Part 37, Chapter 182.

PART THIRTY SEVEN: UUB'S ODYSSEY

Chapter 182

Translated by npberryhill, edited by Guilarai

It began as just a few days. Those days stretched into weeks. The weeks became months. Long, grinding months.

At first he handled it reasonably well. The goal was simple: transform his training partner into something else. Surprise her, and the final stage of his magical training would be complete.

He had trapped the Djinniya that way. If he treated Juna as nothing more than an upgraded version of the same problem, he assumed he could do it again.

That assumption would prove to be a serious mistake.

“Good, Master Uub,” Juna said, clapping her fists together. “For this session, you may choose the terrain.”

“Master?” Uub repeated. “Why are you calling me that? I’m not your master.”

“I serve you the same way I serve Master Buu. The title seems appropriate.”

“If you say so…” Uub muttered, embarrassed.

“Please choose the battlefield. You have five minutes. After that, I will begin the session myself.”

A chill ran through him. He looked around.

After he had managed to stop her the first time, Juna had explained what Buu intended. Long, brutal fights lasting an entire day.

At the beginning, he could have regular breaks. They would train all day, and he would sleep at night. Juna didn't need to, she wasn't concerned by slumber. But, the more he would progress, the less he would be able to rest, so he would become stronger. She wouldn't let him cool off.

During those breaks, Uub could eat, drink, and sleep. Juna’s magic far outstripped his own; she could provide food and keep him alive. She would not, however, soften the regimen in any way that made daily life easier. That much had already become painfully clear.

Seven biomes were available: desert, prairie, jungle, canyon, volcano, ice field, and ocean. Each one carried its own advantages and traps. Lava was obviously best avoided unless used as a diversion. Water slowed movement—which made it useful for the actual objective: catching Juna with a transformation spell.

Buu had been right. The training planet was ideal. If Uub spent a month or two adapting to every environment, he would be ready for anything.

“Two minutes,” Juna announced.

“The ocean,” Uub decided. He wanted to force his body to deal with water pressure.

“Understood.” She gave a slight bow. “Then we begin.”

A dull impact cracked through the air. The sky spun. Then he felt the ocean against his back as his body was thrown several kilometers. He never saw the blow. He barely even registered the pain in his cheek—he was too stunned.

He forced himself to stabilize, hovering just above the water, blood running from his lip.

A threatening presence settled above him. Juna looked down, expression stern.

“You were not ready, Master Uub. That opening was deliberate so you could counter it. I will not warn you again. Stay alert at all times.”

“Noted,” Uub growled, wrapping himself in Maximum Kaioken. “Transform into a fish!”

Juna tilted her head and let the beam slide past her. Then she drove both legs into his stomach and dragged him under.

The surface vanished. Darkness closed in. Air ran out fast. His vision started to blur.

No. He was not going to lose this quickly—or this stupidly.

He flared his aura to the limit and shifted into Transcended Kaioken. Juna was forced back. He chased her, rationing every remaining second of oxygen. Under this pressure her movement should have been limited. This was his chance.

He struck once. Twice. Combinations. Nothing landed.

If anything, she still seemed just as fast and precise, while he felt heavier and slower with every motion. The lack of air only made it worse.

As consciousness started to slip, Juna kicked him hard and launched him toward the surface.

Uub broke through gasping, sucking in air in ragged, painful breaths. Juna rose beside him and hovered just above the water, giving him a moment.

He wrapped himself in a green aura and healed, wiping away the blood and the marks.

“You… you saved me,” he said.

“Dying is not permitted during training,” Juna replied, voice flat. “If your vitals reach a critical threshold, I restore them. Drowning is therefore not recommended.”

“Glad to see you care,” Uub said dryly.

Then he looked up—and immediately flushed. Soaked through, water running down her hair and body, Juna clearly had no idea how revealing the outfit Buu had given her had become. The athletic clothing had been designed as a joke, meant to last a few seconds. Now it was an ongoing problem.

Uub turned away fast.

Juna grabbed him, hurled him into the air, and punched him hard.

“You must not let my appearance distract you, Master Uub. That kind of opening can be fatal. As you just demonstrated.”

“That’s not fair,” Uub spat after healing himself. “Buu only did that as a joke. You could change the outfit.”

“I will not go against Master Buu’s intentions. If this is how he wished me to fight you, then this is how I will fight you.”

She struck him again and sent him flying several kilometers. As he tumbled through the air, Uub let out a tired, miserable sigh. This new routine already felt like more than he could handle.

Some time later.

Uub lay in the sand, soaked in sweat, fingers dug into the ground.

This time the fight had taken them into the desert. Buu had not been kind. It was not just open sand. It was a trap-filled hellscape: quicksand, fast predators he could not even sense beneath the surface, and heat that pushed his body to the edge.

Juna had chosen this biome to break him down physically. She barely gave him time to breathe. Every hit was measured—hard enough to hurt, not quite enough to knock him out.

He could heal himself again and again. It did not matter. Weeks later, he still could not take a single clean attack from her. The frustration was eating him alive.

A low rumble snapped him out of it. He launched himself upward just as two massive, jagged jaws slammed shut where he had been lying.

Juna was already waiting a few meters above him.

“Good reflexes, Master Uub. But do not assume the air is safe from ground enemies. You are about to learn that with this Molduga.”

She clapped once.

The creature exploded out of the sand and launched itself at him. Uub dodged the bite and hit it with everything he had. It barely flinched. He cursed and tried to climb higher.

“Not today, Master.” Juna appeared behind him. “Your training does not allow you to exceed a set altitude. You will have to develop the strength and magical control to deal with this yourself.”

Her kick drove him back toward the sand.

More Moldugas were circling below like sharks. Uub healed, ignited Transcended Kaioken, and cupped his hands at his waist.

“Maximum Kamehameha!”

The wave tore through a huge stretch of desert and flung the monsters into the air. While they were helpless, Uub slipped behind one of the massive bodies and suppressed his energy.

If he could not sense them without seeing them, maybe Juna could not either. If he could not hurt the creatures, he could still use them.

Keeping his aura hidden, he planted both hands on the shell and shoved with everything he had, sending the beast flying toward her.

Juna stopped the falling Molduga with one hand and did not move an inch.

Uub appeared behind her at full speed and fired a magic beam.

Her reflexes were still faster. She slipped aside. The beam hit the creature instead and did nothing. Then Juna vanished and let the monster drop onto the exhausted Uub.

As the weight drove him down, he exhaled in defeat. At this rate, he was nowhere close to finishing the trial.

Uub opened his eyes and sat up.

Night had fallen. Juna sat near a small campfire, watching him. They were in the prairie biome now, the sky crowded with stars.

“Please eat, Master Uub,” she said, conjuring a table and food.

“Uh… thanks? What happened?”

“Your body reached its limit. The Molduga was about to crush you, so I destroyed it and granted an early rest. That time will be deducted from future breaks, and I will increase the difficulty accordingly.”

“That’s… surprisingly considerate,” Uub said as he started eating.

“I will keep repeating this, Master. Progress cannot come at the expense of your survival. This program and I exist to provide the best possible training under the conditions Master Buu set.”

“So I can ask for more breaks?”

“That is not part of the plan. Master Buu designed what he considered the perfect regimen. I can adapt it enough for you to grow, but the core rules do not change.”

“Of course it was too good to be true,” Uub sighed. “I assume you still don’t know where he went?”

“No. My perception is limited to this environment.”

“And you can’t leave this dimension to check on the other one?”

“Impossible. Master Buu sealed this place until your training is complete.”

“Can’t we break the seal ourselves?” Uub asked. “Vegetto did it during the tournament. I heard Buu did it before too. Why not us?”

“Projecting enough energy against a dimensional barrier can produce that result,” Juna said. “At your current level, you could likely crack it.”

“Then let’s do it!”

“I can treat that as part of your training,” she said after a moment. “I will not help you. That would violate Master Buu’s wishes. But the attempt would require immense power, and it would let me measure your progress. I approve. We will dedicate two hours a day to it.”

Uub grinned. He still had not beaten Juna, but he had bought himself a sliver of control. Now he could work on the thing that mattered most: finding a way home.

“Sokidan!”

The energy sphere shot toward Juna. She dodged it easily.

Imbued with magic, the sphere chased her anyway, giving her no room to breathe.

Over the following weeks Uub invented new techniques, new traps, new combinations. None of it was enough. Buu had warned him: his creation would adapt. No matter how clever Uub became, he was still too slow.

Today they were in the mountain and snow biome. The cold was vicious. At night it was so intense he could only survive by keeping Kaioken at full power, which meant constant strain.

Even so, the training was working. He was stronger. He handled Kaioken better. Transcended Kaioken was still too costly to hold for long, but a full-power Kaioken no longer felt like it was tearing him apart.

The volcano was different. There he had to fight without Kaioken at all. The heat and physical demand made it impossible to maintain the technique. That biome existed to harden the body in its natural state.

The canyon and the jungle were mazes of razor stone and sudden rockfalls. He had to fight the terrain as much as Juna herself.

After six months of this, Uub was nothing like the person who had first entered the dimension. He was still a novice next to the opponent Buu had left him.

Juna accelerated, closed the gap, and vanished, leaving only an afterimage as the Sokidan curved back toward Uub. He flung it skyward in a panic.

That was when her uppercut buried itself in his midsection and dropped him to his knees.

“An interesting idea, Master,” she said. “But you are still too slow, and your movements are predictable. If I may offer advice: learn to form multiple attacks and control them at once.”

“I’ll… do my best…” Uub wheezed, pain knifing through his diaphragm.

"You did well, until now, master. Your creativity is worth the training Master Buu created for you. I’ll grant you an award to keep you motivated. Anything you want."

Uub looked at her, astonished. He didn’t expect to get something from her, even less before having defeated her.

He started thinking. What could he ask for ?

She leaned over, and he blushed suddenly. Once again, her curves, maliciously improved by Buu, were driving him crazy. That’s what he had to change, to not be distracted anymore.

"A… alright, Juna," he said as he looked elsewhere. "Could you change your clothes ? I promise you, I’m doing my best, but I just can’t overlook it. Can you at least put something more… decent ? Moreover, you look so much like my Anju…"

"I’m sorry, that’s not possible," she answered. "Those clothes are part of me. That’s not even from my will. If they were to get damaged or to disappear, they’d come back all the same. And I don’t want to, anyway. That’s how Master Buu created me, and he can’t be wrong. If he estimated that’s how I had to be, I’ll respect that."

"I see…", the Earthling grumbled, exhausted.

Juna watched him. He didn’t see it, but her cheeks were lightly flustered.

"I can’t change, master," she said. "But I can do this, if that answers your wish."

She turned back and took her top off. Stunned, Uub got all red and turned back as well. Some moment later, she called him. Terrified, he got his eyes back to her. She was now fully clothed again. Exactly the same.

No, actually. There was a little difference.

"You changed your strap’s side ?" he said, surprised.

"You told me I looked too much like your friend. I guess Master Buu created me perfectly to her image. If you’re good with it, that should be enough."

Uub didn’t know what to say. That magical creature kept surprising him.

"I’m fine with that, Juna, thanks."

"Perfect, master Uub. Let’s start training again. Are you ready ?"

Uub felt shivers through his spine. That unpredictable break almost made him forget where he was and what they were doing.

He looked at his hands. Was he truly able to overcome that test ?

He was stronger. It still was not enough.

Thinking back on his fights with Majin Buu and Son Goku, he felt the gap all over again.

Not enough. He needed to become far stronger. Unreachable. Unbeatable.

More and more, he found himself wanting the kind of power the Buu of Universe 4 possessed so easily.

Son Goku was no longer a high enough target. He was not inspiring enough anymore.

Defeating Juna would mean surpassing his old master by a wide margin. He needed a different reason to keep going.

The answer came easily. Son Bra of Universe 16.

A faint smile crossed his face. He looked up at Juna, who was already watching him.

“Get ready, Juna,” he said. “I don’t care how long it takes. I will defeat you. And I won’t just be the strongest in my universe. I’ll surpass all of you.”

A hint of a smile touched her face.

“That’s the spirit, Master Uub. Come on. I’m waiting. Don’t hold back. I won’t.”

They locked eyes, then launched themselves at each other.

There was no question anymore. Their story had only just begun.