The whole family was out together, and Hinata was genuinely happy about it. For a woman in her mid-thirties, she was acting like a little kid — perched on a high stool, legs swinging in a contented rhythm.
It wasn't that Konoha was a bad place. But to maintain the dignity expected of the so-called "Hokage's wife," she had to watch every word and action, always conducting herself in a manner befitting her station. Coming to Earth wasn't quite the same as cutting loose completely, but at least she wasn't weighed down by so many expectations.
Ino had suggested they come for food and take some time to relax, and Hinata thought that sounded perfect. Right now she was nibbling contentedly at her takoyaki, one little bite at a time.
Ino made a move to feed her, gesturing for her to open up. Hinata immediately refused. Back home was one thing, but they were out in public — they were a married couple, for goodness' sake. She wasn't about to let the kids catch them being embarrassing.
Ino teased her for a bit, but seeing that Hinata was genuinely not budging, she casually turned to Whis on the other side and asked, "The other day, Vados mentioned something about... Champa wanting to hold a baseball tournament? I've been absolutely slammed lately and haven't had the time to follow up. Where's that whole thing at now?"
Whis stifled a laugh. "Lord Champa is currently studying the rules of baseball. He has finished the first page."
Ino stared at him.
So roughly on par with someone who'd been staring at a blank document for three days and finally named the folder — maybe marginally faster.
She honestly couldn't fathom what was going on in Champa's head. Did he have no self-awareness about his own intelligence? He was dead set on challenging Beerus from the Seventh Universe to a baseball game. What was wrong with him?
Ino's relationship with Champa was actually decent enough. The fat cat was a bit insufferable, but he didn't have much genuine malice in him.
Since the baseball tournament was nowhere near happening anyway, she figured they might as well shelve it entirely.
"Honestly, I think baseball is kind of boring," Ino said. "What if we did something else instead — like, oh, how about an eating contest?"
Hinata, who had been daintily spooning tiny bites of ice cream beside her, let out a sudden "Pffft — cough, cough, cough, cough——"
"How are you this careless? Did something go down the wrong way? Let me get you some water——" Ino fussed over her wife, and Hinata went beet red, waving her off frantically to signal she was fine. The eating contest suggestion had conjured up a deeply mortifying piece of her personal history. It was way too embarrassing to think about.
Whis considered it for a moment, then covered his mouth and glanced to the side with a slightly awkward smile. "In that case, the winner would almost certainly be Lord Beerus. Lord Beerus has been fasting for over ten years now... oh-ho-ho-ho——"
Beerus was still locked in a battle of wills with the sushi on his plate, eating and nodding simultaneously. "Exactly, exactly. That fat pig can't beat me in a fight, and he's definitely not beating me in a meal either!"
Ino smiled and said nothing. Vegeta, nearby, responded with an almost eager agreeableness: "Yes, yes, great idea, I think that sounds wonderful."
Beerus glanced at him sideways. "Preparing the food and selecting the contestants will take time. I'll fight the Super Saiyan God first, then go back and sleep for a few days, and wake up ready for the feast — that works, doesn't it?"
He had drawn up a plan for himself, and the more he thought about it, the more satisfying it seemed.
"What?! You still want to fight on Earth? This is——" Vegeta's face went ashen. He'd thought the earlier fight had been safely detoured onto the topic of the eating contest, and yet here they were.
With Ino present, Beerus was at least showing some restraint, and the Earth's food really was excellent, so he refrained from saying anything like "if no one can beat me, I'll destroy the planet." Still, the upcoming bout sent shockwaves through Vegeta's chest.
That kind of destructive power — could the Earth even withstand the shockwaves from their battle? Wouldn't it just get annihilated in seconds?
He was worried about his wife and children. His brow furrowed with deep displeasure, but he didn't dare say a word.
Ino glanced over at Whis. The Angel Attendant lightly tapped the ground with his staff. "I've layered in some energy — it will absorb the collateral damage from the fight. Supreme Kai of Time?"
Ino nodded in turn, offering her own assurance. "Even if there's significant destruction, I can reverse this stretch of time afterward. Don't worry — Earth won't be harmed."
What followed unfolded more or less as expected.
Even after transforming into the Legendary Super Saiyan God, Kale was no match for Beerus.
Beerus claimed he'd only used ten percent of his power. Whether that was actually true was anyone's guess.
After Kale was defeated, Son Goku was practically vibrating with excitement. He'd been in the middle of brutal training on King Kai's Planet recently — spending his days blasting himself with his own Kamehameha Wave in circles, then being brought to the brink of death and eating a Senzu Bean to trigger a near-death upgrade and game the system. Without needing six Saiyans to channel the power of their hearts, he had reached the Super Saiyan God level on his own. After Kale, he fought Beerus too.
The result was another crushing defeat.
Vegeta's expression cycled through a whole spectrum of emotions before he finally, at last, set his pride aside.
He walked over to Ino's side, his face an entire dramatic performance.
Ino was busy with her own training right now and had no interest in getting involved in their business.
She simply pointed at Whis, in a voice she made sure the Angel Attendant could hear clearly. "Don't come to me — my strength isn't up to it. This one here is the real master. Don't let the 'Destroyer's attendant' title fool you — he's actually the Destroyer's teacher. His power is far above Beerus's."
Beerus, floating in the air fresh off his victory over Son Goku, let out a "hmph," and for once did not contradict her.
"Is that true?" Vegeta was skeptical, studying Whis as he cheerfully sampled another piece of takoyaki. This guy was really that powerful? If you're so powerful, why are you working as someone's servant?
The Saiyan prince found it somewhat difficult to comprehend.
But he knew Ino wouldn't lie to his face about something this important. He straightened up, walked to Whis with genuine sincerity, and asked the Angel Attendant to take him on as a student.
"Please train me. I'm asking you!" He bowed a full ninety degrees, his heart a churning mess of emotions.
Whis, being the warm-hearted soul he was, actually had a great deal of admiration for Vegeta — arguably more than for Son Goku. Ino suspected their compatibility was off the charts.
After only a brief hesitation, the Angel Attendant agreed without any fuss. This sent Vegeta into a state of elated disbelief — he'd been training in isolation without a single teacher for so long, grinding away on his own.
The issue for him now wasn't just that he couldn't keep up with Son Goku — it was that Kakarot was practically out of sight. Sacrificing a bit of pride to then close the gap and surpass Kakarot: to Vegeta, that mattered more than life itself.
Not even two days later, Son Goku noticed Vegeta had gone AWOL. He used Instant Transmission to lock onto Vegeta's ki, and then headed off to train at the Destroyer's divine realm himself.
...
Training alone, however hard, was going to make it very difficult to defeat the Demon Realm Supreme Kai in any short timeframe.
The enemy's strength was a full tier above Ino's. In their last battle, combined with the demonically corrupted Kuronoa, she had been beaten to near-helplessness — forced to play dead and bluff her way through.
When they met again, what then?
In the logic of fantasy novels: Time reigns supreme, Space commands reverence, Causality rules as emperor, Devouring holds dominion.
The demonically corrupted Kuronoa could be handled by pulling her away with the Saiyans' help. But the Demon Realm Supreme Kai — a boss who opened every engagement with Dark Devouring — could probably only be countered by Ino herself, who had her own temporal anchor points.
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