"Come to think of it... why does the energy of the universe feel a little... a little different from before?" Beerus murmured drowsily.
Whis smiled and replied, "That would be because the universe's Civilization Index has gone up. It's a long story... Lord Beerus? You're not falling asleep again, are you? — Lord Beerus? Are you still listening to me?...
"Super... super something-or-other... my head is so fuzzy, I can't be bothered... I really need a proper sleep..." Beerus was in a complete daze. He vaguely recalled that there had been something on his mind when he'd woken up — some hazy impression of the word "super" — but he simply didn't have the energy to think it through. Moving like a sleepwalker, he changed into his pajamas, shuffled over to his bed, pulled the covers up over himself, and was fast asleep within moments.
...
The competition for the Supreme Kai of Time position was drawing ever closer, and Ino was doing her best to minimize every unnecessary external variable. In her estimation, Beerus — that supreme walking disaster — was a destabilizing factor of the highest order.
Better to just let him keep sleeping.
Ino had observed Champa's constitution firsthand: the man put on weight just from drinking water and broke into a sweat after two steps. Beerus and Champa were brothers, so their physical makeups couldn't be too different. The super-cake had been prepared specifically for Beerus. It was absolutely, positively not poisoned — it just had an ever-so-slightly astronomical amount of sugar in it.
Go back to sleep! Don't come out for a while!
Would keeping Beerus out of the picture affect the eventual Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan Blue progression down the line, thereby dragging down the Seventh Universe's overall combat power and influencing the outcome of the Tournament of Power?
That was certainly possible. But it was only a possibility.
On Grand Zeno's end, holding the Tournament of Power three years early or three years late made absolutely no difference. For Grand Zeno, three years was an inconsequential blink — enough time to play a game, take a nap, sit back up and stare vacantly into space, and then it was over.
But right now, that time was precious to Ino. Everything — whether present concerns or future ones — would have to yield to her single most critical battle.
One year after the Buu incident concluded, and five months into Beerus falling back into slumber, Ino made her final preparations and conducted an assessment of her warriors' combat capabilities.
The results were satisfactory enough. Future Trunks ranked first. Future Son Gohan and No. 17 tied for second. Bardock came in third, No. 18 fourth, Nail and Pikkon placed fifth and sixth respectively, and No. 16 — who hadn't taken part in any battles at all — rounded out the list at seventh.
Considering that Future Trunks and Future Son Gohan could use the Metamoran Fusion Technique, and that a well-timed fusion might turn the tide in a desperate situation — and given how naturally their teamwork flowed — compared to the difficulty of coordinating Saiyans with Androids in combat, the two tournament slots for the Super Space-Time Championship went to Future Trunks and Future Son Gohan.
Kale had lobbied fiercely to be included, and demonstrated her Super Saiyan 3 transformation as proof of her case.
That transformation was something neither Future Trunks nor Future Son Gohan possessed. Both had studied it and put in considerable time training toward it, but they simply didn't seem to have that particular brand of willpower — the kind that throws everything else aside and pours every ounce of one's entire being into a single point.
Put another way: they thought too much. Their minds were too cluttered. They lacked the single-minded, distraction-free focus that Son Goku and Kale naturally had.
Mental constitution was one thing; physical hardware was another.
Kale had been gifted with exceptional natural advantages. Being the Legendary Super Saiyan endowed her with qualities far beyond those of an ordinary Saiyan — her strength, speed, and physical toughness were innately a full cut above the rest.
And Son Goku? In plain terms, Son Goku just had an absurdly good constitution. Or more specifically — an absurdly long health bar.
The Tournament of Power had made this especially apparent.
Son Goku would get knocked down by a warrior from some universe or another, push past his limits and burst through to defeat a powerful foe, and then slump over with an utterly spent look: "I'm genuinely out of stamina now."
Cut to one scene later, after a short rest, and he'd be transforming into Super Saiyan Blue again.
He'd defeat another powerful opponent, then start up again: "This time I'm really out of stamina!"
Give him a brief rest, and he'd somehow scrape his way back up to seventy or eighty percent, stand back up, and keep on fighting.
The man's stamina reserves were far deeper than Vegeta's. Squeeze him, and there was always just a little more left.
It was precisely that extraordinary endurance that let him maintain Super Saiyan 3. Every other Saiyan — Kale excluded — simply couldn't sustain it, which naturally meant they couldn't master it.
"Mm. Impressive." Watching Kale's Super Saiyan 3 transformation, Ino knew the girl had been putting herself through the wringer in private.
Out of respect for that dedication, she wasn't about to crush the child's initiative. She gave a nod. "All right — three slots, and you're in."
"Yes!" Kale whooped and high-fived Himawari in excitement.
In order to build up enough base stats to sustain Super Saiyan 3, the two of them had fused with the Potara Earrings time and again, scaling that peak alone together. Even accounting for the gifts of the Legendary Super Saiyan, it had been genuinely difficult — Kale was simply too young. But fusion changed things: as her own power climbed, what had once seemed impossibly hard became manageable in the fused state, and when the fusion dissolved, those hard-won insights remained within Kale.
It was precisely through this cheat-code-style training method that Kale had been able to master Super Saiyan 3 within a single year.
Ino cleared her throat. "Super Saiyan 3 is impressive, but it's not strong enough. Along the timeline, I've caught a glimpse of an even more powerful transformation — Super Saiyan God!"
Kale's expression fell a little. She'd already worked herself half to death to master Super Saiyan 3, and there was still another form above that?
Everything Shenron knew, Ino had already gleaned by traversing the timeline from end to end — bringing it up now was perfectly reasonable.
In her assessment, the Saiyans under Aeos and Kuronoa were essentially at the Super Saiyan 2 level. The Son Goku under Kuronoa even carried the golden staff on his back — how strong could he really be?
Super Saiyan God ought to be able to steamroll the lot of them.
"God?" For two children of divine lineage, the word wasn't unfamiliar. Himawari had long since walked the path Ino had blazed — Super Otsutsuki 1 and Super Otsutsuki 2 — and was still studying the mysteries of time alongside Ino.
She had already developed some understanding of what it meant to be called a "god" of this or that. Kale's situation was different — Saiyans had no means of condensing God Power.
Ino smiled. "Come on, let's go to Earth. Super Saiyan God requires a little outside help... Oh, and Himawari — you stay home and clean the house!"
"Wha — —!" The eldest daughter screwed her face up in dismay, while Kale laughed and gave her a supportive thumbs-up.
A quarter of an hour later.
Kale, Future Trunks, and Future Son Gohan followed Ino to Mount Paozu.
They chatted with Chichi for a while — not long. Son Goku came home with Son Goten for dinner, and by evening, Son Gohan arrived as well, school bag on his back.
Saiyans have a lengthy adolescence. Son Goku himself had remained in his "young Goku" form for years, not starting to shoot up until he was fifteen.
The present Son Gohan had also retained a boyish look until high school, after which his height had surged. Now, standing next to Future Son Gohan, the two were indistinguishable in appearance — their outfits were different, but their faces were essentially the same.
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