Chapter 99: The Lightning Tribulation That Refused to Descend
The moment he landed, a green figure was already upon him. Before Franklin could react, his throat was seized.
"It doesn't matter if he's gone. You're the real threat. Keeping my guard up against you would drain too much energy—better to take care of you now."
As he felt the spiritual energy in his body draining rapidly, Franklin's eyes widened. He jerked his knee upward and knocked the arm away, but that hand immediately grabbed his ankle. Once again, he felt his spiritual energy pouring out of him at a frightening speed.
In midair, Franklin twisted his body and lashed out with a kick, but it was easily dodged. Seeing Uchiha Madara about to repeat his trick, Franklin summoned the Guardian Sword in an instant.
Spiritual energy surged in, and a protective barrier formed around Franklin's body—a thin, translucent shell, delicate as cicada wings yet hard as steel.
"This is… a barrier? Clever. This way, I really can't absorb your sage chakra. But the amount I've already taken is more than enough to deal with you."
As Madara formed hand seals again, Franklin's pupils shrank. Stabilizing his footing, he immediately retreated.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
The instant Madara shouted, the ground split apart, vines thickened and swelled, and a wooden dragon burst forth.
Before Franklin could react, the wood dragon slammed its head into him, hurling him away. The barrier spared him from serious injury, but he had no chance left to maneuver.
The wood dragon coiled around him, crushing down with immense force. Cracks spiderwebbed across the protective barrier. Gritting his teeth, Franklin poured spiritual energy into the Guardian Sword without hesitation.
The barrier instantly repaired itself and expanded into a sphere. The wood dragon wrapped tightly around it, its crushing pressure unrelenting.
Franklin's spiritual energy drained at an alarming rate as he racked his brain for a counter. Lightning Yang and Water Yin wouldn't help much. His swordsmanship lagged far behind his cultivation level. His physical strength couldn't match the wooden dragon's spiritual energy. His reserves were nearly depleted.
Despair crept in. The gap between their combat power wasn't huge, but Madara had him completely pinned, leaving him no chance to strike back.
He could eat a senzu bean to escape with Phantom Mirage or Flying Thunder God—but then he'd never be able to complete the mission to defeat King Piccolo.
Right now, Madara—controlling King Piccolo's body—was already suppressing him with only limited spiritual energy. Franklin didn't even want to imagine how terrifying he'd be once his energy returned to full strength.
Franklin's gaze hardened. He clenched his jaw. Life or death would be decided in one gamble. He tossed two senzu beans into his mouth.
His spiritual energy instantly surged back to its peak. The golden core seed within him expanded slightly. In the next second, time and space froze. Dark clouds gathered overhead out of nowhere.
Madara, still forming seals to control the wood dragon, looked up in confusion. A rising sense of danger made him frown.
"Brat inside there… is this your doing?"
Franklin calmly formed a hand seal and nodded.
"You guessed right. In a moment, it'll strike you dead. You thought putting me inside a wood dragon meant I was helpless?"
Madara frowned, sensing something was wrong but unable to pinpoint it. The pressure above grew heavier. He drew back his spiritual energy, and the wood dragon reverted to an ordinary tree.
"You're strong. I can't take that move head-on. I'll retreat for now—we'll settle this another time."
Watching Madara turn to leave outside the barrier, Franklin nearly spat blood in frustration.
"Madara! Don't you want to go back? I know how to return to Konoha. I also know about your plan for the Fourth Great Ninja War. I even know that Uchiha Obito is just your pawn!"
Those words hit home. Madara, who'd intended to withdraw and observe the thunderclouds from afar, froze in his tracks.
"Brat… who are you? That green-skinned monster said he'd never seen you before in his world. Are you also from another world like me? Judging from your techniques… they're not ninjutsu. So, there really are countless worlds beyond this one?"
Seeing that he was still under the thunderclouds, Franklin was happy to explain,
"You're right. There really are many other worlds beyond this one. I wasn't originally from here either—I arrived by coincidence.
What about you? Did you come after arranging Obito's plan? After the Fourth Ninja War ended? Or did some other transmigrator kill you first?"
As Franklin listed the possibilities, Madara—whose soul controlled King Piccolo's body—had his pupils contract three times in a row.
"So… my plan failed?"
That question told Franklin everything he needed to know. Glancing at the thunderclouds above, which still hadn't released their lightning, he frowned slightly.
To keep Madara here, Franklin pressed on. "Yes, you failed. Your so-called Infinite Tsukuyomi was just a false plan—one carefully laid out to use you. The one you believed to be your will incarnate, Black Zetsu, is actually part of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's will."
Madara's pupils dilated instantly. A heartbeat later, his aura shifted as King Piccolo seized back control of the body.
"Why didn't you just finish him off already? Hey… hey…"
Seeing this, Franklin held back from acting rashly. To kill King Piccolo for good, he still needed the lightning tribulation.
The thunderclouds above rumbled with great power—but the lightning refused to strike. Franklin gripped a top-grade spirit stone tightly, frantically boosting his cultivation to hasten the tribulation's arrival.
King Piccolo was already flying off into the distance. Franklin wanted to summon the Nimbus Cloud—then remembered it was gone.
Determined to end this threat once and for all, Franklin sprinted across the ground. As long as he didn't lose sight of King Piccolo, there was still hope.
Meanwhile, on future Blue Star, Son Goku's Kamehameha was about to strike a massive lightning sphere. Just as Zastin was losing all hope, a red-and-gold figure burst through the clouds.
"Princess Lala, I've come to take you back to the Shiny Star. Only I can give you happ—"
Before he could finish, Goku's Kamehameha slammed into him. Zastin's eyes lit up. He exploded forward at full speed, kicked the red-gold figure away, and raised a blue, concave energy shield with a flick of his hand. The Kamehameha scattered in all directions upon impact.
At that moment, Goku was snapped back to his senses by a hard knock on the head from Bulma. "Franklin isn't dead yet! What you're doing now is exactly what would get him killed!"
Meanwhile, Saki Tenjōin, Rin Kujō, and Aya Fujisaki frantically shoved aside the people around them, staring up at the thunderclouds. As everyone followed their gaze, their jaws slowly dropped in shock.