"An opportunity!"
In the depths of the Dark Demon Realm, Demon Realm Supreme Kai Mechikabura stood before a mirror-like jade stone. When the former Supreme Kai of Time, Aeos, had been awakened from a past timeline at his calling, a massive crack had split the mirror's surface from top to bottom. Now, in the region perpendicular to that crack — at a ninety-degree angle to it — a new irregularity had appeared: a sprawling, shapeless expanse of white, like crumpled folds of paper.
"Go on, make your noise," Mechikabura said, his face split into a gleeful grin. "You foolish women can squabble all you like. In the end, the only winner will be me!" The moment that mirror shattered completely, his seal would break. He would walk free.
Two silent figures stood at his back. How could he not know the strength of the Saiyans? He had his own Saiyans, after all...
...
Grand Zeno's Palace.
The childlike Grand Zeno sat in his seat, glancing left and right. Something he couldn't quite name or describe seemed to have changed — but he couldn't tell exactly what it was.
He could only ask the knowledgeable figure beside him in his small, soft voice: "Grand Minister, Grand Minister — did something just happen?"
The Grand Minister smiled serenely. "Nothing of consequence. You see — it's already settled down again, hasn't it?"
Grand Zeno blinked, thought about it for a moment, and broke into a cheerful grin. "You're right! Then let's keep playing our games! How about hide-and-seek today?"
The Grand Minister gave a gracious nod. "Of course."
...
Ino returned to her own timeline.
One piece of bad news. One piece of good news.
The bad news: she was still stuck in her seven-year-old loli body. By entering the competition for the position of Supreme Kai of Time, her relationship with time had broken free of the linear structure most people experienced — that simple, orderly progression from one point to the next. Instead, it had transformed into something far more complex: a vast, irregular grid.
She no longer needed any special tool or artifact. Whenever she wished, she could exist at multiple points in time simultaneously.
By channeling the Time Power dormant in her bloodline and entering a state of "Release," she could restore her body to its original form. The catch was that this state was brutally demanding — it devoured her stamina and Time Power at a terrifying rate. In nature, it was much the same as Son Goku's Super Saiyan 3 transformation. She estimated that her reserves of Time Power would last her only a few minutes of actual combat.
In "Release" state, her battle power could comfortably break past ten billion — and that was still nowhere near the ceiling of that form.
If she could raise her baseline to an eight-year-old state, her battle power would double again.
The good news was that her Transformation Technique had been refined to a fine edge. She could overlay it directly onto her true body, allowing her to appear exactly as she always had — same face, same figure. The downside was that she couldn't fight in it. The moment combat began, she'd snap straight back to loli form.
This is the price of power, I suppose, Ino thought, stifling a quiet sigh.
...
Back on West Kai's Planet, she began turning the competition over in her mind.
She had sacrificed her height. That meant the position of Supreme Kai of Time absolutely had to be won.
Kuronoa's Super Space-Time Championship could be thought of as a small-scale Tournament of Power. A chaotic free-for-all — which meant the selection of her participants required very careful consideration.
She had three years.
She could alter the trajectory of Majin Buu's timeline and pull him in as a fighter on her side. But was Majin Buu actually a good choice?
Kid Buu was impossible to reason with. Fat Buu? That one was thoroughly unreliable. If Fat Buu fell asleep in the middle of the Super Space-Time Championship, Ino would die of embarrassment.
Majin Buu was the first one she crossed off the list — no particular reason beyond the fact that his mental state was far too unpredictable.
As of now, her forces consisted of eight generals: Future Trunks, Son Gohan, Bardock, Pikkon, No. 16, No. 17, No. 18, and Nail.
Not extraordinary — but not weak, either.
The question was whether to select fighters from her existing roster, or to go digging through the timelines for some truly powerful talent. It was a problem worth thinking through carefully.
In truth, the outcome of the first two rounds of the Super Space-Time Championship wasn't the most important thing. What mattered most was the battle between the three of them — the three Supreme Kais themselves.
If she was powerful enough, it wouldn't make much of a difference whether her opponent had one extra ally or one fewer. Take the current situation as an example: Ino versus Frieza. If Frieza had Captain Ginyu on his side — how much would that actually change things?
Could Ino, right now, steamroll the other two lolis in a fight? She had zero confidence that she could.
If things devolved into a stalemate, one strong ally at the critical moment might genuinely tip the scales.
There were many problems — and they needed to be tackled one by one.
If she failed the first round — the written theory exam — the team battle and the final showdown between the three Supreme Kais would never happen.
Ino used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to translate every scrap of the theory exam's content into the common language, then gathered all eight of her generals together and presented them with the reading material — a mountain of scrolls and volumes that could fill ten shipping containers, piled high in an overwhelming, impenetrable wall of text.
The Eight Generals: "???"
What's going on? What are you trying to do?
Ino gave a brief overview of the situation. No. 17 and No. 18 immediately raised demands for extra pay and debt relief. Once she agreed, all eight reached a consensus: they could participate in the competition for the position of Supreme Kai of Time. No objections.
"Then the problem comes down to this," Ino said, pointing at the towering mountain of scrolls. "The first round is a written theory exam. We need to... actually, you know what, I'll participate in this round myself. Out of you eight, I need two volunteers to study this material alongside me and take the exam."
The Eight Generals: "???"
Bardock — who had been with Ino the longest — launched himself forward with a speed that could only be described as thunder before hearing lightning, and staked out his position first. "I'm a low-class warrior. Just look at my two knucklehead sons and you'll know — when it comes to throwing punches, I'm your man. But reading? That's... that's just not something I'm built for."
The man who faced Frieza without flinching wore a deeply pained expression now. He shook his head — movements small but rapid. I am completely illiterate. Please spare me. I can't do it. I really can't. Absolutely cannot.
Nail's reaction was equally swift. He let out an awkward laugh and said, "I'm nothing like Piccolo. He's an all-rounder — the greatest genius Namek has ever produced. Me? I'm just a simple combat-type Namekian. Dende is probably better at this sort of thing than I am. Ha... I really can't do it either."
Pikkon waved both hands emphatically. "I spent my whole life being dragged into the mountains by my master to train. In all my years, I've barely read a handful of books."
No. 17 and No. 18 — that strikingly handsome pair of siblings — exchanged a glance, then both shook their heads. No. 18 spoke up: "We were kidnapped by Dr. Gero when we were very young. Neither of us ever went to school. You want to know why No. 17 loves wild animals so much? Because he literally can't read."
Ino was fairly certain the "can't read" part was an exaggeration — but the first half of that explanation was genuine enough. The two of them really did have a limited education.
She turned to Future Trunks. "Bulma is one of the world's greatest scientists. Surely you inherited some of that exceptional intellect from her?"
Future Trunks produced a smile that was simultaneously awkward and perfectly polite. Sure, my mom is Bulma — but you conveniently forgot to mention that my dad is Vegeta. Do you honestly think my dad is the type to sit down and study?\
Ino didn't wait for them to line up their excuses one by one. Fine — they'd hold an on-the-spot test right now. No one needed to score high. She just needed at least two people out of the eight who could make it through the first round with her.
____
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