"This is impossible... I know for a fact I put it in my inner pocket."
A look of pure, unadulterated panic swept across Yoshikage Kira's face. He had never expected something like this to happen, and he frantically replayed every moment of his day in his mind.
'Yes... it was definitely there when I was at the office earlier.'
'So why has it vanished?'
He bit down on his thumb, beads of cold sweat forming on his brow as he searched for any logical explanation for the inconsistency.
Itachi Uchiha watched him from the shadows, his mind reaching its own grim conclusion.
'Is it possible... that the Dragon Balls are not affected by the temporal rewind?'
Judging by the current state of affairs, Kira realized that he had been robbed.
In a timeline that had just been erased, someone had taken the orb from his person.
Though he had no desire to be part of a high-stakes struggle, the fact that he was a chosen Master meant he was an inevitable target.
Especially with people like Rohan Kishibe and Josuke Higashikata in the town... they wouldn't hesitate to eliminate him if given the chance.
Even if they didn't know he had a Dragon Ball, they would still view him as a thread to be neutralized.
Kira looked at the Command Spell on the back of his hand, his head throbbing with a mounting migraine.
It was one thing to be hunted because he had a prize, but to be hunted for something he no longer possessed was a cruel twist of irony.
"Saber. Tell me everything you remember about the events before the rewind!"
Giving up on his lunch for now, Kira began to hurry back toward the safety of his office, his voice sharp with urgency.
"Hmph. It seems you've spent quite a bit of time searching without finding a single suspicious individual."
Standing on a rooftop overlooking the town, DIO watched Diavolo. The pink haired man had bandages wrapped around his chest and was peering through a pair of binoculars with a look of intense focus.
'...'
Diavolo didn't bother to reply to the constant, arrogant chatter. He was too busy using [Epitaph] to observe the immediate future, searching for any hints that regular eyes would miss.
"But more importantly... what exactly does this Dragon Ball represent?"
DIO pulled a glowing orange orb from his vest, turning it over in his hand. He had been racking his brain for the last several minutes, but he genuinely couldn't remember where or when he had acquired it.
It was as if it had simply manifested in his pocket out of air.
This phenomenon was unusual enough to give even DIO pause.
"If you have no memory of taking it, then the explanation likely involves the manipulation of time."
"To be honest, this isn't the first time I've felt a strange discordance in the atmosphere."
"Something happened... something significant. Yet we have no memory of the event itself."
Diavolo finally spoke, voicing the doubt that had been gnawing at him.
As a Stand user capable of "Deleting Time," he was more sensitive than most to any tampering with the temporal flow.
He felt as though "Time" had been handled by a total stranger, yet he was unable to identify the source.
"My Stand stops time. Yours deletes it."
"In the most extreme case, it's possible there is another Stand user who has the power to force time into a retreat."
DIO mused on the possibility as he toyed with the sphere.
"Are you suggesting that we successfully stole this Dragon Ball before the timeline was reversed?"
"If the Dragon Balls are immune to the effects of temporal manipulation, then it's the only logical conclusion."
"Or would you prefer to believe that I possess a Stand ability that allows me to conjure magical artifacts out of thin air?"
DIO let out a short, mocking laugh as he exchanged theories with the boss of Passione.
Both men had realized that if they continued to act as isolated predators, they ran the risk of being picked off by an unknown, superior threat.
Whether it was the saiyan boy or the invincible Jotaro Kujo, there were too many enemies on the field to ignore.
To ensure their ultimate victory, a temporary, uneasy "Truce" was a price they were willing to pay.
"Even if what you say is true... how are we supposed to identify who possesses such a power?"
"I can sense the tremors in time, but I cannot confirm exactly what has changed."
"For all we know, there is someone who already knows exactly what we're planning and is moving to intercept us right now."
Diavolo pointed a finger at DIO, his voice laced with suspicion.
"That is indeed a nuisance."
"But ultimately, the identity of the user doesn't matter."
"If the Dragon Balls are unaffected, then our task remains the same: we simply have to take them."
"As long as a Dragon Ball suddenly appears in our possession, it proves that we were successful in some other span of seconds."
"The fact of our theft will remain, even if the time surrounding it is rewritten."
Listening to DIO's logic, Diavolo had to admit the man had a point.
Though he loathed the idea of standing side by side with such an arrogant creature, he didn't have a better plan.
The memory of the saiyan boy's fist turning his consciousness into a blur was still vivid in his mind.
It was a feeling of "Fear" he was determined never to experience a second time.
"Josuke Higashikata!! I know you're standing right outside the door! Get in here this instant!"
Rohan Kishibe sat up in his hospital bed, his voice ringing with a sudden, frantic urgency. He ignored the pain of his injuries as he screamed for his friend.
His sudden burst of energy was enough to give even Jotaro Kujo pause.
"Time performed a rewind just a moment ago."
"What?"
Amber manifested by the bed, her voice cold and flat as she delivered the revelation. Jotaro's eyes narrowed instantly.
Whatever the circumstances, if a rewind had occurred, it meant that something catastrophic had happened in the previous seconds.
"Was it you? Or Rohan?"
"No... it wasn't either of them. It was the other Master."
The realization that the power to rewrite history lay in the hands of another participant sent Jotaro's mind into a tailspin.
"Hah! Rohan, I only just got here. How did you know I was standing in the hall?"
Josuke pushed the door open, his voice filled with confusion. But his smile vanished as he saw the look on Rohan's face.
"Don't worry about that! Just heal me! We have to move right now!"
"We have to make preparations immediately!"
"If Son Goku transforms into a Great Ape, this entire town is going to be erased from the map."
Rohan's panicked tone was all the proof Jotaro needed.
"!"
Josuke might not have understood the full implications, but he knew when the stakes were high.
"Josuke. Heal him. Now."
Jotaro's voice was a low growl of command. He turned to Josuke, his eyes filled with a hard, focused intensity.
A Great Ape.
If a creature like that from the manga truly appeared in the real world, he didn't even want to consider if the crust of the earth could withstand its tantrums.
It was a primitive, violent, and overwhelming threat that made the most exotic Stands look like child's play.
"Alright, alright! Give me a second!"
Josuke didn't bother with a joke. He immediately summoned [Crazy Diamond].
"DORA RA RA RA!!"
"So... in the near future, Son Goku is going to undergo a massive transformation for some unknown reason and begin to destroy the town?"
"Unless we change the variables, that is the future we're heading toward."
"Whoa, whoa. That sounds like a major league problem."
"Exactly. That's why we have to find Okuyasu Nijimura as soon as possible. He's the only one with the power to counter that thing effectively."
"I understand. I'll call the school immediately."
Upstairs, Accelerator leaned against his headboard, his expression unreadable as he listened to the voices filtering in from the floor below.
He had sensed that something was fundamentally wrong with his [Reflection] earlier.
He had felt a strange "Incongruity" within the calculations of his defensive wall.
So that was it.
"Time Stop... and Time Rewind, huh?"
"Good grief. Everyone in this place has a bag full of flashy, annoying tricks."
Having successfully deduced the nature of the shift, Accelerator turned his head toward the window, his mood turning sour.
He had expected to be able to simply walk over his competition and take what he wanted.
But it appeared the "Game" was more complex than he had anticipated.
Successfully eliminating his targets while preventing them from pulling the "Reset" trigger was going to be an entirely different level of challenge.
But it was a challenge he was more than willing to accept.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]