Goku Dies! An Assassination That Must Be Executed!

is the seventy-first episode of Dragon Ball Super. This episode first aired in Japan on December 18, 2016. Its original American airdate was July 14, 2018.
==Summary==
Gohan, Piccolo, and Goten discover the lifeless body of Goku laying on the ground and begin to mourn his death, then the title page appears.
Earlier, at Goku's House, Goku is quietly meditating by himself, sensing everything around him. He is interrupted by Chi-Chi telling him that dinner is ready. Chi-Chi and Goten watch Goku's strange behavior, as he picks up and eats one grain of rice after another instead of eating how he usually does. He thinks to himself that he cannot sense "his" energy, and that "he" might be masking it. He tells Chi-Chi that he senses three cockroaches behind the fridge. He then immediately senses someone outside put up their fist and rushes to confront that person, only to realize that it was the mailman about to knock on the door. The mailman nervously hands Goku his mail as the Saiyan apologetically says hello.
On Beerus' Planet, Vegeta is training with Whis and Beerus notes that Goku is not there, wondering why he has skipped on training recently. He wonders if Goku is training on his own on Earth, as he expects Goku to be able to impress Zeno with his strength at the multi-universal tournament in order to keep Zeno satisfied, calling Goku the lead fighter of Universe 7, much to Vegeta's chagrin. Beerus orders Whis to personally train Goku. Vegeta asks Whis if Goku is undergoing some kind of special training, asking to be a part of that training, as well. As Whis tells him Vegeta he only completed a partial portion of his training regimen, Vegeta becomes a Super Saiyan Blue and prepares to finish the rest.
In a city, Goku is grocery shopping for Chi-Chi, still sensing everything around him. Gohan and Goten are following Goku, worried about their father. Not wanting to be discovered, Gohan proposes they go incognito, and he becomes the Great Saiyaman. Gohan offers Goten the same costume, but Goten, calling the costume lame, settles on just sunglasses. Gohan is disappointed as in the past Goten thought the costume was cool. Keeping his eyes closed, Goku is walking, having walked in front of a movie playing in the theater, an aquarium, and in a women's lingerie store. Goku finally opens his eyes to see a piece of a bra and panties on a mannequin. Goku then walks outside, and Gohan and Goten apologize to the skeptical storekeepers. Goku begins to frantically look around for whatever he's looking for, and casually walks into the open road as Bulma crashes into him, destroying her car against Goku. Bulma, frustrated, tries to hit Goku but Goku instinctively dodges it. Gohan and Goten are confused as Goku usually never dodges Bulma's punches. Gohan plans to ask Goku what his deal is over dinner.
Later that night, the Son Family and Piccolo are having dinner and Gohan and Videl's house. Goku begins to eat like he usually does again, and when he's alone, Gohan and Goten approach him and ask him what's wrong. Goku tells them he knew they were following him in the city. Goku promises them to keep this a secret from Chi-Chi, and tells them that he senses that someone is after his life.
Meanwhile, in a populated city in Universe 6, Hit is assigned the job to assassinate someone wealthy. He walks to the huge building where the individual serves as the boss and uses Time-Skip to go through the gate while not alerting the guards. Hit casually uses Time-Skip to slip pass everyone in the building completely unnoticed. As he goes up the elevator, the guards in the room where the boss is realize there is no guests scheduled at this time, and prepare to confront whoever comes up the elevator. Hit, sensing them, uses Time-Skip to freeze time for everyone in the room besides him and his target sitting in the back. Hit casually dodges the boss's secret laser beam attack, and as he pleads for his life, Hit instantly kills him with one blow to his heart. Ending the Time-Skip, Hit disappears as the confused guards check on their boss, dead on the floor. Hit takes the chain the boss was wearing and hangs it up, revealing his next target to be Goku.
Back on Earth, Piccolo notices Gohan's concern for Goku, asking what's wrong and to not keep secrets from him. Gohan tells him about someone being after Goku's life. Piccolo appears to not be worried as he says there aren't many people who can suddenly take Goku's life, but is surprised to hear Gohan saying Hit. Goku senses Hit approaching and quietly flies away, not wanting anyone to get in the way of his fight. Piccolo, Gohan and Goten soon notice that Goku is gone. Vegeta and Whis are still training, and Vegeta says he has three more times. Whis corrects him by saying he has thirteen more times.
In a secluded location, Goku senses Hit's energy, but it's faint. Knowing he's there, Goku becomes a Super Saiyan Blue. Piccolo, Gohan and Goten can no longer sense Goku's energy and realize he transformed and is using his godly ki. They then fly to where they last sensed Goku's energy. Goku tells Hit to show himself, and he stands behind Goku, telling him he was hired to kill him. Although, Hit says that if Goku were to disappear, he will spare him and say that he killed him, but Goku declines the offer. Hit tells Goku to turn around, as his method of assassination works with one blow to the front. Goku does so and prepares to fight, reminding Hit that his Time-Skip won't work on him, but Hit says he knows not to use it. Goku attacks Hit, but none of his attacks are working as they are simply going through Hit. Goku then backs up and charges a Ki Blast, while Hit holds his fist up. Goku notes that he won't be able to land a punch at that distance, but Hit uses the same attack he used on his last assassination: a single, invisible strike to Goku's heart. Goku's Ki Blast is shot into space as he falls over and dies. Hit says he will come back to see Goku's grave and disappears.
The same scene from the beginning of the episode now plays, with Gohan, Goten and Piccolo discovering Goku's dead body and mourning his death.
==Major Events==
*Hit assassinates one of his targets.
*Hit heads to Earth to assassinate Goku and "kills" him by striking him in the heart with an invisible Ki Blast.
==Battles==
*Vegeta vs. Whis
*Goku (Super Saiyan Blue) vs. Hit
==Appearances==
===Characters===
*Goku
*Gohan
*Goten
*Chi-Chi
*Videl
*Pan
*Mr. Satan	
*Vegeta
*Bulma
*Piccolo
*Beerus
*Whis
*Hit
*Frost (On TV)
===Locations===
*Universe 7
**Earth
***Goku's House
***Gohan's House
***West City
**Beerus' Planet
*Universe 6
**Unnamed Planet
===Objects===
*Car
*Sunglasses
===Transformations===
*Super Saiyan Blue
==Animation Staff==
*Script - Toshio Yoshitaka
*Storyboard - Kiyosato Yamamoto, Kazuya Karasawa & Hiroyuki Kakudo
*Episode Director - Koji Kawasaki
*Animation Supervisor - Masahiro Shimanuki & Osamu Ishikawa
*Key Animators - Nobuyoshi Sasakado, Shuntaro Mura, Kenji Miuma, Yoshinori Wakana, Hirotaka Nii, Masumi Hattori, Yukari Kizaki, Megumi Yamashita, Yasuhiko Oyama, Yu Yoshiyama, Masahiro Shimanuki, Osamu Ishikawa
*2nd Key Animators - Mua Tsukino, Rieko Sugawara, Miyuki Yokoyama, Actas, Studio Elle
==Differences from the manga==
*The entire events of this episode were exclusive to the anime.
==Trivia==
*This is the first time where Goten sees his father dead in front of his eyes (if not counting when Zamasu switched bodies with Goku and killed him in the original flow of time).
*In the Funimation dub, when talking to Goku before their fight, Hit says, "Now then, it's time for me to make the donuts." This is a reference to one of Hit's voicelines in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 when the player has chosen him.
**"Time to make the doughnuts" is an English saying which means, "Time to go to work."
==Gallery==
==Site Navigation==
ca: Episodi 71 (BDS)
es: Episodio 71 (Dragon Ball Super)
Category:Episodes
Category:Dragon Ball Super episodes
Category:"Future" Trunks Saga