-----
-----
Goku's instincts were razor-sharp. The instant danger flared, he twisted sideways on reflex, barely slipping past what would've been a killing blow.
The explosion that followed shook the sky.
That pink energy disc tore into the distant earth and detonated with terrifying force, blasting up a tidal wave of dust that swallowed the horizon.
"T-That… wasn't that my Destructo Disc?!" Krillin stared in disbelief, his voice trembling.
But something felt wrong. His Destructo Disc was always a brilliant golden-yellow. The one Cell had thrown carried a strange, almost sickly pink sheen.
What the hell was going on?
Deep in the Cold Void of Space
Watching the feed, Frieza shot up from his throne as if he'd been electrocuted.
The arrogance of a former galactic emperor had long since faded. He could feel it clearly now—this creature named Cell possessed potential that surpassed his own.
But when Cell unleashed that move…
A storm erupted in Frieza's soul.
"That—! That's my Death Saucer! How is that possible?! Who is this Cell?! And that Saiyan—how can there still be a Super Saiyan alive?!"
His shriek grew more unhinged by the second. The technique he once prided himself on—his signature attack—was now being wielded by something even more monstrous than he'd ever been.
Worse still, the one facing that monster was a Super Saiyan.
To the tyrant who believed he had wiped out the Saiyan bloodline for good, this was humiliation—and a threat he couldn't ignore.
"Ginyu Force! You will go to Earth immediately! Kill Son Goku before he has the chance to grow!"
His mind worked fast. The footage clearly came from the future. Which meant Goku might still be weak right now. If there was ever a window to erase him, this was it.
And if the Ginyu Force failed? Then Goku's strength would already exceed his estimates. In that case, Frieza would need a different approach—one that ended with him becoming stronger, and finishing the Super Saiyan himself.
Back to the Battle
Cell launched another slicing disc.
But this time, he didn't just throw it and forget it. He stood still, calmly guiding it from afar.
Goku's brows knit together. He darted through the air at blinding speed. The disc was fast—ridiculously fast—but it couldn't quite keep up with him.
Cell watched him streak across the sky like a comet and smirked.
"I already know what you're planning. From Frieza's cellular memory, I've seen it—you'll rush me at the last second and counterattack. But that trick won't work anymore."
Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, another disc formed in his other hand.
He hurled it without hesitation.
Goku's pupils shrank.
The two razor-sharp discs crossed paths in a perfect scissor formation—
—and sliced him clean in half.
"Goku!!"
Krillin shot halfway out of his seat, heart pierced by the horrifying sight.
"Relax. Don't panic."
The present-day Goku remained calm. Future him wouldn't fall to something this basic. No way.
And sure enough—
The two discs had only cut through an afterimage left behind by Goku's speed.
Cell didn't even blink.
"I expected that too."
He lifted his wrist. At some point, a third disc had silently appeared behind Goku, flashing forward with deadly precision.
It pierced straight through Goku's body—
Another afterimage.
Goku's voice echoed from behind him, steady and full of quiet dominance.
"You're just copying other people's techniques. That's not enough to beat me. Everything you've got is borrowed. Hollow."
He wasn't boasting. He'd fought too many brutal battles to be shaken by cheap repetitions.
"Maybe."
Cell let out a low chuckle.
Then he made his move.
And every being watching—across every dimension—felt a chill crawl down their spine.
"Fine. I'll send you off with this."
In an instant, Cell pushed his power to its absolute limit. The air warped. Shockwaves rippled outward, bending space itself.
He cupped his hands at his side. A brilliant blue sphere formed between his palms, compressing and swelling like a star about to explode.
"Ka…me…ha…me…"
Goku's expression changed instantly—from confident to alarmed.
"Stop! If you push your power that far, you can't fire a Kamehameha like that!!"
But Cell didn't hesitate.
"HA!!"
The beam roared forth—a tidal wave of blue destruction tearing across the battlefield.
This wasn't just an attack.
It was annihilation incarnate.
A beam that could punch through a small planet without slowing down.
A forbidden force—one that even Master Roshi once used to blow up the moon.
An absurd, dimension-shaking—
Ultimate Kamehameha.
Goku watched it fire at full power. His face turned grave.
He vanished in a flash, reappearing high in the sky.
"I'm up here!"
Cell looked up, grinning darkly. With a flick of his will, the already-fired beam bent in a massive arc and chased after Goku.
Goku rocketed higher and higher—but no matter how fast he moved, the beam clung to him like fate itself.
At the last possible second, just before it could swallow him whole—
He touched two fingers to his forehead.
And vanished.
The blue beam streaked past, roaring upward like a meteor headed for eternity.
The camera followed.
It pierced the atmosphere effortlessly and hurtled toward a massive floating asteroid drifting in space.
BOOM!
The beam punched straight through the colossal rock without losing momentum, blasting deeper into the unknown sea of stars.
The asteroid detonated like a firework in the void—shattering into dust that faded into nothing.
In the World of Naruto – Kumogakure
In Naruto, within the Hidden Cloud Village, A sat frozen.
He had never imagined that a beam casually fired by Cell could rival the theoretical maximum output of Kumogakure's experimental chakra cannon.
And what suffocated him wasn't just the power—
It was how effortless Cell made it look.
Their cannon, even in simulations, required the full chakra reserves of dozens of elite jonin and at least two Kage-level shinobi just to fire once.
It was their trump card. Their secret weapon. The foundation of his confidence that the Cloud could surpass Konoha and become the strongest village.
And yet—
That "ultimate weapon" was equivalent to a casual energy blast in this video?
His heart sank.
He'd suspected there was a gap between shinobi and the monsters of other worlds.
But seeing it laid out so brutally… it shook him.
Was the ninja system really bottom-tier across dimensions?
Ever since the Five Kage faced Madara Uchiha, every new video revealed powers that dwarfed the entire shinobi world.
A's thoughts drifted back to Mei Terumi and her warning during the summit. If beings like this ever crossed into their world…
Could they resist?
Even if cross-dimensional invasion never came—who's to say there weren't stronger lifeforms somewhere in the vast cosmos, capable of breaking through the stars and descending upon them?
"No. The entire training system of Kumogakure must be reformed. Completely."
He raked a hand through his hair, frustration clawing at him.
It was going to be another sleepless night.
And he wasn't alone.
Across the ninja world, leaders like Hiruzen Sarutobi, Onoki, and others came to the same conclusion.
Reform was inevitable.
But how?
Where do you even begin when chasing gods?
Konoha – Late Night
Hiruzen paused the video.
The overwhelming power on display filled him with urgency.
Yes, peace was good. It was his lifelong dream.
But peace had dulled them.
Villagers were happier. Prosperity had risen.
Yet fewer ninja were advancing to jonin. Even the Chunin Exam's pass rate had dropped to alarming levels.
He stared at the report on his desk—the upcoming Chunin Exams to be hosted in Konoha in half a month.
"No. Konoha must change."
He stood and gazed out at the sleeping village.
For a moment, his eyes lingered on a shadowed corner.
"Danzo… we were classmates. But your hand has reached too far."
Amegakure – Akatsuki Base
Konan pushed open the door, concern in her eyes.
"Nagato, calling me this late—what's wrong?"
Nagato's face was pale, but his voice had never sounded more serious.
"Konan… did you see the new video?"
"I just started."
She had been following the uploader closely.
Nagato's Rinnegan flickered faintly.
"That move Cell used—the Ultimate Kamehameha. Even if I used the full power of Shinra Tensei… I don't think I could stop it completely."
Once, he had seen himself as a god.
Now?
All that remained in his eyes was doubt.
His power was overwhelming—within the ninja world.
But only within the ninja world.
Before these revelations, he would've said without hesitation that he stood invincible.
Now he understood the truth.
He was merely one of the few standing at the peak of a very small pyramid.
Even with the Akatsuki under his command.
Even with every rogue ninja crushed beneath his will.
In the end—
He had simply been a frog in a well, staring at a patch of sky and mistaking it for the universe.
"....."