Gohan, Get Ruthless! Showdown with the 10th Universe!

Ribrianne and Android 17 continue their fierce exchange while Roasie overwhelms Goku with rapid ki ball attacks. When Roasie surrounds Goku with explosive spheres, 17 shields him with an Android Barrier, giving Goku the opening to study her rhythm and counter with a precise blast. Before they can press the advantage, Universe 2's Jimizu teleports his teammates to safety using Instant Transmission, denying Universe 7 the elimination.

The spotlight shifts to Gohan, who accepts Champa's challenge by proxy when Botamo is ordered to take him on. Gohan's initial flurry of punches appears ineffective against Botamo's damage-absorbing body, but each blow lifts the rotund fighter incrementally off the ground. Once Botamo loses traction, Gohan finishes him with a single decisive strike that sends him over the edge. The technique is pure analysis: Gohan recognized that Botamo redirects impact through the ground and simply removed the ground from the equation.

Universe 10's Obni and Rubalt then challenge Gohan and Piccolo respectively. With eight of their fighters already eliminated, Universe 10 is fighting for survival. Piccolo outthinks Rubalt and traps him within a Hellzone Grenade formation, eliminating him with a cage of converging energy blasts. Gohan faces the far more dangerous Obni, a warrior who can shift his ki outside his body to render himself completely undetectable. Battered by invisible strikes, Gohan responds by ascending to his Potential Unleashed state and adopting a counter-strategy: he absorbs hits to track the direction of each blow, then strikes back along the same trajectory. Obni pauses to acknowledge Gohan's resolve before their final exchange, which ends with Gohan's Ultimate Kamehameha sending the warrior off the stage. Universe 10 is erased, and Gohan discovers Obni's locket containing a photo of his wife and child.

Obni's locket transforms his elimination from a tactical victory into an emotional gut punch. Gohan, himself a father, holds the photo and understands exactly what was at stake for his opponent. Universe 10's angel Kusu mourns alongside Gohan in a rare moment of shared grief between opposing sides. It is a deliberate parallel: Gohan fights to protect Pan and Videl, and Obni fought for the same reasons from the other side of the arena.

Piccolo's Hellzone Grenade

Piccolo's use of the Hellzone Grenade carries its own narrative weight. He first deployed this technique against Android 17 during the Cell Saga, where it was a desperate gambit that failed. Here, against a less powerful opponent, the same move works flawlessly, reflecting how far Piccolo has come and how differently each rematch plays out when experience meets opportunity.

The erasure of Universe 10 marks the second universe lost in the tournament and deepens the emotional toll on every survivor. Gowasu, who initially accepted his fate with resigned dignity, found himself clinging to hope the moment Obni began fighting well, only to have that hope extinguished. The contrast between his early resignation and late-stage desperation captures how the tournament strips away composure as the minutes pass. For the remaining six universes, each elimination now carries the threat of being the next to vanish entirely.