulifla during the gaps between her charges. Kale found a rhythm of her own between her disciplined normal state and the brink of losing control at any moment. Whenever the enemy's focused attacks targeted a blind spot in Vegeta's defense, her green flames rose in time to divert the pressure. Vegeta, at the rear of the four-person formation, used Zero Style's precise strikes to eliminate every piece of heavy firepower that slipped through.

Midway through the second-round match, Caulifla was caught in a pincer attack by two opponents. After taking several heavy blows head-on, her steps began to falter. Ji Ming cut in sideways and stood in front of her, his golden shield separating her from the storm-like barrage that followed. Caulifla glared at him and said that she had only been gathering strength for a counterattack—then, in the brief space between breaths, the two laughed together. From the referee's table, the sharp-eyed Whis recorded the moment as a post-match highlight with a slight turn of his staff.

By the third day, the exercise was no longer pure competition. Tactical data from every universe was shared with everyone through Bulma's real-time analysis system. The nonlinear destruction energy decay model improved by the Pride Troopers was incorporated by Piccolo and Nail into the sealing array database. Jiren's coordinated footwork was recorded as a third broadly applicable path for precise, non-transformation combat, alongside Ultra Instinct and instinctive destruction. Ji Ming sent every frame from the exercise to the rear support team. Son Goku and Kale identified the stabilizing effect that cross-universe two-person coordination had on berserk forms, while all the new data from Vegeta's Zero Style was formally added to the training curriculum for new Saiyan recruits.

At the end of the final day, Zeno stood atop his crystal throne and declared everyone tied for first place. For once, Champa and Beerus did not fight over anything. They merely stood side by side near the judges' table, watching their respective warriors walk off the field.

Mount Paozu held another feast that night. Chi-Chi had begun preparing the day before the exercise ended. The steamers were stacked taller than Ji Ming, and braised pork, tempura, garlic ribs, crab roe soup dumplings, and pumpkin cakes covered the entire table. Caulifla had charged into enemy formations many times during the exercise season, but now she sat properly at the dinner table, waiting for Chi-Chi to serve the food. Piccolo still sat in the corner, guarding his plate of steamed pumpkin.

Ji Ming sat with everyone who had fought beside him to reach this day. As usual, Chi-Chi had buried a tempura shrimp in his bowl. He picked it up and took a bite. The batter was crisp, and the shrimp was sweet and fresh. Outside, the first light snow of winter fell over Mount Paozu. The golden light of Kami's Lookout flickered quietly through the curtain of snow, while the pine needles bowed slightly beneath the accumulating white. He picked up his chopsticks again, pushed the rice from his bowl into his mouth, and began to eat.