Taro sat cross-legged in midair, eyes closed in deep contemplation.
Although spiritual and mental cultivation wasn't his main path, he had nonetheless trained in divine thought and spirit over the years. With that accumulation, his mind had grown incomparably powerful, far beyond that of ordinary people. Now, thinking with full concentration, the speed at which his mind operated was simply unbelievable.
Around his head, there was a faint illusionary fluctuation, as though the movement of his thoughts and the process of deduction were subtly interfering with the material fabric of space-time.
Taro began his deduction from the beginning, trying to determine the source of that indistinct sensation—like something had shattered. Since his spirit was fully attuned, no sign or omen would appear without reason.
Had something happened to Hathaway?
No. With a single thought, Taro could sense the direction of Earth across vast cosmic distances. Hathaway's ki remained calm and undisturbed. Moreover, as long as he was alive, no one in the world could truly kill Hathaway. After all, the vow he had made back then was to "bind Hathaway's life to my own."
If Hathaway could be killed by someone else, it would mean the vow of "life-bound" would not hold true, creating a contradiction. Therefore… as long as Taro lived, Hathaway could not die.
Had something happened to Gohan? Goku? Krillin? Tsuru?
No again. Taro merely needed a slight moment of sensing to confirm all was well.
Sitting in the sky above Planet Metamoran, his expression was calm, but inside his mind, waves surged as if boiling over. He was pushing his deduction to the limits… Nothing had gone wrong in his own cultivation, so it wasn't an unconscious internal warning either.
One hypothesis after another emerged, but almost as quickly, each was disproven.
Hypothesis.
Refuted.
Hypothesis.
Denied.
In that instant, countless possibilities flashed through Taro's mind.
It must be something from that side…
In the end, when all other possibilities were eliminated, Taro's mind landed on one final potential source. His eyes suddenly opened—now glowing entirely crimson—each pupil adorned with three black tomoe spinning in a circle. Then, in a flash, they transformed into black, four-pointed stars, and finally into concentric ripple-patterned eyes marked with nine tomoe: the Nine Tomoe Rinnegan.
power, activate!
Wommmm...
An invisible force radiated from his eyes, piercing through the space before him, infiltrating the very void.
Taro's gaze remained calm, but his line of sight penetrated the empty air, cutting through layer after layer of fragmented time and space. At last, his vision locked onto a parallel dimension he had once connected with. The nine tomoe rotated—clockwise and counterclockwise—spinning out a dizzying illusion.
Without warning, he stood up and stepped forward. His body vanished into the void.
---
Parallel Universe – Solar System
The known solar system is a gravitationally bound system centered around the Sun, including all celestial bodies influenced by the Sun's gravity.
The eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune… at least 173 known moons, five confirmed dwarf planets, and billions of minor solar system bodies.
But now…
In the cold vacuum of space, where Earth should have orbited, a tiny figure suddenly appeared. There was no warning, no light or explosion—only a subtle ripple in the void, and the figure was just there.
That figure, of course, was Taro, having crossed into the parallel world using the power of the Nine Tomoe Rinnegan.
As soon as he arrived in this dimension, Taro froze.
At his current level of cultivation and mental strength, few things in the universe could still shock him… But the scene before him—the Earth now reduced to nothing but cosmic wreckage scattered throughout the solar system—did make him pause, stunned for a moment.
Then, his expression darkened.
This place... is the parallel timeline where he had previously been—in the Kaioshin's training chamber and at Earth's Lookout. In this world, due to Krillin's death, Son Goku's personality drastically changed, reverting to the ruthless nature of a Saiyan. He went on a massacre spree on Earth, nearly wiping out all humans, and eventually returned to Frieza's army.
At that time, Earth was left with only the broken Krillin. It was then that Taro appeared alone, taking Krillin with him. First, he single-handedly killed Nappa, Raditz, and Vegeta with one strike each. After that, he even directly eliminated Frieza.
As for Son Goku, who had reverted to his Saiyan nature, Taro forcibly struck him with psychic magic, completely extinguishing the evil in his mind. Then Taro went to this world's Namek, and by making wishes through their Dragon, he made his first wish to revive Earth's Heavenly God, the second to revive Earth's Bulma, and the third to send the Four-Star Dragon Ball to Bulma's side.
Afterward, the Kaioshin's training chamber summoned him back and transported him to a desolate land that resembled the Prehistoric Kaioshin World. It was there that, relying on his divine tree body, he comprehended the Way of natural energy and divinity.
The second time he came here, Taro visited Earth's Turtle Hermit's house.
Seeing that this world's story had become very different, Taro worried about possible future threats such as androids or Majin Buu, who could bring catastrophic disasters. So, on a spiritual level, he revealed everything he could to Son Goku—about Super Saiyans, various enemies, training methods, and historical context—embedding all of it deeply into Goku's mind.
Finally, to prevent any accidents—mainly fearing that Goku's core evil nature might not have been fully eradicated and could resurface—Taro left a safeguard within Goku's spirit. It was a kind of seal; if Goku's temperament changed drastically again, this failsafe would activate and save him once more.
Just now, in the main world, Taro had run countless mental simulations and finally concluded that something must have gone wrong with the spiritual imprint inside this world's Son Goku's mind. That was why he immediately used the Nine Tomoe Rinnegan to cross parallel timelines and come here.
Who would have thought...
Upon arrival, Earth was already gone, reduced to a pile of ruins scattered across the solar system, countless fragments of rock and dust.
There's no way this could have happened naturally... Even though my Rinnegan Power cannot precisely calculate the exact relative timeline between two parallel worlds, the difference couldn't be more than one or two years at most.
Taro narrowed his eyes, thinking deeply. His Nine Tomoe Rinnegan scanned everywhere in the solar system.
What on earth happened...
After pondering, Taro vanished from there again. The next moment, he appeared in the underworld shrouded by yellow clouds, standing before the King Yemma's throne.
"Hey, mortal, who are you?" The King Yemma, enormous in size, sat behind a gigantic desk. Seeing Taro suddenly appear, he immediately frowned and asked in a loud, booming voice. But recognizing Taro as a living being who dared come alone to the Other World, his tone wasn't hostile.
Taro, respectful to the deity, calmly asked, "Lord Yemma, I want to ask—what happened to Earth in the Milky Way's solar system? Where are all the deceased Earthlings? Where is Krillin, who once saved Earth? Where is the Earth's Martial Arts God, the Turtle Hermit? And where is Son Goku?"
He asked all his questions in one breath.
King Yemma sized up Taro, who floated level with his gaze, then suddenly frowned and said, "You're not from this world, are you?"
Taro nodded. "I come from a parallel timeline."
"I don't know why you crossed timelines, but you'd better finish your business and leave quickly! Those who disrupt the order of Yin and Yang are the most detestable!" King Yemma snorted coldly, but sensing Taro was no ordinary person, he decided to help him. He flipped through a thick book on his desk and then made a surprised sound.
"What is it?" Taro asked.
"Earthlings... are not in the underworld." King Yemma closed the thick book. "Earth was destroyed by the Demon King of the Demon Realm. All the souls are trapped in the rift between Yin and Yang, wandering in the living world, unable to find release, unable to reincarnate, and unable to enter the underworld."