There's no doubt that Goku of Dragon Ball is one of the most powerful manga protagonists to ever exist, and one particular feat of his could even put him in contention with the Flash in terms of speed. Throughout his time as one of Earth’s protectors, Goku has found himself at odds with everything from intergalactic tyrants to primordial evils, but things take a turn for the excessive when he battles against foes in the realm of the gods. Dragon Ball Super’s chapter 26 has Goku demonstrate just how powerful he’s really become.
In chapter 26 of Dragon Ball Super, the battle with Zamasu has finally come to its conclusion with Future Zeno wiping out the entirety of Future Trunks’ timeline. The Time Ring corresponding to this timeline also completely shatters, confirming that not only is the universe deleted, but all of time within that universe is as well. Despite this, at the end of the chapter, Goku and Future Trunks return to the deleted time-space where Zeno confirms there is nothing left. Goku’s simple act of being able to traverse this realm and talk to Zeno is a mind boggling feat when considering one thing: the speed formula.
Goku being able to move in a place with no time places him leagues above other heroes known for their speed, including the Flash. The formula for speed is typically written as Speed = Distance/Time, but Goku is moving in a place where the concept of time no longer exists. Essentially, he is moving a distance without any time elapsing whatsoever. Comparably, the Flash has similar feats in which he is capable of running so fast that he moves back in time, which would technically be moving across a distance with negative time elapsing. This ability to move backwards in time would be considerably more impressive if Goku was moving distances with zero time passing, but because of Zeno’s universe erasure and the Time Ring’s destruction, the very nature of Future Trunks’ dimension has changed. Goku is now moving in a dimension where time isn’t even available to be written into the formula, something that cannot even be factored or calculated as speed within a four-dimensional plane.
Some have pushed back against this theory, citing the existence of a Future Zeno as an example of how Goku cannot have transcended the concept of time because Zeno is still bound by it. This is not the case, however, as the timeline Future Trunks is from cannot be considered a direct future to the events of Dragon Ball, and is more akin to an alternate dimension taking place a set number of years into the future. This could explain why there is a Future Zeno, because Goku and Zeno have not yet transcended the concept of dimensions entirely. Additionally, this seemingly extraordinary feat by Goku is not entirely out of line with the events in Dragon Ball Super, as during the Tournament of Power, he and Jiren also perform feats that should be impossible for three-dimensional beings, such as shaking the infinite realm of the Void, or overpowering Hit’s Time Cage.
Though Dragon Ball fans got their first hint of Goku’s macrocosm level power during the battle with Beerus, Goku traversing a plane with no time in his base form is on an entirely different level of speed. Dragon Ball Super’s constant godlike threats have pushed Goku’s speed and power to a point where he has begun to transcend concepts like speed and time altogether. While the Dragon Ball hero is not often thought of as a speedster, it’s safe to say that base form Goku would give the Flash a run for his money if it ever came down to a race between the two.