"The real battle is just beginning!" John Doe and Vegeta said simultaneously.
Goku absorbed all the blue flames surrounding him, entering full power as he approached Jiren.
Goku initiated the attack, landing a punch on Jiren's crossed arms, sending him flying backward and crashing into piles of rubble.
The two began exchanging blows, their impacts sending shockwaves through the arena.
However, this simple standoff did not last long; Jiren quickly gained the upper hand, easily overpowering Goku's defenses.
Before long, Goku was hammered into the arena floor.
Vegeta and John Doe frowned in unison and said, "This isn't good. The gap in their strength is too great; Kakarot (Goku) is no match for him."
Jiren showed no signs of stopping. He grabbed Goku by the ankle and slammed him onto the arena floor repeatedly, treating Goku like a punching bag.
Goku fired energy blasts at Jiren, striking him squarely in the face.
Jiren had to raise his hand to deflect Goku's attacks, but soon after, he charged directly into Goku's embrace.
Goku was sent flying into a pile of rubble, becoming buried beneath the debris.
Jiren then shot a red energy blast that exploded on impact, blasting Goku out from under the rubble.
At this point, Goku had exhausted most of his stamina; facing Jiren was taking a heavy toll on him.
He knelt on the arena floor, gasping for breath.
Jiren slowly walked over and stepped on Goku, causing the ground beneath him to shatter.
John Doe sighed and said, "Enough. Goku has given it his all, but Jiren has only used a fraction of his strength. Continuing this fight is pointless."
"Vegeta, hold off the other fighters from Universe Eleven; I'll go rescue Goku."
Vegeta nodded, wanting to see how John Doe would handle this situation and how he planned to save Goku from Jiren.
John Doe did not transform into Super Saiyan Blue. Instead, he shouted, "Jiren, I'm coming!"
With that declaration, John Doe rushed towards Jiren.
Anticipating someone would try to save Goku, Jiren swung his fist at John Doe as he descended.
However, John Doe dodged effortlessly and landed beside Goku. In an instant, he vanished from Jiren's sight and reappeared next to Vegeta.
Jiren and the surrounding fighters were astonished by John Doe's ability to evade his attack; they were unsure of what had just transpired.
However, Whis in the stands noticed John Doe's evasion and seemed to sense something significant.
Jiren looked up at John Doe and asked, "How did you just avoid my attack?"
"Jiren, now is not the time for our final showdown. Let's wait until most of the other universe fighters are eliminated before we settle this," John Doe replied before pulling Goku away and leaping to safety.
Once behind a pile of rubble, Goku asked John Doe, "Why did you pull me away? I haven't settled things with Jiren yet!"
John Doe retorted impatiently, "What are you talking about? Can't you see? If you keep fighting like this, you'll just be beaten senseless!"
"For you to defeat Jiren, you need to fully comprehend Ultra Instinct. Remember: it must be complete Ultra Instinct; what we used before was just a fake version."
Upon hearing this from John Doe, Goku recalled how John Doe had evaded Jiren's attack moments earlier. His eyes widened as he asked, "John Doe, did you just use Ultra Instinct?"
John Doe shook his head and said, "I'm close but not quite there yet. I've grasped part of its path. I can only offer you one piece of advice: maintaining an unchanging state of mind is crucial."
"A calm mindset is still a state of mind; emotions like anger or joy are all part of it. The key is that our mindset shouldn't fluctuate too much."
Goku pondered over John Doe's words thoughtfully.
John Doe continued: "Keep thinking about it. We don't need to rush into a battle with Jiren; the real decisive battle is still ahead."
With that said, John Doe began walking back towards the arena while occasionally clearing out some troublesome fighters.
As Goku's brief skirmish with Jiren came to an end, intense battles erupted across the arena once more.
Soon after Universe Nine was eliminated from the tournament, Universe Ten followed suit.
After Universe Ten's last three fighters were knocked out by warriors from Universe Two, Universe Six, and Universe Seven's Gohan, the Grand Priest announced loudly:
"All ten warriors from Universe Ten have been eliminated; thus Universe Ten has lost the match and will be erased!"
As soon as the Grand Priest finished speaking, both Zenos raised their tiny hands and clapped them together forcefully. Instantly, all Universe Ten warriors—except for their angels—along with their Supreme Kai and Destroyer God vanished from existence.
Time passed second by second as weaker fighters from various universes were gradually eliminated. Remarkably, after one-third of the tournament time had elapsed, Universe Seven had yet to lose a single fighter from its ranks.
This situation drew attention from other universes as they paused their battles to focus on Universe Seven's fighters.
Outnumbered two-to-one was difficult for Universe Seven; however, Nappa and Raditz were among those eliminated first. Yet with their help, Goku and Piccolo managed to dispatch their opponents as well.
With many fighters still remaining in the arena while Universe Seven had already lost some members, John Doe, Vegeta, and Goku began launching attacks together to eliminate numerous other universe warriors from the stage.
Just then, a powerful warrior from Universe Eleven named Dispo targeted Hit—the ace fighter from Universe Six—much like how Goku had chosen to confront Jiren earlier.
Dispo approached Hit confidently: "Hit! I'm Dispo from Universe Eleven's Pride Troopers! I'm here to counter your time-skip abilities!"
Immediately upon their encounter, attention shifted towards them as everyone gathered around—including John Doe, Vegeta, and Goku—to witness this clash of titans.